Malawi
BY FAYE
Holding on to hope in a time of crisis
ALEFA PINTO, 37, uses a cane for walking after a childhood illness caused damage to her joints. The sole breadwinner for her three children and her late sister’s son, Alefa works with determination. However, when Cyclone Freddy swept across southern Malawi in March 2023, bringing torrential rains and fierce winds that resulted in floods and landslides and caused the destruction of homes, crops, and livelihoods, she felt discouraged. “I was terrified when the floodwater rushed into my home. I heard a wall collapsing because the water also brought down large rocks and mud from the mountain,” she shares.
Cyclone Freddy left over 650,000 people displaced. With funding from Canadian Foodgrains Bank, World Renew partnered with Word Alive Ministries to provide displaced families like Alefa’s with a monthly cash transfer for six months to purchase food and other essentials. Families also received maize seeds, pigeon peas, beans, sweet potato vines, and assorted vegetable seeds, as well as training in conserva tion agriculture to help address their future food needs.
In the last year, generosity like yours has helped make it possible for 22 communities in Zambia to participate in sessions focused on justice, rights, and advocacy.
“I am so thankful for the cash provided through World Renew and Word Alive,” Alefa says. “It has allowed me to buy the necessary food for my family. I have saved enough funds to keep my children in school . . . I continue to save to purchase cement mortar to complete the rebuilding of my home.”
Although Alefa planted the seeds she received, southern Malawi is experiencing drought during what should be the rainy season. “I am able to water a portion of my maize crop and vegetables by hand, using water from the [community well], so I will still get some yield from my maize field and garden crops,” she says. “I continue to pray for rain, and I have faith in God. He hears all prayers, so I remain hopeful.”
Prayer Requests
BY STEVE SYWULKA
• Low-yielding harvests across Southern Africa this year have started to impact families. The food stores that they hoped would last until the next harvest in March 2025 are running out. Pray for God’s provision for families facing hunger.
• Pray for rain in Zambia, where an estimated 95% of electricity comes from hydro power. A lack of rain has meant communities are facing between 12 and 18 hours of power cuts each day.
• As World Renew Malawi recruits for the role of Country Director, pray that God will lead us to just the right person.
YU
Alifa and her daughter Hannah
BY JOSEPH MUTEBI
Uganda
A widow’s journey to income stability
IN THE COMMUNITY where Loy lives in Uganda, many people raise animals to provide for their families. Loy, 75, is a widow and mother of three adult children. Despite having trouble walking due to problems with her back and legs, Loy can earn income and pay for medical treatment thanks to her goats.
In the last three years, 2,812 people in Tanzania have participated in gender justice training and awareness sessions thanks to generous-hearted people like you.
Almost 20 years ago, World Renew and our partner, Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG)—North Teso, began a project focused on goat rearing in Loy’s community. Goats are a helpful resource for families struggling with food security: goat milk provides nourishment and can be sold to generate income, and goat droppings can be used as fertilizer to grow crops. Goats can reproduce quickly and often give birth to twins or triplets, which multiplies opportunities for families who raise them.
Loy received a goat and training through PAG’s project.
When her goat gave birth for the first time, Loy was delighted to discover triplets. She gave one of the goats to another member of her group, helping the program continue to grow. Later, as her goats multiplied, Loy was able to sell some to purchase two cows.
Today, Loy owns several goats and cows. She lives in a three-bedroom house she built with her late husband before he passed away. In addition to funding her home and medical treatment, the income she earned helped send her now-grown children to school. And today, Loy is helping fund her grandchildren's education.
Prayer Requests
BY BARBARA KAYANJA
Thanks to support like yours for World Renew’s work, widows like Loy have opportunities to secure better futures for themselves and their families.
• Please continue to pray for peace and reconciliation in communities that experience conflict in Kenya.
• In August, a landfill collapse in Uganda’s capital killed 24 people, injured several others, and displaced an estimated 1,000 residents from their homes; pray for the people of Kampala as they grapple with this tragedy.
• Pray that God will bless World Renew staff in West Africa with good health, wisdom, and joy as they share his love.
BY LUCY RIVERA
Guatemala
From hardship to hope: Regina's story
REGINA XOL BA and her family live in northern Guatemala and come from the Q’eqchi’, an indigenous Mayan people group. Regina was 16 years old when her father, the primary breadwinner of their family, passed away. After her father’s passing, Regina began to work to help support her mother and siblings. It was a difficult time, and the family struggled to make ends meet.
In 2024, thanks to gifts like yours, 70 adolescents in Honduras were trained as community leaders in the promotion of rights, advocacy, and active citizenship.
creating family gardens, food processing, and poultry raising. These new skills opened opportunities for Regina to generate income and help her family journey to food security.
Through God’s grace, things began to change when Regina’s mother began participating in a food security project facilitated by World Renew’s local partner, Association of the Integral Program for Christian Development; the Presbyterian Service Committee of Peten (APIDEC). Initially, Regina was not interested in the project, but over time she observed the positive impact APIDEC’s programs had on her mother. Motivated by her mother's success, Regina decided to join the training sessions. She learned valuable skills in agriculture, such as vegetable planting,
Regina is now 22 years old, with a home and family of her own. She is a proud role model of economic independence for her siblings and her young son. She thanks God for the support of APIDEC and World Renew and for the knowledge and skills that she gained, which helped her to become self-reliant and economically stable.
