Silembe Update | 11 June 2008

This was an update received earlier today from our team in Zambia. Huge progress has been made since our visit to Silembe in March, and we now have 3 homes which roofs on. There are 11 children living in the 1st home, 4 children in queue to live in the second home, and the roof and floor was just recently completed in the 3rd home.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. God is good. Enjoy.........

Hey Scott, -The floor was poured yesterday. They knocked off after 21 hours. This morning they did a little touch up work.


Putting the finishing touches on the outside of the windows. No window glass will be installed until I return. Old sacks will be tied to window frames to keep people from seeing inside.


Kathy is doing some Zambian style landscaping.


Garden taps are installed on both sides of the sinks with cold on the right and hot on the left. This will provide ample 'gray' water for our yet to be established garden.


Hot water is available from either side of the bath house through water hoses. I'll probably make shower mixers out cpvc pipe & valves when I return. It will be just like home!


The 2nd bunk bed is almost ready. The 1st needs sanding before it goes into the house.


I thought you would be able to see the fire, but I didn't get the right lighting. Hot water feels good these days, with the temperatures dropping; June and July are the coldest months of the year in Zambia.


The "fire doors" were straighten up after these pictures. When I get back I'll make a few corrections, but they are doing the job. (This is our kitchen-laundry facility)


You can see the 3 houses and the bath house. I wanted to show the bricks already on site for the 3rd house interior walls and the septic tank, but only a few of them got into the picture.

God Bless, from Mike & Team

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Please be praying for Mike and Linda as they depart Zambia on Saturday for the States. The next several months will be a time of building up their ministry support in the U.S., visiting with friends and family, sharing their experience of Africa with the people of the U.S., and visiting their newest grand-baby.

Let's be prayerful that their time here will be productive, and restful as they encourage others. Lord, allow their time here to be a season of regeneration for their return to Zambia in September.

Amen!

Rwanda: Government Study Reveals More Than 800.000 Orphans

Rwanda News Agency/Agence
Rwandaise d'Information (Kigali)
10 June 2008
Posted to the web 10 June 2008

Kigali

Rwanda has some 825.000 orphans with 22 percent experiencing grave challenges that it will need coordinated and streamlined intervention to support them, a Ministry of Gender and Family Affairs study says.

From a total population in the country of more than 9 million, children make up some 3.4 million, the study - the first of its kind on the issue indicates.

Read More........

New schools for orphans

Bongani Mthembu
June 09 2008 at 11:14AM

The provincial department of education plans to build new boarding schools and to reopen those closed down since 1994 to accommodate thousands of KwaZulu-Natal's orphaned learners who are now in charge of their homes.

The department is concerned about the growing number of child-headed households in this province, which is about to reach 20 000.

Read More..........

Croc donations will help Congo orphans

Published Wednesday June 11th, 2008
Rubber shoes protect kids from parasites

You could say the students of Tobique Valley Middle High School have been saving soles. They collected 411 pairs of brightly-coloured rubber shoes so that children that usually go barefoot in Africa won’t be plagued by worms, sand fleas and other parasites that enter through their feet.

The “Crocs for Tots” campaign was held in support of PROLASA, a non-profit organization that provides homes, medical care and education for orphaned children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. Dr.

Read More........

Silembe, Zambia | HOFO Update 6 June 08

We heard from you team in Zambia last last week with this update:

Roof should be on the 3rd house today, and we will be picking up 2 more bunk beds tomorrow in Livingstone.

Concrete floor for the 3rd house is scheduled to be poured Monday.




Jo Anne will be moving (renting) into her own place in Kalomo (when not in Silembe).

While we are in the States we will be raising support for many things. I'm sure I'll find myself telling some of your story many times. It is powerful! I've spent over 14 years straightening used tin and bent nails, always finding a way to do what God had shown me, while scraping for money. God has given you a gift. Your gift has enabled me to see literally thousands more saved, thousands more healed, thousands more delivered, this year than would have been possible had I been forced to work harder (and taking much longer) to overcome the lack of money. I pray the Lord increase your gift, and give you the things money can not buy.


Our daughter, Jamie, just informed us through web cam, grandchild number 8 is on the way!

God Bless, Mike and Team

Anchorage nurse runs orphanage in Ethiopia

By SARAH HENNING
(Published June 04, 2008)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — When Chaltu Degefa's parents died, she and her siblings became seven of Ethiopia's estimated 4.6 million orphans. It's likely her parents died of AIDS, although she doesn't know for sure.

"We had to go and sleep on the streets," the girl wrote in a letter. "I don't know how long we lived on the street but we were still hunger and I was scared a lot."

