Malawi Missions

Malawi United Methodist Church

On January 1, 2009, the Malawi United Methodist Church celebrated their status as the new Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church. Their new status reflects the dedication, sacrifices and prayers of Malawian pastors and laity who have planted and nurtured this young church over the past 15 years. They grew from a handful of churches to a thriving conference of 22 circuits and over 140 churches based on the same passion and commitment of John Wesley to preach the Good News to those in the most rural villages, hoping to set Malawi on fire for Christ.

Rev. Mhone, the District Superintendent, supervises 24 pastors appointed in largely rural circuits where 85% of the church members survive day-to-day as subsistence farmers. The 22 circuits of the Malawi UMC are each served by one pastor who is responsible for 3 to 20 local churches, within a 150-300 sq mile region. The pastors work tirelessly as advocates for vital infrastructure in the communities where they serve, like borehole wells that will provide clean drinking water for families as well as a source of water for washing and irrigation for gardens.

Malawi: The Country

Malawi is a land-locked country of 10.5 million mostly rural people east of Zambia, west of Mozambique and south of Tanzania. Like Zimbabwe, it was colonized by English-speaking Europeans in the 19th century. It gained its independence from Great Britain in 1964 and became a democratic republic in 1994. Lilongwe is the capital city. The annual, per capital income is $800. Some 80% of the population is Christian, 55% of those Protestant.

Our Hope:

To empower Malawians through the Methodist Church to give them a fighting chance for a future with HOPE. How can this happen? By providing opportunities for abundant life, addressing basic needs like clean water, basic sanitation and hygiene training, self-sustaining econimic empowerment, health education and medical rehabilitation, spiritual formation and pastoral leadership, early childhood education and life skills training.

If you would like to join a team, you will need to attend team training and be certified in Safe and Sacred. Please submit our International Trip Application. Specific information on upcoming mission trip dates and service opportunities are on the trip date link to the right.