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Travis and Lorna Curry have served in Namibia, Africa for more than two years. They serve as directors for the Children of Zion Village (COZV), where they care for orphaned and vulnerable children. The Currys are currently raising 61 children, ages infant through 22 years old.

Travis and Lorna shop daily for food for the children, supplies for staff, and other needs. They transport food to a feeding center (Mafuta) each week that feeds an additional 130+ orphaned and vulnerable children. They handle budgets and staff payroll, lead weekly Bible studies for children, lead church services each Sunday, oversee projects, provide transportation, hold weekly staff meetings, are administrators for the Mission School, and still have time to spend quality time with the children and spread the love of Christ throughout their community.

Travis and Lorna live right on the Zambezi River, and every year in March, the river floods. The village quickly becomes an island. They prayed that they would not have to evacuate the 61 children. Thankfully, the water was never high enough that they had to evacuate this year, though they traversed the flooded river by boat, reaching their car, then driving to the market to do shopping for the village. Just the shopping takes an entire day when using the boat.

Becoming a community
When they arrived in Namibia, Travis and Lorna found an overgrown, fruitless garden. With the staff, they have since carefully tended the garden and yielded an abundance of food for the village. They have been able to spread the love of Christ by sharing the surplus with the neighboring villages and the local feeding center.

“God continues to provide in all areas. It was amazing to us how few people seemed to know about the orphanage/village. It seemed it really was ‘an island.’ We felt the community should be a part of raising ‘their’ children. If the community does not know COZV and are not connected in some way, the children will be less likely to be successful when they leave. Now, people are coming and bringing donations. The school has 50 children who are coming from outside the village. When we came, no one from outside this village was coming. The school is another way to reach children for Christ, since we pray with them and use Christian curriculum,” said Travis.

Becoming a family
One day, Travis and Lorna took the kids to swim in the river. The water was cold that day, but the children wanted to swim. Travis picked up Lorna and pretended to throw her in the water. The children went wild, so Travis decided to throw Lorna into the cold water.

“That one act – swimming with our kids in the river – did more to break down barriers between us than anything else I had done up to that point,” said Lorna. “I realized that I had been acting as a life-guard until then – watching the children, caring for them, trying to meet their needs. But, that day I just swam with them and enjoyed being their mom.”

Travis and Lorna pray that their ministry with the Children of Zion Village will encourage the children to grow in the love of Christ and become upstanding adults who will then go back into the community to share the love of Christ with others they meet.