11/02/2022
When I got back from Malawi, I had surgery then lots of Physical Therapy and I started this report. Now I have finally finished it and want to share with you many of the things God did while we were there.
2022 Malawi Trip
November 1, 2022
On May 31, 2022, Waynetta Thrailkill, Chad Longing and Brandon Beard headed to Lilongwe, Malawi, to work with the Great Commission Missions Feeding Center in the Nkhotakota District. It was a long journey and we arrived on June 2 with no luggage. We bought supplies and headed to the feeding center. Godfrey, Jynne, Chikondi, Laura, the three of us, and 9 young men who we would come to call “Our Boys” piled in the van. Our Boys started singing and we all sang about JESUS as we traveled.
On Saturday we went to the feeding center to prepare for the Church dedication on Sunday. We went to visit Big Chief Mwazama and he gave us his blessing to work anywhere in his area which is very large. It was good so see him again. We got up very early on Sunday for the Church Dedication and it was such a blessing to see the large crowd gathering. Chad preached a great sermon and we had a wonderful time worshiping with the people. We look forward to what God will do through this Church which is named “Holy Dwelling Church”. I was looking outside at the crowd when I saw a boy who was badly crippled. I found out his
name was Vestas and he was the son of a young woman who works for GCM at the feeding center named Alice. I thought he was about 4 but his mother said he was 14 and had a twin who is doing very well in school. Vestas has brain damage. He has trouble sitting up and needs a special wheelchair. When we returned to Lilongwe, we talked with several doctors and found a group who is making him a wheelchair. They gave him a back brace to help him sit up.
We also found out that the well at Kasipa Feeding Center had dried up. Godfrey made arrangements for us to meet with the head of Water Access of Malawi in Salima on our way back to Lilongwe. The Lord already had prepared things for us because the representative for Water 4 from Norman, Oklahoma, arrived in Salima the same time we did. We knew we would need to raise money as soon as we got home for the new well. Soon after arriving home, the Lord called out the people we needed to walk beside us and fund this project. We are so thankful.
After the Church Dedication, we spent the week working at a number of different villages in the Nkhotakota area. On Monday, we left the lodge early in the morning and went to a village to share Christ. Our Boys led us in praise and worship and then we shared what the Lord had put on our hearts. We took with us some wonderful helpers who cooked lunch for everyone. We spent the afternoon cleaning up and talking with people in the village. In the evening we showed the JESUS Film. We had people who prayed and talked with those who wanted to know more about having a relationship with Jesus.
Each day during the week, we went to a different village and did the same thing. The last day we were in a village that has a lot of animalism and demonic presence. We are concerned for the people in that village though we had quite a few asking questions and praying after the film. Please pray for the believers in that area as they try to minister in that village.
We arrived back in Lilongwe and prepared to lead a Pastors Conference. We had a wonderful day of worship with Godfrey’s Church on Sunday then the Conference on Monday. The Pastors were open to the things the Lord asked us to share with them. Then we had a time of questions and answers which was a wonderful blessing to all of us. We had times of praise and worship off and on all day. It was such a blessed day together.
After Chad and Brandon headed home, we went to the village where GCM started. It was so great to see many of the children who had grown up at the feeding center and many other friends I had not seen for a long time. What a heartwarming day it was for me. When we got back to Lilongwe, we started preparing for the Ladies Conference we were having in a village south of Lilongwe in a couple of days. It was a village I was in years ago when they were starting a Church. We had a large number of women and it was a glorious day. God once again worked in many ways in this conference.
We had asked the Lord to bring our luggage with the supplies to Malawi so they could be used even after we were gone. The first two bags arrived as we were having the Pastors Conference. The next two arrived as Chad and Brandon were preparing to leave. The next bag arrived two weeks after all of us had gone home. It was the bag with 5000 aspirin that helps with malaria. One bag was still missing but finally arrived. All of the supplies arrived as requested. The Lord is always faithful. The bag Chad received the day before leaving Malawi got lost on the way home. It was a crazy time of finding our way through without having supplies, clothes and other things we thought we needed. God showed us all we needed was Him.
I want to ask you to pray with us for the many needs of Great Commission Missions as we continue to minister in Malawi.
Monthly donors for food and supplies for the feeding center
Donations for -
continuing a ministry to widows and widowers
blankets for the children, widows and widowers
building a dorm for teams to stay in while working at the feeding center and Nkhotakota area
medical care and such things as wheelchairs etc.
And the needs go on and on. We need your help.
You can mail a check to Great Commission Missions, Inc., 6300 SW Rutland Road, Apt. 106, Bentonville, AR 72713 or the Oklahoma office at 7650 Oakwood Way, Jones, OK 73049.
You can also pay through PayPal.
