10/26/2024
Our staff:
We wanted to take a moment to introduce you to the staff of Raising Hope. This is Edith Faison, Gilbes Banda, Esinta Mbulawo, and Pilirani Mathews. Their day usually starts around 7 am when they arrive at Raising Hope to begin to prepare the materials, cookware, and food. As you can imagine, it takes several hours to prepare enough food for 50-75 hungry children each day. The children begin to arrive around noon, and continue to come in over the next several hours as their schools let out and they travel, some of them for several miles on foot, to Raising Hope. After tending the all the children’s needs, including feeding, Bible lessons and help with school work, the staff then begins the process of cleaning and putting everything away, all to do it again the next day! These people have such a heart for the Lord and His children and invest so much of their lives into them. Please join us in praying for them and the work they do every day!
Updates:
The milling business- We wanted to share the praise that the corn milling business is in full swing and is serving the community! This business has been serving the purpose that we believed God meant it for, which is to bring in some funds to help support some of the operating costs of the ministry, as well as to employ a few more people in the area and provide a much needed service to the community. It has been doing just that! Please pray that the milling machines continue to run well, as we have already had to have some repair work done to them, and for the continued success of the business overall.
Last month we had a sister in Christ, Eunice Bembissa visit Raising Hope. Eunice grew up as an orphan in the Congo, but immigrated to the US several years ago. She attends Chapel in the Hills Church, and has come alongside as a new partner in this ministry. We are so happy to have Eunice on board! Her passion for the Lord and His children, as well as her personal experience as an orphan in Africa makes her a wonderful addition to the Raising Hope family. Here she is pictured with the Faison family as she was leaving Malawi.
The corn field: For the first time since Raising Hope began, we will have a very low harvest of corn this year. During the last 6 weeks, Salima experienced a drought that produced little to no rain. This lack of rain did some damage to our field as you can see in the picture below. This year we expect to harvest around 30 bags of corn instead of the usual 80-110 bags per growing season. We are not concerned because God always provides, and we do have some corn left over from last year’s harvest that will help fill the gap. Please continue to pray for God’s providence!
The difficult months: January through March are typically the most difficult months for food access in Malawi, as the food supply from the previous harvest starts to run low. This year it was so bad that the Malawi government began to hand out small amounts of emergency rations to the people, but it was not nearly enough. Joseph advised us of the emergency, and thanks to donations from you, we were able to purchase a large amount of extra corn that was then passed out to families in the community. Our original goal was to help 100 families if possible, but at the end of the day, 213 families received a 15 kilo bag of corn. As God demonstrated with the loaves and the fish, he can take what we give in love and expand it far beyond our imaginations!
