Our Auction Fundraiser was a success! We would like to thank all those who showed their support by attending the auction and all the businesses and individuals who donated items for making this fundraiser possible. We raised $3,127! Thank you! These funds will go directly toward supporting our ministry in Malawi.
The best selling item was Andre's hair! $450! The headshave was a lot of fun [facebook video] and Andre has a brand new look! We would like to say a special thank you to:
Candace Tropeau and her assistants from Epicure Selections who provided some great snacks and sold fundraiser packages (~40% of sale price to our Malawi mission)
local songwriter and musician Debbie Fortnum who provided music for the evening and sold CDs (50% of sale price to our Malawi mission)
If you are still interested in taking part in some of these fundraising options, please let us know. These dips and CDs make great gifts!
The Triple Dip Fundraiser is a set of three Epicture dip mixes, recipe booklet and accompanying, reusable presentation bag with velcro closing. $20 (40% for Malawi)
Debbie Fortnum is a local singer/songwriter/pianist with a heart for missions who has produced 5 wonderful CDs. Listen. CDs $20 each (50% for Malawi)
I came across an interesting Malawian response on all the hype about global warming and CO2 emissions. I thought I'd share it here because it shows some global perspective from the poor.
People who have a stake in the success of a thing are less likely to destroy it, so property-owning people are less likely to destroy by pollution the life they enjoy. But to the poor, life is a struggle: they care little for anything but daily sustenance, much less the environment.
To get out of poverty you need economic development. To get economic development you need a stable economy with property rights, the rule of law and economic freedom: so why don’t we focus on how we can lift everybody out of the mud of poverty? Poverty is neither quaint nor environmentally friendly, whatever eco-tourists might think.
This is the dilemna we will probably face in promoting sustainability. The people of Malawi are living in survival mode. How do we lift the poor out of poverty toward sustainability? I believe extending the Kingdom of God has something to do with it...
IN THE NEWS: Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika on Saturday [May 24] said that Africa was able to feed itself...
He said Malawi's main focus was to "fight poverty." About half of the 12-million citizens live below the poverty line and on less than $1 a day.
Mutharika said his country had six priorities, including improving its agriculture -- the economy's backbone -- as well as transport and communications, irrigation, food security and energy.
"And of course we want to fight HIV and Aids," he added. About 14% of Malawians are infected with the killer syndrome.
"We are asking all our donors to focus on this. This is the way we will move forward," Mutharika said. - AFP [Mail & Guardian]
Our Spring 2008 newsletter (Planting Malawi) went out in the mail last week and should have arrived in your mailbox if you're on our mailing list (sign up if you didn't get it). Thanks again to everyone who is part of our mission. Feel free to share it with others.
Spring 2008 Planting Malawi Isaiah 61.3 Emmanuel International an update from the VanWoerdens in Malawi A Planting of the LORD Matthew 13.3-9 Ndipo ofesa anaturuka kukafesa, mkufesa kwake, … zina zinagwera pa nthaka yabwino ndipo zinapatsa zipatso ndi kukula ndi kuchuluka ndipo zinabala kupindula makumi atatu ndi makumi asanu ndi limodzi ndi makumi khumi. The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed,… seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and some produced thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold. Most of the people of Malawi are farmers. They can relate to Jesus’ story of the sower, of seed and soil. Unfortunately, most of them can also identify with the crop that withers and the hunger that follows. Our ministry assignment is to work with the churches of Malawi to empower the people to increase their harvest because our vision is to see God working powerfully through his church to break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger in Malawi. Right now, many of the people are on the edge of survival, growing one crop a year, struggling to overcome the hunger gap. As one of the world’s ten poorest countries, Malawi needs Jesus “to preach good news to the poor” and “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Lk 4.18-19). Jesus called his church to be his hands and feet in this world and we believe God has specifically called our family to physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the people of Malawi through sustainable agriculture. We pray that as we empower farmers by introducing strategies like conservation farming, winter cropping, promoting crop and livelihood diversification, and establishing farmer coops around local churches, that God will increase the harvest – that lives will be transformed, for now and for eternity, that sustainability will replace survival, that the Kingdom of God will be made known, and that the name of Yahweh will be glorified in Malawi. We are calling our newsletter Planting Malawi because we strongly identify with Jesus’ mission of proclaiming good news and God’s vision of transformation: “to bestow on [the people of Malawi] a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61.1-3, Lk 