When we are inconvenienced, we have to rely on God. When we have to rely on God, the impossible becomes possible, and we find that we are able to do and achieve that which we never could do or achieve on our own power. We have to have God’s help. – Brother John Braught
Hilda and John Van Gyssel“I love the song’s refrain,” explained Hilda. “‘Here I am Lord, is it I Lord? I have heard You calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold Your people in my heart.’ It ties in well with a verse we love, from Psalm 119:105: ‘Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
Malawi is just one of the countries in Southern Africa where El Nino has caused prolonged and severe drought. With the weather now switching to La Nina (a weather pattern that can cause increased rainfall) the same communities are worried about possible flooding and continued crop failure. In February 2016, World Renew began a program to provide 350 families in Malawi with food packages and potato vines — a quickly maturing crop that could provide a source of basic food. Thanks to additional funding from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, World Renew is now expanding its El Nino/La Nina response to provide monthly cash distributions to 1,000 households in Malawi for six months, allowing households to buy the food rations they need while also helping local vendors as food will be bought locally. This project will also provide households with early maturing maize seeds and sweet potato vines that will be ready to harvest in March 2017, when the monthly cash distributions come to an end.
“We look forward to being God’s servants once again, giving people a helping hand to help restore their crops with fresh seeds, so they have the opportunity to feed their families,” said John. “We also look forward to building new relationships with partner organizations where God has placed us.”
