Jubilee Centre

Jubilee Centre July 15th, 2009

Persona Reflection

By Amy Clare Hanna

Who would’ve thought it was enough? Two weeks. Fourteen days. It is enough time to be transformed. As a team of twelve students from Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge we embarked on this mission project with the Jubilee Centre in Ndola, eager to get an insight into the work of this tireless NGO. However, few of us could have anticipated in how many ways we have been challenged, inspired and encouraged by what we witnessed. Volunteering and learning alongside this powerful team of driven and compassionate individuals has been more overwhelming than any words can describe!

We spent several days over the course of the mission looking at the work carried out in several church feeding programs across Ndola. A highlight of this was the time spent at the Chifubu ‘Love Kitchen.’ This is a ministry run by New Hope Christian Church. This was most apt a name as the helpers who supported the project seemed devoted to sharing their warmth with the children who were malnourished.

Many of these children were HIV/AIDS victims and it struck us resoundingly that this was not just feeding these underfed children. The serving of food is an expression of love for these children.

The Jubilee Centre’s desire to glorify God and try and build up these children emotionally and spiritually could be seen as bright as the sun that shone. Meeting orphans and these victims was heart breaking and strangely majestic at the same time. These children had experienced so much suffering in their short lives.

Yet, at the centre of so much pain it was apparent that God reigned supreme. As witnesses we all saw hope in their faces. One child, Precious, described being orphaned and how she only ate when she went to the feeding programme. That is just three meals a week. Part of this obvious injustice we saw is something none of us are keen to forget.

James Chapter 1 verses 23-27 reflect the shared sentiments we had on this.

The apparent injustice we saw informed me clearly that I need to take note of what it states in Psalm 45 verse 4 and Amos Chapter 5 verse 24. These have to be sights I use to put a face on poverty and on issues of justice that perpetuate the cycle of deprivation here.

Home based Care was another phenomenal endeavour we saw in the course of this trip. It gave us an opportunity to see the ways resources for development and empowerment for church leaders, HIV/AIDS caregivers and vulnerable families. The devotion of carers and the struggles of sufferers with the condition and an ongoing battle with stigma was difficult to hear about.

We even traveled to Lusaka to get an insight into the programs that Jubilee Centre has partnered with churches in the capital city. The scale and progress made amongst the youth leaders of the many churches that met up was both intriguing and inspirational. The vision they had as leaders was impressive, relevant and motivated. They proposed ideas for their community and equally seemed to be plagued by so many issues that seemed incomprehensible to us.

The most thorny and gloriously ruining aspect of this trip was the short amount of time spent in Child Headed homes. Homes headed up by children who were not even teenagers stressed how ridiculous the gap between the west and the rest of the world really is. It is not enough to feel pity for these children who have been robbed of childhood and are at the mercy of this broken and often dark world. The anger, frustration and confusion we all shared at glimpsing this existence, as outsiders, enough to propel and sustain momentum for social action. Though, this action has to start from inside us, with a change of heart.

Spiritually, this experience has been enriching and affirming of our faith in different ways. Every encounter on this trip with the Jubilee Centre has deepened the steps taken on our Christian walks respectively. Whilst our physical time with this Organisation “Daring to be the salt of the earth and light of the world” is over, our spiritual heart and emotional connection has only just gained momentum. We pray that this will fuel our desires to give God the glory in all we do and say.

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