A - Educate Yourself
Continue to learn about the AIDS crisis. If you haven't done so already, click on the
HIV / AIDS Crisis button on this website and then explore other resources. If you are knowledgeable you'll feel comfortable sharing the information with others as facts, not as opinions.
The HIV/AIDS Crisis button on this website is a great place to start. It will provide startling statistics from the United Nations, and will link you to a very interesting and informative video on HIV/AIDS.
B - See For Yourself - Visit Kwamhlanga
Seeing is not only believing. It also has a way of bringing home the tragedies this pandemic is wreaking in South Africa . Nothing takes the place of being able to say, "I've been there. I've seen it with my own eyes. I've experienced the heartache first hand." When you allow yourself to see the needs of God's children, you place yourself in a unique position to be used by God in ways that He knows best.
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| Come see for yourself the children left behind by the AIDS pandemic. |
If you only have the ability to sit down, going to visit the kids at the Manaleni Center will make the trip worthwhile. If you sit, the kids will flock to your side. They just want someone who cares to look at them, to hold them, to talk to them, and to love them.
The next trip is: September 23 thru October 2, 2010
More information about the trip is available:
1 - Click here to obtain an "Application To Participate"
Macintosh Version
The application contains a lot of information!
2 - Read about the September 2008 trip click here!
3 -Check out pictures from the September 2008 trip click here!
Check out a video from past trips: "I See Jesus"
4 - For more information contact Pastor Paul Butler at: butler.tampa@gmail.com or call him at (813) 495-4956
C - Provide Financial Support
100% of all donations are transmitted to MCDC. Nothing given is used to pay for trips or any other type of administrative costs in the United States .
Your charitable donations supporting this ministry through the St. James United Methodist are fully tax deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the internal Revenue Code. You will receive the appropriate receipt. You can make a huge difference in the lives of many. Some ideas are:
* Sponsor the Manaleni Center for a year: $90,000
* Build and furnish a house and pit toilet for a family: $5,000
* Be "One of 15" who support the Manaleni Center for $6000
* Feed a family for a year: $1200 per year
* Support a Theological Student at Mukhanyo
Theological College for $1000 per year
* Provide monthly assistance to a Foster Care Parent : $60 per month
* Be a monthly MCDC Partner: $50 per month
Make your check payable to "St. James United Methodist Church" and clearly mark it for "South Africa Ministry" (as well as indicating any specific area of ministry listed above if you so choose) and send your tax deductible contribution to the following:
The Reverend Paul B. Butler, Jr.
Chair, HIV / AIDS Ministry
St. James UMC 16202 Bruce B. Downs, Tampa, Florida 33647
butler.tampa@gmail.com or call 813-495-4956
D - Challenge Your Congregation
What Is The Global Church Doing To Respond To The AIDS Crisis?
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| Patina and Linda leading the children in a dance while visiting Africa. |
The quick and sarcastic answer is "Not enough." But, this does not mean the Church of Jesus Christ isn't responding. It certainly is. The initiatives started by the Willow Creek and Saddleback churches, and those of many others like St. James, are a testament to people who want to make a difference in this humanitarian crisis that is ravaging God's children.
Take a look at the website of Willow to get an idea of how this church is making a difference and offering ways for other congregations to jump in:
Global Connections: The Willow Creek Community Church - Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor
E - Challenge Yourself - What Will You Do To Respond
To The AIDS Crisis?
That's your call - Hopefully, that's one reason you're visiting this website. It's all about partnering together. Allow yourself to be amazed at what one person can do when you respond to God's call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and minister to and visit the sick.
"Offering hope and action instead of despair and paralysis
to the people of Tampa Bay and KwaMhlanga , South Africa, who are afflicted with or impacted by HIV/AIDS."
