On Friday, April 15, both Victor Kubik and his wife Beverly landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Kubiks packed many materials to donate to people and materials for the Passover. The airport in South Africa is notorious for having people’s items stolen, and two cellphones that were to be donated were stolen.

The Kubiks were able to spend time with members of the Church in Johannesburg, where they spent their first Sabbath of the trip. On that Sabbath there were 59 people at services. There are many new people in the area, and now there is even a Gauteng choir! Mr. Kubik was pleased at the substance and maturity of this congregation.

Next, the Kubiks went to Malawi. There they spent a lot of time talking with the brethren and discussing LifeNets projects.

Through the help of LifeNets, the Church in Malawi has been able to open up an Internet cafe and a small grocery stand. They plan to someday open up a small produce stand in the same building. Julianah Kachali helps oversee the Internet cafe, and Joseph Mughogho is the LifeNets business and finance manager. He also manages both the Internet cafe and grocery store.

In Malawi Mr. Kubik kept his 50th Passover. The Passover was held in the church hall with the local members. They held a solemn Passover service that was very meaningful. Church services went well on the First Day of Unleavened Bread, and later they held a Q&A Bible study session. Also, a local Lilongwe member, Alfred Mitomoni, was ordained as a deacon. He has been a faithful rock of stability in the Church.

This trip has been absolutely essential to bring a lot of things together for the Church regarding our service to this area. Mr. Kubik is deeply grateful for the contribution that Aaron and Michelle Dean have made here in the past few years. It is going to be essential to provide leadership direction for this part of Africa.

There are some major setbacks happening in the country of Malawi. There is an outbreak of cholera. It is a waterborne disease and highly contagious. You can die within five hours of getting a fever, and hospitals don’t have medicine for it. Also there is a significantly lower crop yield this year compared to last year. People in Malawi are essentially starving to death.

Some of our people got only one third the yield of maize they did last year. When the shortages become acute, the prices will spike. The Church, with the help of LifeNets, has a plan to buy maize now, at harvest time when the price is moderate. There are agencies to buy from where we can distribute to brethren now, in preparation for the looming famine. Earlier in January the Church provided an infusion of cash to avert starvation for our brethren. Mr. Kubik explains we are now looking at what the near future will bring and so that we can prepared for it.

The Kubiks also spent time in Blantyre, Malawi. In Blantyre, there is Church property, where the plan is to build a church hall that can also be used through the week as a school. 

At the end of their time in Malawi it was hard for the Kubiks to leave. They visited with so many so thoroughly and felt much closer to the brethren. To read a more in-depth version of the trip please see the TravelPod blog Mr. Kubik created to share his trip experience with the brethren in South Africa and Malawi. 

Read Mr. Kubik’s blogs here: www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/victorkubik/17/tpod.html