Mission Update: 7-21-20

Using Art to Reach the Illiterate:

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Imagine what your life would be like if your house had nothing in it that contained writing.  There would be no books, no Bibles, no magazines, no text messaging...  Take a journey with me into Liberia’s bush.  As you look around, you will see something strangely missing in nearly every town we enter.  There are very few written words.  Now, walk with me into a typical mud brick house and look around.  There are no books and there is nothing written down.  Liberia is an oral society.  This means that life’s lessons and history are passed from one generation to another through storytelling rather than through a written means.

 

Life in an oral society is quite different than life in a written society.  For example, there are no recipe books in the bush.  If you want to learn to cook, you have to spend time cooking alongside of someone while memorizing their recipes.  If you want to learn a craft like carpentry, there are no books to read, you learn through observation and instruction.  In Liberia’s bush, books are almost worthless because most people cannot read and if they can read, their reading is so poor that they have very little comprehension.  While it is true, Liberians are becoming more and more literate, even among the literate, orality is so engrained in them that they learn differently than we do in America.  

When I became a missionary, I quickly learned that I had to change to become like my Liberian friends if I was going to be fruitful.  I had to learn to teach in the way this society learns.  I found my solution in a Liberian art gallery where I met an artist named Prince Kolley.  

I asked Prince to help me paint pictures for the first 8 chapters of the book of Romans.  God changed Prince’s life and our ministry while Prince painted.  Prince gave his life to Jesus, was reunited with his wife and son, and became a leader in our church while painting Scripture.  Our mission used Prince’s art to teach Romans to the illiterate.  The results were shocking.  By the end of our teaching, hundreds of Liberians were retelling the message of Romans by memory using only Prince’s pictures.  Now, our mission uses pictures in every lesson we teach.

One of the strengths of an oral society is their ability to memorize.  Last year, we sought to capitalize on this strength with another experiment.  We started drawing pictures for every verse in the book of Proverbs.  Our goal was to see if it was possible for illiterate people to memorize the Bible word for word, chapter by chapter, book by book.  While we are at the beginning of this project, the results are equally encouraging.  Over a hundred children from our elementary schools and many others have started memorizing Proverbs.  Even a year after memorizing parts of Proverbs, people are still able to quote the Scriptures word for word using only Prince’s pictures.  During the 2020-2021 school year, we plan to use this curriculum in all our schools.  

COVID-19 Lockdown:

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Last week, we completed the construction of a quarantine house at His Safe Haven Village.  On March 16, the COVID-19 virus officially entered Liberia.  At that time, our moms voluntarily quarantined themselves with our special needs children inside of His Safe Haven’s fence.  While we truly appreciate their love and dedication for our children, we knew their sacrifice was not sustainable.  Last week, 3 of our moms left the village for two weeks of vacation.  When they return, they will be quarantined for two weeks before reentering the village.  

Baby Devine: Written by Suzan McLay

I want to share with you a story of a little boy named Devine. The world will not remember Devine. There will be no monuments marking his life. He was not royal in earthly standards nor was he famous. No, Devine was just a baby. He had 16 days on the earth before the Lord called him home.

From his conception, Devine was unwanted and unloved. When Devine’s father heard about the pregnancy, he made Devine’s mother leave the house. Homeless and alone, Devine’s mother tried to abort Devine, but Devine clung to life! He continued to grow as God prepared him for the world. When Devine was born on June 19, 2020, his arms were slightly deformed, both arms were broken and his legs were permanently wrapped around his body, like he was giving himself a hug. His mother refused to look at him or take care of him. Yet still God was looking after him. A nurse at the hospital where he was born offered to care for him until a home could be found. 

Little Devine was brought to the His Safe Haven’s Family on June 25, 2020. Oh there was a huge celebration for him! The Mum’s were singing and dancing and praising the Lord for another blessing He had given them.

Devine was dearly loved at His Safe Haven. He was cared for and he had found home. Then on July 1, 2020, Devine came down with a sickness and was rushed to the hospital. Due to the COVID-19 crisis there are many police checkpoints to cross on our 3 hour car drive. God was watching out for him then too! He allowed safe passing through all the checkpoints.  When we reached the main checkpoint, it was almost as if the car was invisible! The gate was up and no guards took any notice of our vehicle passing through! 

