Jahswel & Cheyenne Mpagaja Newsletter (Fall 2021)

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” Isaiah 26:3-4

GREETINGS!

We would greet you with “Happy Fall!”, but we don’t have the fall season in Malawi! Our seasons are more like rainy and dry seasons, hot and warm seasons. And right now we are in between the hot and super hot time of the year, with the rainy season up and coming in November. So I’ll say happy fall to you there, from our hot season here! 

OUR FAMILY IS GROWING

On April 24th, we were pleasantly and humbly surprised with a positive pregnancy test; God has blessed us with our first child! As I write this, I am currently 26 weeks and six days along with a baby BOY! He is due December 21st, so we may be celebrating Christmas, or my birthday on Dec. 27th, with our very own baby in our arms. We are absolutely over the moon to become parents and to see what our baby boy looks like! Please continue to pray for a healthy pregnancy, that I won’t get overheated during this hot weather, and that the baby boy will continue to grow healthy and strong. He is constantly kicking and doing backflips. WE’RE GOING TO BE PARENTS!!! 

BOOT CAMP & BMW TERM II

In June, we finished out Term I, where I taught Spiritual Life I and Jahswel taught Pedagogy. We both enjoyed our classes so much! From there, we went into Boot Camp time, having our 3rd Boot Camp of this year! We welcomed 35 team members who were divided into six teams. They went through their training classes, running the Obstacle Course, attending evening rallies, and many of them received Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their life! Of these team members, we accepted 25 of them as new BMW students! So in total we have 84 students in our Chichewa and English schools. And one of those students is Jahswel’s younger brother, Chifuniro! We are so happy that God brought him here to attend BMW and learn His Word. Pray that God would do a great work in his heart, that he would be willing to let God shape him and that he would obey the call that He has placed on his life. Jahswel is excited to be able to encourage him and mentor him while he’s here as a student. 

DRIVING SCHOOL

Jahswel began driving school on July 12th, and so far he has finished the first phase and has passed his learners license test! Now he is completing 40 days of behind-the-wheel training, then he will go to take the “highway code 2” test and driving test. With him attending school and also teaching his Speech class here, he is a very busy man. He goes for driving school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and teaches Speech class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, both mornings and afternoons. I am so proud of him; he has worked very hard these last couple months and is determined to get his license! Please pray for God’s grace and favor to be on him. Unfortunately we hear many stories of them making it difficult for students to pass the final test so that they will succumb to giving a bribe in order to get their driver’s license. Pray that God would honor Jahswel following the right way through this process and that the examiner would be honest and fair to him.

OUR VISAS

We applied on April 28th to renew my visa to be here in Malawi, since my visa expired on August 8th. We are still waiting to hear from them about when it will be processed and ready. The submission fee was $100, and it costs $1,000 to get my visa once it is ready. Please pray that it will go through without a problem, and that the Lord would provide the funds necessary to cover it. 

We have also submitted the petition for an immigrant visa for Jahswel to come to the States! For a long time, we have gone back and forth about which visa to apply for, and we finally came to the decision of the immigrant visa. This is the first step in the green card process and eventually to become a citizen. We do not know yet if he would take the route all the way to become a US citizen. But the immigrant visa process starts with me submitting a petition as the US citizen on behalf of my husband for him to come to the States. We gathered up the documentation, prayed and prayed, paid the $535 submission fee, and sent it in! Now we are praying and waiting and trusting in God’s timing as it is out of our hands. If the petition is approved, we will proceed with the 12 step process up until Jahswel goes in for an interview, where he would be approved or denied the visa. Pray for us! It is emotionally draining, but we trust in the Lord our God, who holds the universe in His hands. Nothing is too hard for Him. 

FINANCES

Since our family is growing, our needs are too! On our baby registry we prioritized the items we felt that we need from the States since they are either not available to us in Malawi, or they are better quality. The rest of our baby items we should be able to get here, like a carseat, crib, etc. We also have added expenses with doctor appointments, which cost around $75-$100/month, and hospital fees when the baby comes. We are also saving up for our flights to the States when the time comes, and we will have more visa processing fees in our future as things move along. Whew, God is able! If you would like to help give toward these needs, you can visit teenmissions.org/missionary/freeman and make a one time donation or set up automatic monthly giving, however the Lord is leading you! 

THANK YOU

We would like to give a warm welcome to our new supporters who joined us in July and August! You are an answer to our prayers! We feel incredibly blessed that you would allow God to use you by giving to our family and supporting the ministry here in Malawi. Many of you have also graciously gifted us with items from our baby registry! We already feel that our baby boy is loved and taken care of by our friends and family around the world. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Those items will be brought over to us by our friends Seth & Emily Phippen, the coordinators of TMI in Malawi, in mid October. I know all you mamas out there feel me when I say I am ITCHING to start nesting! So I am super excited to receive everything and start preparing our home for our little boy. I am giddy thinking about it!!! 

This is the latest and greatest on what God is doing in our family. Thank you for reading and following along with us! Life is short and you never know what a day will bring. 

God bless each and every one of you as you continue serving Him wherever He has you! 

Much love from our family to yours,

Cheyenne & Jahswel Mpagaja

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Email: [email protected]

Whatsapp: +265 99 287 6226

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Address: 

Jahswel & Cheyenne Mpagaja

Private Bag 3

Chipoka, Salima 208110

Malawi, AFRICA

Donate: teenmissions.org/missionary/freeman