Orphan Hope

Name Change = Blog Site Change

2009-02-16T07:05:00.000-08:00

ORPHAN HOPE has changed it's name
to :
LOVE'S DOOR!
Why?

1. Because as we grow, we do not want to infringe on other similar organizationswith similar names.
2. Because, although the word "orphan" is wonderfully descriptive,
it is not positive to the children themselves.
3. Because as our organization has grown, so has our vision.
We see the Spirit of Love moving us to create
Transformational Communities
all over the world.

Where orphans will have forever homes with loving, forever moms;
Where the lost will be found - simple churches dotting the landscape.
Where schools and clinics and gardens will transform disciples.
Where jobs will be created.
Where people will be trained for taking the Good News to the world.

This is LOVE'S DOOR.
Open it and find the answer to your wildest dream.

Our new blog site is: www.loves-door.blogspot.com
Our personal site for our thoughts and travels is: www.danandregina.org

This will be the last blog on this site, though we will leave it here for a time as a testimony to God's work in this world.
God bless you,
Dan and Regina Bumstead

BELOVED

2008-12-01T04:37:00.000-08:00

We left amid a flurry of packing and goodbyes to those-we-love-the-most, and here we are in Cape Town, beginning the adventure again. I tagged along with Missy and Michelle yesterday, buying rice and sardines, spinach and soap, then separating it all into food parcels for selected needier families in Masiphumelele. It’s all about sustainability, but in some cases a hand-out seems the only answer.

We visited in the home of one recipient, Nofirst, possibly 40 years old. It’s hard to guess ages here—we had to ask to determine if the five-month old on her back was daughter or granddaughter. Granddaughter she is, child of the woman’s 16-year old daughter, who is in school. Nofirst also cares for two teen-aged nieces. Her older son, the family breadwinner, was recently shot to death in an act of random violence. Out of desperation, she’s been encouraging the girls to drop out of school and try to find work. We hope that this weekly food parcel will allow them to continue schooling. Without education, there is little chance of the generational cycles being broken.

Nofirst’s home, a 12’ x 12’ wooden shack, is neat and tidy. It contains two single beds (for four adults and a baby), a smallish refrigerator with TV perched atop, suitcases storing clothes, a two-burner hot plate and some cooking utensils. No stockpile of groceries—people here live day-to-day.

Nofirst sits gingerly on the bed. She is in obvious pain from arthritis in her legs and hip. Missy explains the food program, and that her sponsor will be praying for her. Michelle takes her photo and we pray for relief from the pain, both physical and emotional, for awareness of the One who knows her and loves her. I tease and smile with the little one on her back, and our translator Wendy tells us the child’s name, Luthando, means “I Am Loved”.

I Am Loved! Could I too be known by the love bestowed upon me, could this be my identifying label? Jesus, could your eyes be the mirror that tells me who I am? It’s only in experiencing your Love for me that I am able to speak to I Am Loved, and to Nofirst, of their own belovedness. That Love does not shy away from these drab, maze-like alleys, these neglected children and countless bored youth. That Love encircles the five young men from Masi who were baptized in the Indian Ocean days after we arrived. That Love embraces them, and me, together. We are the beloved, children of a Father beyond imagining.

“Love us, God, with all you’ve got—that’s what we’re depending on” (Psalm 33:22).

DAN AND REGINA MOVING TO AFRICA

2008-10-18T00:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of our ministry - where we have been and where we are going. If this is something you want to join in with, contact us - orphanhope@gmail.com. If you want to get on a short term team to Zambia in March; or help to pioneer a base in Zambia next year; or info for CPX; or contribute - let us know. Hope all will just say a few prayers for us, and some will take us on as a prayer project. Thanks. Dan.

Zambian Jewels

2008-09-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

--posted by Regina (Zambia travels July/August 08)

A lookout spies us as we approach on the dusty road, and scurries back to alert the others. The sea of excited children breaks into song to greet us, and in a moment we are surrounded by happy mayhem. We come from a world they can only imagine, and their lives are just as incomprehensible to us.

