Hearts for Africa

Final Well Project

2012-01-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

The remaining balance of funds was used for our third and final well project. This time the location of the well is at Transit in Margibi County, not too far from where Chris lives. (This area was once used to host all returning Liberians from refugee camps around Africa, hence the name Transit.)

The beginning stages of the well digging...

... and the completed project!

Thank you to all for your generous donations to make this happen; know that you have truly blessed so many in need, changing their lives forever! May God continue to bless you as you follow His command in helping those in need all around us.

I can't help but think if two regular moms from Chilliwack and Abbotsford have been able to make such a difference in the lives of many impoverished people on the other side of the world by following the prompting of the Holy Spirit, imagine what could be done if we all did our part...

We want to leave you with this final picture, taken in Ghana during Jackie and Marsha's very first trip there in 2006, which says it all:

"Praise God from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him all creatures here below; Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!"

Chris ~ final update December 2011

2011-12-30T19:04:00.001-08:00

This is Chris, our faithful and honest worker, servant of God in his home country of Liberia. He has two twin daughters, Ellen and Helen. He also has some other relatives living with him at this time.

Marsha and Jackie first met Chris at the Buduburam Refugee Camp near Accra, Ghana in 2006. He was a guy that always stood in the back when Jackie and Marsha were handing out things to other people and never asked for anything for himself. When Jackie and Marsha asked him to help them with some of Hearts for Africa's work in Ghana, he humbly accepted. He was faithful and accountable for every dollar we sent to Ghana. In 2009, we moved him and his girls back to Liberia, where he faithfully continued to work on numerous projects for us.

God has graciously blessed Chris's faithfulness by providing him with his own land, house and transportation in Monrovia.

As a result of a generous donor, Chris was given funds to build his own home on a piece of property that was purchased for him in the county of Duazon Town, on the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia. This is a recent picture of him with his nearly completed home.

Here he will also grow his business of making bricks, which will enable him to provide for his family and for those in need around him.

Hearts for Africa purchased this small motorbike for him so that he was able to do the work required of him around the different Liberian districts near Monrovia.

We feel so blessed that God led us to work with Chris. Even though our work in Africa has now come to an end, he knows that we will always hold him dear to our hearts and we will continue to have a friendship with him. He is our brother in the Lord and we will be together one day in eternity! Until then, we have let him know that we are always here if he ends up in a bad situation and we will continue to be in communication with him.

We want to leave Chris and his family with God's blessing:

"The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. ~ Numbers 6:24-26

Leah and Jassie ~ family updates

2011-12-30T18:15:00.001-08:00

You may remember when Marsha and Jackie went on their last trip to Liberia, Chris brought them to the poorest family he knew of in his village. They had to trek through the bush to find the Korlubah home that was far below any adequate standard of living. Our animals in North America have better living conditions than this family and many other people living in Liberia. This is the picture of the Korlubah's when we first met them in their jungle home.

Since meeting Leah and her two young children, HFA found a new place for her to live closer to town so that she can have her own business and provide for her family.

Here is a picture of Leah Korlubah with her two children, Hannah and Aaron, in front of their new house:

Every day life for them is a struggle, but we pray that we have made at least a small difference in their lives and continue to pray that our Heavenly Father will keep His loving arms around them!

Here is a picture of Hannah and Aaron Korlubah at their school, which was made possible through our sponsorship program. This is Aaron's first time ever going to a grade school. With our remaining funds, we were able to enroll them in to one more term of school; we pray that Leah's business will prosper enough so that these children may continue to receive an education.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jassie was our faithful ground worker at the Buduburam Camp in Ghana right up until we finished our work there earlier this year. We relocated her to Liberia (where she is originally from) and set her up in a business of her own once she got there.

Here is a picture of Jassie with one of her children in front of her new home near Monrovia, Liberia.

Three of these children are Jassie's and the others are relatives of the uncle she is renting a room from.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And now, as 2011 comes to a close, it is indeed with sad and burdened hearts that we will be parting ways with these precious families. Hearts for Africa wishes to sincerely thank all of those who have followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and given so generously to help just a few of the people who live in such desperate situations in West Africa. While our hearts will always hold a huge place for Africa, we now leave them entirely to the care of our Heavenly Father. Please remember these and the souls of so many others who so desperately need the work of God's Holy Spirit in their lives!

Christmas Blessings to Liberian Widows ~ December 2011

2011-12-30T17:42:00.001-08:00

As in previous years, Hearts for Africa chose to disperse the remaining funds in our account (that had been donated by our generous supporters) to help several widows in Chris's village this Christmas.
We were able to help out these five needy families. Each of them received various items such as mattresses, dishes, clothes, food and whatever other item(s) that Chris thought was urgently needed.

This is Nyamah Kollie. She is a 78 year old Kpelle woman who was forced out of her village in Bong County in 1999 as a result of the civil war. She had been living with a friend's daughter in Duazon Town, which is Chris's village. This friend, with whom Nyamah did everything together, recently died this past August, leaving Nyamah with her friend's children and her own grandchildren who were left to her after her last daughter's death last year.

This is Neallay Sayway. She lives in Duason Town, near Chris. She lives in a hut that has no sleeping arrangements and is therefore forced to sleep outdoors. Her husband and two sons were all killed in a motor vehicle accident in 1999. She is left to take care of this little boy.

This is Lesaymu Flayu. She is a 45 year old Bassa woman who was left to raise their four children on her own when her husband died in 2001. Since then, she has been frequently raped and as a result she is now raising nine children with different fathers. No man will marry her now with so many children to care for.

This is Zean Kpasea. She is a 55 year old Bassa woman. All of her belongings that she had worked for were lost in a house fire in 1992 and her husband died in 2000. She is raising six children and is mainly living only to find food for herself and her dependents.

This is Tumu Kpana. Unfortunately, Chris did not send much information about this family by the time we posted this.

Here is Tumu with the items that HFA bought for her.

We know that what we have been able to provide for these precious families is so little compared to the luxuries we enjoy in North America on a daily basis, but we trust that our efforts will not have been in vain and that God Himself will bless our endeavours to help the "least of these" ...

We can only imagine the joy they are now experiencing from these little gifts that our generous donors have freely given to them! Thank you and may you also be blessed through your giving.

New well project is finally complete...

2011-08-24T21:19:00.001-07:00

This well project got started in July from the funds raised at our last fundraiser. It has now been completed and here are some pictures of the project. We once again give all glory and honour to our gracious Heavenly Father for ALL that He has done to provide these people with desperately needed fresh drinking water!

The culverts arrive.

Rolling the culverts to the construction site.

The project is underway.

A look inside ... we have water!

After testing several areas, it turned out the best location was on Chris's property. Here he is beside the well construction site.

Nearing completion!

And .... they have fresh running water!!

The completed project.

Plaque made for the well site ... our ultimate purpose for this project is that they will find Everlasting Water through our Saviour!

Fundraiser June 17 & 18, 2011

2011-06-19T20:52:00.001-07:00

This past Friday and Saturday, the teams with other volunteers spent their days at Hofstede's Country Barn in Chilliwack selling Dutch goods, with all proceeds going to Hearts for Africa. Here are some pictures of the event:

I wonder ....

2011-05-23T19:29:00.001-07:00

How many times have we stood in line at a grocery store, hearing people complain about waiting too long in line?

How must God feel when we grumble about not having anything to wear...

... and then stand in front of the mirror and whine that our "shoes don't match our outfit".

... when we open the refrigerator door and sigh that "there is nothing good to eat"...

... and we feel sorry for ourself that the economy is bad and we have to "cut back".

We grumble that our houses are not big enough because our children have to share a room...

... and we get grouchy because we "cannot stand what a mess our home is".

Father, forgive us and open our eyes so that we may see Your blessings all around us; show us how to be a blessing to others!

(pictures taken from another source)

Results of our Spring Fundraiser

2011-05-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!

Wow, what a great day we had with our fundraiser!! Our goal was to raise approximately $3000 for the purpose of digging a new well for our impoverished brothers and sisters in Liberia. This was the amount we had raised in past years; however, by the grace of God, we exceed this amount by nearly $1000!! On top of this, an anonymous donor heard of our well project and felt led to donate an additional $3000 to Hearts for Africa, so now we will be able to bless two villages in Africa with fresh drinking water!

It was a very busy few days, but in perspective, working hard for two days now gives two poverty stricken communities on the other side of the world fresh water for life! We are both humbled and honoured to serve our Heavenly Father in this way!!

Here are a few pictures of our day:

Setting up items for the garage sale the day before.

Pricing the garage sale items the day before.

Hanging up clothes for display the day before.

Our generous friends from Devan Greenhouses graciously donated many many beautiful plants for the sale. We sold each one of them!

Setting up the plants in the morning to sell at the garage sale.

Some of the car wash crew.

We washed cars continuously for 7 hours. Car washes were by donation and this portion of the fundraiser raised $500 alone, just through donations. We thank God for giving us nice dry weather for this event!

No car (or truck) was too big or small ....

Our volunteers at the BBQ stand. All the food was donated so all profits went directly to the well project fund.

A generous donor provided the funds to pay for the rental of these ideal premises.

We had so many items donated for the garage sale, for which we are very thankful.

The customers kept coming all the way until closing time.

So many bargains to be had ...

The cashier's area.

There were quite a few unsold items that we packed up at the end of the day and were able to donate to Value Village.

Thank you to everyone for pitching in at the end of the day to clean the building before leaving!

The Hearts for Africa team would like to sincerely thank all the volunteers and patrons who helped to make this fundraiser such a success! May God bless you richly and please continue to pray for those people whose lives will be touched as we proceed to begin our well projects as soon as possible. We will keep you updated on these projects as they progress.

Chris, our worker in Liberia, is currently fairly busy with building his own house so we are not exactly sure when he will be able to oversee this for use, but hopefully this can begin soon!

Spring Fundraiser Reminder

2011-04-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

Annual Spring Fundraiser ... Garage Sale/Car Wash/BBQ

2011-03-10T18:37:00.001-08:00

When Jackie and Marsha were in Africa, they noticed an urgent need in Chris's new village community that we just can't ignore. They desperately need clean freash water. We promised them that we would go home and try our hardest to raise funds to make this possible for these precious people. We are praying to raise $3000. It would be a hand pump well with a cover such as the one we did last year in another village (as pictured below).

Therefore, we are planning our annual spring fundraiser event, Garage Sale/Car Wash/BBQ for next month. We need your donated items (in good working condition), your time and your help to make this possible once again.

Spring cleaning may be happening for your family during Spring Break or over the next few weeks, so we are asking if you would please consider this fundraiser for your no-longer-wanted-items :)

If you have any suitable storage space that we can use as a drop off point before this date, please let us know ASAP. Otherwise we will ask all donors to please drop off your items on the Friday, just as we have done in the past. If you are willing and able to donate anything towards the BBQ, we will gladly accept your donations for this (hot dogs, pop/water, chips, cookies). We would also welcome as many volunteers as possible for the car wash as well as help setting up for the garage sale the day before and on the day of.

This is always a great community event and a fun time for all as we work together for a common goal in helping those so much less fortunate than us!

SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2011 from 8:00 - 3:30.

Free Reformed Church Gym and Parking Lot

Donation drop off will be on Friday, April 29 from 9:00-5:00.

We promise that 100% of every cent raised will go directly to this project. Thank you once again for your support as we strive to make a difference for these people in this poverty stricken village!!

Blessings to you all.

A family whose lives have been forever changed!

2011-03-08T16:42:00.001-08:00

It is easy to often wonder if what we are doing is even making a difference in this world. Well, today we can tell you that yes, you can make a difference in a person's life. For us in North America, we easily take our material "blessings" for granted, seldom thinking of what most of the other people in the world really live like. When we went to Liberia recently, we were once again reminded of the juxtaposition of our lifestyle compared to those in this war-torn, poverty-stricken little country in West Africa. Upon our return, we found it difficult to accept how we live compared to most of the people there. Even the homeless in our society are wealthy in comparison because no one in Canada ever has to go hungry; our government provides for all people in this country. Not in Liberia.

We are such a small ministry, so how could we make a difference?

Well, let me tell you the story of young Hannah and her family...

Hannah Korlubah is a 12 year old girl who, with her 2 younger siblings, live with their mother in this structure that people in Liberia may call a home. It is barely held together as you can see from the picture; there are just dirt floors and the door does not close. No bathrooms, no kitchen, no separate bedrooms. It is a very unsafe area and the two youngest children must stay at home alone when their mother goes to the market to try to find some work.

When we asked Chris to find the poorest family he could find that we could help out, he led us to Hannah and her family. Hannah had never been to school in her life, and even at the age of 12 she would have to attend Grade 1. Hearts for Africa randomly decided to bless this family this past Christmas by giving them some rice and a few other essential cooking utensils. In addition, someone in Canada felt led to sponsor Hannah (for only $1 a day!!!) so that she could finally go to school and get a highly coveted and essential Christian education, something usually reserved for the more privileged people who can afford such a luxury. What joyful thankfulness this family expressed to us when we did this small thing for them!

When Jackie and Marsha went to go and visit this family on their recent trip, they were shocked to see their poor living conditions and felt they had to do something more for them. They had to hike into the bush on beaten paths to find this little hut where they lived. They were immediately touched by how instead of complaining about their plight, the mother was overjoyed and extremely thankful for how God had blessed her! How humbling to expereince people being so overjoyed at having, what we would consider, so little! They left some money with Chris before leaving Liberia so that he could find something more safe and suitable for this family to live in. Well, he did just that and we are so excited to see how their lives have been forever changed. They are now living in a three bedroom home that is owned by a lady with a child who thought it would be wise to allow this family to live with her. The place has a floor, a bathroom, bedrooms, AND an indoor kitchen! This will be better for the kids as they had to walk such lengths before to get anywhere and it will also help the mother as she starts her small business of selling things to be able to make enough money to have food on the table.

