In 2005, 125 orphans in Malawi, Africa stole the hearts of members of First English Lutheran Church. We began by providing a three day per week feeding program. That ministry has grown to presently including up to ten churches who willingly partner with us. In 2012, we officially became a 501c3 non-profit organization in the United States with a board of trustees. Our official partner in Malawi is Kanyenyeva Orphan Care Ministry. This organization currently serves up to 1,000 orphans and their caregivers in almost twenty different villages in Malawi. We now feed these orphans six days per week, and this meal may be the only one they receive on those days.
Every year, we have at least one mission team traveling to Malawi. The teams are comprised of loving people from partner congregations, and they focus on literacy, education, roof repairing, vacation bible school, teaching sewing, and more. We have been able to provide them with a well for safe drinking water, establish a chicken and egg business, teach the women to make bracelets, introduce the women to Days for Girls sanitary products and how to make them, provide a transport van, and purchase a 170 acre farm, tractor, and truck for sustainability. And, most recently, the construction of a Skills Center has begun.
Every August, we are able to send sixty-seven orphans to high school (education beyond eighth grade is by tuition), and we sponsor at least six girls to go to Boarding School which keeps them out of forced marriages. We also send 2 students to the prestigious National High School and 2 young men are now being sent to college.
If you feel called to join us, we welcome all individuals and congregations to be involved in this ministry. Our goal is to teach our friends in Malawi to be self-sufficient. There are many ways to help, including investing your time, relationships, money, energy, and hard work with our partners in Malawi. Please visit their website at www.malawiorphancareproject.org