When Devine reached the hospital he was taken for x-rays where it was determined he had an obstructed bowel and pneumonia. Being too weak and fragile for the needed surgery, he was started on antibiotics and oxygen to try to make him strong enough for surgery. During Devine’s time in the hospital, a lot of people came to pray. Word had spread about the little miracle boy who was loved in a country that disregards, throws away and kills children with special needs. A nurse from his birth came to pray with him, his neighbours on the ward prayed with him. A doctor stopped to pray with him.

One could question if God heard our prayers because Devine’s health continued to decline. He was never strong enough for the surgery. Devine passed into the arms of Jesus on July 6, 2020.  We prayed for Devine’s healing and the Lord healing came, just not here on this earth. Devine was small but he has left a big hole in the hearts of those who knew and loved him.

Home for the Deaf: Written by Don Riley

Three days ago, His safe Haven’s leadership met to discuss another child in need.  His story was gut wrenching.  A mother in the bush decided that her 5 year old son no longer deserved to live.  She carried him to the river, stripped him naked and was about to throw him in when someone noticed her.  When asked what she was doing, she said that she was going to destroy her son.  The boy was carried back to his extremely poor grandmother.  The grandmother took the boy, though she did not want him and could not afford to feed him.  There he sat suffering until one of our physician assistants learned about his condition.  As you know, the Deaf are heavy on our family’s hearts.  You can imagine how repulsed we felt when we learned that the mom wanted to kill her son simply because he was born deaf.  Our mission is in the process of making this precious boy our son!  Please pray that we will be able to rescue this child

Mission Update 3-31-20

THE COVID 19 VIRUS IS IN LIBERIA:
The Covid 19 virus is now in Liberia.  Due to government restrictions, our lives have drastically slowed down.  I will share more about this in an upcoming post.  Our family has been studying 1 Corinthians 13 during our family devotions.  The verse that stuck out the most to me was verse 7.  It says that love “always hopes.”  What does it mean to always hope?  Hope sees the best in another person and in life’s circumstances.  For example, my love for my wife should make me see the best in her and believe the best in her intentions.  In the same way that love is a choice, I believe hope is also a choice.  During times of crisis, we must choose to hope.  We choose to see the best in our circumstances because we know that God is in control!  Faith and hope go hand in hand.

If you are reading this update while sick, please know that many people are praying for you.  Here is a picture our artist painted to encourage Liberians to put their hope in Jesus while sick.  I pray that it encourages you as well!  

JOHN’S FASCINATION WITH JESUS!
John is one of our special needs children at His Safe Haven Village.  Several times each day, John visits this mural of Jesus.  Watch John interact with Jesus!  Let us be like John.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus! 

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Romans 5:3-5 

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Matthew 6:25-33 

“25Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTNERSHIP IN THE GOSPEL!

Email:

don@hopeforhome.org

Blog:

liberiacalls.blogspot.com

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/c/liberiacalls2U

Video Mission Update 3-18-20

ONE WEEK IN LIBERIA:

Last week, we had a team visit us from the States.  It is amazing to see what God can do through four people in just one week. 

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Mission Update 11-6-19

“I don’t have time for her any more.”  “I’m tired.”  “I no longer want him.”  “If you don’t take him, I will destroy him.”  “I want to go to school, this child is keeping me from my goals.”  “There is no one who will care for him.”  “I stopped feeding him more than a week ago.”  “Please take this girl.”  These are just a few of the words that I heard over the past several weeks as parents, grandparents, and the police brought several special needs children to us and pleaded for us to take them.  

Joash’s family threatened to kill him on the way to the police station.  They are surrendering their rights to Joash in this picture.  

5 additional families came to us in a similar situation.  Praise God we were able to rescue all 6 children. 