Hannah in their new bathroom!

The family in their new indoor kitchen!

Furthermore, Hannah's Canadian sponsor has pledged to sponsor her two younger siblings next year as well (they don't know this yet!) so that they too can have a Christian education.

We are humbled and so thankful to our Heavenly Father for allowing us to do this work for Him and are reminded daily that "little is much, when GOD is in it"! Every one of us is called, no, commanded, to help our fellow brothers in need and by doing so, we CAN make a difference in this world. One person, one family at a time. Just like Hannah.

February 28, 2011

2011-02-27T18:42:00.001-08:00

This is our final update before we leave Africa. We are blessed to have shared this journey with you. Jackie leaves tonight and Marsha and Ariel will spend a few days at the coast before coming home.

We enjoyed a real African church service yesterday, but there was one problem. The language was in Tree and Gah. We still enjoyed seeing the freedom they enjoyed in worshipping God! One day we'll all be dancing and praising God in heaven where there are no language barriers.

At the church service in Accra - men sit on one side and the women on the other.

Two little boys at the church.

Jackie holding a baby.

Marsha and Jackie in their African dresses.

Our driver, George's, family.

In summary, here is what God enabled us to do these past 2 weeks:

GHANA:

*met several times with people from the Buduburam Refugee Camp

*paid all sponsorship fees in Ghana for the second term (until May) for 40 students

*visited an orphanage

*helped our friend Terrie with some of the legwork with her adoption

*visited the Liberian Embassy several times

LIBERIA:

*visited 5 sponsored students in their schools

*visited all 10 sponsored students in their homes

*visited all the widows we helped over the past 2 years

*enrolled 2 men for university

*set up 8 small businesses for sponsor families

*helped Oldman Nelson with purchasing cement bags and sand so he can put cement in some of the bedrooms in his home; also purchased a mattress for him to sleep on

*blessed Joma with a wheelchair and some food

*set up 2 of the poorest families we know in other homes, paying for their rent for 12 months (you can't get any shorter terms in Liberia)

*visited with 3 of the birth families of Canadian adopted children

*spent time at Diana E. Davies Orphanage

*paid all sponsorship fees for Liberian sponsored students (10) for the entire year (up to July)

*set up Chris with a medium-sized business of selling concrete bricks which involved purchasing some cement blocks and molds for the bricks

*purchased a small piece of land for Chris and someone donated money for him to build a house - he will make his own bricks for his house

*distributed donated gifts, clothing and treats to many people

We plan to put a well on Chris's new village in the next few months (so stay tuned for a fundraiser for this!).

Some sponsor families in Canada have requested to continue helping their sponsored children/families either through sending their children to school or providing for other urgent

needs they have. We will help with the connections to make this possible.

We are so grateful for all of your prayers and emails or comments of encouragement. We have really felt God's hand of direction and protection on our lives during this time away from our families. We feel so blessed that God has allowed us to be a very small part of what He is doing in Liberia by being His hands and feet these past two weeks.

On that note, I am very eager to see my husband and children again! Integration into North American is going to be extremely difficult again. I pray we won't easily forget what God has shown us and I pray for conviction for simple living so that others can receive more. The gap between the rich and poor in this world is far too great! "To whom much is given, much will be required."

For a radically changed life in the area of missions, money and simple living, I challenge you to read "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan or pick up any of KP Yohannen's books from Gospel For Asia.

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY, FOR GREAT THINGS HE HAS DONE!!

With love,

Jackie, Marsha and Ariel

An experience in West Africa, through the eyes of a 15 year old ...

2011-02-27T15:18:00.001-08:00

Here are some reflections written by Ariel Gienger, 15, from Abbotsford. She is Marsha's daughter who went along on this trip and experienced Africa for herself for the first time in her life. This is told through her eyes ...

In Ghana, Africa, when I first experienced it, I thought to myself, oh this isn't so bad, they have buildings, everything, a big mall, junk food, etc. But when drive into it, it's like ooooooh my, look at these kids walking alone on the streets or they have crippled legs or what about that girl who has only one shoe on. You know? It's overwhelming when we stop in the car because there are plenty of people walking and trying to sell things but they see there are white people so they will stare at you and give you a sad face and it just breaks your heart! But what can we do? Give them money and then what do they do with it? Who knows. Ghana is 10 times different than anywhere I've travelled and I been to a lot of places. It's very dirty, people don't take care of their city. The one thing that broke my heart in Ghana is seeing those kids have so little, they have no mother or no father, no matching shoes or matching clothes, and these kids still have a million dollar smile.

In Liberia, when I first entered Liberia, I knew right away that it needed more help. In my heart I had to let my people know what is going on there. I realized when you are driving in the city or the villages and you see the bullet holes from the war, I can just picture everything and what the war was like. It was like I was a shadow while it was happening ... I can hear bullets and hear the screaming , even though I never experienced the Liberian War, but I just heard stories. It's amazing that I get to see that and experience it. There was one man, he was our waitress and his name is Joseph. The rebels caught him and and his family in the war. He had to suffer watching his sister get oil poured on her and getting a lighted match thrown on her and his family hearing her screaming and suffering from burning to death. If any of them said anything, they will be dead! After, she died from burning to death. It was the family's turn to go and suffer. The rebels brought the family down to the ocean, but someone distracted them and they got away. They are safe today and living and worshipping Jesus.

In Liberia, there are people that sell water for 5 LD (Liberian Dollars) that is like 7 US cents. I asked a young lady, How much water do you sell a day? She says about 25 waters. So 25 x 5 equals 125 divided by 72 to get US$ that equals to about one dollar a day, that is not even enough to live!

I seen and visited a lot of houses in Monrovia. I wouldn't even call them houses, I would call them dumps. I don't think I would even let my dog live in the houses. There is one family they don't even have floors, it is just dirt. They sleep and live in dirt like that. Disgusting.

I can tell the war has messed up their country but they are trying to make it better. Try to find and job and don't suffer or else they make it worse and worse.

These three girls were digging in like a tree trunk and I went over to see what they were doing. They said they were finding food. I was like, what kind of food? They showed me and I almost threw up because it was like worms that looked like maggots and they put it over their rice to eat!

We went to the red light districtn and we asked should we be worried about our stuff getting stolen. Chris and Maurice told us no, no, nooo. We said, why so sure? They said if they do, they will put a tire that is on fire and put it over them as a consequence.

To conclude, I personally think Liberia needs our help more than Ghana. Why? Because they are suffering from the war, they are suffering from low poverty, to me they are suffering from everything! Monrovia looks like a dump site. The pictures you see look nothing like what we saw, because you don't smell what we smelled out here, you don't feel, you don't see with your own eyes, you don't hear people begging for your help and taste the dust that floats in the air and enters in our mouth. Liberia is a poor country. Period! But what can we do to help? We can first help the people money wise. Yes, we did that. We helped some people set up small businesses. Next, we can help them learn how to build houses and get clean water, maybe even give them matching clothes, clean the garbage, there is plenty we can do. But a lot of Canadian sit on there and spend their money on themselves. Turst me, I was like that. I loved spending money on myself, but after I experienced all of this I want to help. I want to come back here and help these kids, these people. They are begging for our help. You just have to look in their eyes or hear them asking, listen to them, don't ignore them; if they need our help, we should give them our help and attention. It will take a lot, but if all of us can pitch in, we can make Liberia a better place and they will teach others. Little comes a loooong waaaaaayyyy... don't ever forget it! Whatever you give, may God bless you bigger, may God bless you with something else, you don't know that, God does though and He will bless you.

Ariel Gienger

Ariel with some kids at an orphanage in Liberia.

Back in Ghana

2011-02-26T12:56:00.001-08:00

Aaahhh... our last day in Liberia - bittersweeet. Part of us wants to get on the plane to go home, and the other part realizes this too is my extended family that we're leaving behind also. Chris mumbled over and over throughout the day, "This is a sad, sad day but I thank God."

We met some birth moms at the guesthouse this morning. I went downstairs to settle our debt with the Lukeyn Guesthouse and Saide handed me this beautiful darling 7 month boy. I cuddled and admired him and it reminded me of my 7 month old baby girl that we adoopted 5 years ago. The baby took one look at me and cried. I think "Oh no, he's never seen a white woman before." So I handed him back to his mother so she could nurse him. I went upstairs and told Marsha how I just held this most adorable baby boy downstairs and how I would love to keep him. A few minutes late, Agnes from the office tells me there is someone waiting to see me downstairs. She's the one with the baby. Oh my! How could I have missed this ... she's the birth mother of our two daughters. I apoplgized profusely for not having recognized her. So many women here look alike, it baffled me all day!

The Lukeyn House where we stayed has treated us very well and we thank them for hospitality, safety , and undending kindness, not to mention all the contacts they have helped us with. God is amazing at putting the right people on our path!

Chris arrived at our guesthouse nicely on time but us Canadian women are getting the hang of African time and we left 2 hours later for the airport. We still made it in plenty of time as we were planning on making few other stops on the way.

Our one hour drive to the airport was spent encouraging Chris for his hard work, faithfulness, and his love for God. We encouraged him to remain obedient to what God is calling him to do. We encouraged one another in the Word as we all need accountability in our lives. He was quick to thank us for entrusting him with the work of God and we quickly reminded him to give all the glory to God! We encourage Maurice, our driver, to remaine faithful to his wife and two children. It's rare to see a man working hard here to support his family. They are so blessed to be such great friends.

It was challenging checking in and leaving the airport without a few bribes. Thankfully we found someone who called us his "friend" who helped us out and it only cost us about $5. Marsha was tough on these guys - you should have seen her!!

After checking in, we realized we had plenty of time before the flight left Monrovia so Morris insisted we visit the Firestone Rubber Plantation just next to the airport. At the entrance to the plantation, we are asked to pull over at the checkstop. Morris tells us to not say a word; he jumps out and speaks to the police and we were on our way. Did you know that rubber is made out of the milk of a rubber tree? We never did. The plantation is huge and most of the housing is horrible. President Ellen Johnson condemned these buildings and has demanded they build new ones for the workers. It's in the process and the new houses look good. Of course, this plantation is owned by wealthy North American companies, making larger profits from the Liberian rubber trees. One our way out, a relationship is stronger and a bribe is paid in one handshake. Normal? Yes. Liberian police can make life as easy or as miserable for you as you like, depending on what you're willing to offer. If you're a difficult person, your simple situation can turn into a nightmare, anywhere from trumped up charges to paying large fine or jail.

The dreaded few moments when we actually say our goodbyes to Chris and Morris, left a lump in our throats and we fought back the tears. We took one last photo (see below), embraced one another with tears and wave as we walked away. We reminded Chris that this is not a farewell, but a "goodbye for now, see you soon!"

Our plane arrived early in Accra, where we are ready to end this emotional day. We notice a huge difference in Ghana compared to Liberia. More on that tomorrow ...

Love, Jackie, Marsha, and Ariel

L to R: Jackie, Chris, Morris, Marsha, Ariel at the airport in Monrovia just before leaving.

The poor living conditions at the Firestone Plantation.

Ariel next to a rubber tree at the Firestone Plantation.

Update for February 25, 2011

2011-02-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

A reminder once again that we are on African time! Today we started only an hour later than planned, but by the grace of God we completed everything on our list but at a later and slower pace than anticipated. But, we are getting used to that. Today was our last full working day here in Monrovia. So much to say and where do we begin to put the right words on paper ...

Our morning began with meeting Chris at the bank. Sounds like a simple task, right? Go to the bank, open an account, deposit money, and voila! Nope. Not in Africa. Chris tried to get in the bank before we arrived, but they wouldn't let him in because there are no more passbooks (transaction books). We arrived and Chris explained that this wouldn't work today. Marsha called our contact, Saide, at the guesthouse and he said, "No problem, wait outside and I will call my friend at the bank." Within minutes we were greeted by a young man well dressed in a suit. We were escorted upstairs and then downstairs several times before sitting down and filling out a stack of papers. Now, they have a system for papers, I tell you. Where on a bank application does it ask which church you attend? This one did! We were thankful for the cool air inside but needed to use the washroom. Who's got the toilet paper? We left it in the car! Next time, don't go anywhere without it!! This restroom is shared by both men and women. Women get the left stall and men the right. No water to wash hands and no lock on the door. Both have no toilet seats ... TIA!!!

We were then off to the Red Light District again to meet with several women who we are setting up in small businesses to purchase supplies for them. We must be feeling more comfortable. We are the ONLY white people in the market. Do you think we stand out? As we waited for Chris to return to the taxi with the women who have been waiting for us since 9:00 AM (it was then 1:30 PM), we were surrounded by vendors. One particular woman caught our eye. I noticed her feet were worn and dirty with deep callouses. She was walking on the dirt ground that was covered with litter. There were empty waterbags, old pieces of paper, broken shoes, and plastic that once held food from the market. I quickly looked up and saw the sweat beads that formed on her forehead and streamed down her face. She didn't even notice. Then she grabbed her cloth and in one instant she wiped her brow, all in a day's work. The voices shout out "mineral water", then I heard a voice that shouts out even louder "white woman". I then hear long loud horns bellowing from the mass of vehicles that are waiting to pass (air-care).lol. Then once again I realize we're in Africa and this is normal...

