God loves orphans and in a sense we are all orphans until we find His Father’s Heart and are adopted into the family of God. Everyone needs to be part of a family and Kondanani Children’s Village provides a loving, caring home for a large family of some 200 children in what has been called ‘a nation of orphans’.
Malawi has a population of 12 million people of which one million are orphans so there is a desperate need and GOD TV counts it a privilege to help provide life-giving support in this country through our close connection to this wide-reaching project.
The life-long vision of Annie Chikhwaza, a Dutch missionary from South Africa, Kondanani comprises of children’s homes, schools, a rehabilitation centre and they are now building a hospital to serve the community. Annie has always had a heart for the marginalised, from her childhood when she cared for the ‘dirty boat people’ of the canals of Holland, to defying apartheid laws to enter the townships of South Africa to care for the hungry. She married a Malawian pastor, Lewis Chikhwaza and together they founded Kondanani in 1998. Sadly, Lewis died in 2005, but Annie continues to run with their vision to raise a new generation of African leaders.
The orphanage celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year and GOD TV has been there right from the beginning, Over the years our partners have seen the tremendous fruit of this ministry as the first HIV/AIDS abandoned babies have grown into beautiful children and are now godly young men and women. It is amazing to have been part of their journey and to see them today all grown up with their own dreams and visions of the future and how they can make a difference in other people’s lives. However, there are still many younger children who need our support, and if you are a parent to teens you know how much more they need.
Mother of Malawi
It’s not surprising that Annie has become known as ‘Mother of Malawi‘ and her biography by the same name captures her extraordinary story. It was written by GOD TV’s Al Gibson and is available in Christian bookshops and online. Anything bad that could happen to a woman has happened to Annie and she has survived to tell the tale and encourage others to never give up. At one point she was attacked and left for dead. But, in that place of death and destruction she refused to give up and instead created this place of life and hope for those with no hope. (Kondanani)
Today in her 70’s, while others may be retired, she still works full time, caring for the needs of her many children, overseeing a large team, and still her heart yearns to do more for those in the surrounding community who have little access to proper healthcare. Her latest vision is to build a community hospital. Why? Because Malawi has a very high level of fatalities in the 1-5 age group and that is a statistic we need to over turn.
God instructs us to care for Orphans
Watch the video above and see how GOD TV has helped to make a difference in Malawi and be inspired to stretch your God-given abilities and do more for God. James 1:27 tells us that: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” God certainly has a heart for the destitute, for the fatherless and it is up to us to be the Hands and Feet of Jesus. As we busy ourselves in helping others there is no time to involve ourselves in things that would defile us.
In Ephesians 1:4-6 we read that God chose us before the world was even founded and that he predestined us to be adopted as His children. These are words that Annie Chikhwaza and her team in Malawi take seriously. They are words that we at GOD TV take seriously. We want to see more souls won for God’s Kingdom, more children adopted spiritually by our Father God. And, a natural outworking of this is to provide an oasis of love wherever there are orphans.
If you would like to give towards the children at Kondanani or the building of its children’s hospital, you can give online
Visit Kondanani.org for more information about the orphanage and it’s many outreach projects. The school is always looking for ACE trained teachers and provides opportunities for short and long term missionary trips. For more information about Annie’s biography visit www.motherofmalawi.com