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Ministry Projects with Mission Partners around the world
by Bishop James Tengatenga
Pentecost XXIII • November 2006
The Diocese has mission partnerships with a number of churches, organizations and dioceses. These partnerships are in the area of human development projects and meeting the other needs of the church and its people.
The main areas of concentration have been in education, community based orphan care and lately the building of rectories for the growing church. It is with gratitude to the Lord and to his obedient servants that I list the ministry projects below.
Malawi Association for Christian Support: U.K.
Contact Person:
Margaret Parrmparr@fish.co.uk
Website: www.malawimacs.org
Many school and church building projects have been carried out with MACS funds. Most of our schools need extra classroom blocks. MACS has been a present help in this. Most congregations can build churches but they have difficulties in raising enough money to pay for iron sheets for the roof. MACS has helped a lot with these.
The latest being St. Mary’s in Malawi Parish, St. Luke’s and St. Michael’s in Mulanje. MACS has also provided support for the Community based orphan care at Lisule in Thyolo. Most recently the Ardens have provided funds for the building of a priest's house at Chitakale in Mulanje. The latest grant is for finishing the priest’s house at Nsanje.
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, USA
Another partnership which has benefited our diocese has been with the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, USA and with SPCK (USA) - Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, who are based at Sewanee, who have sent us books for our theological college.
Major Mission Partnerships also include
the following (click on the names for project descriptions):
Diocese of Birmingham: Church of England
Calvary Episcopal Church, Golden, Colorado, USA St. David's Episcopal Church, Austin, Texas, USA
St. James' Episcopal Church, New York, New York USA
St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Somers, New York, USA
Trinity Episcopal Church, New York, New York, USA
Episcopal Relief and Development, Episcopal Church, USA
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A Special Appeal from Bishop James Tengatenga
xxxxxx1. One area that has not yet been supported which we hope that some Mission Partners, current or new partners, will be interested in is the area of clergy "housing after retirement."
Our clergy do not make enough money to be able to save for a retirement home.
Most of the clergy are helping, from their own meager resources, four (on average) other family relatives who were orphaned by HIV and AIDS.
It would be a great help if we were enabled to establish a revolving Trust Fund from which clergy could get assistance that is "half grant and half loan" ($10,000 in total but in building materials) ten years before retirement so they could build a reasonable retirement house.
We would need a minimum of $100,000 to begin this. We do not mind if benefactor(s) would require that the funds be based offshore if that makes for greater accountability and transparency.
xxxxxx2. We dream of a Community and Conference Centre. We have already acquired five acres of land for the purpose but do not have the funds with which to build. The drawings and costing estimates are yet to be done.
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