We met two of the women to set up businesses. Comfort is someone that lives in Chris's new village and who he met at the refugee camp in Ghana. We realize this when she cannot read the invoice or understand the concept of business. Thankfully Chris and Maurice explain and Chris will continue with follow-up. She got her bags of rice, sugar, salt and oil and returned home with a beaming face, excited for the opportunities and new beginnings. Praise God! Emmanuel Richard's mother (he is one of our sponsored students) also met us but is still undecided on what her small business should be. Chris reminded her that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she should work hard and do well. We didn't rush her into her final decision. Muni and Alisha Sharba's father (two of our sponsored girls) also met us with his requirement sheet for university. He is excited for the opportunity for advanced education. We agreed to this and he will start working on his first 21 credits soon at the University of Liberia. We then headed off to Grace Nelson's (another sponsored student) place which was not far away. They say "not far, only 5 minutes" which turns out to be one hour. From now on we will ask if it's less or more than one hour ;)

We drove down a long bumpy red dirt road with dust flying everywhere! We could feel it everywhere and got ready to cover our faces whenever a big truck passed. We parked and walked up a windy, rocky path that led to their house. It's hard to call it a house. It looks more like an abandoned bullet-ridden cynder block outbuilding. There is one door, barely hanging on hinges clinging to a wall. Grace's grandfather lives here with some of his children and grandchildren. Grace lives with an auntie and her mother lives in a village an hour away. Grace needs education so she needs to be in the town. It's sad to see a family split because of poverty. Grace's grandfather (69 years old!) was a police colonel before the war and was on the hit list by the rebel army. The bullet holes penetrating this building is eerie! We will set up Grace's mother with a small business and will help the grandfather lay some concrete in some of the rooms, especially where they sleep on the floor, and also purchase some mattresses for them. This is a very sad existence.

We then set off to deliver and surprise Joma Kulie with a new wheelchair. He has not had a wheelchair since 1990 ... he has been sitting and crawling on the ground for over 2 decades!! We first noticed him at Chris's house when we were being greeted and welcomed by his community and the widows. Between crutches and crawling, he made his way to Chris's house after a 3 km hike! We also blessed him with a 50 kg bag of rice and some oil. Now that was one happy man as his life has forever been changed!! (see picture in post below) Again, a reminder to us how God works! All things in His timing!! Praise God!

Our last stop was the most heart wrenching! A few months ago, we asked Chris to find us the most neediest family that he knows of in his village. He did just that. We drove another 30 minutes (not so far in African time) until we couldn't drive any further, so we had to walk down this dirty windy trail for about 10 minutes through the bush and brush until we finally got to the end of the path. This is where Hannah Korlubah lives. This is not a house - not a place even suitable for animals! It is called a mud hut made from mud and sticks (see pictures in the post below). The roof is old, broken and pieced together. The owners of the property have no respect and enter freely into her home as if it was theirs. Hannah's mother (they call her Old Lady) walks 40 minutes to the road to get a ride to the market to sell the few things her mother has given her. When Chris told us about this family, Nancy felt led to sponsor Hannah who is 12 and has never been to school before. She is now attending Grade One. While her mother is at work, Hannah is at school and the two younger children are home alone to tend for themselves. But most of all, they stay at home to protect the home as the door cannot lock. You can see their poverty by their pictures (pink shoes and and socks on the boy and Hannah only wears one sock, no shoes). Sad, don't you think? She doesn't ask for money, food or lodging and yet she thanks God for all she has! We are looking for a better and safer place for her to call home and will help her to start her own business in selling dried goods. We left her encouraged and grateful that we could make a difference in this family's life. She thanked God again for what she had and for each of us for coming!

Our drive home was spent reflecting on our day's activities and I could not help but anticipate washing the dust and smoke off our bodies. I wonder how many others have the same blessing of cleaning themselves at the end of each long, hard day in Monrovia.

Back at the guesthouse, we ate dinner with Chris, his girls, and our driver Maurice. I couldn't help but watch as it seemed they were stategically planning out what they would eat now and what they would save for meals to come. We are humbled and still have so much to learn.

With love,
Jackie, Marsha, Ariel

February 25, 2011 ~ Pictures

2011-02-25T16:35:00.001-08:00

Trekking our way on beaten paths through the villages.

A child taking a nap; no soft bedding for them.

Palm nut - crush up and make soup and the liquid is used to make palm oil. Palm butter is very popular here.

Chris with new molds for making bricks. That will be his new business.
Morris, our driver, is standing next to him.

Joma Kulie sitting on the ground before getting his new wheelchair.

After 21 years of getting around on the ground, he can finally sit in a wheelchair!!!

Joma with his adult daughters and grandchildren.

Hannah Korlubah, a sponsored student, with her mother at their very very poor home.

Marsha with Hannah's mother. We are going to try to find her a place to rent closer to town as well as get her set up in a business.

Hannah and her brother (check out their footwear).

Gifty Wah's mother with her bundle of used clothing to sell as a business. They sell them in "bales" like this and you don't know what you're going to get.

Grace Nelson (one of our sponsored students) with her grandfather and mother.

Grace Nelson at her grandfather's home. Grace's mom lives over an hour out of town so Grace lives with an auntie in the city so she can go to school. Families are divided by poverty and do what they can to get into school!

Some kids in Grace's village - abondoned buildings from the war. You can see the bullet holes in the walls!

George Waylee's mother starting her new business of selling used clothing. You purchase a "bale" of clothes and you get what you get.

Ariel with Belekai, a seamstress. We purchased bundles of lappa for her. (3 yards is a lappa)

Purchasing supplies for Comfort to start her own business selling flour, rice, salt, oil.

She is illiterate, and here Chris and Maurice are trying to explain to her what a business is. Chris will continue to follow up with her on this.

Comfort with some of her new supplies.

This is what a child looks like when seeing a white woman for the first time!!

For those who can afford to do so, this is African style meat.

no hoist? NO PROBLEM ... Les will appreciate this one!

February 24, 2011 Update

2011-02-24T15:25:00.001-08:00

Remember when you were a child or maybe you sang this song to your children or your grandchildren? It goes something like this:

"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Oh this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine

Hide it under a bush, Oh no

I'm gonna let it shine..."

Then the chorus... but I am sure you know the song and how it goes.

Well, as I am sitting here and reflecting, that song came to mind. You see, we are the light in a world that at times is dark. I believe that God makes no mistakes and when He puts us somewhere, He knows why we're there and what we are to do.

That's sort of how I am feeling tonight. I am choosing to serve God and let the light shine bright. Today we had to set aside our North American culture and realize that when you are in Africa, you must understand we are on African time!

We were to start our day off by 10:00 AM, but the people from the orphanage we were visiting did not get here till 11:00 AM. The worst part of it is that we were supposed to be back by 12:30. The orphanage told us that it would be a short distance so in our mind we thought 15 minutes or so ... NOPE! That meant a 1 hour drive! So we called and cancelled our appointments and rescheduled our day. Another example of how when you plan things the way "you" think it should go, I think God smiles and gives a chuckls and the day becomes HIS day and in HIS timing ... we're learning!!

Mrs. Dianna E. Davies is the founder of the orphanage and school which we visited. She is an amazing woman. After visiting both the school and orphanage we sat down in her office and we talked. She shared with us how she was there for all of the war. She told us how she came face to face with the armed rebels. She started praying; they asked who she was talking to and she replied, "to the Man who made me." They dropped their guns. We asked her if she was afraid. "Afriad? Why?" she says. "When I am absent from the body, I am with Christ. I have nothing to lose."

It was around noon and we stood up to leave. "We have cooked you lunch, you must stay," they insisted. Not wanting to insult them, we ate the delicious food set before us. We thanked them and her reply was, "You never know when you entertain angels unawares so always be ready to serve one another." Mother Davies informed us that we are "elders" because we are over 35 ... smile! :)

She gave us some great tips on helping refugees return to Liberia - there is so much to learn from the older people and they are so willing to offer advice. Going through the horrible hardships of life makes one walk in more gratitude and humility!

While we were there, we enjoyed our time with the children. We got to serve little crackers, KoolAid, and a candy per each child in Kindergarten and Grade One. We found out that there are over 500 children in the school from KG to Grade 12. They were all eager to touch our skin and show us their desk.

Morris and Chris came and picked us up and we navigated our way back through traffic and into town. There we met three eager women on the chairs in front of the city hall. I think we only got away with that because of our skin colour, which is sickening, really. These three women will start work tomorrow selling oil and used clothing. Used clothing is bought in a bail-type package and you get what you get. They are very thankful and Chris will take them first thing tomorrow without us. Our showing up would not do any justice to the price they pay for the clothes.

Next stop: the bank. Ah, they just closed. We will go back tomorrow again. No big deal - if it doesn't get done today, oh, tomorrow is just fine ... TIA! Such a complete opposite culture from North America. Somewhere halfway between sounds balanced...

Our next stop was to visit Grace Nelson (a sponsored student) but she lives close to the red light district - not easy to navigate through. When asking how long it will take, "oh, it's not long" is the usual response. Pressing for a more exact time, we were told 45 minutes one way. We decided to call it a day and start early tomorrow and make this stop tomorrow as we'll be in the area anyway for a few more small businesses. We made a committment to each other that for our own safety, we would always be back at the compound before dark.

The gap between the rich and the poor is as big as the Grand Canyon. Not many are in the middle. It's sad when you see little 8 year old children taking care of their baby siblings. The parents must work, most mothers are single. Maurice is a married man (to one wife) - very rare - and we encouraged him to be faithful and support her and his children. Chris's wife died in the war but he is raising Godly girls and directs them in the ways of God's Word.

God bless you as you follow His calling in each of your lives,

With love,

Jackie, Marsha and Ariel

Ariel counting out money for a taxi for the women to return to their village. Some travelled more than 45 minutes away.

This is a mother of Hannah Korlubah, one of our sponsored students receiving gifts from her Canadian sponsor.

An unsafe load - police are starting to catch people now with loads like this.

Update for February 23, 2011

2011-02-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

Funny how every morning it starts with dogs barking and then the fighting of dogs. I lay in bed and my brain seems to be thinking much faster than my heart can comprehend... I am reminded we are here for a purpose. Yes, a purpose! But there just seems to be so much to do and so many to help!! So we start our day by asking that God would make clear direction and light the way.

Our day starts off by waiting for our driver and Chris to come. They were to be here by 10:30 but that turned in to be 12:30. A reminder to us that we are on "African time".

We start the day off with intense heat. Again, a reminder of "Welcome to Liberia where it si HOT!" We adjust... We get our backpacks with our water supply for the day and we are good!

Our first stop today was to meet with a young man named Prince. We have a friend who is trying to finish her adoption in Ghana but needed some details fromthe birth dad. We met him and he was ver cooperative.

We went to Chris's house where the widows that we had helped set up small business back in November have been patiently waiting for us since 1:00. They do not complain about the wait but we all feel bad. Of course, both our driver Morris and our worker Chris say "it is no problem." We were greeted by the joyful voices of a "welcome" sond and dancing. It semed somewhat overwhelming and humbling at the same time! We were thanked over and over again. Our quick reply to thes was "if it wasn't for Chris being faithful, honest and a man of integrity, we probably would not be here." You see, to find an honest person can be difficult in Africa. Chris is quick to stand before those gathered and publicly declare that he is nothing without God. It's not him, but God that lives through him and to Hime be all the glory! Chris gets everyone's attention by proclaiming "Praise God" and the response is, "Amen, in Jesus's Name." The widows took turns giving their praise and are so thankful they are no longer sleeping on the ground but have a mattress! They are not concerned about new matching bedding but only a place to lay their head at night. (see the following post for pictures of this.)

There are children sitting on the ground and smiling and trying to touch our skin. For some, this may be the first time ever seeing a "white person". After our greetings and a prayer by Chris, we started to distribute our donations. Dr. Venier's office donated toothbrushes and toothpaste, so we handed the rest of these to the children. (see pictures in post below) They were so happy! By looking at some of their teeth, I think this may be their first time owning a toothbrush. Jackie quickly reminded them and did the example to "spit out the toothpaste and not to swallow it." We had one of the widows who came with an offering of bananas and other fruit as a gift of appreciation for all that HFA had done for her. She was set up with a small business of selling fruit at the market last November.

It was heart wrenching to see the Waylee family living in such a homeless situation yesterday. We asked each sponsor family if they were happy to be back in Liberia and they all said Yes, even though through all this hardship, they are so happy to be back home!! We made a little photo album for baby Sirleaf's mom of all the pictures of his surgery and his hospital stay. They women were ecstatic and so joyful to see themselves on a picture!

Today was a short day in matter of time but not in emotions. We had weveral pleas of assisting them with their children's school, small business and even to help with adoption.

Monrovia has a Red Light district here which we visited today... it's not what you think! It's this massive overcrowded market that most of the people in Monrovia shop at. No backpacks, hold on to your purse, keep the cell phone out of sight, you get the idea! Maurice was the leader, then 3 of us white women, then Chris. Chris really wanted us to experience this and we're glad that we did. Vehicle aircare could make a killing here with the amoung of pollution, walking on heaps of garbage, loud music, honking, crossing the road without getting hit, crowding and good prices! What a fantastic experience!!

All throughout the day, we are constantly speaking words of affirmation over Chris's life and encouraging him to continue to be a man of God. Again, a big thanks to allt hose over the last five years who have supported HFA through finances, prayer, and diligent work. Without you and your faithfulness, none of this would be possible. Because of you, you have made a huge difference and we sincerely thank you.

With love,
Marsha, Jackie and Ariel

Pictures from February 23, 2011

2011-02-23T16:04:00.000-08:00

When the people in Chris's village heard we were "in town" they gathered at Chris's house to sing songs of welcome and thanks!

Singing songs of welcome and thanksgiving!

One of the widows we helped out is singing her praises to God for what He has done for her!!

Another one of the widows with a HFA pillow.

And another widow that we also helped out is praising God!

This is the red light district (not as we know it) but is the main market where people go to buy their things.

Another picture of the red light district in Monrovia.

Ariel with some students at one of the schools we visited.

Marsha and Ariel handing out toothbrushes and toothpaste to kids in Chris's village.

The kids holding up their new toothbrushes!

February 22, 2011 ~ update

2011-02-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

This morning we set off with suitcases full of pillows, toothbrushes, shirts and other small donations from our Canadian sponsors for the sponsored families to visit as many of them as we could in one day.

Our first sponsor child we visited was Gifty Wah. We went to her school, then to her mother's house. Her mother is unemployed so Chris will help her set up a small business selling used clothing.

