Emmanuel International Malawi has a variety of wholistic projects at work through local churches and communities in Malawi and Mozambique. Scott and Lorilee MacLean are Canadian missionaries who have been connected to the EI Malawi team since 1997. After twelve years in Malawi and ten years of training missionary candidates in Canada, they gladly returned to Malawi in 2019 and have been working hard over the past few years to partner, mobilize, and train individuals throughout a variety of different projects. We evidently see God at work in each project that Scott and Lorilee have invested in, and we hope you too find encouragement through this overview of a few of the programs they have on the go!
The Chisomo Theological and Vocational Training provides students with a firm theological understanding of the Bible along with practical carpentry skills that they can utilize to generate income. Throughout the one-year program, students take an in-depth dive into understanding the Christian life and complete inductive studies in books like Romans and Hebrews.
Due to recent natural disasters and the rapidly increasing issue of deforestation within Malawi, the Mizu ya M’tsogolo or Future Roots project is working to plant trees to combat these various environmental threats. This pilot project has planted 50 msangu trees which are green manure, nitrogen-fixing trees that do not compete with the growing season of maize. The team is hoping to plant many more trees in the years to come!
The Psalm 100 Choir Project aims to help young people sing from a deeper understanding of who Jesus is. The project team is creating devotionals based on the choir songs they sing. Paul, Innocent & Mphatso have collected close to 300 choir songs from southern Malawi. These devotionals will be distributed at church worship conferences in 2024.
Read more about the Psalm 100 Choir Project in our November 2021 Down to Earth, when the project was in its initial phase.
A Reading Club of Grade 4-6 students participate in an after-school program to learn English, Maths and Chichewa. The tutors are mature students, and the kids’ grades at school speak to the benefit. A plan for the expansion of the club to reach more students is underway!
Scott and Lorilee also focus on mission mobilization in partnership with Kenyan missionaries Patrick and Violet Nabwera. The Nabweras have trained Kenyan, Tanzanian, and Mozambican believers to understand and embrace their part in God’s work through the mobilization strategy they have developed. Additionally, the MacLeans are working to develop modular biblical training closer to the Mozambique border to strengthen local church leaders and believers there. We trust these efforts will produce God-honouring, effective outreach in the lesser reached areas of Malawi and Mozambique.
Please join us in praising God for the amazing work He is doing in Malawi through local churches and the EI Malawi team, and let’s pray for every individual involved in these projects!