Success stories:
Our HIV ministry has growing in so many ways. Here is a little about each person’s life.
Agness – Agness is 38 years old and has five children between the ages of 5 and 19. Her children are beautiful and smart. She does the best she can and provides what they have needed for school. It’s been such a blessing to hear her youngest daughter sing and pray in English. This little girl is 8 years old and so sweet. Agness has been amazingly healthy. She started on ARV medicines in April and has experienced only mild side affects.
After her husband passed away in 2004, Agness and her family have been living in the kitchen structure on her aunt and uncle’s property. Her uncle is the chief’s assistant for one of the villages and has given our HIV program part of his property for a garden. Amazingly, God has provide WATER for this garden which is really a miracle when you consider how impoverished these people are because there is no water and no rain for about seven month of the year.
Agness is the oldest of our friends suffering with HIV. She is somewhat of a mentor for the others. We are so blessed by her life.
She would like prayer for her health and strength, housing for her family and physical and spiritual needs of her kids.
Emilida – Emilida is 21 years old and has one child, Madalo who is three years old. Emilida was also diagnosed with tuberculosis and has been taking medicines.
Emilida’s husband left her and her daughter and she lives with her aunt. She reports that the foods we give her are sometimes stolen. Everyone in the house sleeps in one room of the house.
The day we met Emilida, she could barely walk and just lay at our feet as we spoke to a crowd one rainy day this past January. She had swollen glands in her face and neck and was experiencing terrible pain, but forced herself to come hear what we were saying. Eight months later, she is healthy, and shares her beautiful smile with us. She is now able to play with and care for her daughter.
Emilida requests prayer for good health and strength for herself and her daughter.
Ireen – Ireen has two children and is 30 years old. Her husband passed away in 2003. She and her children live with her sister. Ireen struggles to provide for her children and shares the foods we give her with the others in the house. She is praying for her own housing so she can take care of herself and her children better.
Ireen is very intelligent and speaks good English. She is a tremendous blessing to Mandy especially as she is able to interpret for Mandy’s lessons and for the HIV group. Her love for the Lord is so refreshing. Ireen also helps with the orphan program.
Ireen is reasonably healthy and strong and started the ARVs in March. She gives credit to God for providing nutritious foods so she can fight illness and gain weight. Her prayer requests are for housing and good health.
Doris – Doris is the mother of three beautiful daughters. Her husband abandoned the family, but she was able to keep the house. She began taking ARVs in March and has not experienced any side effects.
Doris seems to be the one in the group who is most susceptible to illness. It breaks our hearts to see any of these ladies ill for any reason, because they are so fragile. When she is ill her children still have beautiful smiles. They are part of our orphan program and never miss a lesson.
She requests prayers for her health and for the spiritual growth for herself and her daughters.
Mwajuma – Mwajuma is a lovely 21 year old who is not married. She was already on the ARV medicines when we accepted her into our program, so she just needed to eat nutritious foods to boost the medicine’s effectiveness. Mwajuma was in Form Two, which is like high school (Sophomore) and knows some English. She was forced to quit school due to her illness.
Mwajuma lives with her father and step mother. She asks for prayer for her health and spiritual growth.
On August 5, 2006 Mwajuma, Doris, Agness, Emilida, and Ireen were all baptized in Lake Malawi. They continue their study of the Purpose Driven Life. Please pray for these new Christians.
Frances – Frances is a sweet 9-year old boy who lives with his grandmother. When we first saw Frances he literally looked like a skeleton with skin. He always had a smile on his face, but it broke our hearts to think that he was only eating one time per week.
When we were in the US this past summer (2006), Frances was hospitalized for a few weeks. His health was weakening. When we returned from the states, his grandmother came to us asking for assistance for Frances. The grandmother said both of the boy’s parents died of AIDS and she has done the best she can for him, but fears it is not enough. Mandy was heart broken over this boy and how we don’t have the funding for him and she just prayed while Dimba was talking to the grandmother. Mandy prayed with tears, “Lord Jesus, what am I supposed to do with this information. I want to help so badly. What can we do?” At that moment it was the time during our orphan program for the singing and praying - when everyone started praying together all at once. It’s just a beautiful time. God spoke to our hearts and we along with Dimba came up with a plan that will cost very little but will do so much for the boy. God gave us hearts overflowing with joy that had been broken in pieces and picked back up and put back together. God is so good and His love is amazing how he used this little boy who is truly “one of the least of these” and surely one of the most needy of all of God’s people. We saw Jesus in him that day.