We navigated through rough terrain to our next school where we saw Nathaniel Doebah. We made extra photos of these kids so they could have a picture of themselves - this is very exciting for them! Then we went to Water Street, one of the poorest/dishonest places in Monrovia. (see following post for pictures) George Waylee and his family live in an abandoned building. This was the worst situation of all our sponsor families - 5 people are sharing one little room in the filthy upstairs and are cooking on a little coal burner downstairs. The roof leaks in many places so they are careful where to sleep. We're going to help them with one year's rent ($15/month) and also a small business for the mother, selling used clothing. It won't be great but it will be better than what they have now! We asked the mother how much they could rent a one or two bedroom place for that is better than this. Her reply was, "I don't know so I cannot lie." Currently she makes 70 LD (Liberian Dollars) which is abnout $1 USD per day! That is barely enough to buy one bag of rice in a month. You cannot even imagine the joy there has been among these families today!!! Chris mentioned we were coming but never told them when. We stopped at Muni and Alisha's home and waited for the girls to come from school. They thought Ariel was Skye - so cute!

Driving along the road we saw a graveyard that was all fenced and barbwired for security. "Hey Chris, what's up with that?" we asked. Maurice (our driver) and Chris both chuckled. "well, you see then people will steal the caskets and sell them and also throw their garbage in there."

There are a lot of motorcyles on the roads in Monrovia. They pass in the middle of two single lanes, they pass on the right sied or two can pass each other in the middle of a single lane road that has no median or turning land for room. They seem to have right of way here. Pedestrians have no rights.

We stopped by the cement factory, pricing out cement bags for Chris. He wants to sell cement blocks - something that is booming right now because of all the buiding going on. One of the managers at the guesthouse where we are staying at is a businessman and will make a few phonecalls for us as he is very knowledgeable in this. God is putting the right people on our path. It's truly amazing to see. We're not sure how to start out our day, but we just go out and start making the stops and God just directs us!

We just marvel at Chris's knowledge in getting around Monrovia. He knows where all the kids are living and where their schools are. He checks in with the teacher to see if it's ok if we can come in and see our kids. There are so many rough back roads we've travelled through today!

Then we went to Chris's house and saw his two daughters and a niece living with him. Chris says they have been "preparing for our arrival" and were so escited to see us! We will be setting up a small business for his niece who is 20 and is a seamstress.

Remember baby Sirleaf and the major surgery he had in his groin last year? We paid this family a surprise visit. Wow, this mom was so overjoyed to see us! We saw baby Sirleaf (see pictures on the other post) and he is healthy and well. We had set up his mom with a fish business last fall and she is doing well, enough to put food on the table. Ariel handed out more candy.

Emmanuel Richards was the last stop. What a cutie! Emmanuel's father asked if adoption was pat of our ministry program. Unfortunately not, but he pleaded with us to bring Emmanuel to Canada so he can get a good education. The father also has a 19 year old son who speaks fluent French while he was a refugee in the Ivory Coast. He wants to attend university so he is going to do some research and get back to Chris.

We asked a lot of questions to Chris and Maurice about the war and they were very open. He says a man can be walking with his wife, the rebels will grab his wife and say she is mine for the night. You have two choices: either try and defend her and get killed in the process or let her go and live.

It's amazing how much we got accomplished today! We met with most of the sponsor families
(see pictures in the following post) and we will finish them tomorrow. We had a busy busy day but it was a good kind of busy! Thank You God again for allowing us to be Your hands and feet! We serve YOU first!!

Love Marsha, Jackie, Ariel

February 22, 2011 ~ pictures

2011-02-22T16:23:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of our day today:

Water Street - Monrovia ... such filth!

Water Street... the worst area in Monrovia.

Nathaniel Doebah, one of our sponsored students, at his school.

Ariel with Muni and Alisha Sharba, Skye's sponsored girls.

Baby Sirleaf's mother who we helped set up a fish business.

Marsha with Gifty Wah, another sponsored student.

At the home of George Waylee ... 5 sleep in this room!!

George Waylee with his family.

Emmanuel Richards with his gift from his Canadian sponsor.

The family of Emmanuel Richards at their home.

Baby Sirleaf, who had the groin surgery last year, with his mother.

At the home of Chris with his twin daughters, whom Marsha sponsors.

TIA... no air care here!!

We set up one of the widows we randomly blessed at Christmas with a small business of selling oil and gas in smaller quantities so it is more affordable for people to buy. This is her little stand.

Feb. 21, 2011 update

2011-02-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

Wow, Liberia is sure a step down from Ghana!

Our plane left one hour early for Monrovia this morning - good thing we got to the airport hours ahead. Out here, when the plane is ready to leave, it leaves! We arrived in Monrovia with sweltering heat. The lady at Customs checked our luggage and saw all the donated item plus the HFA pillows, and claims we need to pay money to Customs. I dug out the HFA letter stating we're here with a mission and these are all donated items. However, she still insists we need to pay. We said "NO! These are donated items." "OK , OK, OK," she says, "I need some pillows" (bribe). "Ok, fine, take one." She takes one, and then another, then some toothbrushes, then some toothpaste, the some paper and pens. Marsha said in a very authoratative manner, "NO! you can't have those, they are personal items." "Ok, Ok, Ok, Ok," she says and she let us finally go!

Our ride hadn't arrived and were just leaving town when we called them. We couldn't get our cellphone to work and we were frantically trying to protect our luggage from those so willing to help. Foreigners really stand out! We found some shade and met some other foreigners from Canada. They're leaving for home after spending a month up country with medical missions with Canadian Baptist Mission. They gave us their SIM card so we could work the cell phone again.

Chris finally arrived with the driver from the guest house. He was SOOOOOOO excited to see us!!! He kept saying. "Thank God!" over and over again. He hasn't been well, he has a bad cold and dealing with malaria.

We stopped in at Chris's property on the way to Monrovia. We've helped him purchase a small piece of land while another Canadian donated funds for him to build his house. We handed out candy to the kids in his community and the group grew large very quickly!! As one of the children opened his little hand out for a candy, we quickly noticed that the flesh on the palm of his hand and between his tiny fingers was burnt badly. It seemed as though his layers of skin were separated and it looked just awful! We quickly found one of our bandages and put polysporin on it. We knew it wouldn't fix the problem but we hoped it would help at least a bit. There is lots of scabies among the children. Chris's land is being cleared. These guys do it for no charge because they need the wood and soon they will just burn the stumps and brush and it will be ready for building.

When we were in the field where Chris's land is, we found 3 girls digging in the stump of a tree. They were digging for worms (looks like maggots!!) for their African food. The older lady suggested we try "real African food". We nicely replied "another time". She said, "it is good food." We smiled :) (see picture below)

On the way back to the main road, some part of the rear end of the van fell down. No big deal, just take the tire off, tie up the loose part, tire back on and away we go... TIA! We kept reminding the driver to go slower as the van was wobbling. At 7- miles per hours and a part off and only being held together by a piece of twine found in the field, we were quick to remind the driver to "slow down"!

We had to pull over on the main road since there was a VP convoy, with sirens, police, UN vehicles and the Vice President.

There are so many new things being built in the city, but the effects of war are still seen through so much poverty and bullet holes in fences and abandoned buildings.

We arrived at the guest house with friendly familiar faces - a very nice place to stay! We feel safe here, with guards, dogs, high fences, and barbed wire. Chris ate dinner with us, prayed before he left with tears streaming down his face with his gratefulness to God for His faithfulness!!!!

Love Marsha, Jackie, and Ariel

In Chris's village.

Fixing the van ... African style!

Girls removing worms from the stumps to eat!!

Jackie and Marsha with Chris on his uncleared property.

People actually live in these types of homes!

Marsha handing out candy to children.

Ariel with some of the children in Chris's village.

February 20, 2011

2011-02-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,
We were wrong about the temperatures yesterday, it was still in the low 30s. Today was in the high 30s with high humidity but we're slowly climatizing!

We're staying at a Bible Institute Guest House and we met someone from Chilliwack here. Can you believe it? God is amazing with His timing - He has all these God-ordained appointments and times of encouragement in total control!! The neat thing he is not even staying here - he came to meet with the guest house manager. "Where are you from? Canada. Oh, that's neat, so are we. Where in Canada? Oh, we're from Chilliwack. Oh, I grew up there. What road do you live on. Prest Road. Oh, I was on Yale Road, my dad makes pipe organs." It's Marcel. (insert note here: Jackie went to school with his sister! and we know the family quite well!) Marcel is in Ghana doing some work with rescuing children caught up in child slavery. It was one of those "Wow" moments that just makes us marvel in God!

Here is another cool story. On the plane from Vancouver to Frankfurt, this man was sitting beside us who was going to visit his family in Eritrea. I asked if it was dangerous for Christians to live there. Well, he says, there are two types of Christians. Orthodox-state church and Born Again Christians who are persecuted. He is a born again believer! We shook hands upon our arrival in Frankfurt, knowing that we will see on another again in eternity.

We went to church this morning with another Canadian who is staying at the guesthouse here as well. We were hoping for something with more African culture like they had at the camp, but instead we were at the Holiday Inn in an airconditioned room. That was too much like North America! Next week we will ask the taxi driver to go with him. Apparently Obama stayed at this new Holiday Inn two years ago when he was here. The story is that the whole area was blocked off during his stay and the airport was closed for two full days. The drivers all talk about it.

Tonight we are packing our bags for our flight to Monrovia, Liberia tomorrow. By the time you get up in the morning, hopefully we will have arrived there. Please pray for us; for safety and health. Life is much more primitive in a country that is just recovering from a 14-year civil war. We fully trust in God's sovereignty over us in every event. Please pray for direction and for our hearts and minds to be open to the Holy Spirit's leading.

We thank all those who are looking after our families while we are away. It's humbling to see everyone pulling together so we can be here to wrap things up and encourage our poverty-stricken brothers and sisters in the Lord.
We're not sure about internet access in Liberia, but we will try our best with updates.
Love in Jesus Christ our Lord,
Marsha, Jackie, and Ariel

February 19, 2011 - update

2011-02-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

Today we met with the women from Buduburam Camp.
This morning we spent a few hours with Jassie as she came to our guest house. She takes care of the sponsorship for us at the camp. We worked on paying the 2nd term fees for all the students today. All the high school students (gr. 10-12) are paid for the rest of the school year. We did not visit the camp this time due to some unsettling situation last week when 5 people were shot and killed during a dispute. Jassie took all the sponsorship donations back with her and will be distributing them to the children over the next few days. For Jassie's sake we decided to enroll the students into the 2nd term, even though this wasn't our initial plan. Jassie came with this letter from the school stating they are holding her accountable and will take legal action against her if she doesn't pay the 2nd term fees since the fees were overdue. Since there is little justice at the camp, this could mean jail time for Jassie. We took this very seriously and of course will do everything to protect Jassie as a single mother who has been faithful in her sponsorship work for us. TIA! (This Is Africa)

This is a picture of us (Marsha and Jackie) with Jassie:

This afternoon, Hannah (whom we had known since the first time we went to the camp 5 years ago) came to see us at our guest house. It was nice to spend the afternoon with her. We are looking at the possibility of relocating Jassie and Hannah to Liberia and setting up small businesses for them, but that is a pretty scary thing for them. Hannah has been at the camp for 20 years already! This is all she knows and this is comfortable for her, so the thought of moving away is intimidating, but there really is no future for her and her kids at the camp.

Here is a picture of Jackie and Ariel with Hannah:

It was a bit cooler today - mid 20s.

Thank you for your continued prayers! We pray God will break our hearts for what breaks His!!

a prayer ...

2011-02-19T11:54:00.000-08:00

"God, what an amazing opportunity You have put before us, a chance to make a difference for You in a desperately hurting world. Help us to see the needs You want us to see, to react in a way that honours You and to bless others by serving them with practical expressions of Your love. Help us to be Jesus's hands and feet and through Your Spirit give us strength and wisdom. We need to fulfill Your plan for us in our own generation. In Jesus name, Amen!"
~ quoted from "Outlive Your Life" by Max Lucado

Our first day in Ghana ...

2011-02-19T10:56:00.001-08:00

Our first official day in Ghana is complete. It was just a day of exchanging money, doing errands, visiting the Liberian and Canadian embassys, spending some time at an orphanage (see pictures below). The single woman who runs this orphanage has adopted several children ... it's so amazing and inspiring!

Tomorrow we plan to visit with the people from the Buduburam Camp, help them set up small businesses and give them the donated items for distribution for sponsored children at the camp.

Things have really changed in Ghana. There are a lot of new buildings going up foreigners, and a lot more non-taxi vehicles on the roads. The city also looks so much cleaner - people are cleaning garbage and sweeping along the roundabouts. They have built a brand new mall (the first ever here!) and it is very expensive!! I guess you have the rich in every country!!

I think we are climitazing to the heat - it's in the high 30s and of course, very very humid!

Thank you for all you prayers ... we need daily grace and wisdom!

Love,

Marsha, Jackie, and Ariel

We've arrived!

2011-02-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

We arrived at the guest house at around (10:30 AM PST) but it is night time here! Ah, the sights and smells of Africa! How I have missed Africa!! ALL of our luggage arrived as well at no extra charge!! The power was off when we got to our guest house, but they got the generator going and internet is a hit and miss. The flights went well. Had turbulence around Greenland and over the Sahara Desert, which was pretty rough! When we got here the guest house had dinner waiting for us, so that was good. We are looking forward to starting our work tomorrow. None of us slept too much so we are praying for a good sleep tonight and then off we go!
We will continue to keep you posted ...
Thanks for your prayers!!
Marsha and Jackie

At the airport

2011-02-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, Jackie, Marsha and Ariel left for West Africa. They will fly to Frankfurt, Germany then get a connecting flight to Accra, Ghana. They will spend a few days there then travel to Monrovia, Liberia. At the airport today, they had been praying for God's favour as they had some extra luggage they needed to bring containing supplies for the people in Africa. When they got through the line, the lady let them put through two extra bags at no charge ... a $400 value!!! God is good ... all the time!

