The world seems not to care much about youth (young people) if anything there is a growing tendency to exploit them economically (commercially), politically, socially and otherwise. As a Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Anglican Diocese of Northern Malawi has established Anglican Youth Organization (AYO) because it has realized the special responsibility and significance to youth that they are part of the Body of Christ. The statistics of the population of the youth in the Diocese is over 70%.

The diocese continues to attach great value to the Youth Ministry. It shares the responsibilities to give counsel, prepare, educate, protect, train and support the youth in their struggles as they grow up into adulthood. The diocese cannot abdicate this high calling as the Bible entrusts in the Proverbs 22:6, “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

The Youth and Renewal Department continues to work hard to plan, coordinate and implement as well as to serve church and God through guidance of the Triune God. We shall live to transform spiritual and moral lives of Youth in the diocese to be good citizens in the living Church of God and in the heavens.

Our Mission: The Anglican Youth Organization is committed to promote and encourage the holistic development of youth to deepen their lives to Jesus Christ by showing conceptual and organic growth of the organization to be responsible, instill high self-esteem, discipline, social skills and maximizing their potential for existence in the church and nation.

Our Vision: The vision of the Anglican Youth Organization is to provide, inspire and encourage youth through holistic ministry according to biblical and Christian values as well as empowering youth to inculcate the spirit of self-reliance.

DIOCESAN YOUTH PROGRAMMES THAT HAVE BEEN RUNNING

-Spiritual-

• Enhance and strengthen spiritual life among youth at all levels through bible study, bible quiz, retreat, camping, revival evangelism, rallies, youth conferences, intercessions.
• Orient youth to Anglican doctrines and basis of faith.
• Emphasis teachings on stewardship.
• Encourage young people to realize, explore and accept their callings in a religious life.

-HIV/AIDS & related health programs-

• Training youth leaders and counselors to be peer educators on behavioral change intervention on HIV and AIDS and other related health issues.
• Intensify teachings on dangers of alcohol and drug abuse.
• Advocate and reduce the number of early marriages, teenage pregnancies and school drop outs.

-Social Activities-

• Promote singing and self-financed project of releasing gospel albums (CDs and DVDs) through youth choirs.
• Encouraging the youth to take active role in Home Based Care and charity work activities.
• Participating in sports activities e.g. football, netball, volleyball, dart, playing cards and many more.
• Debate and bible quiz.

-Fundraising Activities-

• To rear cattle as part of investment.
• Doing piece works.
• Choir festivals
• Golden Saturday
• Individual contributions.
• Youth sings during Church service that makes worship alive

CHALLENGES

The organization has been failing to run its spiritual and social programs for equipping and edifying its members due to lack of available resources for generating income because the diocese has insufficient funds to support Youth Department. The organization has realized that its members (youth) are encountering many challenges such as;

• Lack of resource mobilization
• High school drop out especially to vulnerable children due to lack of scholarships and other necessities at secondary education.
• Unemployment to many school leavers due to lack of skills and enterprise development
• HIV/AIDS infection, drug and substance abuse.
• Early pregnancies and marriages among girls due to lack of funds to support girl child education.
• Some modern technology has negative impact towards youth ministry.

The inspiration and heart of the organization is to be alive with vision and colorful dreams for assisting and developing church and communities as well as empowering Youth to be financially dependent. This can only be achieved if the organization has something for Income Generating Activity to improve our holistic ministry.

FUTURE PLANS

Investments to act as Income Generating Activities

• Establish and construct Renewal and Youth Centre for enhancing spiritual activities as well as Income Generating Activity and skills development
• Establish a music studio as source of income and promoting gospel music as one way of spreading the gospel.
• Produce and record radio, audio, video (visual) CD  Cassettes.
• Sell items produced by church groups and bands concerned and other organizations when approved by the recording groups
• Land for farming .
• Produce T-shirts and other materials labeled Anglican Youth Organization (AYO).
• Find ways of empowering Youth to be self- reliant by encouraging them on Agriculture and business to utilize resources available in their respective parishes.
• Set up education support fund to assist vulnerable youth  with scholarship to set revolving fund for financial employment to the trained youth.

