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Looking for a New Home
Central Christian Church in Higginsville , MO
has Adult and Youth Choir Robes and 13 old hymnals that they are
no longer using and would love to give them to someone who could
use them. The choir robes are maroon in color. For further
information contact the church (660)584-2309 or
cenchch@ctcis.net .
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NEWSLETTER
Jim and Jayanthi Wilson
July 2008 Gaborone , Botswana
_____________________________________________________________________________
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto
you,
let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid."
- John 14:27
I recently had the opportunity of visiting
Kgodisong Centre which was founded in 2001 by a local
congregation of the United Congregational Church of Southern
Africa (UCCSA) in the village of Kanye . Concerned by an
escalating number of orphans in the community as a result of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic, a preschool/daycare for orphans and
vulnerable children aged between 2 to 6 years was established.
Many of these children find themselves in
difficult and stressful circumstances, due to the long term
decline in their parent's health, reduced family income,
isolation from the wider community because of the stigma and
discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS as well as other issues.
Today the center has more than 50 children, who are transported
on a daily basis to the center and returned to their respective
home environment. While there, they are given opportunities for
learning, given nutritious meals, and provided with
encouragement and spiritual support. Global Ministries has
supported this work in a variety of ways. Being there reminded
me that through Christ Jesus we are given the necessary peace to
do God’s work, i.e. "Peace, I leave with you."
There is hope that later this year, Kgolagano
College will be able to unveil a new certificate and diploma
programme. Developing the syllabus, writing course outlines, and
securing resources has been an arduous task, especially when
operating under financial and personnel constraints.
Nonetheless, we are reminded not to let our hearts be troubled,
for God, through Jesus Christ is with us.
God willing, by the end of this year we will
have returned to North America and will be available for
deputation during the first half of 2009. We always find it a
real blessing to reconnect with the individuals, churches and
friends who have enriched our lives over the last 19 years we
have served with Global Ministries. It’s also a time to make new
connections; to worship and lift up praises to God; to be
encouraged by the many ways the Church in North America is
engaged in doing God’s work (locally, regionally and
nationally); to share about God’s work in Africa and the witness
of the Church there; preaching, visiting Sunday School classes,
fellowship gatherings and.......
In terms of our children, both are doing well.
Our younger daughter, Priya completed her undergraduate studies
at William Woods in Fulton , Missouri in May. She will begin a
Masters program in Social Work at Washington University in St.
Louis , Missouri in August of this year. Shanthi works for Pepsi
and live in Fargo , North Dakota . During her month long visit
with us in April this year, she developed some Power Point
presentations as well as some illustrations for Kgolagano
College .
We continue to give thanks for the
encouragement we receive from churches across North America ,
for doing the work we are engaged in here. God bless.
Jim & Jayanthi Wilson
PO Box 26195 Game City
Gaborone, Botswana
jrjswilson@yahoo.com
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Campaign for Peace, Host AFS!
Hi to all,
I am forwarding this message to each of you because you live in
different cities, work
different jobs, attend various churches and interact with many
different people. If you are not personally in a position to
host, would you share this information with people who might be
in a position to host or interested in hosting, at work and
church and your circle of friends and co-workers.
We hosted this past year. Our student was a young man from
Thailand . At the risk of gushing, it was an amazing, rewarding,
enjoyable, enlightening experience. It was interesting to step
outside the box of our insulated little world and see ourselves
and our society through the eyes of another. Interesting and a
bit shocking to learn what his preconceived ideas o USA were,
based only on exposure to media and movies. He learned that life
in America is not what he thought it would be. Other than
exposure to Thailand through an uncle in the diplomatic corps
and my cousins, I hadn't thought much at all about life in
Thailand .
Our student was one of 700 exchange students going out from
Thailand to the US and
other countries. 10,000 in the beginning took the test. It's a
pretty elite group that earns the privilege of being an exchange
student.
We had never considered hosting an exchange student. The
original host family had
to cancel at the last minute. We do emergency foster care; one
person contacted another, and another. We were called. It was a
God thing. Telephone conferences with the grown kids, and the
son still at home, screening process, whirlwind of preparation,
our student arrived less than 2 weeks later. Perhaps not the
prescribed method, but it worked for us. I tell you this because
it doesn't need to take weeks or months of preparation, tons of
money, a remodel or a big perfect house. We have none of these.
The AFS coordinator and volunteer were knowledgeable and
supportive.
Our tall Thai guy came from Bangkok, a city of 6,000,000 to a
house in the country, a town the size of his school (3,000) and
once in a lifetime opportunities; seasons that change, snow, a
different school system, being part of a larger extended family
with siblings and small children, living with a foster baby and
dogs, living in the country surrounded by space, stars at night,
fishing, ice skating, building snowmen, snow angels, being part
of a team, football, basket ball and track, just to name a few.
It wasn't a one way arrangement, we learned much from him too.
We learned about another culture, religion, family, lifestyle,
foods. I got to be a senior foot
ball mom (a big deal in our little town, an experience I never
would have had otherwise). We were privileged to watch him learn
new things and see our life and world through his eyes. Our
world and family have been enlarged by the experience.
