WELS humanitarian aid trip to Africa
Filed Under: Africa, aid, Humanitarian Aid Committee, Malawi, Zambia
The three members of WELS Humanitarian Aid Committee—which exists to help spread the gospel by providing points of contact with people through humanitarian aid—are traveling to Africa July 24 and will spend two weeks assessing the committee's projects that are currently being carried out in Malawi and Zambia.
Rev. David Valleskey, Humanitarian Aid Committee chairman, says while in Africa the committee wants to see what's working, determine what needs to change, and find new opportunities. "The committee is funded entirely by special gifts from WELS members, so we want them to be used in the best possible way—which really is a major reason for our trip over there," he says. "We really want people's gifts to have an impact."
Valleskey, together with committee members Mr. Kent Raabe and Staff Minister Thomas Hering, will visit several sites where humanitarian aid is being given and meet with leadership of the national churches in Zambia and Malawi to see how humanitarian aid can be best used to assist in fulfilling the mission of the church.
Current projects in these African countries include digging deep wells and assisting in literacy and home health care training. In countries like India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the committee is digging wells, providing sanitary sewers and medical supplies, and running orphanages.
"We are simply showing the love of Christ toward people who may not have as much in the way of worldly goods as the Lord has blessed us in America with," says Valleskey. "If people in these countries ask, 'Why are you doing this?' we can point them to the love of Jesus that led him to go all the way to Calvary for them."
Committee members will be blogging during their two-week trip. Read about their experiences in Africa on the World Mission blog at http://missions.wels.net
