The story of Brothers in Arms

In 2015, I was doing a Discipleship Training School in Togo.  Pastor Asante Masanche came to the Youth With A Mission base to teach in the Community Development course.  Whenever YWAM had a guest speaker from out of the country, it was common for them to speak at the Thursday night fellowship.  That Thursday, Asante gave a powerful message about continuing in hope for transformation in communities, even when we feel discouraged.

I had no idea at that time that I would marry Kossi, and that we would move to Malawi in 2018, where we would partner with Pastor Asante. 

When we arrived in Malawi in 2018, we attended Pastor Asante’s small church in the city of Blantyre.  He had welcomed some youth who were living on the streets to join the service.  They shared a meal after the service.  They began to meet for Bible Study, which then led to sports activities throughout the week, which led to tutoring.  By January 2019, Asante wanted to formalise things.  He rented a home in Blantyre where the boys would gather for Bible Study and tutoring.  There were lots of trials and errors along the way.  In 2020, when Covid-19 hit, the government threatened to arrest anyone who was living on the streets.  The boys had come so far and couldn’t be turned away.  Instead of closing the ministry, Asante welcomed the boys to live in a small room on the property where he lived. 

After the move to Asante’s house, things began to really come together, despite a pandemic hitting the world.  While schools were closed, Bible Studies continued and the boys continued with their “catch up” classes.  Many of them could not read and write.  Right before the pandemic, Brother’s in Arms built a chicken coop and bought chickens in order to have a business that would sustain the ministry.  The chicken business itself has many stories to be told of all that the boys learned. 

Throughout the years my role has been to help plan events, fundraise and write newsletters.  The expenses continued to grow as the ministry grew.  We applied for a grant from the US Embassy, but were not chosen.  We had one fairly regular donor of $50 a month.  Beyond that, we saw God provide through local churches, business people, and many one time donations from people in the US.  There were also moments where the ministry had no funds.  

In 2021, our family went to the US for 6 months of fundraising and to work on Kossi’s immigration.  That summer, I received an email from a woman in Iowa who had gotten my email from an expat friend of mine in Blantyre.  She said that she was a part of a small growing church, Be The Light Ministries, and that they wanted to provide a way for their youth to get involved in something beyond themselves.  They were looking for a ministry in Malawi to support. What a miracle.

Prior to receiving the email from Be The Light Ministry’s email, I was quite honestly near the point of giving up.  I was a bit tired of every month having to share that the ministry didn’t have the finances it needed to house the boys.  Asante and I even had the conversation that the boys would have to move off the property because there were no funds for food.  When this church reached out, everything changed.  Be The Light Ministry soon began to provide the $500 needed to maintain the ministry with its monthly needs for food, hygiene products and school fees.  Not long after that, the church that my parents attend in Colorado, Grace Chapel, committed to sponsoring the beginning phase of building an impact center.

The last few years have been hard for a lot of people.  Covid-19 has changed much of the world.  For many people it has had a negative impact.  The pandemic brought Brother’s in Arms closer to each other.  It was the push that brought the boys in to Asante’s home.  I believe this act of faith from Pastor Asante and his wife Angel, pushed their ministry through the breaking point which has led it to prosper.  We are blown away at the generosity of the world around us.  What started with monthly support from Be The Light Ministry led to Grace Chapel’s sponsorship of about $20,000 for the building project.  On top of that, the ministry has received two other donations of $10,000 each that have gone towards purchasing more land and the buildings. 

While we rejoice at the monetary blessings towards this ministry, the most beautiful gift of all is the change that has taken place through Brother’s in Arms.  In the coming weeks I will be sharing testimonies of transformation that has taken place among the young men. 

As I reflect on all that has unfolded in the last four years, I am reminded of Philipians 1:6; “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”  Not only has God been faithful to complete the good work in the hearts of these young men, he is also bringing dreams and visions to fruition.