| By
Michael Wacht
LAKELAND — It took Florida Conference churches a little more than
six months to raise the $250,000 needed to build the Bishop Cornelius
L. and Dorothye Henderson Secondary School. Now, conference leaders
are going back to Africa to begin construction.
“I am so grateful we are going to be able to build this school
for so many children in Mozambique,” the Rev. Barbara Odom said.
“…I am thankful to the churches and appreciate their giving for
not only the children of our own conference, but also the children in
Africa.”
Odom is pastor of Lakewood United Methodist Church in St.
Petersburg and leads the conference’s task force on the Council of
Bishops’ Initiative on Children and Poverty (BICAP) and Hope for the
Children of Africa.
To date, conference churches have given $265,599.50 to the school,
which will be built in Muxungue, Mozambique, Africa.
Odom said the next step is outlining the phases of the building
project. A small group from the conference will visit Mozambique this
spring to meet with builders and explore housing options for a United
Methodist Volunteers in Mission team that will help build the school.
A total of $15,000 raised in excess of the goal will partially pay
for that trip.
The conference’s commitment to Hope for the Children of Africa
does not end with the building of the school, Odom said. The
conference still needs to define its relationship with the Henderson
school after it is built and staffed. It has also committed to raising
$50,000 for the United Methodist Church in Angola, Africa.
The task force is asking churches to bring offerings to the 2002
Florida Annual Conference Event in Lakeland for the Angolan church.
“I know they will do it, because the churches have been so generous,”
Odom said.
The task force is also continuing to look at ways the Bishops’
initiative can help children in Florida. “The purpose of BICAP was
to address the needs of children in the conference and around the
world,” Odom said. “…We’ll continue to offer grants to local
churches to develop ministries to address poverty and the causes of
poverty in our communities. We’ll continue the grants, advocacy and
helping churches identify and use local resources to help them develop
ministries.”
While the work continues, Odom says the conference can be proud of
what it has accomplished. “We can celebrate the fact that we’ve
reached those goals, but the church will be in mission for a long
time.”
|
