Nelson Mkandawire, a director of the charity, Chisomo Children's Club, in the East African state of Malawi, will be the guest of Gardenstown Parish Church, where he will lead a men's prayer breakfast on Saturday morning from 8.30am-10.15am and preach at the service on Sunday at 6pm.

He will also be taking part in a number of scheduled events.

On Easter Day, Mr Mkandawire will be the speaker at the Harvest Centre, Banff, at 10.30am.

Gardenstown minister, the Rev Donald Martin, said: "Chisomo is a charity that looks after street children in Malawi. They help get thousands of youngsters off the streets.

"I met Nelson Mkandawire when I was in Malawi, and again in Scotland last year. He is a very unassuming man with great faith and a very deep commitment to the children. He is doing tremendous work over there, rescuing children from the streets.

"I think his visit will help raise awareness among people here of the real need in Malawi.

"He can talk about it at first hand and share stories in a more 'living' way than I can, because I was only there for a fortnight.

"I would encourage people from all over to come and hear this man.

"The prayer breakfast is open to all men – not just members of the Church of Scotland."

The church has close ties with Chisomo. Last year, a group of teenagers in the village led a campaign, raising around £12,000 towards the purchase of a much-needed off-road vehicle for the work of the charity.

Mr Martin added: "I returned from Malawi having seen that they had a desperate need for a vehicle. Two of their vehicles were beyond all hope of repair, and they had to share a vehicle with another village.

"One of our Shelter youth group members, Matthew Watt, suggested doing a cycle run to raise funds.

"That started the ball rolling. We raised £3,000 from that day, and within five weeks we had more than £11,000."

The Chisomo Children's Club aims to bring about long-term change in the lives of girls and boys aged 14 and under, who are forced to live or beg on the streets of Malawi.

Established in March, 1998 by the Living Waters Church with and for children on the streets of Malawi, the group strives to give hope to children and help them and their families escape poverty and dependency.

The Scottish Government provides financial support for the work of the Tearfund charity in Malawi on projects like Chisomo.

David Livingstone was the inspiration for Scotland's modern-day relationship with the African nation. A co-operation agreement between the two countries was signed on November 3, 2005.

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world which is not either in the midst of, or recovering from, civil war.

shepherd_e@spp-group.com

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