RENEWAL PROGRAMMES

Since from 1998 with assistance from the Renewal Centre from the Diocese of Forth Worth in Texas the department has embarked on a number of the program that revives spiritual life both youth and parishioners. Assisted us with capacity building and finances to run Renewal activities.

The following are the programmes;

• Happening
• Cursillo
• Healing and Deliverance Ministry facilitated by
• Sharing Of Mission Abroad SOMA headed by Glen Petta the Director.
• Revival Crusade facilitated by the Anglican Evangelical Fellowship.

Our wish is that everyone in the youth boat understands that time has come to show dedication, commitment, ownership, love to God and the church as Our Diocesan Bishop Fanuel Magangani emphasizes on what is in our hands.

As the youth we believe that we are the living cells of the church.

Provided by Rev. Fr. Anthony Frank Chimphanda
Diocesan Youth Coordinator and Renewal Director

Sunday school is the largest group in the church of young boys and girls. Accompanying parents and friends they come to church to pray and to play. Teachers help them to grow spiritually and mentally. The children also enjoy the social company of their group. The major challenge is lack of enough teaching materials and place to keep the children for worship especially in the rainy seasons. These children lack sports equipment, education books, cartons, pens, pencils and other game materials. Uniform: white and green.

Provided by Fr. Hannex Kamenya

Women in this service are called to serve God and his people in a special way. Dedicated women who have vowed to serve the church of God faithfully despite many challenges which they are facing like HIV/AIDS, hunger, other diseases, lack of healthy water, lack of proper housing, lack of proper medication. The women meet in a fellowship for prayers on Thursdays and Sundays. During prayers they pray and encourage each other in their problems and also pray for the families, the church, peace and issues that affect the world. It is known world wide that the Sub Sahara has been greatly affected with various problems such as HIV/AIDS, famine, drought and floods. The Mother`s Union has taken the challenge in helping those that have been affected. Due to HIV/AIDS we have many people who are suffering from the disease, many orphans and widows who lack support. The Mother`s Union gives hope to those who are suffering from the disease with material things such as food, blankets, clothing and finance in addition to counseling and prayers They try to eliminate the stigma and to engage them as part of the community. Further the women help to spiritually and emotionally prepare those dying.

As previously noted the union takes care of the orphans left by the deceased parents. Our parishes  have orphan feeding programs. At the parish of St Mark`s of Mzuzu, for example, the mother`s union feeds  the orphans every Saturday. Most of these children are street children. The children are also taught manual works like tin smiting, needle craft and cooking. These children have a special teacher for Christian religious studies. This ministry has greatly helped some find employment while others have started their own businesses.

Also at times these children are given food for their brothers and sisters. They are on occasion also given blankets, clothes, shoes. Every year the committee selects 20 high school orphans to pay school fees and other necessities. These children are also given school uniforms, shoes and pocket money. The project is being helped by our friend's from abroad in Canada.

When we have a funeral the mother`s union provides important duties at the funeral like singing, preparing food, taking care of the visitors at the funeral, preparing flowers etc. The mother`s union is also responsible for counseling those young women who are about to get married. They also clean the church.

Their uniform is white and dark blue.

Mothers Union is a world wide organization with headquarters in England. To learn more, visit their website at www.themothersunion.org .

Provided by Fr. Hannex Kamenya

This is the union of men, their objectives are to make sure that they build strong Christian families, to support fully the activities of the Church, to support their clergy, to eliminate the mistreatment of women in the society, to pray for the church and for the needs of their families and of the world, to encourage one another, and to support the Mother`s Union.

The group is also involved in some charitable works like cleaning the hospitals, supporting the weak, aged, orphans, widows and the sick in the community.

The uniform is dark blue jackets and black trousers.

Provided by Fr. Hannex Kamenya

Daughters of the King is another group of women that has similar responsibility like the Mother`s Union. In the diocese it was introduced 2000/2001 with our current bishop when he was the Archdeacon of Likoma.

This king is not any human king but God the Almighty. The only difference with the Mothers Union is that most of the women in the daughters of the king are young women.

Their uniform is sky blue and white.

DOK is a world wide organization with headquarters in The USA. To learn more, visit their website at www.doknational.com .

