Phil & Fi Harvey

Dear friends and family,

It has been lovely to see many of you in recent weeks following a great family holiday in the Lake District at the beginning of our visit to the UK this summer. We have now returned to Epsom refreshed from a really good week of ministry at the New Life Conference at Rora, Devon. We are sorry it has taken so long to write a prayer letter to tell you what has been happening with us this year. It has been a very busy year and on many occasions we have felt that we’ve just been ‘keeping our heads above water!’

When we returned to Malawi and I took on my new role of Headteacher, there were many new families wanting to join the school. This trend carried on for at least two months and one of my main tasks was squeezing in new pupils into the last remaining places in the school. This was a real blessing to us, because the school has not been full for the last ten years, so to see lots of people wanting places was a very encouraging beginning for me.

The Lord continued to bless the work in the school as we organised a large Triathlon event, a Christmas Fair, a Hockey Festival (which we won!), a Nativity Play and a Carols by Candlelight Evening. All of these events were very well attended and enjoyed, and at the Carols Evening, there was a real sense of the Holy Spirit with us through the service. However, with both the Nativity Play and the Carols there was some opposition expressed from a small minority of the teaching staff, but our desire to honour the Lord in these things helped us to overcome.

The school continued to move forward nicely until in the third term, the whole school was stunned by the sudden death of our school secretary. She had worked for the school for over 22 years. She collapsed and died on the school car park, she was 46. I and two other members of staff were with her and rushed her to hospital in town but they were unable to revive her.  It was a major shock to all the staff, many of whom have known her a long time, she was a very popular person and loved by many in the school. We know that she knew the Lord and that she had an eternal hope.  It was a very difficult time for everybody. Yet, on the following day when I had to address the whole staff  team, the Lord gave me 2 Timothy 4:17 as soon as I opened my Bible! It gave me the strength to get through those very emotional days which included speaking and leading at both a large funeral service, school assembly and finally a packed Memorial Service. Although her loss was tragic, we do believe it opened the door to many hearts to the Gospel!

A highlight of the Year was the Junior School Play. It was written by our Christian Music Teacher, entitled ‘Beautiful’ based on the book of Esther with the character names changed! After much rehearsing and general hard work from the staff the play was performed to other schools and for two nights to parents.  Many shed a tear when the children sang the song “Heaven has a Plan”, the acting and singing abilities of the children really came through and we just felt the Lord’s blessing on the event and we pray that seeds were sown in the hearts of those present.  We did encounter some opposition and the evening of the dress rehearsal the uncle of the Muslim girl who was playing the part of ‘Esther’ was seriously bitten by a snake! It had been a miracle that this girl’s parents had released her from her Madrassah lessons to take the lead part in a Christian play, and her uncle being bitten is a typical example of how throughout the year, the enemy has constantly tried to spoil and disrupt. Thankfully after several days in hospital and doses of anti-venom, the man recovered and the whole family were overwhelmed by the performance on the final night!

In the background there has been quite a bit going on with some parents, one family in particular is Sean and Tash Saunders who are ‘white Africans’ and whose family has been here for many years.  She is a young Christian and is a parent in the school; we have known them for a while. In January, their son became seriously ill with Malaria. We and others were praying for the boy and his family. Thankfully, the son recovered, but the following morning, Sean’s words to his wife were; ‘Was I dreaming or was that Jesus who met us in the room last night?’ Since that experience he has given his life to the Lord and there has been a real change in him and her .As a result of that, there have been ripples going out through the community. After that her Dad also made a commitment to the Lord.  They are young in the Lord but really wanting to move on in Him, please pray for their whole family.  Sean’s parents are alarmed by the change in him, both Catholics and offended by his commitment.   On the back of that I have recently started helping with a bible study for Sean and about 9 other men in their 30s with the church we are now attending in Blantyre.  One of these men was formerly the Grandmaster at the Masonic Lodge, which he has now renounced and as you can imagine, the repercussions of that decision within the very close knit community of Blantyre are significant. The wives are also going to a bible study led by a missionary friend of ours, that Fi is also now attending. 

There seems to be an openess amongst people here to talk about God and less of a political barrier and the general mindset here. However, the opposition is fierce from some quarters and we have felt a backlash ourselves. We have had a gang of thieves attack our house three times now (once while we have been here in the Uk). They have only stolen property so far but did attack our guard with stones. The concern about physical attack is with us as armed robberies have been really on the rise. We have also had two serious fires on our property and each time these things have happened it has been following an opening to witness to someone or something happening in the Bible Studies! I was even advised by a member of staff to call in a witch doctor to sort it all out (someone the school has fallen back on in recent years!), and so that was a real opportunity to ‘nail our colours to the mast’ and say that we would continue to trust Jesus for our safety.

Some may remember the 3 women that Fi asked for prayer about during New Life Conference last summer.. Fazilla and her husband we have become much closer to and they took us out for dinner a few weeks ago where we talked all evening, it was a good time.  We’ve noticed the Lord giving us particular opportunities with them.  Dilpa - Fi continues to be friends with and they are moving house in summer just very near to us at school, so will be able to see more of her as she is very restricted by her mother in law.  Jasmine - we have seen less of this year but have seen her at church and just pray that the Lord is continuing to take her on

Our three children enjoy school. Robert loves his swimming, and this is a very popular sport in Malawi schools generally. Robert won 2 silvers and a bronze in the inter schools swimming gala and a gold for his backstroke for the National Championships. It goes without saying we were very proud of him as he shyly stood on the podium! He is also doing well learning the piano and performed at his first concert recently! Rosie is a very friendly girl and often has friends around at our house to play. She also is doing very well with her swimming but is not as competitive about it as Robert! William loves to play on his motorbike at Nursery and is a very happy little boy, although rather disorientated with the automatic doors, aeroplanes and ‘broken’ (convertible!) cars in England!

The school continues to fill up and we have a waiting list for the first time in 15 years.  There is still much to do in different areas, please pray for the school and staff as there still remains a strong Masonic influence in the school and governors.  However overall the feedback from parents and staff is very positive, I finished the term with a Christian assembly and talked about Jesus dying for us on the cross, I read from the Bible to the children which has not happened before except at Christmas.

I see my leading role in the school as a ministry on a day to day basis how he deals with staff and issues in the school; recently our young swimming coach discovered her husband had cancer, her little boy is in William’s preschool class. I really felt led to pray for her and her husband, the very next day she came into the office and broke down emotionally about their situation and I was able to share something of the Lord with her.

Please pray for the openings the Lord is creating in the school.

With love,  Phil, Fi, Robert, Rosie & William 

Prayer Points:

• For the Lord’s directing for the school and all it encompasses.
• About the Masonic and Ba’hai influence in the school.
• That the Holy Spirit would keep other spirits in subjection
• For more opportunities in the Bible studies we are involved in
• For our children and household and the Lord’s safekeeping