We are in Luanshya, Zambia, visiting One World Vision, a fledgling orphan-care work that feeds 165 children daily and plans to open a school in September. Luanshya is located in the Copperbelt, a mining area whose economy went south a few years back as the mines closed due to mismanagement. The children come from a squatters' camp of 17,000 people. Fifty percent of those are considered the poorest of the poor, with no income at all.

The leaders here are local men and women who have deep concern for the children of their community and serve out of love for Jesus. They come from various churches and volunteer their time around other responsibilities. Vincent Chumya retired from a government job as an electrician a year ago. He and his wife Petronella now pastor a church and care for a household of 22 persons. Morgan Mumba is a school teacher, and an energetic creative thinker. Partially because of his experiences as the parent of a handicapped child, he volunteers with several ministries to children. Katherine Banda's heart for children is obvious in her banter with them--she plays a daily supervisory role. Aaron Mulenga, founder of the group and the youngest at age 25, is a man of passion and sacrifice. Because of his own struggles as an orphan, he is touched by the plight of those around him. As a single man, he cares for eight orphans in a very poor area of town. Their dilapidated rental home has a roof only over the bedrooms. We are exploring income-generating options with Aaron.

What does this ministry need? They need everything! Large cooking pots, school furniture and supplies, sewing machines, carpentry and gardening tools, school teachers and tutors, builders, nurses. But even more, they need people with a vision for transforming a community through the love of Jesus--people who will mentor and share life with others, who will in turn pass that love on further. Is this you? We're looking for a few good men and women who will commit to three to six months, who will trade in McDonalds and Starbucks in order to share the lives of the many desperate children of Zambia.

These are the ones who pull on me--children in tattered clothing, children with ringworm on their heads, with hard bloated bellies because of intestinal worms, with leathery reptilian skin from lack of bathing. These are the same children who are overjoyed to see us, who are fascinated to trace the dark blood vessels in our arms, who fight for the privilege of holding my white hand. Aaron Mulenga's group dreams of nurturing, caring for, providing a solid foundation for these. If you'd like to donate or volunteer, contact us to become a part of this venture of faith.

The Face of Hope

2008-06-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

--posted by Regina

I’m starting to recognize the look of extreme hunger—starvation, if you will. Huge eyes stare out of a face devoid of emotion. Body movements are slow and calculated—energy is conserved for more important matters, like breathing. This hopelessness was written on our little Haitian girl’s face nine years ago, and I’m seeing it again in children’s eyes here in Mozambique.

Last month, xenophobia in South Africa sent 40,000 Mozambicans living there pouring back over the border—leaving their hopes for a better livelihood and opting instead for the relative safety of their impoverished home country. In a land devastated first by civil war and now by AIDS, this only adds to the staggering numbers of needy children. All Nations Mozambique, run by South Africans Pieter and Rika Boersma, provides two family-style baby houses near Maputo. I am privileged to spend six weeks investing in these babies’ lives. Let me introduce you to one of them:

Hawa arrived at the baby house three weeks ago, wearing the stoic face of hunger. Although she is almost three years old, she weighed in at 17 pounds. Claw-like hands dangle at the ends of arms that are frighteningly thin. When I pick her up, I instinctively move very slowly—the ribs so close beneath her skin feel terribly fragile. Her hair is light and reddish, another indication of severe malnutrition.

AIDS has bulldozed through Hawa’s family. Her father succumbed recently to the disease, leaving behind a sick wife (20-year old Felizmina) and three children. And now Hawa’s frail little body shows the stark effects of the illness. Pieter and Rika gave Felizmina food for the healthy children at home, offered her a jewelry-making class that could lead to a job, and received Hawa into their house—mom’s face brightened considerably. Smiling now, she turned to go, embracing every one present except her little daughter (who now has a new home). As Pieter says, “She already abandoned Hawa long ago.” I can’t pretend to understand these things—maybe detachment is the only coping mechanism left to her.

