For the love of orphans
By Greg Jenks

Four years ago, Amanda Eckelkamp came to my office at Christ Community United Methodist Church to tell me that she was hoping to go to Zambia the following summer to work with AIDS orphans. Little did I know the ramifications that a vision planted in the heart of a fifteen-year-old girl would have for my own life.

In counseling Amanda I knew she faced two main obstacles to actually going to Africa-her mom and dad! In fact, both her parents asked that I explain to her why they couldn't allow her to go.

I understood their position. To allow your daughter to go on a mission into the bush of Africa where they would have no direct contact with her for two months, seemed a bit too much to ask of any parent.

So I did my pastoral duty. I explained to Amanda how God often reveals his will to us through our parents. I reminded her that honoring one's father and mother is part of discipleship. Then I assured her that one day she would be in Africa, though it wouldn't be that next summer.

Amanda listened politely then disregarded absolutely everything I had said! Night after night, Africa was the topic of conversation at the dinner table in her home. The turning point came one night when she looked at her dad and said, "You're my earthly father and you're telling me no, but my heavenly Father is telling me yes." Jim came to me and asked, "How do I respond to that?" I replied, "I'm just glad it's your daughter and not mine!"

In the summer of 2002, Jim and Roberta Eckelkamp committed their fifteen-year-old daughter to the care of God. Amanda left the comforts of home to answer the call of God to serve suffering orphans in Africa. 

For many years I had personally wrestled with a call into missions. It was clear there was a call upon my life in that direction. Exactly what that call was remained unclear.

Amanda introduced me to the plight of AIDS orphans in Africa. I'm ashamed to admit that the extent of the knowledge I had of the AIDS pandemic in southern Africa could be summed up in one sentence: "AIDS is bad in Africa." Somewhere deep in my spirit, an awakening began to occur.

Over the next year and a half, the spark ignited by the passion of Amanda Eckelkamp began flickering in my heart. God had fanned that spark into a roaring fire within. I came to two realizations. First, God had put a zeal in my heart for the children of Africa. Second, children would die if I didn't go.

Two years ago, I met with my then district superintendent (she is now Bishop Hope Morgan Ward) to begin exploring this call to leave the security of the pastoral ministry. I warned her that what I wanted to meet about was a "little outside the box." Her comment was, "I like outside the box."

Those who know Hope, know that she is an "outside the box" kind of leader. As I presented the vision for launching this new work, her first response was, "Can I go with you?"

While on an exploratory trip to Zimbabwe, I had begun to understand the enormity of the suffering. I saw amazing work being done by committed Christians to care for these orphans. Yet I also sensed the desperation borne of a lack of resources. Bishop Christopher Jokomo of the Zimbabwe Annual Conference captured much of what we had seen when he said, "The church has to sit and watch communities and people die because of lack of resources."

I returned from Africa during one of the more interesting seasons for United Methodist pastors. In January, pastors and churches are asked if they desire for the pastoral leadership to stay the same or change. I had planted Christ Community UM Church in Clayton, North Carolina, in 1997. I had a very special bond with this group of people. Yet as I returned from Africa, I sensed the confirmation in my spirit that God was calling my time as their pastor to a close.

With no funds raised and no guarantee of support, I shared with my people that I sensed God calling me to leave the pastoral ministry and launch out into this new endeavor. I invited them to pray with me during this "season of discernment" concerning God's will.

On February 25, 2004, I met with the leadership of the North Carolina Annual Conference to present my vision concerning Zoe (Zimbabwe Orphans Endeavor) and ask for their endorsement. A month and a half later I would be officially appointed to launch the ministry.

I have now traveled to Zimbabwe on six occasions. Our work is focused on meeting basic needs of orphans and vulnerable children. We are involved in providing food assistance in over 20 locations, serving more than 7,000 children. We have provided the funds to pay school fees and purchase uniforms for nearly 1,400 children. We have shipped over 2,000 school supply kits.

In April, we held our first youth camp for disadvantaged orphans. Seven children made commitments to follow Jesus Christ, and many others were encouraged in their faith. This was followed by our first medical work team in May.

The church in Zimbabwe provides a strong infrastructure through which we do our work. In fact, our strategy has been to listen to church and community leaders share their visions for ministry to the children. We then partner with them, providing the resources they lack for the needs they desire to meet.

One such place is the United Methodist Mission at Nyakatsapa. The headmaster of Nyakatsapa Primary School had shared with us that the resources for feeding their needy children had run out. In addition to affecting the educational performance of the children, we were told that these hungry little children were becoming more aggressive toward one another. "A hungry man is an angry man," the headmaster explained.

One year ago, we launched our first feeding program in Zimbabwe at Nyakatsapa. Nearly 200 children received food provided by United Methodists in the United States. As we all took turns handing food to these orphans, our hands merely became an extension of the compassionate hands of United Methodists back home. We saw the love of God's people come to life in tangible ways for these vulnerable children. One of the community leaders referred to this launch as a "historic day" at Nyakatsapa. Truly it was historic for a vision that had became reality before our very eyes.

I have met a number of children who have been orphaned by the AIDS pandemic in my trips to Zimbabwe. The most heart-wrenching of these encounters occurred while we were visiting the UM Mission in Mutambara. We met two young boys surviving in a family headed by a sixteen-year-old girl named Smolene. We visited their home and heard their tragic story. Their parents both died, leaving Smolene as the head of their home. The land they live on is rocky and unfit for cultivation. As Smolene sought to care for her brothers, she would work in nearby fields to raise money to keep them in school. To survive they were receiving food from a relief agency, one that is no longer active in the area. She took us into her home, showed us the amount of food they had and said, "This is all the food we have. It's enough to last us until Saturday, after that we'll just die."

Our hearts were broken. We were gripped by the awful reality that theirs was not an isolated story in southern Africa. It is the story of much of a continent.

Smolene and her brothers are among the thousands of children now receiving care from Zoe Ministry. For the first time in two years, Smolene has returned to school. Dressed in her new school uniform this January, Smolene exclaimed that she never dreamed she would ever be able to return to school!

In addition to touching these children physically and academically, we have seen these children embrace faith in Jesus. During my most recent visit to their home, I noticed then that Smolene had painted the outside of their mud hut in which they sleep. Floral arrangements created from the clay and mud around her house adorned the walls. Four words were written among those pictures. In her native language, Smolene had written these words from the book of James, "Kutenda Kusina Mabasa Kwakafa," which means, "Faith without works is dead." I have reflected upon why this young girl chose these words. I can't help but believe that she has a very unique perspective on this verse. Smolene understands that the faith of believers in a land far away reached across the chasm and changed her life.

The AIDS pandemic of southern Africa has been called the "greatest humanitarian crisis" in the history of humanity. Millions of children have been orphaned. Millions more will follow. This tragedy is occurring on our watch. I am convinced that history will judge the church of this generation based in part upon how we respond to the needs of the suffering children of Africa. The church of Jesus Christ must link hearts and resources so that we might care for some of the most vulnerable children on the face of the earth.

Greg Jenks is an elder in the North Carolina Annual Conference. Prior to launching Zoe Ministry, he was the founding pastor of Christ Community United Methodist Church in Clayton, North Carolina. He has also served as the president of the Evangelical Fellowship in the NC Conference. Greg and his family live in Clayton.Zoe Ministry is an Advance Special of the North Carolina Annual Conference. Greg would love to hear from any interested in partnerships to bring the love and hope of Jesus Christ to orphans in suffering in southern Africa. For more information, visit www.zoeministry.org. You may order a DVD about the work in Zimbabwe at greg@zoeministry.org.