We believe there is value in equipping native believers to care for the needs of their fellow countrymen.  In Malawi, Invest Inc is working with committed believers who are receiving training from African Bible College (link to ABC). We have been able to equip these Malawians with the resources they need to provide for the practical and spiritual needs of orphans and widows in the rural settings. Currently, Invest Inc is working in two villages in Malawi – Mpingu and Makalani. Invest Inc established the work in Mpingu during the 2004-2005 growing season, and this year we are excited about continuing our investment in Malawi in our second village.  The groundwork for the ministry in Makalani was laid by two dedicated students from African Bible College that first began traveling to Makalani on a bicycle to hold open air outreaches.   These two students knew only that they could provide the Word of God and prayer for these women and their children. What began by sharing the Word of God with the women and children of Makalani has now grown into a full scale investment in the lives of these women and children.  Invest Inc is providing the means for these women and children to receive quality medical care on a regular basis. As well, Invest Inc, through the student sponsorship program, is providing the means for the 23 children who have been orphaned in Makalani Village to attend school. Likewise, the ABC students continue to train these women and children in the Word of God through a mentoring program and the weekly outreaches.  This upcoming growing season will be the start of our agricultural development project at Makalani.  We will be equipping the widows with the seed and fertilizer necessary to help subsidize their annual production of maize, soybeans, and groundnuts. As well, the women will be receiving training in agronomic practices that will help to increase the quality and quantity of the harvested grain. To pay for the seed and fertilizer they receive, these women will be working in a field where we will be growing grain for the feeding program which will benefit the children who have been orphaned in Makalani.  It is our goal to grow enough grain to start a daily feeding program in Makalani following the 2005-2006 harvest.