Pastor Stewart and his wife Lenata Chawinga
are faithful servants of God. They occupy themselves with the
labor in the field as well as render support to many orphans and
widows in Malawi. They have a vision for their nation. The Chawingas
have fifteen people living in their home whom they support. They
are paying school fees for and all day-to-day care. This couple
is hoping to build an orphanage rather than rent which is
costly. With their own facility they will be able to take in more
children who are desperate for love and care.
(Newsletter was completed using this donated
laptop)
Prayer Intercessors from the Las Cruces
Prayer Network donated funds to help Pastor Stewart pay the rent
on his home which house 15 people including many orphans
The congregation of Valley Faith Center, Las
Cruces, New Mexico - Pastor Alan Granger made a donation toward
the building of the orphanage in Lilongwe, Malawi
Members from the Judeo-Christian Israel
Alliance Congregation gave Pastor Stewart a prayer shawl, and
contributed to building an orphanage.
Pastor Jeff and Maria Sutton & Living Word
Family Church donated all funds needed for 3 months rent on
house including an external hard drive with ten years of
teachings and Bible School material and books
Powered was born in 2007 after Pastor Stewart
realized the need and challenges faced by orphans,
widows, women headed families and street kids in are 24 in the
City of Lilongwe.
It was in 2005 when Pastor Stewart began to
see a number of orphans, needy women and widows coming to his
house asking for support. He sat down with his wife, Lenata and
discussed how they can support them. It was challenge to them
since they had limited resources. By then they were facing
challenges in their own house rental in which is still a
struggle up to now. They had to risk their family to share the
little God is providing to them.
As they were still working on how to find
support for first their house rent, a man of God, Rich Elliot
provided monthly support for house rental. With this support,
this family was able to provide home based care, free nursery
education and food and house rentals to widows.
In 2007 things changed drastically when The
Reverend Rich was not able to continue with the support. Pastor
Stewart’s family began to suffer. After not paying rent for four
months they had to leave. They tried to involve the congregation
but because of the number it was difficult to receive enough
funds.
POWERED was started due to this situation.
There was a great need to continue the work so in 2007
Philadelphia Organization for welfare, Education, Relief and
Development was registered as an official organization to help
orphans, widows and needy people.
Since 2005 through 2008, Pastor Stewart and
his wife have provided support to over 800 orphans. They have
indirectly supported orphans who are in secondary schools by
applying for bursary for them, over 300 orphans received free
secondary education and 300 received nursery school education.
They encourage orphans to attend school so that tomorrow they
can have a brighter future.
Pastor Stewart and his wife continue to
provide home based care to a number of orphans and widows. They
have five children but his family is as big as fifteen because
of some orphans and needy children they care for in their home.
In 2008 they started renting a portion of a
school to provide nursery, primary and secondary education. They
are now supporting orphans with free education through this
school. With the challenges of paying teachers they have now
began to accept paying students to provide the salaries for the
staff. The school is called Hillside Christian Private School.
The school currently offers the following:
a.Day-Care & Nursery
Education
b.Primary Education
c.Secondary education
This is the current status of orphans and
needy children being assisted by POWERED:
Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland
became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three
decades of one-party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA
the country held multiparty elections in 1994, under a
provisional constitution that came into full effect the
following year. Current President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA, elected in
May 2004 after a failed attempt by the previous president to
amend the constitution to permit another term, struggled to
assert his authority against his predecessor and subsequently
started his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in
2005. As president, MUTHARIKA has overseen substantial economic
improvement but because of political deadlock in the
legislature, his minority party has been unable to pass
significant legislation, and anti-corruption measures have
stalled. Population growth, increasing pressure on agricultural
lands, corruption, and the spread of HIV/AIDS pose major
problems for Malawi.
Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's most densely populated
and least developed countries. The economy is predominately
agricultural with about 85% of the population living in rural
areas. Agriculture accounts for more than one-third of GDP and
90% of export revenues. The performance of the tobacco sector is
key to short-term growth as tobacco accounts for more than half
of exports. The economy depends on substantial inflows of
economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual
donor nations. In December 2007, the US granted Malawi
eligibility status to receive financial support within the
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) initiative. Malawi will
now begin a consultative process to develop a five-year program
before funding can begin. In 2006, Malawi was approved for
relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program.
The government faces many challenges including developing a
market economy, improving educational facilities, facing up to
environmental problems, dealing with the rapidly growing problem
of HIV/AIDS, and satisfying foreign donors that fiscal
discipline is being tightened. In 2005, President MUTHARIKA
championed an anticorruption campaign. Since 2005 President
MUTHARIKA'S government has exhibited improved financial
discipline under the guidance of Finance Minister Goodall GONDWE
and signed a three year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
worth $56 million with the IMF. Improved relations with the IMF
lead other international donors to resume aid as well.
10.100.000 inhabitants.
- Statistics: 54-83% Christian (20-28% Catholics, 34-55%
Protestants including a 19% in syncretical African Churches),
15-20% Muslims.
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Malawi
Background