Southern Malawi Ministry Centre

Every children’s home at Iris Malawi plants a field. They prepare the soil, plant the seeds and tend the crops, and then they harvest and eat the produce. This year’s crop was disappointing. While we did receive rain, it was inconsistent and there were long dry spells in-between. There was also a pest which ate the maize leaves, leaving the cobs vulnerable. Still, there was a harvest.

[Iris children and parents planting seed in their garden.]

The Iris base in Southern Malawi is always growing and changing. The biggest development over the last year has been finishing the Joe Martin Skills Training Centre. This is our largest building project yet, and required many skilled hands and minds. It is a structure which is equipped with tools and space for teaching all kinds of trades. One of my personal joys was seeing David Dyck (mastermind engineer/designer behind many of our buildings) install the tools from his father’s workshop. What a legacy!

"My grace is sufficient for you.'" 2 Corinthians12:9

Christians in Malawi and in Canada and all over the world struggle to take hold of that promise. We are no different.  At times the pressure seems overwhelming.

[Children drenched in yet another downpour during the 2015 Malawi rainy season that will be recorded as one of the worst in its history.]

Along with the new 2014 year came the beginning of many activities at Iris Malawi. The Bible school hosted a month long program only for women, followed by a fourth year pastor student class who returned to finish their leadership training. Iris secondary school youth headed back to their respective boarding schools in Blantyre and the children on base continued their year of learning at the Iris Primary School. The production fields on base were planted and then with the sufficient rains, yielded a healthy harvest of cow peas.