Article

Its all about timing, and that’s all.

My son Jason has a solar business called GWH Solar. He was awarded a tender by the WHO in 2017 to supply solar to 34 hospitals and clinics in Malawi. He partnered with a company called Global.

It was a very interesting project because the clinics had no power and the vaccines supplied by WHO would go off and could not be used. Where contaminated vaccines were administered, there were deaths. The WHO aimed to rectify this by supplying SUBS to the clinics. 

SUBS are fully contained solar powered refrigeration units constructed to house vaccines and medicine. Global supplied the SUBS and GWH supplied the Solar. 

 Malawi has a serious power problem. There are power outages for hours and sometimes for days. There are little or no backup generators in the hospitals. It was here that Jason was exposed to the impact and reality of interrupted power supplies. 

Respirators and incubators would cease to work and the elderly and babies would die in front of them and they could do nothing about it. Death became a constant factor in their day and this was so traumatising that he called Tarryn, my daughter-in-law to come to Malawi to be with him. Tarryn flew to Malawi where she encountered the same trauma and need for help. When babies died the mothers would be on the steps of the hospitals screaming and crying for their loss with no one comforting or counselling them. The need for counsel and assistance was so huge that Tarryn called me and said that we have to do a work in Malawi. She expressed the intensity of the situation and reiterated the need for help. 

I heard everything that they had been through. However I was divorced from the reality of Malawi. The situation in Malawi is very difficult and hard to imagine if you do not touch their pain.

It was a sad story about a faraway place and I was quite disconnected. 

However one night in December 2017 at 2am in the morning God woke me with a message saying, “Write down the vision”.

I sat with pen and paper staring at the blank page for an hour or so, waiting for something to fall out of heaven. Nothing came!

I said, “If you want me to write down the vision you will need to give me one”.

I forgot about the message and went about my day. 

It was later that week when Tarryn called me saying that Jason had run out of spares. They needed to complete the work so that the workers could be home for Christmas. Tarryn had commitments with the kids and they suggested I fly to Malawi with spares, which I did. 

I had the honour of working with Jason in the remotest parts of Malawi for an entire week. We visited outlying clinics where there were no roads, using only the dry river beds to navigate. It was quite an experience and it was here that the vision was birthed. 

We had the privilege of meeting interns at the mushroom farm 3500km above sea level. These interns were from France, Germany, America and Brittan. They were in the country on assignment by the WHO to teach the children in the villages. Their internship was for a year and some had stayed on for further work. 

On returning from Malawi, I knew that I had to start workshops to assist the villages to overcome poverty. 

Through the following year I met Pastor Ezekiel Mpochela.  Pastor Ezekiel is from Blantyre and is working for Maranatha Community Church in the prison ministry. He is also the pastor at Modderbee prison. Bryan and Dairin Krynauw have also joined the ministry. Bryan and Ps Ezekiel had a similar vision years ago and could not execute it. Bryan also has the calling to dig wells and planting gardens. This will be so beneficial to the communities. 

We have registered an NPO in the name of “The Hope of Africa.” 

Our mission statement is “Bringing people together in the spirit of hope.”

We chose the Tree as our logo and it has been a continual confirmation that as the tree covers and brings relief from the sun, so will this ministry cover and protect and bring relief from poverty. 

Unfortunately I am unable to travel at present but God provided men with integrity that can go in my place. Ps Ezekiel, Bryan and their wives embarked on our fist fact finding trip on the 27th August. During this trip they met with 4 villages, hospitals and clinics to set up infrastructure to begin the work. They met with government officials and the main hospital in Blantyre. The aim is to partner with influential people that will assist to accelerate the movement of this project.  

I asked God, “Why are you starting this work in Malawi?” 

He replied, “Because the people are pure.”

I have since found out that Malawi is called, “The warm heart of Africa.” And this is a witness for me, because God always starts a work with the heart. 

I believe that the work will begin an enormous transitional effect to break the cycle of poverty and set the people free to rise above their circumstances. 

God also gave me a word, saying…If you can change one person, you can change a whole village. 

I believe the effects of the ministry will filter down as families carry their change into other countries. We are not limiting the ministry to Malawi only. We believe that this is a starting point and God will move the ministry in all directions as he guides us.