Dear family and friends,

 
 For those of youd who are not signed up for my newsleetter, here is a copy of my newest newsletter.  If you would like to be added to my mailing list, please add your email address to the form on the right side. I'll add you next time. For now, I hope you enjoy reading this post. By the way, I love to recieve comments...

I hope that you are all well back home. I do miss each and every one of you and thank God for blessing me through you. All your prayers and support, along with the Lord’s mighty hand is what sustains me here in Malawi. The lap-top I bought in August, crashed and completely lost its hard drive. This has made my lesson planning, as well as communication difficult. Many thanks to my housemate Tracy for letting me use hers to do this newsletter. Many exciting things have been happening over the past months and it is with great joy that I write to share these special experiences with you.

Teaching is going really well. I am really enjoying my students, and it gives me such joy to see them learn and grow. They have crept into my heart and are such a great encouragement to me on a daily basis. It is such a privilege having the opportunity of sharing the gospel with them each day. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to God for allowing me the privilege of teaching here, and to each of you for your support which allows me to stay. I look at the calendar and find it nearly impossible to believe that the school year will be over in 3 months! Where has the time gone? I truly feel as if this school year started a month or two ago, yet, now we are wrapping up!

One event at school this month was “Swim for Malaria”. Children needed to get sponsored to swim laps with all proceeds going to buying mosquito nets for people who cannot afford them. The goal was to raise money to buy 1000 nets. We are hoping to take some nets to the widows and orphans in the community where we are involved. One of my 5 year olds, Elouise, swam 20 laps of 50 meters, with a kickboard. She swam 1 whole kilometer! I was SO proud! !

This is Elouise, who swam a whole Kilometre to raise money for mosquito nets.

We had a long weekend recently and I was fortunate to be able to go to Lake Malawi with 3 of my dear friends: Tracy, Roberta, and Sofiya. We stayed at a backpackers’ lodge right on the lake, next door to a fishing village. The picture on the left was our view from the porch. I was intrigued by the village lifestyle. As you can see, there was a lot of activity on the beach as fisherman prepared for a night of fishing. The following morning crowds gathered around the returning boats to get some fresh fish. Thank God for a little rest and refreshing.

There are only 2 more weeks of school before our 2 week Easter break. The week before break is Gospel Emphasis Week. All of our lessons will include a focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins to allow us to have a relationship with Him. Please be praying for us teachers to communicate His unfathomable love. And pray for our kids’ hearts to hear His love and respond with gratitude and love. Please also be praying for the ongoing petrol crisis in Malawi. Some friends and I would like to travel to Blantyre, a 5 hour drive, for a weekend. However, if we cannot find petrol we will not be able to go.


In January, I was fortunate to join some people who are involved in a local village outreach, “Women and The Church Ministries ” The aim of this ministry is to equip and empower women to learn income-generating skills, giving them the opportunity to start their own business, thereby allowing them to feed their children, giving them hope for the future. God has done mighty works and has blessed this ministry incredibly. We sent a proposal to a U.S. organization requesting funds for start-up and operating costs for the widows/orphans program. Our prayers were answered – we will not only receive the full amount of funding requested, but they offered to give an additional $2500 if we raise another $2500! This scripture jumps to mind "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" Ephesians 3:20. We were overwhelmed with thankfulness and gratitude for this amazing answer to prayer.


Two weekends ago we started soap making training with the WTCM women. We would like to run a number of training days, focusing on the following three skills: soap-making, mat/basket- making and tailoring/sewing. Through these trainings, and with small start-up loans, we hope to see them succeed in their own businesses. We will use the “matching grant” money to buy the sewing machines as this is the biggest expense in our budget. Please pray that God will provide us with the necessary funds to get this exciting program started .

I am praying about whether it would be a wise use of my very limited resources to come home for the summer. I am currently receiving less than half of my required support. Thankfully, the school is temporarily making up this deficit. This means that I need to return to the States to raise additional support. However, I need to have speaking opportunities at many churches/organizations in order to justify spending the $2,500 on a plane ticket. I would also need living accommodations while there. If you know of a church/organization that would allow me to visit, or people who would allow me to stay with them, please email me at ChrisInMalawi@gmail.com.

Each year, ABC ships a container by slow boat in April, arriving in August. I have a wish- list of things I would love to have added to the container. They would need to be shipped to the stateside office in Mississippi, and arrive there by April 1st. Most of the stuff could be ordered at Walmart.com for delivery to the ABC office. If you would like to help me out with this, email me and I’ll send you a list and shipping details.

Please continue to pray for the current political/economic situation in Malawi. There is a severe shortage, (a “non-existence” would almost be more accurate,) of foreign currency. Since the Malawi Kwacha is considered worthless outside our borders, this means that it is nearly impossible for the government to buy fuel to import. This not only means extreme inconvenience for us, who must wait in lines for days to get any fuel, but it also means that farmers cannot get their goods to market, and the products which Malawi imports cannot be delivered. Bear in mind the only products manufactured here are peanut butter and honey. We have seen a rotating “schedule” of items unavailable in the stores. There has been a big sugar shortage for weeks.

2 Corinthians 6: 3-10 has been a passage of great encouragement to me over the past few weeks. It talks about the hardships that Paul endured during his ministry:
“Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (vs 10)

Much Love,
Chris