Home of Hope
Dear Friends,
As in the past, Home of Hope shared Christmas blessings with our regular street children, mothers, and elderly men. We began at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of December 21st with the mothers and children, a total of about 45. We showed the Jesus film to the children, and afterwards we gave them candy, toys, and clothes. We provided the mothers and children with a meal of chicken, bread, biscuits, and cool drinks as well as clothes for the mothers, too.
The regular group of destitute men also received packages on the same day as the mothers starting at 7:00 a.m. A total of 60 packages were distributed to the men, each containing a packet of biscuits, soap, and a t-shirt. The men were also given a meal of chicken, bread, and salad.
We have twenty-one sewing ladies plus their children. As a Christmas gift, each lady received a bag of meal, a toy or doll, candy, a cool drink, and biscuits to share with their children. They were all served chicken for lunch.
Eleven boys attend the City Presbyterian Church Club (school) to learn, and then they come to the Home every day for food, Bible lessons, medicine, showers, and clothes-washing. They had a very special Christmas day. For breakfast, they were given chicken, rice, and gravy with salad and tea. Each boy received a gift of an educational toy to help with spelling and math. They were also each given a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some sandals.
The boys were then taken on an outing to the game park at Mukuvisi Woodlands where they saw crocodiles, ostriches, tortoises, rabbits, giraffes, and antelope. A Christmas lunch of chicken burgers with a salad and a Coke was enjoyed by all. To cap the day, each boy received a package which included chips, sweets, and biscuits.
Joan and Craig, along with a couple of the boy’s friends, went to visit and take gifts to Anelka and O’Brien at the orphanage where they are cared for. Both boys are HIV positive. O’Brien was away visiting a relative over Christmas, which the Home encourages.
We pray that the Lord continues to work in the hearts of all what is taught at Home of Hope - that life is not only about receiving but also giving, even out of the little that we have, because it is so much more blessed to give than to receive.
We give thanks for the additional funds received for Home of Hope, especially at Christmastime. Blessings and gratitude from us to you. “Great is thy faithfulness, oh God my father,” and with his people at work, all things are possible.
With much love,
Joan, Craig, Ria, and Dave.