 |
|
| |||||||
The Vision for Orphan CareIn 2003 Lynne Hybels, wife of Willow Creek's Sr. Pastor Bill Hybels, traveled to Africa where she saw first hand the African HIV/AIDS pandemic. The sights and sounds of a continent struggling to carry the heavy burden of illness, fear for the future, and the multitude of children left behind by dying parents entered her heart and mind. Lynne wondered if the North American church simply asleep to this crisis? Returning home to Willow Creek she resolved that her church would get involved. That one eye-opening trip led to one HIV/AIDS service, from which sprung a small grassroots movement that has formed the basis for a long-term holistic ministry and church-church partnership between Willow Creek and 22 sister churches in Zambia. It is a partnership that now touches the lives of over 1,000 children and their families.
An Education in HIV/AIDSThe partnership in Zambia began with a small group of people with similar interests in Africa. This group of congregants prayed, read and educated themselves and the leadership of the church about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the orphan crisis it was causing.They read everything from UNICEF studies on church care, the orphan crisis in Africa and the HIV/AIDS pandemic to Tearfund and World Vision reports which provided solid statistics and best practices to passages of the Bible that mandated them to care for the widows and the orphans. They also met with reputable and well respected organizations working on the ground in Africa to find out what was being done and what lessons had already been learned.
Why Not Build an Orphanage?Warren Beach, director of Willow Creek's Global Connections, says that they had an intuition that orphaned children needed to be cared for in families. They didn't want to act hastily or make a mistake. They concluded that while churches in the United States may be slow to the get involved, churches in Africa are already doing something about HIV/AIDS and orphans in their communities. Most of the communities they studied had similar models of family and community-based support for orphans but simply needed more resources.
Finding a PartnerArmed with knowledge of the crisis as well as the variety of responses taking place in Africa, Willow Creek approached a local Illinois faith-based organization working in Zambia called Bright Hope International to act as its intermediary.Bright Hope led Willow Creek to the Samfya Community Care Providers, a network of 22 churches in a community of 30,000 people in Zambia. Through Bright Hope International Willow Creek is able to channel resources, track beneficiaries, and create long-lasting relationships in this community.
Project DescriptionSamfya churches had put aside all denominational differences in order to take charge of the care and support of families and children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. If a child is orphaned but family cannot be located the child is placed in their extended family. If a child has no surviving family the church does not place him/her in an orphanage, instead a foster family is identified from the congregation and asked to take in the child. Warren Beach describes the partnership in the following way: "We didn't change their model, we asked, what can we do? They told us they needed support for 500 children orphaned by AIDS and living in the homes of congregation members. 500! We put it in front of the church on December 1st, World AIDS Day, and just offered that all checks in the offering with 'AIDS in Africa' written in the subject line would go towards helping Samfya Community Care Providers. We had raised $600,000 by the end of January!"Willow Creek initially provided (through Bright Hope) school fees and school uniforms as well as supplementary food each month for the foster families who cared for one or more orphans in their homes. But the words "holistic" and "co-laborers" plagued Warren and the rest of the team and drove Willow Creek to find a way to make this partnership with Samfya Community Care Providers more sustainable. When congregants at Willow Creek started wanting to do more than pray or write a check they decided to start providing skills to caregivers so that they wouldn't be dependent on food donations forever. Willow Creek formed an Advisory Board for the Samfya project and began sending teams to respond to training requests from the Samfya churches. Church members have been involved by participating in medical teams to train local health care workers as well as teacher trainings. In addition, Willow Creek, along with Bright Hope and the Samfya leaders have started successful projects such as community garden trainings to increase the amount of food available to each household (see sidebar at bottom) and giving micro loans for starting small businesses. Additional holistic ministries include caring for sick caregivers and providing counseling and care service to children who have been affected by the death of a loved one.
Lessons Learned from Willow Creek1. Working with an intermediary can help the transition from learning to doing.Working directly with a sister church in Africa or finding a community to support can be an overwhelming task. Locating a partner organization, like Bright Hope, with contacts and experience in the community you are interested in and with a history of doing good work on behalf of children can significantly help the transition from learning to doing.
2. Choose your intermediary carefully and build relationships you can trust.
3. Education is the most important component of an orphan care ministry.
|
 "My name is Albina Chabala. A few years ago I lost my husband. After his death I became depressed and unproductive. I stopped trading fish and I did not manage our money very well. Our family was really suffering. We were only eating one meal a day and my children were often sick. The training that I attended (through Willow Creek) challenged the way I thought about a lot of things. I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and start being productive once again. I also learned how to manage my money, how to save and plan ahead for things I wanted. At the training I leaned how to invest in my soils. Thanks to my garden I am now able to provide 2 meals a day for my 5 children and 2 adopted (orphaned) children. While we still do not eat three meals a day our lives have improved greatly, especially for the children who are now much healthier. I even helped my friend start her own garden. From my first crop of vegetables I have sold some of the surplus vegetables I am saving my money so that I can fix up my house. When I die I want to leave behind a nice house as a testimony to the impact my church has had on helping me during this hard time. I want to express my appreciation for this program. It has really changed the way I think about my life and has resulted in some very positive changes in my life and in my family." To read more inspiring stories of hope, be sure to check out our blog.
|
||||||
| |||||||
|
||
|
||
|