One of our goals at His Safe Haven’s Village is to help parents be successful at raising their own special needs children.  We do not believe the solution for every child is our group homes.  As I meet with parents, I try hard to persuade them to love and keep their children. I often share my testimony of how my special needs brother, Michael, changed my life.  I often quote Scriptures about being created in the image of God and about being knit together in our mother’s womb.  I tell parents that God does not make mistakes therefore their children are not mistakes.  I try hard to convince parents that their children are not broken.  They are not a demon, a snake, a devil nor the result of sin.  I speak!  I pray!  I speak more!  I pray more!  The result is almost always the same.  If we do not intervene, children suffer and are starved.  These children are not broken!  We are the ones who are broken!  

There is a fine line I walk when I counsel parents.  While trying to persuade parents to keep their children I have to discern if the child’s life is in danger.  Last month, two special needs children were drowned in our county and 5 children were brought to us who were in the process of being starved to death.  My heart breaks!  A few weeks ago, I became infuriated as I counseled two families whom I learned were in the process of starving their children to death.  I told them, “If you lock your child in a room and allow her to starve to death, you are guilty of murder!  While the world around you may think you are doing something good, you will answer to God someday for your actions!  What will you tell God when He asks you why you murdered your daughter?”  I praise God, both of these children are now my children!  They are safe in our group homes!  

Sometimes, parents say some of the most hurtful things in front of their special needs children, knowing full well that their children understand everything they are saying.  The tragic impact on their children is beyond words!  About 2 months ago, we rescued Joash.  He was also in the process of being starved to death.  He was completely aware of his parents words and actions.  He has been grieving deeply since we received him.  It is like he has no will to survive.  We have to force him to live.  Please pray that God heals his heart!  

His Safe Haven Village

Please keep His Safe Haven group homes in your prayers.  We have built 5 group homes, a community kitchen and a medical clinic.  Our 6th group home, dinning hall and therapy center are nearly completed.  

6th Group Home

Therapy Center, Dinning Hall, and Clinic

Sadly, our 6th group homes is already full even though it is still under construction.  Please pray that we can construct 4 more group homes soon and that we will be able to find sponsors for all of our children.  

I want you to meet all 25 of our precious sons and daughters.   

Hannah

Faith

Angel

William

Joash

Georgia

Zoe

Eric

Sylvestor

Gracie

Due

Junior

Surprise

Barry

Patience

Pappi

John

Emanuel

Charlotte

Garmin

David

Grace

Emanuel

Prince

Hawa

If you are interested in sponsoring any of our children, let me know.  We are looking for sponsors for all the children whose names are written in red.  Sponsorship for special needs children costs $100 a month.  This cost can be divided between multiple people to bring the cost down.  My email address is don@hopeforhome.com .

Other News:

There is a lot going on in every area of our ministry.  

Our medical ministry and dental ministry is growing.  Last month, we hired a new Physician Assistant to oversee the medical needs of our sponsored children in Denta.  We now have 3 Physician Assistants on our staff.

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel!

Click Here

To see how you can get involved.  

http://liberiacalls.blogspot.com/p/get-involved_25.html

Blog: liberiacalls.blogspot.com

Email: don@hopeforhome.org

Mission Update 5-8-19

No one knew her name:

Written by Susan McLay:
She had the prettiest dress on.  The top half was a deep red velvet, the bottom half was a silky white, and flowers were scattered around.  The bow was coming undone.  She had a raging fever.  She was so weak.  She came and sat on my lap which surprised me because many children her age are afraid of my white skin.  She vomited and was too sick to even cry.  She just put her arms around my neck and fell asleep.  As I held her I realized I didn’t even know her name.  But it soon became apparent that no one knew her name.  No one seemed to care much about her.  So I just held her.

My darling new friend - does anyone love you?  Does anyone care about you?  Who kisses your booboos?  Who makes sure you get enough to eat?  Who reads you a bedtime story?

On Monday, this sick little girl, from an orphanage we visited, heard the gospel message.  I pray she won't forget what she heard.  She had someone care about her.  May she remember that and pass it on to someone else one day.

You see, to us she wasn't just another orphan.  She wasn't just another statistic.  To us, she is a precious little girl, a girl whom God loves so much!  This world may never care who she is, but GOD does and because God cares, we care.  That why we have a medical clinic.

