Beginning with Hope Center

As I think back over the past few years, I see how God has blessed this project over and over again, beginning with the closing of OBREC by UNICEF.  A few struggling children came and knocked on Pastor Maurice's door because he had been their Bible teacher and they loved him. They had no place else to go besides the streets. He opened his door to these orphans and Hope for Children Center was born.

The numbers kept growing as Maurice and Edith just kept giving and giving, and God continued to bless. With several moves to larger quarters, more and more orphans were brought into the care and knowledge of God. In 2004 the first piece of land was purchased (by my own brother Tim), and that got us started. Others wanted them to have more land to farm, and two more pieces were added. Then came the miracle of the dormitories, more children; the dinning hall and kitchen and more children; then the miracle of how we got the money for the administration building and still more children! Then still another parcel of land was purchased to add to the first three parcels. I cannot in one article tell about each miracle, but each and every story has God's wonderful blessing behind it. A very large donation by one of our faithful sponsors was provided and the school buildings we had only dreamed of became reality.

Expanding with Glory Center

Our Glory Children's Center is now beginning to experience the same type of growth.We have gone from a dozen children to forty-seven in just over a year, with plans of buying land in the country and building yet another orphanage to accommodate many of the children on our waiting list. Pastor Moses and Prisca moved with the children into the country in late December and although there have been many obstacles to overcome, they are staying the course. The workers at Glory Center have never received any monetary  compensation, except for the little bit thatMoses and Prisca have been able to share with them, expecting their reward in the true "Glory."

How the Work is Accomplished

How can this all be accomplished? I certainly don't know.  I can't even imagine how it gets done. It is all such a wonder of what God is doing that I no longer question where the money will come from, nor do I worry about money being available to send for the next authorization. Frankly folks, do you know the work you are all a part of? It is the work of God; leading you to do His will. A Christian writer once said, "We have nothing to fear for the future unless we forget how God has led us in the past." I just praise his name every day as I know God is using Hearth to Hearth Ministries' people from all over the United States and other countries, in all walks of life, to do His will for these children. Will he bless you? I know he will, for he is faithful! 

I want to put in a quote here from one of the workers at Hope Center who wrote us last fall. This tells it all: "This project is probably the biggest in western Kenya as a whole, whereby the population is well over ten million people. According to the children's department who visited recently, it is rated the best and well managed and also the cleanest, with neat buildings. Even the food is rated among the best compared to other orphanages. However, it has the lowest budget compared to the number of children at the orphanage.

To prove what I am telling you, may you get a report from the children's officer of the province.  They were wondering how the project is run by little funds. It was a pride to our institution to imagine that with the little in our hands, we are able to do a lot." Jane, Maurice's cousin. (It is also interesting to note that the staff of many of these orphanages that are funded by the west receive some of the highest wages in the area. This has not been, and will never be, our policy.) I'm sure Jane understands why we can do what we do with so little. It is because we are NOT the ones doing it. It is He who is Faithful! One thing that amazes me is how they take care of so many children. How do they feed them all, cooking over open fires for so many? There are 226 children at Hope Center every day to attend classes, and all of the workers. And of course there's the famine relief: hundreds of children coming to be fed each day! Much the same at Glory Center-meals cooked over open fires and people coming to the gates by the dozens for food and water. I knew they had to have help, but somehow in my mind I thought they would be fortunate to have five or six good people to help. So we wanted to know just how many were helping and wanted to know their circumstances. 

(This article was printed in the April 2006 edition to Spotlight on Orphans newsletter.)

We are sharing with you the journal entries of Esther, the Director of Hearth to Hearth Ministries.  This journal consists of her thoughts about the trip she is on  to visit orphanages in Africa.

February 3

This day started out well at about 4:00 a.m. when I arose to try to finish up last minute details, such as proofing documents and getting them sent off to the Board and Executive Committee, Setting up polls on the Board website so Board members can vote on various issues, responding to last minute emails, giving instructions to George as to how to handle mail, etc., in my absence.
We planned to leave the house at 10:00 but knew we have allowed plenty of margin, so we ended up leaving at 10:38 and stopped by the bank for cash. That's when I realized I'd forgotten the $50.00 battery charger we'd gone out of our way to purchase the day before. It was still plugged in at home, charging the battery for the video camera. We made a mad dash back home to retrieve it, then headed to our daughter's in Brighton.
George had taken five pieces of baggage to our daughter, Melinda's house, on Friday where he met Vicki who had brought two more, plus the cash people had sent her for the trip. Melinda already had those items loaded into her vehicle when we arrived, so we loaded two more, plus my two heavy carry-ons, ate the lunch Melinda had prepared for us, stopped by Radio Shack to purchase a firewire (to transfer video footage from the camera to my laptop) and headed for the airport.
Half way there, I realized we had left my pillow and jacket back in our car at Melinda's. I do not recall forgetting important items on any of my three prior trips to Africa. I certainly hoped that we weren't setting any precedents for the trip!
The flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was without incident. I had a very quiet seatmate and was able to sleep most of the way.