Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
June 7, 2009
Visit from
The steady
rain has not dampened the joy of having our son from
He brought with him his wife,
Muumbe, and their twin girls, Lindi and Lulu. Three older sons are in school
back in
Like the biblical Abraham and
Sarah, my wife and I were blessed with a son in our old age. About ten years
ago we “adopted” Alfred Kalembo and his family. At the time Alfred was
completing his seminary education at Asbury Theological Seminary in
Like his wife, Muumbe, Alfred was
born in a remote village in
Unlike most of those born in his village, Alfred had a chance to go to school many miles away. The school was run by American missionaries. To get to school Alfred had to walk for six hours, and then ride a bus for three more hours. He stayed in the modest home of the missionaries.
It was in this home that Alfred
first experienced “running water” and electricity. And it was there that he was
given his first pair of shoes, at age 15. He learned quickly and his good mind
afforded him the opportunity for continued education. Completing high school he
went on to finish college in
After serving as a pastor for
several years in the
His dissertation focused on the
care of orphans in
The family is important in
Alfred’s plan is to place each orphan in the home of a family. The family will provide the orphan with an identity for life. Each family would be supported by a partnering sponsor who would enable the family to send the child to school and provide other basic needs. Right now a sponsor can keep an orphan in the home of a caring family for $333 a year.
The life expectancy of a male in
We are moved to support his work in every way we can as long as ever we can, for at 77 we are living on borrowed time ourselves. Whatever the future holds, the world is a better place because there are people in it like Alfred and Muumbe Kalembo. + + +