Last month, we treated 606 poeple at our mobile medical clinics:

Luke 9:6 describes Jesus’s ministry this way, “And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”  Our mobile medical clinics seek to model Jesus’s ministry by preaching the gospel in remote towns and villages where there is little access to medicine and by treating the sick.  Every Monday, our medical team is out serving the sick.  Last month, we were in two bush towns and two orphanages.  We treated 606 patients.  51 people gave their lives to Jesus.  Here are a few pictures from last month's clinics. 

This patient is being registered while having her vitals taken.  Our medical charts keep each patient's medical history and a record of their spiritual growth.  

Susan (on the left) is one of our Physician Assistants.

Every patient meets with a pastor to have their spiritual needs met.

This picture was taken from Falita Orphanage.  Our medical team treats every child in every orphanage in our area.

She did not want to stand on the scale....

Peter is testing this child for malaria.

Thank you for buying all our medicines.  You enable us to take the gospel and medical care to those who need it most.  From start to finish, our clinics are free for all our patients. 

Two new children and one new foster mom:

God is doing great things at His Safe Haven's village for special needs orphans.   We are excited to announce that the Lord has added two precious children to our group home family and one new foster mom.  I praise God for all He is doing!

Ongoing construction at His Safe Haven's Village:

Last month, we moved all our special needs children to their new homes at His Save Haven's village.  Our construction sight was transformed by the sounds of laughing children and talking adults.  Now, during the day, half of our village is busy ministering to the needs of special needs children while the other half is under construction.  At this point in time, we have completed 4 group homes and a community kitchen.  

The construction of 3 additional group homes and the ministry center are ongoing.

We hope to complete this group home by the end of May.

This is a picture of our ministry center.  It’s large screened in porch will contain a therapy center and an indoor playground.  If you look at the exterior wall, the two windows closest to the porch are part of the dinning hall.  The last window is part of the medical clinic.  Our sponsored children, children from our school, our special needs children and people from the community around us will be treated in this clinic.  

All the door frames for the ministry center have been installed.

All the windows have been installed.  This is a picture of the dinning hall. 

The dinning hall will have cathedral ceilings.  These men are adding gabble walls so we can begin installing the ceilings. 

Ceiling joists have been installed in the medical clinic, hallway, bathrooms, and office.

Inside the clinic.

This well was dug next to our kitchen and ministry center.

24 of these coverts were molded for the well.

These men are lowering the coverts into the well.

Our new well is very deep and has an abundant supply of clean drinking water.  Thank you for our new well!

My prayer is that we will be able to complete the construction of our special needs village before our family visits the States this summer.  Thank you for building beautiful homes for all our special children!

The mother wanted to kill him at birth:

Written by Philip, Sponsorship Director:
Names have been changed to protect the identity of children.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female, he created them.” 

(Genesis 1:27)

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” 

(Genesis 1:31)

These verses came to my mind as I distributed supplies to baby Flomo’s house this week.  Let me tell you a little about Baby Flomo’s life.  Baby Flomo’s mother wanted the doctor to killed him in the delivery room after she noticed that his hands were not correct.  We praise God for the physician assistant who saved his life.  After recovering from giving birth, Baby Flomo’s birth mother walked out of the hospital, leaving her son behind.  The same physician assistant who saved Baby Flomo’s life came to his rescue again by taking him home.  Though Baby Flomo’s new mother is a physician assistant, she found it difficult to provide for his daily needs.  This is where our mission got involved.  Through the grace of God, this child is now being supported by a sponsor from America.  Baby Flomo is gradually putting on weight and is healthy.  

Every man, woman, and child has been made in the image of God.  I am so grateful to God for such an amazing work He's doing in the lives of orphans and disabled children through your financial support.  Thank you and may God bless you all!

Scripture Memory Bible:

We want to be experts in helping people memorize the Bible.  With Liberia’s high illiteracy rate and rampant corruption, we believe one of the most fruitful things we can do is help people hide the Word of God in their hearts.  God’s Word never returns void (Isaiah 55:11).  

