My personal mission statement
To love God with all my heart and from that love, love those to whom God calls me: the garibout boys of Mali, and in that love do what is best for these boys that they may reach their God given potential, know their heavenly father and love Him also.
Brief overview of my ministry
I work with garibout boys in Mali, West Africa. These are boys who are given by their parents to an Islamic teacher called a marabout, the boys are anywhere from 4 to 9 years old when they are sent away from their parents. The marabout teaches the children to rote learn the Koran in Arabic (which they don’t understand) but that is the only education they receive, no reading, writing, maths... The children are forced to beg for all their own food and clothing and also for money to bring back to their marabout. The garibouts are beaten when they fail to learn verses from the Koran, when they don’t bring back enough money, when they misbehave and for many other things.
My first year in Mali I worked with these boys, helping to feed them, giving basic first aid, playing with them and loving them. I will be going back to Mali in the middle of this year to start a new ministry with these boys in a different town. I hope to provide some of the basic necessities for the boys like food, somewhere to wash, health care... but I would also like to provide some basic education and eventually help the boys get out of the system and support them while they start a new life.
Of course sharing the Gospel will be a central part of this ministry; I want these boys to grow up knowing they are loved and are valuable to their heavenly father, to have confidence in themselves and to reach their God given potential.
My goals:
1. Within the first 6 months to have a drop in centre where up to 20 garibouts come for a meal, to shower,
wash their clothes and receive basic first aid at least 4 times a week.
2. That within the first 6 months the boys will have basic understanding of who God and Jesus are.
3. Within one year to be offering the garibouts basic education in reading, writing and maths.
Support
YWAM is a voluntary organisation and its workers raise their own financial support. For me to follow where God is asking me to go I need a team of people supporting me financially and in prayer. I need to raise support for my personal expenses of travel, accommodation, food, training ect., but because I am still in the process of finding a team to work with me I also have all the expenses of the ministry to raise. After I have ministry up and running I hope be find corporate sponsorship to meet the larger expenses but given the fact that I don’t have a budget to present I cannot begin that fundraising just yet.
I am still in the planning stages of the ministry so do not have a budget drawn up yet but some of the things I will need financial help with are:
- renting a property with kitchen (outdoor charcoal stove) and bathroom facilities
- food for the garibouts
- hospital and pharmacy expenses
- first aid supplies
- clothes
- soap and buckets for bathing and washing clothes
- water and hopefully electricity bills
- professional training for me and any other staff
I would like to invite you to be a part of the team ministering to the garibouts, to have a part in what I am doing and a part in what God is doing. If you are interested in this, would like to receive my newsletters or make any comments please send me an email at gariboutmission@hotmail.co.nz
If you would like to make a donation please click on the link at the top right of the page.
Here are some photos of the boys I was working with