Hawa is now on anti-retroviral drugs, beginning an upward journey. Because she is still so weak, I’ve had the privilege of being her “mom”, giving her special attention. She sleeps beside me at night, her little hands grasping to find mine in the dark.

What excitement to see the first smiles, to hear her impish giggles as she splashes me at bathtime! It will take time to erase that impassive mask completely, but there is hope for Hawa, as evidenced by many of the other children who came here severely malnourished but are now flourishing. These are lives literally being saved, these are children who, God willing, will one day be men and women of integrity, transformed by the love of Jesus and influencing Mozambique for the kingdom.

(For more information about All Nations baby houses in Mozambique, see http://www.allnationsmozambique.com/.

Love Trumps Victory

2008-06-09T00:02:00.000-07:00

June 9--posted by Regina

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in third-world countries over the past number of years, and yet my heart is breaking anew tonight as if it were the first visit. Last week there was Hortencia, the feverish young mom writhing in pain for days on a grass mat covering the dirt floor of her hut. At least we were able to get her to a hospital, but diagnosis was unclear—something involving her ribs and spinal column.

Yesterday several of us made our weekly visit to the TB ward of a local hospital. It’s a safe bet that almost all of the residents here have AIDS. Because of weakened immune systems, they usually succumb to tuberculosis or pneumonia. The facility had a “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” feel to it—quite clean, but appearing to be a few decades behind modern medical science.

A staff person announced our arrival, and a dozen women shuffled out of rooms-for-four in slow motion. The majority are walking skeletons with impossibly long, thin limbs. They settled into chairs around small tables while the worker served up tea. Through an interpreter we shared words meant to uplift and encourage. We prayed with them for healing, for comfort, and to know that One who passionately loves them waits at the end of the journey with open arms.

My friend Regina (a common Portuguese name) slipped back to her bed early, feeling worse than usual. I stood by her bed praying, crying, gently stroking her back as the frail feverish body convulsed again and again with coughing, then spitting into a cup. Do these women realize they are dying? How is it that the one Regina is blessed with abundant opportunities and resources, while the other seems so doomed?

This morning several of us accompanied Luis, a young Mozambican staff member of the All Nations baby houses, on a home visit to a very poor village. The mother is HIV positive and is interested in giving up her two-and-a-half month old baby, Antonio. After leaving the road, we walk on footpaths for 15 minutes before arriving at a simple reed shack that is home to eight people.

Mom is 16 years old and seems amazingly detached, considering it may be the last day she sees her son. Grandma is holding a blanketed bundle, and consents to let me have a turn. I can only weep when I look inside. Two alert eyes look up at me out of an emaciated little body, as tiny as my premature son at birth. He can’t possibly weigh over several pounds. Antonio’s arms and legs dangle limply, and his head is covered with a nasty cradle cap infection. Grandpa is concerned about child trafficking, and so Mom and a cousin bring the baby with to visit the baby house and see for themselves how the children are cared for. Pieter and Rika offer to care for the child only until he is healthy, or to keep him long-term, never cutting contact with the family. The final say rests with Mom.

It feels like there are missing pieces to this story, but in the end Mom bends to pressure from her father and nonchalantly decides to keep the baby. Her lack of responses and her strange detachment make us wonder if she is mentally delayed. The village footpaths are lined with ditches filled with standing water, perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes. If AIDS or starvation don’t claim little Antonio, then surely malaria will. Outside of a miracle, I can’t believe this child will survive without intervention. And yet I’m told that the Mozambican government cannot take him without Mom’s consent…

I am broken, I am undone by the suffering I see. Where is the God of Elijah? I want to see miracles! It’s hard to feel so powerless. I’m doing a lot of crying these days. That seems to be about all I can do.

But maybe that’s the point—perhaps love is the greatest gift I could give, trite as that sounds. Maybe my tears can somehow begin to convey the heart of Jesus, broken for his Mozambican children. Maybe that’s the starting point from which all other ministry flows. It’s not always about victory—but it IS always about love.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” (James 1:27).

