Bicycle for Josephy

This photo shows the new motorcycle funded by SaltMalawi and presented to Josephy, leader of a number of our churches in the Kasungu area of Central Malawi.

Josephy spends much of his time travelling between the churches under his wing, supporting the local leadership and reaching out into new villages with the Gospel. We have provided bicycles to help some church leaders travel effectively between their villages, but the increasing distances travelled by Josephy led Julian to request provision of a suitable motorcycle.

Josephy is on the far side of the bike.

It is already proving to be a great help to Josephy and the work of encouraging the churches and developing new church plants.

Chiyembekezo

We are sad to report that on the night of 16th November 2018 we received the shocking news of the sudden and unexpected death of Chiyembekezo, the chairman of the group of trustees for the work in Malawi. He was a lovely, gentle man whose name in Chichewa means “hope”. John says that he had not been sick, but that evening had gone to hospital complaining of problems with his throat and died whilst waiting for attention.

Chiyembekezo was a very good friend, a true brother in the faith, a man with whom Julian and Caroline have shared their lives for over 8 years. He leaves his wife and 3 children, the youngest of whom is about 7 years old. Needless to say, Chiyembekezo will be greatly missed. His leaving us means that there is likely to be a huge gap in the work. Please pray for the team left behind that they will find their solace in the Lord, and will rise up to cover the work that Chiyembekezo was doing.

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Chiyembekezo working with maize

Jesus taught that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds (John 12:24). Firstly, He was talking about the importance of His own upcoming death, but we have seen the application of this verse to the lives of all of us as His followers. We take comfort too in the fact that the resurrection of Jesus marks His victory over death. He promised that he who believes in Jesus will live, even though he may die. One “day” we feel sure that we will meet Chiyembekezo again.

Arrival of Roger and Helen Jacobs

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Roger and Helen arrived safely at Lilongwe airport on Wednesday 18 Jan where they were collected by Julian and Caroline and taken to the Village of Light farm to settle in and meet the team. On Sunday 22nd Jan they were introduced to the church at Tsumba (see photos). Following a brief induction they started working with the teams on the ground, and have even spent a few days "steering the ship" while Julian and Caroline took a much-needed holiday.

We have received the following short update from them:

"We are feeling much more settled, starting to get a handle on things, speaking in churches & villages & (re-)learning Chichewa. Thanks for your continued support.”

Roger and Helen have now applied for their TEP, which is a permit which will allow them to stay for two years. They need this permit to be processed and granted quickly, before their 90 days tourist visa expires requiring them to leave the country.

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Chief Tsumba's house, where Roger has spoken

Joy for John and Betha

This lovely photo is of John & Betha’s new baby boy, born in November. His name is Chimwemwe (which means Joy). He is their 4th biological child and joins the other 3 plus the 10 orphans cared for in their household. We are told his sisters are besotted by their new bundle of Joy, and John’s face doesn’t need words!

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Latest News - November 2016:

Julian writes –

"Malawi is in a difficult position at this time. Predictably, the droughts of the past two years are really affecting the nation. There is little water - the reservoirs serving the cities are about to run dry meaning that many families go 3 or 4 days without water in their taps (depending upon whether they live in a well-to-do area of a city or not). The boreholes in the majority of our villages are nearly dry and women are now literally fighting one another to get the water. For others, they are forced to draw water from rivers, but these are drying up too.

Our electricity supplies too are greatly affected since the bulk of the power generation is from hydro schemes which in turn are not working properly because there is little water in the rivers. Power cuts of 18 hours or longer are now common (we have not had electricity for over 30 hours at the time of writing - how we are grateful for solar power)! And now the food situation is becoming difficult - there are families in our area who have no maize. Normally this dire position is one we might expect to encounter in December - certainly not this early in the year. Food will not become available in people’s fields until March 2017."

This news is taken from the October 2016 Newsletter, which is now available. Click here to read it. If you would like to receive it regularly, please contact Brian Donner, our Chairman and Prayer Secretary.

New Workers Expected

You may recall that in our May Newsletter we mentioned that a UK-based couple were exploring a sense of calling from God to work alongside Julian & Caroline and the team in Malawi. We invited you to join us in praying that the way would open clearly before them. We are delighted to tell you that after much searching and prayer on their part, those prayers have been answered and Roger & Helen Jacobs (right) are now preparing to travel out in January 2017. They will live on the farm, initially in the house previously occupied by Andy & Jenny. The plan is to stay for a year with a view to a longer term commitment. The beauty of this arrangement is that Roger & Helen are no strangers to the mission field in Malawi, having worked there as missionaries from 1995 to 2009, mostly based in Mzuzu. During 2006/7 they met Julian and Caroline and have been friends since then.

Roger pastored churches and ran Bible training programmes for pastors during their time in Malawi while Helen, a physiotherapist, focussed on children’s ministry, helping to run a primary school and medical clinics as well as feeding programmes. Currently they are living on the Wirral and settled in their church, The Longcroft Christian Fellowship, where Roger serves as an elder. We can praise God for such an elegant solution. We now need to pray that a way will be made through the immigration issues (we know so well) as Roger & Helen apply for a TEP (Temporary Employment Permit) to clear the way for the first 12 months – clearing this last hurdle will enable them to fix the date of their flight out in January.