They are asking for you to continue to pray for their safety and also for direction when they land in Africa! Thank you!!

Missions Trip!!

2011-01-25T21:16:00.001-08:00

The team (Marsha, Jackie, and Skye) will be travelling to Ghana and Liberia next month. They are hoping to leave on February 16, 2011 and return in two weeks.

While they are there, they plan to visit our workers there. Jassie is in Ghana overseeing the sponsorship program there and Chris is in Liberia, overseeing the sponsorship program as well as other various projects.

Please pray for this team as this will be there final trip to Africa and there will be many mixed emotions during this time!

Stay tuned for details ... We will post updates of their experiences on a daily basis once they arrive in Africa!

These Liberian children desperately need your help!!!

2011-01-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

These 6 kids in Liberia are desperately needing to go to school but cannot afford to do so. Please consider helping out one of these precious children for just $30/month. This will give them a Christian education, a uniform and school supplies. You will be kept updated on their progress as Chris will monitor them on a regular basis.

This is Ruth Flomo. She will be 14 in February and would be going to Grade 3.

This is Abrahim Flomo. He is 23, but sadly has not yet completed his Grade 8 of schooling. He had to quit school to support himself by selling charcoal just to get enough food to live. His mother died in the war and he just found out that his father is alive but living in a refugee camp in another country.

This is Louise Flomo. She just turned 15 this past December and would be going to Grade 3. Her father left her mother with 7 children to raise on her own in 2003 at which time Louise was sent to the city area to go to school but sadly this did not happen as the family she lives with cannot afford to send her. Her mother and siblings still live up interior. Louise works all day, every day selling things just to earn enough money for the family she lives with to buy food.

This is Korpu Flomo. She is 14 and would go to Grade 3. She is a sister to Abrahim, but they have different mothers. Her father was killled in the war and Korpu was taken in by another family as her mother could not care for her.

This is Francis Nimely. She will be 14 this year and would go to Grade 3.

This is Hannah Kolubah. Sadly, she has never been to grade school in her life. She will be 12 this year but even at this age she will have to start at Grade 1. Her father left the family in 2004 and she lives with her mother and two siblings. Her mother grows and sells potatoes to earn money for food. At the time this blog is being posted, Hannah has now been sponsored and will hopefully attend the new term in Liberia this January.

For more detailed background information on each of these children, please check out our facebook page. Please consider what a difference you can make in someone else's life this year! Contact us if you are willing to help one of "the least of these". (Matthew 25:40)

Christmas Blessings!!!

2010-12-16T19:53:00.000-08:00

This year for Christmas, HFA chose to bless 5 random widows and their families living near Monrovia, Liberia, with gifts of things that they so desperately need. Chris, our worker there, found 5 of the neediest people near his village. Each family received a mattress, a chicken, some rice, shoes, clothing, and kitchen items. We praise the God of the universe, Who knows each one of these people by name, that we were able to share Christ's love with them this Chirstmas in such a tangible way!
Here are the families with a brief story of their current situations:

This is Sarah Ballah. She is a widow who lost her husband in the war in 1990. She has one daughter and the other girl who lives with her is an orphaned child she found that was lost in the war in 1994. She took this girl in to live with her. In order to earn a little bit of money to buy food to live, Sarah plants potatoes for other people.

This is Quatai Dolo. She is a 68 year old widow and mother of 7 children of which only 3 are still alive. She and her husband fled to Monrovia in the war in the 1990's and he died of old age in 2008. She is trying to make a living by washing some of the neighbour's clothes. Her oldest daughter died about a year ago during childbirth. Her only living daughter has mental problems and keeps getting pregnant from men who she never sees again. Life is hard for Quatai as this leaves her to raise these fatherless grandchildren on her own.

This is Julia Weah. She is a single mother of 4, but sadly 2 of her children died a few months ago from sickness. She washes other people's clothes to get money for food, which has been scarce for them. She was recently told by her landlord to leave the house she is living in because she cannot afford to pay the rent for just one room. Her parents were killed in the war in the 1990's.

This is Oldma Kemah Tarnue. She is a widow raising her 4 grandchildren who were orphaned after their parents died in 2003. Oldma and her husband fled to Monrovia in 1994 due to massive looting and killing of elderly people and youth. In 1999 they tried to return to their village but they were stopped by rebels who were demanding food. They had none to give so the rebels cut her husband's throat right in front of her.

This is Gbassie Zinnah, a widow who lives in poverty with her niece, her only living relative. The rest of her family were all killed in their village during the war so she has remained in Monrovia as she had no one to go to.

"For What It's Worth . . . "

2010-06-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Dirk Helmling, from the US, is a missionary pastor to native Liberian pastors. He has committed his life to disciple these people so they in turn can spread the Good News of the Gospel to their own people! He travels to Liberia several times a year to minister to his group of Liberian pastors.

Dirk is in Liberia right now and was able to meet with Chris, our ground worker in Liberia. Hearts for Africa was able to send along with Dirk 2 suitcases of supplies for our sponsored kids as well as some gifts from their sponsoring families here in Canada. We also sent along some New Testament Bibles for the members of Chris's weekly Bible Study. For these people, it will be their first Bible ever that they are able to keep for themselves!! We praise God for this! We will post pictures of this distribution as soon as we get them from Chris.
What a blessing it was for Chris to receive this encouragement from Dirk as well as some Christian mentorship!! You can read more about Dirk's visit with Chris on his blog at:

dirkydirk.blogspot.com

HFA will be working more with Dirk in the future in not only humanitarian projects, but also in helping to feed the souls of these people with the Truth of the Gospel to transform their lives for eternity! Please pray with us as we move forward in this direction. We are very excited to see where God will lead in this way and will continue to keep you updated on future projects and events in Liberia!

Revolution in World Missions

2010-06-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

In his book, Revolution in World Missions, Dr. K.P. Yohannan teaches the importance of not only meeting the needs of people physically, but to do all that we can to reach the unsaved people of the world with the true Word of God! He states, "when we allow a mission activity to focus on the physical needs of man without the correct spiritual balance, we are participating in a program that ultimately sends people to hell."
HFA believes this to be true and we would strongly encourage everyone to get a copy of this book for yourself. If you go to his website, you can order your free copy and also get it shipped to your home free of charge. Reading this book has changed our entire perspective of world missions and we believe that it will change yours too!!

HFA will be sponsoring two Liberian pastors starting this month. We will keep you updated on what they will be doing as soon as we receive the information ourselves. Please pray for these men as they go into their villages spreading the Word of God to their people.

Be blessed, be changed . . .

http://www.gfa.org/

Living Water . . .

2010-06-18T19:33:00.001-07:00

After the completion of our well project in Liberia, we had this plaque installed so the people who are coming to this place for fresh water can be reminded of the Living Water!!

A few more pictures of the finished well in Liberia

2010-05-31T18:59:00.000-07:00

The well project in Liberia is completed. Here are a few final pictures.
On Sunday, May 31, 2010, several residents of this community gathered at the well to have a dedication service. Pray with us that these people will not only be blessed by this fresh clean drinking water, but that they will receive the Living Water that endures forever!

Pictures of Fundraiser April 24, 2010

2010-04-24T22:03:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our Garage Sale/Car Wash/BBQ today.

We praise God for another great fundraiser! Despite the weather, we still had a very successful day for which we are truly thankful.

Visit our Facebook page to see the entire album with comments.

Pricing and sorting the night before.

Some of the volunteers.

Washing some cars between rain showers!

The BBQ stand.

Lunch guests.

Giant Garage Sale/CarWash/BBQ this Saturday, April 24

2010-04-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are having our 3rd annual giant Garage Sale/Car Wash/BBQ this upcoming Saturday, April 24 in Chilliwack. All proceeds will be going towards our general work in Liberia and Ghana. If you have items that you would like to donate, please drop them off the day before. See attached flyer for more details or contact us if you have any questions concerning this.

This is always a great community event and we would love to see you all there!!

Pictures from our Fundraiser at Hofstede's April 16&17

2010-04-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

On Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17, the HFA crew were on location at Hofstede's Country Market in Chilliwack, selling baked Dutch goods. All proceeds for this event will be going towards our current well project in Liberia.

Thanks again to all of our supporters in this! We praise and honour our Lord for all of His goodness!

Well Project Fundraiser

2010-04-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

Our friend, Els VanHierden, from Lethbridge, Alberta, has just released her novel "Ransomed". She and her husband adopted a child from Russia in 2006, then traveled to Romania in 2008 to work with orphans. Based upon these experiences, the platform for this Christian fiction novel was formed. Set in Russia, the characters of this novel deal with rampant issues such as adoption, sexual abuse, street kids, drugs, suicide, abortion, and post-abortion syndrome. She hopes that readers will take away a picture of the suffering that takes place with the hope that we can do our part to help, yet offering the promise of redemption and healing in Christ.

Each book is $20 (including taxes) with all proceeds going towards our current well project in Liberia. Please contact us if you are wanting to support HFA by purchasing a copy of this book.
If you are out of our area, please visit her website at http://www.elsvanhierden.com/book.htm to order your copy. Be sure to mention HFA in the Comments section, and the author will forward the proceeds to us.

2010-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures we have been sent so far of the well project in Liberia:

David, Esther, and a few community members "breaking ground" for the well. Chris is in the red shirt on the right.

Some of the culverts that have been purchased.

Construction begins.

Well project starts in Liberia!

2010-03-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

By the grace of God and thanks to a generous donation, we have been given funds for the purpose of constructing a well in Liberia. This will take place in a poor village community just outside of Monrovia. This will be a hand dug well that will provide fresh water for all of the 200 residents of this small village.
David and his wife Esther pastor a small church there and also have a small school called Triumphic Transformation Children Outreach Ministry (TTCOM). They have had to vacate their former school building due to lack of funds to rent this and are now teaching kids out of their home, as many as they can fit in.
The inital funds have been sent and construction of this will hopefully take place this week.
Chris, our ground worker in Liberia, will be overseeing this project and he will send us pictures as soon as he has access to a camera. Together with David, they will also manage security of this well once it is completed.
Please pray for the people of this poor community, that they will be blessed not only by fresh water but that they may experience the love of Christ by this action.

The pictures below were taken last year when this project was first presented to us. The students and school building you see are at their former location which they have since had to vacate. Notice the lack of desks and the dirt floors.

David

Esther

Inside the school room (notice the dirt floors!)

The staff and students.

Upcoming Spring Fundraisers in April

2010-02-27T09:01:00.000-08:00

We have two fundraisers planned for this April:

1. Hofstede's Market in Chilliwack ~ we will be selling baked goods on Friday, April 16 and on Saturday, April 17 at their location.

2. HFA Annual Giant Garage Sale/BBQ/Car Wash ~ at our usual location at the Free Reformed Church on Yale Road on April 24 ... items can be dropped off anytime the day before, April 23, at the church. Please consider Hearts for Africa when you are doing your spring cleaning this year :)

These are both great community events and have been a lot of fun in the past with so many people coming out to support a great cause!

Again, all proceeds from these two fundraisers will be going directly to those in need in West Africa.

More details on these to follow in the next few weeks, so keep checking here or contact us directly at heartsforafricanow@gmail.com.

Needy families in Liberia blessed this Christmas!

2010-01-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

After our fundraiser this past November, the Hearts for Africa team decided to bless some of the needy people in Liberia for Christmas. Chris, our faithful groundworker there, found some of the neediest widowed families and orphans in his community and surprised them with gifts of shoes, blankets, mattresses, cooking oil, spices, rice, chickens, and a few other items which we here in North America would consider common necessities.

As well, each of our sponsored children's families were blessed with rice, oil, cooking bowls and blankets as needed.

And finally, at our fundraiser we had set up a Christmas Angel Tree where people could purchase random items for needy people in Liberia. This was also done this past Christmas and Chris was able to locate many needy recipients for this in his Liberian community.

Attached are photos of all of the above giftings. What a thrill to see the joy on these people's faces as they received these small gifts!

Thank you once again to all of you who so generously donated funds to make this possible for these people who are in such desperate need. Because of your compassionate hearts, you have made such a great difference in their lives this Christmas!

We praise God for enabling us to do this as all glory goes to Him!

HFA YouTube videos

2009-11-22T14:53:00.000-08:00

This is our latest video which shows some of our work in Liberia this past year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP8j43Y8hX0&feature=channel

This video was made in 2008 and shows some of our work at the Buduburam Liberian Refugee camp in Ghana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReieKcRnNF4&feature=channel

Pictures of our Fundraiser Nov. 21, 2009

2009-11-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of our recent dinner/silent auction fundraiser that was held on November 21, 2009:

Our display board

Hearts for Africa Christmas Wish Tree

HFA shirts for sale

Some of our guests

The food line

Silent Auction / Dinner Fundraiser November 21

2009-11-13T17:40:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!
Just a reminder of our upcoming major fundraiser. It is on Saturday, November 21, 2009. This is a free event for everyone. Thanks to our many generous donors, we have a wide variety of great items to bid on... get your Christmas shopping done all in one place and at the same time know that you are blessing needy people in Africa with your purchases and donations.
Please contact us if you are still wanting to donate anything or would like to bring something for the potluck dinner, or if you would like to volunteer your time in helping us out in any way.
Hope to see you all there!
God bless you and your continued loyal support for our Hearts for Africa work!!

Upcoming fundraiser - Nov. 21, 2009

2009-10-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Our 4th annual Potluck Dinner/Silent Auction fundraiser evening will be held on Saturday, November 21, 2009. This venue will be held at the Free Reformed Church in Chilliwack (45471 Yale Road) just off the freeway, by the Pantry. Once again, there will be a wide variety of goods to be purchased (just in time for Christmas)! Please contact one of our committee members if you are willing to bring something or have a donation to give.
5:00 PM - silent auction begins
6:00 PM dinner
At this time, there will also be an opportunity to sponsor children in Liberia or Ghana if this is something you are interested in and feel God leading you to do.
Keep checking back here for more details as the date approaches.
Hope to see you all there!

