“I heard that if you consume alcohol it will kill the virus.”

“Is it true that lemons and garlic reduce the risk of catching the virus?”

“The coronavirus is a foreigner and wealthy person’s disease.”

“Faith in Jesus will protect us from the virus.”

There has been so much false information spread about Covid-19 in Malawi. People think that the virus has been exaggerated, politicized, or even invented in order to delay the Malawian presidential election that took place in June. They don’t want to believe it’s serious because they can’t afford it to be.

So they carry on as usual, and marketplaces are as crowded as ever. As we pass out soap and promote correct hand washing, help build handwashing stations, and distribute correct and consistent information, communities ask us questions and listen to our answers.

Because they know us and trust us.

World Renew is not affiliated with a political party. Communities have seen us walk with them for years: talking to mothers at cooking demonstrations, helping design home gardens, celebrating abundant harvests, walking fields to figure out why pests are attacking their crops. They know us and trust us.

We don’t know when or if the virus will reach these villages. We pray and hope that it doesn’t. But we want to make sure that people know that the virus is real so they can be safe and prepared.

Join with us in prayer and give thanks that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus in Malawi.

You can give a gift today to help vulnerable communities around the world protect themselves from COVID-19.