The year flew by. He left yesterday to go home. He left as a
member of our family. The main thing we all learned: for all the
differences in culture and lifestyle, people and relationships
are the same. The important things in life are universal, family
relationships, parent/child relationships friendships, love,
respect, and faith.
If you are interested in hosting, you can reach me for a contact
person or Scott from AFS whose contact information is on the
original message. If you would, please keep it going. Thanks.
Jane Jamis
from: Scott.Hume@afs.org
Subject: Campaign for Peace: AFS is changing the world in 2008!
To:
danijane55@hotmail.com
Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2008 00:12:43 -0500
Dear South Central regional AFS volunteers, families, returnees,
and other supporters-
This week, we will be saying good-bye to approximately 2400 AFS
students who have spent the last year living and studying in the
US. It has been a memorable and life-changing year for them and
wonderful things are no doubt in store for these students, who
were hosted in communities just like yours.
Many of you have been working tirelessly to find host families
for the AFS students who will arrive in August - or you may be
hosting an AFS student yourself. Many of the rest of you
volunteer for AFS by providing support and orientations to our
participants or helping to recruit American students to go
abroad on AFS. Without the efforts of over 7000 AFS volunteers
across the US - nearly 800 of whom are in the states of Texas ,
Oklahoma , Louisiana , Arkansas , Kansas , and Missouri - there
would be no AFS program. Whatever your role is or has been with
AFS, know that you and your efforts are appreciated and are
making a positive difference in the world.
To date, approximately two-thirds of the students arriving in
August have been assigned to a host family. Nevertheless, I am
asking each of you to help identify one potential host family
somewhere in our region before our international placement
deadline of July 23, 2008. We still have students available from
42 diverse countries and 5 continents.
As someone who knows about the mission of AFS and the positive
impact AFS students can have on your family and your community,
please consider if you or anyone you know would be interested in
being a host family this year. If your local school still has
openings for students, please consider hosting for the full
year, for a semester, or as a welcome family for 6-8 weeks.
Although we seek a permanent year round placement for each of
our students, welcome families not only reassure our students of
where they will start their AFS year but they also give our
volunteers and staff more time to identify permanent families
for the students before they begin arriving.
If you are not in a position to host an AFS student at this
time, we would like to ask you to get the word out in the
following ways:
-Speak with other parents, friends, or co-workers to ask if they
have ever considered hosting an AFS student.
-Send an e-mail to or call your personal contacts to tell them
about the wonderful and life-changing opportunities offered by
AFS and asking them to consider hosting.
-Make an announcement at your place of worship, clubs to which
you belong, or with a local community group.
-Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper to share
your experiences with AFS and the many benefits of hosting an
AFS student.
Within the last two weeks, many of you should have received a
mailing from AFS, which included information about some of the
terrific students who will be arriving in August. If you have
not received information about specific students, but would like
to do so, please contact me and I will send information about
students assigned to your area.
Many of you may wonder why we ask the same groups of people each
year to help us find host families. In doing some research and
analysis last fall, we learned that 80-85% of our host families
come to us as a result of personal contact with an AFS volunteer
or by having a previous connection to AFS. While there is some
benefit to more traditional publicity, such as newspaper and
radio ads, we have learned that the best way to find a host
family is for that family to hear directly from someone else who
is already an active participant in our program. That is why we
continue to ask our volunteers, returnees, host families,
natural families, and other supporters for help each year.
If each of you could take just an hour or two during the next
two weeks to follow up on the suggestions listed above, every
student would have a family by July 23! Please do whatever you
can. For more information on how you can help or to check on
school or student availability in your area, please contact
either myself or the Central States Hosting Manager, Nancy Weis-Sanfo,
at nweis-sanfo@afs.org
or you can call her at 800-876-2377 x 2225.
I believe hosting exchange students is a way to make the world a
better place--one kid and one family at a time. You have made a
huge difference in contributing to a more just and peaceful
world through your previous support of AFS and I hope you will
continue to do so in the future. Thank you so much.
My very best regards,
Scott Hume
Regional Director
phone: (651)647-6337 ext 2234
toll free: 800-876-2377 ext 2234
fax: (651)647-6628
Campaign for Peace, Host AFS!
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Disciples Leadership Institute
Dear Colleagues,
HELM has several immediate openings for participants in the 2008
conference of the Disciples Leadership Institute August 11-15,
2008, and we need your help very quickly to help us find them.
Disciples Leadership Institute is participant-directed
fellowship of younger Disciples leaders (both lay and clergy)
that brings together leaders for a week of fellowship, worship,
and sharing of their lives in faith across the lines of
language, culture and congregational ethos.
The group is, by intention, one-half leaders from new
congregations and one-half leaders from established
congregations. It is also one-half People of Color and one-half
Anglo. Participants are generally between 25 and 40 years old
and serving in significant leadership roles in their respective
congregations, as pastors or lay leaders.
I have attached additional information about DLI to this
message, along with an application form. In addition, these
materials can be accessed from the HELM web site at
