Reaching Beyond The Children's Home

To God’s glory New Hope Initiative’s Children’s Home in Sierra Leone is meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the children residing there. Amazingly, the overflowing love of Christ is spreading beyond the confines of the home. Ultimately the goal of both Pastor Rogers and NHI is to declare and demonstrate Christ’s love to the surrounding communities and the children’s home is a pivotal piece to the overall evangelical plan.

I have personally witnessed how the love within the children’s home is overflowing into the community and region. The children attend a Christian school run by Pastor Rogers’ church, which allows poverty stricken children to attend. The dedication of the teachers and the success of the students within the school have drawn non-Christian families to the school where Christ and the bible are taught. Many of the children have given their lives to Christ and now attend church regularly.

The church is also growing physically. Each trip I can see how the walls of the building have been moved and the building expanded. The growth of the church body also means larger offerings, some of which goes towards supporting missionaries to plant more churches. In 2003 Pastor Rogers began his church with only a handful of believers. Today he is happy to report 12 churches have been planted from his church and he has no intentions of stopping! He has only reached 6 of 11 chiefdoms in his region and he is dedicated to seeing at least one church in each of these chiefdoms.

The people in the region have come to see the home as a beacon of light in an otherwise dark existence. The children’s home has made a name for itself as a place of love and compassion run by a man of God that is honest and full of integrity. The financial support NHI provides for the home aids not only the children’s home but also these ministries in reaching the people. May God continue to bless Pastor Rogers, the children in the home, and the people of Sierra Leone.

In You The Orphan Finds Mercy

When I think about the special needs orphanage in India that New Hope Initiative supports, I think about the gospel. Honestly, what an amazing picture of the heavenly Father. I think about the words accepted, redeemed, loved. Without Christ Jesus, we were rejected, condemned and alone. But, Christ turned that around for us. As His children, we are accepted, redeemed, loved.

So are the children in our special needs orphanage. They have been rejected by the culture, condemned for their needs and left fatherless.  But, our God is a good Father and in His great kindness, He has recued these children from the cruel world around them. Through the leadership of Pastor Timothy and his family, these children not only have a home, education and healthcare, but they also have had the opportunity to learn about our great God, His love and His power to save.

““…in You the orphan finds mercy.” Hosea 14:3b”

Pastor Timothy’s daughter, Grace, has started to take a larger role in the leadership of the orphanage, and we are excited about her dreams for the future. We have seen great change in some of the special needs children after hiring a full-time therapist to teach them and work with them to learn basic life skills. Small things like learning to write their names and dress themselves have been great accomplishments over the past year for these children but also for the orphanage as a whole.

Also, Grace was excited to tell me that she has developed good relationships with the local government and awarded some funding to help take care of the children. This is a helpful acknowledgement of the orphanage by the government and the good work we are doing to care for the children.

In addition, God has provided a new supporting partner in the States to help raise funds for special projects. So far, we have received funding to upgrade the plumbing and fix the washrooms. And, just recently, we were told the funding is coming for a much needed upgrade to our security wall around the compound.

We are grateful for how the LORD is providing for His children and thankful that we get to be a part of His work in India towards special needs children. We continue to look for new partners in our work and are hoping to visit late 2016 or early 2017. Feel free to contact Lauren Allgood at lkallgood@gmail.com if you have interest. 

Extreme Makeover: Tanzanian Edition

At New Hope Initiative's medical clinic in Arusha, Tanzania lives are changed on a daily basis. Of our 25,000 annual patients we have stories of amazing transformation very often. One of our more poignant stories occurred recently in the life of an older gentleman named Mr. Sikn. He for many years had a cyst growing in his forehead. Not only was it painful but it was unsightly causing him to be ostracized in his community and even to be ridiculed as demon possessed. Mr. Sikn visited hospitals and doctors for miles around his rural home, however, because he was poor and had no money, he could not find any one to help him. Finally he heard about our NHI clinic in Arusha and, even though it was hours away from his home, he heard that this clinic would effectively and compassionately help people who were poor. You can see from these amazing photographs the incredible job Dr. Byemba did in this surgery. We talk often about changing people's lives but truly Mr. Sikn's life as forever been changed by Dr. Byemba and New Hope Initiative.

EXTREME-MAKEOVER

Ebola Finally Ends

Our New Hope Initiative orphanage in Sierra Leone has struggled greatly for the past 18 months as the Ebola crisis has ravaged that country. So it is with great joy that we can tell you that the country has been Ebola free for almost a month and that early in November the World Health Organization should be able to declare Sierra Leone Ebola free! This is the day we have been praying for. Thankfully our 72 children have remained healthy during this crisis, but the country as a whole has suffered untold damage. Economically inflation is running 20% and the GDP is in negative numbers. Educationally the school system is in shambles after months of closure. Practical things like food are in short supply as farmers abandoned crops in fear of epidemic.

We would ask you to continue to pray for our children and their leadership and to consider a special gift to help us offset the sharp rise in food and educational costs. Finally we would ask you to consider visiting this facility in 2016 with one of our teams. We have missed so much visiting the children and we are very excited that we have scheduled a mid February team.

If you are interested in being a part of that team contact our NHI project director Phil D'entremont at phildentremont@yahoo.com

Putting on the Ritz

Used clothing is a huge business in Africa, you find sellers of previously owned items on almost every street. Recently when walking into Kibera I was surprised to see a golf shirt that bore the logo for the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel, CA. This chain of hotels is known worldwide for its luxury and this particular property is a bastion of wealth and privilege on the opulent Southern California coast.

While looking at this shirt against the backdrop of the Kibera slum I was drawn to consider the contrast between the first owner and the next owner of this garment. The first owner likely lived a life of wealth, privilege, and power. They enjoyed the luxuries of life and seldom experienced want or need. The new owner of this shirt will live in one of the worlds largest slums, will be impoverished, ignored, and powerless even in his own community. The new owner of this shirt will feel want as a daily companion. Luxury will never enter his mind, only the constant struggle to survive. What a dramatic contrast between the 2 owners of this shirt.

I walked away that day with two pervasive thoughts. The first involved responsibility. You may or may not be a regular guest at the Ritz-Carlton's of this world, however, as a resident of a western culture you are in a position of extreme privilege in contrast to the rest of the world. This privileged position should demand a generous heart on our part. In the words of Jesus, "to whom much is given much is required." My second thought was about perspective. I can imagine how much the original owner of that shirt enjoyed his foray into the world of luxury. Perhaps how much he wanted to buy that logo shirt and enjoyed wearing it to impress other. However, today that shirt no longer carries an aura of luxury or privilege. It reminds me that every possession we have will one day rust, tarnish, or decay. We must be diligent to remind ourselves that the only eternal investments are those made, in people, for the sake of God.

I think the phase "putting on the Ritz" will forever have a new connotation for me.