So what is a Scripture Memory Bible?  There are many methods people have used over the years to help them memorize large portions of Scripture.  These methods focus on using a person’s senses to help them memorize.  Seeing, hearing, speaking, and writing the Bible are the keys that unlock Bible memory.  

Since writing is not an effective tool in our illiterate / barely literate culture, we are creating a tool to help people see the Word of God using pictures while they practice saying the Scripture by memory.  They can also listen to the Bible using audio recordings that are distributed on mobile devices.  Wouldn’t it be exciting if children were able to recite entire chapters or even books of the Bible by memory?  Can you imagine how beautiful it would be to see illiterate old ma’s and old pa’s, deep in the bush, quoting the Scriptures?  This is our dream.

So, does it work?  Praise God, it is working.  Last month, we took Proverbs 2 into our elementary School for a trial.  Students were taught one verse a day, using a simple lesson plan that we created.  

One month later, our students are running around their neighborhoods quoting all of Proverbs 2 by memory.  Some students have even taken the material and started training other children in their neighborhoods.  Last week, we introduced the material to several pastors and encouraged them to begin using it in their churches.  The initial results are very encouraging.  

Psalms 119:11 says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” 

Rainbow Around the Sun:

Last Saturday, while visiting the group homes with my boys, Melanie called and told us to look up at the sky.  To our amazement, we saw a spectacular rainbow circling the sun. We quickly informed all the construction workers and our group home residence.  Everyone stood outside staring at the sky in amazement.  

Our awe filled silence was occasionally broken by someone saying words like "wow," "amazing," and "God is awesome."

After returning home, I did a little research and learned that these spectacular rainbows are caused by a thin cirrus clouds at altitudes above 20,000 feet.  These clouds are made mostly of ice crystals which refract the sun's light like a prism.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day it pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world" (Psalm 19:1-4 ESV).  

Look up!  God is still on His throne!  The heavens will remind you of His glory and power.

The Remote Bible Institute:

This month, three of our Remote Bible Institute classes will be taking their final exams on the book of Romans. These classes are located in bush towns.  Last month, we also worked in partnership with a missionary friend to train Pastors in our home town.  Please pray for our students as they begin taking the material they have learned and begin teaching it in their churches.  

Fairview Missionary Children’s Church Project:

This part of my blog was written to the children at Fairview Missionary Church who raised money to help us build a group home for special needs orphans.  Thank you!

Hey Kids, check out the work that was done at your house last week!

Last week, we added plaster to your walls.  

Our plaster is made from a mixture of sand and cement.

After plastering your walls, these men installed your ceilings.  We use 4’x8’ ceiling tiles.  There is no need for insulation in our ceilings since our temperatures stay hot all year long.  

After the ceiling tiles were hung, we used these wood strips to secure the ceilings.

Here is a picture of your front porch.  We built large front porches so our children could enjoy the outdoors during rainy season.  We have just two seasons in Liberia.  Our rainy season lasts 6 months and our dry season lasts another 6 months.  

This is a picture of your living room.

This is a picture of a bedroom.  Our group homes have 3 bedrooms.  The first bedroom is for girls.  The second bedroom is for boys.  The last bedroom is for the foster mom who takes care of the children.  Many of our foster moms are widows.  Our mission desires to take care of widows and orphans.  These moms work hard throughout the day, taking care of all of our special needs children.

What would you do if you saw this little guy in your house?  These lizards are quite harmless.  As a matter of fact, we like having them in our houses because they eat mosquitos and other bugs.  Our mosquitos carry a terrible disease called Malaria.  Malaria is one of the greatest killers in Liberia.  We have a new missionary from New Zealand who recently joined our team.  Believe it or not, she names all the lizzards in her house.  She has a 3 legged lizard that lives in her bathroom and another lizard that lives in her living room.

It won't be long before a foster mom and all her children will move into your home.  Thank you again for building this home for our special needs children!  You are truly making a difference in their lives!

Prayer Requests:
1.  Please pray that doors will be opened for our family to make an extended visit to the States this summer.  Please pray that we will be successful at getting visas for our three newly adopted children. 
2.  Please pray that we will be able to complete a number of projects we are working on before visiting the States.  
3.  Please pray for my wife as she home schools all 7 of our children.