History
of the Organization

Our History

The year was 2001. The place was African Bible College campus in Lilongwe, capital city of a small landlocked country in the south east part of Africa called Malawi. The time was midnight. A student in Theology and Mass Communication was burning the midnight oil in preparation of an examination in Audience Psychology.

What the student wondered was how talented people in the media industry often used their talent outside God’s great commission. This bothered him. The student was Bayana Frank Chunga a twin son of a Malawian scientist who had turned into a Church minister. “A heavy sense of calling began that night”, confesses Bayana. “I walked out of the student dormitories and headed to the soccer field just behind the gynamsium where I cried out loudly in prayer”.

“I saw how people suffered working for the Lord and I didn’t want to end up like one of them”, he says. Bayana’ s father was originally a soil scientist who ended up preaching in the rural areas of northern Malawi. His uncle, Pearson Chunga, rose to fame as a play by play soccer announcer on the national radio Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) but gave up his job after a dramatic conversion to Jesus Christ. He ended up founding Trans World Radio in Malawi. His grand Uncle, Reverend Franklin Chunga gave up his teaching profession to become a Presbyterian Church minister who later founded Students Christian Organization in Malawi (SCOM) a leading students organization in the country at the time. All these men made considerable sacrifices in their lives which did not appeal to the young ambitious Bayana. “I reluctantly surrendered my pride and gave in to God’s call”, recalls Bayana.

That same summer, Bayana, met a group of short term missionaries from Peninsula Covenant Church (PCC) in California who visited the college and hired him as an interpreter. The group identified his interest in tennis among things and invited him over to USA to participate in a tennis camp at Peninsula Covenant Community Center in Redwood City in California, owned by PCC . He struck a chord with the American youth and that in return resulted in a long-lasting relationship with the club. Bayana kept visiting USA and in the process built strong friendships with people from the Bay Area. Bayana shared his vision to Sid Newcomb his Tennis Director at the club who also roped in some of his close friends into the vision to form the first ministry board.

In 2002 Wings of Hope took off with a two minute daily devotion on the national radio called Today’s Verse which became a household program. In 2004 a radio program called Wings of Hope was launched on the national airwaves. In 2005, Wings of Hope was invited to introduce a column in the Sunday Times newspaper owned by Times Group.

Wings of Hope established soccer evangelism program in a township called Manja in Blantyre where sports was used to connect with the youth and share the gospel message. A sports shop in California, Goetz Brothers, teamed up with Wings of Hope to provide sports equipment for the program.

Wings of Hope also took part in a historical fight against the epidemic HIV/AIDS through a special campaign that used the power of radio at the time to promote abstinence among high school students. A volunteer lady who got infected with the virus through rape by a teacher joined the Wings of Hope team that travelled to schools around the country. Her story was a compelling testimony of God’s faithfulness. Her story sent school auditoriums into dead silence. This project was sponsored through a couple from Half Moon Bay in California Omer and Sharron Thompson who Bayana had met at a high-profile wedding dinner in a castle in USA.

Wings of Hope also opened its doors to counselling, discipleship through Bible study program and one-on-one mentorship program. The ministry has also over the years enjoyed a great privilege of pulpit time in different Churches, conferences, schools both in Malawi and USA. This humble ministry has touched millions!

The organization was legally registered in 2009 as a 501c3 entity by the state of California signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger who at the time was the governor of California.

You can join and be part of this continuing humble story of God’s service in Malawi.