Posts Tagged ‘Monrovia’

In honor of Pastor Andrew Gombay’s upcoming visit to Algoma next week, I thought I would re-post this “music” video.  It features the worship team from Pastor Andrew’s church.  They were singing a song to honor us (Pastor Bill Pevlor and Brian Matthys) at the conclusion of a conference for pastors in Monrovia, Liberia.  You will see pastor Andrew and his wife, Swehna join the team.  Even I get pulled into the frivolity at the end. (You’ll recognize me as the goofy looking white guy.)

The arrangements have been set for Pastor Andrew Gombay’s travel to northeast Wisconsin.  Pastor Andrew will arrive in Green Bay on Monday afternoon, July 19th.  He will return to Detroit early Sunday evening, July 25th.  His return flight to Liberia departs from Detroit on the 27th.

We are bubbling over with excitement to have nearly a week with our dear friend from Monrovia, Liberia.  More than a friend, Pastor Andrew is our ministry partner.  He is the founder and leader of Victorious Faith Ministries church and Victorious Faith Refuge Home (the Esther’s Hope residence) in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa.  We have been friends and partners for nearly a decade.

We are still working on his itinerary.  As I write this, there are only two items set in stone on the schedule.  Pastor Andrew will be ministering at Victorious Faith Ministries in Algoma on Wednesday evening and Sunday morning (July 21st and 25th).  There will be more events, we just haven’t worked out the details.  Esther’s Hope supporters can count on an opportunity to visit with Pastor Andrew in an informal gathering.

Over the years, Pastor Andrew has proven himself to be an extremely capable man of faith, courage and integrity.  He is a highly respected spiritual leader in West Africa – which is why he was invited to participate in the conference in Detroit.  I’m confident he will bring the highest level of ministry excellence to Algoma.

I’ve traveled to Liberia on two occasions to lead successful leadership conferences for pastors and church leaders.  Pastor Andrew and his staff handled all the arrangements in Liberia for those conferences.  He was an excellent administrator, preacher/teacher and host. I’m looking forward to ministering (and hanging out) with him again; this time in my homeland.

(Note to Esther’s Hope supporters:  The cost of Pastor Andrew’s round-trip airfare was $569.40.  If you’d like to help us meet the expenses for Pastor Andrew’s travel and activities in Wisconsin, please click on the Donate button and select the one-time gift option.)

Pastor Andrew Gombay is now in the United States. This is his first trip outside of Africa.  What an experience for him and what a marvelous blessing for us.

In our conversation early this afternoon he told me he arrived late last night. He spoke of the long flight times and layovers – from Monrovia to Brussels to Washington D.C. to Detroit. He is in South Field, MI (in the Detroit area) to participate in a conference.

He told me that he was “received honorably” by Dr. Prince A. Miles, founder of the church hosting the conference, along with several others. Dr. Miles has invited Pastor Andrew to stay with him at his home while he’s in the States.

Pastor Andrew will be busy in South Field until July 19th. Then he will be free to spend a few days with us before returning to Liberia. This is the first solid information we’ve been able to get about his schedule, so we are just beginning to work on plans.

It was great to be able to talk to him on a clear phone line.  While he’s in South Field, he and I will be spending plenty of time on the phone, catching up.

He also told me he is very excited about getting to meet his “family” in the states.  His time here will be limited, but we’ll do our best to introduce him to as many friends as possible.  We’re open to suggestions, so drop us a line if you have any ideas.  Watch this website for more information about upcoming plans.

The trip from Detroit to Algoma won’t cost as much as Monrovia to Detroit, but there is still a cost.  If you would like to help us with Pastor Andrew’s travel expenses, please click on the Donate button or drop an email to info@esthershope.com and we’ll work out the details.  All donations are tax-deductible.

(Pastor Andrew Gombay is the founder of Victorious Faith Ministries and Victorious Faith Refuge Home (The orphanage of Esther’s Hope)  in Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa.)

Not every Esther’s Hope child is an orphan.  Some are merely victims of the extremely difficult, family-ravaging conditions of post-war Liberia.

Today I transferred our monthly support to Pastor Andrew and learned of Mohamed Kaide, a new child who has been added to the safe and loving fold of Esther’s Hope at the Victorious Faith Refuge Home in Monrovia, Liberia.

Mohamed’s story is tragic, heartbreaking and not as rare as we might wish.  The particular details of his plight might be somewhat unique, but every Esther’s Hope child has a heartbreaking story of their own.

Pastor Andrew sent me an update by email and included the story of Mohamed along with a photo…

Dear Rev. Bill Pevlor

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness.

