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SOUTHERN AFRICA
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ASIA
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LATIN AMERICA
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EAST AFRICA
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WEST AFRICA
Fieldnotes
Winter 2024
Helping students flourish in MALAWI By Faye Yu
Southern Africa I
n Nkhatabay, a small district in Malawi,
that there were opportunities the lake
families often rely on fishing as a primary
provided other than fishing. Members
source of income. Moses Milanzi, 13, is one
of the church visited the homes of local
of many children who dropped out of school
families and began to advise them about
to fish in the waters of Lake Malawi. Peer
the earning potential of becoming a tour
pressure and a lack of parental support drove
guide and other business ventures. When
Moses to abandon his education in favour of
they visited Moses’ family, they encouraged
fishing.
his parents to support his education and he soon returned to school. Then the church
World Renew with our local partner, Nkhatabay Word Alive Church, recognized
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WINTER 2024
monitored his academic performance,
attendance, and provided him with support whenever needed. The church also supported the community
Prayers for Southern Africa by Steve Sywulka
in starting vegetable and chicken farming. The income generated through these
•
Pray that the Malawi government
activities helped to provide for some of the
will continue to welcome World
needs of the village, including purchasing
Renew and our partners’ efforts to
school supplies for students like Moses.
share Christ’s hope with vulnerable communities. •
Pray for God's provision for farmers in Malawi as volatile weather continues to impact their harvests.
•
In Mozambique there has been political tension as recent municipal election results are being disputed, please pray for peace.
After Moses passed his final primal level test, he was accepted into secondary school. The church continues to support and encourage Moses. He is dedicated to attending school on a regular basis and is setting a great example for other children in his community. “My dream had been to become a medical doctor upon completion of my studies, but living in a lakeside village made my ambition harder to accomplish. I preferred and was sometimes forced to help my
Thanks to your generosity,
28 congregations
in Zambia are practicing
parents with fishing, and I missed classes.
child safeguarding principles
Now my ambition to become a medical
they learned in 2023
practitioner is back on course,” says Moses. “I am very thankful to World Alive Church and World Renew."
WORLDRENEW.CA • 1-888-WRLD-RNW
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Taking steps to improve health in LAOS
By Mike Fennema
Asia W
orld Renew recognizes that
World Renew staff have met with
healthy families help build strong
community members to discuss how health
communities. In Houaylai and neighbouring
is affected by issues like mosquito breeding
Nanoy, remote villages in Laos, villagers
places, open defecation, rubbish disposal,
rely on what they grow and gather fishing
and availability of water. As a result,
and hunting to survive. At times, their diet
villagers are working to deal with stagnant
is limited, and they lack clean water and
water and to cut down weeds to let in
latrines, which causes health problems. The
sunlight and reduce pests and diseases.
difficulty of travelling for medical care makes
People are using mosquito netting, and
it essential to tackle health issues at the
children are learning about handwashing
village level, so in 2019, World Renew began
and other proper hygiene practices.
working with the villages to do just that.
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WINTER 2024
Villagers now see that unsanitary conditions lead to poor health and they are committed to making changes. Cleanup efforts have resulted in a high interest in latrines. At first, just three families contributed labour and some of the cost of new latrines. They worked alongside World Renew staff, who provided technical assistance during construction. After seeing the first latrines, ten more families built theirs. Eleven latrines are in progress, with plans for 15 more. The use of latrines has led to health improvements that the villagers notice.
take medication. They encourage prenatal care and support on-site health checkups. Through the project, mothers and children are being vaccinated. In addition, families with limited means and people with disabilities are receiving support, including
World Renew also encourages villagers to
educational support for children with
make the journey to a health centre and to
special needs.
Prayers for Asia by Ruairidh Waddell • In Bangladesh, as the late monsoon season brings lots of rain, please pray there will be no flooding and crops will continue to thrive. • As Bangladesh experiences rising cases of dengue, pray for health for the Bangladeshi people and World Renew and our partners working in hard-hit communities. • Praise God for the generosity of the donors
In 2023, thanks to gifts like yours,
173 people
in India participated in a trauma healing project
who have allowed World Renew’s work to continue in the region; pray for new opportunities to share his hope and love.