Read More.........

Hunger worries orphans and caretakers

Wednesday, 4th June, 2008

HUNGER is the biggest worry among children who have lost parents to HIV as well as their guardians, according to an adviser, reports Anthony Bugembe.

Penninah Kyoyagala, the national HIV/AIDS advisor of the Christian Children’s Fund-Uganda, was yesterday presenting a study on the situation of orphans and vulnerable children during the HIV/AIDS implementers meeting in Kampala.

The study conducted in Lira, Kamuli, Kitgum and Soroti districts showed that 41% of respondents did not have a meal for a day in the last 12 months.

Read More.......

Silembe, Zambia | Update 30 May 08

We are very busy with things at WOR. Please keep the ministry in your prayers as we are going through a name change in the very near future. We are looking for God's guidance. A recent update from our team in Zambia:

Hey Scott, we are very busy here in Silembe with the roof going on the 3rd home at House of Faith Orphanage.

Roof will probably be done on Monday. Golden is confident the house will be secured with slab poured before we leave.

Got 2 more loads of rocks today. We have some ladies sorting and grading the rock.

Jo Anne will pickup 4 children when we open this house (the second home is pictured below). She has been waiting for a bed for the house mother. Golden's 1st bed is ready except for some sanding.

I learned from the council members, Chief Nyawa says we are the only people in his area seriously working. He has asked for a grand opening and is ready to attend. I don't think we can do it until I return. (We did a dedication during our team's visit in March 2008)

I will haul more rocks tomorrow and work on a number of things, after going to the bank and picking up the "fire doors" for the kitchen. Between Silembe and sorting out some security issues in Kalomo, we have a tight schedule. I'll work on the ledger tonight, and get things tidied up for your departure later this month. Hopefully, the lights will come back on soon...........

God Bless, from Mike & WOR Zambia Team

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Mike and Linda Jones will be leaving for the States later this month, and will return to Zambia in early September -when we plan on starting our 2nd project in Kasama, Zambia.

We currently have 11 children living at the House of Faith Orphanage, of which, 2 are currently sponsored. Please contact our office if you'd like to sponsor one of these children.

Is Adoption Really a Christian Duty?

By Charlene Israel
CBN News
May 30, 2008

CBNNews.com - The Bible tells us to care for the orphans and that task grows tougher each year. Right now, there are an estimated 140 million orphans worldwide. How can we stem this tide? A group of Christian organizations and churches are working together to find the answer.

Images of children singing and dancing with joyful hearts are not usually associated with orphans. But that is just one focus of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, a group working to heighten awareness and motivate Christians to care for orphans.

Read More........

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I have no doubt that as a believer in Christ we must somehow serve these children -the Orphans. The word is pretty specific in that it refers to the care of the kids as 'pure religion'.

Beyond specific instructions given to us, how could a believer not feel that they should somehow be involved in the care of Orphans?

I don't believe that adoption of all these children is the solution, though I believe both the child and the family benefits through this process.

My family is currently in the process of adopting and sometimes it seems like it will never actually happen.....! What puzzles me most about the adoption community, those that have adopted or are called to adopt, is their lack of passion in serving Orphans. This is a generalization, and not all adopting families demonstrate this lack of compassion, but for many adoption is the solution, and is in their personal interest.

According to UNICEF, in 2005, there were 132 million Orphans. Let me illustrate the challenge for you. There are approximately 120 million households in the U.S. With that being the case, if every family (or household) in this country adopted just one child, there would be 12 million children remaining. Now you might say that this is significant progress, and it would be, however, it is not a solution to the problem, nor is it practical or realistic.

The Christian community must treat the symptoms that cause these children to be without homes, without parental care, while continuing to encourage the opportunities of adoption. There are homes to built, communities to be encouraged, and peoples lives to be changed. Yes, I firmly believe that a 'whole-man' approach must be taken to best serve these children; His children.

Blessings, Scott Nordstrom of WOR

Burma cyclone aid agencies make plea for orphans

Ian MacKinnon, south-east Asia correspondent
guardian.co.uk,
Friday May 30 2008
Article history

International relief agencies bringing aid to the survivors of cyclone Nargis are calling on the Burmese regime not to build orphanages for children whose parents were killed.

As many as 2,000 children in the Irrawaddy delta may have been orphaned by the cyclone four weeks ago. Relief workers say the regime's plan to build at least six orphanages is the wrong way to meet their needs.

Read More........

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We have been blessed in the past to contribute to the effort to serve Orphans in Myanmar through a like-minded organization called Orphan's Hope. Please visit their website for more information about their work there.