Malawi Report for 2014 by Dave Toms

HILLTOP FARM :

This year has been a year to remember, with progress on all fronts.  The main day to day focus is on food production as we have over 50 hectares of land.  This year our 50-60 partners on the farm had good harvests, for which we thank God.  Our de-cobber at the milling shed did a great job helping all our partners remove the pips from the corn (maize) cobs and then bag it.(for a small fee paid in maize).  This de-cobbing used to be done by hand and took months of evenings rubbing fingers raw.  The PDFA land (about 5 hectares of the total) also produced well and so we are in a good position at Hilltop with stores well stocked with maize, beans and Soya.  Most of our partners returned again in September to prepare the land once again for the 2015 season - I am glad to report that the rains have started well this December 2014 (although a little late) and germination has gone well throughout the farm - so expectations are high for 2015 :)  The compost manure project was also successful this year with mountains of waste organic material being turned into high quality compost manure, which has been placed into our planting stations to improve the soils and boost the growth of our crops in 2015.

It has been wonderful to see our partners lifting themselves out of poverty gradually and with much effort on their behalf !  God has given them an opportunity and they are embracing this journey out of poverty with both hands.  It is also good to see their faith in Jesus grow as they see the fruit of their trust in Him, both in growing resources and in the peace and harmony they are experiencing in their lives.

This year end PDFA has not cultivated any land at all (for 2015 harvest) and we have thus increased the land available to our partners.  Our plan is to use the maize stored and the piggery to fund our running costs at Hilltop in 2015.  We are very excited about this step and would like Hilltop to be fully sustainable in 2015 and hopefully forever going forward.  We are trusting God that we will be successful with this new phase and only time will tell.  Pray for us please.  We wish to model what we are teaching our people, which is to trust God, be sustainable and to put away the beggar bowl.  May God give us success !!

The piggery project is going well and we are hoping that 2015 will be a good year.  As long as disease does not affect us we should be fine.  We have about 25 porkers (40-60kg) to sell and this will give us income to pay wages and make some extensions.  We will add some new pig stalls in the 2nd shed in 2015 to give sufficient space for all our females to have their piglets safely and with sufficient space.  Our new boar (new bloodline) is growing nicely and we hope that he will do a good job for us in 2015.  We have much hope resting on the piggery and so would value your prayers in this area too, that God would protect us from disease or other calamities.

We have made good improvements on the farm too.  The 2nd shed got a decent floor this year and at the house we added new gutters around the whole house with downpipes and we also bought a double bed, 2 cupboards and 2 suitcase stands to make for more comfortable visits by our guests.  So, things are looking much nicer and are more comfortable too.

We continued with our simple churches around the farm and in the surrounding villages and it was good to visit many of them in 2014.  The times spent in these small groups is always special to me and to see the joy of the folks as the "lights come on" is always special to me.  The interaction during the simple church meetings is also excellent and very edifying for all involved.  I love these forms of meetings - they are my favourite !!

We continued to train in farming, savings clubs and micro business at the farm and in the surrounding villages.  We have 2 formal groups with over 20 folk that meet weekly plus other day to day less formal mobilising and training.  We encourage our leaders to disciple and shape people's lives every day and in every way, not just during training sessions.  

We limited our micro loans in 2014 to our leaders and staff around Hilltop farm and Blantyre city.  No loans were made in the valley during 2014.  Sadly, one of our loans to John Gulumasa to start a local bakery (made end of 2013) has gone unpaid - John passed away unexpectedly during 2014.  Adding to the grief was the fact that his wife had just had twins a month earlier - their first children.  Shame, this has been a disaster to their family and we are not pursuing the debt with the family - we have cancelled it.  

VALLEY PROGRESS :

2014 was also an exciting year down in the Shire valley.  It is one of the hottest places I go to so I do find travelling there rather challenging :)  Nevertheless it has been a rewarding year to be involved in the valley.  On the church front the request by some valley churches to link with the Mozambique leadership has been a positive step.  This has led to several visits by the Moz leaders plus additional trips from myself and our Malawi team to encourage and unify the individual churches and small groups of churches.  There is currently great enthusiasm amongst these churches and everyone is looking forward to 2015 and the additional visits, teachings and conferences that will occur to encourage the churches, develop the leaders and mobilise the people for God.  The valley conference in 2014 went well with Pastor Noel and proved to be a catalyst for the positive improvements.  We are now looking at about 25 churches working well together with much promise for 2015.  It is my prayer and hope that more churches will join the group in 2015 (some new ones and others that had got disillusioned and had left due to leadership issues).

Unfortunately Valley Frank, the leader of one group of churches, is still not well.  This despite our best efforts to get him better medical treatment.  Effectively he stopped leading his churches some time back and this lead to the disintegration and loss of many churches within his group.  Recent steps have turned things for the better, I believe :)  Sadly, I expect Frank to pass away in 2015.  I hope I am wrong and that God restores his health but so far things are not promising.  Please pray for Frank.

2014 has been a stellar year for the adult literacy schools !  Support for the schools has been excellent and we continually get requests to start more classes in new areas.  Virtually each new church that joins us has requested adult literacy classes for their members and for their community too.  We have about 10 areas now that have schools and we will add to that in 2015.  Feedback from the schools has been excellent and positive and it is a delight to me to encounter ladies in meetings who have Bibles and can read thanks to this wonderful project.

Our orphan care involvements have grown too in 2014.  I have been greatly encouraged by the efforts of very poor people to make the most of what they have and to give everything they have to care for the orphans in their communities.  I know from the Bible that this makes God very happy.  What has encouraged me most has been the fact that they have initiated these projects themselves without depending on us.  They have made these good initiatives for the right reasons and at great personal sacrifice.  I have been happy to see the 42+ orphans at valley Franks area (Rivunzu) still getting care despite Frank's illness - the committee has risen to the occasion well and has done a good job feeding and educating the little ones.  in addition to this I have visited another care centre at Nkhate (about 65 kids) and am aware of another orphan care project that my Hilltop manager has visited to confirm.  So, wonderful work is being done by these folk !  God has moved their hearts and they have responded with compassion and mercy, despite having very little to offer.  I like the way these projects operate.  No orphan centres are being built.  Rather, these children are being placed / kept within extended families and church families.  They are living in normalised family situations and the church buildings are used to provide day care, extra care, basic pre - school education and extra meals.  Our role has been in helping with additional education materials and toys, buckets and drums for water etc.  We also provided 80 bags of maize to the care centres at Rivunzu and Nkhate during 2014.  The 50 bags at Rivunzu were used to provide meals at the church day care centre whilst at Nkhate the 30 bags was divided and food was sent to the families who are feeding the orphans at night in their homes.  We will continue to help these centres and more during 2015 without creating dependency, resources permitting.

CONCLUSION :

There has been a lot of hard work put in at Hilltop and in the valley during 2014.  Results have been excellent and I am greatly encouraged by progress at the farm and in the valley.  I am very proud of our Malawi Team :)  2015 promises to be a year of greater maturity and significant development.  We look forward to what 2015 will bring.  THANK YOU for being partners with us in all that we do.  So many lives have been impacted positively through your sacrifices !  What you have done and your open hearts and generous spirits have inspired much.  You are greatly appreciated !!!