One of the needs in Zimbabwe is skills training for disadvantaged children. Children on the streets with no skills will more likely be used, abused and pursue crime to survive. Children with skills will have a new sense of worth and will have something to offer a supply and demand market. Further, children who are invited to know Christ while at the same time learning skills will become a happy and productive part of culture.
Bud and Mandy are working to establish relationships with organizations that are preforming this kind of service to disadvantaged children. These organizations give spiritual promise and economic hope to children. Today, Karen Sautbine from East Troy Bible Church shares her story about the Rafiki Girls Center at Central Baptist Church in Harare. This program is a perfect example of how Christian individuals and churches are meeting the need of disadvantaged children in Zimbabwe.
Imagine not being able to go to high school because you could not afford the tuition, or didn't score well enough on the entrance exam for high school. What would you do? How would you earn money? How would you feel about yourself? Would you feel lonely or unworthy?
The Central Baptist Church in Harare provides an answer for girls who are trying to learn skills. The Rafiki Girls Center provides skills training for impoverished girls from 17 - 25 years of age. The school is located in the upper floor of the church. Twenty six girls are selected for a nine month program. They learn basic life-skills for the first three months and then spend six months learning a marketable skill. The skills taught at this school are catering, sewing, computer skills and home furnishing design. These girls are then able to be employed, seek further education or start their own business.
The Rafiki Girls Center builds relationships with these young ladies by encouraging them, and assisting them to improve their lives. The teachers use this opportunity to share the Gospel and disciple the girls in Christ. They provide mentorship, follow-up and accountability for the girls. The school has united tools, equipment, mentorship and discipleship into one program that equips the girls to live and succeed.
I loved the eagerness and smiles on the faces of the students. They grinned proudly as they showed us the items they had created. They protrayed a sense of hope and future.
Please pray for these girls and this mentorship ministry. The Rafiki Girls Center needs tools, supplies and equipment. Further, pray that the girls can find employment and relationship opportunities after graduation.
