Defend the Poor and Fatherless
“Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy.”
~Psalm 82:3~
That is what He said to do. So we are going to continue to do it.
Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you for your support! You know who I am and you know what I am committed to! God designed me for a purpose. And that purpose is to serve in Malawi and make a difference for the children of the nation.
So it is time to take it up a notch! My two year immigration status has been approved! I leave for Malawi November 3rd. I will return when the mission is complete. I am asking for your continued partnership in our effort there.
Your financial giving will support our staff salaries, budget for school and ABC Project. It will help pay for the materials for two of our teachers to obtain their Montessori Early Childhood Credentials. (Never would these women have this opportunity!) It so rocks! Your giving will support our literacy outreach project and help us to become self-sustainable by December of this year. It will enable us to purchase Montessori materials for 5th-7th grade and expand our school. It will enable me to transport Montessori materials to Malawi this November. Ok, I am crying now, because it really, really, really, matters to me. Please see all the ways you can support us below.
Please let me know if you are committed to:
___Pray
___Give money (Have a garage sale! Sell something!)
___Give resources (We’d love Montessori Materials!)
___Come to Malawi in 2011
___Send others to Malawi in 2011
___Share about Malawi and our effort with others
___Support the effort in some other way: _________
To give you may go to on-line giving at www.lakesidechurch.com or send a check to Lakeside Church with Maribeth-Malawi in the memo line. Your giving will go to support our ministry and NGO in Malawi. We are counting every Kwacha! (It is tax deductible! Right on!) Beginning this fall, I have become a Strategic Partner with my home church, Lakeside Church. A special thank you to them for their continued love and support of me and God’s work in Malawi.
God has placed me in a very strategic position, giving me a paid special education position that is full-time – half day, beginning this November in Malawi. This will allow me to stay in Malawi without ongoing fundraising for my expenses. I will spend my mornings at Phoenix International School, a walking distance from our Malawi Montessori Christian School and Teacher Training Center. At Phoenix, I will set up and run their special education program at this elementary school and train local Malawians to be teachers in special education as well. And as you probably can guess, the money I make in Malawi will be invested in the ministry and our efforts to make a difference for the kids! Yahoo! Each day, in the afternoon, I will join our Malawian ministry staff and complete the day with them. It is an amazing opportunity! I am still amazed Jesus did this!
Most recently we established a Malawian Ministry (Malawi Wa Yesu) and a Malawian NGO (Zikomo Yesu Enterprises) to empower the Malawian leaders whom we have trained in leadership and teaching, lead the school and outreach programs to the hospital and community based child care centers (CBCCCs). I return to support the Malawi Montessori Christian School and Teacher Training Center, our ten ministry staff members and to expand our services to children with special needs. I will be training local Malawians how to teach children with disabilities including learning challenges. We will also be developing inexpensive children’s books in English and Chichewa for distribution in Ndirande as part of our on-going focus on early childhood education. Kelsey Zeigler, a certified nurse’s assistant, will be joining me in January for ayear and Becca Dague, for two months to support our effort to reach the children in the pediatric wards at our local government hospital- Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. Kelsey and I hope to host three impact teams from Lakeside in 2011 also!
These are our goals for 2010-2011! With God’s help we will meet these!
Expansion of the Number of Children at our School – Currently accepting & screening applications of neediest kids
Formal Leadership and Teacher Training Week – August 9th-12th It rocked!
Africa ABC Project Expansion – Currently painting CBCCSs with new educational artwork
Business Development Program for Women- It has begun! Yahoo!
Community Wide Literacy Project- Launch by October 2010 Beginning Now!
Financial Self-Sustainability by December 2010
Second and Third Malawian Missionary! Yahoo! Kelsey Zeigler and Becca Dague are on their way! – January 2011
Credentialing of Two Staff Members – December 2011
Expansion of Services to Queen Elizabeth Hospital – February 2011
Prayer Requests! Of course about all of the above, but for the next few weeks:
- That God would continue to guide us, love us, give us wisdom, protect us, and help us in all ways!
- My financial provision and the financial provision of all aspects of our ministry and projects
- My peace, focus on Jesus, organizational, planning and management skills (smile).
- Teams forming for 2011 trips to Malawi. We are in planning stages – It seems that God is launching a multidisciplinary team to impact Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital. We have women interesting in making a difference for the pediatric wards through patient care training of staff and outreach to the children. We also have a social worker who would like to contribute her expertise in working towards the protection of children to reduce abuse. Woo Ha! Please pray for team and for my spiritual discernment of what God wants to do. As you know my past Malawian leadership & educational training partner, Mary O’Neill is a Montessori teacher and last year renewed her nursing credential. Interesting, huh!
- Please pray for my housing situation in Malawi, which will be strategic to supporting teams visiting and my safety and ease of myself and Kelsey Zeigler and Becca, arriving Jan 2011.
- My Family- That they may know God’s overwhelming love for them and my love and gratitude too!
- I have been offered a book publishing contract for a children’s book I wrote in Malawi. Please pray for my discernment.
What we are doing in Malawi and our commitment to become self-sustainable in 7 months has never been attempted before. It is a Malawian effort to impact the education system for Jesus Christ. Our structure, processes, and goals have never existed or been attempted in this way before in this country. We have designed everything to honor God and empower people. We appreciate your partnership! We promise that your investment will grow!
Love, Maribeth
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