This past November, Director of Medical Services, Vladimir John, and Director of Children’s Services Tony Gonondo, teamed up with another Christian ministry, Chosen Children, to conduct a health education and children’s ministry outreach in a remote village outside of Chimoio, a beautiful area close to Mozambique’s border with Zimbabwe. This was a new village that sprang up after Chosen Children planted a well there, and it was the first time for an outside team to conduct a health education outreach in the area.
More than 30 young ladies received basic health appointments and attended the health education seminar where Vladimir taught on a variety of topics including the prevention of malaria, TB, HIV, and Covid-19. He also counseled against gender-based violence and premature marriage. Mozambique has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. As many as 17% of Mozambican girls marry before the age of 15, in some cases as young as 12 years old, while 53% marry between the age of 15-18. As a result, most of these girls do not finish their basic education, and they end up pregnant, often in high-risk pregnancies that damage their young bodies. They also experience a greater chance of domestic violence, abuse, and abandonment and are left with little opportunities in life.
With education comes knowledge, and by sharing knowledge we can help empower the younger generation to be instruments of change in their nation.
While Vladimir was educating and planting seeds among the teens and young adults, Tony was planting seeds of his own in ministry to over 200 kids. The kids were super excited to receive candy, and Tony shared with the children about Christ’s love for them and how important it is for them to be obedient to their parents, using Jesus’s obedience to the Father as an example.
Vladimir and Tony enjoyed connecting with the Chosen Children team, sharing ideas and strategies, and working cooperatively together to bring hope to this community.
