Fundraiser June 17 & 18, 2011

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 ....

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

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

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

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!

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

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