Please Sir, we are always grateful to God for you, your family, and the church; our desire is for you to please extend our thanks and gratitude to all those who are making this monthly sacrifice in their own way to bless the hearts of these Kids. Though it is not a fixed amount, the truth is that it is always solving problems to the glory of God.

This afternoon I ran in town after you called me up because the rains caused some problems, so I bought two bundles of zinc with what was sent including nails for the carpenters to start work on the boys dorm especially over the bed of the Kids; I know that the same God the have started to provide for this renovation will provide all that needed to finish this renovation work.

Mohamed Kaide - "His flesh was cut out from his thigh to the ankle so he may not walk upright again."

I also want to inform you of one 6 year old boy that was rushed in the home last month, his name is Mohamed Kaide. This boy’s mother was crossing the road along with two of them – the only children she ever had – at the Dualla Market area in January this year, when a taxi cab hit them killing one of her children instantly, breaking Mohamed’s foot, smashing two of his toes and breaking the back of the mother instantly.

They were rushed at the JFK hospital. The mother is still hospitalized because of a fractured spine. Mohamed’s only brother died from the accident.  While Mohamed and his mother were in the hospital, the father of the children took sick and also died. As Mohamed was fast recovering, the friends decided to look for a child care center to take Mohamed to because the mother was traumatized any time she notices her two children – one dead and the other badly wounded with her in the hospital.

That is how they brought Mohamed to our center. His wounds are fast healed up and he is recovering especially because the other children keep him alive and happy. Please keep us in your prayers and how the Lord can provide us funds to continue his treatment. His photo is attached to this mail, and he has added to our Kids in the home.

Remain blessed,

Rev. Andrew Gombay.

I’m struck by Pastor Andrew’s comment, “…he is recovering especially because the other children keep him alive and happy.”  We’ve heard comments, from other outside observers, of the care and concern the children have for one another.  It’s more evidence of the wonderful work of Pastor Andrew and the caregivers of Esther’s Hope.  They are able to take children in the most desperate of situations and help them move beyond their own tragic circumstances and become a blessing to others.  Remarkable.

For all that the caregivers of Esther’s Hope can do, they still need our help.  It’s obvious, Mohamed is going to need considerable medical and therapeutic care.  There are still many Esther’s Hope children who need monthly sponsors.  For just $30 a month, you can help provide for the physical needs of Mohamed or one of the other children.  To learn more about monthly sponsorship, visit our Sponsor A Child and Sponsorship FAQ pages.

One-time gifts are also needed to help complete the renovations necessary to comply with the government’s ever-increasing orphanage standards.  We still have a few thousand dollars to raise toward that effort.  To give a one-time gift, simply click on the Donate button.

All donations are tax deductible and a printed receipt will be sent by mail at the end of the year.

Every penny we receive ($100%) is sent to Pastor Andrew and used for the care of the children of the Victorious Faith Refuge Home in Liberia.  Esther’s Hope is an organization of unpaid volunteers.  We don’t keep or use any of the funds given to Esther’s Hope.  Any administrative costs are covered by the church.

If you have any questions concerning Esther’s Hope, child sponsorship or donations, please don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

Please remember to pray for Mohamed and the other children, as well as the selfless, loving caregivers at Esther’s Hope.

I spoke with Pastor Andrew Gombay by phone last week. He is our partner in Monrovia, Liberia and the founder of Victorious Faith Refuge Home – the place of Esther’s Hope.  I had called him to pass on the information of our latest monthly support transfer. We didn’t have much time to talk, but he told me they were currently facing great challenges – a result of government regulations.

Liberia’s government is slowly pulling itself together. Recently they’ve focused on the regulation and oversight of orphanages. Their efforts are imposing some dramatic requirements for all orphanages.

Because our phone conversation was brief, Pastor Andrew sent me details in an email. Here’s the bulk of that message…

This is the place for a beginning

Pastor Andrew Gombay

Dear Rev. Pevlor

Praise the Lord for His faithfulness towards us.

I received the funds sent last week and bought some food stuff for the Kids, the part of the money that had to do with me doing what ever I think best, went towards the current project at hand.

Rev. Pevlor as I was saying on phone, we just ended an intensive workshop with all the government ministries last week. This workshop marked the final leg of arrangements for accreditation of Child welfare Institutions operating in the Country. After that meeting, we were asked to pick up the original copy of accreditation application form from the ministry of health not later than this week Wednesday (21st /4/2010).

As soon you pick up the form, you are given two weeks from that very day to return the form with all the requirements attached to the copy, and that same week you deliver the documents, a task force which includes all government agencies will reach your center for final inspection.

The most important accreditation requirements:

> A bank account statement totaling $1.2 million, LD. (Though this also includes property values.)

> One Caregiver for every 3 children; meaning between now to next week, I should employ an additional 6 Caregivers and one Security guard in the home.

