Malawi flooding update and Easter greetings
Hello to all,
I pray you had a meaningful Holy Week.
I wanted to send a brief update out now that the flooding in Malawi has subsided. Thankfully the rains have let up and the ground has been drying out. Progress is slow. The good news is that
with many special gifts and support and help from Christian Aid and Relief our church has been able to extend help to many members who were seriously affected from the flooding. People are slowly rebuilding. They are used to a hard life and carry on amid the difficult conditions. Rob’s farthest church in Southern Malawi in the Elephant Marsh is still inaccessible. He is hoping by the end of April perhaps the roads will be dry enough and he could visit it again. For now the ground is too muddy and many people have not returned to the area after being evacuated by boat. Our rainy season total is around 60” with nearly 2 feet of that water coming in just 4 days in January. The subsistence lifestyle relies heavily on personal fields and the yield of the crops. Some people can’t plant again. In some areas where the flooding swept through the topsoil has been washed away and only sand is left behind. In other areas there isn’t enough time left in this year’s rainy season to plant again and new crops won’t have the chance to get watered any other way. So it is very helpful that some programs have recognized the longer term struggles and are continuing to offer supplies as needed. It will be a long road to recovery until the heavily affected areas are back to normal. Once people are settled again the plan would be to rebuild the many churches that were damaged as well. 
with many special gifts and support and help from Christian Aid and Relief our church has been able to extend help to many members who were seriously affected from the flooding. People are slowly rebuilding. They are used to a hard life and carry on amid the difficult conditions. Rob’s farthest church in Southern Malawi in the Elephant Marsh is still inaccessible. He is hoping by the end of April perhaps the roads will be dry enough and he could visit it again. For now the ground is too muddy and many people have not returned to the area after being evacuated by boat. Our rainy season total is around 60” with nearly 2 feet of that water coming in just 4 days in January. The subsistence lifestyle relies heavily on personal fields and the yield of the crops. Some people can’t plant again. In some areas where the flooding swept through the topsoil has been washed away and only sand is left behind. In other areas there isn’t enough time left in this year’s rainy season to plant again and new crops won’t have the chance to get watered any other way. So it is very helpful that some programs have recognized the longer term struggles and are continuing to offer supplies as needed. It will be a long road to recovery until the heavily affected areas are back to normal. Once people are settled again the plan would be to rebuild the many churches that were damaged as well. Here in Blantyre city I organized a special Easter Bible group this week and held it at our urban church—Beautiful Saviour. We had the biggest turnout ever with nearly 30 kids attending along with their moms (Nathanael snapped some pictures while I was teaching and helping so I’ll share a few). Some of the kids were unchurched and hearing about God’s love, sin and the Easter story for the first time. We had an Easter egg hunt and hard boiled nearly 60 eggs for decorating and dying. It was amazing to see the enthusiasm and excitement that lit up the room…and hopefully that will carry on into their homes and hearts.
Our family wants to wish you a blessed Holy Week as the Holy one became weak for sinner’s sake.
God’s blessings for a wonderful Easter celebration on Sunday.
Missionary Robert, Rebecca Wendland and family