Provided by Fr. Hannex Kamenya

Faith based defines this newly formed branch, formed specifically to deal with the issues of health and other social related issues. It is meant to serve those that are suffering with HIV/AIDS and other related diseases, to help the aged, the weak, widow and orphans. This organization is in all our parishes in the diocese and other sister dioceses. Some of the members were trained by the diocese to take care of the weak, sick, aged, disadvantaged, etc. The committee in each parish, is formed by 10-15 members including some of the people living with HIV/AIDS. Periodically each parish is supplied with medicine by NAC through the diocese, NAC is a non governmental organization but working closely with the Malawian Government in a number of areas including justice.

The organization members work voluntarily to help the people of God not only from the Anglican Church but the whole community for free. The sick are given medicine, the weak and the aged are provided with health services and cleaning of their houses, washing clothes, putting grass on the roof of their houses, among other duties. We have Ambulance bicycles that help us carry the very sick persons to the nearby health centers. We also have bicycles in our parishes bought by NAC to help us carry out this exercise.

In one parish, St. Paul’s Anglican Church, we have rice gardens grown each year in order to help some of our affected friends; some of these gardens are owned and managed by the people living with the virus. We have also cassava gardens for the same purpose. St Paul`s Anglican church works hand in hand with the Majariro supporting group; this is a group of over 40 men and women living with HIV/AIDS. Last year as a way of boosting their immunity we provided them with 50 high bred chickens.

The major challenge in carrying this important exercise is the problem of limited resources. We have the heart to support them fully but the nature of the resources that we possess limits us. As a way of meeting these limitations we encourage the people whom we serve to start small businesses in order to support themselves and their families. But in most cases even to get that small amount of capital is a problem in itself, as geographically most of our parishes are rural. In order to secure a bank loan, collateral is needed which is not available. Some of them borrow from other individuals who charge them high interest rates up to 100%. Most of these affected people die because of the hardships and challenges that surround them.

Provided by Fr. Hannex Kamenya

It all started with one member who came to Mzimba Anglican Church like a missionary—Veronica Mossolin is her name.

She introduced herself as a member of St Veronica. St Veronica was a new word to most women and it attracted more attention to those who did not belonging to Mothers Union.

Those who volunteered had to undergo teachings. Three months seemed like a decade for newly joined members, no wonder along the way some were discouraged and dropped.

It took those with courage like St Veronica herself to forge a head and complete the mission. The journey started with 11 members and it has ended with six receiving their gird.

The willingness of most women in the church created fear among MU members and threatened some members to leave the group.

Thanks to Fr. Chitowe who stood by their side and encouraged them strongly to stand by their calling.

Special praise to Bishops’ consent to allow the rebirth of St Veronica in the diocese. He indicated that they will be pioneers of new version of the St Veronica. The old version is in Likoma where it surfaces only during funerals and Easters.

One may wonder who these pioneers are, Agnes Banda, Sarah Mzima, Maria Chirwa, Emily Chirwa, Zithe Nkhoma and Martha Nkhoma are the courageous ones.

The St Veronica Ambassador’s from upper shire diocese witnessed the commission of six pioneers and their names can not easily Forgotten…Nancy Katawa (president) from Mpemba Parish, Mercy Daudi vice president from Chilomoni Parish, Susannah Mdazepa Treasurer from St Pauls Cathedral and From Ellen Millas Chairperson from Chilimba Parish. Special thanks goes to Bishop Alinafe Kalemba for encouraging the St Veronica members to attend the service in Mzimba.

Fr. Chitowe did not hesitate putting gird in their necks as this symbolized the growth of his station. He encouraged them to keep their lamps ever shining regardless of the hardships they may face.

The ceremony ended with feasting. There was lots of braai, tea, soft drinks and hard food and the church danced in jubilation.

The main objectives of St Veronica is to assist the sick, elderly, and weak and be committed to work of the Jesus Christ.

Written by Julius Banda-Warden

 

MU Members finally welcomes the rebirth of St Veronica. The party is new of its Kind in northern Malawi diocese.

St Veronica was formed by MU members in Malosa to carter the group of women that were nonpartisan in the church. Those they neither belong to Mothers union nor St Agness.

Archdeaconry leader Annie Juta Encouraged peaceful dialogue among the parties in times of misunderstanding and welcomed the members. The parties are one, just by the look of their unions tells. Happiness covered their faces as they waved their visitors’ way home to BT.