We have added Frances to our program. He is shy and when his grandmother is gathering the foods we give her to fix for him he can’t help but smile. His hands cover his mouth so we don’t see him beaming. Praise God for this boy who is improving spiritually.
Nailes and Serge – Nailes is the mother of Emilida and she is also HIV positive. She gave birth to Serge about 8 months ago. Since HIV is transmitted through breast milk, we decided to add Nailes and Serge to our program. Please pray for God to keep Serge healthy and strong and free from HIV. Pray for his mother to remain healthy to care for her child. Nailes is not receiving the foods we are giving to the rest of the women in our program because of the cost of the formula for the baby. It’s all we can afford to do for her at this time. She seems healthy and strong.
Look for more success stories in the future……..
Friday, August 25, 2006
About our family:
It all began on June 25, 1976. We have been happily married for 30 years and have 3 wonderful children.
Tim is 27 years old and is married to Vicki. They have 3 kids, Zachary and Daniel who are Vicki’s children from before she met Tim and together they have Alyse who is a beautiful, lively 3 year old. Tim and Vicki were married on October 16, 2005. Vicki gave her life to Christ and was baptized just prior to their wedding. They are members of Clearwater Christian Church in Clearwater Florida. Vicki plays the flute in the praise band and Tim runs the soundboard.
Sarah is 25 and on June 17, 2006 became Mrs. Timothy Hayes. They were united in a beautiful setting in New Orleans. It was a great in-between place for our two families and their friends to gather so no one had to travel as far. Tim and Sarah are living in Orlando where Sarah is a 4th grade teacher at Deer Creek Elementary School and Tim works for T-Mobile.
Andy will turn 24 on August 19 and is beginning to make some good life choices. He is seeking God’s Will and is eager to find his place in this life and a fulfilling career. He is still single, but very available! He is a member of First Christian Church of Seminole Florida and is the soundboard person for the Contemporary Worship Service. He is learning to play the bass guitar and works for Domino’s Pizza.
Larry’s parents, Pat and John Renfro have lived in Bella Vista Arkansas for many years and will soon be relocating to Iowa near Burlington where Larry’s brother, Kerry and his family live. They are both enjoying retirement life.
Mandy’s parents, Jim and Sandy Patterson live in Kewanee Illinois and are active in First Christian Church. They have not fully retired as Sandy works for the school system as a teacher’s aide for mentally and physically handicapped children. This is strenuous work, but she loves it very much and can’t seem to pull herself away from it to retire. She also has been working concessions at the Peoria Civic Center and the Peoria Chiefs Baseball Complex. Jim also worked concessions in Peoria and drove a bus for the Kewanee School District, but has recently retired due to his diagnosis of stomach cancer.
It all began on June 25, 1976. We have been happily married for 30 years and have 3 wonderful children.
Tim is 27 years old and is married to Vicki. They have 3 kids, Zachary and Daniel who are Vicki’s children from before she met Tim and together they have Alyse who is a beautiful, lively 3 year old. Tim and Vicki were married on October 16, 2005. Vicki gave her life to Christ and was baptized just prior to their wedding. They are members of Clearwater Christian Church in Clearwater Florida. Vicki plays the flute in the praise band and Tim runs the soundboard.
Sarah is 25 and on June 17, 2006 became Mrs. Timothy Hayes. They were united in a beautiful setting in New Orleans. It was a great in-between place for our two families and their friends to gather so no one had to travel as far. Tim and Sarah are living in Orlando where Sarah is a 4th grade teacher at Deer Creek Elementary School and Tim works for T-Mobile.
Andy will turn 24 on August 19 and is beginning to make some good life choices. He is seeking God’s Will and is eager to find his place in this life and a fulfilling career. He is still single, but very available! He is a member of First Christian Church of Seminole Florida and is the soundboard person for the Contemporary Worship Service. He is learning to play the bass guitar and works for Domino’s Pizza.
