A Rancher's Role - Drew Kirkpatrick's Story
My wife Tonya was invited by Debbie Brownlow to go to Malawi during the summer of 2009. When Tonya came home she had been touched by the children and people at the Grace Center. So in the summer of 2011 Tonya and I went to Malawi with our sons Campbell and Carson and had a great experience attending church and meeting the people. God spoke to us and our boys through the kids who are orphans in Timothy's home. With no parents and basically no food or medical care we could only imagine how hard these kids lives were before they came to Circle of Hope. We decided as a family we wanted to help Circle of Hope reach out to these orphans and the people of this area in any way we could.
Drew showing Pastor Phiri around his ranch in Post, Texas.
Two years later in the summer of 2013 we went back to the Grace Center in Malawi. By this time I was serving on the Circle of Hope Board of Directors and we were sponsoring four children. We were also blessed to be contributing financially in other areas. We reunited with special friends there and had another great time that impacted us once again spiritually. We talked about how happy the kids and grownups were there even though they faced hunger and multiple diseases on a daily basis but their faith and dependence on God was powerful and truly amazing. We definitely learned more from them than they learned from us.
We are thankful as a family to get to play a small role in helping Circle of Hope minister to the people at the Grace Center in Malawi, Africa. To think we have friends on the other side of the world who believe in Jesus Christ like we do is very meaningful and rewarding to us.
-Drew Kirkpatrick
Drew and Tonya Kirkpatrick in Malawi summer of 2013.