Jim and Jayanthi Wilson
Mission Partner Jim Wilson in Class
Jayanthi Wilson Interviews a New Student
Jim and Jayanthi Wilson are serving in Gaborone, Botswana as the Global Mission Partners for the Mid-America Region. In fact, the last church they served prior to going to Africa nearly nineteen years ago was the Cairo-Jacksonville Unity in NE Missouri. Their younger daughter, Priya, is attending William Woods College in Fulton, Missouri and their oldest, Shanthi, works in Fargo, North Dakota.
The main area of Jim’s ministry is his work with the Kgologano Theological College where he serves as a tutor, newsletter editor, and IT specialist. Jayanthi is seconded staff to the Mabogo Dinku Advice Centre (Sedibeng) in Gaborone, Botswana where she works in community development.
Botswana, with a population of 1.4 million, is one of Africa’s most enduring multi-party democracies. It is also one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most prosperous countries with a per capita income of US $2,790 annually. Nonetheless, the distribution of income is very uneven with large numbers of people living with AIDS and/or in poverty.
The traditional partner of the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ is the Botswana Synod of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, founded in 1816 by missionaries from the London Missionary Society. Until recently, the United Congregational Church was virtually the state church. Other partners in Botswana are the Botswana Council of Churches, the country’s main ecumenical body, and Kgolagano College, an ecumenical, ministerial and lay-training facility.
According to UNAIDS Q&A (November 2005), it is projected that more than 20% of the children in Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe will be orphaned by 2010. With 20% Botswana’s children already orphaned, Botswana has the highest rate of orphaning in sub-Saharan Africa.
Our Division of Global Ministries encourages us to pray for the HIV/AIDS training program of Kgolagano College and for church leaders in rural parts of the country.
Read the Wilson’s Latest Newsletter
http://nearea.org/about-us/our-mission-partners/newsletter/
…more pictures too!