Apologies for a delay in the updates. December 1st through the 6th, P Squad had our five month debrief. It was great to be reunited with our 64 other brothers and sisters and hear what God has been doing in our lives so far throughout Africa. Following our 5 days of camping in Malawi’s capital city of Lilongwe came our new ministry sites for December. This month, Team Haven is partnered with Team Chosen and we are remaining in Malawi, the Southern region this time, at one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in this country – Senga Bay.
Just outside the town of Salima, Senga Bay is one of many gorgeous spots along Lake Malawi. We are living with a South African family who has been at this site for a year, come this January. They operate a lodge, and we are contributing to their ministry this month by helping headline and begin the process of a variety of projects they are using to shed light in a dark place. Their lodge is smack in the middle of a Muslim community. A mosque, right next door to us, blares prayers and praises to Allah beginning at 4:30 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. It is an eerie sound, but even more of a reminder for us to continue to pray over the site.
The family we are serving with here has lasted the longest of any Christians to attempt to build community here. Grace Ministries International, the mission organization our host family serves under, acquired the property for the lodge six years ago. The longest period missionaries have lasted in this environment was six months, our host family is nearing a year. And it has not been an easy one for them. A young husband, wife and their three young children have all experienced persecution. They say they are just now beginning to see faint smiles of acknowledgment from locals. They do know the chief of the village, and are on good terms with him – we are hoping to host him for dinner before we leave the end of the month.
An exciting variety of projects has been proposed by the family in hopes of reaching out to everyone in the community. A two-story building on the beach we call the ‘conference center’ is in the infant stages of having the second floor transformed into a coffee shop/Christian bookstore. It has a balcony on the front overlooking the gorgeous view of Lake Malawi and the mountains in the distance. The vision for this is to create a safe environment where people can walk up from the beach, enjoy the coffee shop/hangout and learn what they are interested to know about Christianity at their leisure. A belief in the Muslim religion is to know as much as possible about other religions, it is our hope to make this possible for them, and to allow the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
Another project that speaks straight to my heart, besides the coffee shop, is the boat ministry we are hoping to see launched. A large wooden boat, approximately 30 ft., was acquired by our contacts through many great testimonies of faith (this could be a whole other blog). Their vision is to use the boat for outreaches to the islands near Senga Bay, relief projects for hard to reach peoples, etc. At this point in time the boat is in pretty dire straits. Marooned on the beach in front of the lodge, no motor, benches or cabin, in need of wood repair and painting, this is the project I am most excited about – a mobile method for spreading the gospel, if they don’t come to the lodge, the lodge can come to them.
The third major project we have our hands in is the construction of a school nearby in the village. The main portion is plastering and painting the inside, then setting the classroom atmosphere. The exciting part of this project will not just be the reward of the finished project, but the group involved here is planning a bible study series to share with the workers we work next to each day.
Everything we are working towards for the community is centered around growing a relationship between them and Christ, but also importantly, establishing our host family in the community to overcome the persecution they receive, and promote their value to the locals. I am very much a fan of this month, and am blessed to see all angles of a full-time missionary family.
Thank you to all who have supported this incredible journey thus far. I have less than three weeks to raise the remaining $1,300 I need to remain on the field. Please consider becomng a supporter, or continuing to support the next 6 months of this amazing life God has blessed me with. God bless!
Sara 😉
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