Tithandizane:
Diwa Baptist Church
Tithandizane: Diwa Baptist Church
In 1975, Diwa Baptist was founded by a group of believers in Chikwawa, Malawi. Even back then, Diwa Baptist had a heart for the orphaned and vulnerable.
It started with a phrase in Chichewa: “Tithandizane.” This phrase means, let’s help one another. That phrase became the driving force behind Diwa Baptist’s efforts to faithfully care for the orphaned and vulnerable in their community.
Diwa Baptist’s Faithfulness to the Orphaned and Vulnerable
During our meeting with them, one of the church’s leader shared the following:
“Since we are known in this community for reaching out to orphaned and vulnerable children, we have witnessed cases where it is not only the physical or material need in question. We have had to pray with the children and their caregivers or parents, encouraging them to stay strong in faith though in difficulty. We have had moments where this was the best thing we could do, sometimes the only thing we could do.”
Amid the chaos of the orphan crisis, extreme poverty, and more, Diwa Baptist has proven to be faithful in caring for the orphaned and vulnerable. When they couldn’t help with material needs, Diwa Baptist was still faithful by committing to prayer and encouragement to those in need. Isn’t that amazing?
Meet Pastor Mashonga of Diwa Baptist
Pastor Mashonga is a joy-filled man with a heart for the Lord. Under his leadership, Diwa Baptist has been up to some exciting and life-changing things.
Over the past years, Pastor Mashonga and his church have dedicated themselves to practically living out the command that Jesus gave us: to care for the least of these. In living out that command, the church has:
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Created a garden on their church grounds and used the profits to fund their orphan care ministry
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Provided 24 students with a quality education by paying their school fees (4 of whom are now teachers and nurses)
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Manage a maize mill that processes maize to feed the hungry in their community
Pastor Mashonga has lived in this community for much of his life and is deeply passionate about caring for the orphaned and vulnerable. When we spoke with him, he shared:
“Being a Pastor, and witnessing the orphan crisis, right in the community I have grown up in has caused me and the church leaders to try to prayerfully discern some effective solutions to the challenge. As we prayed and discerned, we had this vision for the orphaned and vulnerable children. We could gather the resources as a church member, and help those in need and stand with them in prayer and help with the little we had.”
Onward for Christ
We’re so excited to begin our partnership with Diwa Baptist Church! As you can tell, they already have such a heart for the community and are excited about this work! Local, trustworthy churches like Diwa Baptist are critical in solving the orphan crisis and caring for the vulnerable families in their communities.
Already, we’ve identified 120 orphaned children and 80 caregivers who we plan to reach. We’re working together with Diwa Baptist to holistically and sustainably care for those children and caregivers in the coming months.
Diwa Baptist’s Orphan Care Committee Meeting with Alfred, a Forgotten Voices Programs Officer
Will you join us in prayer for this new partnership? Pray with us that we can meet the needs of those in the community and that much fruit would come from this partnership.