> A concrete fence around the building to ensure the security and safety of the children.  (This project is started and it’s ongoing now as you can see from the photos.)

>The building should be renovated on a one hundred percent bases, and the environment well sanitized.

> The Store should be with not less than 25 bags of rice including other food stuff upon the visit of the task force.

All this excluding the paper requirements of registration, bank statement, qualification of staff etc. are to be met within two weeks.

The Wall Project

Rev. Pevlor, I have taken the challenge relying on the grace of God to get the work done because all of our effort will go in vain at this particular time if the venture is not taken seriously. Another reason why I am making the sacrifice and calling on you to join me at this crucial point is because, I was wondering what the few donors that have been supporting the home feel if the hear that all their effort has been aborted, what will become of the Esther’s Hope website were people are browsing and desiring to make contributions, as was the case of the sister that works with the American Embassy in Liberia that contacted you online who came over yesterday to give all the children teddy bears, and those two girls who sent that cartoon of assorted items for the Kids.

The Wall Project

More importantly Rev. Pevlor as a person and the Victorious Faith family USA who started the entire process and are still upholds the vision of helping with the care of these children.

These and many more factors are the very reason why I am sleepless these weeks trusting the Lord to raise funds for the abrupt and undue pressure from the government.

Should we allow the government to close the Institution and all my years of labor and your effort go down the drain?

Please join me to make the sacrifice at this moment. As for the $1.2 million issue, we battled it with them and that was how they included asset. So if I calculate our assets value it will amount to $ 9,000.00 USD plus, so I need only a thousand dollars saved in the VFRH account to round up this figure to their required $1.2 million (Liberian Dollars) because it is a little above ten thousand United States dollars.

Rev. Pevlor to tell that the Lord is not willing for this home to be closed down and the children becoming more sorrowful, A sister in the African Mercy Ship, heard about the government’s stand to close down homes so she wrote me last week to tell me that she has learned of treats to close down the home. As soon as I responded all the needs to her and the news papper issue, she decided to explain it to her crew members on the Ship which is now in Togo, according to her, an offering was raised that evening for the Victorious Faith Refuge Home children. And she told me that it was the highest offering ever raised in any of their meetings for a single project.

She sent that money to me late this week. She decided to take only the fence project since that was the highest amongst all other projects. The budget for the fence totaled $4,660.00 USD, and amazingly to the glory of God, all of the amount is what she was able to raise for the fence project which is almost nearing completion now since the funds arrived. Her name is Ines Kronester a German Crew on the Ship.

She told that, that was all she can do for me since in fact her own son also lay ill at the ICU on the Ship which may cause them to leave the Ship if nothing changes.  Please Sir join me to pray for her son’ health.

Rev. Pevlor, indeed God is great, even this lady is surprised at the level of heart that people gave to the home.

The Children of Esther's Hope

Please Sir the remaining half of the project that has to do with changing all the ceilings in the rooms, re-conditioning the floors, painting, changing the roof, buying more utensils in the home, adding the bed spreads, changing some of the door frames that were eaten up by bugs, re-conditioning the beds in the rooms, adding more furniture’s and paying of workers etc, will cost me $3,815.00 USD. This is the emergency fund that I need now to get along.

When I explained this to my local church, regardless their financial condition, for the first time, the members raised up to $430.00 USD between Wednesday this week to this morning as their own “widows mite” towards this project.  According to their testimonies, a particular sister in the church sold her mattress she sleeps on at $25.00 USD as part of her contribution to get the work done.

Meaning that we have left the amount of $3385.00 USD as a major emergency final challenge to get the work completed before next week end when I shall return the forms.

Rev. Pevlor please help me out here at the moment to save these children and the Victorious Faith Refuge Home at last.

You have always been there for these children; this is the time we need you most. I will stop here for the moment as I desire to hear from you because we are in this together by the grace of God.

Remain blessed Sir,

Pastor Andrew.

There is not much more that I can add, other than to state the obvious. We need your help. Please join us in prayer for Pastor Andrew and the children of Esther’s Hope. If you’ve ever thought about helping with a financial gift – now would be the time. Also, share this story with others. These children are worth our best effort.

On one hand, $3,385 doesn’t seem like much. On the other hand, it’s a mountain if you don’t have it in hand. Right now, we don’t have it in hand so every contribution of any amount is important.

Giving is easy. You can contribute online using your credit/debit card by clicking on the Donate link on this page.  Donations are processed by PayPal, but a PayPal account is not necessary.

If you prefer, you can also send a check to Victorious Faith Ministries, 219 State Street, Algoma, WI 54201.  Note on the memo line: “Esther’s Hope.”

As always, 100% of funds we receive for Esther’s Hope are sent directly to Liberia.