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Amanda Eckelkamp Gave up Her Comfort Zone


Amanda Eckelkamp and
Steve, a fellow teen mission-
ary from Canada, give a
balloon animal to Zambian
orphan Wezuss.

A member of the Key Club, high school band, and her church youth group, Amanda Eckelkamp, of Clayton, NC, likes to do the things that all normal teenagers do—collect “Diamond Rio” CDs, rent movies, and have fun with her friends. So why at the tender age of 15 would the incoming Campbell University freshman beg her parents for permission to spend three long months in a country where starvation death is a daily occurrence and one-third of the adult population is infected with the AIDS virus?

One simple explanation—God.

“I was in my daily devotional at home, and it was like God said, ‘Amanda, go,’” she said. “I didn’t know where God wanted me to serve, but shortly after that I saw a pamphlet for an international teen missions trip to Africa.”

Strongly opposed to the idea at first, Amanda’s parents sought the counsel of their pastor, Rev. Greg Jenks of Christ Community Methodist Church, who ultimately interpreted Amanda’s plea as God’s call to him to go to Africa. Jenks formed an organization, Zimbabwe Orphans Endeavor (ZOE), that will provide food, clothing, and schooling to some of the 780,000 Zimbabwean children who have lost a parent to AIDS, and is about to embark on what will be one of several mission trips a year to Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Amanda’s parents relented. “You’re my earthly father telling me no,” she told dad Jim Eckelkamp. “But my heavenly father is telling me yes.”

Amanda, who will be 18 soon, arrived in Zambia the summer she turned 15, a member of a teens missions international group. They delivered shoes, which the children must have to attend school, to approximately 150 orphans; built a reservoir that supplied clean, fresh water to a village; and constructed a granary to store wheat in case of drought. Via puppets and balloon animals, the teens also brought messages of evangelism. Over 40 children were converted to Christianity during the trip.

The group also provided basic medical care to the villagers. “We treated minor cuts and scrapes that were infected and would eventually lead to more serious illnesses,” Eckelkamp said. “People would walk from miles away to get treatment.”

An unappetizing mixture of corn meal mush eaten at least once a day and twice with any luck was the only nourishment the children received, and one of the saddest sights was that of a 13-year-old girl carrying her malnourished baby on her back. But Eckelkamp never ceased to be amazed at the resilient spirit of the African people.

“It was wonderful to hear them sing in church,” Eckelkamp said. “One lady whose husband had died three days earlier was up there singing and praising God. They were so happy, even though their stomachs were swelled from hunger.”

A religion and Christian Ministries major, Eckelkamp would like to be a missionary to Africa when she graduates. “I think if God tells you, you really don’t have a choice,” she said. “There are a lot of specific needs over there, but there is not one specific type of person who can serve. If God tells you, you have to go.”


Bulletin 0198-07/08/04

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