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I received email from Pastor Andrew Gombay, the founder of Victorious Faith Refuge Home in Monrovia, Liberia.  This is the home of Esther’s Hope children.

Each year we try to send funds, above and beyond our monthly support, just before Christmas.  Our desire is to bless the children and staff with small gifts and some treats for Christmas.  This year, with the help of many, we were able to send $1,200.

I’ve been waiting for word from Pastor Andrew on how the funds were used – hoping for a photo or two, as he usually sends after Christmas.  Unfortunately, Pastor Andrew has been having a great deal of difficulty obtaining an internet connection.  He’s actually been attempting to send me other email for the last couple of months. Today his efforts were successful.  The photos he attached were very small (a result of his internet problems).  I enlarged and enhanced them as best I could.

Here’s the email and photos I received….

A Christmas Party for Esther's Hope

Dear Rev. Pevlor,

Wow, how is the snow?

We bless the Lord for you, your family, and the supporters of the Victorious Faith Refuge Home, Liberia. We wish you all a blessed New Year.

I have an overdue Christmas card for you and the friends of VFRH. The net has not been helping out with photo attachments but it’s better late than never. I could not send the well designed card I intended because the net refused to attach the design, but that’s where we are at the moment.

Esther's Hope Christmas - 2010

As for the funds you sent me, I wisely decided to buy the children school shoes because the second semester starts next week. Also, I took part of the funds to make them happy on that day as you can see from the attached photos to this mail. Though they wore the shoes for the occasion, they will also serve them for the second semester.I’m glad we finally entered the new year happy and healthy.

Pastor Andrew

Thank you for your help and prayers.  We still need more monthly supporters.  An Esther’s Hope Child Sponsorship is only $30 a month.  100% of all we receive is sent to Liberia for the care of the children. (The church covers any administrative costs.)  Your gifts are tax-deductible and we make it very easy to give – simply click on our Donate button.

For my friends with Liberian connections… If you know of any inexpensive, reliable solutions to Pastor Andrew’s email difficulties, please drop me a line.

The Children of Esther’s Hope in Monrovia, Liberia are as excited about Christmas as anyone.  However, they aren’t dreaming of a new, gleaming bicycle under the tree.  They won’t be hoping for a new iPod or video game system. The thirty orphaned and abandoned children are excited because Christmas means a special meal with extraordinary delicacies – like a little fruit and some candy. It might even mean new shoes or some needed item of clothing.

As simple as their Christmas hopes may seem, none of it is possible without your help.  Liberia is a country still recovering from years of civil war. Unemployment is remains around 80%.  The Liberian economy is a long, long way from recovery.

Our Christmas blessing usually allows Pastor Andrew to also stock up on food staples and provide a little Christmas gift for the Esther’s Hope caretakers.

As you prepare for your own family’s Christmas celebration, please consider how you might be a blessing to the less fortunate in Liberia.  The children have so little, they don’t expect much.  The little we send brings them great joy. Just look at the photo from last year.  No expensive gifts, but plenty of smiles.

Even a few dollars makes a huge difference in the lives of these precious children. Your donation is tax-deductible and every penny we receive for the children’s Christmas goes to them. We never deduct “administrative costs” for any Esther’s Hope donations.

Donations can easily be made online by clicking the “Donate” button. You could also send a check by mail to Esther’s Hope, 219 State Street, Algoma, WI, 54201.

If you’d like to be a part of the Esther’s Hope Christmas Blessing, act quickly because funds will be transferred to Liberia around December 15th. (Any contributions received after the 15th will be sent with our regular monthly support transfer around the 20th of the month.)

Please, help us spread the word and share this website with your friends.

Forgive me EH Friends for I have sinned. It has been more than a month since I last blogged. (I’ll explain  a bit at the end.)

Let me begin by assuring you that all is well with the children of Esther’s Hope. We recently sent $590 to Liberia for the refuge home and the school.

Pastor Andrew and I have not had as much contact over the last month as we usually do. He is still having a difficult time with securing a reliable internet connection. That leaves phone conversations our only option lately. I spoke with him just last week.

School is back in session for Esther’s Hope children. Just like in your home, when the school year starts, the kids need new school uniforms and shoes and school supplies, etc. Unlike your home, there are thirty children buy for.

Because the school is an outreach of Victorious Faith Ministries in Liberia, it also presents its own financial challenges. Pastor Andrew established the school for the benefit of Esther’s Hope children. The cost of education is not subsidized by the  government in Liberia. Every child has to pay tuition. Pastor Andrew couldn’t afford to pay the tuition for 30 children so he established Victorious Faith Academy and opened it up to other children in the community as well. And even though the government doesn’t support the schools, they are very meticulous in regulating them – greatly increasing the cost to the schools and their students.

Liberia is still struggling but there are signs it’s making headway.  A recent report known as the Annual Index on African Governance shows  Africa is making historic gains in health and economic growth. The report also notes that  progress is “being jeopardized by a dangerous erosion of democratic rights in many countries.” In this report, Liberia shows up as “the fastest-improving African country. Since the end of its latest civil war in 2003, Liberia has steadily improved its score from 28 to 44 on a scale where 100 is highest.

