Mission Update 11-23-18

His Safe Haven’s Village for Special Needs Orphans:

I want to praise God for all He is doing at His Safe Haven’s village for special needs orphans.  God is opening the door for us to receive all the money we need to complete this project.  Recently, a very generous family pledged to match dollar for dollar, up to $20,000, for the completion of this project.  If we are able to match this gift, we will use the $40,000 to complete the construction of 6 group homes, community kitchen, and a ministry center that will house a medical clinic, therapy center, dinning hall, and His Safe Haven’s offices.  

These thee group homes are nearly completed.  

Septic systems have been installed for all 6 houses.

Group home #4’s walls have been elevated.

Group home #5’s walls have been elevated.

Group home #6’s walls are being elevated.

The foundation of our ministry center has been laid.  This building will house our therapy center, medical clinic, dinning hall, and offices.

The community kitchen’s walls have been elevated.

If you are interested in giving towards this project please send checks to Hope For Home Ministries, P.O. Box 393, Troy, OH 45373 or donate online at liberiacalls.blogspot.com.  Please write “His Safe Haven Village” on the memo line of your check. 

Mission Team:

I want to say a special thank you to the team of 4 men who came two weeks ago to help construct His Safe Haven's village, work in our group homes, and help with our mobile medical clinics.  Scott, Dale, Jim, and Steve, you were a tremendous blessing to our ministry and family!  Thank you!

Liberty Elementary School: 

I want to praise God for a great start to our second year of schooling! 

This year we added two grade levels to our school (2nd and 3rd grades).  Our school’s reputation is getting around, we had many applicants to choose from while selecting new teachers.  All our teachers participate in ongoing training.  

New uniforms were made.  Thank you for buying uniforms for all our students.  

This a picture of our first chapel service.  

This year, we have 200 students in our school.  Our school is 100% funded through your generosity.  Thank you!  The total cost of running our school for this school year is $15,735.  Praise God we have been able to raise $10,000!

Construction has started on 6 additional classrooms.

This year, we are constructing the first floor of what will be a three story building.  

Thank you for giving the gift of a good education to so many Liberian children.  Without a good education, they have no hope for a better future.  Thank you!

Training Pastors:

Recently, God gave me the opportunity to lead several ministry leaders through our Romans study.

These leaders trained other pastors.  

After these pastors complete the training, they will be given the material to teach in their churches. Our training leads people verse by verse through Romans.  Our artist has drawn pictures that illustrate the message of each verse.  These pictures are clipped to a clothes line so people can see the message of Romans from beginning to end.  To pass the Romans course, students have to be able to retell the message of Romans, from beginning to end, using nothing but the pictures.  

Mobile Medical Clinic:

During the month of October, we had to shut down our mobile medical clinics due to bad roads.  Here is a picture my friend took while on his way to Lofa.

Now that rainy season is over, we are back on the road treating the sick and evangelizing the lost.  During our last clinic, we treated 163 patients.

While being treated, patients are prayed over multiple times.

Susan is one of our Physician Assistants.

Praise God, during this clinic, 23 people gave their lives to Jesus and many others were encouraged in their faith. 

We have moved:

I want to praise God for our new house.  Recently, missionary friends of ours returned to America after many years of faithful service.  They offered us their house. Our new house has running water!  The water source for our old house was 1/4 miles away.  For the first time since we moved to Liberia, we have running water!  This has been a tremendous blessing for our family!    

The house needed extensive renovations before we could move in.

This is what it looks like after renovation. 

Having running water has changed our lives.  This may seem silly for you, but I want to praise God for His wonderful provisions!  Thank you Lord for running water in our kitchen! 

Thank you Lord for two toilets that flush!

Thank You Lord for two showers.

Thank You Lord for an automatic laundry machine!  

Thank You Lord for providing this large outbuilding with a garague. 

Thank You Lord for providing office space for our ministry.  

We are still moving into the office.  

Thank You Lord for giving our ministry a recording studio!  From this studio, we will make audio recordings of all our lessons in Liberia’s various dialects.  These lessons can be downloaded on people’s phones and used to train the illiterate. 

Thank You Lord for this beautiful front yard where children from our community can come and play!  You have been very good to us!  Thank You!

