March 2023

The pastors we support through Hands On Africa (HOA) completed their first semester of school. The refugee orphanage requested 35 blankets during our mission trip, as they did not have enough for all the children. The blankets were delivered after our missionaries returned back to the US. Malawi was devastated by Cyclone Freddy. This was the longest lasting cyclone in Malawian history leaving tens of thousands homeless and killing more than 500 people.

Mission Trip to Malawi, Africa
February 26-March 7, 2023

Our mission trip team was in Malawi just short of two weeks. They had a packed itinerary and were eager to share the love of Jesus.
 
The team visited a local prison in the Ntchisi District. The living conditions in the prisons are sub par to say the least. A 10x12 room sleeps 10 men with no mattresses, pillows, or blankets. They receive two meals per day and that consists of maize (corn meal) and relish (cabbage and tomato mixture). The bathroom at the prison was broken so the men were using the bathroom in a hole outside. When the missionaries arrived they held a Bible study followed by providing Bibles, cups and bowls to the Warden for the prisoners.
 
In 2022, Operation Save became aware of Dzaleka Refugee Camp Orphanage and the deplorable conditions that 70 children are living in. There are no sleeping quarters, the children are divvied out in groups of five to stay in mud huts with one mattress per hut. They receive two government funded meals of sub standard food daily. Operation Save has recently started a feeding program providing three meals per week. Our mission team visited the orphanage and had a meeting with the leaders to see where we could assist. Later they passed out school supplies and a large tote of clothes donated by Ms. Ingram's class along with Clinton Elementary School in Lancaster, South Carolina.
 
Our OS Women’s Ministry Director in the US attended this mission trip to provide our three tailors in Malawi with hands on training. When the team arrived, the sewing room was in the final stages of construction. The girls were shown how to cut and sew feminine hygiene products that will later be distributed to girls and women in local villages. Once the room was complete the team set up the sewing machines and put the final touches on the OS Women’s room.
 
The missionaries visited many churches and villages and had group Bible studies followed by handing out care packages, mosquito netting, tarps, cups, bowls and more. Our Evangelism Leader, Jeremiah, welcomed the team to his church where they watched him preform multiple baptisms in a near by creek. At a village in Katola, the missionaries were able to watch a well repair and held an eye glass clinic.
 
Operation Save currently has nine schools that benefit from our feeding program. Schools in Malawi are extremely underfunded and they do not have a budget for food. In most instances, school is the only meal the children receive throughout the day. Our missionaries visited Chikwete School in the Lilongwe District. They helped distribute food and spent time with the children.
 
Lastly, our mission team visited a hospital in Mponela. They prayed with the sick and their caregivers. In the outdoor chapel, the missionaries read scripture to the caregivers and handed out Bible tracks. They handed out blankets in the mother baby wing and Dolls on a Mission in the pediatric wing.
 
After almost two weeks of helping the people in Malawi the missionaries went back to the airport in Lilongwe and returned home with their hearts full of Jesus.

This year we have BIG plans and BIG goals to continue sharing the love of Jesus Christ spiritually, physically and culturally. Here is a look at what we have been doing in Malawi, Africa in 2023

 January 2023

Our OS Women’s Ministry hosted a soap making training session to give women the skills to start small businesses and provide for their families. Boreholes were drilled and repaired in local villages. Our water team attended a driller’s workshop hosted by the National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) to discuss important laws within the drilling industry. The Refugee Orphanage leaders met with Operation Save team members to discuss their needs and how we can make a difference in these children’s lives.

Masulani was born in the Lilongwe District of Malawi, Africa in 1969. He was born disabled and only has use of his right arm. Due to his disability and the passing of his mother, in grade six, he was unable to continue school. Masulani and his three siblings had to provide for themselves at a very young age, going though many hardships along the way. Later, he married his wife, a mother of two. They went on to have three more children together, sadly two passing as infants. Soon after the birth of their youngest daughter, Masulani started having serious health complications because of his disability. Unable to work, he has struggled to provide for his family.

During an Operation Save mission trip in July of 2022, our team from First Baptist of Locust was introduced to Masulani. When the missionaries heard his testimony, they knew they wanted to help. Upon their return home, they immediately started fundraising and were able to raise $14,000 to build a new home. Operation Save started construction immediately and recently completed the final details. In addition to a new house, there were enough funds to drill a borehole providing clean water to his entire village.

Masulani is at the construction site daily sharing his testimony of what the Lord is doing for him. Through his hardships he put his trust in God and is a great example to his neighbors. We are so blessed to be apart of the Masulani Project and will continue to plant seeds to the individuals in this village.ak`1

We had our June mission trip. We had a group of five from First Baptist Church of Locust located in North Carolina. They had a wonderful greeting at the airport from our Malawian staff full of dancing and singing. The group arrived on Friday and on Saturday they were out at villages getting to work.

The missionaries visited the hospitals and distributed bibles, care packs, dolls, as well as, prayed with the sick. At the hospital visitation 63 people accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. PRAISE GOD! They did hut to hut ministry in different villages in the area while distributing things like bibles, plates, cups, and salvation bracelets to the children. The group helped with our medical and eye clinics giving much needed medical items and glasses to those in need. They washed children's feet, as Jesus did for his disciples, and gave them new shoes. 

If you are interested in our upcoming mission trips fill out a form on our mission trip page under meet our missionaries.

Our full time missionaries arrived! Devin, Mackenzie and their three children are from Pennsylvania and will be in Malawi until the end of July. They have been to Malawi multiple time and fell in love with the ministry and the people. They decided to take a leap of faith and go to Malawi for three months as a vision trip and Lord willing a trip that will launch them into the field full time.  

They have been traveling to different zones that Operation SAVE works in. Devin has been preaching the Gospel, Mackenzie has been speaking at the women's bible studies and Judah (their eldest son) teaching children about the salvation bracelets. Along with spreading the Gospel the family has been distributing plates, cups and Bibles, Washing the children's feet to give them new shoes, rejoicing with the villagers as they receive fresh water for the first time.

They have experienced so much in such a short period of time. Please pray for this family and the remainder of this trip.

If you would like full updates on the Holts click on the "Meet our Missionaries" page. 

​Our Ministry started by spreading the word of God and providing safe water to the people of Malawi, Africa. We have drilled and repaired countless wells. The water crisis in Malawi affects over 11.7 million people (2 out of 3 Malawians), with 1.7 million lacking access to safe water and 10 million without adequate sanitation. This causes tragic death from waterborne illness to over 3,000 children under 5 per year.
 
One of our Malawian pastors, Jackson and our Malawian office manager, Rashid traveled to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to pick up a second drill rig. They left on Sunday, March 20th and arrived back to our compound March 28th. They ran into a few bumps on their trip, but the Lord watched over them and brought them home safe with the new drill rig. Having a second drill rig will give us the resources to provide tens of thousands of Malawians safe water and hear the GOOD word of Jesus Christ.
 
Our new drill rig broke ground, on the first of many wells, on March 30th, 2022. A drill rig cost approximately $135,000 US dollars so to the organizations and individuals who support our ministry, WE THANK YOU!

​The progress on the missionary house. They have only been working on it for 8 days. AMAZING! We have also had engineers have been working on the well repair truck that broke down.

​We were around the fence premises where the missionary house is going to be built and the builders started digging the foundation around house marks.