Young Couple Speak of Africa Ministry

Although they are both under the age of 30, Phil and Christa Grabowski are seasoned community-development workers in the African countries of Malawi and Mozambique.

At an age when many of their peers are leaving organized religion, the Grabowskis are working for the church, as project consultants with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee.

Their job is to help local church organizations start and manage projects in areas such as agriculture, health, adult literacy and HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention.

They recently spoke about their work to a group at the Christian Reformed Church in North America’s office in Grand Rapids, Mich. They will return to Malawi in August.

“We are doing very fulfilling work. We are using our gifts, being right in the center of God’s world,” said Phil Grabowski in an interview. “We deal with a lot of health and environmental issues among the people. We are there to serve.”

Still in their 20s, the Grabowskis are part of a demographic whose members, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, are increasingly unconnected to a formal religion or a house of worship.

The Pew study, which came out in February, found that among the unaffiliated, 31 percent are under age 30. In comparison, about 20 percent of people 50 and older are not affiliated with a church.

Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 – both evangelical and mainline – who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to a survey published last year in USA Today.

Phil Grabowski says he is aware that many people his age have left the religious traditions in which they grew up, but neither he nor his wife, whom he met in a youth group while they were attending Michigan State University, is among that group.

He credits his parents and other adults for helping to strengthen his faith and inspiring him to do the kind of work he is doing today. “What helped me was talking to adults and listening to speakers who were straightforward about their lives and struggles.”

Phil and Christa got involved with CRWRC through a program called International Staff Internship. This program focuses on the value of service to others as a way to keep young people engaged in their faith. They now work as employees of CRWRC.

“We want young people to know what the church is doing, and we also want to involve them in leadership development,” says Andrew Ryskamp, director of CRWRC in the United States.  

This connection to the hands-on, community-building work of CRWRC happens to be an experience that many young people are searching for. “When I talk to kids in college, I find young people who look for a church that is living out the full gospel. They want the church to be credible and to be addressing the needs and issues that they care about,” says Ryskamp.

In their presentation in Grand Rapids, the couple shared a story of how one woman's life was changed through the community programs that CRWRC supports and how her community is now caring for over 400 orphans. 

The Grabowskis will be available through July 7 to share with congregations and small groups “what God has been accomplishing in Malawi and Mozambique through your support,” Christa wrote in a newsletter that describes their work in Africa. 

To read, the Grabowski's May newsletter, click here (.pdf download).

If you are interested in contacting the Grabowskis, contact Holly Bechiri at [email protected] or call (616) 224-5845.