May 2019 Update

In our April 2019 and March 2019 news we reported on our visit to Malawi in February and the well-publicised serious weather-related crisis that befell the region recently. This month we want to update you on some of those issues and give you some matters for thanksgiving and prayer.

Flooding

We continue to monitor the situation closely with a view to providing targetted long-term assistance but in the meantime have been able to provide immediate food relief and temporary housing to some of those affected. One example is Brother Green, a faithful distributor of our Gospel Literature who has attended some of our Bible teaching conferences.  His wife has been very poorly after a complicated childbirth, and we were deeply saddened to learn that his home had completely collapsed, meaning that he and his little family were having to share a small, dilapidated building with another family in a similar situation. We have been able to provide food and a temporary house and propose to help with reconstruction costs in the coming months.

We have been able to provide 5 Tonnes of Maize flour for distribution in some of the prisons directly affected by the cyclone – the prisoners rely upon food which they grow themselves in the prison farm, but much of the crop was destroyed by the storm. We are liaising with the prison authorities to prioritise further assistance of this nature, and see this as a wonderful opportunity to show the sincerity of our intentions to help the prison population. You can read more on our website:  https://southernafricaliteraturetrust.com/malawi-flood-relief/

Literature

We mentioned last month that SALT had commissioned 20,000 Jn3:16 texts for the use of saints in South Africa.  We were glad to hear that these were safely received and the believers in Eastern and Western Cape provinces have already begun to use these.

Please pray that the Lord will bless his word and enable us to further meet a little of the demand in South Africa.

Brother Peter in Mzuzu (Northern Region) works tirelessly distributing Gospel literature and has a particular interest in youth work. He also helps us with some of the logistics of supplying other volunteers in the area

Our  2019 Malawi Gospel calendars are now completely finished. Calendars are always popular and provide excellent opportunities.  We hope shortly to print a further supply of Gospel Tracts as our stocks are also well depleted.

Vehicle

We had opportunity to purchase a used Toyota Land Cruiser during our last visit, and we are still awaiting completion of the change of ownership. Please pray that this will be resolved very soon.  We also hope to have the mechanic begin work on overhauling the engine of our Isuzu pickup. Please pray that he will do a good, reliable job.

Land

Although we have sent funds to enable the seller to have a survey done to delineate the plot for sale, this is still outstanding while the family resolves a probate issue. We understand there is no dispute, but the matter will cause a little further delay to the proceedings.  Our former landlord at Thondwe has recently become more difficult, and we will be much happier when we are able to remove the storage container still on his land.

Visit

God willing, our next visit is now likely to be in August, when we expect to lead another Malawi Gospel Outreach This is a great opportunity to get involved in the spread of the Gospel, so please watch out for the information when it comes.

Local Workers

Please particularly remember Emi(lian) and Lore(dana) who have had health and other difficulties recently. Their circumstances mean that they will probably have to leave Malawi this year, and that will bring its own stress.

Prison Packs

We send a huge thank you to all our volunteers, assemblies and individuals around the UK who have been busy assembling hygiene packs. We delivered over 110 cartons (almost 3000 packs) to the shipping company just before Easter, and these should depart for Malawi in the next couple of weeks. We are sure that these will prove to be a great blessing in the work.

God willing, we expect the next shipment to be early Autumn, so please get in touch if you would like to participate in this effort.

We hope to significantly increase our Gospel Calendar circulation above the 350,000 we distributed this year, and are exploring the possibility of producing these in N.I. and shipping them along with the hygiene packs. Please pray for this important effort.

Yours,

SOUTHERN AFRICA LITERATURE TRUST

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