Posts Tagged ‘Orphans’

Every child looks forward to Christmas morning. Even those living in extreme poverty. Like your children and grandchildren, the orphans and abandoned children at Victorious Faith Refuge Home, find it hard to go to sleep on Christmas Eve. The kind of Christmas morning they have depends on us…on a “Christmas Blessing” from Esther’s Hope.  That’s why, each year we take up a special “Christmas Blessing” offering.

Unless you’ve been there, it’s difficult to comprehend the unending struggle of life in the west African nation of Liberia. Unemployment and illiteracy top 80%. The lingering effects of past corrupt dictators and devastating civil war make Liberia a very somber place. And, yet, the children are hopeful.

The thirty children of Esther’s Hope are looking forward to Christmas. Our Christmas Blessing (above and beyond our normal, monthly support) enables Bishop Gombay to stock up on food staples, provide a special Christmas meal with extraordinary delicacies – like a little fruit and some candy. It might even mean new shoes or some needed item of clothing for the children and, if funds allow, Bishop Gombay likes to give a small gift to the caregivers, as well.

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 their Christmas celebration 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 Blessing 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 20th.

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

If you’d like to be a blessing year round, an Esther’s Hope Child Sponsorship is only $30 a month. Check out our Sponsor A Child page. All contributions to Esther’s Hope are tax-deductible. Giving is very easy – simply click on our Donate button.

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.

When I first encountered the children of Esther’s Hope I was smitten.  (If you know me that, in itself, is a remarkable statement.)  Their bright eyes,  wide smiles and warm hearts are irresistible.  And I’m not the only who would have to admit it.  I’m delightfully amused to introduce others to our children and watch them be helplessly taken captive.  Over the years, it seems everyone who encounters the Esther’s Hope group can’t resist becoming more involved.  A prime example would be Justin Prud’homme.

I was introduced to Justin and his wife, Katey, a few months ago via the Internet by a mutual friend.  Justin volunteered to visit the Refuge Home to take some photos I needed to update the EsthersHope.com website.  One visit and he was hooked.  (He shared his experience in a previous post: A Fresh Perspective of Esther’s Hope.)

I received an email last week from Justin.  He had gone back to visit the refuge home…and took a crew of friends to do some work.  Here’s his message and some photos from that project.

Hi Pastor Bill!

Justin Prud'homme

Katey and I got some friends together and went out to the Home two weekends ago to do a little DIY construction on the home. We replaced the mosquito screens on several of the windows, and then erected 4×4 posts in a cement base around the shower.

The idea is to go back in one of the coming weekends (before the rains start in earnest) and erect a privacy wall and a small roof so the kids can shower in private and have a place to change into their dry clothes in the shower. Katey and I return to the US tomorrow for a month, so we’ll probably miss the next visit, but will hopefully be there on the next one.

The kids were very interested in the work, and very eager to help. Very cute too!

*Note: The following is a continuation of Liberia’s Children Touched My Life by Brian Matthys.  Part 1 was posted January 16, 2009.]

I listened to the stories of every child that day. While recording the stories of the orphans seemed rather simple and straightforward, the task was made more difficult by the strong accents and the Liberian English. I found myself continually repeating what I was told in a questioning manner to make sure I had heard it right. One story in particular was hard to understand, or perhaps I just didn’t want to believe it. That story was of brother and sister, Isaac and Jennet Wiah.

Pastor Linus explained to me that Isaac and Jennet had only been at the orphanage for two weeks. “Two weeks?” I questioned as Pastor Linus confirmed what I thought I had heard. This fact shocked me. It wasn’t as surprising to hear about children who had been there for years and were toddlers when they arrived at the refuge home. Isaac and Jennet had only been without a parent for 2 weeks, and the oldest was nine years old.

I immediately began to wonder what was going through their minds. Were they scared, confused or sad? How were they coping with this sudden massive change? Did they understand everything that was going on and that this was going to be their new home for a long time? No longer having parents to provide for them, they now had caretakers who would provide for their food, shelter and safety along with all the other kids.

Pastor Linus continued to share with me that the father had been intentionally poisoned with bad food by people in the community. “Intentionally poisoned?” I asked, hoping that the accent had hindered my understanding. “Yes”, Pastor Linus replied, “He was a hard worker and people were jealous of him.” Indignation immediately rose up in me. No tragic unforeseen car accident, no deadly incurable disease, instead they were killed because of some peoples’ immature jealousy. Now because of that jealousy two kids were without their parents and were instead at an orphanage. These children had parents who loved them, both a father and a mother, but now needlessly they were orphans.

I was also told that one year after the father died, the mother died from worry after getting sick. I never asked exactly what that meant but I could only imagine what these kids’ last year was like. A grief stricken mother now without a father’s income and two children to care for, apparently so overwhelmed that it contributed to her death. These kids had been through so much turmoil in the past year.

Isaac was described by Pastor Linus as quiet and calm. I wondered if that was how he had been before coming to the orphanage or if he was just bewildered by where life had brought him. His younger sister Jennet was described as very active and never alone, always with friends.

There was nothing that I could do to change the past of Isaac and Jennet, or the pasts of the other kids at the refuge home, but I resolved to do what I could about their future even if all I could do was contribute 30 dollars a month. We have yet to find sponsors for Isaac and Janet.  Will you please pray and consider becoming a part of changing their lives or one of the other children of Esther’s Hope? You can browse our Children page to find a child to sponsor or give a one time donation immediately by clicking on the Donate button.