Christian women encouraged to visit Malawi HIV sufferers

The trip will include visits to local churches which are reaching out to people in their communities who are affected by HIV, as well as opportunities to stay with a family in a community overnight and shadow them during the day.

"We know that poverty always disproportionately affects women, and that they are very involved in caring for others and in finding practical solutions to issues in their communities," says Yioula Taliadorou, Church Relationship Manager at Tearfund.

"It’s important that, as women with responsibilities to lead and mentor others, we grasp the scale of need around the world and allow ourselves to become passionate about being part of the solution.

"In so many of the poorest parts of the world, local churches are bringing hope and releasing people from spiritual and material poverty, and we have so much to learn from them.

"I know that the women who come on this trip will return challenged, humbled and inspired to share their passion for justice and tackling poverty with their families and churches."

During the trip, there will be opportunities for the team to work alongside local families and churches and to pray with and for them, as part of Tearfund’s Connected Church programme which helps UK churches to partner with churches in the poorest parts of the world.

Scottish singer and songwriter Yvonne Lyon, who went to Cambodia with Tearfund on a similar trip earlier this year, said: "I fell in love with the way church does things. There was an emphasis on the spiritual and education combined.

"For example, we met a teenage HIV support group and I saw groups of women and children in the village learning about health. I wasn’t expecting to see something so practical which was obviously restoring respect and dignity. I felt really proud and I believe in what Tearfund does."

Ruth Hassal, a leadership development adviser with Church Pastoral Aid Society, was on the same trip: "Before the trip I felt I had a ‘choice’ about getting involved in issues of justice, but - if I take the gospel seriously – I actually have an obligation to act.

"We are part of the same body, the global church, and that body is suffering. Integral mission, working with the whole person, really makes a difference. The women we met had this beautiful confidence – they were trained and valued."