The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged families everywhere. In the African nation of Malawi, school shutdowns have affected the normal way of life and parenting has become an issue for many households who are spending more time at home. The nation has also seen a significant increase in reports of domestic violence and teenage pregnancies. But in the middle of this hardship the local church leaders have stepped up in Malawi to provide support to families in their communities.

The Church in Malawi had been grappling to find healthy ways to respond to the challenges they were seeing, especially in communities lacking resources.

Partnering with World Without Orphans, Forgotten Voices Malawi was able to adapt and use the Parenting Tips to complement their ongoing support for their partner churches. Several churches were equipped to utilize the translate Parenting Tips to respond to some of the adverse effects of Covid-19 in their communities. To date, over 120 churches have been reached with this strategic Initiative.

Here are some of the testimonies we have received from leaders attesting to how the parenting tips have helped strengthen relationships and meet the need of families in their community in Malawi:

“This just shows what a fully equipped church can do- when all are seeing no hope, we see the Lord at work in and through us. Partnerships and resources like these are rare, and these tips are reaching to the core of the issue at hand. We find these will be relevant even after the Covid pandemic. These tips have come as a reminder to the church to check her priorities right: a healthy family, a healthy church- and if you equip the family well, like with this initiative, we are assured of dedicated and faithful disciples of our Lord, loving their families and God’s work.”- Pastor Medi, of Zomba Brethren.

“I have discovered that as Pastors, our own problems have also flooded the church- that we are expecting perfect families when we ourselves have broken homes. Such hypocrisy, but I know this is a general lack of knowledge birthed by a lack of interest to conversations like these- or just the lack itself of feasible tools the church can systematically be equipped with. We are now going out equipped to face parenting challenges- church challenges.” - Rev. Cedric, Agape Life Church (Chiradzulu).