Zambia, Malawi, A WOW Children's Christmas, Ouagadougou & Capetown 2010

What do Zambia, Malawi, A WOW Children's Christmas, Ouagadougou and Capetown 2010 all have in common? One thing -- they have all been the focus of much of our attention over the last few weeks (in addition to many other things).

Zambia and Malawi

Since I was in Zambia in April, Pastor Eric Mwambelo the leader of Kabwe Home-Based Care and I have been working on beginning a leadership training program for rural pastors around the city of Kabwe. Well, after months of work -- the dream has become a reality. As I write this, Jack Tesch and Micah Brechtel are in Zambia conducting 3 days of training in 3 different locations! Pastor Eric is expecting about 150 pastors to participate!

After two weeks in Zambia Jack is going to Malawi to continue working with rural pastors in the Somebody Cares network. He'll be there for a month, along with another couple from Alabama.

One of the things Visionledd does is help build the capacity of the local church, and these rural pastors will benefit greatly from the teaching and training they will receive.

A WOW Children's Christmas

Another project we have been involved with is the WOW Children's Christmas. WOW (Women for Orphans and Widows) is a ministry of Visionledd. This year we are encouraging churches, families and individuals to consider making a one-time donation of $20 to WOW so that, along with our African partners, we can throw an orphan or vulnerable child a Christmas party they will never forget. Our goal is for at least 1,500 children to experience Christmas. In so many of the communities in which we work, AIDS has brought pain and suffering, and joy is a gift many children can't imagine.

The WOW Children's Christmas brings the love of Jesus Christ and the celebration of Christmas to an orphan or vulnerable child along with the story of Jesus, a school uniform, school supplies and a special Christmas dinner.

If you want to know more about a WOW Children's Christmas, check out this VIDEO. If you would like to give a child a great Christmas, check out the info at the end of this post.

Ouagadougou

On October 22 Karl is heading back to Africa -- but will not land in Malawi -- rather in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is a small country in Western Africa that has over 400,000 orphans and vulnerable children. Karl will be joined by Steve Bowler, the Visionledd African Representative and together they will spend a week on-the-ground with Pastor Kouliga Nikiema and the staff and leadership of Vigilance. Vigilance has been a Christian voice on HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso since 1996, and Karl and Steve are going to see whether a partnership with Visionledd is something that God would be leading us to. Pray for safety in travel and wisdom as the two of them attempt to discern God's will for Visionledd and Vigilance.

Capetown 2010

Today Karl was notified that he has been selected to be one of the USA participants in the 3^rd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Capetown, South Africa scheduled for October 16-25, 2010 (this congress is in collaboration with the World Evangelical Alliance). It is an honour to be selected as a participant, and a great opportunity for me. I will be one of 4,000 delegates from 200 nations attending. I will be participating in discussions and forums on:

• Children at Risk
• HIV/AIDS in Africa
• Church and ministry partnerships between the Global North and the Global South
  

Karl was surprised to have been selected since much of the focus has been on bringing younger leaders to this 10 day event, and unfortunately he doesn't fit into that category anymore. Karl had the privilege of participating in the 2^nd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization in Manila, the Philippines in 1989. He was a Canadian delegate at that time. It was an incredible time of networking, building relationships, learning, and discovering what God is doing in the world. I know this time in Capetown will be very profitable for him personally, but also for Visionledd International. Needless to say, Karl is excited about the opportunity!

How to Give!

If you live in the USA and would like to contribute to our ministry or to the WOW Children's Christmas you can do that in one of 3 ways.

1. Write a check to Visionledd and mail it to:

Visionledd
PO Box 20158
Mesa, AZ 85277

2. You can use the "Bill Pay" feature your bank offers.

3. You can give via credit card through Network for Good.

If you live in Canada, you can give by going to the Visionledd website.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support.