Updated March 1, 2018
Prayer is primary!
CURRENT REQUESTS:
"I firmly believe God continues to answer the prayers of His people even after He has taken them to heaven. Never forget that God isn’t bound by time the way we are. We see only the present moment; God sees everything. We see only part of what He is doing; He sees it all. " --Billy Graham
One of SAFE’s Caregivers (preschool teacher) helping children learn their ABCs. It wasn’t long ago children in this village gathered in a tiny stick enclosure with a dirt floor and grass roof.
Pray for…
- Pray for Dick and Charlotte Day who are both recovering from serious cases of Malaria that they contracted in February. They are home from the hospital but need to recover their strength.
- Pray for God’s direction as we expectantly search for a new Executive Director for SAFE, and God’s guidance in the transition for Moira Chimombo who will be retiring from that position this year.
- Pray for rain, because it has been inconsistent and there are some gogos and families with wilted maize.
- Pray that the Caregivers (Preschool teachers) in the Southern Region and Central Region (Kachindamoto), who recently had 2 weeks of training by Mary Phiri and Brenda Sanama, will put into practice all that they learned to benefit over 1,000 children that they care for and instruct every day!
- Pray for the village Chiefs and mentors of Young Mother's Groups who went through the 6 A's of Positive Parenting in Kachindamoto. Pray they will use this information personally and to teach others.
- Pray for the WHY WAIT? Truth for Youth curriculum to continue to gain favor in the schools in 2018. The HIV/AIDs infection rate is still over 10%!
- Pray for funding for the Why Wait? Curriculum books and Bibles that are needed at Cobbe Barracks (army headquarters) to train teachers in Cobbe Barracks' primary and secondary schools. The door is wide open!
- Pray for the SAFE staff's possible trip to 3 SAFE sponsored village communities in the Northern Region in March -- Luzi, Thowolo and Chipayika. They want to further train the Caregivers teaching in the preschools -- train gogos and parents in positive parenting -- disciple youth in SAFE Life Youth Clubs and Teen Mother's Clubs -- check on students receiving school fees and teachers teaching our Why Wait? curriculum in the nearby schools. Much to cover in prayer for this trip!
- Pray for the Peer Educators Workshop Moira will be conducting March 1-5 in Zomba. Young peers trained to assist their fellow classmates multiplies the impact of the Why Wair? lessons!
- Continue to Pray for Natasha Namaona, an orphan girl pressured into an early marriage to a married man. Newly trained Why Wait Teachers helped to rescue her. Natasha will be one of the students we will train to be a peer educator, so that she can use her experience to advise her fellow youth to resist pressures to go into early marriage.
- Pray for our 110 bursary students. Pray for Moira and Cathy who are checking up on each one. Some are passing their exams and doing exceptional work, and some are struggling! Pray especially for those who struggle in school.
- Please continue to pray for favor and a GOOD Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Zomba about the expansion of our SAFE Haven ministry on park property. We hope to see another classroom, library and permanent sports fields added for the children being tutored and discipled.
- Pray for our 12 Mailbox Clubs in schools that form after after showing The Story of Jesus for Children film and also the Walking with Jesus film as part of their follow up. Pray that as we win children for Christ and help nurture them, God will also give them intelligence for their studies so they should grow spiritually mature and have Christ centered minds and love God.
- Pray for the Pastors Fellowship groups Lameck has brought together. Pray God will help them to work as a Team, regardless of their denominations and beliefs. Some Pastors fail to be cooperative if they see that there is nothing materially to benefit themselves.
Pray they know that they are called to fulfill The Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ -- and that God placed them in their positions for a purpose, and they will be accountable to Him.
- Pray that God gives the Gogos His Spirit of understanding and fear of the Lord when they watch The Jesus Film and receive Jesus Christ. Pray they begin to live by God's Word. Also, pray God gives them a prayer warrior spirit and love for the children and their grandchildren.
