The Malachi Project
One of our partners in mission is our own Lucy Ward, daughter of Rosanne & Roger, Lucy grew up in Haddenham and was a member of our church for many years. She headed out to Malawi in 2021 to set up the Malachi Project.
We are helping to support her as a church and if you would like to find out more about the project and how to provide financial support, please watch the film below:
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After spending a year in Malawi, Lucy produced another film showing some of the work she is doing there:
Lucy sends regular newsletters which you can read below:
May 2026
Skills Share
Arrangements for the 2026 Leadership Skills-Share are now in place. We will be holding two: one in Nkhotakota as usual, but then, for the first time ever, one in Ntchisi to cater for the huge number of schools in the district. This has taken quite a bit of investigating to find a new venue, but it will hugely cut down on transport time and cost for the delegates (and therefore for The Malachi Project.) The leadership team for this skills-share is now also finalised. The core of myself, Jesman and Stuart are being joined by two more – Lackson Chibwe, a young, dynamic Head mentioned last month, whom I believe will truly inspire other Heads with all he has achieved, and Carvey Francis from the UK, an experienced Head who will bring a wealth of knowledge of leadership. Like all costs in Malawi, prices have skyrocketed since last year. Whilst hesitating over whether to only do 3 days rather than 4, to keep costs down, a timely additional donation helped encourage me to not be cautious, and trust that as I could now pay the deposits, I should therefore go for broke (hopefully not literally!) and book for the 4 full days for each, trusting that the rest of the money will likewise materialise in time. Committing to what you cannot currently pay for involves a leap of faith that you’d think I’d have got accustomed to making by now. But it still isn’t easy.
Mothers Union 150 years celebration
Mothers Union is 150 years old! Malawi hosted the Central African Region celebration; a 4-day event of much joyful singing and dancing. Mothers Union is hugely significant in the life and work of the church here, and it was a privilege to see some of the celebrations. I understand celebrations will be in July for the UK.
Ordination
On 23rd May we had the ordination service of seven new priests, including Alex Yapola, who has been my stalwart assistant and friend ever since I met him in 2022, helping guide me all around North Ntchisi, paint numbers, film school partnerships, fix desks and so much more. It was a bit bittersweet for me. I am overjoyed that his calling is being fulfilled in becoming a priest, but I will miss having his assistance. He is always so willing to help, speaks such encouragement to me and loves supporting the schools, and I very much hope he will end up in a parish that has at least one Anglican school, as I know he will take a keen interest in upholding them. Naturally, being Malawi, the service was 5 hours long!
Desks
Desk repair work continued much as usual, but also included an interesting extra. Mchenga School had no desks to speak of, so their UK partner school kindly did some fundraising to provide them with some, so that they can have at least Standard 7 and 8 up off the floor. So, each time I have been passing the school, I have left Lilongwe with 5 desks piled on the back of the Blue Beauty, with varying degrees of success roping them on. If you have ever driven the lake road, you will know what a challenge it is to keep anything secure! Amazingly, on some of my regular stops to tighten them, the same man on a bicycle came by not once, not twice, but on three separate journeys! We both enjoyed the hilarity of this coincidence, especially the third time, and thankfully he was very good at getting the ropes really tight! Some 47 sets of desks have now been completed, and I have come to the end of the list of funds. If you are interested in donating for another set, or doing a fundraising event, please get in touch. The difference this simple and practical project is making to children’s lives, particularly the older girls, is phenomenal. After all, to achieve the goal of transformational education, the learners first need to be coming to school! And if fixing the desks is what that takes, then it’s a very worthy project. 
Fuel
Fuel continues to be a real challenge. The shortages have hit diesel particularly hard this time, and it’s not unusual that there is none to be had anywhere, even in the capital. Here are three of the best sights I get in Malawi at the moment – firstly, finding a queue that looks manageable. I rate this at about 40 cars. If it’s longer, or full of lorries that will take masses of the available fuel, I tend not to bother. Preferably it’s one that is already fuelling or the tanker is there off-loading, but sometimes you just have to park up and hope. Secondly, reaching the front of the line. There is nothing worse than sitting for hours in a queue and then the fuel runs out before you reach the front. Then best of all, leaving with a full tank! The difference in the skies in these photos will show you the drag from midday to dusk in getting my latest tankful.
Hetherwick Tambala, Headteacher
At the start of the month, one of our schools was sadly attacked, and the Head’s house was also targeted and property stolen, by a group of local men with some sort of grievance against the Head, that was expressed through violence. I have known Hetherwick for many years, we first met at a skills-share in 2015. I went to visit him, to show my support. He is not currently working, and will be relocated for his own safety. The police attended at the time of the attack and arrested the men, and the Head has been exonerated of any wrongdoing. I was so touched by his desire to be re-posted to another Anglican school, even if it was as a teacher rather than a Head. He spoke of his commitment to education and bettering the lives of his learners, even if that led him into adversity, and it was very inspiring. It’s always heartening to find these impassioned, dedicated warriors of education, and the privilege of my life to have walked long journeys of relationship with so many of them. It’s what makes The Malachi Project special I think. This walking alongside these wonderful men and women of God, so faithfully serving the children of Malawi in such challenging, and ever-increasingly challenging, circumstances here. Their hard work and dedication never cease to amaze me, and I value these moments of depth of relationship and shared vision very much.
UK and Corfu visit
In mid-June I will be coming back to the UK for a visit, as well as a holiday in Corfu. It’s not an ideally planned trip. A lot of planes coming out of Africa route to the Middle East, and the prices for those that don’t sky-rocketed shortly after the Iran war began. I normally fly with Ethiopian Airways, who doubled their prices, but thankfully booked a Kenya Airways flight just in time, at a much more normal price, just before they also shot up. However, the dates available were not ideal and my visit will be shorter than intended. So I apologise in advance that I am not going to manage to see everyone I might have wanted to. For those of you at St Mary’s, I will be speaking at the 12th July service, just before I go back to Malawi.
Prayer
Please do be praying for the leaders as we prepare for this year’s skills-shares. Pray particularly for Carvey, entering the unknown, and for Lackson, who is a little overawed at being asked to join a team that includes his “idols” – me and Jesman apparently! Please also pray that funds will come in to cover the costs of what will be by far the most expensive skills-share we’ve ever done.