Malawi 2024
Mary Lou Ng is part of Widow to Widow, a Canada-wide ministry. Through this ministry she has connected with Amess, a young widow in Malawi, who is part of the Hope for Widows in Malawi ministry. Mary Lou and 4 other ladies from western Canada will be spending two weeks with Amess in Lilongwe. Regarding their trip, Mary Lou writes:
“We will be staying at the Baptist Mission Apartments in Lilongwe, but the majority of our time will be spent with our host Amess and the hundreds of widows she serves through Hope for Widows in Malawi. (https://www.facebook.com/HOFOWIM) Amess will be our guide and main translator during our time in Malawi.
“Hope for Widows has a preschool running with the widow’s group in Lilongwe. We will visit the kids and these widows first, serving in the preschool and sewing centre. We will then visit three other groups outside of the capital. We will be leading grief support/training and basic business training during our time with each group. Our prayer is to help the widows as they develop ongoing income streams.
“We have a van and driver to get us to the various widows groups. It sounds so simple, and yet we know that without God’s leading and care, differences in culture and language may disrupt what we are trying to communicate. On Sunday April 14, Kathy has been invited to preach at the Baptist Church in Lilongwe, and Rose will teach the adult Sunday School.
“Near the end of our trip we have two nights booked at a Safari camp on the Shire River near Lake Malawi. Amess will be accompanying us for this time. Our plan is that we will leave Malawi on Monday April 22, arriving back in Western Canada on April 23.”
Mary Lou, Gail, Rose, Kathy, and Wanda
Mary Lou Ng
First training with widows in Malawi. Pray that the team will be an encouragement through Sunday School, Sunday morning service and the next training session.
“Thank you for your prayers.
“Our teaching continued on Monday in a very poor village, with delightful, warm-hearted, caring widows. They sent us home with a gift of chickens in appreciation of our efforts! We also watched the chickens be delivered in the morning for our lunch. Yes, both times they were alive.
“We have somethings in common with our African sisters. The shock and numbness, the guilt and loneliness of widowhood, but 98% or more of them share their homes with children and grandchildren. A vast number have experienced the death of more than one of their children. Both groups that we have met with so far have spoken about ‘property grabbing.’ This is the common cultural practice where the husband’s family comes in and takes every asset that belonged to him shortly after he dies. The widow can be left homeless and destitute with children to care for. One woman told us that the family didn’t want the house but they took the roof and her dishes.
“We feel God’s presence at work, we feel loved and pray that they do.
“Please continue praying for us.
“Gail, Rose, Kathy, Wanda, Mary Lou”
