Taking Allentown to Africa

Heinzel-Nelson family embarks on mission to help impoverished
How does a family decide to leave the life that it has come to know and love behind for an entire year?

Besides getting a house sitter and someone to pay the bills, taking a leave of absence from work and school, and mustering up the nerve to say goodbye to everyone and everything it cares for and has become accustomed to, all of the family members must also agree on one thing: a good reason to let go.

The Heinzel-Nelson family, of Allentown, has found their reason.

In response to a deep sense that they have been called upon by God to serve the poorest of the poor, Stephen Heinzel-Nelson, his wife, Liz, and their two youngest daughters, Terra, 11, and Jordan, 9, will leave their Allentown lives behind for a while to embark on an African mission for the majority of 2008. The family is scheduled to leave for Malawi, Africa, Dec. 31. The couple's other children, Jem, 21, and Clay, 19, will join them in the summer.

Malawi, which is considered to be the fourth-poorest country in the world, is located in central eastern Africa and has a population of 13 million. Life expectancy in the country is 40 years, due to escalating HIV/AIDS and malaria crises. The area is also burdened by a lack of economic development and employment. Over 80 percent of the households there survive on less than a dollar a day.

St. Columba Presbyterian Church has invited the Heinzel-Nelson family to live in a home in Malawi's city of Blantyre, where Stephen, the senior pastor of the Allentown Presbyterian Church, will serve as an associate pastor and will teach at the Zomba Theological College.

While Stephen helps students obtain degrees in theology and train to become ministers, Liz will host individuals and teams from the Allentown area and other places to help address some of the crushing conditions and symptoms of the extreme poverty in the area. Throughout the year, she will also aim to identify a long-term mission that would effectively meet the needs of the poor in the area so that the family can return home and continue to have an impact on Malawi.

Stephen said, "We want to have a lasting effect and still be supportive and in a relationship with Malawi when we come home. What that relationship will entail, I don't know. It could mean helping to build an orphanage, hospital, school or any number of things."

Beyond feeling that the church and their family can make a difference in the lives of people by becoming involved in an ongoing mission opportunity in Malawi, the Heinzel- Nelsons believe that living in a community with the poor will help them make new discoveries about themselves and the things in life that are truly important.

"We believe that we will learn about the power of faith from those whose love for God continues to grow despite the harsh conditions of life," Stephen said. "We believe that this will be an amazing experience for our children that will leave a deep impression on their lives."

Terra and Jordan will attend private school in Blantyre, where they will take classes with other students from around the world but where they will likely be the only Americans in attendance. The school's curriculum is also said to be much tougher than what the girls have experienced in America, according to Stephen.

Liz said she and the girls also expect to help out at the orphanage, Open Arms, in Blantyre.

"The local orphanage has a lot of opportunities to do volunteer work," Liz said. "I am also going to keep myself open and help my children process what they are seeing and experiencing."

She continued, "We heard that when you go there, you are struck by the amount of children everywhere. Fifty percent of the population there is under 15 years old. We perceive that there is a lot of need there."

Stephen said, "We've been reading about the need there and particularly about the AIDS crisis. This is the greatest human crisis in the history of the world. The number of people who have died and are dying and are infected is in the millions and millions. It's staggering. If this was happening in Europe or the United States, it would be on the front page of the papers every single day. We feel that people just aren't aware. It's very overwhelming, our feeling of calling to do this. That is where God wants us to go."

The Presbyterian Church has a strong presence in Blantyre. The family feels that the church will provide it with a lot of volunteer opportunities during its stay. As an associate pastor, Stephen will preach, teach, visit with families and perform baptisms at the 10,000-member church.

Liz said, "They only have one pastor and it is a huge church. Plus, the pastor is sick with tuberculosis and just had a leg amputated."

Stephen has been granted a yearlong absence from the Allentown Presbyterian Church for the trip. Jenna Goggins, an associate pastor at the church, will take over Stephen's responsibilities while he is away. The church will also welcome Joseph Khalil to assist Goggins.

"We went to the session [a meeting of church elders] and they voted in April unanimously to give us the year," he said. "That really was the hardest - if you want to call it that - part of making the decision. We couldn't have done it without the blessing of the elders, and when they were unanimous about it at the special meeting, it was very exciting."

The Allentown Presbyterian Church granted Stephen a leave without pay and Liz stepped down from her position as the director of the church's youth ministry.

In order to afford the excursion and the loss of income for a year, the family also decided to place its cabin on the Delaware River up for sale.

"While we imagined this to be our retirement investment, we believe we are being called by God to trust in his providence for the future," he said.

Other preparations included transferring their children's school transcripts to Africa, getting numerous inoculations, preparing various personal and travel documents, and packing a whole year's worth of clothing and other necessities into two 50- pound suitcases each.

"We've been here in Allentown for 10 years, and this feels like the perfect time to try to do something that's going to have a powerful impact on our lives and perspective," Stephen said.

When the family returns in December 2008, Stephen will resume his duties at the Allentown Presbyterian Church, but beyond that, the family expects their lives to be changed.

"We believe that those who partner with us will also be changed," Stephen said. "Whether people want to travel there or get involved on some other level, their lives will change along with ours."

There are several ways to partner with the family. They hope some community members will feel inspired to visit Malawi while they are there. The family is encouraging those who cannot visit to pray for them and to follow their adventures by reading their blog at http://apcmalawi.blogspot.com.

The family has also estimated the cost of travel and living expenses for the entire year at approximately $60,000 and said that monetary gifts to the church would be appreciated.

"Your gifts will be the seed money to save lives, change communities and bridge the gap between those of us who have much and those who struggle just to live," Stephen said.

The family believes that they can help the Allentown community come together to have a lasting effect on Malawi.

"We want to bring this opportunity home with us," Liz said. "We want to engage our church and our community. The idea is for people to share what they have with others."

Anyone interested in finding out more information, arranging a trip to Malawi, or making a contribution to the cause can contact the Allentown Presbyterian Church at (609) 259-7289.