Jackie Griffiths: Christmas Greetings from Malawi December 2025

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Malawi! As I stop and pause over the past year, I am grateful to God for His faithfulness and goodness and feel so blessed that He called me to serve Him and His people in this beautiful country. What a privilege!

The School for the Deaf

In September we welcomed two new students, both aged 5 years which necessitated us taking on another teacher and so Mr. Madalitso Tebulo joined the team. We now have 9 students, all at different levels, aged from 5 to 16 years which makes teaching quite a challenge. Although progress is slow, it is encouraging to see that progress is being made. The highlight of the year for them happened a couple of weeks ago when we took them for a day trip to Blantyre. I think for all the children, this was the first time they had ever been to the city so the excitement was off the scale! Not only did the place have a playground and activities, it is situated on the edge of Blantyre airport and although it’s not Heathrow, they were thrilled to see the one plane come in and take off!

Preschool

A number of preschoolers graduated from preschool in July and started in the local primary school. They were replaced by a new cohort and we now have 28 in preschool. Unlike children in the West who have so many things to stimulate them from the time they are babies and can often count before they start preschool, that is not the case here. I have been busy making many resources to try to help the teacher communicate and teach in a fun way through games to aid the preschoolers learning. We are grateful for the donation we receive each month to enable us to feed all our students and staff with porridge each morning.

All our children were very happy when we had a playground installed including a slide, swings, see-saws, roundabout. This was a very welcome Christmas gift from one of our Elim churches last year.

Youth Club

Due to many activities taking place in the village on the weekend, we decided to change the day of our youth group to a Friday afternoon which works much better. The time is now more focused and we have a few team games followed by singing, a bible lesson and a memory verse. I am impressed how eager they are to stay behind after club has finished to write down the memory verse so that they can learn it at home!

Bible Study Groups

Earlier in the year we did the Alpha Course with our staff which was well received following that they wanted to continue studying the Bible so each Thursday we meet to study the Bible together and discuss the relevant topics.

In September we also started a Bible study group with some of the women from the village who enthusiastically attend each week.

Elim Malawi

I was invited to speak at the annual Women’s Conference which this year was held in Bangula, the southern most district of Malawi. Lorries were hired from all regions in the country and long, uncomfortable journeys were made, with some travelling for 12+ hours through the night. One of the highlights was a visit to the district hospital to minister and deliver gifts to some of the patients. It was quite a sight seeing about 9 lorries filled with women in the Elim uniform (black skirts, red blouses, white scarfs), travelling along the road.

Personal Highlights

One of my personal highlights was the opportunity to join a team from Northern Ireland who were spending 2 weeks with the Elim church in Zimbabwe. Time there was spent mainly in the Mutare area at the Elim school there. They also have a children’s home for deaf students so it was good to see and communicate with them. We also visited the mission station in Katerere and saw the hospital, Emmanuel Secondary School and ministered in the church there on the Sunday. The visit coincided with the 47th anniversary of the massacre of 9 Elim missionaries and 4 of their children back in 1978. It was such a moving and challenging morning as we stood around their graves remembering each life and the ultimate sacrifice they made in their service to God.

Another highlight was my time spent on furlough in April/May which was a lovely opportunity to catch up with family, friends and supporting churches. A special time was had at the Missions conference at Kensington Temple followed by the Elim Global Conference. It was such a blessing to hear stories of what God is doing all across the world from the many global leaders there were present.

It was also a very special time for one of my brothers and I to take a city break in Florence, somewhere I had never been before and what a beautiful city it is.

Life in Malawi

Life in Malawi faces many challenges, one of which is the ongoing fuel crises. It peaks and troughs but can be quite stressful when you know that most of the fuel stations are dry and those that have a delivery have long queues. Many hours have been spent in a queue but my record is the time it took me 3 days to fill my tank!

We thank God for the peaceful elections that took place in September bringing in a new government; the president that was ousted 5 years ago is now back in power at 85 years of age!

The inflation rate has hovered between 28-32% over the year with food costs increasing. Due to floods in previous years, followed by drought in subsequent years, food security has been an issue causing much hunger for many.

Please remember to pray for Malawi!

I take this opportunity to thank you for your support over the past year. Without people like yourselves supporting me I could not do what I do. I really do appreciate each one of you.

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and every blessing for the new year.

With love,
Jackie xx

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