WORLDRENEW.CA • 1-888-WRLD-RNW
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Rebuilding hope in HAITI By Corstiaan van Aalsburg
Latin America N
atural disasters, including a magnitude
an aunt in the town of Les Cayes. Lescave was
7.2 earthquake in 2021 and ongoing
hard hit by the 2021 earthquake but with the
gang violence are driving factors behind the
support of donors, World Renew Haiti has
economic crisis. Haiti has one of the highest
been able to work to help share hope with the
levels of food insecurity in the world with
most vulnerable families in the community.
nearly half the population not having enough
One way World Renew Haiti is helping
to eat.
families to change their stories of hunger and poverty is through Self Help Groups (SHGs).
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Ernise Lewis, 48, lives in Lescave with her
SHGs provide a space for members to pool
husband, Roosevelt Lindor, 52, and four of
their savings; once the savings pool is large
their five children; their eldest child lives with
enough, members can access low-interest
WINTER 2024
loans. Through the SHGs members also have opportunities to receive training in money management, income-generating activities, and more. Ernise became a member of a SHG in June
Prayers for Latin America by Corstiaan van Aalsburg • Economic instability and violence in Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras and
2022. “My group is made up of 49 members,
Nicaragua are worsening; pray for
including 26 women. We meet every week
peace and for the safety of World
and collect our money together. In October
Renew and our partners.
2022, I received a loan of 50,000 gourdes
• Pray that the Nicaraguan
($504 CAD) which I had to pay back in four
government will continue to allow
months,” she shared. Ernise invested the
humanitarian organizations like
loan in the purchase of yams and vegetables
World Renew to share Christ’s hope
in the Lescave region, to resell at the Les
with families in crisis.
Cayes market. She repaid the loan and
• Agricultural production is
generated a profit of over 30,000 gourdes
deteriorating in Honduras; pray for
($302 CAD), which she used to pay for
God’s provision for the growing
her son's schooling, to send groceries to
number of Hondurans struggling
her eldest child, to help her husband buy
with hunger.
seeds for his farm, and to invest in buying vegetables for resale. At a time when many Haitian families are struggling, Ernise feels blessed to be able to help provide for her family and is ready for her second loan. “May God bless World Renew and its donors,” she prays.
In the last 6 months, thanks to generosity like yours,
285 women
in Nicaragua now have access to credit through membership in a Village Savings and Loan group
WORLDRENEW.CA • 1-888-WRLD-RNW
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God’s Word is transforming lives in UGANDA By Carol Musoke
East Africa ruth Centred Transformation (TCT) is a
T
TCT program and are seeing participants’
program that is designed to help churches
lives transform—participants like Thorom
experience God’s transforming power in every
Quinto, a member of the TCT in Olyeko
area of their life with the purpose of seeing
village in Northwestern Uganda, who
God glorified, churches strengthened and
shared his experience.
growing in numbers, and communities moving out of poverty. TCT provides simple training to churches, teaching believers to apply biblical truth to their everyday challenges and to demonstrate God’s love to others. In Uganda, World Renew’s partners are committed to the
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WINTER 2024
“I joined the TCT training on September 13th, 2019. When I attended Understanding God’s Truth and Satan’s Lies, my eyes were opened,” Thorom said. I understood that I was not cursed to be poor nor was it what God desired for my life. I saw how
Prayers for East Africa by Barbara Kayanja • As Kenya continues to grapple with unrest due to rising food prices, please pray for peace and stability. • Praise God for rains that restored droughtweary soil and allowed for crops to start growing again, breathing green back into the Kenyan landscape. • Pray that God will open doors of opportunity, so World Renew East Africa can expand community programs and share Christ’s love with more families struggling with hunger,
Thanks to generosity like yours,
1,001 smallholder farmers in Tanzania joined Village Savings and Loan groups and learned new incomegenerating activities and how to save for the future
poverty, and injustice.
