Since September, Karin Schwarz has been the official missionary of EBM INTERNATIONAL in Malawi. She has been working in the Balaka farm in the educational work with young adults. We as EBM INTERNATIONAL are happy that this big farm is busy again since it is an important project for our partners the Baptist Convention of Malawi (BACOMA). Regina Class has been doing regular trainings in the area of leadership development for the past 5 years in Malawi, and now there are two women in the area of capacity building in the so-called “warm heart of Africa”. Here are some original lines from their last newsletter:

Karin: “In the picture you see the team at the Balaka farm together with their trainees. In October, fifteen young women and men have been learning different things on the farm. We are hoping for them to acquire new skills so they can change their villages. They are being involved on the farm with typical daily activities: they are taking part in the devotion and they are learning to work the fields. We are growing crop plants, medical plants, corn, turmeric, artemisia, lemongrass, and ginger. In addition, there are different classes where practical life skills are being taught. We often use drama or role-play to teach in simple and realistic ways. It is so great to see my team of female and male staff instructing young people. They are great fruit from the mission work here in Balaka. Finally, we were able to bring all the things from the old house where we used to work to the farm and move in completely. Everything was loaded onto the open pickup truck. It is hard to imagine how difficult it is to put fridges, shelves, a stove, and many little things on top of each other in a safe way when the truck bed is so small and limited. That’s what moving looks like in Malawi – a little bit like playing Legos.”

Regina: “Beside the usual consults with the leaders of BACOMA I had different encounters with groups of women. I really enjoy working in small groups because it is easy to start a conversation. This way we develop ideas and solution approaches for their existing problems together. There was also a women’s conference where instead of the expected 50 participants we had 500 women there. When I was looking into the many women in their white and purple uniforms, quickly I had to change the plan. I used short role-plays and practical cases. This way many women were included and brought their own topics and they worked together interactively.”

We as EBM INTERNATIONAL are so excited about the ministry that Regina and Karin are doing with our brothers and sisters at BACOMA in Malawi. It is the core of our mission work to promote competence especially that of women as well as expressing our values.