By Andy Russell, Bruton Parish, Williamsburg
Several weeks have passed since I graduated from William & Mary. Two months to go until my mission to Tanzania.
You read correctly! The
Young Adult Service Corps (YASC) has placed me in Dodoma, Tanzania
starting next August. Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, Zanzibar: all
incredible features of Tanzania. But hardship and suffering are
realities in Tanzania as well. During my time there, I will be serving
with The Carpenter's Kids, a program run by the Anglican Diocese of
Central Tanganyika that provides education to children who have lost one
or both parents to HIV/AIDS. In addition, these orphans are provided
school supplies, shoes, a uniform, access to emergency healthcare, and
two mosquito nets. So far, the program is supporting at least 6,625
orphans across 116 of the 200 parishes. But with an estimated 40,000
such orphans in the Central Tanganyika diocese alone, the need for this
program very real.
It is here I would like
to reiterate what mission exactly is: the work we all engage in to
provide for and bring all of the members of Christ's body closer
together. I would also like to reiterate another point: I really cannot
do this alone. This is not my mission, this is our mission. And in
Tanzania, the need for mission is clear: for most HIV/AIDS orphans, the
Carpenter's Kids program is the only thing keeping them off the streets.
The schools provide structure and support that would be otherwise
absent in the lives of these children.
To financially support
our mission, donations can be sent to Bruton Parish Church (memo line
"YASC"), P.O. Box 3520, Williamsburg, VA 23187-3520. To prayerfully
support our mission via a Prayer Sponsor List, please send a mail or
email address to asrussell21@gmail.com. To learn more about the mission and The Carpenter's Kids, please visit asrussell-yasc.blogspot.com.
Already many of you have
been so incredibly generous and supportive, and for that I am truly
thankful. Let us continue to do God's work in the world!
