Bekah and John in Malawi!

With the church at Shine

During the summer, Bekah and John Oliver (our deacons overseeing Students and 20s) spent three weeks in Malawi. It's a nation dear to them as John was born there and Bekah spent her gap year there. Arriving back in the UK three weeks ago, God has taught them a lot about his character, as well as his heart for Malawi and the nations. Here’s how they got on…

Flying to Malawi was not without a hitch but fortunately, we arrived in Blantyre on the Friday evening (without bags, but that's a different story). After driving to Zomba, our home for the next ten days, we were able to rest.

We got to spend the weekend with Gareth and Nicci Oosthuyzen and their three boys, part of the Regions Beyond network, who we stayed with in Clarens last year because they stayed with us in a house with a wonderful couple, Hastings and Suzen (and their children and many nieces and nephews who popped in and out). Hastings works as a fish geneticist for the Malawian government.

The Shine Village building

Suzen is a beautiful, bubbly woman, with an enormous love for Jesus, and massive capacity to see his Kingdom built. Suzen runs Shine Relief, a charity that helps to support those facing poverty by offering educational bursaries, housing eight girls in their children's home, providing jobs for people in the villages, providing agricultural solutions, and generally being a light in the community. We spent much of our time in Zomba with Shine and with those involved with the Regions Beyond church planted there.

Highlights from our time in Zomba included:

- Spending time with the church fellowship - singing Malawian songs, hearing testimonies, praying together, and Bekah preaching on resurrection life from John 11

- Praying for healing for Stanley (abdominal pain and kidney failure), and Jeanette (dizziness and heart palpitations, also HIV positive), sharing Jesus with them. The following day, I (Bekah) saw Stanley outside when he’d previously been unable to walk – praise God for healing!

- Eating Malawian food like sugar cane and nsima

- Meeting the girls at Shine (most of whom are orphans and often the leaders/carers of their families). One girl, Memory (8 years old), didn't even know the names of colours a year ago but got 100% in all her tests since coming to Shine

- Becoming a part of Hastings and Suzen family by even going to their nephew’s graduation from nursing college!

After this, we left Zomba and headed to Lake Malawi, a huge lake that takes up most of the country and feels more like the seaside. We had a beautiful lodge right on the beach and were able to have our first holiday since our honeymoon. We took the time to reflect on what God had been teaching us, and enjoy his creation through kayaking, snorkelling, and eating great food!

Lake Malawi at sunrise

Then we headed on to YWAM Blantyre, where I (Bekah) spent my gap year. Though they'd moved to a new base, a lot of those around seven years ago were still there and it was such a joy to reconnect (even if John and I both got pretty ill). We had a particularly great time with Daniel and Sooz, the base leaders, who moved to Africa from Eastbourne twelve years ago. They shared amazing stories about how the Kingdom was being built - from healings and miracles to church planting that has now reached its ninth generation and 800 churches in Northern Malawi!

We also got to spend time with the current DTS students, learning from and encouraging them, and go on a safari in Majete National Park (we saw lots of elephants!)

A highlight was visiting a school that YWAM have helped build. A Malawian guy named Mike grew up in a village where he walked 17km each way to school, and so had a vision to build a school. 15 years later and he saw his dream come to fruition! The school has just celebrated being open a year and is already best in the district, and a place where children come to learn and hear about Jesus!

We flew back the day after and have now been back for a few weeks. We are so grateful to God for his faithfulness, and provision as always. It is a testament to his goodness that we were able to go at all, let alone have the wonderful, faith-building time we did. He has taught us more about his beautiful heart for the nations, and we pray that the connections we've built may grow stronger even as we are in the UK. We were also able to connect deeper with the work that Regions Beyond are doing in Southern Africa, and get excited for what we’re seeing God do through it. We are also enormously grateful for the prayer and support from Emmanuel, both individually and corporately; being a part of a church that understands the call to be a family of believers across the entire world is an immense privilege!