We have moved our special needs children into their new homes:
Believe it or not, we were able to move all our foster families and all our ministry supplies in four truck loads.
One of last month’s construction goals was to complete Susan’s home. We built a one room, one bath efficiency apartment with a large porch.
The Bible Institute is located in three towns on Kokoyah Road.
We are adding onto our school:
Last Thursday, we moved all our special needs children into their new homes in His Safe Haven’s village.
We have finished the construction of 4 group homes. In the future, we plan to build 8 additional homes.
Our construction site came alive and is now full of the sounds of children playing and moms talking.
Thank you for all you have done to love on our special children. Here are a few pictures of the move.
There are no children’s car seats where we live.
We filled our land cruiser several times over while transporting our children.
We are cooking on our old coal pots while our mud brick stoves dry.
There were a lot of smiles!
Believe it or not, we were able to move all our foster families and all our ministry supplies in four truck loads.
Words cannot express the joy that we feel as dreams are becoming reality for our children. I am delighted as I see our village for special needs orphans come alive!
Thank you for buying new mattresses!
The move was not without its challenges. We are in the dry season. The day after moving, our well went dry. We have started digging a new well.
While our foster moms are getting settled in, construction continues. This month, we will focus our construction efforts on the ministry center and on completing another group home. This ministry center will have a therapy center, medical clinic, offices, and a community dinning hall.
I want to say a special thank you to Fairview Missionary Church’s children’s ministry who took up an offering to help us complete another group home. Kids, this is a picture of your home. We will begin working on your home next week. Currently we have two foster families living in each of our group homes. We want to complete as many homes as we can, as fast as we can, so each of our foster families can enjoy their own homes. I want to thank each of you for giving your pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters away! Your money really added up and is changing lives in Liberia! Thank you!
Meet Susan McLay:
Meet Susan McLay:
I want to introduce Susan McLay to you. Susan is from New Zealand. Susan served special needs children in Hope for Home’s ministry in Guatemala for 18 months prior to coming to Liberia to serve with us. Susan’s life long dream has been to run an orphanage in Rwanda. While serving in Guatemala, Susan heard about our mission and decided to join us in Liberia. Susan’s heart is to serve children and young women. We praise God for bringing Susan to Liberia. Please keep Susan in your prayers as she acclimates.
Constructing Susan’s Home:
Thank you for furnishing Susan’s home!
You gave Susan a beautiful gift! Thank You!
Mobile Medical Clinic:
Our Mobile Medical Clinic is on the road every Monday. We travel to remote towns and local orphanages.
Last month, our clinic was in two bush towns and two orphanages.
Our goals are to treat the sick, to share the Gospel, and to strengthen God’s church.
Last month, we treated 847 patients.
Forty-eight people gave their lives to Jesus.
Thank you for enabling us to treat our patient for free. Our medical ministry is one of our most fruitful ministries. The churches we work with have been greatly strengthened, many lives have been saved, and many people have given their lives to Christ through our clinics.
Bible Institute:
Most pastors in the bush have no Biblical training. Most bush churches are full of false teaching. These teachings mix demonic bush society beliefs with Bible stories. Most bush pastors do not know the Gospel's message. Our Remote Bible Institutes take Bible training to the pastors by hosting classes in their churches.
Our curriculum was written specifically for Liberia’s oral culture.
Oral cultures pass life’s lessons and history from one generation to the next through storytelling and parables.
Our curriculum makes theology and the Bible easy to understand by using pictures.
We have a full-time artist who works with us. His job is to draw pictures for everything we teach. Here is a sequence of pictures that show the aim of the Bible Institutes.
Our curriculum was written specifically for Liberia’s oral culture.
Oral cultures pass life’s lessons and history from one generation to the next through storytelling and parables.
Our curriculum makes theology and the Bible easy to understand by using pictures.
We have a full-time artist who works with us. His job is to draw pictures for everything we teach. Here is a sequence of pictures that show the aim of the Bible Institutes.
The missionary’s job is to disciple the pastors of pastors.
The pastors of pastors job is to disciple pastors.
The pastor’s job is to disciple their churches.
The Bible Institute is located in three towns on Kokoyah Road.
Thank you for sending us new recording equipment! Many people in Liberia are illiterate. Illiteracy should not disqualify someone from serving God. Our lessons are being recorded in Liberian English and Kpelle. These recordings can be distributed through micro memory chips which are placed in people’s phones. This makes it possible for the illiterate to be trained.
A missionary friend of mine is working with a few men to translate some of our lessons into Bassa. He is experimenting to see if there is benefit in using Liberian's native dialects or if writing our lessons in simple English is sufficient. Liberia is a multilingual country. There are more than 30 languages in Liberia. English is the official language.
Liberty Elementary School:
Our school exists to give impoverished children an excellent Christian education. We pray that God would enable us to equip our students to follow God and succeed in life.
Many of our students could not afford to go to school.
We have 216 students in grade levels preschool through third grade. Our goal is to add a new grade level to our school every year until we have reached the 12th grade.
Thank you for paying for every student’s uniform, shoes, P.E. clothes, school supplies, text books, medical care, tuition, and teacher’s pay.
We are creating a Scripture memory Bible:
Liberia is known as one of the most corrupt places in the world. This corruption was caused by years of extreme poverty, by civil war, and by broken families. Nearly every child in Liberia is raised by a single mom. Children are not trained to make wise decisions nor to follow Christ. The book of Proverbs is a wonderful gift for those who have no father figure in their lives. Proverbs was written from the perspective of a father as he trains his children to follow God and to be wise in every life circumstance.
