What is the Jubilee Ministry?

Courtesy Jubilee Ministry Jubilee's Elisabeth Keller helps to feed AIDS orphans

The Jubilee Ministry is a group of individuals who come together in the community of the Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Massachusetts to help to repair the suffering inflicted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

We are funded by the Diocese of Massachusetts and by generous donors—parishes, groups within and outside the church, and individuals. In partnership with African provinces and dioceses, we plan and administer programs in Africa for training home-based care workers, supporting orphan feeding and education, assisting Anglican hospitals and clinics to deliver basic medical care to orphans and afflicted families and to pregnant women, providing testing and aftercare, and preventing transmission.

Jubilee welcomes all, but we have a particular need for individuals with Africa-specific experience and/or relevant skills: public health, financial development and management, education and communication, and the like. Contact Elisabeth Keller (eliskeller [at] comcast [dot] net) or the Rev. Maggie Geller, (mgeller [at] diomass [dot] org), co-leaders of the Jubilee Ministry.

Jubilee’s work in Kenya

Courtesy Jubilee Ministry Dr. Gerry Hardison with a young patient in Kenya

Maseno North Anglican Diocese in Kenya, a heavily populated area near Lake Victoria and Kenya’s second city Kisumu, is the oldest of Jubilee-assisted missions in Africa. Our relief activities there are centered on the Maseno Anglican Hospital, where Gerry Hardison, M.D., is Medical Director, and St. Philip’s Theological College in Maseno, where Dr. Nancy Hardison is principal.

When the Hardisons arrived, some five years ago, the hospital was dilapidated and very ill-equipped. Since then, the medical capabilities of the hospital and community reach have steadily improved. Hospital buildings have been repaired, a mobile clinic has been launched, and medical equipment acquired. Most recently, Global Fund support obtained through the Christian Health Association of Kenya has assisted the hospital to acquire the sophisticated laboratory devices needed to offer safe and effective antiretroviral therapy (ARV).

As important as the medical care offered in Maseno is the orphan feeding program. Nine parishes are feeding about 4000 orphans every Saturday with plans to extend the reach even further. The Mothers’ Union—the organization of Anglican mothers in each parish—cooks and serves the meal and offers a variety of activities to the many children who come. Educational and social activities are offered before and after the meal, to bind the orphans together in community and to help those who are not able to get to school.

Jubilee in Uganda

Courtesy Jubilee Ministry Retired Anglican Bishop Zebedee Masereka with his wife, Stella, at the entrance to the new medical center

Bishop Masereka Christian Foundation (BMCF) was started by a group of committed Christians in 2001 in Kasese, in western Uganda, where the HIV/AIDS rate is above 15%. There are thousands of orphaned children and many widows/widowers in the district, and the medical crisis was complicated by a 4-year civil war that displaced hundreds of people.

BMCF conducts community education activities for prevention of HIV/AIDS, cares for AIDS patients, and provides school fees for orphaned and vulnerable children, who too often were forced to abandon their educations as a result of the death of their parents. With support from Jubilee, BMCF ensures that over 500 children have been able to continue their educations from year to year. (But the need is even greater: there over 700 applicants in for whom we have so far failed to find sponsors.) A home-based care program brings assistance and comfort to families who are suffering from AIDS.

Would you or your parish consider sponsoring a Ugandan child’s education for a year or more? You can ask about this opportunity by emailing the administrator of the BMCF sponsorship program Anna Nyangoma at nyangoma_a [at] hotmail [dot] com. For background, see the Foundation’s website: http://www.bmcf.org.

Recently BMCF opened the Bishop Masereka Medical Center, which offers HIV/AIDS counseling and testing and antiretroviral therapies. Jubilee representatives were present for the ceremonies opening the Center.

Why AIDS? Why Africa?

• 25.4 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are living with HIV
• 3/4 of all women infected with HIV live there
• 3.1 million new HIV infections arose there in 2004
• 2.3 million people in the region died in 2004
• There are 12 million orphans in Africa
• By 2010 UNAIDS predicts 27 million orphans
• Every two months more people in Africa die AIDS than were lost in the Indonesian tsunami

How can you help?

Become involved, like the congregation in Arlington that developed an “Art for AIDS” program. Like the deanery that has organized the June Jubilee Walk. Like the congregation in Chatham that is supporting the orphan feeding program in one parish and exchanges messages with African parish leaders. Like the individuals who provided a new vehicle to the Bishop Masereka Christian Foundation. Like the boy who raised over $2,000 by selling lemonade.

Or you could visit Africa to work and learn - ask us how to do this.

Courtesy Jubilee Ministry The Rev. Maggie Geller with one of Jubilee's beneficiaries

The Rev. Maggie Geller, diocesan deacon for AIDS in Africa Education and Advocacy, is available to preach at your church or speak to your adult education classes. Use her email address, below, or phone her at 617 482-4826, x351.

You can reach Jubilee through Elisabeth Keller (eliskeller [at] comcast [dot] net) or the Rev. Maggie Geller, (mgeller [at] diomass [dot] org), co-leaders of the Jubilee Ministry. Donations to support Jubilee’s work should be directed to “Jubilee Ministry” at the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.

Keep informed about the Jubilee Ministry

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