(POSTSCRIPT: good news! Little Antonio's mom changed her mind, and he is now the newest, tiniest resident here, bathed and wrapped in clean clothes and much love.)

The Fatherless, The Oppressed

2008-05-25T04:21:00.000-07:00

Adoption stories are always close to my heart, but our South African friend Raymond’s is exceptional—so much so that it deserves a separate blog on another day. For now, let it be said that his quest for the Mozambican relatives he never knew has resulted in parents he thought were dead, who understood Raymond had met the same fate as a child! There was excitement, there was thanksgiving, there was emotional exhaustion in this unexpected reunion. Yesterday was eventful on a number of fronts.

Since their son had come home, Raymond’s family decided to kill the fatted goat—but somehow, Abram and Dan were elected to do the butchering. The gory deed was captured on video, a piece of corrugated tin underneath to direct the flow of blood away from our team’s tents pitched nearby. By the time it was all said and done, there seemed to be more substance in the tub holding the entrails than on the kid’s scanty carcass. [Over the next days, Little Goat was to provide three meals for us: cleaned innards cooked up in a sauce over rice, other meat and bones the next night, and an honorary lunch just for the three older men (Dan included) consisting of the cooked head with cornmeal mush.]

Dan and I left the goat suspended from a tree, and walked with Raymond to visit Isabel, a village widow struggling to raise her two boys alone. Three old men sat under her tree enjoying a glass of something that appeared to be corn whiskey, served up by her eldest son, about 12 years of age. This is how a poor widow fills her children’s stomachs—she peddles one of the few things other poor people will buy.

Isabel is hoping we can help her. She picks through a pile of overgrown green beans from her garden, shelling the biggest ones and snapping the smaller ones into short lengths as we talk. We speak of helping her oldest son go on to secondary school. As is usual, her face is emotionless, but I see her shoulders slump—school is important to her, but I think she also hoped for more immediate relief. Our goal is not to give handouts but to think in long-range terms…but it’s very difficult to walk away from people who are struggling for daily bread. God, show us how best to use the resources we’ve been given! [Several days later we drop off 25 kilograms of ground corn, laundry soap, clothes and blankets—which seems woefully inadequate.]

Before we return home, we stop by the house of Raymond’s new-found sister, Hortencia. She lies on a mat in a windowless stick-and-mud hut with her one-year old daughter Nina and new boyfriend. We met her the night before when she came to greet Raymond. She wasn’t feeling well (headache and fever), and we prayed for her then.

Now, Hortencia is worse. She has a lot of pain near her ribs, has been to the clinic and has a handful of pills but is obviously not doing well. We make amateur guesses as to diagnoses, plead again for God’s healing, and promise to return in the morning.

Today some of our team transport Hortencia to the hospital in Maputo. Her breathing is shallow, she is in intense pain and seems almost delirious with fever. We sing softly and sponge her face and neck with a wet cloth while she moans. We suspect malaria on top of broken ribs from a fall. Baby Nina goes with—she is still breastfeeding. Nina is a chubby little darling with two reasons for flies to love her—a dripping gooey nose and constantly-damp cotton panties (no Pampers here).

It is a struggle not to be overwhelmed by the staggering needs on every side. How does one not become jaded or cynical? I will choose to believe there is a God who knows Isabel and her boys, who sits with Hortencia on the dirt floor in the darkness of her hut. “You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed” (Psalm 10:17, 18). I will not look to the pitifully small lunch that I carry, but to the One who holds unending resources. I will plead with my Father not only for provision and healing, but for mighty streams of justice and mercy, for eyes and hearts to open to his transforming love.

PICTURES FROM CHRISTMAS IN AFRICA

2008-03-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE IN POSTING - BUT HERE ARE SOME OF THE FAVORITE PICS FROM THE DECEMBER TRIP TO MOZAMBIQUE.

