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Malawi

Reaching Souls International Involvement: Malawi is experiencing an amazing revival.  In 2003 over 200 new churches were started.  Around 15% of Malawi's population is infected by the HIV virus.  Reaching Souls International saw 387,731 salvations in Malawi in 2003.

Short Term Projects:

- Lilongwe, 1993

- Blantyre, 1994

- Mzuzu, 1995

- Nkhotakota, 1996

- Zomba, 1997

- Koronga, 1997

- Chikwawa, 1998

- Kasungu, 1998

- Nkhata Bay, 1999

- Ntchisi, 2000

- Mangochi, 2002

- Lilongwe, 2008

I.A.M. National Missionaries

Regional Director

- Samuel Mwale

National Missionaries

Adams Mc Nzima
Allen W. Zinyemba
Andrew S. Kamanga
Barnet W.T. Kachaso
Benfrey Ngulube
Bisuwale S. Bvumbwe
Burton B.K. Nyirenda
Ceasar Nkhoma
Charles L. Changala
Chikumbutso K. Mwale
Chipiliro Chibwe
Costa Maganga
Daniel Jackson
Daniel S. Kunyada
Dickson A.G. Kamanga
Edngton Seleman
Eliud Katandalira
Fred M. Kambanizithe
Fred M. Mbewe
Funani Chimphanga
Fyson Kalirangwe
Getto S. Mposa
Golson Msiska

Harry Luhanga
Hezron Abdul
Innocent Blackson Phiri
James Malunda
John Millias Mwale
Jonathan Kaundama
Joseph Thom Mwale
Josephy Jailosi Likokho
Kapachika Kasi
Kingsley Eduwen Kumanga
Koni Kombola
Lackson Mwenyeheri
Lameck Kachiteni Mwale
Lazaro Jonasi
Lingson Sakwiya
Laston S.J. Dette
Liver Chimtedza
Lyson Goliati
Maliko Mastar Phiri
Mark Funsani

Martin Zalengera
Marven Chinomwe
Matthews G. Kaozabanda
Mcfarlane Njolomole
Misheck Katudza
Nazare' Luciano Phiri
Nepiyala Chimsewu
Noah Fulaye Banda
Ollen Mhango Sosole
Palipani Mpatsa Chibwe
Phillip Kanjinga
Samson Nkhoma
Samuel Banda
Saulosi Suluma
Steven Banda
Vingstone F. Gousi
Willex Chilombo
Wilson E. Makina
Wilson Machika
Wyson E. Palibendipo
Yosfat J. Mdulamweza
 

Population: 11,906,855

Life Expectancy: 37 Years

HIV Deaths: 80,000 per year

Although the Portuguese reached the area in the 16th century, the first significant Western contact was the arrival of David Livingstone along the shore of Lake Malawi in 1859. Subsequently, Scottish Presbyterian churches established missions in Malawi. One of their objectives was to end the slave trade to the Persian Gulf that continued to the end of the 19th century. In 1878, a number of traders, mostly from Glasgow, formed the African Lakes Company to supply goods and services to the missionaries. Other missionaries, traders, hunters, and planters soon followed.

In 1883, a consul of the British Government was accredited to the "Kings and Chiefs of Central Africa," and in 1891, the British established the British Central Africa Protectorate, by 1907, the Nyasaland Protectorate (Nyasa is the Yao word for "lake"). Although the British remained in control during the first half of the 1900s, this period was marked by a number of unsuccessful Malawian attempts to obtain independence. A growing European and U.S.-educated African elite became increasingly vocal and politically active--first through associations, and after 1944, through the Nyasaland African Congress (NAC).

During the 1950s, pressure for independence increased when Nyasaland was joined with Northern and Southern Rhodesia in 1953 to form the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. In July 1958, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda returned to the country after a long absence in the United States (where he had obtained his medical degree at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1937), the United Kingdom (where he practiced medicine), and Ghana. He assumed leadership of the NAC, which later became the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). In 1959, Banda was sent to Gwelo Prison for his political activities but was released in 1960 to participate in a constitutional conference in London.

On April 15, 1961, the MCP won an overwhelming victory in elections for a new Legislative Council. It also gained an important role in the new Executive Council and ruled Nyasaland in all but name a year later. In a second constitutional conference in London in November 1962, the British Government agreed to give Nyasaland self-governing status the following year.

Dr. Banda became Prime Minister on February 1, 1963, although the British still controlled Malawi's financial, security, and judicial systems. A new constitution took effect in May 1963, providing for virtually complete internal self-government. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was dissolved on December 31, 1963, and Malawi became a fully independent member of the Commonwealth (formerly the British Commonwealth) on July 6, 1964. Two years later, Malawi adopted a new constitution and became a one-party state with Dr. Banda as its first President.

In 1970 Dr. Banda was declared President for life of the MCP, and in 1971 Banda consolidated his power and was named President for Life of Malawi itself. The paramilitary wing of the Malawi Congress Party, the Young Pioneers, helped keep Malawi under authoritarian control until the 1990s. Increasing domestic unrest and pressure from Malawian churches and from the international community led to a referendum in which the Malawian people were asked to vote for either a multi-party democracy or the continuation of a one-party state. On June 14, 1993, the people of Malawi voted overwhelmingly in favor of multi-party democracy. Free and fair national elections were held on May 17, 1994.

Bakili Muluzi, leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF), was elected President in those elections. The UDF won 82 of the 177 seats in the National Assembly and formed a coalition government with the Alliance for Democracy (AFORD). That coalition disbanded in June 1996, but some of its members remained in the government. The President is referred to as Dr. Muluzi, having received an honorary degree at Lincoln University in Missouri in 1995. Malawi's newly written constitution (1995) eliminated special powers previously reserved for the Malawi Congress Party. Accelerated economic liberalization and structural reform accompanied the political transition.

On June 15, 1999, Malawi held its second democratic elections. Dr. Bakili Muluzi was re-elected to serve a second 5-year term as President, despite an MCP-AFORD alliance that ran a joint slate against the UDF.

Malawi saw its first transition between democratically elected presidents in May 2004, when the UDF’s presidential candidate Bingu wa Mutharika defeated MCP candidate John Tembo and Gwanda Chakuamba, who was backed by a grouping of opposition parties. The UDF, however, did not win a majority of seats in Parliament, as it had done in 1994 and 1999 elections. Through the politicking of party chairperson and former President Bakili Muluzi, the party successfully secured a majority by forming a "government of national unity" with several opposition parties. President Bingu wa Mutharika left the UDF party on February 5, 2005 citing differences with the UDF, particularly over his anti-corruption campaign.

Historical information taken from www.wikipedia.com.