Mission Focus - Dennis and Sheila Eaton
Picture this: - A couple of girls carrying buckets of water on their heads - a young man passing by on his bicycle with a live goat seemingly gripping the handle-bars - a playing child running across the track with stick in hand, skilfully guiding an old tyre past the neat little piles of six potatoes each, which a frail elderly widow is desperate to sell so she can buy maize for the sick orphans she is caring for.
These are just some of the people we have been living amongst for many years in remote rural Malawi. Just like you, they long for something better. For them, there is little hope. Nothing to look forward to. No birthday celebrations, no holidays, no good career prospects. Another year passes – this time drought is the problem. Last year it was a cyclone. The harvests fail and the hunger cycle goes on and on. So why are we there? Is there any good news? Definitely ‘yes’! The Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ is a message to be shared – that’s why we are there! What a difference it is making when people learn that He alone is the answer to real, genuine, lasting hope. It is wonderful to see the joy and peace that comes when they personally come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord, in spite of their appallingly hard circumstances. The reality is that they are for the first time experiencing what it means to be freed from their sin and guilt, against a setting of fear, suspicion, witchcraft, and deception….and so much more….as lives are being wrecked through immoral lifestyles, teenage pregnancies, and violence in the home.
Love is something we all desire. We all need it. Love is very practical. “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” – James 2:15-16. As Jesus Himself exampled for us, we seek to show a heart of compassion that comes alongside, listens, comforts, and brings practical helps to people struggling in abject poverty, hunger, sickness, and deprivation. It is in these many personal encounters, besides the gatherings under shading trees and bush churches, that we have the joy of sharing the hope of the gospel, and seeing people touched by God, and come to personal faith in Him. Our God is very much at work here. He is Lord of the harvest and, in acknowledging that “without Him we can do nothing”, we are sincerely grateful for the many people whom God has raised up to faithfully pray for this ministry for His glory.
-Dennis and Sheila Eaton
