Weekly Missions Update 11-6-17

Liberty Elementary School has Opened:

I am excited to announce that our elementary school is officially open!    

Monday, November 6th, was our first day of school.  Here is a picture of one of our K1 classes.

Since we got a late start to the school year, we will close late this summer.  This is a picture of our second K1 class. 

 This year we were able to sponsor a total of 140 children.  All but 17 of these children attend our new school.  We were also able to assist numerous other children with school related fees such as school supplies, shoes, and uniforms.  Here is a picture of our K2 class.

 After completing our placement tests, we learned that nearly all of our sponsored children placed in 1st grade or below.  Due to this fact, we decided to offer two K1 classes, one K2 class and two 1st grade classes.  Here is a picture of one of our 1st grade classes.

We will add additional grade levels each year as our school grows.  Here is a picture of our second 1st grade class.  

Our students are wearing "colored clothes" until their uniforms are finished.  We hired Quinta's business to sew our uniforms again this year.  From the profit she makes, she will buy a year's worth of rice for her family and expand her business.  
On behalf of many impoverished children, THANK YOU!!!  

The Difference a Physician Assistant makes in our ministry:

Last week was Susan's first week on the job.  Susan is already making a great impact in our ministry.

We no longer need to take your sponsored children to the clinic when they are sick, we bring the clinic to them.  Susan is always a phone call away from your children.  She also travels with our team as we distribute supplies and minister to your children.

Hope is one of your sponsored children.  Last week, Hope became sick.  Susan was able to test, diagnose, and treat Hope's malaria from Hope's home.  

At His Safe Haven, Susan provides excellent medical care for all our special needs orphans.  Every day, she takes each child's temperatures, treats their sicknesses, and oversees therapy.  Every week, each child also receives a full medical exam.  

Many of His Safe Haven's foster moms are illiterate.  Monday through Friday, Susan teaches them verse by verse through the Scriptures. Susan's goal is to teach through the entire Bible.  We praise God for adding Susan to our team!

Things that come second nature to us, in the western world, are foreign to people in Liberia.  Last week, Susan set up hand washing stations though out His Safe Haven's compound and taught the moms the importance of washing their hands.

Susan also bought water bottles for each of our children so she can measure the amount of water each child drinks. 

In this picture, Susan, Grace, and Don are preparing medicines for our first mobile medical clinic, this coming Friday.  We will be ministering in one of the church plants that we work with.  We are prepared to treat up to 100 patients.  Thank you for making this ministry possible.  I believe the Lord is going to use these mobile clinics to save many lives and to lead many people to Christ.  I believe these clinics will also strengthen the local churches we work with.

His Safe Haven Field Trip:

Last week, we took His Safe Haven's moms on another field trip.  Later this year, we plan to build homes for each mom on our new property.  This property is large enough for farming and agriculture.  Imagine the impact our moms could have on their community if they learned to farm and raise animals God's way!  Liberians are known for their poor farming techniques and their low yields.  What if the yields from our fields were 100 times more fruitful than our neighbors?  Our moms could use this as an opportunity to reach their neighbors for Christ and to transform our community's thinking regarding special needs children.

Our moms had never seen chickens, ducks, and rabbits as large as the ones at the agriculture center.

They learned about a variety of rice that can be grown in both rainy and dry season.

They learned about fish farming.

Imagine seeing a turkey for the first time.

They learned how to compost and much more.

By the end of the day, their heads were spinning with vision while we spoiled them with an evening out.  We know the success of His Safe Haven's ministry rests on the shoulders of loving foster parents.  I praise God for giving our children amazing foster mothers!

Random Pictures from Last Week:

This is little Don.  He is the child who was admitted to the hospital two weeks ago.  Last week, we celebrated little Don's 2nd birthday.

This is a picture little Don's birthday party.  A Liberian birthday party usually involves loud music, dancing, popcorn, and juice.

Little Don loves Melanie.

Our boys enjoy playing with their friends.

I can't believe how fast our children are growing!

Prince has been painting a mural in His Safe Haven's therapy room.  Most of our children are nonverbal.  Since they can't communicate through words, we decided to paint a picture for them so they are constantly reminded that Jesus loves them deeply!  Each of our children's pictures are being painted with Jesus on our wall.

Prince drew these pictures to help train our illiterate foster moms.

Noah is a widow whose only son died two weeks ago in a tragic car wreck.  Noah's son was her provider.  Thank you for feeding Noah this month.

Prince is a special need's child that His Safe Haven feeds every month.  He and his mother live outside of Gbarnga.

We love our new pups!

Sponsorship opportunity:

We are looking for a sponsor or a group of sponsors to pay for our new physician assistant's salary   Your sponsorship would enable us to hire Susan long-term.  Susan's salary is $375 a month (Note: This is the same salary the government pays physician assistants who work in Liberi'a hospitals).  If you are interested in helping sponsor Susan's salary, please send me an email letting me know your intent.  My email address is don@hopeforhome.org.  

Prayer Requests:

1.  Please keep Liberia's presidential elections in your prayers.  There is nothing but uncertainty and confusion throughout the nation as there have been lawsuits and complications with the election process.  I have been told that the police are positioned throughout Monrovia wearing riot gear and carrying machine guns.  Please pray for a peaceful transition of power.

2.  Liberty Elementary School opened this week.  Please pray for our teachers and students.

3.  Scott Hoffman will be visiting us from the States this week.  Please pray for his travel and his time with us.

4.  Friday, we will be leading our first Mobile Health Clinic on Kokoyah Road.  This clinic will be held in one of our church plants.  Please pray for those we will be treating.  Please also pray the Lord will use this clinic to lead people to Christ and to help validate the church's ministry in the town's eyes. 

5.  Please pray additional funds can be raised for our ministry.

6.  Please pray for Melanie as she home schools our children.

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel!