Malawi
BY FAITH CHIBONGA
Sara’s journey to confidence
now smiles with confidence. But for many years, this mother of four children felt worthless. Sara was often left to support her children on her own while her husband sought work outside of their community in Malawi. “I relied on my husband's financial support to ensure our family's survival. It was challenging because my husband rarely sent money, sometimes leaving us without assistance for months, and I had to seek help from others to support myself and my four children,” says Sara.
Then, Sara had the opportunity to join a program focused on improving livelihoods, facilitated by World Renew’s local partner, Eagles. Sara’s family’s life began to transform, and so did Sara’s feelings about herself. “In 2020, my pastor asked me to represent our church at a meeting that the Eagles had organized . . . the facilitator talked about pillars, she explained about everyone being independent and also helping our communities to change, for God is not pleased seeing us facing challenges,” Sara recalls. “I was very quiet, listening attentively . . . The facilitator went on to explain that everyone possesses resources that can enhance their lives, and our only task is to uncover these resources that are all around us.”
After listening to the facilitator, Sara spent a sleepless night thinking about all the resources she possessed. The next morning, she wrote everything down. "I realized, I possessed land for farming and gardening, which I could utilize even when I lacked rain,” she says. “I planned to plant some vegetables while waiting for the rainy season.” Sara worked hard, and soon her efforts started
In Malawi, 664 church leaders received training or began to support transformation in their communities last year thanks to generosity like yours.
paying off as she sold the vegetables that she grew in her kitchen garden. “This helped me pay fees for my son, who is in secondary school; feed my children; and provide all my basic needs by myself because my husband could not support me,” she says.
Sara’s work on her farm also produced results that helped her grow in confidence in her ability to provide for her children. In 2021, she used profits from the sale of her ground nuts and maize to purchase chairs for her home and three bags of cement to repair her living room flooring. During the 2022-2023 season, she purchased 10 chickens, as well as rice and Irish potatoes, which she sold to fund her son's school fees and other household necessities. In February 2024, Sara purchased two pigs.
“I thank God for connecting me to this organization. I could have died in poverty, but thanks to Eagles Interventions, I have food on my table every day. I am not a beggar anymore. People admire me these days, and I am one of the facilitators in my community who teaches individuals to work hard,” says Sara, smiling with confidence. “Transformation comes from working hard. I am a testimony since I am no longer the same, and I am a happy mother since I can provide for my children. Wait to see how much I achieve in the future!”
Prayer Requests
BY STEVE SYWULKA
• Please continue to pray for peace in Mozambique, where protests have started to subside after a national election sparked unrest in late 2024.
• We praise God that food distribution in Malawi is going well, but we ask that you join us in prayer as recent fuel shortages and sporadic rains are causing concern.
• Thank you for your prayers for the onboarding of our new country director, Aaron Lewani, in Malawi. Please pray for the smooth transition to continue.
BY CAROL MUSOKE
Uganda
Fostering an entrepreneurial spirit
lives in the village of Agereger in Willa sub county, Uganda. Like many women in her community, Jessica depended on what her husband earned as a farmer to care for her family. And like other farming families, Jessica’s was struggling to meet their basic needs. “In the past we women survived as receivers only from our husbands and not as bread winners for our family, and crop farming has become difficult due to climate change,” shares Jessica. “We completely depended on our husbands to struggle to provide everything for us and our children.”
Thanks to gifts like yours, 743 children in Tanzania are experiencing better health from nutritious food, supplements, or visits to certified healthcare providers in the last year.
Then, through World Renew and local partner Pentecostal Assemblies of God North Teso, Jessica had the opportunity to attend a training session on starting a small business using staple food crops. Jessica and the other participants learned about roasting, frying, and baking products that use soya beans and salted peanuts. They learned how to make nut paste out of peanuts and daddies (a sweet fried flour treat) and about frying cassava and potato chips. The women also learned how to market and sell their products at the local trading center, at community schools, retail shops, and the town council. Jessica soon became the leader of ten women who set out to start a small business using their newfound knowledge.
