CHILDREN ARE A GIFT FROM GOD!

Recently, reading from the Book of Psalms, I was again reminded how important to God children are: “Psalm 127:3 declares, ‘Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from Him.’” Likewise, the Apostle James equates taking care of, and providing for the vulnerable children of the world, with the essence of our Faith. He states that, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27)

And so, the goal of AFnet, since its inception, has been to make disciples of Jesus Christ across southern Africa through church planting and leadership training, while never forgetting that every leader trained, and every new congregation established, must understand that part of their call to serve their community is to also identify and develop active ministry to, and among the most vulnerable members of society: the orphans and widows. Therefore, AFnet has continued this disciple-making focus also through the funding of education along with the spiritual development of hundreds of orphans (and widows) through active hands-on programs. Of course, apart from academics, we also focus on the needs of body, mind, and spirit. Grounding our precious children in their faith is as much part of our program as providing for their daily needs and education.

This letter then is to highlight just a small sampling of the impact that the AFnetAid Orphan Program continues to have today. Over a hundred orphans are currently registered in the Orphan Program in Zambia—all registered in school, and actively provided for and taken care of by our amazing team of volunteers and full-time staff at the Mansa Center. But hundreds have already graduated through High School and the Day-care program. Here I reference just a handful of these success stories of children who arrived at our doorstep with no hope, and today are ready to take on the world.

Elijah and Precious Musonda: Brother and sister were brought to our center by their disabled mother who no longer could provide or care for them after their father died. They had never attended school and were in terrible physical condition. And so we took them in. Both quickly adjusted and excelled, expressing good character and the will to learn and fit in. Elijah, being the elder sibling, soon emerged as a natural leader among their peers, and graduated High School. AFnet then sponsored a year-long skills-development course, and paid for a year of carpentry training at a local Trade School. Completing his course, Elijah realized a call on his life to serve God full-time as a pastor. And so, we put him through our 2-year Bible-school diploma program, which he completed in 2022. Currently pastoring a small local church in Mansa, he recently indicated that he would like to further his Theological training. Therefore,

we’re considering sponsoring Elijah further for his Bachelor’s Degree at Kaniki Bible University, where he can fully apply all his current Diploma credits already earned through our Bible School program.

Precious, likewise, worked hard and graduated High School in 2019. But she was not able to get into University until this year. And so, when she was accepted in January for a degree in Nursing, AFnet immediately committed to paying her way. She is doing really well. However, being a private university, the fees are high. Nevertheless, knowing how hard she worked to get to this point, we feel honored to help her realize her dream and to further her chances at success and life!

The following students also graduated through our Orphan program, and are currently attending university or college, being sponsored by AFnet:

• Joseph Kabwe: Eden University - Bachelor’s Degree program, 2nd year
• Rennox Mulenga: Eden University - Diploma Student, 2nd Year
• Perry Simwiinga: Mansa School of Nursing - 3rd Year
• Emmanuel Musama: N.R.D.C. - 2nd Year
• Annie Ngulube: Mansa Teachers College - 1st Year

Needless to say, we are so proud of the amazing effort by these, and all our other children who have progressed through our program. At the same time, with the learners, we must thank all of the staff at The Centre (both our volunteer and permanent staff members) for working so hard, doing so much with so little, and with such a good attitude always. We would not be able to do this without these faithful administrators, educators, kitchen staff, and pastors. Please keep them all in prayer as we make every attempt to equip our children with a firm foundation, both in education and in faith, that will serve them well as they grow and mature, physically and spiritually.