4.18-19). Isaiah says they will be called “a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.” Beautiful! Planting Malawi really captures our vision for Malawi—God transforming lives—which drives our mission—sustainable agriculture. Zomba Plateau Prayer & Praise: • We’re at 65% ($2,400) of our monthly support thanks to 55 financial supporters and even more prayer partners! • We’re scheduled to leave for Malawi on August 18 from Toronto (after EI training in ON). Pray that we will raise 100% of our support ($3,712/mo) by August. A Growing Support Team We’re excited about how God has been providing for our support needs through the generosity of his people. We now have a support team of fifty five financial supporters and even more prayer partners. In mid-May, we’re at 65% of our monthly support. Praise the Lord! Prompted by God’s faithfulness, we have booked our flights to Malawi for August 18, after we complete our training with Emmanuel International Canada in Ontario. This leaves us with 21/2 months to raise our remaining support. Please consider if God is calling you to be a part of what he is doing in Malawi or join one of our upcoming fundraisers: • Pray for wisdom in managing raising support, meeting with donors, employment, fixing up our house, and preparing to move. • Pray that our kids will adjust well to upcoming changes. • Silent Auction: Sat, June 14 • Garage Sale: Sat, July 26 Planting Malawi | Spring 2008 Mission Preparation “Moni, muli bwanji? Dzina langa ndi Abambo Andre ndipo Amayi Alex. Sindilankhula chinyanja. Mumalankhula chizungu? Zikomo.” (“Hello, how are you? My name is Mr. Andre and Madam Alex. I don’t speak Chichewa. Do you speak English? Thank you.”) English is the trade language in Malawi, but the common language of the people is Chichewa. We are blessed to be able to get by with English and to work with interpreters in the villages, but I hope we will learn the language – probably with the help of our girls. So right now we are not learning a new language but we did do some cross-cultural training. For the first two weeks of May we were part of a missionary training course called “Cultural Orientation for Personal Endurance & Enjoyment” by MissionPREP. The acronym is COPE, but like one of our instructors pointed out, our goal as missionaries is not just to cope or survive in another culture, but to thrive in it. And that is really what this course was about – learning to observe and interpret culture and deal with culture shock so that we can enjoy another culture and grow through our cross-cultural experiences, because that’s the key to endurance. We learned that when it comes to cultural differences, things are not always what they appear – or as they might say in Malawi, “Kabanga mwala” (literally, “The tortoise looks like a stone”). As much as we hope to be a part of transforming lives in Malawi, we know that God will use this experience to transform us. We have made ourselves available for his service and we pray that God will break our hearts to see the world through his eyes – and we pray that you will allow your heart to be broken as you share with us in this journey. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Stories from Malawi We have really enjoyed keeping up with the stories from another EI missionary family that has been in Malawi since September. Crazy stories about driving and snakes and police, stories of adjusting to a new culture, pictures of their kids and their house that give us an idea of what to expect, and experiences of Malawian community and genuine hospitality that increase our longing to meet these people of Malawi — to share their food, to learn about life from an African perspective, and to have our hearts changed by their stories. We know we will face hard times — culture shock, sickness, frustration with their worldview, and most of all, being surrounded by poverty and suffering and not being able to do enough to end it all. We will allow our hearts to be broken by God because we know he is a God of compassion whose heart is broken by the suffering in this world and who suffered for us so that he might restore his creation and give us eternal life. We look forward to being part of God’s story of redemption in Malawi. In future issues of Planting Malawi we hope to share some of these stories with you. Please pray for our family and for the transformation of lives and communities in Malawi. Matthew 5.3-10 Emmanuel International Canada PO Box 4050 Stouffville ON L4A 8B6 905.640.2111 info@eicanada.org www.eicanada.org vw-mw.blogspot.com
Emmanuel International is an international, interdenominational, evangelical agency which assists local churches worldwide to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the poor. As a global Christian ministry, Emmanuel International exists to encourage, strengthen, and assist churches worldwide to meet the needs of the poor in accordance with God's Word, sharing God's love and truth, transforming lives for Eternity.
holistic-- attend to the needs of the whole person: social, physical, emotional, and spiritual
church centred-- partner with churches within needy communities worldwide in order to meet the specific needs of the people within those communities
people centred-- take God's love into towns, villages, and homes
self-reliant-- build the self-reliance and dignity of those involved
grass roots-- meet the basic needs and use simple technology, easy to replicate and maintain
We would like to say a special thank you to:
