On February 13 the Toledo First Seventh-day Adventist Church held its third annual benefit banquet, this time for Amistad’s Murwira Orphanage project in Zimbabwe. The featured speaker was Carl Wilkens, nephew of Murwira director Paula Leen. Wilkens was the only American relief worker who chose to stay in Rwanda during that country’s hundred day genocide in 1994.
Volunteer chef Ray Riley and his lovely wife Judy prepared a special meal for the 100+ guests in attendance, complete with red velvet lace-embossed cupcakes. In recent years the Toledo First Church has put service and issues of social justice at the forefront of its mission, reflected in events such as the annual Valentine’s banquet. Community guests came away deeply moved by the stories Wilkens told about Paula’s work in Zimbabwe and the plight her children face each day. Although figures are still being tallied, the church estimates that approximately $3500 was raised for Murwira Orphanage.
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