Church member, Matt Wojnarowski, remembers the announcement clearly and a few weeks later, the suggested donation lists were delivered via bulletin inserts. Matt looked over the list, thought about the needs of his own seven children, and tucked it into his Bible. By the second week of the project, Matt knew exactly what the Lord was impressing on his heart to share with the needy children. One of the items on list for the container project was a foosball table.

Foosball was a family pastime for Matt, as he grew up in a preacher’s home with three brothers and one sister. The foosball table sitting in his basement had been there for several years and was originally a family present from his father and mother to their kids in 1978. Upon the original purchase, Matt’s dad had declared that he wanted to get a table that would last many years. While needing some repair, the table was in fairly good condition. Matt ordered a few parts, repaired, scrubbed and scoured, then delivered the table to the church and left it inside the shipping container. The difficulty of giving away such a sentimental item was immense, but he knew the children at the Passion Center would love it. Childhood memories filled his mind as he walked away, but his heart was full of joy from obedience. He hoped that the orphans in Malawi would enjoy the table as much as he and his family had. The theme statement for the project had been, “If you can’t leave your footprints there…at least leave your fingerprints.” Matt knew that his fingerprints were headed to Malawi.

After much work, the shipping container arrived at the Passion Center on August 17, 2011. The children were elated to open the much-needed and much-anticipated supplies. Their eyes lit up when, in the middle of unpacking necessities, the foosball table was discovered.

The first step of obedience to the Lord to help the orphans of Malawi led Matt to a second step. At the time of donating the foosball table, he held no thoughts of his own feet ever stepping on African soil. But that is exactly what happened. As a member of the worship team, through the gracious support of others, Matt had the privilege of leaving his footprints at the Passion Center for Children in February 2012.

Matt’s earthly father had a great plan for the foosball table with the desire for it to “last a long time,” but the Heavenly Father’s plan for that table superseded anyone’s imagination. Matt enjoyed playing foosball with his family for many years and his hope is that his extended family at the Passion Center enjoys the table for many more years.

» Learn more about child sponsorship

The Passion Center staff took the Form 1 (9h grade) and Form 3 (11th grade) Passion students on an educational and spiritual field trip to The Mulunguzi Dam last week. Most of the students had never visited the dam before. For the first two hours of the trip, we were guided by the dam supervisor; he gave us a brief history of the dam. He really made it an educational experience for the children, explaining everything from what a dam is, what a reservoir is, what materials were used to make the dam, and how the dam is flushed out. The guide took us to the bottom most part of the dam and to the gorge as well. He answered many questions and often engaged the students. It was quite an experience for the children, they really enjoyed it!

After this part of the trip, we took a break and enjoyed our lunch, with a few monkeys roaming around. It was really beautiful!

After our break, we sat down in a little open hut within the dam premises for the spiritual part of the trip. We had a brief portion where we encouraged them to work hard in school, then Pastor Joseph Sekiya spoke on the importance of sharing their testimonies with friends and family. He used the apostle Paul as an example, how he told his story in the letter to the Galatians, who he was, how he was converted and how God is using him. So, before one can share their story, they need to write down their story. Their testimony should include (among other things) who they were before they came to Christ, how they came to Christ, and how Christ is working in their lives etc. They do have an assignment to write down their testimonies (as well as what they learned about the dam). Of course we’ll continue to work with them, even taking them out to reach out to others using their testimonies that they have written.

It was a really beautiful trip at the very beginning of their school break!

With about 75% of the population living in rural areas, most of the area villagers will never receive basic health education or have access to health care providers, medicines or clinics. It is against this backdrop that The Passion Center’s Community Health Network ministry labors to strengthen these dedicated volunteers who desire to help in the name of Jesus Christ. What began two and half years ago in a backyard meeting in Ohio has now developed into a caring team of volunteers who daily respond to the diverse health care needs of a growing number of villages.