Kids camp with 120 orphans where we loved them, taught them classes on caring for themselves, AIDS, abuse, Jesus love for them, and just lots of fun.

Crafts were a big deal - where we are so used to these little things in everyday life - it is a once in a lifetime thrill for them.
We bought them backpacks, team tee shirts, pencils and paper and a few other items. Then they filled out their letters to their sponsors. It was precious.

We went into remote Yao villages and shared the love of Jesus for these who have never heard of him. We trust there is a growing sense of the goodness of this Jesus in their minds and hearts as we leave.

We were planning on building a house for a very vulnerable family - Oswaldo's family is how it is known. Oswaldo, shown below, died the day before we got there. He was 14 years old (hardly believable looking at him), but so deformed and malnourished that he looked more like 8. He could only scoot on his bottom, not speak anything but grunts, but his loving charming personality captivated all who met him. We loved that little boy, and now trust that he is in the arms of Jesus - healed and full.

WE ARE PLANNING ANOTHER TRIP IN THE SUMMER IF YOU WANT TO COME - write me at orphanhope@gmail.com

A WHISPERED CALL

2008-03-24T04:07:00.000-07:00

“Got purpose?”

“Nope, not right now.”

That’s my answer for today to the question merrily splashed across Dan’s t-shirt. I know, I know, it’s not the CORRECT one. Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll have wallowed long enough in the great questions of life and reminded myself of the unforeseen happenings of the last year that have brought us to this point.

Who could not see the hand of God in it all? Africa’s orphans had captured our hearts and so we resigned positions, not knowing exactly where we were headed, but wanting to follow the call. In the next months, we sold or gave away the trappings of 33 years of housekeeping, collecting and accumulating. It was a year of major adjustments—not only were the jobs and belongings gone, but over the past twelve months our family had shrunk from seven to three, and for the first time in 27 years I was no longer caring for young children.

Life as I knew it is gone, and the future is a big question mark. We came to Cape Town following a whisper of a call, trusting that during these six months of schooling the path would become clearer. So far it’s only become more muddied, with more options presenting themselves. It’s not just as if we lost balance for a moment, but as though the great tectonic plates upon which we’ve stood for years, decades even, are rumbling, ominously shifting, so that very little seems certain anymore.

Part of the stirring comes as our thinking is challenged here. We want to make a difference! But there are three strikes against us: first, we are ex-pastors, accustomed to an up-front style of leadership. It was our heart, it is still our heart, to love, care, encourage. But we see that to foment a movement, a growing surge of groups of Jesus-followers, a simpler, more grass-roots model is needed. The proverbial old dogs need to learn new tricks. So we are exploring new ways of thinking, fresh ruts for these creaking wheels.

Secondly, we are white. I’m feeling less and less sure of how white Westerners can empower and resource Africans who desperately need what we have to give. How do we share without creating shame, or dependency? Practically speaking, what place IS there for us here?

Strike three: we are no longer young. White Americans can perhaps be forgiven if they have youth on their side. It’s all about releasing young leaders, the next generation. Yes! I agree! But what happens to the old people? How can the generations work together? As Dan says, who knows, maybe we are not to do much orphan work at all, but are to mobilize and walk with young people, black and white, to start such work in various locations.

More questions than answers here. But I trust that in this shifting sand there is a rock. In my continuing battle with disc pain, I’m learning to trust the One who loves me as never before. I’m catching a glimpse of a life free of guilt and self-condemnation. I’m falling for the Lover of my soul. I’m being healed, physically and otherwise. So…though “purpose” may be eluding me at the moment, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (from Romans). Thank you, our friends, for walking with us. It means more than you can know!

2008-02-17T23:26:00.001-08:00

Dec 13 - Jan 3 four young people went to Mozambique to give love and courage to some of Jesus' best friends - orphans. Here is a brief overview, awaiting a better written report.