Discipleship Classes

2009-09-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Once a month, Prince, our HFA worker and Bible student at Buduburam Camp, teaches a Bible class to our sponsored children. This is done on the last Saturday of every month and their time together also includes a meal. Here are some pictures of their most recent class. The kids enjoyed some Coke to drink as a special treat and some parents also sat in on the class.

July 26 Liberian Independence Day

2009-07-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

July 26 was the Liberian Independence Day. Hearts for Africa provided funds so our sponsorship kids at Buduburam Refugee Camp could go on a field trip day outing. They took a bus and went to a beach resort for the day. We also provided funds so the children could have a lunch during their day.
HFA sent some additional funds so the church on the camp, where Prince (HFA Bible student) leads as pastor, could enjoy a meal together for their celebrations on this day.

A woman preparing the meal for their holiday.
As there is no electricity, all cooking is done outdoors over coals.

A group photo of some of our sponsor kids before boarding the bus.

The kids getting their lunches.

School/Church roof has been completed

2009-07-21T20:56:00.000-07:00

The new roof for the IFEM Christian Academy has now been completed. We praise God for our generous donors who have made this project possible! This is such a blessing to these students who can now go to school when it is raining and the church can assemble for worship despite inclement weather conditions!

Here are a few pictures of the finalized project:

HFA makes the local paper!

2009-05-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Chilliwack Times heard about our garage sale/carwash/BBQ fundraiser and came out to do a report on it. This story was published in the May 9 edition of the Chilliwack Times:

(click on the photo to enlarge)

May 2 Fundraiser results!

2009-05-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

We had another amazing fundraiser (Garage Sale/BBQ/CarWash) yesterday! By the grace of God, the weather held out beautifully for the carwash, we had a lot of people at the BBQ and many garage sale shoppers throughout the day! We praise God for His goodness in this once again!! All glory goes to Him!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to ALL of our many volunteers that gave their time and donated items for this event. We definitely cannot pull off these fundraisers without your faithful and generous support each time.
Once again, 100% of the proceeds from this fundraiser goes to Africa as everything was donated, thereby preventing any overhead costs.

Here are a few pictures of yesterday's event:

Hearts for Africa shirts available to purchase

2009-04-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

As an ongoing fundraising event, Hearts for Africa is selling our own logo shirts, with 100% of the proceeds going to Africa! The ones we currently have in stock are long-sleeved and black in colour, with our logo on the front and our website on the left sleeve. (see attached picture) Heavy weight knit, 100% pre-shrunk cotton. Comes in sizes Medium, Large, or X-Large.
If you wish to purchase one, please contact Jackie through our email.
Supplies are limited so get yours today! $30 each.

Food program at IFEM School

2009-04-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the faithful generosity of our donours, Hearts For Africa has recently been able to fund a food program at IFEM Christian Academy. We have started by providing a nutritious meal once a week for all 150 students which includes rice, vegetables, and fish. Reusable dishes and cutlery were also purchased.

Here are some pictures sent to us from Chris:

Church and School Gets a New Roof

2009-04-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

IFEM Christian Academy (which is the same building used for the church) in Monrovia, Liberia is undergoing construction as Hearts For Africa has provided funds for them to fix some walls and put on a new roof.

Here are a few pictures sent by Chris of the ongoing process:

(by the way, you can simply click on a picture to enlarge it)

Thank you!!!

2009-04-19T00:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all of those who participated in any way to our most recent fundraiser!

Last night we enjoyed great fellowship and served lots of delicious food! For those of you that missed it, the food was absolutely fantastic. A huge thank you to Ratatouille Catering and Bryan & Bernadette Miles! Many countless hours have gone into the planning, preparation and serving of this luxurious five course meal. While Bryan could have been out making money for his own family, he instead spent these days in the kitchen working for the needy kids in Africa! All the glory goes to God!
Thanks to all those who attended and gave so generously. It was a really fun event and by the grace of God, all the unexperienced servers acted like pros! What an amazing time of fellowship and working together. Below are a few pictures of the event.

To God be the glory, great things HE has done!!

See you at the garage sale/car wash/ bbq in two weeks! Please pray for sun!

Upcoming fundraisers reminder . . .

2009-04-11T11:20:00.001-07:00

Just a reminder about HFA's next two upcoming fundraisers:

1. April 17 - Gourmet dinner served by Ratatouille Catering ... admission by donation ... must RSVP by April 14 ... there are a few spots still available at this time.

2. May 2 - Annual giant Garage Sale/Car Wash/BBQ ... we welcome any used items in good shape! and still need volunteers to help out.

100% of proceeds of these events go directly to those in need in Africa!

Please contact any one of the committee members if you interested in any of the above events or if you have any questions concerning this.

Thank you once again for your faithful support . . .

Bibles!!

2009-02-24T20:07:00.000-08:00

February 24, 2009

Here are a few pictures of the students at IFEM Christian Academy in Monrovia, Liberia with their new Bibles, purchased for them by Hearts for Africa. They received their Bibles at the school today and are theirs to keep and to take home each day.

Here is a note sent from Brother Chris, our ground worker in Monrovia:

"The students and teachers expressed appreciations and thanks to you very much.If you
see a lots of serious faces on the photos was after a very strong advise was gaven about
how this Gift should be carefully taken care of and properly make use of it. I asked the teachers about their urgent needs about the school.There were many things
talked about such as texts books etc.They frankly told me that in time past,text books
had been the major problem for them,but thank to GOD through you that,the worries of text books are over."

New books for the school!

2009-02-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

For the first time in their lives, the students at IFEM Christian Academy in Monrovia, Liberia now have textbooks! We have recently purchased about 70 Math and Language books for the school; 10 for each grade. Within the next few days, Bibles will be purchased for each student that can read, which is about 60. What a blessing!!!

Here are some pictures of the students with their new books:

Pastor Mark (school administrator) with some of the teachers.

HFA upcoming fundraiser ...

2009-02-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

Hearts for Africa is having their next major fundraiser!

Second annual HUGE garage sale/car wash/BBQ
Saturday, May 2, 2009
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Free Reformed Church Gym
45471 Yale Road, Chilliwack

Please drop off all donations by Friday evening, May 1 at the church gym.
Ensure that all donations are in good working condition and suitable for selling.

Contact Jackie or Marsha if you want to help out, donate or if you have any questions about this. It was such a huge success last year and so much fun, that we have decided to make this an annual event! As usual, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to Africa.

Hope to see you there!

The HFA Team

Here are a few pics of this event last year:

Trying to adjust to North American life. . .

2009-01-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

January 30, 2009

It's hard to describe what feelings come over us when we see life in North America. Just constantly asking the questions, why is life so extreme half way around the world? with little or no education, little or no food or water, no Christian bookstores, no Bibles to go around, etc, etc. We're not called to sort out the world's problems but the questions still linger in our minds. So we're leaving it all in God's hands because our tiny human minds are just incapable of grasping it all. We remembered from our last trip to Africa that the shock coming home was greater than the shock going there.Each person matters. We're not reaching the masses at one time, but each single person is special to God, and each single person has needs, hurts, desires, and goals and needs to hear about Christ. Each single person deserves our time and energy. We have grown to love these people like family and care very deeply for them. If you're sponsoring a child, you will understand that unique bond you have with them and you care greatly for them.
In the next few weeks we'll be trying to adjust to our different society- such an overly "proper" and "technical" country. We miss Africa, the land of culture; the friendly and social people, the driving (well, maybe not!), the sunshine, the heat, the handshakes, and the people we have grown to love there. It's really hard to describe in words, so we encourage you pray about a future missions trip to Africa. It will change the way you live and view life! We'll keep you posted as God gives us direction for the "new" school in Liberia that He has put in our path. The needs are so many but will be tackled one at a time with God's help. With God, ALL things are possible.
Thank you for your words of encouragement, prayers, love gifts, and emails. Thank you to everyone who has made this trip possible for us - absolutely life changing and we wouldn't trade it for all the riches in the world!
God bless!

We're home!

2009-01-29T21:31:00.001-08:00

January 29, 2009

Phew!!!! After 35 + hours of travel from Accra and a flight delay in Seattle, we're finally here! (Thanks, Greg and Marsha, for driving us home!) We got home around 9:00 PM tonight and needless to say are completely exhausted! As soon as we got home, the boys went to bed and were asleep instantly. We are hoping for a good sleep tonight and looking forward to being with our girls again tomorrow. Then starts the unpacking, laundry, and trying to sort through the events of the past 2 weeks... We will post more details once we catch up on some sleep :) so keep checking back for more updates.

Once again, thank you everyone, for all your support but most of all for your faithful prayers!! God is good ALL THE TIME and we give Him all the praise for everything!

Les, Jackie, Kyle and Kelvin back in Chilliwack...

Leaving Africa...

2009-01-28T15:06:00.000-08:00

January 28,2009

Well, our time in Africa has ended and we're just heading out to the airport at 5:00 for a 10:00 PM flight. We will be in transit for 32 hours (Accra - Amsterdam - Seattle - Vancouver). We appreciate your prayers for a safe journey. Hannah took the bus in from the camp this morning for a final visit.
We enjoyed watching some local people take in their fishing nets today in Accra - it's a great community event and even the boys got to help!

Love Les, Jackie, Kyle & Kelvin

Some pictures of the local people taking in their fishing nets (Kyle and Kelvin are helping them in the second picture):

Our second last day in Africa!

2009-01-27T15:55:00.000-08:00

January 27, 2009

Our time here is almost completed. We enjoyed spending some time at the market this morning... we're getting better at negotiating prices! Because we're white, the prices somehow double and even triple. Can't blame them, really. George, our driver was helping us negotiate for fairness on both sides but we also love blessing them with business, too.

Prince (HFA's university student) came into town this evening (a 2 hour drive one way) for a final meeting. We had a nice dinner together here at the guesthouse, discussing plans for the future and reviewing the sponsorship list of students that he's enrolled while we were in Liberia. He is extremely thankful for receiving this education – so thank you, supporters! None of this happens without your love offerings. Prince was sharing with us a little of how he came to the Buduburam Camp. He came and left 3 separate times, fleeing on his own with another group of people, at a very young age, by boat and by road. Rebels came to his home and everyone in the home fled in different directions; some out of windows, some out of back doors, etc. His father was killed and his mother was never found nor was her body ever identified as far as he knows. He's had little to no contact with his home village as there is no mail system in Liberia. He had to walk for weeks to get to the Monrovia, the capital, to get on a boat to Ghana. He's an orphan and considers us his parents since he has none. He is a very kind and thankful young man! We shared with him the photos of Liberia and he was very excited at the progress the country is making.
George also joined us – this was a real treat for them to enjoy pizza since they can never eat anything other than the market food because of the high cost of food at restaurants and grocery stores. (for example, yesterday at the grocery store, they had a 2 L of CocaCola Cherry for $8 cedis (equal to about $8 Cnd). Crazy! At the Monrovia airport yesterday, they were going to charge us $2 for one can of coke so we had a quick change of heart.

We have one final day here tomorrow. Bitter-sweet leaving Africa. The culture shock coming home will be worse than coming here. We miss our girls terribly and can't wait to see them again!! But we really enjoy the people here – such a people-friendly culture. We will miss seeing all the people lined up along the streets.

Blessings to you all. Thank you for praying for us – many times we haven't had the mind or time to pray and by God's grace He has sustained us each moment.

Waiting at the market while they run and get more supplies (waiting is teaching us more patience!):

Choosing drums to purchase:

I couldn't resist holding the store owner's baby (I wanted to take her home with us!!):

We're back in Ghana!

2009-01-26T15:34:00.000-08:00

January 26, 2009

Greetings from Accra! We arrived safely back in Ghana this evening, great flight with Kenya Air – they actually left 30 minutes early! One thing we noticed when coming back is that Liberia has no street lights. Everything is much newer here in Ghana but Liberia is rebuilding… We were discussing a lot of Liberian history with the Ngenda's – such a treat as we wouldn't have that opportunity had we not stayed with them. We are very thankful for their hospitality and it was hard to leave, for the kids too. There wasn't much view from the sky as the dust continues to blow off the desert, all the way to South America!!! Seems like it's a little warmer here – what are we ever going to do back in Canada!?!?

We had our final meeting with Chris in town this morning. Chris is in constant relationship with the families of our sponsored kids. He knows where they live and directly enrolls them at their schools. Here is a picture of him with Les:

Pray the largest prayers. You cannot think a prayer so large that God in answering it will not wish you had made it larger. Pray not for crutches, but for wings. Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one even bothered to ask. (Billy Graham) AMEN!!!!

To God be all the praise and honour and glory for the great things He has done!

This is a newly paved road from Elwood Junction to Roberts Airport. The airport is approximately one hour outside of Monrovia:

Some local Liberian people taking their vehicle for a walk :)

2009-01-25T21:14:00.000-08:00

Hearts for Africa Team 2009:

L to R: Kelvin, Jackie, Kyle, Les

A few group photos of us with our host family, the Ngenda's (Grassroots Ministry, Liberia), in Monrovia, Liberia:

"Together we will work until He comes!"

Pouring out our hearts. . .

2009-01-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

January 25, 2009

The fresh organic fruit here is absolutely amazing! The bananas and pineapple are so sweet!! The pineapple grows on small plants:

Ok, we're really going to share our hearts today.... We've prayed a lot about this trip, direction and wisdom and for our hearts to break for the things that break God's heart and He is doing just that. Praise God – we wouldn't have it any other way; however, a lot of emotions come with that.

