This week a very special guest came to visit Minnesota from the other side of the globe. Pastor Lawrence Temfwe, the Executive Director of Jubilee Centre in Zambia, along with Jason Filleta of Micah Challenge came to Minnesota to speak out for those who are struggling against global poverty and preventable disease.

The trip started with a meeting, along with 5 other local ONE members, at Congressman Jim Ramstad’s office with Heather Renner, the Director of Communications and Relations. We had lunch with some local members in Minneapolis to answer questions and encourage action. We then had a meeting with Rev. Nancy Maeker of the Minnesota Council of Churches and Acting Director of A Minnesota Without Poverty. Following, a meeting with Kathy Stinchfield, Development Director, Mike Llyod, Executive Director, and Richard Proudfit, Founder, of Kids Against Hunger in New Hope. He also attended a prayer supper in Saint Paul with local faith leaders educate and motivate attendees to practice what they preach, as he has said with local church leaders in Zambia. Jason Filleta talked about Micah Challenge and the resources that they and ONE have including ONE Sunday material, to use to engage their congregation to participate.

After a full day in the Twin Cities we headed to Rochester, MN where we spent another full day started by a meeting with Mayor Ardell Brede. We talked about ONE, who the Mayor was familiar with, and what local members have been doing in his community. Following the meeting we went to Century High School where Pastor Temfwe spoke during two Government classes about his life in Zambia and what they have done to hold their Government accountable for their promises. He also encouraged the students to use their powerful voices and get involved with their own Government. The students had great questions and most signed the ONE declaration! After school we had a meeting with Cynthia Shaffer, Executive Director and Jennifer Woodford, Donations/Media, of Channel 1 Food Bank & Food Pantry, a member of Feeding America. They gave us a tour of the facility and talked about how the program feeds those in need in over 14 nearby counties! Finally to end another busy day we attended to a prayer supper at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church with over 30 attendees! Lawrence spoke about his experience in Zambia and what he does with Jubliee Centre and local churches. He spoke about ways the faith community can be educated and engaged in the issues during the 2008 election and beyond.

During his visit I watched Pastor Temfwe engage, educate and inspire everyone from a 17 year old student to a leader from a local church. We are so lucky that Pastor Temfwe and Jason Filleta of Micah Challenge could visit the state of 10,000 lakes to share their stories and inspirations. We all now have a new friend on the other side of the world.

-Libby Crimmings, ONE Regional Field Director

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm and is filed under Minnesota, Zambia, Faith. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.