To My Family and Friends!

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

We are learning a lot about the kingdom of heaven lately. It has been a great week!

Mikey and his new umbrella!

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

And Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”  (Matthew 18:2-5)

Update on Last Week:

Guthrie Bible School Graduation: Our local church sponsored sending Simon Kambala and Jane Kaonjezere, our teachers of the children’s ministry, for two weeks of intensive Biblical study at the Guthrie Bible School run by the Pentecostal Holiness Church. Pastor Althea Meyer is the director and an outstanding woman of God.  She will be our advisor on our Executive Board of our ministry. God has definitely brought us together for a purpose. The Bible School is providing excellent training and hands on ministry experiences (practical) at a very affordable cost. The school is only a 5 minute bus ride from my current location. We are supporting their efforts.

 

Jane Kaonjezere & Simon Kambala- I love to make my friends smile!

Umbrellas from Ramila: I met Annansa’s cousin at Annansa’s dad’s birthday party this past Tuesday. The party was so warm and fun. She has a great family. I feel honored that they invited me to share the special occasion with them. Ramila’s  sister in law, Eleanor, had passed away unexpectedly a month ago and Ramila, who is Muslim, wanted to give away umbrella’s to children in need in remembrance of her sister in law.  This is a tradition within the Muslim faith when someone passes away. Ramila came to our school with an umbrella for each child. It was a beautiful occasion. The children sang songs to her and it made a huge difference for her. I could feel God’s spirit moving in the event. Our children do not have umbrellas and this rainy season they often get caught in a huge down pour and arrive wet to school or go home wet. This Friday it was sunny with a few clouds, but at the end of Ramila’s sharing it began to rain. The children chose their umbrella and walked home in the rain. This was a precious gift! Thank you Ramila!

 

 

We continue to develop the constitution of Malawi Wa Yesu (Malawi For Jesus):  We continue the process of registering the ministry this Monday.  The staff voted for one representative to sit on the Executive Board in the position of Secretary and in the role of liaison between the Board and Staff. Right on!

The Malawi Montessori Christian School and ABC Project Staff are preparing for the Leadership and Education Training next Monday. Our theme is the Parable of the Sower. We will be training teachers from the private schools, nurse’s assistants on the pediatric floor at Queen Elizabeth General Hospital, teachers from the Malawi Preschool Association and teachers and directors from the local community based child care centers. Tisu Mwanza and James Machila will both be presenting on their experiences and wisdom gained in their leadership roles. All staff will be presenting in the educational sections in the afternoons.

Cure International:  I met with Carla Palmer, Head of Rehab, to design flyer for PT/OTs in Malawi in preparation for our March Team’s arrival. Carla is absolutely lovely and brilliant arranging all the details for us!  

 

This Upcoming Week:

We would appreciate prayers for these things!

This week our staff completes assessments and report cards for our children.  It is the end of our term this Friday. We continue to prepare for next week’s workshop. We are hoping to also recruit another teacher for our staff from the training next week. Our job next week will be to love and encourage and train these teachers so that they become leaders in education, who make a difference for the children and the future of this country. (2 Timothy 2:2)

Tuesday Mary O’Neill and I finish our efforts developing the playroom for children who have been diagnosed with terminal illness at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. What we are doing here is really important to me. Last year our church began ministering to the patients at Queen’s twice a month. We would select a ward each time whether it was the women’s, men’s or children’s wards. We preach and pray over people and sing songs of love and encouragement. We hand out scripture on healing in Chichewa. This is not a place of hope and not a place you would want to find yourself and most likely you would not even want to visit. This is why we go. We are committed to being the light of Christ in all places of darkness. To bring hope and healing to those in need. (Matthew 25:35-36)

Wednesday I meet with staff at Chikondi Center for Children with Disabilities to arrange March’s Team opportunity to visit schools and home of children with physical challenges and the details of the trainings.

I would appreciate continued prayers for wisdom around decisions regarding the ministry and workshop next week. I know you all are praying for me, because all of a sudden I would think of something I needed to add or a particular way things needed to go to create excellence or ensure good administration.  These ideas would seriously drop from heaven into my brain (smile). Thank you!  With God’s wisdom we prosper in the most important things!  Thank you also for praying for great people for me to work with!  The prayers are working: Althea, Winston (registering our ministry), Carla, my buddy, Annansa, etc, Good people are the best blessing ever!

Annansa and her fiance Daniel!

The Maru Family is Always Full of Shenanigans! God bless them-they are so fun!

This week I put up pictures of my family and friends on my wall to encourage me. It really makes a difference to see you all looking at me and knowing I am loved.

 Love, Maribeth