Mission and outreach are fundamental in the life of St Andrew’s. We welcome all and in doing so, live out the Gospel of Christ. Our life in our community and beyond encompass a range of outreach opportunities and initiatives.
Here at St Andrew’s Biggleswade, we are partnered with the community of Mafambisa in South Africa through Hands at Work in Africa. On this page you will find information about:
- Hands at Work
- The Mafambisa Care Point
- The Faithful Care Workers
- The Children
- How You can be Involved
Mafambisa Team 2022
We were really pleased that our previously postponed visit to Mafambisa was finally able to take place in July of 2022. The team of Lucy, John, Ben, Carolyn, Jack, Alice and Chris had an amazing time amongst the communities of Mafambisa, Sommersett, Osheok, Shtobella and Heutbos.
You can watch their video here
You can read all about the trip at our Blog Pages
if you are interested in joining the team, please speak to Oliver or Chris.
The 2022 Team
Hands at Work in Africa
Envision the local Church in Africa effectively caring for the orphaned, the widowed and the dying, and unified in this mission with the Church outside Africa.
Their mission is to, through relationship with the local Church in Africa, challenge, encourage, develop and support the ministry of servanthood among those in need in their community through the replication of the Hands at Work community intervention model.
We believe the biblical mandate to care for the orphaned, the widowed and the dying is not only for the Church in Africa, but also elsewhere, and Hands at Work will be a prophetic voice to the Churches outside Africa, challenging them to fulfil their mandate.
The 2022 Strategy for the Hazyview Service Centre (Hazyview looks after the Mafambisa Care Point)
Mafambisa
Is a fairly large urban community within the Clau Clau region of Mpumalanga and is situated in the North West corner of South Africa, close to the Mozambique boarder. Hands at Work have set up community run Care Points where children can come to receive 3 essential services of food (a hot meal a day), access to education and basic health care.
Hands at Work helps villages find community-based solutions to the crisis. In this model, orphaned children are kept within family-unit groups headed by a local caregiver (a grandmother, an aunt, or an elder sibling) within the community, where they receive the psycho-social care that family and community provide. The community-based organisations then support these families through community Care Points and teams of trained local Care Workers who visit the children in their homes.
The goal of Hands at Work is to care for 100,000 orphaned and vulnerable children through its unique model of community care. As the local church is mobilised in each African community to unite and reach out, they are equipped to provide holistic support to the most vulnerable children and families in their community, including access to food, education and basic health care.
Team Visits
Each year a team from St Andrew’s visit Mafambisa to support and encourage the care workers and to visit the 100 children they care for.
We are called to love our neighbour, and for us, that love and that witness given by the example of Christ knows no limits. We first visited some of the most vulnerable communities in South Africa in the summer of 2015; one of our youth groups went and visited Hands at Work and met a wonderful variety of incredibly strong and committed women, generous and loving carers, and inspirational orphaned and vulnerable children.
Our community of faith was struck by their faith, by their trust in the goodness of God, and by their strength in community. We decided to partner with a Hands community and make a formal commitment to support the work of Care Points and the three essential services (a meal a day, access to an education, basic healthcare).
Our partnership began with the Care Point of Syathuthuka which then became Mafambisa Care Point. We sponsor 15 children as a worshipping community, and 30 others from personal contributions. Our support and prayer for Mafambisa goes beyond financial support; every year, we send a team to visit Mafambisa and other communities in South Africa. We walk alongside communities in their brokenness, we listen and learn, we hear and share stories, we do not take answers, but take encouragement and love.
Have a look at our Blog to become a part of our continuing presence in the community of Mafambisa... www.standrewslink.blogspot.com
How you can be involved?
Come, Advocate, Pray, Give is the message of Hands at Work.
Visiting our partner community in South Africa is a real privilege as any of those who have visited will testify. Hands at Work offer opportunity through teams, as St Andrew’s does, as a yearlong volunteer or by joining a ‘Short Term service Team’
- Advocating for the poorest of the poor is a great way to be involved and to spread the message that these communities right across Southern Africa need our support and prayers.
- Pray: We pray for the children of Mafambisa each Sunday as our children leave our service to go. Prayer room link https://www.handsatwork.org/prayer-room
- Give: you an support one of the children in Mafambisa by contributing £20 a month through Hands at Work UK.
If you would like more information on any of the above please speak to Alice Scott, Vaughan Johnson, Rob Butcher, Oliver Dilley, Lucy Dilley, or Chris Parker