Thank you for your gifts that help young people like Regina to acquire new skills, grow in confidence, and become role models in their communities.
Prayer Requests
BY CORSTIAAN VAN AALSBURG
• After 18 months without a country director in Haiti, Kristie van de Wetering has taken on this role and is already proving to be a blessing to the World Renew Haiti team. Praise God!
• Please continue to pray for political stability in each of the four countries where World Renew works in Latin America: Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
• As conflict and extreme weather continue to push more families into hunger across Latin America, pray that God will provide the funding so World Renew can share his hope with more people.
Regina in her garden
BY
Finding hope after trauma
DORCAS ATIME, a mother of four children, lost her husband following an attack on their community in Taraba State in northeastern Nigeria.
As an unemployed widow, Dorcas struggled to provide for her family’s basic needs. They often did not have enough food to eat, and Dorcas found it challenging to cover the costs of sending her children to school.
Thanks to compassion like yours, 803 people in Sierra Leone benefited from membership in a Village Savings and Loan Association in the last year.
children to school. Dorcas now feels empowered to help those in need in her community.
Through our local partner in Nigeria, the Universal Reformed Christian Church (URCC), World Renew works to support widows like Dorcas by implementing programs like the African Widow and Orphans Support (AWOS) program. Dorcas participated in AWOS training sessions and learned basic business principles. Through the program, she also received seed capital to start a business.
Dorcas now owns a yam farm and sells yams during the harvest season. She earns income from selling her yams and other crops, like soybeans and peanuts. With this increased income, Dorcas is able to provide for her family and send her
As part of the training, Dorcas and other participants were also encouraged to form a savings group. Through the savings group, Dorcas has learned the discipline of saving a little of her weekly profits. Dorcas says, “I really appreciate this program for the grant I received, which allowed me to expand my farm, and also the economic empowerment training that gave me basic skills to do my farm work in a different way.”
Your support helps equip families with the training and resources to journey away from poverty. Thank you for sharing Christ’s love and hope with people like Dorcas.
Dorcas weeding her garden
Prayer Requests
BY HAROUNA ISSAKA
• Praise God for the rainy season in Nigeria, which reached its peak over the summer. Continue to pray for farmers as they work hard to produce bountiful harvests.
• Pray for World Renew Sierra Leone as the team seeks new Christian partners while still working to nurture relationships with current partners.
• World Renew staff in West Africa often travel on rough roads between villages for their work; please pray for smooth travels as they extend God’s compassion to these communities.
GRACE GARNVWA
BY WORLD RENEW ASIA
The healing power of forgiveness
MAE* AND HER two children live in a rural community in Asia*. Five years ago, their life was tragically changed when Mae’s husband was murdered. Mae found herself burdened by the weight of anger. She longed for peace.
World Renew’s local partner has been running a Trauma Healing Program with local churches in the region where Mae lives for several years. The Bible-based program brings people together in a healing group where they learn to talk about their pain and listen to the stories of other people’s pain. Mae joined a two-day healing session that took place at her church this past year.
In the last three years, 625 Community Health Volunteers have been trained to support pregnant women and young mothers Bangladesh, thanks to gifts like yours.
pain and bitterness to the cross and surrender them to God. Finally, Mae found the strength and spirit to forgive the person responsible for her husband’s death.
The final session of the program had a profound impact on Mae. The session, focused on forgiveness, helped Mae to understand how carrying anger was hindering her peace and spiritual growth. Mae came to understand that forgiveness is not only a commandment but also a pathway to inner peace. The program’s teachings reminded her that, with the Holy Spirit, God has equipped believers to forgive others—just as Christ forgives us. She learned to bring her
As Mae embraced forgiveness, she experienced healing in her heart and soul. The years of anger dissolved, replaced by a deep sense of peace and liberation. She attributes this transformation to the program. She believes that divine intervention guided her towards healing. She says, “I praise God for giving me this spirit of forgiveness that has allowed me to release my pain and find solace in his love.”
Prayer Requests
BY RUAIRIDH WADDELL
*To protect identities, names and specific locations have been changed or omitted.
• In August 2024, following protests, the prime minister of Bangladesh resigned, and an interim government was formed. Pray for wisdom for leaders as they work to restore law and order.
• Human trafficking continues to plague Cambodia, robbing the vulnerable of their rights and freedom. Pray for an end to this modern-day form of slavery.
• Pray for God’s provision for all people displaced by recent floods in Bangladesh, India, and Laos. Pray too for safety for World Renew staff and partners working in the region.
Brighter futures for widows and orphans
IN MANY COMMUNITIES where World Renew works, conflict has left women widowed and children orphaned. Adding to the trauma they’ve experienced, negative cultural practices sometimes make these widows and orphans subject to dehumanizing treatment.
At World Renew, our work focuses on meeting the needs of the most vulnerable, and support for widows and orphans is a crucial part of what we do. Resources like trauma healing programs and economic training help widows who bear the sole burden of providing for their families, and support for orphans ensures education and care to help give them brighter futures.
When you give a gift that supports peace and justice programs, widows and orphans can find renewed hope after trauma. Changing the story of poverty starts with the most vulnerable, and creating better opportunities for widows and orphans means entire communities can achieve more stability together.
To learn more and help share Christ’s hope with vulnerable women and children, visit: worldrenew.net/peaceandjustice
