“What a joy it was to stand among this diverse group of people, representing every demographic and many different locales and marvel at how we are all knit together by God with one passion and purpose…”
Help us give the gift of hope this Christmas by sharing the Hands at Work Christmas cards with your friends and family.
“They both thought of God as a distant figure, someone not to be approached, someone whose love had to be earned. They came to Africa with thoughts of “fixing problems,” especially practical problems. However, through their first couple of trips, they began to see their own brokenness and the brokenness of the world around them, and, more importantly, they began to see God’s desire to bring healing and restoration”
The two of us who had previously gone to Africa through Hands at Work shared stories of what we might have experienced while there — stories of Holy Home Visits, attending local churches, and building relationships with long-term volunteers. At the end of the two weeks, the team realised that we would have arrived home. We agreed that we did not want to stop meeting.
Help us remind a weary world, it has reasons to rejoice this Christmas Season by sharing the Hands at Work Christmas cards with your friends and family.
We invite you to share the message of Christ’s hope as we rejoice in the birth of our Saviour - in the midst of our weary and broken world - with Hands at Work greeting cards.
In July 2019, Wellspring Church from San Ramon, California, sent a team to Honde Valley in Zimbabwe through Hands at Work in Africa. A long-time partner with Hands at Work, this is the first time Wellspring has sent a team to Zimbabwe. Pastor Chad Porter, Jennifer Lee, and Ann Wu reflect on their time.
Q: What led you to join the team?
Ann Wu: “I think I was ready to go; I know my husband went in 2008 to Mozambique but I don’t think my heart was ready. Others have called or asked or challenged me, ‘Are you willing to go?’ and I always put it off. But God’s been working for about 11 years for me to go… and meet the people I support with prayers and financially.”
Jennifer Lee: “Back in 2017, my family all had the opportunity to go to Malawi for the first time. It was probably the largest team with a lot of kids. It was obviously an amazing experience for all of us. We knew when we went and came back, we didn’t just want that to be our last time… We talked as a family and said, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could go back whenever God calls us to go?’”
Chad Porter: “We really wanted to send a team to Pimai C, Zimbabwe. Sam Shin [the lead pastor of Wellspring] approached me as he wanted me to be able to come to understand why we were partnering with them as a church.”
In July 2019, Pastor Theo Low visited Zambia with a team from Sunset Church in San Francisco, California, with Hands at Work. He shared his reflections as he finished his fourth full day in Africa and his third day of a church mobilization.
“Most of these local pastors are bi-vocational, which means they have small churches and they are not paid to pastor their church. But these men have a great hunger for the Word of God… I realized, I may leave, but this family and this neighborhood will still have faithful men preaching and teaching God’s Word. These men have affirmed their love for the true gospel, they hold God’s Word up high, and they constantly reference it.”