Liberia is known as one of the most corrupt places in the world. This corruption was caused by years of extreme poverty, by civil war, and by broken families. Nearly every child in Liberia is raised by a single mom. Children are not trained to make wise decisions nor to follow Christ. The book of Proverbs is a wonderful gift for those who have no father figure in their lives. Proverbs was written from the perspective of a father as he trains his children to follow God and to be wise in every life circumstance.
We are creating a Scripture Memory Bible for our students. We are translating every verse in Proverbs into a picture to help our children memorize the entire book. Everyday, our students learn a new memory verse while they practice reciting old verses. A short devotional has been written which goes along with each day’s verse. Our students are also given a paper like the one in this picture to take home and memorize. What a joy it has been to hear our students speak God’s Word from memory! I praise God, this method of memorizing has been extremely effective! Please pray that the Lord will use this curriculum to help students in other schools learn God's Word as well!
2018-2019 School year is paid for:
Praise God! Last week, I was able to pay off the balance we owed for the 2018-2019 school year. On behalf of many students and parents, thank you! You are giving our students the tools they need for a better tomorrow!
We are adding onto our school:
God has truly blessed our school. We have outgrown our buildings. We are currently using the church's sanctuary, cafeteria, and even the pastor's office as classrooms. Our pastor has graciously moved his office to a storage closet to make room for our school.
We have started constructing a three story addition onto our school. The most beautiful part of this construction project is the hearts of our leaders. There is a Liberian proverb that says, "you wash my back side and I'll will wash my front side." This proverbs means that a person should do all they can do to help themselves before they ask others for help.
What I am about to tell you may seem small to you but it is huge in Liberia. Please keep in mind that a good job in Liberia makes $5 a day. Our leaders were able to raise $10,000 and have laid our school's foundation and started elevating it's walls using only Liberian dollars. I praise God for their sacrifice!
What I am about to tell you may seem small to you but it is huge in Liberia. Please keep in mind that a good job in Liberia makes $5 a day. Our leaders were able to raise $10,000 and have laid our school's foundation and started elevating it's walls using only Liberian dollars. I praise God for their sacrifice!
Our greatest needs:
I am often asked, "What is the mission's greatest needs?" Here are our greatest needs:
1. I am praying that the Lord would enable our mission to raise $22,000 to help complete the first story of our school's construction project. If we are going to add the 4th grade to our school next year, we need to complete the first story of our school before September. Our Liberian church has done all they can do to build this building. I deeply desire to encourage them, while coming alongside of them, and helping raise the remaining $22,000 that is needed to complete the first story. The cement floor for the second story will act as a roof for the first story until we need additional classrooms.
2. Next year, we project our school's enrollment to reach 270 students. It costs $75 to send a child to school for one school year. This money pays for a child's school uniform, shoes, P.E. clothes, school supplies, text books, medical care, and our teachers' salaries. I am praying that God enables us to raise $20,250 before school starts in September to pay for the 2019-2020 school year.
3. A wonderful opportunity to serve orphans has presented itself to us.
I am often asked, "What is the mission's greatest needs?" Here are our greatest needs:
1. I am praying that the Lord would enable our mission to raise $22,000 to help complete the first story of our school's construction project. If we are going to add the 4th grade to our school next year, we need to complete the first story of our school before September. Our Liberian church has done all they can do to build this building. I deeply desire to encourage them, while coming alongside of them, and helping raise the remaining $22,000 that is needed to complete the first story. The cement floor for the second story will act as a roof for the first story until we need additional classrooms.
2. Next year, we project our school's enrollment to reach 270 students. It costs $75 to send a child to school for one school year. This money pays for a child's school uniform, shoes, P.E. clothes, school supplies, text books, medical care, and our teachers' salaries. I am praying that God enables us to raise $20,250 before school starts in September to pay for the 2019-2020 school year.
3. A wonderful opportunity to serve orphans has presented itself to us.
This house and its land are for sale.
The home is located directly next to our church. I am praying that we can purchase this property and give it to our church. If we are able do this, we will partner with our church in opening two group homes for orphans. These children would literally be raised in the church.
Believe it or not, it costs only $3,000 to purchase this land and to do minor renovations.
4. We need to complete 3 additional group homes for our special needs orphans as soon as possible. We currently have two foster families living in each of our group homes. Money has already been raised to complete one group home. A second group home is already under roof. It will cost around $3,000 to complete the second group home. The foundation for the third group home has been laid. The cost of its construction will be around $5,000.
5. We need to complete the construction of our village's ministry center. This building will be a great blessing to our community. Within this building will be a medical clinic, therapy center, offices, and dinning hall. We need approximately $5,000 to complete its construction.
Other than our daily operational expenses, these are our mission's greatest needs. If you are interested in giving towards any of these needs, please send your donation to Hope For Home Ministries, P.O. Box 393, Troy, Ohio, 45373. Please write "Liberia" on the memo line and the name of the need you want to help meet. You can also donate online at liberiacalls.blogspot.com.
Prayer Request:
1. Please pray for our family as we are going through the process of getting visas for our three new children to travel with us to the States for a visit. We are hoping to visit the States this summer. The process has been very slow. We are beginning to wonder if we will have to wait until this fall to travel.
2. Please pray for our various ministries (Bible Institute, Mobile Medical Ministry, Liberty School, Group Homes, and Sponsorship program). Please pray that we will see people coming to Christ and discipled in their faith.
3. Please pray for Susan as she acclimates to Liberia.
4. Please pray for my wife as she home schools all 7 of our children.
Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel and for you faithful prayers!
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