Last fall we traveled into the village of Sanjiko, Malawi to meet with a group of young adults who had a vision. Sitting in a circle one hot Sunday afternoon, we listened to each other’s stories and learned about each others’ lives. Everyone in the Sanjiko youth group was struggling to make a living and hunger was a daily reality. We met skilled carpenters who no longer owned a hammer and tailors who couldn’t afford sewing machines. But they weren’t asking us to help them individually. Instead they laid out a plan for a collaborative farming project. They reasoned that if the group worked together to plant, harvest and sell the crop, then they would have money to buy the things they needed. Ancient Path accountant, Blessings Mtambo, agreed to oversee the project and Ancient Path provided the funds to buy garden hoes, seed and to rent several acres of land.
Blessings recently sent this report on the Sanjiko project and one of the young organizers, Andrew Daveson:
Andrew Daveson is 24 years old and married with 2 children named Davion and Elizabeth. He comes from Mdondwe village T/A Tsabango Lilongwe and is one of the 3 organizers in the Sanjiko youth project. Andrew is a good evangelist and has been the leader whenever there is an outreach program for the church. The combination of his talents cannot match with what he has at heart. He wants to be involved in a full time missions activities serving the Lord and preaching the gospel. He is also good at organizing things – that’s why it was no surprise when he was voted to be one of the organizers of the group.
Andrew supports his family by growing crops – such as ground nuts, soya beans and maize which he sells part of after harvesting. His sales from the crops do not fetch enough money to look after his family. He often tries to find something else to do after the harvesting season. One of the things he does is selling grass that he buys from villagers who have grass on their land.
This is the type of tall grasses that people use to make fences in the townships. This year Andrew had the privilege to supply grass to repair the fence in Kaliyeka where the Chifundo program meets, after it was damaged by heavy rains bad weather. He often does not have pre-arranged customers so he transports the grass from the village to the township to sell on the streets. If he does not find buyers, he is then forced to transport the grass back to the village on a stretch of approximately 25 kilometers to and from the township. It’s not an easy job because the bicycle is fully packed with grass and when he does not find customers, it’s harder to go back home tired and frustrated. It is even worse going back to a hungry home.
The introduction of the Sanjiko youth project has been a help to him since now he is able to share ideas with friends on how to maximize efficiency on the things that he does for a living. The farming tools, seeds, and money to rent fields that was given by Ancient Path for the group helped so much that we are able to donate a portion of the soya crop is to an under-five children’s feeding center in Sanjiko for their daily porridge. Also, with funds that were leftover we were able to purchase much-needed Bibles. (Previously no one owned a Bible except the pastor of the church.) All the materials were shared among the Sanjiko youth group.
The growing of Soya was one of the things the Sanjiko youth decided to do as part of the activities. Three acres of land was rented and 3 sub groups were given 1 acre each. The land was managed by the responsible group members from the planting level up to the harvesting and the final stage of putting in bags. The project members showed their commitment by doing all the work together from time to time.
Since the beginning, the Sanjiko youth program has been a sharing centre of ideas, but most of all, it is a worship group. Andrew hopes that one day his dreams will come true when the Sanjiko youth group will have its own full equipment of public announcement system (Amplifier, speakers Mic phones Guitars’ keyboard) to minister and preach the word of God in Malawi.
Andrew gives many thanks to Ancient path for providing the materials and offering a kind heart to transform the lives of the Christian youths through the Sanjiko youth Project. He says this is just the beginning of the great things and God has finally answered their prayers.
As a group of Sanjiko, we all give thanks for the commitment and a kind heart that Ancient Path has shown and given to us. We pray that the Lord should increase your limited resources into everlasting abundances.
God Bless you
Sanjiko youth