my previous thinking had contributed to my
annually ($70 CAD). It may not seem a
needy lifestyle.” Thorom continued, “I saw how
lot but the money I get from the business
God has given us so much, Mathew 25: 14-30,
helps me save, invest in agriculture through
and how it’s important to save.” Thorom goes
purchase of seeds for planting, as well as
on to explain how before joining the training
pay for labourers to work in the garden.
he never set aside money for emergencies and
God blesses our hard work and when
always saw himself as poor and needy, but
we save, he can multiply our savings by
after joining, he said, “I realized that I could
enabling us to reap so much more from it.”
make money with my own hands using the gift God gave me of weaving baskets.” Thorom and others in the training learned how to use the bamboo that grows abundantly in their community to make baskets. Now Thorom is generating additional income by selling the baskets he makes and said, “I anticipate getting at least UGX 200,000
WORLDRENEW.CA • 1-888-WRLD-RNW
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Prenatal classes make childbirth easier in NIGERIA By Grace Garnvwa
West Africa N
enpin, 33, and her husband, Joel, live
partner, Beacon of Hope (BHI), started a
with their four children in Gochom, a
new Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
small village in Nigeria. Because of struggles
(MCNH) program in her community, she
with poverty, neither of them was ever able
eagerly joined.
to complete even a primary school education, and with limited skills, the couple turned to
“My husband and I had never heard of
subsistence farming to support their family.
pre-natal care,” Nenpin says. “The Lord has been merciful to me by not allowing
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In 2022, when she became pregnant for
the same difficulties that happened with
the fourth time, Nenpin dreaded having the
my first three children to happen again.
same serious problems she had with her
The program taught me all that I needed
previous pregnancies and births. During her
to know about a healthy pregnancy and
first trimester, when World Renew’s local
childcare.”
WINTER 2024
Nenpin started to care for herself and
Thanks to gifts like
followed all the recommendations of the MCNH program, which included avoiding too strenuous tasks, taking vitamins, and scheduling two ultrasounds. Finally, she had her baby at a health facility, a totally new experience for her.
yours,
625 people
in Sierra Leone participated in justice awareness training
“I was determined to do everything that I was taught to make sure that my baby will be healthy, and thank God it has been a success,” shares Nenpin. “My baby is three months old now, and we have not needed the clinic except for immunizations. This is all thanks to BHI, the facilitators of the
and learned about domestic violence, property rights and more in 2023
MCNH program, and I pray that the good Lord will sustain this program.”
Prayers for West Africa by Harouna Issaka •
Praise the Lord that despite security challenges linked to armed and jihadist groups in the region, World Renew and our partners are able to work well and meet our objectives of seeing communities flourish.
•
Pray for political and social stability in Niger and Mali; where there is violence, pray that God’s peace will reign.
•
Pray for God’s guidance for World Renew West Africa and our partners as we work to extend his love and hope to communities struggling with hunger and poverty.
WORLDRENEW.CA • 1-888-WRLD-RNW
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Helping Restore Creation World Renew believes we are called to take part in fulfilling God’s promise to restore creation. We approach our mission holistically—sharing hope with communities struggling with hunger, poverty, and injustice and caring for the whole person: body, mind, and soul.
Your gift to our Where Needed Most Fund helps us react quickly to extend God’s love and hope to people in crisis. Thank you for your support.
worldrenew.ca 1-888-WRLD-RNW
We lean on God and the gifts from generous donors like you to help us address the health needs of families struggling with malnutrition and disease, provide trauma healing to the broken hearted, and build strong, food-secure families who know God loves them.
WORLD RENEW 3475 Mainway PO Box 5070, STN LCD 1 Burlington, ON L7R 3Y8
• Are they in good physical health? • Do they have trauma to overcome? • Do they know they are loved by God?
To support our most urgent needs, give at: worldrenew.ca/product/where-needed-most