Dear Friends,
“The people were waiting expectantly…” – Luke 3:15
In this passage, the people of God were waiting on the Messiah. As 2020 comes to a close Christians all around the world are waiting on Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Savior! Perhaps this year more than most, we can relate with a season of “waiting”. Maybe you’ve waited for test results to come back, waited for job news, waited for school to resume, or waited for life to return to “normal.”
In this year of waiting for things, we want to encourage you that the work of God in Malawi has continued in some wonderful ways!
• The leadership team has continued to lead the churches towards a deeper unity through seminars and discipleship groups.
• Namikango staff have continued training churches in healthy marriages, HIV/AIDS prevention practices and life skills for holistic health.
• Lives have been transformed by the Gospel!
Our Malawi staff shared some of their perspectives about different seasons of waiting on God:
Sister Zione shared some of the trials of her life and then said this: “God’s time, plan, and choice has been the best for me. I discovered that once we have asked God to answer our prayers or solve our problems, we need to be serving actively and expectantly.”
Brother Faith’s wife became pregnant for a third time after two miscarriages. As they waited on the birth of their baby boy, many tried to convince them to abandon God and find help with traditional medicine. He shared, “Each time such advice came, Psalms 23:1-6 always came to my mind. I would always say to my wife: “The Lord is our Shepherd we shall not want.” The week before the birth they were told she would need a C-section, and they pleaded with the Lord for a natural birth. The day before the scheduled surgery, their son was born naturally! Faith shared, “These situations made us trust the Lord more and more. If He was able to change our tough moments into happiness, He can also do it for everyone who trusts in Him.”
We rejoice that during seasons of waiting and struggle that our friends in Malawi continue to trust and continue to expect God will provide all that they need to bring joy into the tough moments of their lives!
Still, waiting with faith can be very hard! Things are tough in Malawi. The International Monetary Fund recently stated, “Malawi’s economic outlook has worsened (since May)…with the accelerated spread of the pandemic in the country.”
Namikango Mission employs over 75 Malawians. We provide support to over 1,500 church leaders, 2,000 school children, and over 120 village savings and loans groups along with many others. Right now, the mission means more than ever before! We have two major steps to support our staff and leaders at this time:
•Encouraging staff by being able to pay them a livable wage during this difficult season. With all that has happened in 2020, we have held steady but are running through our financial reserves. We need to raise an additional $55,000 (The equivalent of 3 months of salary) to continue to pay our team and get over this hump.
•Providing materials and local jobs for our entire Construction Team as they renovate campus for the new Discipleship Training Institute. This will provide at least 10 families with income to take care of their family’s needs in these difficult days. We need $100,000 to make this happen!
Like the people of Israel waiting on the Messiah and Christians all across the world waiting on Christmas to arrive, we are waiting on the funds needed to bring hope, transformation and encouragement to the people of Malawi!
Will you join us in bringing hope during this season of waiting?
Will you make a gift of $100, $200, $500 or $1,000 to provide for the needs of our Malawi staff during this season of waiting?
In the words of Sister Zione, I am expectantly waiting on the Lord and your response to the need we have for the work in Malawi!
Blessings,
Ben Hayes
Executive Director
