A passion for kids, a passion for prayer

Cambridge Times July 26th, 2007, by Melissa Hancock Times Staff

A local woman's dream will come true next month as she heads to Peru for four weeks of missionary work.

"I'd probably give someone the shirt off my back ...my mother always told me I'm too generous," said Cambridge resident Alexis Bennett.

Bennett said while in Peru she will help with whatever she can. In Manchay, it small village just outside Lima the country's capital - she will help at the Manchay Care Centre construction site. The centre opened in 2003 as a safe place for mothers going to work to leave their children for the play.

"I just support it 100 per cent," she said.

The centre in Manchay is expanding to include a dining hall and additional washrooms.

Bennett will leave on Aug. 10 with a team from Cedar Creek Community Church, working through Kids Alive an international organization that focuses on helping street children, abandoned children and victims of abuse, war, disease and poverty. The
care centre can currently accommodate 20 to 25 children.

"People are living in cardboard boxes," said Margaret Christy, board
member and sponsorship coordinator with Kids Alive at the Cambridge office on Fleming Drive.

Peru's population is nearly 30 million. In - Lima where about a third of the population lives - more than 10,000 children die every year.

Christy described an experience she had at a local grocery store where she overheard a woman complaining because the brand of black forest ham she prefers was not in stock and she wanted to speak with the manager.

"That's how ridiculous we can get," said Christy, who has been on numerous trips to Third World countries. "I feel that every Canadian should have the opportunity to go to a Third World country."

Every day, families in areas of Peru have to purchase clean drinking water, Bennett said, and it can cost about $15 a day for one family's supply.

"If they've got any money at all,they buy whatever they can," said Christy.

After Bennett's first two weeks conclude with the local church team she will stay an additional two weeks, still working through Kids Alive.

"I have a passion for kids," she said.

One of the goal statements of Kids Alive is to provide "Christian care for children at risk".

Bennett said she recently went through a process and said, "I gave myself back to the Lord".

She said she aims to bring hope to Peruvians through prayer. About 90 per cent of Peru's population is Roman Catholic.

Through speaking with people who have been to other countries for missionary-type work, Bennett said, "They felt God working with them."

Bennett is currently raising funds for the trip which costs more than
$3,000 per person. She will also accept donations of items, such as craft-making materials, socks and underwear for children aged four to seven years, vitamin C pills and adult vitamins, peanut butter and cake mixes.

Bennett said another one of her main goals while in Peru is to make daily journal entries of experiences and sites she sees in order to compile information to present in Canada and promote Kids Alive projects and sponsorship opportunities in Peru.

To get in touch with Bennett, send an email to peru2007@sympatico.ca or call her 622-4176.
For more information about Kids Alive, visit www.kidsalive.ca.