Pressed Down, Shaken Together, Running Over

2007-12-16T16:45:00.000-08:00

It was a child’s birthday party, with the guest of honor decked out in her best, fresh flowers and a lovely meal of rice with vegetable sauce on the rough-hewn table. Sarah (pronounced Sah-rah) was ten years old, and we happened to be visiting in Lichinga, Mozambique over her special day. Piles of gaily-wrapped gifts were noticeably missing—in fact, we were the only ones to give her a present of that sort. From our bags of American stuff, we pulled a handmade doll donated by friends at home. To see the delight on not only Sarah’s face, but all nine of the orphaned children who live here---and the way they shared that little doll among themselves…well, that could be my Christmas right there.

Because of Sarah, and Gideon, and Antonino, and the many children we have met in our travels, there came a germ of an idea…how could we connect our two worlds? How could we “stop for the one”, as Heidi Baker suggests, to not be so overwhelmed by the tremendous needs in Africa that we become paralyzed, but to do just what we can? So we cranked out a brochure and promoted “Christmas Hope”, in which you were asked to write a letter to a Mozambican child and enclose $6 to be used for school supplies, hygiene items, or clothing. We hoped to gather 120 letters to send with Liana and the team going to Africa for Christmas.

Meanwhile, Liana’s musician friends staged not one, but three concerts in the last six weeks, donating proceeds to our Christmas Hope project. Rather large checks started arriving as well, from people who really didn’t want to write 20 letters! In the end, we were begging anyone who would listen to just write the letters and forget about enclosing the money—we know these letters will be treasured by the children.

Well, Liana’s team departed last night, taking with them 150 letters and double the money we were envisioning sending! Thank you, thank you for embracing this project—the team gets the very fun part of the deal, passing out letters and gifts and helping the children write return letters. So many letters were filled with encouragement and blessing. Thank you for being a voice of hope, which is so key to the Christmas season. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light…” Into a world of hopelessness and despair enters Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Thank you for being Jesus to a child this Christmas!

Christmas Hope: A Christmas project for Africa's kids.

2007-11-20T10:30:00.000-08:00

To see a child's face light up at Christmas is always a joy- even more so when that child lives in abject poverty, where death and disease are a relentless reality. What better place to spread the hope that Jesus brings?
You can partner with Orphan Hope by writing a note for a child in Mozambique, and sending $6 to help purchase school or art supplies, personal hygiene items, or clothes. These children are classified as orphans or vulnerable children and range in age from 4 to 15. They are a part of one of two organizations: Kutwanana in Maputo or Joy Village in Lichinga.
To thank you for your help, the child who receives your letter will write you a note in return. Thank you for giving hope to a child this Christmas!
Thank you so much for getting personally involved in helping needy children. Your money and letter will go to a child in Mozambique. Here is what you can do if you would like to help us.

Write a letter to a child. Tell about yourself or send a blessing.
Enclose $6 with it to help bless the child (Make checks payable to Orphan Hope). Stamp and mail to us by December 10th to ensure delivery by Christmas. Our address is below. Please include your name, address, and e-mail so the child can write you back.
Start praying now for the child who will receive the blessing of you gift.

Thank you for giving hope to a child this Christmas!

Our address:

Orphan Hope
P.O. Box 65

Sheridan, OR 97378

NO SIMPLE ANSWERS

2007-10-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

There are no manuals for helping the poor. Every day holds a new challenge; over every hill is a new victory or defeat; behind every door may be an obstacle, seemingly impossible to overcome. There is a constant need to hear God's voice for the moment. The job cannot be done on our own, or we will go home early with tails tucked in and knees shaking.

Meet Shula Mulenga, a 22-year old Zambian woman who oversees orphan care and a Christian school which operates out of her parents' church in Maputo. This is Kutwanana, a ministry with which Orphan Hope is working. Shula knows too well the constant need to depend on God. She feels the desperation of these children. She writes:

"Last week I visited the home of a child who has been abandoned with her granny. The granny was sick, weak and despondent, had no hope for the future, spoke for nearly an hour crying as she shared her life with me. I just held her hand in silence. She was so afraid of what would happen to her granddaughter if she were to die. I prayed a simple prayer and promised her food. Today I went to visit her again. She was well, happy, laughing with her neighbour. I joined her in her laughter for a while, then we spoke for nearly 45 minutes. By the end of our conversation she was being contentious with me and arguing with her neighbour.

