Namibia (MNN) — HIV/AIDS continues plaguing the least of these around the world. HIV/AIDS has orphaned millions of children, especially in Africa. According to AIDSorphans.org, there are 16 million AIDS orphans. More than 11 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Christian organizations are not ignoring it. Organizations like The Missions Society have missionaries helping.
Travis and Lorna Curry are doing their part through an orphanage called Children of Zion Village in Namibia. Lorna says, "It's a children's home where we currently have 58 children, ages infant to 21. We are obviously working on discipling them, teaching them about the love of Christ, raising them to be Christian individuals, with our hopes of going back out into the community and sharing the love of Christ."
Travis says there are over 14,000 children in their immediate area.
The children's home relies on the government for children to be placed in their home. Lorna says unfortunately, "We're at capacity. We can't take any more children based on the living situation here and the accommodations that we have. We currently have these older children who need to transition back out into the community."
While they didn't have a plan for that, now they do. It's a brand new program called the Epiphany Transition Home, and Lorna says they just moved in. "We have Christian local house parents looking after them. There these children will learn how to live in Africa. They will learn how to do traditional cooking, clean their place, budget, and do all the things that will be necessary to make them independent in Africa."
According to Lorna, their goal is simple. They want to help the kids to "understand, know and accept Christ's love and also have the basic skills for living independently when they leave the village."
Travis says the Children of Zion Village started in 2003, so they haven't had any children transition successfully yet. But they do have a good track record of Bible study. And the Curry's pray that the teaching has taken root.
Lorna says, "Every parent hopes their children are successful and love the Lord and share His love with others. So that's a little scary. But we are excited to see more openings in the children's center, to get new babies, and to share Christ with a new group of children."
Pray that God will protect these children as they begin to transition into society. Pray that they'll continue to grow in their faith and become a great example of Christ to others in their lives.
