Social Welfare Letter

Here's the Social Welfare letter in its entiresty for Shawn, Randy, and the Board to review. The wording is required in Malawi

-Rick

Acts III Global Ministries
P.O. Box 2041; Blantyre, Malawi
Phone # 09432036

April 9, 2007

To: Office of Social Welfare; Blantyre, Malawi

Dear sirs;

This letter is introducing you to Acts 3 Global Ministries, an organization dedicating to demonstrating the gospel of Jesus Christ through formation of Bible-teaching churches in Malawi and caring for widows and orphans in the Blantyre area. Acts 3 Global Ministries has a constitution registered with, and approved by, the government of Malawi with these purposes specified in the document. There are 3 churches in operation, with a total attendance of about 100 persons. 6 Malawian pastors serve these congregations, both on Sundays with preaching and worship, as well as during the week with regular visits and reaching out to the poor in their areas. Church resources are used to provide food and needed medicines for the needy in Ndirende, Chilimba, and Kolokot. During the course of these visits, certain orphans have been identified in each community who are without homes and are at great risk for abuse. The ministry is committed to helping these children as much as possible, and is building a multi-purpose building on Chileka road to be used for the purpose of church meetings, missionary housing, and for short- to medium-term housing for these children at risk. We have read and understood the document “Guidelines for the care, protection and support of orphans and other vulnerable children(OVC)”, and we wholeheartedly agree with the philosophy expressed there. We feel that we can well operate under the guidelines established in this document.
The mission complex, including some orphanage facilities, is being constructed using funds from donations and business operations in the United States, and construction is proceeding using only Malawian laborers and local materials. If the orphanage is allowed to operate, we have made plans to meet all of the needs of its residents as specified in the “Guidelines” document, including:
1. Full nutritional provision using all of the basic food groups, and augmenting the diet with vitamins as appropriate;
2. Full medical coverage using 2 locally trained Malawian nurses, with a physician from Acts 3 in the U.S.A. as an active board member providing medical care and oversight from time to time. Vaccinations will be provided for all residents.
3. Full educational support is a large part of the Acts 3 long-term plan, as we hope to train some of the residents in life skills that will enable them to serve others as they grow. We are employing 1 full-time teacher for every 15-20 children, and have already begun the interviewing and selection process.
4. The psychological and spiritual support to be provided is, of course, a very high priority for such a ministry as this, since we believe that feeding someone physically without feeding them spiritually as well is really not doing them any long-term good. We have already identified one of the local pastors who will be living at the facility and is called to provide spiritual input for the children there. We have a second pastor who is gifted musically, and we anticipate that he will regularly teach the children music and music theory.
5. The safety and security of the children is also provided by a fence and 2 security guards, as well as by the missionaries that will be housed in the facility as well. We will provide accountability to the District Assembly and the Social Welfare Office on a monthly- or 3-monthly basis, as they deem needed.
6. Each child admitted to the facility will be treated as the “Guidelines” suggest, with a written plan for reunification with the extended family and an expected length of stay. We will maintain history books so that family identity is not lost, as much as possible. We do not want to interfere with social structures in the area, but just want to be available for certain children who have already been identified as high-risk OVC, reaching themselves and their families with the life-changing gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, put into action through compassionate intervention.
7. Targeting of the most vulnerable orphans will be done by the pastors, each of which lives in the area of their respective churches. This will be done in conjunction with local community leaders, many of whom were consulted prior to the beginning of the project. As was recommended by the Assistant Director of the Blantyre office of Social Welfare, we have scheduled visits to 3 locally operating orphanages to discuss further these ideas.
8. The operation of this facility in Ndirende will be completely transparent and accountable both to government agencies and to the Trustees of Acts 3 Malawi. The Board of Trustees consists entirely of ordained Malawian ministers, actively preaching and serving in their communities.
9. Prior to the initiation of building efforts, the Board of Directors of Acts 3 Global Ministries in the United States and the Board of Trustees of Acts 3 Global Ministries/Malawi agreed to operate the orphanage within the strictest of guidelines, meeting those established by the constitution and relevant laws of Malawi, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We consider these to be the “bare minimum” for treatment, and intend to exceed them.
10. We will not allow any preferential treatment to any child in our facility on the basis of race, gender, HIV sero-status, disability, or state of orphanhood. (8.09)
11. It is our specific purpose, as mentioned above, to train children both in spiritual truths and in practical skills necessary to succeed in an increasingly complex world. We are wanting to train those in our care, encouraging them to pursue higher levels of training in nursing, business, and educational fields, using their time in our facility to enhance these skills to which they may naturally be inclined. (9.12)

As regarding section 10.1 of the guidelines on the registration process, we feel that we have already completed several of the steps, including consulting with some of the community leaders in Ndirende – we continue to seek further input while we are in the building stage. We have selected office bearers, namely the Pastors/Trustees of Acts 3 Global Ministries/Malawi. We have developed and obtained approval of our constitution, a copy of which is attached to this letter. We are building a structure from which the CBO will operate, located just off Chileka Road behind the PTC and Baker’s Paradise in Ndirende. The Ndirende Acts 3 church has moved its meeting place to the St. Jude’s School on the same road in order to be more closely associated with the project site. We therefore feel that, with these items completed or in progress, we are ready to take the next step, which is application for registration to the District Assembly. We do not need this for opening a bank account, as we already have this in place for several years. Our credibility is being established as we follow the path laid out for us by our Lord, who said, “Allow the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such as these is the kingdom of heaven.”

We readily agree that extended families are the optimal choice for the care of orphans and OVC’s. However, we also agree with section 11.6 which states that “the caring system by the extended family has come to a limit due to stretched household resources and coping mechanisms.” We have seen these resources stretched beyond the breaking point, with very negative consequences in the lives of some of the children served by our church families. In some cases, requests have been made by families that their children be taken care of by their church family if they should die, since the church family can be closer and healthier than the biological family. We want to be in a position to honor these requests.
We are very interested in being available to the foster care system (11.6.2), as long as the wishes of the deceased parents and the child’s own opinions are taken into account, as is expressed in section 11.6, bottom of page 21. Several of us have done foster parenting as part of our roles as community helpers, and can well see the benefits of a well-run foster system. We have also seen negative consequences of hastening to placement, and we feel our facility would be a good intermediate option for stabilizing the child in a healthy, caring, medically and educationally sound environment while such difficult evaluations and decisions are being made. We have no intention of ever participating in any international adoption programs or schemes.
We have reviewed the requirements of section 11.6.5 entitled “Institutional Care”, and are in agreement with the requirements listed there:
1. We are desiring to apply to the Minister of Gender, Child Welfare, and Community Service through the District Assembly, as specified.
2. We will complete an agreement form for each child taken into the orphanage, specifying our plan for that child’s stay, with appropriate reasons.
3. We will follow whatever processes are requested for a certificate of approval for the facility.
4. We will designate an inspection team acceptable to the Social Welfare department to regularly monitor and report the care in the orphanage.
5. We will have safeguards in place to represent the interest and the rights of children in our care.
6. More than accountability to any human agency, we will be held accountable to the Almighty God for our care of these precious ones, and this is the ultimate safeguard for us.

We are asking that you look favorably on this effort to provide care for the children of Ndirende, and allow us to apply for registration before the District Assembly.

Thank you for your consideration.





Rick Thomas, M.D. Director, Acts 3 Global Ministries