I have two options: get annoyed at her or just laugh it off. I chose to laugh-- why? because I remember how she was nearly dying last week and how God has changed the situation so that she has enough energy to be cantankerous with me. A part of me is saddened that she doesn't see the work of God in her life. We are such forgetful beings. I left her, not having solved her grandchild's problem. It's another one I leave before the Father. I am determined not to worry about the girl, Father knows what to do."

"I have walked hard and long today but there is still one more walk to take. One of the girls from church has lost her mother. I rally up the youth and we go to the funeral. Her mother could have been saved from death, but she stubbornly stuck to her ancestors and would hear nothing of going to the hospital. My parents are not with me. What do I do? What's culturally right? I tell my girls to sing songs, I pray the boys can give a prayer--they do all that. I look around the room, and I wonder which one of these women poisoned the lady's mind so that she refused anything else but ancestral worship and witchcraft...it doesn't matter, she is dead now. They are quietly grieving. It's strange, people don't cry here, they are not encouraged to cry. We just have silence that is pregnant with grief, fighting to be expressed."

"Before we leave, we talk to our friend. She is in her world of grief that none of us can enter or even understand. She tells us she needs to go to school for an exam. In my head I am thinking, 'Girly, your mother just died,' but another side of me understands. We all need to cope with deep grief. We need distraction, and that's how she is coping. We leave her with her mother's friends and family, some who are involved in the cult that made her die. So I tell Father, here is another one I can't do anything more for. She is yours--I have done what I can for the day."

Without knowing the Father's great love, without having someone greater than ourselves to whom these situations can be entrusted, what hope would there be? Thank you, Shula, for sharing so vulnerably, that we can be jolted into remembering what many in the world deal with on a daily basis. May we also be reminded to pray for her--for broad shoulders, for wisdom to know which of the many needs to focus on, for the life of Jesus to continually spring up within her in the face of dryness and death.

CPX TRAINING 2008

2007-10-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

Part of the Bumstead family (& Donna) with Kyle in Cape Town.

Floyd and Sally McCLung

Dear friends of Orphan Hope,

As many of you know, Dan, Regina, Liana, and Christopher Bumstead, along with probably some others from our spiritual family, will most likely be heading to Cape Town, South Africa in Feb 08 for a six-month course with Floyd and Sally McClung. I wanted to let all of you know about it so that if God has been speaking to you about possibly joining with us in planting a Kingdom Outpost in southern Africa sometime in the coming few years, you could consider coming to this training session with us! It is expensive and a long six months! We are starting to sell things off now (Liana’s selling her motorcycle!) and figuring what to do with our home, etc. Applications need to be in by Nov 1, and money due when you arrive.

Just a bit about it:

The Passion of CPX:
To see the Lamb of God worshiped in all nations of the earth.
To help build movements of small, simple and easily reproducible communities of Jesus followers in all nations of the global family.

The Purpose of CPX:
To prepare servant leaders to reach the unreached in the frontiers of today’s changing world: in every sphere of life and every people of the planet.
To live a lifestyle of worship, prayer, fasting and personal discipleship that is focused on God’s father-heart for the nations.

The CPX Plan:
To re-imagine church as a simple, missional community of friends and not an institution of programs and meetings.
To study and practice the three core-values of the Kingdom of God.
To become familiar with the invitations and commands of Jesus as a foundation for discipleship.
To learn the five practices of reaching out to people who don’t follow Jesus.
To experience serving and learning in a multi-cultural context.
To understand and be able to tell the story of God: creation, the fall, redemption and fulfillment.

