|
|
|
We are Jonny and Becky Wakely, living in Mozambique with our little girl, Graciana.
Having moved from South West England, we work with Iris Ministries, a Christian based charity who seek to bring the hope and life of the gospel of Jesus to some of the poorest people in Africa.
Find out more about Iris Ministries >>
We are primarily working with abandoned children and helping to take care of one of the ministry's centres, located on the outskirts of Maputo, Mozambique's capital city.
This centre is home to almost 300 children whose families are unable to look after them. Some of these children used to live on the streets, some are true orphans and all of them come from families who are extremely poor.
Our main role is to oversee one of the seven dormitories on the centre - the 10 to 13 yr old boys.
There are roughly 40 such boys and while the ministry provides their day-to-day care, we initiate projects that seek to meet their practical needs - clothing, hygiene, sports activities and dorm refurbishment.
We also teach in the bible school and manage some administration areas of the base.
|
|
|
|
A bit of background...
We first moved to Mozambique with Iris Ministries in May 2005.
Previous to this, Jonny graduated with a maths degree and was employed by the local government in statistics. Becky completed her teacher training and worked with children who had behavioural difficulties.
We rented a flat in Bath and grew sunflowers and tomato plants in the back yard.
In 2003, Heidi Baker (founder of Iris Ministries) came to speak at a conference in England and we heard about the vision and compassion she had for the poor in Africa - particularly abandoned children.
That conference awoke dormant dreams and callings in both our lives.
Since her early teens, Becky had carried a strong desire to work with children who had been "thrown on the rubbish dumps of the world".
Heidi spoke about her ministry to children whose families actually lived and worked on Maputo's central rubbish dump.
While we were shocked by the idea that people could suffer such desperate circumstances, we also realised that Heidi's stories of rescuing these poorest of people brought clarity to our own calling to reach suffering children.
We were impressed by the attitude of Heidi's ministry - of active compassion and grace to those who have nothing. Our perceptions were confirmed by a two week trip to Mozambique to see for ourselves what the ministry does.
And so, 6 months after our visit we made an application to work with the ministry on a long term basis. The time until we left England was a turbulent one as we had to let go of our home and jobs before we knew whether we had been accepted by the ministry.
However, everything did come together and finally with joy and trepidation we took a huge leap to the other side of the world.
|
|