Larry’s parents, Pat and John Renfro have lived in Bella Vista Arkansas for many years and will soon be relocating to Iowa near Burlington where Larry’s brother, Kerry and his family live. They are both enjoying retirement life.
Mandy’s parents, Jim and Sandy Patterson live in Kewanee Illinois and are active in First Christian Church. They have not fully retired as Sandy works for the school system as a teacher’s aide for mentally and physically handicapped children. This is strenuous work, but she loves it very much and can’t seem to pull herself away from it to retire. She also has been working concessions at the Peoria Civic Center and the Peoria Chiefs Baseball Complex. Jim also worked concessions in Peoria and drove a bus for the Kewanee School District, but has recently retired due to his diagnosis of stomach cancer.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
About our ministry:
Since we arrived in Malawi on March 21, 2005, we have been diligently learning the Chichewa (Chee chay wa) language native to Malawi. Our first 6-8 months were spent receiving private tutoring, and then we were on our own to go out and practice what we learned to improve vocabulary and understanding. It’s been a challenge that has thrilled us whenever we make even the tiniest accomplishments.
Even more thrilling are the opportunities we have had to present the gospel message through our interpreter. Oswald Dimba has been our right-hand man in the villages where we are working. In January 2006 we began an orphan program and an HIV/AIDS program. Dimba is our village coordinator. He says he has prayed for 3 years for God to do something for the orphans and people with HIV in his home village. Now he says we are his answer from God.
In our orphan program, we feed and teach 200 orphans. They are so hungry to learn and each week they learn a new memory verse. Their physical needs are so great and we love providing for them as we are able. Sometimes we are even able to purchase medicines for some who are sick with Malaria or infections. We are especially blessed when some of the older orphans say the memory verses from scripture in English. They always receive a special treat for that.
On Thursdays, Mandy teaches a class for those living with HIV. There are five women who have recently been baptized in Lake Malawi. They are eager to learn anything we teach them. They are still going through the “Purpose Driven Life” book. We have recently added six more women and their children. Soon, we hope to begin another class.
Larry is working on improving the food supply in the areas where AfricaHope is working. He has been learning from other NGOs and individuals about irrigation, PermaCulture (permanent food supplies through improved agriculture) and nutrition.
The orphans in our program have asked Larry to teach a class on baptism so they will know what they need to do to be saved. They are so excited and he began teaching that class on August 10.
Since we arrived in Malawi on March 21, 2005, we have been diligently learning the Chichewa (Chee chay wa) language native to Malawi. Our first 6-8 months were spent receiving private tutoring, and then we were on our own to go out and practice what we learned to improve vocabulary and understanding. It’s been a challenge that has thrilled us whenever we make even the tiniest accomplishments.
Even more thrilling are the opportunities we have had to present the gospel message through our interpreter. Oswald Dimba has been our right-hand man in the villages where we are working. In January 2006 we began an orphan program and an HIV/AIDS program. Dimba is our village coordinator. He says he has prayed for 3 years for God to do something for the orphans and people with HIV in his home village. Now he says we are his answer from God.
In our orphan program, we feed and teach 200 orphans. They are so hungry to learn and each week they learn a new memory verse. Their physical needs are so great and we love providing for them as we are able. Sometimes we are even able to purchase medicines for some who are sick with Malaria or infections. We are especially blessed when some of the older orphans say the memory verses from scripture in English. They always receive a special treat for that.
On Thursdays, Mandy teaches a class for those living with HIV. There are five women who have recently been baptized in Lake Malawi. They are eager to learn anything we teach them. They are still going through the “Purpose Driven Life” book. We have recently added six more women and their children. Soon, we hope to begin another class.
Larry is working on improving the food supply in the areas where AfricaHope is working. He has been learning from other NGOs and individuals about irrigation, PermaCulture (permanent food supplies through improved agriculture) and nutrition.
The orphans in our program have asked Larry to teach a class on baptism so they will know what they need to do to be saved. They are so excited and he began teaching that class on August 10.
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