Keeping families together:

Fatu is the single mother of this special needs boy named Prince and another little boy.  I believe special needs children in Liberia are among the world’s most destitute and needy people.  Liberians call these children, “demons,” “devils,” and “snakes.”  Many special needs children die from exposure and starvation.  Special needs children are viewed as a curse on a family and families with special needs children are viewed as a curse on their community.  Our group homes have also experienced persecution for our neighbors.  In the past, our moms were denied access to the community well because our neighbors did not want to drink from the same water as our children.  After washing laundry by hand, Liberians often toss their dirty water into the street.  Our neighbors told our moms that they do not want their dirty water in the streets.  We have had to come up with an alternative method of disposing dirty water.  

Fatu came to our mission seeking answers.  Many times, she has begged us to take Prince from her.  Rather than taking Prince, we are working hard to help Fatu see the wonderful gift God has given her.  Our team regularly visits Prince and Fatu to monitor Prince’s condition.  We have supplied rice and formula to this family since Prince was young.  Please keep Fatu in your prayers.  Her life is not easy and she still battles her culture’s beliefs.  A few months ago, while delivering supplies, I noticed Prince had a small rope tied around his waste.  I immediately knew this rope came from the country doctor (witch doctor).  When I asked Fatu why she had put the rope around Prince’s waste, she told me that at night she had been tormented by evil dreams of poisonous snakes pursuing me. The country doctor told her that Prince turned into a snake at night and was tormenting her.  The country doctor put the small rope around Prince’s waste and told her that the rope had power to protect her from Prince while she slept.  My heart broke as I began to help Fatu see that Prince was not the cause of her dreams.  I asked her if she thought the rope was more powerful than God.  I asked her to put her trust in God rather than the satanic rope.  She agreed.  We took the rope off of Prince, burned it, and prayed a simple prayer of faith that God would remove Fatu’s nightmares.  God has answered our prayers.  Since that time, Fatu’s nightmares are gone.  

Please pray for Fatu.  Please pray that she will become a passionate follower of Jesus.  Recently, we moved her closer to our church and enrolled her other child in our school.  When the time is appropriate, we stand ready to help Fatu start a small business to help her, help herself.  We are watching her, training her, and are looking for signs that she is teachable so that her business can be successful.  

Fatu’s son is one of many, many special needs children who need the church’s help!  There is so much more we could be doing to help these children but the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few.  I am praying that God would add a missionary to our team who would help oversee our special needs group homes and help us reach out to many other special needs children in our community.  Please pray for additional missionaries to be added to our team. 

Meet Philip Vahwulu:

We are pleased to announce that we have added a new staff member to our team.  Philip Vahwulu’s ministry is to oversee our child sponsorship program and to help train pastors.  Philip has worked with children and has served his local church for years.  His heart’s desire is to minister to children and to teach the Bible.  As our ministry has grown, I have found it to be nearly impossible for me to keep all our children’s sponsors updated.  One of Philip’s responsibilities is to keep you up-to-date regarding all that is going on in your children’s lives.  For those of you who sponsor children, pictures and updates are coming soon!  I praise God for adding Philip to our team!

Family Life:

New family photo.

The boys’ football team.

Our “mandate” 

Our kids like to toucher their siblings when they go on a date with Dad.  They send photos of all the good food they eat which is not available in our hometown.

Grace loves to read stories to our younger children.

Nearly everyday, you will find Grace and the kids together, enjoying a book.

One of Christians loves....

Another love...

Annie likes to go to work with Dad.  Here she is sitting next to dad, working in my office.

I married up!!!!!

We are dropping the fuel tank after discovering that our local gas station had water in their fuel. 

We recently discovered that our local gas station now carries Friendly’s Icecream.  Shhhhh!  Don’t tell the family that Christian ate icecream without them!!!!!  

Beautiful Abbie!

I love my family more than life!  God has been good to me.  Our Christmas tree is officially up!  Though the temperature remains high, its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!!!  

Prayer Requests:
1.  Please pray for the adoption of our children, Annie, Abigail, and Abraham.  We have been waiting months for one person to sign our papers so the process can move forward. 
2. Please pray that God provides the money we need to complete His Safe Haven's village for special needs orphans.
3. Please pray for my wife as she home schools all 7 of our children.
4. Please pray for our team as we are writing new lessons to train pastors.