Rev. Dr. Glen Davis was the interim minister at St. Andrew's-Chalmers, Uxbridge, Ont., last year. During that time he was also leader for a mission trip to Malawi. In December, Glen spoke at a Saturday morning breakfast about his trip; what he observed of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and how the church is responding. This event was open to the community and many people from outside the congregation attended and were moved by Glen's presentation.
In February, the Sunday school used the children's mission study for the entire month and many members of the congregation became involved. Each week a member of the congregation told the story of Grace Chikulu to the children. They took the role of Grace, a friend, or a member of the church who came to assist the family. The children were completely engrossed in the telling of the story—almost as if the person telling the story was really the person whose role they were playing. Each week following the story, and after a question period, the children moved through a different centre—making instruments; learning to make soccer balls and other crafts; and in the marketplace, tasting food from Malawi, learning how to shop and barter for goods. One Sunday the children made chocolate suckers, as fundraisers, to sell to the congregation. Within a few minutes of the start of coffee hour, we were sold out. The month culminated with the children marching into the sanctuary, playing the instruments they had created and singing an African hymn. There was an opportunity for the children to share what they had learned about the AIDS pandemic in Malawi with the congregation.
The WMS ladies in the congregation have always been very supportive of the Sunday school mission projects and this year was no exception. The WMS created a banner for the Sunday school project and also participated by using the adult study.
The Results
- The whole congregation became educated about the HIV/AIDS pandemic—it wasn't just a Sunday school project
- Children told their parents they didn't want to miss a week of Sunday school while we were learning about Malawi
- Sunday school teachers looked forward to the month and had fun preparing for it
- Members of the congregation wanted to sign up to be shepherds for our Leading with Care program and several regretted they hadn't signed up for February when everyone was having so much fun in Sunday school
- Members of the WMS studied about HIV/AIDS and once again were financially supportive of the children's mission project
- The Sunday school children raised over $1,600 for the Towards a World without AIDS campaign
- The congregation, in the midst of a fund raising campaign for major building repairs, committed 10 per cent of what was raised to the Towards a World Without AIDS campaign—a total of $26,000
Even though we were not able to travel to Malawi, we learned, adults and children, about the HIV/AIDS pandemic and how we, as a church, can respond to the needs of our sisters and brothers living with AIDS. – Anne Phillips is a member of at St. Andrew's-Chalmers, Uxbridge, Ont. and senior administrator for the Life and Mission Agency.
To order a study book for the congregation and the Sunday school please go to www.presbyterian.ca/pwsd
