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Rev. Ronald Wooding's
first contact with the orphange was in June 2002, when he
traveled to South Africa
with Denver's African-American Mayor, Wellington E.
Webb and 64 business, political, and religious leaders. Eleven members
of the delegation traveled to the Agape Center.
Rev. Wooding returned to
Denver with a passion to help. He joined Denver Africa
Working Against AIDS (DAWA), and began sharing his experiences at the
orphanage with many of the local churches. Park Hill
United Methodist Church and Epworth United Methodist Church were two of the 12 churches that
agreed to participate in a fund-raising revival. The revival was
replicated for a second year in 2003, and is planned as an annual
fundraiser. An art auction was added in June 2003.
The mission supported by these fundraisers is
very simple: to provide a safe and supportive environment for
children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic in
South Africa, and to serve as a living witness of the Methodist Church in World Service.
South Africa has been
devastated by the AIDS pandemic; about 1 in 9 are infected with HIV. As
many of 1,000 South Africans die every day from AIDS related
complications.
Agape's director, Zodwa Mqadi, began
the
Center in 1998. Its first home was an abandoned building on
the outskirts of Durban. Initially the center
served as a day-care facility, but many of the children had no home to
return to, so they were taken in. Mqadi and her charges were virtual
squatters, and in 2001 the landlord asked Mqadi to purchase the
building. The Metropolitan Interdenominational Church
in Nashville raised
$24,000 to finance the purchase. Members from this congregation
travelled to Waterfall and completed the hookup of three outdoor
showers, painted the center's buildings, and erected an umbrella style
clothesline to support the laundry operations. Much work remains to be
done.
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