In early May 2023, Jessica participated in an exchange visit to a training center in another community. She came back with additional skills and knowledge on baking bagiya (steamed dumplings) made from soya beans and learned how to make doughnuts, chapati, and daddies
using processed flour made from orange flesh sweet potatoes, cassava flour, and other staples like green grams, cowpeas, millet, and sorghum. “We now supply our products to retail shops in Willa, Obalanga, and Kuju sub counties,” says Jessica. “In Amuria, we supply God’s Wish supermarket, Ore supermarket, Save More supermarket, and eight other retail shops,” shares one group member.
Initially, the group was making profits of UGX 50,000 to UGX 70,000 per week ($13 to 18 USD) but with persistence and hard work, they have increased production and extended their market base and are now making profits averaging UGX 300,000 ($81 USD) per week.
“We also agreed to start a piggery project and bought four piglets at UGX 65,000 ($17 USD) per piglet. And we have decided as a group to start our own goat project—we plan to purchase a goat for each group member by saving UGX 20,000 ($5 USD) from our profits each week,” shares Jessica.
Through gifts like yours that helped provide training and enabled access to equipment to process fruit and staple crops, women like Jessica Nini are gaining confidence in their abilities to support their families.
Prayer Requests
BY BARBARA KAYANJA
• An estimated 50 million people are in need of humanitarian food assistance across East Africa; pray for an end to the conflict, extreme weather, and economic instability driving hunger in the region.
• Pray for the people of Sudan who the United Nations described as experiencing "un-paralleled humanitarian disaster" with famine confirmed in multiple regions.
• Pray for God’s protection for World Renew East Africa staff and partners as they travel to share Christ’s hope with communities struggling with hunger, poverty, and injustice.
Guatemala
BY LUCY RIVERA
Working together for greater impact
IN THE REMOTE neighborhood of Nueva Aurora in northern Guatemala, a group of women is helping to transform their community. While the men work in the surrounding palm oil fields, the women maintain their households and grow their own crops and raise livestock.
Amid difficult living conditions in this rural community, World Renew, with our local partner APIDEC, started a project focused on improving food security in the region. Through this project, participants are offered training opportunities in agriculture and more.
One group of women training in this initiative stands out for their determination and teamwork. They have started multiple projects to support their community, including chicken-raising, vegetable plots, and making their own compost for their gardens.
“Our experience with the work of APIDEC and World Renew has been very good,” shares Zoila Jucul, one of the leaders of
In Guatemala, 85 community and religious leaders completed workshops on conflict resolution last year, thanks to generosity like yours.
this group. “It has helped us improve our gardens [and] income and generated more food sources.”
The women have learned how to prepare two different kinds of compost: the lean foliar fertilizer and megafol foliar fertilizer, which are helping families save money.
“We are very grateful because we have also seen a very strong union among the women of the community,” says Zoila. “This is because we have worked together and, even though sometimes we have had differences, we have learned that together we can have a greater impact on our work, because we encourage each other, and we do not let anyone give up.”
Thanks to gifts like yours, the women have become role models in their community and communities around Nueva Aurora.
Prayer Requests
BY CORSTIAAN VAN AALSBURG
• Pray for God’s provision and protection for people in the region fleeing their homelands to seek a better life.
• Pray that farmers in the region struggling with the effects of extreme weather can learn and implement new climate-adaptive farming methods so their harvests are bountiful.
• World Renew Latin America gives praise to God for the generosity of donors who make it possible for us to share God’s hope with vulnerable communities.
Senegal
BY HAROUNA ISSAKA
Planting new opportunities for women
of Ndiongolor in Senegal, many women lacked the confidence or know-how to grow market crops to generate income, focusing solely on using what they grew for their families’ needs.
That changed when ELS, World Renew’s local partner, introduced Village Savings and Loan Associations (VLSAs) to help women in the area become income secure. VSLA members meet regularly to contribute to a group savings pool. As the pool grows, members are able to access low-interest loans for their personal needs. The VSLA meetings also provide valuable opportunities for members to attend training sessions on income-generating activities.
Thanks to gifts like yours, 1,454 people in Nigeria attended trauma healing sessions in the last year.