We had a discouraging time yesterday. All the questions coming through my mind. I need to keep reminding myself I'm not here to solve everyone's problems, but just to help. We can't not help just because the parents are lazy or because the parents should do more because then we wouldn't do anything. Is that what God is calling us to? What is our calling in helping the poor and pointing them to Christ? Just because everyone lives in poverty, doesn't mean we help no one. Do we empower more adults so they can provide their own funding for schools? – that would be a great idea, but in a country of unlearned and uneducated and untrained workers, this is difficult. How can this be when North America lives in such richness and many of these people have but a mere existence (Praise God for the hope of Eternal Life because this won't last long compared with what's to come…)

It's just so easy to lose focus and that is really hitting me today.

I told Les we should move here and oversee projects so we can do more but I know Chris will do well. He is such a faithful, humble man. James says he loves Chris mostly for his humbleness (they are from the same Pele tribe). A man of humility can easily be taught anything. You can't work with a proud educated man. Chris is catching onto the computer, too. We just talked to him and he's working on it and it's making sense. phew! He is so eager to learn. He wants to start a business and get a job. I agree. The work we need him to do for us isn't a full time job and doesn't warrant a full salary. He says he wants to go to university for bookkeeping. We'll ask him more about this with our meeting tomorrow. He has ambition and he has been one of the most faithful people we've met.

His girls were so excited to see us yesterday. James is worried about them, this is such a critical age - (especially for rape). They are 13 or 14 years old. He's worried that Chris could lose them if he's not careful. That worries me, too, when Chris isn't home. Those poor girls need a mother, and you can tell the way they hung onto me the entire time with their arms wrapped around me. I reminded them I wasn't Mother Marsha (we went there in the dark with flashlights and he lit some candles in the house) and they said "I know, we miss you and love you so much." My heart just broke. This life is just so unfair but we are not promised a life of luxury and ease but of suffering and laying our lives down for one another. Jesus is our complete example.
When the people are illiterate, they cannot reason and don't have a vision. It makes total sense. They can't see the needs that lie ahead if they haven't been trained. Ignorant people can't see how to dig themselves out of their pit. I am praying that we become more patient and less judgmental.

We had a little "down time" today and the Ngenda's took us to the ocean to relax. There were men loading a dump truck of sand BY HAND with shovels!!!! (see picture below) You should have seen them work. We played some rugby football and washed off in the ocean afterwards. God is good ALL THE TIME!!! He is so faithful and it's only by His mercy and grace that any of us have what we have. ALL the honor and glory belongs to Him alone. God help us if we take any credit ourselves.

It's with huge emotion that we leave Liberia tomorrow. Naturally this country tugs at our hearts – this is our daughters' homeland. Who would have thought that God's plan was so much bigger than adoption? So much unfinished work, but we will continue to work with Chris and Mark when we get back to Canada. Kathleen told us today that our girls can keep a dual citizenship (Liberian and Canadian) until they are 19 and then they have to choose.
Did you know that Charles Taylor (x-Liberian president on trial for war crimes in the Hauge) was a Baptist pastor? People just cover everything up by claiming to be a pastor and talk a lot about God but never walking in obedience and honesty...sad! Our hearts are broken for these lost people and especially if they don't know Christ. Our hearts were saddened Friday when we learned that our girls' birth mother is Muslim (the Vai tribe is mostly Muslim). The first thing she needs is the true and living Word of God!

Another thing that is becoming more real to us is that God will take you up on your dangerous prayers. Pray for God to expose the crap in your life and change you. Pray for God to change you more and more to be like Him. Pray for God to expose your pride. Pray for God's vision. He'll do it, but it won't be easy…. BUT we wouldn't have it any other way because the joy and God's presence that follows is beyond description!!

We nearly got stuck at the beach today - all 10 of us had to pile out first:

Loading sand by hand into a dump truck at the ocean:

January 24, 2009

2009-01-24T13:46:00.000-08:00

Safety is an ongoing issue for Liberians, but we are well taken care of here. Living with a local family in their compound gives us a real good dose of this culture, the constant struggles of daily life here and how they manage by God's faithfulness and sovereignty over their lives. Home invasions are common here and the police force is not respected. The UN will not allow the local police force to carry arms so there's no respect for them. Our driver today ended up being someone who works for the Liberian police force so it was interesting to hear his side of things.

Today was laundry day so the generator was started to run the many loads of laundry. :) We went into town this afternoon (driver was 2 hours late) oh, well!... :)

We met Chris for an exchange of paperwork and did some "shopping" downtown. We found the only shop in Monrovia where we could purchase Liberian t-shirts (owned by an American company). We drove past the University of Liberia and all the students were sitting outside in their desks. Apparently there are 3,000 new students and the building cannot handle that capacity. So it's first come, first serve in the morning otherwise you stand for your class or maybe don't even get in.

Here is a quote that was sent to us:

We find that if, instead of praying for our own comfort and satisfaction, we ask the Lord to enable us to give to others, an amazing thing happens... We find our own needs wonderfully met. Refreshment comes in ways we would never have thought of, both for others, and then, incidentally, for ourself. Elizabeth Elliot

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:5

Doing laundry:

A new stadium recently built... Chinese workers come in to train the local people in rebuilding:

The Ministry of Health building being taken over by squatters since the war:

The neighbourhood where we're staying:

Commenting on this blog ...

2009-01-23T22:38:00.000-08:00

Some of you have tried to leave comments for us on our blog, but were unable to do so. We have changed our settings to allow you to do this now. If you do not have a google account, you can post your message as 'anonymous', but do let us know who you are when commenting. We would love to hear from you :)
HFA

Pictures of Liberia (Jan.23)

2009-01-23T15:45:00.000-08:00

Some pictures from our day in Liberia:

Picture 1 - Kelvin holding a monkey at WACSN ... aaaawwww!
Picture 2 - Street vendors
Picture 3 - People riding the back of a truck, African style!
Picture 4 - Bridge into Freeport district
Picture 5 - Cattle crossing
Picture 6 - A bridge that collapsed last year
Picture 7 - Josh giving Chris the computer rundown
Picture 8 - Chris and his daughters

So, this is Liberia!

2009-01-23T15:32:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2009

Today we took care of some personal business. This morning was filled with working on some adoption work for a friend. Nothing is simple or easy but our day was off to a long start. Then we headed over to WACSN (an orphange in Monrovia). James dropped us off and we piled into the WACSN van. A half hour into our trip, the van broke down, everyone just sitting calmly like this is normal. They called for another van but it had no seats. Very simple... just transfer the seats from one van to another and that is easy when nothing is bolted down. :) (see picture below)
We drove past the bridge (where the final stages of the war came into the city), past the President' s house, past Freeport and into the slums. We actually see people cleaning up garbage in the city. There aren't as many open sewers here as in Ghana, and not as many people wear the traditional African clothing here – a lot of American influence. The freed slaves from the US came back and started the republic of Liberia. We even saw workers rebuilding the power lines on the main roads downtown. There is a lot of rebuilding going on and the government is paving the main roads. The population of Monrovia is approximately 750,000. The air is very dusty as the north winds bring the dust off the desert. Some people say it's hotter here than in Ghana, but not really. It's in the low 30's some days but cooler nights this time of year. The skies here are cloudy because of the dust coming off the sahara. Everytime you blow your nose it's black!!

Our day of two simple stops became a 7.5 hour trip. James picked us up again at the orphanage and back home. James and Kathleen run a ministry here called Grassroots Ministry. James disciples pastors and Kathleen homeschools their 4 children and also teaches literacy classes to women.
Josh is teaching Chris the basics on his computer and Les is teaching him how to use the camera needed for sponsorship. We thought the day was over until we decided at 7:45 PM to bring Chris home ourselves instead of getting him on a taxi. So James drove us in the dark (not an easy task here!!) to his home so we could see his place – good idea because there was way less traffic. We dropped James off to make a visit and he let Les drive the rest of the way home, enjoying the use of the horn!! :) I wish you could be here to see the sights, hear the horns, smell the air, etc. Actually we can hear the ocean waves crashing at night if all is quiet, that's how close we are! James and Kathleen have been awesome hosts – James is always ready to drive us around and Kathleen has great meals on the table for us all, trying out some Liberian foods.

Here is a picture of changing the seats from one van to another:

Pictures from school in Liberia (Jan.22)

2009-01-22T15:56:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures that we took on our visit to the school today:

Picture 1 - Pastor Mark and Nicole.
Picture 2 - The bathrooms at the school.
Picture 3 - Some of the kids in the school.
Picture 4 - Classrooms divided up as best as possible.
Picture 5 - Kathleen taking over teaching while we spoke with the teachers.
Picture 6 - Some of the teachers holding the donations given to them; they will give them out to the students as rewards.
Picture 7 - Teachers passing out candy.
Picture 8 - Candy... a special treat!
Picture 9 - Chris, HFA's ground worker in Liberia, with his new Bible ... a happy man!

January 22, 2009

2009-01-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

In a world with so many needs, it's hard not to try and constantly analyze and understand life over here, asking the questions why, why, where, why, how, why, how long, why? We aren't meant to carry those heavy loads, just called to do our part.

We met Chris and drove to the school to meet Pastor Mark Anthony and his wife Nicole this morning. The school and church are the same building, called IFEM Christian Academy (International Freedom Evangelistic Ministry). Pastor Mark and Nicole are missionaries from Nigeria. They were called to Liberia 13 years ago and stuck it out through the war when bombs were landing near their home, fearing for their lives. God reminded him constantly of His sovereignty and faithfulness to them, that He would provide all their needs. His testimony is amazing!!
Pastor Mark saw the great need for education since there is 80-85% illiteracy in his church, so he started a Christian school through the church. He has such a burden for his community children to know the Lord. They don't charge the community children for the schooling so there is little to no funds to run the school. The school runs classes from Kindergarten to Grade 6 , all in one building without dividers. The teachers are all volunteers so the turnover is huge, no commitment. They have 7 teachers on/off that can come whenever and some of those teachers also work at 3-4 different schools to earn a living and/or trying to get some teacher's training at the University of Liberia. The teachers there are mostly untrained, although some are trying to get an education but there is no funding. The quality of the education depends on the education of the teachers. There are 150 students crammed into this little building. Mark and Nicole are also volunteer teachers at this school. The school has NO textbooks for the students. Pastor Mark provides free evening classes for adults and their evening services are done in the dark or by candle light.
James (who we're staying with) knows and has worked closely with Mark for many years. The integrity and humility of this couple really impressed us. I will list the needs of this school for those on our email list.

We are safe here on the outskirts of Monrovia. There are 3 night guards and 4 dogs in this gated property. James is thankful that a mechanic has arrived on the scene!! We bless God for another day of safety and provision and for all the things He's teaching and showing us.

Here is a picture of us in front of the school:

The roof needs to be continued to the outside wall:

We've arrived in Liberia!

2009-01-21T17:24:00.000-08:00

January 21, 2009

Greetings to you all in the name of our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!

There is so much security at the airport in Accra. Armed security everywhere! It's very peaceful and we feel safe here. And you think that's bad, the grocery store has security at the end of every aisle. Going to the grocery store is a major luxury as most people do market shopping. Inside stores are for the rich.

For all of you who have invested personally into our trip, just know that it is worth every dollar when you see the joy on these people's faces that HFA has kept our promise to return. The second time Marsha went, they just never imagined that she would keep her promise to come – especially in a world where they receive so many empty promises! And for those who donate to Hearts for Africa, know that EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR is spent as God directs and used with caution! We don't just walk around handing out money to whoever asks for some. We work alongside those who live there and know the needs best… unless, of course, God places a special burden on our hearts. When the people thank us, we remind them it is NOT us who is giving you the help. First, it's God's money; second, we have some very generous people in Canada who care deeply for you and love you. They are the ones sending us out.

We have now arrived safely in Liberia with Kathleen waiting at the airport for us. It was a 1.5 hour flight, excellent service and they even fed us a hot meal on such a short flight!! James & Kathleen have a comfortable home here in the district of Monrovia. Getting used to a new country is always a little overwhelming. We got the rundown on security tonight – all I can say is please pray for continual safety for this family!! We are only here 5 nights but they have chosen to live here to serve God out of obedience to Him. Reminds me of Moses: He chose to live with the suffering Israelites rather than the passing pleasures….. The generator runs only in the evening for the lights and the fridge is powered by solar, but they will run the small generator tonight for us so we can run the fans – they are so accommodating!!! . Good thing we love camping!! :)

The Ngenda's have 4 children, 3 of them are boys. Our boys are thrilled of course!! When we got here, they were ready for the beach so off we went, piled in the 4-Runner and it was just a 10 minute drive to the ocean. It was a great relaxing time, and our visiting was extended as the keys got locked in the vehicle. (see picture below of us breaking into the vehicle!)

Before we got settled into our room, Les and Josh had to catch a lizard in our room first to rest my mind!!!
Tomorrow Kathleen will bring us to meet our guy Chris at the school and we'll let you know what the day brings. Chris was one of our workers in Buduburam and returned to Liberia last fall. Thank you for your prayers. Praise God that He has everything under his control.

Arriving in Monrovia, Liberia:

Here is a picture of us breaking into our vehicle:

Pictures from January 20, 2009 ...

2009-01-20T16:39:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pictures that we took while we were at the Buduburam Camp today:

Picture 1 - Some of our sponsored kids at school

Picture 2 - Kelvin with some sponsored kids

Picture 3 - Open sewers in front of the homes - this one is in concrete, whereas most are not (you can just imagine the stench!)

Picture 4 - Some of the formula and supplies we purchased today

Picture 5 - Distributing the formula

Picture 6 - Jackie holding a little girl ... "This makes me miss my girls back home!" she says. This is what it's all about, loving on all these people!!

Another busy day at the camp!