These health teams are self-organized and self-leading. The Passion Center conducts training twice a year and provides equipment and supplies to help them extend hope and healing to scores of people who would otherwise suffer in silence. On any given day, a health volunteer could be called upon to dress a wound, set a broken bone, transport an expectant mother (sometimes assisting with the delivery), deliver meds and insure they are taken. As the only First Aid responders they also must convince resistant villagers to seek medical help before their condition worsens. They provide emergency transportation—almost daily—through the bush and on dirt trails via their bicycle ambulances.

As we thank God for answering our prayers we also see that more help is needed. As the Community Health Network, grows the need for additional health care trainers, financial resources and medical supplies also increases. Please pray that God would meet all these needs. If you would like to donate towards this ministry, you can do so by donating towards “Special Projects.” There are a number of other ways you can help also. You could collect basic medicines and supplies or you can deliver them in person. If you’re a health care professional we welcome you to visit The Passion Center in Malawi. If this interests you, drop us an email, health@passioncenterforchildren.org.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. May God continue to bless and guide you.

This past month Child Welfare officials turned to The Passion Center to care for Isabel. What we know so far is that her mother and father were migrant farm laborers in the North region of Malawi. When her mother became seriously ill, her father left seeking help. As her mother’s condition grew worse, the father never returned and Isabel’s mother died weeks later. Alone, disoriented and vulnerable, a neighbor took Isabel in for a time. When they could no longer feed her, she was turned away. For the next year she fended for herself working any available job she could find in the local trading center. Finally her plight came to the attention of local Child Welfare officers. When they couldn’t locate any family members and without the ability or facility to care for her they asked The Passion Center to step in. Isabel is already responding to the love and care her new home is providing. She’s learning about the overcoming love and grace of God in Christ firsthand and is quickly making friends with others who have also been abandoned, abused or who have no home.

The Residency Home is but one way The Passion Center labors to see God alter the trajectory of these bruised lives so they might hope and have a future again. If a grandparent or another family member is willing to take in an orphan, The Passion Center designates these children as Passion Kids and works to provide them with all their basic needs as well as matching them with sponsors, who would pray for them and give towards their needs. We also train and assist the family guardians; all in the hopes of keeping a Passion Child with a family member. There are almost 200 of these Passion Kids now, but there are also many children like Isabel who have no relatives and who need a home like The Passion Residency Home (Linda and Ethel are two examples).

We sense that God is leading us to provide for more orphans like these. This year we would like to double our capacity to do so. We’ve been praying about this for some time now. Some initial plans and coordination have already been made, so in the next few months we’ll share more specific information with you. In the meantime please pray with us and if you already know that you want to give to make this a reality in 2012. You can do so by donating towards “Special Projects.”

Thank you so much for praying for and supporting The Passion Center in Malawi. May God continue to bless and guide you!

What do you need to play with a friend? Not much really.

One dynamic development has been the impact of the Community Health Network. We’re training a solid group of village volunteers, some HIV+ themselves. In most cases, they’re the only ones visiting and caring for the infirmed and ill. They provide the only emergency transportation, via bicycle ambulances we’ve provided. And with supplies from The Passion Center, they minister to those suffering as well as work with village leaders to improve the overall hygiene and sanitation in the villages.

Sadly, the country of Malawi is in a growing economic crisis. Government mismanagement and misplaced priorities has resulted in severe fuel shortages, rapidly rising food prices, power outages, a growing scarcity of medicines and a lack of education materials. You can read more about the new in Malawi here and here.

Please pray…

• That country leaders would soon implement solutions for these problems
• For those suffering
• That the Lord would enable The Passion Center to continue bringing hope and a future to children and their communities!

What a joy it is seeing orphans—who once faced a bleak future—growing strong and healthy, learning about the living God and smiling freely!

With your help, we’ve seen just that by providing for their needs as well as providing them a place to be kids again…all in the name of Jesus!

The two photos below help capture a bit of that victory. In one, playing soccer is not a distant dream if you can make your own “village soccer ball.” In the other, kids gather around the only Swing Sets in the area to play and be with their friends.

Thank you for caring, praying and supporting The Passion Center. May God bless you in 2012!

When you can’t buy a soccer ball, does that mean you can’t play soccer? No way! The children make their own soccer balls by melting plastic grocery bags.