Come With Me – to Malawi!

Our team is set and (almost!) ready and our schedule is being set.

So how can you come with me to Malawi?

Pray for us. Prayer knows no physical boundaries and is the number one need for us. This is my first mission trip – ever! And I understand I will return changed…So pray for us as we embark on a mission into the country that Google says is the lowest of the low socioeconomically.

We will be in remote villages and refugee camps, so pray that the predominantly Muslim people welcome us to pray with and for them as we simply love on them as God loves them.

Pray that the men will allow us to meet with the women in the villages.

Pray that we have favor with the tribal chiefs.

Thank you, for prayer moves mountains aside and covers us as we step out in faith to love a people.

2. Donate – if and only if your heart is moved by God to do so as you read further. Included are several possibilities to invest in these people.

Let me introduce you to the team and tell you about some of the known needs and opportunities to bless a village and a refugee camp. We have met as a team four times and will keep meeting until we leave. We are bonding, praying and planning every time we come together.

Arden and Melanie Chapman have been married 38 years and have two grown married daughters. Last year their daughter Hannah went to Malawi – and fell in love with the people in the villages. They host a home group in the North Louisiana area and have spent their adult career as educators. They are gifted at praying for people one on one.

Me – Susan Mead – an award winning Christian author who lives on Lake Claiborne in North Louisiana. I am a wife, mother, lover of life – and Jesus. I will be teaching women as well as checking off Africa from my bucket list! My prayer is we see “critters and God’s glorious creation” as we experience His new mercies every morning we are there.

Breanna Riggins is a 25 year old LA Tech graduate from Baton Rouge who lives in Ruston and operates her own Graphic Design business. She’s a member of the Bridge Community Church and going on her very first mission trip. She will be loving on the children both in the refugee camp and the rural village. Pray for Bre!

Kathy Packman is married to Bob Packman. They have two children and three grandchildren. She is the owner of Covenant Farm, an equestrian facility in Dubach, LA. Her favorite job – being a grandmother.

Bruce and Pamela met in Malawi in 1999 and married in 2000. Since then Bruce has had a passion for Malawi (and Pamela!). They are the parents of eight children, six grown and two little ones. They host a home church in Ruston. Pamela works in HR at St. Francis Hospital and Bruce works as a Real Estate agent.

This is Matthew and Jeremiah Siegmund’s first mission trip to Malawi. They love to play in the dirt all day long, so they will fit right in with the children in Malawi. They plan to bring extra toys to share and play soccer with the kids in the village. They also are excited to meet many relatives they have never met. I’m so excited for them to be included in this trip!

If you are moved to sow into the children in the villages and refugee camps, a soccer ball or other toy would be a welcomed donation.

Hannah Siegmund is a recent addition to the team. She is the daughter of Bruce and the late Bren Siegmund and graduated from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on May 8th. It took her only 3 years to graduate with her degree in Marketing while being a member of the track team. Hannah will be the official photographer, social media director and will work with the children with Bre.

There are quite a few opportunities to bless these people that I would like to share with you. We all are constantly surrounded by needs and burdens – heavy burdens – of others.

Yet you to may be moved to bless these people – as you “come with me to Malawi” through a donation of goods or funds.

Some of these may take years before we are able to do them. If one of these opportunities touches your heart please let me know. There is no way the 10 of us can meet all of these opportunities, so I ask. If you can give toward a part of a need, we will combine gifts to be able to meet the needs as the Lord provides.

Financial donations may be directed to ChristSource Ministries via PayPal. The email to donate is ppmruston@gmail.com. Please insert a comment in the note area saying Malawi – Susan Mead so your donation goes where you direct it.

All donations directed towards Malawi – Susan Mead will receive a tax donation receipt from ChristSource Ministries at the end of the year.

These are some of the kids in the Dzelaka Refugee Camp School. The refugees started their own school for their children to get an education. We will spend three days there as Bruce has been three times and understands the needs – and how our encouragement blesses them. The great news is we have a great relationship with the leadership there!

We have a trusted contractor who can build two new classrooms for $4,500. With that, we can build an office and a boys and girls outdoor bathroom for the school.

Bruce recently shared his Malawi story with his son’s kindergarten class. He prayed it would touch the kid’s hearts before speaking. One child told his mom, “Mommy, can we donate this to Malawi, Africa ’cause those kids don’t have very much clothes, and a little boy would look very handsome in this.”

God loves him and his generous heart!

Frankly, it is too hard to bring clothes, so we do not need them. We leave most of the clothes we bring with us there. Interestingly, it’s cheaper to buy clothes in bulk there than to transport them from here to there.

David Samuel was a young orphan who was herding cows as a 6 year old and later became one of the top students in the country. He graduated from college and is now enrolled in the post graduate African Business Institute program where Bruce taught him in February and March this year.

David is looking for investors to loan him either $5,000 for a new three wheel taxi or $2,500 for a used three wheel taxi. David currently is a student and he would hire a driver to pay back the loan and would use the resources to live off of and support his sister in school. Does the ability to pour into an entrepreneur’s start up stir your heart? If so, let me know so the arrangements can be addressed.

These are the village children in Nkhotakota. The school and ministry are doing so well that we need to add more land and classrooms. $7,000 will allow us to purchase a significant amount of land where two more classrooms for the school can be erected for approximately $4,000.

I know that’s a lot, yet people want to know how to contribute when they are aware. Thank you for letting me share.

These are the school children in Nkhotakota. Their teachers do not have a High School diploma and yet they are doing an awesome job teaching at the best school in the area. We want to hire a certified teacher, a college graduate, to take these kids to a new level of learning as we want to see them go to college and change their country and the world.

The cost of a qualified, certified teacher, including housing, would be about $5,000 a year. If four people’s hearts are moved to donate $100 a month, the upcoming school year would be led by a trained teacher .

Do you have any laptops no longer in use? Or iPads or electronic tablets? We download English videos on these to help the children learn English. We take children’s books, old smart phones, projectors that plug into laptops, etc.

Your discards may be a tool for discovery for another.

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We are simply honored to share your gift with the students in Malawi.

Thank you for your interest in our mission trip to Malawi. We believe we can change a country and the world by touching the people there – for Love conquers all. You and I know that God is love…

So thank you for wanting to “come with me to Malawi.”

Thank you for your prayerful consideration of a donation, whether it is $10, $25, $50 – or 30, 60, or 100 times more.

FYI-my mission trip is fully funded so all donations will be directed to one or more of these projects.

Please do come to Malawi with me this summer – prayerfully and financially.

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PS – Remember you may donate through ChristSource Ministries via PayPal including a comment in the note area to direct your donation to Malawi – Susan Mead.