A mother and daughter enjoy a drink of clean water from 1 of the 17 bore holes you helped provide in Malawi
Bo Hos Changing Lives
Jerry’s 2nd trip blog from Africa (Malawi)
Dear Family,
The second leg of my journey took me to Malawi, my second home. I tried to visit last November, but the borders were closed due to COVID. So I hadn’t been to Malawi since our summit meeting in December 2018.
I was also there in October 2017, verifying some testimonies. While there, I had the opportunity to preach at a church in Baloowa. After I preached, some ladies came forward for prayer. Every one of them had bad stomach problems. I prayed for them and then asked Brother Charles what was wrong. He told me the people in that village suffer greatly from waterborne illness. They need a “bo ho,” he said.
When I returned to the United States, I reached out to Diane with the Heaven’s Family Safe Water Ministry. I told her about the people of Baloowa and how they were suffering. I said, “They need a well or a bo ho.” She said “A what?” and then added, “Do you mean a bore hole?” That’s when I realized I must have misunderstood Charles’s accent!
Anyway, Charles and Diane began to work together. In 2018 we came back to that village with David Servant and photographed the completed project as the community celebrated the wonderful work God had done.
On this trip, I had the opportunity to see how that project had expanded Charles’s vision for Malawi. Since 2018, the Safe Water Ministry, thanks to God and your generous kingdom investments, has constructed many more bore holes in Malawi. This has been a great Heaven’s Family collaboration. But wait, this isn’t a Safe Water Ministry update, right? Where is the Farming God’s Way news? Well, guess what you find at every single bore hole … a Farming God’s Way demonstration garden. INGENIOUS!!!
Every bore hole we visited had multiple women and children around it, collecting water. Right next to them was a demonstration garden with God’s blanket at the ready. They plant and apply the blanket as soon as the rains come in November. Then, as these women and children come to collect their water, they will see the FGW demonstration garden from start to finish. They will see the thick healthy maize stocks and the massive corn cobs. As they begin to ask questions, our team can plug them into a God’s Love Group and get them on the road to abundant harvest.
One of these bore holes is at Pastor Charles’s training center. To retrieve water, you have to walk down a path with demonstration gardens surrounding you. Then you walk past the grass roof shelter where meetings and trainings are held. Finally, you arrive at the bore hole where you can rest under the shade of a mango tree. I cannot see how someone who comes there can interact so closely with FGW and GLGs and not decide to join.
On my second day in Malawi, we met with over 100 giants (GLG leaders). We heard one testimony after another of how FGW and now having safe water had absolutely changed their lives. Many hospital trips and school absences due to waterborne illness have been eliminated. To see a testimony from one of the boreholes, click here. The joy was infectious as they sang and celebrated. But we also met with some GLG leaders in areas that still lack access to safe water. They desperately asked us to continue the work of constructing the bore holes.
120 God’s Love Group leaders gather for testimonies and training at Charles’ training center
I pray that you would consider investing in the Heaven’s Family Safe Water Ministry. I am so grateful for the work you are helping Diane to accomplish among the people of my second home. I am also very excited to see how many new farmers will join us next year, thanks to the combination of the “bo hos” and Farming God’s Way demonstration gardens.
Thank you for your time, attention, and consideration.
Grace and peace,
Jerry Jefferson
Director, Farming God’s Way Ministry
