Mission World Aid was founded by Jenny Hagger to show Christian compassion for the poor and needy of the world. Her inspiration for this ministry comes from Matthew 25:35:

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you invited me in,
I needed clothes and you clothed me…
What you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me

In 1991, Pauline Kupke, from Wudinna, South Australia, was living in Mozambique, where she was working as a nurse at Maforga Christian Mission near Gondola. Hundreds of orphaned children were flocking to the mission as the horrors of civil war brought down the whole infrastructure of the country. Pauline helped look after 200 orphan children, nursing many of them back to health and giving them the love and comfort they so needed. Pauline was forced to return to Australia to recover from typhoid.

Mozambique was named by the Population Crisis Committee as a country with most severe human suffering in world – rated 93 out of 100 (Advertiser 19/5/92) (Australia rated 4).

Pauline Kupke

Trish Perkins at Maforga

Maforga Christian Mission had been founded by Roy & Trish Perkins in 1986 as an interdenominational mission. It comprised a farm of 1850 ha originally owned by a German baroness. The farm grew maize, soy beans, peanuts and citrus. The Perkins were abducted by Renamo guerillas in 1987, forced marched for 3 months through the African bush to Malawi, where they were finally set free. They immediately returned to Maforga. The orphanage cares for 200 children. 

Pauline approached Jenny Hagger, Director of House of Prayer for All Nations - Adelaide, and asked if she could send a shipping container of aid to the mission as their needs were desperate. It would cost $8 - 10,000. Jenny felt overwhelmed by the task and, besides, all the Australian shipping companies refused to send ships into the port of Beira because of the war. At the time, there was a civil war in Mozambique and no shipping company would ship a container there.So she told Pauline she was unable to help.

But the idea would not go away. Jenny began to feel the urging of God to contact friends. A small team got together, purchased a container and over the next three months progressively packed it. Jenny found a place in which to store and sort items, and organized the provision of items and the collection of funds. A pamphlet was prepared of the needs – clothing, linen, kitchen, school materials, tools, food, office, Christian materials, women’s craft training and children’s medical clinic items.

The first container had 33 X 100 kg bales of used clothing, 200 kg of clothing, 10 X 44 gal drums of household equipment, toys, food, 113 boxes of household items, books, wardrobes, chest, 500 kg of semolina, 500 kg of oats, 300 kg of sugar, 1 ton of flour, 125 kg of milk powder, 83 kg of infant formula, 2 cases of Arnott’s protein energy biscuits, together with linen, blankets, materials and curtains. It contained 12 tonnes of equipment. The container was purchased. It was timber lined and had 3 roof openings so that it could be converted into living quarters in Maforga. Funds & goods came from South Australia, NSW, Tasmania and Victoria.  The total cost was $11,253 including $2,500 for purchase of the container and $3,697 for shipping.

The Mozambique peace treaty was signed in Rome on 4 Oct 1992. The container left Adelaide on 26 October 1992 and arrived in Mozambique on 17 November. It was the first container of shipping aid from the southern hemisphere to arrive in Mozambique after peace was declared. The timing of the arrival of the container had been in the hands of God. It arrived at Maforga on Christmas Eve. As the missionaries opened the doors they were overwhelmed with a sense of the love of Christ.

Inside were desperately needed food supplies, blankets, medicine, 35 x 100kg bales of clothing, household equipment, and toys for the children. On Christmas Day Jenny received a fax from the mission. It simply said You must be a very blessed people because it is more blessed to give than receive. Thank you. It was the first shipping container of aid to reach Mozambique from the southern hemisphere since the cease-fire was signed. There was incredible joy at the Maforga Christian Mission with the clothes, food, medical supplies and toys for the orphans. They had sufficient to clothe 4000 people in the rebel controlled area.

Maforga entrance	Maforga area	Maforga 1st container converted into a house
Desks sent in 1st container	Living quarters & kitchen	Bush clinic at Maforga

Soon a second container followed, and a third. Photos were sent back to Australia of thousands of refugees receiving clothing for the first time in 20 years, of people suffering in the drought being given food, of a medical clinic helping the sick, and always the words we feel the love of Christ kept appearing in letters of thanks.

Jenny and her husband, Brian, visited Maforga in 1993 and witnessed first hand the benefits of sending the containers full of needed goods. They returned convinced and motivated to send more containers. By 1998 they had sent 16 containers to Maforga comprising a vast volume and range of vital provisions.

From the one heart rending request from Pauline Kupke, a country South Australian girl brave enough to remain in Mozambique amidst great danger, came the birth of a relief aid organization that is now involved in sending aid to twenty four nations. The vision was birthed and carried in prayer. It is the same today. Every one of the shipping containers have reached their destination safely despite the difficult obstacles that occur in sending aid to third world countries.

Over the following five years Jenny Hagger and her group organised and sent 17 containers of aid to Mozambique plus two to Zambia and one to Albania. Regular medical supplies were also sent to Dr John Foote at the Telefomin Hospital PNG with assistance of the RAAF. Over this time, tens of thousands of people in Mozambique were clothed and fed and their medical needs attended through the aid provided from Adelaide by Jenny and her helpers.

A visit to Mozambique by Trevor Radbone, an Adelaide accountant, found that the aid was “so appreciated and was not seen as coming from Mission World or any individual, but they had all heard of Australia and loved her for her caring and giving to those who had nothing”.

Mission World Aid Inc. was incorporated in 1997. In 1997 an aid administrator was appointed to take over from Jenny Hagger. Mr Bob Dalby was appointed to oversee and organise the sending of containers. Mr Graham May later served as aid administrator and the present Aid Administrator is Mrs Gael Harrison.

In June 1991, after 5 years of perseverance by MWA, the Australian Tax Office accorded income tax exemption to the work.

The objects of Mission World Association Inc, as outlined in its constitution are:

The aid is collected, sorted and cleaned and containers packed on premises leased from ETSA utilities on Old Mt Barker Road at Stirling East. The constant cry is that the large shed in which the goods are stored is full, despite large containers of goods being regularly sent out. An abundance of goods keep flowing in.

The new shed before the goods arrived

The MWA team praying in the new shed premises

The official paperwork required to send each container is quite considerable and for many years, Jenny Hagger handled all of it. Extensive shipping, customs, insurance and transport forms had to be filled out, involving detailed lists of every box and loose items packed in the container. Each box and package, bale of clothing and loose items had to be valued and the estimated weight assessed. Fumigation of the container had to be approved by the local council.

In 1995, following many requests from other groups, a 44 minute video was produced: “How to Pack and Send a Container”. This how-to-do it video provides invaluable first-hand advice on how to pack aid for overseas and has been used to assist other groups send aid containers.

Often when goods for containers were being collected, the container packed and the sending organized, the funds needed for its transportation were not available. However by the time the container was ready for shipping, the funds would be available in answer to prayer.

Overall it is estimated that communities numbering over 100,000 people have been assisted by Mission World Aid.

Robyn and Ozzie from the MWA team in Burundi

Statistics on the containers sent is available here.
An illustration of the process of sending containers is available here.
An example of receiving a container (in Tanzania) is available here.
More about the team that sends containers is available here.