Dennis and Sheila - October 2023 update

“Break my heart for what breaks Yours.”

Singing it can be easy. Praying it is serious. Experiencing it is life-changing. Our recent further period in remote rural Malawi forcibly reminds us of the brokenness of so many lives.

As a recent Sunday service came to a close, a teenage girl came to us, tears rolling down her face. She was orphaned years ago, and now in her arms lay her tiny deformed 24 month boy who couldn’t see, hear, walk or even hold his head. The father had abandoned her in pregnancy. “I’ve nobody in this world…. I’m all alone….even my baby can’t talk to me,” she blurted out as the tears flowed. There are no social services, no doctor or medical help for miles around.

Another day, news came - we could tell by the faces it was bad. A young mother of four children had suddenly dropped dead. Grandmother had already lost her husband recently, plus a grandson, and now her only daughter was gone. Living in an isolated mud-hut, damaged by the recent cyclone, this widow wept bitterly as we tramped through the long grass towards her home. How could she look after these four children? How could she get food? The harvest had been destroyed in the cyclone. The next harvest was 9 months away. It all seemed hopeless – the future bleak.

For another, a shocking situation was staring her in the face. As we sat outside her mud-hut, she told us her son had just been arrested for murder and villagers were demanding his blood. A few months previously she had come to church and God had wonderfully saved her. Now, in this horrendous trauma, her words were clear and sure, “I want to spend the rest of my life serving God.”

Such desperate scenes are regularly encountered as we visit the remote poverty-stricken people of our bush area. A forgotten people? By most, maybe… but not by God. Jesus is described in Matthew 9:36 as “moved with compassion”. Indeed, He showed compassion for the sick, bereaved, suffering, heart-broken, hungry, and for those who are lost, “like sheep without a shepherd”. God alone is the loving Rescuer.

For the past eighteen years it’s been a privilege to serve alongside Syford and Elizabeth, in reaching out to such people with the message of hope – the Good News of Jesus Christ, and seeking to show His compassion in practical ways, through our pre-schools for orphans and vulnerable children, farming, provision of food, pastoral care, and more.

But these people are not only hungry for food, but hungry to know - who is this God you talk about? What is He like? How can we can be right with Him? Many are now finding new life in Christ, knowing the joy of sins forgiven. One chief, so overjoyed with the Bible teaching, went round his village telling others, and said, “I want more!” Another said, “This is more valuable than all the world’s wealth!” Lives are giving evidence to God’s transforming power. Restored marriages. Freedom from the power of witchcraft. Changed behaviour. Others, seeing it, are now seeking too. Whilst life continues to be tough, there is inner peace and joy for those who now know Christ as Saviour.

We thank God for all He is doing. And to all who faithfully, and prayerfully support this work – thank you so much.

Dennis & Sheila