One particular crop that Marie learned about was the cassia italica, a medicinal plant used to treat infections. This crop is in high demand, even attracting customers from abroad.
Marie Ngom, a VSLA member, was very excited about the training opportunities. After participating in a course on market gardening, she learned a multitude of best practices for gardening, such as composting, mulching to avoid water stagnation, and even creating environmentally safe biopesticides to protect her crops.
Marie started practicing all she learned, and soon her garden transformed into a thriving source of both food and income. “I use market gardening to feed myself and my family,” says Marie. “So, this program changed my life.”
Growing and selling cassia italica is giving Marie and her family a steady source of bonus income. She is pleased that she can now afford to purchase school supplies and medicine for her children and is helping her family become income secure. Marie is also helping her community to thrive; she has trained 30 women on market gardening, sharing the knowledge that has helped to transform her life.
“Agriculture remains a very important activity in the community,” Marie shares.
“We've seen nothing but positive changes as a result of this program.”
Prayer Requests
BY HAROUNA ISSAKA
• An ongoing power supply crisis in Sierra Leone has led to significant power outages in several areas over the last few months. Please pray for solutions that will end these disruptions.
• In one of the countries in West Africa where we work (name withheld for security concerns), we praise God that 10,802 people improved their food security through World Renew programs in the last year. Pray for this work to continue.
• Please pray that God provides strength and hope to World Renew West Africa’s partners and staff.
Laos
Improving livelihoods by raising healthy chickens
BY WORLD RENEW LAOS
BEE XIONG lives with his wife and children on a small farm in Laos, raising chickens and growing sugarcane. In the past, Bee reared chickens in a traditional way following the same methods his parents used. With this approach, chicks were left to find their own food in the village or forest and were never vaccinated. Many chicks did not survive, and the grown chickens did not produce enough eggs.
In the Hmong village of Kornod where Bee lives, World Renew Laos organized a training program focused on raising chickens. Through the training, families learned techniques for feeding and raising healthy chickens that provide nutritious meat and eggs to eat or sell for income. Bee decided to participate in the program and received 12 chickens.
After witnessing the importance of raising chickens effectively from the program, Bee agreed to change his approach. He began to feed his chickens regularly, vaccinate them according to a schedule, and keep the chicken coop clean. Bee became passionate about caring for his chickens, taking the time to observe them often
Last year, thanks to gifts like yours, 2,339 farmers in Bangladesh were trained to share and exchange knowledge with others.
and ensuring they received access to water, quality food, and a safe shelter.
Over the course of six months, Bee’s chickens became healthier and started laying eggs regularly. He is now raising more than 30 young chicks in addition to the 12 chickens he received from the program. Thanks to the training, Bee has improved his family’s food security and income by successfully raising his chickens. He hopes to expand his chicken coop in the future, and he welcomes other community members to visit his farm and exchange lessons learned.
Thanks to your support for World Renew, people like Bee are improving their livelihoods and sharing their successes with others.
Prayer Requests
BY WARREN CLIMENHAGA
• Pray for Bangladesh and for wise leadership decisions by the interim government as the country grapples with uncertainty and a new wake of political unrest.
• We praise God that 1,892 people in India participated in trauma healing programs in the last year. Pray for strength and healing for those who are still facing or overcoming trauma.
• Please pray for continued safety, stamina, and hope for all of World Renew’s staff and partners working in Asia.
Working together in unity
ECCLESIASTES 4:9 teaches us:
"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil." World Renew lives this lesson through our partnerships with Christian organizations in the communities where we work around the world. In 2024, we partnered with 67 churches and Christian organizations to share Christ's hope with communities struggling with poverty.
Through our work, we also encourage community members to come together to achieve their goals. We’ve seen firsthand how living and working in unity creates an even greater impact. “We are very grateful because we have also seen a very strong union among the women of the community,” says Zoila from Guatemala. “This is because we have worked together and, even though sometimes we have had differences, we have learned that together we can have a greater impact on our work, because we encourage each other, and we do not let anyone give up.”
To help support communities struggling with hunger and poverty, visit: worldrenew.net/ community-development