- Continue to Pray for the Muslim Chief, Chisupuli in Kondanani Village to come to know Jesus as his personal Savior. Pray for all the Chiefs in our sponsored villages who do not know or walk with the Lord yet!
Pray for the 6 prisoners who gave their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ during the showing of Magdalena Film on January 21. Pray that God will open the doors at Mikuyu Prison when Lameck goes to seek permission to have the Jesus Film showing and an evangelism outreach there. Also, pray that after Lameck’s visits to the prison SAFE will have permission to train prison school teachers to teach WHY WAIT? in the prison.
- Pray for Dick Day as he puts the 6 A's of Positive Parenting into a small pamphlet, to be translated into Chichewa with success stories. This parenting training is improving the way parents and gogos are relating to their children in wonderful, surprising ways!
- Pray for our 5 new Teen Mother Clubs that gather for sharing, encouragement and Bible study.
- Pray for our many gogo groups in Malawi to grow in their love and knowledge of the Lord, their love for one another and their love for the children in their care. Pray that their leadership would be faithful, effective and wise.
- Pray for our Gogo Groups here in the US who need God's wisdom and strength to persevere in the good work they are doing! Pray for their Gogo group leaders who are gathering together to plan and to pray March 23-25.
- Pray for each of our SAFE staff:
Prof. Moira Chimombo, Executive Director
Prof. Dick Day, SAFE International Coordinator
Charlotte Day, SAFE International ECD and Gogo Grandmothers Coordinator
Mary Phiri, Director of ECD & Gogo Grandmothers
Benjamin Khoswe, Director of Finance and Administration
Precious Ntibula, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer
Catherine Cheonga, Regional Education Coordinator
Lameck Kananji, Jesus Film Coordinator
Aaron Gondwe, SAFE Haven Supervisor
Brenda Lisimb, Community Supervisor-Zomba
Michael Mvundula Khumalo, Community Supervisor-Kachindamoto
Timaleni Biswick, Accounts Assistant
Sydney Kapindu, Driver
Thank God for…
- The wonderful gift 3 extremely poor primary and secondary schools near Lake Chiwa are going to receive! Last month someone read the prayer request about these schools needing Why Wait? Curriculum books and Bibles and they are sending funding to provide them!
- Dick and Charlotte Day being able to come home after days in the hospital with malaria!
- The much needed rain that fell in Kachindamoto the next day after some concerned gogos came to tell Mary Phiri about their withering maize.
- Patrick, a 9 year old boy, who after coming to the SAFE Haven has had his life and his families life radically changed! Patrick, a drop out, returned to school in 2017 and at the end of term one of grade 2 he was number 2 in a class of 49. A boy who soon would have been out on the streets begging is now an example to many others!
- The new Community Based Childcare Center being built in Kawiya Tikondane is almost done and 2 more CBCCs are in the planning stages -- Tayamba in Luzi and Chiyambi in Lake Chilwa!
- Our SAFE Life Youth Clubs that are bringing youth to Christ and helping them to grow in their faith and abilities. When Cathy Cheonga visited the Simiyoni SLY Club over 40 youth were gathered and sharing what they had memorized -- and one girl recited all of Psalm 92 perfectly!
- More solar lights given to orphaned students so they can have light to study at night!
- The 12 schools where 100 teachers went through the Why Wait? training and where students will soon begin to reap the benefit of this biblical worldview life-skills teaching.
- Funding assistance to build fuel-efficient stoves is beginning for our SAFE Life Youth Clubs in villages. They hope to build fuel-efficient stoves for the gogos. This will give them a chance to minister to the community about the love of Christ and help stop deforestation at the same time.
- Mothers' Clubs in the villages are encouraging and counseling girls to go back to school. Over 60 girls— who are in child marriages or who are child mothers are back in school.
4-day Parenting courses are being held in our villages where mothers and their families are joyfully beginning to put healthy Biblical principals to work in their homes.