We here at NSPC and Dr. George actually started the Vadaketh Development Center while George was in the USA in the 1990.  He was here doing some hands on learning about the training of children with disabilities.  He returned to India and started the school in a room in his own home with an annual budget of $2400 provided by us.  I had the honor on Sept 22 of cutting the ribbon and dedicating the new school building to the kids in the name of our Lord and Savior with a host of Hindus Muslims and at least one Janist watching.  There is now a debt free independent school for these handicapped children.   So far this year we have collected over $30000 , a far cry from the 2400 per year we started with.  There are currently about 30 students but that number can grow as they move into the new school.  Most of the teachers are now certified and  funded by the state which makes them eligible for benefits and pensions.  I suspect the next big expense will be a second bus and driver to pick up the kids in surrounding villages. While there I watched 28 kids and a helper get out of the 14 passenger bus and it takes almost 2 hours for the bus to complete its rounds.  A training center for handicapped adults is also needed. 

In addition to the excitement of a new school building,  George has become a force in the National programs for training people with disabilities. There was a representative from the NIMH at the dedication and some of what George does is being copied in other places.   I saw another great outcome when I went to visit to a remote village where a young woman, with financial and professional support from Vadaketh, started a class for kids with retardation and it has become a part of the village school. The village chief, the school matron and others all gathered  to show off their program and how they not only pay for it but have integrated these kids with the regular classes.  A few years ago, these kids were left at home to die or hidden in shame.   One of my favorite pictures from this trip is two boys with CP racing down the driveway on walkers, grinning from ear to ear, with me cheering them on.  Before coming to Vadaketh they couldn’t even stand or use their legs.   Your gifts helped make all this poss

FOUR SQUARE MINISTRIES, AFRICA

MAKING A DIFFERENCE, ONE BLOCK AT A TIME

August 2005: Three members of North Sewickley Presbyterian Church in Ellwood City partnered with a mission team from Mt. Paran, North Church of God (Marietta, GA) and traveled to the remote, impoverished area of the Limpopo Province of northern South Africa. Under the guidance of Dr. Malan Moolman, director of the Cross Roads Foundation and missionary to the Sekororo community, a church was built and water well installed in the village of Bismark. God ignites a spark of excitement which bursts into flame as the story of the mission is told to NSPC.

August 2006: Eleven people from NSPC in partnership with Mt Paran North, return to SA to build a church and install a well in the village of Lorain. The fire grows in our local community as the mission team presents this opportunity to friends, family and other churches.

May and August 2007, two teams travel including thirteen members of NSPC as well as several people from local churches, again in partnership with Mt Paran North, and build two churches, one in the village of Kanana and one in Balloon.

August 2008: One team travels and five people from NSPC are able to make the trip this year. Most of the team represents other churches of all denominations as well as Mt Paran North and another Atlanta based church. A Christian pre-primary school is built adjacent to the Lorain Church, thus completing the model envisioned by Pastor Moolman. His hope is that all 22 villages of the Sekororo tribe, population 200,000 living on 60,000 hectares will someday have both a church and school, staffed with trained Christian ministers and teachers thus impacting the moral and ethical regeneration of this region.

November 2008: Mission team members determine need for a ministry separate from NSPC as this mission continues to grow, receiving support from other churches, businesses, individuals and civic groups. Four Square Ministries, Africa, a Christian non-profit organization, is developed to build God’s Kingdom by fostering spiritual, moral, social and economic regeneration in Africa. The purpose of this ministry is to promote awareness of the plight of the Sekororo people, raise funds for church and school buildings and the support and training of ministers and teachers, coordinate mission trips to Africa and recruit and affiliate US churches with African churches in our “Adopt-a-Church program. This ministry is currently housed under NSPC’s umbrella until such time all legal paperwork is completed.

July and August 2009: Two trips are currently planned to build a church in the Metz and a pre-primary school in Balloon installing wells in each community, if needed.

Opportunities and Issues: “The Sekororo Community is a mirror image of approximately 200 resettled communities in South Africa. The success of Sekororo could be transmitted to other resettled communities providing a base for Christianity where more than 10,000,000 souls could become the recipients of God’s grace and message of hope through Jesus Christ.” (Excerpt from Crossroads Foundation Handbook). The issues are limited funding, participants and lack of knowledge of the plight of these African people.