Lakeside mission partner WAY Ministries is impacting the entire education system of Malawi, Africa, from teacher training to student education. Founded by Lakesider Maribeth Sexton—who packed up her whole life and moved from Folsom to Malawi in 2008—the ministry runs two Montessori Christian schools and the Montessori Teacher Training Center.

Maribeth’s efforts are effective and well respected and have even gotten the attention of the Malawi government, who asked her to partner with the University of Malawi to help train teachers.

In June, Lakeside coordinated a mission trip to Malawi to demonstrate the love of Jesus. So passionate about the work of WAY, the team of five invested their time and their own resources to travel and participate in leading both a teacher training and a summer Bible camp. They also collected and brought camp supplies and activities as well as books to help WAY build a teacher training library.

Summer Bible Camp
Lakesiders Jim and Deb House were part of the mission team and assisted Maribeth and her staff with WAY’s first ever Summer Bible Camp for 50 impoverished elementary-aged children. The camp provided kids much-needed food to fill their tummies, along with activities and new experiences as they learned about God’s love for them.

“It was such a blessing to see how much they valued the supplies, like bubbles, which they had never gotten to play with before, and colored pencils, which they treated like gold,” Deb said.

Camp centered on lessons about the character of God and helping children identify their own character strengths.

“We cherished the opportunity to participate with the kids. They were filled with such excitement and joy, with children playing drums on tires and spontaneously breaking out in dance and worship,” Deb said. (SEE VIDEO HERE)

Special Education Teacher Training
The team from Lakeside also included three specialists—Cheri Wieland, Jamie Randy, and Diane Mickey—to help with inclusive education training for 50 teachers in the Malawi public schools. They provided instruction on physical therapy and occupational therapy in the school setting as well as guidance for teaching students with speech and language disorders, autism, Down’s Syndrome, sensory integration disorder, etc.

“This team started a giant wave of advocacy, partnership building, and leadership for children with special needs. WAY Ministries and our community of teachers, leaders, and specialists here will not be the same,” Maribeth said.

Teacher Resource Library
As WAY partners with the University of Malawi to improve education and training for teachers, Maribeth is committed to building a library of teacher resources—a strategic action toward accreditation with the National Council of Higher Education.

The mission team transported 300 books on their flight to Malawi—books focused on early childhood education, special education, and Montessori education.

There are still 175 books left for purchase to complete their library. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE OFF THE WISHLIST. Used books are welcome, so you can make your money go farther!

Chipotle Fundraiser
Contribute to WAY’s Montessori Teacher Training Center by eating at Chipotle on Iron Point on Monday, August 1 from 4-8pm. Thirty-three percent of event sales will go to the organization. And Maribeth will be on site so can find out more about how WAY Ministries is helping transform lives in Malawi. (SHOW THIS FLIER at Chipotle to contribute or use code 3AJQQBC to order online.)