Local businessman heads to Malawi

Jan Brewster, owner of Patriot Construction in Scottsville, left for an eight day trip to Malawi, Africa on May 1. Brewster is representing Salmon Creek Community Church, Scottsville, as part of a Missions Trip with World Vision.

Salmon Creek KidZone sponsors two children from Malawi and Brewster is taking gifts, pictures and video to share with them. Many members of the church also support children in Malawi, and Brewster will also be attempting to connect with those children. Malawi is experiencing drought conditions, making life that has been ravaged by the AIDS crises even more difficult.

There are more than 35,000 children in Malawi being sponsored by donors from all over the globe. This assistance has helped the sponsored children directly, and their families and their communities in general, in areas such as health, food security and education, with an ultimate goal of enabling communities to care more for their own children. The orphan problem in Malawi continues to grow at an alarming rate as it is estimated that more than 50 percent of the population suffers from HIV/AIDS. Millions of elderly are left to raise the children, as parents have died due to AIDS, and many homes are headed up by children.

The team arrived in Johannesburg on May 2 and will spend their time in Malawi visiting local churches, touring agricultural projects, meeting with community leaders working to address area food security issues, and touring projects that are designed to improve education and health care. A telephone call to Hillcrest Church is planned for the morning of May 6 during their worship services.

"We are excited to have Jan represent our church in Malawi. Our KidZone children give their offering money every week to help Stephen and Grace, they send letters and gifts, and are very excited to have Jan get to meet the children they sponsor. Jan is a compassionate and caring man; I can think of no one I would rather have represent our congregation on this trip," said Pastor Mark Anderson.

For information go to www.worldvision.org.

May 6, 2007