Liz Heinzel-Nelson, Executive Director of our mission partner, Villages in Partnership (VIP), preached in both services and spoke during the Faith Formation hour.

She talked about VIP’s efforts to bring clean water to villages in Malawi through the digging of wells. As I hope you know, our church has set a goal of paying for one well to be dug to supply a village with clean water through our FaithFULL Waters mission initiative this year. The money we need to raise for one well is $7500.

VIP is a faith based nonprofit organization whose mission is to eliminate extreme poverty in rural Malawi. Liz co-founded VIP after she and her family stepped away from serving Allentown (New Jersey) Presbyterian Church to live and serve in Malawi for one year. When they returned to Allentown they felt called by God to set up VIP in 2009, with a strategy to address and improve the six underlying areas human thriving: food, water, education, health, economics, and infrastructure simultaneously. In doing so, they have seen entire villages emerge out of extreme poverty.

Liz has dedicated her life to inviting others to come alongside the poor and most vulnerable, leading several teams to Malawi each year. I think you will find her work inspiring – as have those in this congregation who have traveled to Malawi to work with VIP. Liz and her husband, Stephen, have four adult children and two grandchildren.