2009-01-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

January 20, 2009
Hello from Accra, where the population is over 5 million in the city and close surrounding areas! I have never seen so many people in my life!... people everywhere.. it seems like more because everyone does business OUTSIDE, not inside like North America. Vendors line the streets inside and out, making use of every opportunity of slow traffic, walking between – they are very skilled at dodging traffic. They work late into the evening and are back at it at 6 AM!! Quite the amazing culture and we are getting used to it now. We noticed that there isn't nearly as much garbage around – apparently a year ago the government decided to pay city workers to clean up garbage. There's very little garbage pickup as most people just make piles along the road and burn it. The fog on the way home was only diesel smoke and burning garbage, and the thickness of it hurt our eyes. A little aircare would be helpful :)
The horn is an important tool in driving here, just as important as mirrors. They aren't honking out of rage, but just to let you know 'I'm beside you, don't move over'. Two lanes can quickly be made into 3 when traffic is thick, and drivers often conversing with one another. Another usual sight is men urinating alongside the road (no public washrooms). It's a good thing we sweat out all our liquids during the day.
Today at the camp was much more peaceful except our entry. The same UN Ghana police guy gave us a hard time, and he repeated everything he told us last night – time for him wasn't an issue so that wasted a good 30 minutes!! We had to call Prince Farley to the entrance with another big man from the church. They settled the disagreement, signed some papers and we were finally off.
The camp seemed a little "less" shocking than yesterday. The sponsor families were waiting at the church when we arrived an hour late! They are SOOOOO patient. After a debriefing, we headed off to start sponsorship and other men from the church distributed rice to the sponsored children. We headed out to the 4 schools at the camp that were closed. We learned that you get what you pay for in terms of education. The cheaper schools have less quality education. The prices have increased greatly but it's worth it. These people need a chance for Christian education so they can get jobs outside of the camp and provide for their future.
Prince is a man of great integrity and watching very carefully every dollar spent. He will go through great lengths saving quarters by purchasing school books and supplies at the market instead of the camp. We asked many questions from different sources about the camp. Many people left the camp last fall because the government was putting a tremendous amount of pressure to close the camp. People left out of fear. A few weeks ago, a new government was elected and now people are returning because they have a better chance for education in Ghana and the new government seems to be ok with the camp remaining open. Others tell us the camp will close in March/April. The education in Liberia isn't the same quality (YET!). Prince will continue to send the rest of the children to school throughout the week.
A generous donation was made for a need to be met as God moved our hearts. Yesterday there was a woman sitting near the back with this skinniest , tiniest little baby I have ever seen. I knew then that we should work with Hannah (midwife) to get good formula for these babies who were sick and not breast feeding. We were able to purchase 50 cans of formula plus cups with straws for these babies. The mothers were at the church and waited for 2.5 hours to receive this, not ever hearing a sigh or complaint. They were so grateful...one baby had malaria and was so sick. (see picture below) Hannah will do follow-ups in 3 days and pass out more formula as needed. She made a list of the 10 most serious cases and by the time we got through that list, 10 more mothers with babies arrived. Amazing how the word spreads!!! Hannah strictly warned the mothers to make sure their baby gets ALL the food given to them and they may not drink any of that milk themselves - she will check on them. If she finds out otherwise, they will be immediately disqualified for further help. Praise be to God ... there is hope for these babies!! They love their children as much as we do!
Hannah delivers babies at her house. The women come, she gives them an IV to speed up the process and after 4 cm, they deliver in 10 min. Wowzers!! She keeps them in her very tiny home (about as big as our kitchen) for a few hours, then sends them home. The next day the mother goes to the clinic for bathing and checkup.
As we were having a bite to eat with George, Prince, and Hannah, they had a TV screen watching the biggest waste of 43 million dollars: Obama's inauguration. Shame on our governments when there is so much physical and spiritual need around the world where this money could go a long way to those who REALLY need it.
We arrived back "home" at 8 pm. Tomorrow we leave for Liberia. We praise God continually for His guidance, safety and grace towards us. We are living on approximately 4 hours sleep each night, but He is sustaining us! In His grace we stand!

Here is the picture of the sick baby with malaria and high fevers that we saw today. We have provided for her to get some medicine:

More moms with their babies.

Pictures from Buduburam Camp (Jan.19)

2009-01-20T15:38:00.001-08:00

Here are a few pictures taken yesterday when we were at the camp.

Picture 1 - In front of Prince Farley's university

Picture 2 - Paying Prince Farley's school fees

Picture 3 - Clothing distribution

Picture 4 - Rice distribution

Picture 5 - Welcoming us and praising God

A Full Day!

2009-01-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

January 19, 2009
**WOW** what a day!!!
The day started early as George picked us up at 7:30 AM. We drove for just under 2 hours (past the camp travelling west) to the Pan African Christian University where we are sponsoring a student. Prince is his name and you can't even imagine how happy he was to see us… not even imagining he would expect us to keep our promise to him. Marsha met this Liberian man at the camp last January when she sent him to school. Most of his studies are theology and he pastors the church at the camp that we're working with. He has no living relatives that he knows of and so he calls us his family. It was a great visit. We enjoyed a Coca-Cola with the dean of the school in their cafeteria, we felt very honoured. We piled him in the small car with us and away we went with our luggage hanging out the back. Upon entering the camp, the UN saw our supplies under the half-opened trunk and gave us a rough time entering the camp. What do they care when organizations come in to help? CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL!!! or should I say a bribe is all they wanted??! Prince should have registered us at the door and the guy was real ticked. After that episode, we continued our rough ride through the "road" towards the church, dodging people, sewer, garbage, and scrawny chickens. We ended up walking the last bit since George's car was dragging with all that weight. Hannah came running and we held one another for a long time!! She is a single mom and life is very tough at the camp for her. As a midwife, she had just finished delivering a baby that morning and went home to clean up and was worried she wouldn't be there on time.
We were welcomed at the church with loud singing and dancing, welcoming us in Jesus' name – very emotional to say the least! Prince could hardly speak for the joy was overcoming him as he introduced us. Then we laid out all the clothes, shoes and Bibles. The Bibles were taken up immediately by the church staff as they are short on Bibles. Hannah doesn't even have one so shell get one. George only has a New Testament so we'll take care of that, too. They are hungry for the Word!!
While we layed out the clothes and started distribution, some men went for a few bags of rice. In the meantime, it was total mayhem – we have never in our lives seen such greediness for used clothing!!! They were each allowed to take one item and then once everyone had one, go for another and so on until all items were gone. Of course the shoes, sandals, and crocks went first and then the fighting began…. You'd think something like this could be simple but not so in a world where there is nothing!! At one point we actually feared for our lives… ok, *I* did, Les was more calm.
An electrical cord caught on fire and all of a sudden the women and children stood up, screaming on the top of their lungs, rushing out the only door in the back. The immediate thought of guns and fighting came to mind. We were at the front so I was thinking as fast as I could how we could take our stuff and run….. After a young girl stepped on the fire, someone pulled out the plug and the episode was over with our hearts pounding.
This mayhem lasted for a few hours and we just wanted to leave and let them deal with it the way they know best. Our voices just weren't loud enough – wish Marsha was here!!! But Prince begged us to stay, saying it would be a lot worse had we not been there and so we did. We called Marsha on the way home and she encouraged our perspective on things here… we can't even imagine being that desperate!!
We read out names of the sponsor kids that we had and found the ones that were left at the camp. We are not starting any new sponsorships at the camp but will be faithful to those we have committed ourselves to. We hope and pray that those who have started sponsorship with these kids can continue. We will be registering them tomorrow morning first thing and then finishing up with rice distribution to the sponsor families. Sponsor families, please check your email for more info on this. We'll get an updated status on the camp tomorrow when we meet again with Prince and Hannah. We will also have more info about our sponsorship in Liberia once we have been there and have assessed the situation for ourselves. Contact us when we return if you are wanting to sponsor someone or check our website in a few weeks when we have the updated information on this.
On the way to the camp, there's a toll booth, we got pulled over asking us again about the luggage. The police were standing there with machine guns. Just wanted to know what we were transporting,
On the way home we picked up our lost luggage – yay! a fresh change of clothing was very welcomed. :) All of a sudden our modest guest home seems very clean and luxurious. :)
To God be all the Glory and Honor and Praise!
Sending our love from Accra,
Les, Jackie, Kyle & Kelvin.

Culture Shock!

2009-01-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Accra, Ghana!! Warm today, low 30's,… having a little culture shock as we drove around and did a few errands today. Still trying to get used to the time as we all had a restless sleep for the first few hours, but when we did finally sleep, we woke up with a shock finding out it was 2 PM!!!! Panic! We jumped up and called our driver George.
As we drove to meet Claudia today, we saw a man without legs sitting on something like a skateboard trying to sell his goods. George, our driver, is a very pleasant and trusted man around here who has ONE wife and four children. :) We needed to get money exchanged so instead of going to the Forex, he took us to this park and yelled something to this guy on the street who met us just around the corner as we pulled off the road. He traded in some cash for Ghana Cedis – felt like a drug deal as everything is done pretty secretly. George says these private vendors give better rates.
Oh, back to Claudia. Terrie from Chilliwack is adopting Claudia who is Liberian but lived at the Buduburam Camp. She is in a foster care type home and one of the volunteers there is from Halifax! Had a nice little chat. We met Claudia with Marsha 3 years ago and that's how long the adoption has been in progress. Please pray for this adoption : Canadian Immigration declined her Canadian visa and now has gone to appeal, date set in March.
We saw this cutest little baby girl in her mother's lapa at a roadside vendor.
After an hour at the airport tonight, our lost luggage still isn't with us. More patience to be learned and today we are thankful for the clothes on our backs and the food in our stomachs!!! That is more than what 80% of this world's population has.

We actually went to the pool this afternoon, just for 2 hours as we needed to relax a bit and didn't have an agenda today. The water was great! We picked up some eggs and jam to go with our bread, we just had dry bread for breakfast - it's amazing how we can make do... trying not to bear the burdens of Africa on our shoulders but it's so hard...
That's it for today. Tomorrow we leave early for the camp with 200 lbs of clothes, shoes, and Bibles.
Thank you for your prayers.
Love, Les Jackie Kyle & Kelvin

Here is a picture of us with our driver, George, putting some minutes on our cell phone:

Jackie with Claudia:

We've arrived in Africa!

2009-01-17T22:56:00.000-08:00

It's been a long day and a half but we have arrived safely minus one piece of luggage, the one that has most of my clothes in it, I guess our first lesson to learn is patience!!! Good flights, great airline, had strong headwinds over the Sahara so that slowed us down. We were late arriving here but praise God that the driver from the guest house has more patience than most North Americans. He waited 3 hours for us!! By the time we got through customs and claimed our lost luggage, it was an extra 2 hours and such is life out here. Another trip to the airport tomorrow night to pick up the one luggage that was rerouted to Nariobi!?!?!
Within minutes our sweat glands were sprung into action, around 28 but the humidity is shocking. Oh, the first smells of Africa... sewer, sweat, garbage and diesel. Feeling a little out of our comfort zone but after a good night's sleep things should be more clear to us.
The flights felt extremely long but the boys were thankful for their psp's.
It is now 11:00 PM here, 8 hours ahead (Amsterdam was 9 ahead). I don't think Africa changes their times.
We miss the girls a lot, especially when we got to the guest house and are staying in the same room we first found the girls!! sob,sob...
Will keep you posted...
Les Jackie Kyle Kelvin

We're at the airport! Flight changes...

2009-01-16T15:15:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone... we're at Vancouver Airport right now (it's 11:20 AM) ... went through customs, etc. Our flight from Portland to Amsterdam was cancelled. Big episode... but Northwest Airlines was absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!!! Can't say enough about how they just worked it all out. So they rerouted us from Vancouver to Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Accra. Better flight because going to Amsterdam won't be as long this way. We won't be leaving Vancouver until 1:00 this afternoon now instead of 11:45 this morning as originally scheduled. Some of our luggage was overweight but they didn't care about the few pounds. One bag was over but looked like it was under because half of it was laying on the ground. God just works it out in His own ways!!!

We were getting breakfast this morning and the guys were ordering and I thought "we need something for the girls, too". Miss them already!! It is sooooo quiet.

Traffic was good coming into Vancouver, just fog. Thanks, Marsha for the use of your laptop. We are enjoying a free wireless connection.

Les & Jackie

Here's a picture of us just before check in ...

Leaving soon!

2009-01-16T07:22:00.000-08:00

In just a few hours we will begin our exciting and long journey to West Africa. We are extremely grateful to all of you for your prayers… and also for those of you who have so generously given financially with this trip!!!! We are humbled by your support!

Please pray for our two precious daughters as we leave them behind with Jackie's parents. It wouldn't have been possible to take them along and we will miss them terribly!!! Please pray for an extra measure of energy for my dear mom & dad as they have their hands full – but are fully capable.

Please pray for direction as there are many decisions to be made in such a short time. We will miss Marsha's wisdom and discernment on this trip but are trusting God to impart His wisdom to us also.

It will be 24 hours by the time we leave Vancouver and arrive in Accra, Ghana. God Willing!!!

5 more days ...

2009-01-11T18:07:00.000-08:00

Please pray for us as we plan a trip to Ghana and Liberia. Les, Jackie, Kyle & Kelvin are planning on leaving this Friday, January 16 for Ghana. After a few days work at the Buduburam Refugee Camp, we will fly over to Liberia for 6 days and then back to Ghana. If you're interested in sending anything along for the children at the schools in Ghana and/or Liberia, small items such as balloons & hard candy are a real treat and you can contact Jackie before Thursday to get these items to her.

During our trip we will be sending regular updates, as our internet access allows, so be sure to check here regularly for those updates as well as pictures.

Welcome to our blog!

2008-12-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

In January 2009, Les, Jackie, Kyle and Kelvin will be traveling to Monrovia, Liberia and Accra, Ghana for two weeks on a missions trip. Be sure to check this blog as they relay their experiences there.

For more information about Hearts for Africa, check out our website at http://www.heartsforafricanow.com/, or email us at heartsforafricanow@gmail.com .