UrbanPromise International » ChristCares Ministries

A Wilmington, DE team in Malawi!

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 14:14:55 +0000

Friends of UPI from Wilmington, Delaware ventured to Malawi this month to visit our ministries and support their work. The following is an e-mail sent from Becky Schorn to her family and friends…

Many Many praises!!

The entire team arrived safely on Sat with ALL 16 bags! Robert, Willie, Peter and I met them at the airport and were able to wave to them from a second floor balcony. Robert is an amazing man full of the favor of God. He got the official to let him and I back into the luggage area to great and help. Then we went as a group through customs and the man wanted us to start filling out paperwork and when he asked us what we had we told him school supplies etc. Robert said we were here to visit his church and do missions and the man said then come on in! The next stop they opened one bag and Robert said we were here to preach the gospel and the guy said no problem go on. All those bags just went through without a hitch!

We are all feeling well and being totally blessed to be in Malawi and to be visiting with the people.

Yesterday we worshipped at Robert’s church. Half the team taught 150 kids that they are a treasure from God and Jesus wants them to help Him find lost coins. The other half of the group gave testimonies to about 100+ teens. Then in the main service we sang a few songs and Jon preached on Psalm 23. Afterwards we served the entire church beef and rice, starting with the kids first! We spent the afternoon watching a soccer match and then ended it with a time of fellowship in Robert’s home. We all enjoyed traditional Malawian food of fish, nisema, peanuts and greens, and of course soda & ice cream

Today we were in groups of three and visited the homes of some of Robert’s kids and got to pray with families. It was really special and humbling to be in their homes and to receive gifts of food from their hearts. It seemed that God sent specific members of our group to specific houses.

We also toured the city and had a history lesson. Turns out the first president of Malawi’s favorite scripture was Ps 23:1-2 the exact passage that God put on Jon’s heart to share.

Robert asked us last night where have we seen Jesus today? I think we have not stopped seeing His hand putting together even the smallest details of the trip. We cannot express how amazing it is to be here and to be united with our family in Malawi.

Tomorrow we are ministering at the Korean hospital and visiting Robert’s afterschool program Christ Cares. Wednesday we will visit Peter’s village, a school and a hospital in his town.

We have felt all of your prayers and really need them to continue. We have so many stories and experiences to share.

Love,
Becky and the Malawi team

Breaking the Cycle

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:37:14 +0000

We spent one more day with the children of ChristCares Ministry on Monday, sharing a meal, chit-chatting, getting to know them better and watching them sing and dance. You can see that they love the program and that it is having a holistically positive influence on them. It was wonderful to catch a glimpse into their lives and be moved by their smiles. Speaking of moved, on Saturday we visited the nine young women who are attending high school due to ChristCares. They are attending boarding high schools, meaning they live on the school compounds and only go home over breaks. When asked if they miss their families, they all responded “no” and giggled because this opportunity is so great. To have a safe place to get an education where meals are provided and there is time to study is priceless. Prior to the opportunity at these boarding schools, if these girls wanted to attend school, they had to travel great distances every day. One girl said that she had to walk 7 miles each way! The truly sad thing is that attacks and rapes are all too common among the paths that they have to walk. So, not only would she be required to walk 14 miles every day, but the constant threat of being raped is a heavy burden to bear. Could you make the trip? Not to mention you don’t get lunch (nor did you have breakfast), when you get home you need to help wash, cook and care for your brothers and sisters, then find time to study and do homework, all with the expectation of doing well in school. The obstacles are just too great. It is true that America is the land of opportunity. If you have the desire and ambition, there is a way to seek your dreams and better your future. In Malawi, if your lot is not right, it doesn’t matter how bad you may want it, it is impossible; unless there is something there to break the cycle, a catalyst to jump the track of despair . . . a mechanism like ChristCares. In a world where there is so much, it is amazing to see what so little can do. Meeting these girls and seeing the relief and hope in them was inspiring.

But now we have said our goodbyes, and although we are staying in Lilongwe, we are moving on to YouthCare Ministry, where we are meeting up with Gibozi Mphanzi. YouthCare has been established for five years, so it has had more time to grow roots and extend its branches. Lindsey and I will also meet up with Roger and Kristin Nielsen, who will be traveling with us for the remainder of our stay. That means we are at the two week/half-way marker of our visit. Traveling is funny, because there are so many new experiences, the days seem full and long, yet ‘time flies when you’re having fun’, so the weeks go fast. We will continue to soak up each and every moment.

ChristCares Ministry

admin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:15:42 +0000

Chisaleka is a village of roughly 2000 people. It sprawls over gentle hills across from a tobacco factory and corn mill on the outskirts of Lilongwe. The factory and mill employ some of the village’s men; nevertheless, it is a very poor area. Families of 8 can live on as little as (or as much as, depending on how you look at it) $1 a day. The conditions are difficult and survival depends on the crops you can grow. HIV/AIDS is prevalent and devastating. The cycle of poverty, though, is not predestined, nor does it need to be inherited from generation to generation. There is promise amongst the villagers and it lies in two young women. Melifa and Edith are the only children out of the entire village who are attending High School. The costs of school, the hardships of life and a broken education system have prevented thousands before them and will continue to prevent many after them. ChristCares Ministry, however, has targeted Chisaleka and its four neighboring villages, to holistically develop its youth through afterschool programs, HIV/AIDS awareness, and employment for potential leaders like Melifa and Edith to continue their education. Not only are these two young women able to afford an education due to ChristCares, but support, tutoring and encouragement are helping them flourish, in an otherwise impossible task. Their accomplishments so far have already inspired countless elementary and middle school students, placing them as role models in the village. To us, an education is taken for granted. Yet, something so seemingly simply, is incredibly powerful.

ChristCares, initiated by Robert Manda, has only been established for one year, yet its impact has profoundly touched the villages and families involved. Yesterday, we walked through Chisaleka and Chatata, meeting some of the afterschool children’s families and seeing their homes. We then saw the afterschool program in action, consisting of a feeding program, recreation, academics, and spiritual growth. It is obvious that the children love it, and many encouraging reports are coming back from their parents and teachers who say that the children are being transformed. The afterschool program is currently working with 40 children; yet, if there were doors, children would be breaking them down to participate. The demand is incredibly high. And as of today, nine young women are working with ChristCares to pay for their high school tuition. In addition, ChristCares has been confronting the HIV/AIDS pandemic by bringing leaders of the communities together and educating them through trainings and workshops so that they can in turn, educate the youth of their communities. As Peter and John return to join ChristCares, its capacity will increase, furthering opportunities for children and young leaders.

Lilongwe is a unique city in that there are pockets of highly populated areas, spread out and isolated by fields and trees. It is hard to see where the population of one million actually resides. As a result, transportation is an issue. Overcrowded, rundown mini-buses shuttle people on dilapidated roads, lined with vendors and those who cannot afford the buses and therefore walk. It is also a very dusty city. The red dirt that embodies Africa is fine grained and kicks up with the subtlest wind. White is not a recommended color to wear.

More to come . . .