6 mins
Nourishing minds
Jane and Han Broere in Malawi
“I AM 12 years old and in Standard 7. Now that I eat porridge at school, I’m learning very well and I will pass into Standard 8” (Moffat, Zombwe Primary School, Malawi)
WE’VE all been there! Seen a sad situation, thought how much better it could be made, if someone just did something! But, we never think that ‘someone’ might be us, and that ‘something’ might be action we can take. More normally, we feel sad, look sad… and walk on.
When Jane Broere, an elder in the Church of Scotland, Geneva, and her husband Han, encountered the children of Malawi, and saw the effects on so many of them of coming to school without breakfast; effects such as fatigue, inability to concentrate, lost opportunities to learn, absenteeism – Jane and Han decided feeling sad was not enough, wishing it were different was not enough.
So, on their return to Geneva, they took action – and established Nourishing Minds – a non-governmental organisation – a charity – to provide kitchens to cook in, and porridge to cook, in the schools around Ekwendeni, Malawi – where the Geneva Church of Scotland congregation already sponsors a Youth Centre for education and health purposes.
Since they started Nourishing Minds , they have made it possible for five cook-houses to be built and equipped, and set up a large team of youth volunteers to grow the maize, cook the food, and serve the children – caring for 5000 pupils in five schools, providing a staggering one million cups of porridge per school year.
The effect of often-hungry children, too weary and weak to apply themselves to education, now enjoying a cup of nourishing hot porridge during the school morning, has been truly remarkable. Schools report significant improvements in academic achievement, and an energy and optimism that is truly transformational.
Another significant benefit of this project is the sense of purpose and empowerment felt by the youth volunteers who are providing valuable, and crucially, sustainable service to their communities.
These are young people who face many challenges in daily life and for whom there are few opportunities to escape unemployment and poverty. The Nourishing Minds Project gives both a sense of purpose and a creative outlet, where there might only be boredom and despair.
Nourishing Minds intends to increase the reach of its benefit to as wide an area as possible within the Ekwendeni catchment area of 52 schools, and its committed and hard-working committee spread the news and seek the support through imaginative fundraising and enthusiastic celebration of the success of the project.
We all know how important starting the day right can be for our effectiveness. The children of Ekwendeni, and around, are profoundly grateful for a project that, inspired by Christian compassion, is committed to Nourishing Minds.
If you might like to know more about Nourishing Minds check out the website, www.nourishingminds.org
CLIMATE SERVICE
“God is never indifferent to climate change that weakens the already weakened, impoverished and scattered populations throughout our world,” said the Rev Dr Nestor Friedrich, from Brazil, as he delivered the sermon during an ecumenical prayer service held on December 8, in the Spanish Evangelical Church, in Madrid, during the United Nations climate change summit COP25.
“Confessing that our world is not abandoned to a blind destiny, that there is a God leading us, strengthening and calling us to be witnesses of life, we must realise that we have a mission to care for God’s creation,” said Friedrich, who is from the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil and serves as vicepresident for the Latin American region of the Lutheran World Federation.
Promoted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Spanish Evangelical Church, the Ecumenical Prayer for Climate Justice brought together members of the several church and church-based organisations attending COP25. The programme included the premiere of As Ice was Melting, a song tribute to the young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, written by the Rev Per Harling, a well-known Swedish writer and composer of liturgical music and hymns.
(WCC)
THEOLOGIAN MOURNED
The World Communion of Reformed Churches mourned the passing away of Vuyani Vellem on December 4 in his home country of South Africa after a struggle with cancer.
Vellem, a professor at Pretoria University, was a specialist in liberation theology, focusing his research on themes such as Christianity and democracy and Christianity and economics as well as fields such as ecclesiology, spiritualities and public and liberation theologies.
“We have indeed lost a prophet of the Reformed faith,” said Chris Ferguson, WCRC general secretary. “He was well known for his passion and commitment, giving himself wholly and lovingly to all who knew him.”
(WCRC)
NEW CONSTITUTION CONCERN
The Gambia, a tiny nation on Africa’s North Atlantic coast, is considering a new constitution. Prominent Christian voices in the country say there is a lot to like in the draft, and one big thing to worry about: It does not explicitly define majority- Muslim Gambia as a secular state.
A committee of the National Assembly released a draft constitution on November 15, and the public is submitting comments ahead of a national ratification vote.
The draft guarantees press freedom and access to public information. It limits presidential terms, which would preclude a repeat of the 22-year rule of former President Yahya Jammeh, who led a military coup in 1994 and ran an increasingly authoritarian government until he was voted out in 2016.
The proposed document also contains “entrenched clauses that state that no one can declare The Gambia a religious country,” said Pierre Gomez, director of research and policy planning for Gambia’s Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation. But, he said in an online column on December 4, it needs to go further: It should affirmatively declare The Gambia to be secular; forbid public officials to promote any faith; and forbid religious discrimination in access to government resources.
“We need to remember that three years back, someone stood here and declared
the country as an Islamic State, thus it was an issue that affected us the Christians,” Pastor Seal S Jammeh, representing the Christian Council of Gambia, told the Constitutional Review Council on December 3. “We’re urging you to look into the issue critically.”
Before he was voted out, then-President Jammeh declared The Gambia to be an Islamic Republic, saying it was necessary to break the country from its ‘colonial legacy’. (World Watch Monitor)
MANGER RELIC RETURNED TO HOLY LAND
A piece of wood said to have come from Jesus’ manger was returned to the Holy Land at the start of Advent.
Pope Francis ordered the return of the thumb-sized relic, nearly 1400 years after it had been sent to Rome as a gift to his predecessor, Theodore I.
A number of celebrations were held in Jerusalem on November 29 to mark the relic’s arrival in the Holy Land, before it was transferred to Bethlehem and its new permanent home in the Franciscan church of St Catherine, next to the Basilica of the Nativity.
The custodian of the Holy Land churches, Francesco Patton, said: “Today is a day of great celebration…we will not limit this Relic to the Custody, but we will ensure that it represents the outgoing Church and that it brings the joy of the Gospel, peregrinating between the different Christian communities of the Holy Land to rekindle faith in Jesus.” (Custodia Terrae Sanctae)
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This article appears in the February 2020 Issue of Life and Work
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