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Genesis 4:7 TLB “It can be bright with joy if you will do what you should! But if you refuse to obey, watch out. Sin is waiting to attack you, longing to destroy you. But you can conquer it!”

We are mistaken if we think we can live life taking shortcuts. Shortcuts to work, shortcuts to school, and shortcuts to God’s glory. There are no shortcuts to God’s presence or will. We prefer the shorter path, but those shortcuts lead us to places that compromise who we are. The history of every sin begins with an outward object of attraction that results in an inward disturbance in the mind. When we give in, we end up enslaved, degraded, and face the ruin of our souls. God’s paths might feel like the long way around, but when we find the courage to take the longer route, we’ll find that life that is “bright with joy.”

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The long road to Mchinji

In 2006, we planted our first church in Lilongwe, Malawi. It wasn’t long until we planted our second church in a village on the outskirts of the city called, “Mtsiliza.” There, we started a feeding scheme with the support of Hand of Hope and other partners. Then, we started a school, and a vocational school, and planted a church on the same site. Things continued to grow in the country under our local leaders and now we have 11 churches in the nation.

At the end of last year, God blessed us with a sizeable piece of property (15 acres) about an hour outside of the city of Lilongwe. The area is called “Mchinji.” We have planted fields of rice and maize (corn) that will be used to feed the children at the feeding site in Mtsiliza. As excited as we are about this development, we knew there was more to having those fields than meets the eye. People are living in the area around our property who need Jesus. So, a week ago, a group of church members from our main campus in Lilongwe made the trek to Mchinji to have a cell group. 50 people showed up at that meeting, and many were saved. A new church is being added to our Malawi family.

There was no shortcut to Mchinji. It has taken 18 years to reach into the area. Now, because we’ve been patient, God has not only given us property to farm, but more importantly, people to build.

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Prayer requests and updates

• The Uganda church registration is coming along. We are in the process of preparing to submit all the required documentation. We ask for prayer that the process goes well and doesn’t take longer than necessary. This can be a slow process, but we believe God will cover our file with favor.
• We have a great deal of travel coming in the coming months to participate in several things. Please pray for me as I (Jamie) travel and protection for Andreya and Lea as they remain in South Africa for a couple of those trips due to Andreya’s school schedule.
• New Hope Academy in Burundi has been blessed with the funds to build two more classrooms! Building the classrooms is now underway, we will have two more classes on site this coming September.
• Please pray for the funding that is needed to expand our schools in all four locations: three schools in Malawi and our fourth in Burundi.

The road God has taken us on to get to this point has been long, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. There are no shortcuts when it comes to His way of doing things.

Thank you for partnering with us on this journey,

Jamie, Lea and Andreya