One of the reasons I’ve not been as active with our updates is because we were having problems with hackers corrupting the Esther’s Hope website. It took me awhile to resolve some of the issues and make the site safe again. I was reluctant to post items to the website when I wasn’t confident I could keep the hackers at bay. I’m glad to report, improvements have been made, security increased and I am now confident.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support for the children and staff of Esther’s Hope.

The children of Esther’s Hope are back to school. Anyone with children knows how much work it is to get ready for the start of a new school year.  Imagine trying to get 30 children ready and all you have to provide…clothing, school supplies, etc.  We wanted to help.

When Pastor Andrew was visiting us in Wisconsin, we took up a collection of items for the children to send back with him. We purchased an over-sized suitcase to fill and send back with him.  Not only did we fill it, but there was quite a bit that wouldn’t fit. So, knowing that the school year would begin soon, we decided to ship the rest and, since we had a little time, add more to it – mainly school supplies. These were all donations picked up individually by church members. We ended up with two large boxes to send.  Each one weighed just under 50-pounds.

I browsed the pages of the US Postal Service website to get an idea of how much it would cost to ship the boxes.  The cost to send a 50-lb box to Monrovia, Liberia would be around $750…each!  I checked with FedEx and their website’s estimated cost per box was around $800!  No way we could justify that. Thankfully, a local company that ships their products all over the world were able to help us with their corporate discount and ship the boxes – both of them – for under $200. (I don’t understand how it could be so different, but ever so thankful it was.)

The story doesn’t end there. The boxes made it to Liberia but were held up at the airport. There were being held until a Customs charge of $106 dollars could be paid.  When we learned about the additional charge, we wired money to Pastor Andrew so he could claim the boxes.  And, as you can see by the photo, the children were delighted to receive them just in time for the beginning of the school year.

This was a stark reminder of why we don’t send materials from the US to Liberia.  It is much more efficient to send money that can be used to purchase what may be needed in Liberia.  Even though costs are higher in Liberia, it’s considerably less expensive and less hassle in the long run.

The children of Esther’s Hope have ongoing needs.  We send financial support every month to cover some of their most basic needs.  If you would like to help, please visit our Sponsor A Child page and consider becoming a sponsor for $30 a month.  One time donations are also a great help and easily done from our Donate page.

Pastor Andrew Gombay is the founder and director of Victorious Faith Refuge Home (VFRH). You could say VFRH is Esther’s Hope.  It is the home where the children live and are cared for. All support raised by Esther’s Hope goes directly to VFRH.

Since he is the leader at the center of Esther’s Hope, I thought it might be worthwhile to share more about Pastor Andrew.

Pastor Andrew is originally from another area of Liberia.  He felt the call of ministry early in his life and moved to the Liberian capitol, Monrovia, to pursue the Lord’s will.

Pastor Andrew is the founder and leader of Victorious Faith Ministries – a growing Spirit-filled, Christian church in the Battery Factory community of Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. He is a respected spiritual leader, active in leadership positions of the Monrovia ministerial community.  He is a teacher and mentor to young pastors and church leaders.

Before there was an Esther’s Hope, or any other outside help, Pastor Andrew, being moved by compassion for orphans left in the wake of Liberia’s brutal civil war, took on the challenge of starting Victorious Faith Refuge Home.  From the home’s beginning, Pastor Andrew has proven to be an gifted, resourceful administrator and caring leader/father figure to the children and staff.  He is a faithful man of integrity who has endured personal hardship and sacrifice for the children of Esther’s Hope.

Pastor Andrew’s academic achievements include a Bachelor of Arts degree in Divinity from St. Paul Seminary in Monrovia.  He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology from Vision University, Monrovia.  Pastor Andrew’s Masters degrees in Biblical studies and Christian education were earned at Monrovia University.

Rev. Gombay serves as Senior Lecturer at the Awesome International Bible School, Director and Lecturer at Victorious Faith school of Ministerial studies and the Principal of Victorious Faith Academy.

A dedicated family man, Pastor Andrew is 37 years old and married to Swehna (34 ), his wife of eleven years. Together they have four children; Divine (7), Andrew JR (3) , Jonathan Bill “J.B” (1) and an adopted son, Charles (14).  (When asked about his marriage he will tell you, “I’m married to one beautiful wife by the name of Mrs. Swehna Gombay,” with an emphasis on the word “one.”  In Liberia, it is not uncommon for a man, even pastors, to have more than one wife.)

Pastor Andrew is a relatively young man who, through hard work, personal sacrifice, faith and the ever-present  grace of God, has accomplished extraordinary things under extremely difficult circumstances.  He is an example of faithful servanthood.  He is a leader among leaders.  He is an inspiration.

Please, keep Pastor Andrew Gombay, his family, the children and care givers of Esther’s Hope and the Church in Liberia in your prayers.