Bethel’s Africare Ministry travels to South Africa

BY MALINDA JACKSON
AND TAYLORE N. MAXEY
SPECIAL TO THE OUTLOOK

The Africare Ministry at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, where the Rev. Dr. R.B. Holmes, Jr. is Pastor, recently returned from South Africa on missionary work.

Led by “Queen Mother” Eva C. Wanton, 20 church members embarked on a 10-day international trip to spread the word of Jesus Christ and to volunteer their services in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Soweto. During the trip, the group visited a children’s orphanage in Soweto and donated books, clothing and toiletries for the children. In addition, the group visited Rhema Bible Church for services.

Other notable sites visited were the following: Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 27 years), The Apartheid Museum, Table Mountain, Freedom Square, The Cape Point Nature Reserve and The Cape of Good Hope.

The group also had the opportunity to hear from two informative guest speakers. One was a former political activist that was in exile for 14 years, and the other was a lecturer on the history of modern day South Africa. In the African-American tradition, the ministry also planned and hosted a special New Year’s Eve church service in the city of Cape Town.

Each day began with devotion that included prayer, scripture reading and a hymn. Bethel’s Africare ministry was established in the late ‘80s. Its mission is to spread the gospel and find ways to assist an African based agency, school or facility. To date, in addition to the recent trip to South Africa, the group has visited Senegal and Ghana in West Africa.

In the late ‘90s, a water well was built in a remote village in Senegal that was paid for by the members of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, at a cost of $40,000. Moreover, the ministry has adopted a school in the Mampong Village of Ghana, West Africa. Shipments of school supplies, clothing, medical supplies, FAMU Marching 100 T-shirts and general reading materials have been delivered to the school.

Money has also been provided to purchase school uniforms for students as well as financial incentives for the headmaster and classroom teachers. The ministry makes it a priority to keep communication open and active via e-mail messages between the school in Ghana and the local Africare Ministry.

Africare ministries is also working on plans to develop a grant proposal that will allow teachers from the Mampong Village School in Ghana, to travel to Tallahassee where they will participate in educational training at Florida A&M University and within local schools. The goal is to have this training enhance the teachers’ skills as educators. Ministry members plan to return to Ghana and other African countries over the next few years.