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Name of National Alliance
• Evangelical Association of Malawi
Principal Leader(s) of the Alliance:
• Rev. Francis Mkandawire – General Secretary
• Rev. Dr. Lazarus Chakwera – Chairman of the National Executive Committee (NEC)
Public e-mail address & phone number for contacting the Alliance:
• eaom@malawi.net
• eaom@africa-online.net
• Ground lines:+ 265 – 1- 726 – 656; + 265 – 1 – 920 – 130
• Cell Phone: + 265 – 8 – 831 – 258
• Physical Address: Baptist Theological Seminary of Malawi Campus, Falls Estate, P.O. Box 30296, Capital City, Lilongwe 3, Malawi.
National Alliance Profile
The Evangelical Association of Malawi (EAM) is an umbrella Organization for seventy-five (75) Evangelical Churches, Christian Organizations and individuals joined together in the common task of building the Kingdom of God in our nation as per the Commission to the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:20.
It was introduced in Malawi by Christian Missionaries in 1962, to mobilize the evangelicals against the spread of liberalism, which was a major threat at that time. With time, Evangelism, Missions and Social Services became the main focus for EAM. Several mission agencies and ministries were introduced by or through EAM. The General Secretary is at the helm of the Association and operates from the Secretariat based in Lilongwe, Malawi’s Capital City. Presently the association works very closely with the church worldwide, relevant government ministries and departments, Non Governmental Organizations and other Faith Based Organizations who share this same calling. The association is affiliated to a wide family of Evangelicals worldwide through the Regional Africa Evangelical Alliance headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
Membership is open to Churches and Christian Organizations. Currently, the membership comprises of 38 Denominations and 37 Organizations spread throughout the country.
EAM believes in holistic approach to missions and evangelism. To this effect the association is active in Church Leadership Development, Relief and Development, HIV & AIDS, Adult Literacy, Advocacy (through MICAH Challenge Malawi chapter) and Education through establishment of Emmanuel Teachers Training College). As an umbrella body, EAM exists to enhance the capacities of evangelical churches and organizations to mobilize and empower their congregations for effective and efficient integral missions in Malawi. We however have impact areas in all the three regions which serve as either pilot or model sites to ensure development of best practices. The association is inspired by the vision of unified and effective evangelical churches and organizations transforming communities and changing lives in Malawi through the proclamation of the Good news of Jesus Christ through Word and deeds.
God is at work in all sectors in Malawi as evidenced by the following: Divine intervention in our recent political process. There were attempts by the former government to change the constitution by introducing the third term bill and open term with the view of the extending its rule but these attempts were foiled after the Church had prayed against this move. There were also attempts by the opposition members to impeach the President and reject the 2007 and 2008 National Budgets but justice prevailed as the Church was mobilized to pray against these issues that would have paralyzed Government business.
Good rains in the 2005-06 growing season coupled with the effective distribution of subsidized seed and fertilizer made Malawi to be the only country in Southern Africa to have registered a food surplus in the year 2006 for the first time in nearly 5 years. From a background of severe food shortage the country was able to donate food to Swaziland and Lesotho in 2007. Approximately 90% of the external debts were cancelled by World Bank, IMF and bilateral donors after reaching the completion point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, leading to an anticipated reduction in annual debt – service payments from US$75 million to US$5 million between 2006 and 2025 (One Country Guide – Malawi 2007). The economy has a remarkable record growth in spite the hostile political climate.
The association has taken a lead in prayer mobilization for both national concerns and towards the Global Day of Prayer. The Association has seen increased greater Church participation in addressing the social and economic injustices in the country through MICAH Challenge. It is also actively involved in a Christian alliance on social political concerns with other Christian mother bodies so as to promote a united Christian voice on critical issues affecting the nation of Malawi. In addition EAM in conjunction with Tear fund UK EAM established the Malawi Churches Partnership Program MCPP) three years ago with a goal of mobilising and equipping the church to addressing the root causes of poverty.
The primary challenges and threats are as follows:
a. Financial sustainability for the association.
b. Leadership development in various thematic areas, to represent EAM ably in forums such as Advocacy, HIV/AIDS, Women, Media, Theological circles, Gender forums, Education, Missions etc. How do we identify such people?
c. Unity in diversity – Now that EAM has both Pentecostals and Main Line Churches in its membership, the challenge is “how do we maintain our unity in diversity?”
d. Maintaining Biblical Holism i.e. .ensuring that EAM maintains a good balance between social and spiritual development.
There are a number of big opportunities for the association in the nation such as established grassroots structures countrywide, freedom of worship, vast membership, recognized by the public and private sector, donor confidence, funding partners available both local and internationally and ability to network with other Non- Governmental Organizations.
The association’s current prayer requests are as follows:
a) Increased financial support for evangelism and missions and all other church leadership development programs.
b) Maintaining evangelical unity in diversity.
c) Increased ownership and participation of member church and organizations.
d) Creativity and pro-activeness of the church in Malawi in the implementation of integral missions.
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