A week in the life of missionaries

On Friday 15th February Julian sent us the following information about his activities over the following 8 days, for your prayers. Although the week has now long passed, we feel that it is good to leave this article here to give you an idea what a week can be like in the life of a missionary.

• Tomorrow Saturday - I am speaking in an all-day meeting of churches (called 'Inter church') in Mphalale. This will probably mean about 3 hours of teaching or so.
• Sunday - teaching in our church meeting on Luke 9 – the commissioning of the original disciples and the feeding of the 5000 men as an outworking of the kingdom message that they had been commissioned to preach/live out.
• Monday - teaching the elderly and mothers of the young children who come to the feeding programme. In the past the group has been about 75-100 people. PM – will be teaching the men of our church.
• Tuesday - as per Monday, but a separate group of people.
• Wednesday - Caroline is teaching the church women's group.
• Thursday - we travel to Lilongwe (LLW) to try to source blankets.
• Friday - teaching the LLW leaders' group meeting in a village near Msundwe.
• Saturday - we should finish the leaders' meeting, and collect more orphans to bring back to the farm.

Thank you all so much.

Julian

Feeding the Hungry

During this 'hunger season' (December - March) we are again partnering with local churches to run much needed Feeding Programmes as part of our Joseph Project. Our feeding programmes benefit the most vulnerable members of the village communities we serve - the elderly, the orphans, the sick and the very young.

This year our programmes will be run from 3 centres serving the vulnerable of 13 villages - a total of just under 1000 people. The photograph above shows just some of the children enjoying the experience in Mphalale.

The issue of helping people in need is very much a part of our lives at this time. Many people literally have no food in their homes. The situation will not improve now until the middle of March when food starts to become available in the fields. Maize can still be bought but the price is twice what it was in September. Our work is so very significant in helping the vulnerable survive this season. So - thank you to all who make this possible through your prayerful or financial support.

Web Site Updates - Feb 2013

This web site is in the process of being updated with a number of changes. Some have already been implemented, including:

• Upgrading to the latest (v2.5.8) level of the Joomla development platform
• Improving the layout and customisation of the Contact Us pages
• Adding an option to donate money online via Stewardship's give.net scheme
• Completely reorganising the front page.

Others (including improved navigation around the site) will take place in the first few months of 2013. We hope you like the changes. 

Pub audience moved to support Blankets Appeal

Andy, brass band enthusiast and horn player, a member of Ackworth Community Church, played carols on Christmas Eve in the bar at his local pub. He placed a few of our Blankets Appeal brochures on the bar counter while he played. At the end of an hour’s playing he was handed an envelope containing £63.50 for the SaltMalawi Blankets Appeal which the landlord had collected.

Andy (with his horn) is pictured together with the landlord and 3 others he pursuaded to lead the carol singing.

Christmas Bazaar

Claverdon Parish Church Hall in Warwickshire was the venue for this Christmas fundraiser for SaltMalawi on December 1st. The event featured Meet Santa, fun activities and stalls, mulled wine, mince pies and charity auction.

Many thanks to all who worked, who enjoyed the festivities and who donated to help Malawian children.