Bethany Jeffers
Bethany Jeffers is a full-time volunteer at a Tanzanian organization called Mavuno Village, ministering to orphaned and vulnerable children in northwestern Tanzania. Mavuno Village is a culturally appropriate, agriculturally minded, Christ-centered, family-style orphanage. (www.mavunovillage.org)
Mavuno means “harvest,” and their vision is to see children grow up to be godly, self-sufficient Tanzanians, to see churches and families in Tanzania strengthened by people who have been raised to be faithful followers of Jesus and to carry on that legacy.
Orphaned and vulnerable children are referred to Mavuno Village through Tanzania Social Welfare and are then placed in homes in the Mavuno Village community with Tanzanian caretakers. The children attend school and church, help in the gardens, cook and share meals together, and play lots of soccer, all within the context of their unique families.
Bethany works in the Mavuno Village office as their communications coordinator, connecting with supporters and volunteers, coordinating child sponsorship, and encouraging clear everyday communication between staff, families, and children. Living in a staff home on campus, she is also very involved in the lives of the children.
Before coming to Tanzania, Bethany received a Bible degree from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL, and a counseling certificate through the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (CCEF) in Philadelphia, PA, and she worked extensively with children as a nanny and in church and halfway house ministry.