The People Who Lead CPX:
The people who lead CPX in South Africa are mature and experienced mothers and fathers in the Lord who have served in multiple cultures over many years.
Their desire is to create a safe learning environment so participants can learn and grow in God’s grace.
The leaders seek to impart the skills, disciplines and passions they believe in through mentoring relationships.
The leaders of CPX enjoy life! They believe in celebrating life together by taking time to enjoy each other, God’s creation and the people, art and culture of the city they live in.

SERVE – A three, six, or nine-month leadership internship for those who have attended the CPX leadership-equipping program, or who are contemplating the possibility, or who simply want to learn by serving for a short time in a missional community.
The internship is a hands-on learning process whereby the interns are active in ministry outreach 30-50 hours a week in one of two local townships. Staff leaders meet with the interns regularly to coach them, teach them, and to hold group discussions about what they are learning and applying. There is a small cost involved, plus one’s living expenses.

The goal of the internship is to gain insight and perspective into how to be part of learning and serving missional community. The interns participate in a holistic model of church planting and community renewal. The interns are invited to utilize their passions and skills in the process of reaching and establishing a movement of small, simple, self-sustainable and easily reproducible communities that both win people to Jesus and provide for their felt needs. In other words, a New Testament style revolution! The course is called CPX – Church Planting Experience. They teach us simple church, then we go into a ghetto and put it into practice by starting churches. We learn to minister, then do it. They teach cross cultural interaction, then we do it… That is for three months, then we go for two months to one of their bases to serve as interns – watching how they operate and doing it alongside. We end up back in Cape Town for a final month. For more info check out this video of Floyd.

http://www.theconversation.co.za/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=11

or this site for the CPX http://www.floydandsally.org/training-programs/

Actually, you don’t need to go to SA to do this – Richard Wenger is doing it in Sheridan! He is teaching a course Monday nights with the express purpose of raising up leaders who will be equipped to plant churches; and then he wants to start planting them. And his course is only four or five months and costs only a small donation. Furthermore, I am building a house right between his house and mine that you could buy for the right price, and everybody would be happy! I know I am crazy advertising this to the world, but something is saying to cast off restraint, and go for the gold – and you never know who God may be nudging to join along.

Just check it out with your pastor.

Also, there is a trip to Haiti planned on Thanksgiving week (contact True Vine Christian Fellowship, 503-472-2226) and a trip to Mozambique over Christmas break (contact orphanhope) that you should contact soon if you want to go.

God is moving us along faster than ever these days – do you feel it? I think it is time to move aggressively into what we are called to, trusting God to put the resources and fine-tuned guidance in place as we take the first steps of obedience. What if He returned next year – or if He took you home to him? Would you have completed your course? Do you have a fool-proof excuse?

Just do it!

Dan

“Do little things…. Love greatly” Mother Theresa

Micro-business in Maputo, Mozambique

2007-09-11T11:16:00.001-07:00

Mozambique micro-business

We are pleased to announce that Orphan Hope has finally been able to launch a micro-business loan program! Kutwanana, located in Maputo, Mozambique, offers home-based health care and programs for orphans and vulnerable children. These micro-business loans have been offered specifically to their care workers who are mothering orphans in their own homes. In helping these women to support themselves, Kutwanana is setting a vision in their congregation and community for orphan care and Christian ministry. Those who give themselves for the work of God are being blessed with a livelihood--a rarity in this area. Businesses started to date include gathering and selling firewood, raising chickens, and selling plasticware.

They are already so excited about its success that they want to do much more. God willing, we will be able to help them. If you would like to donate to this work, click on the donate button and designate to micro-business loans.

Mama Sonia walks through

town selling jars and basins.

She hangs her wares outside her hut when she
is not walking around the town.

Mama Sonia also sells a variety of vegetables and washing detergent.

Mama Adelina, her husband, Sozinho, and their daughter, Tusha sell wood from their home.

They buy the wood that is then brought to their house and cut up to sell.

Mama Gentrude sells vegetables, salt, oil, and tea.

Most of these women receive $20US per month to manage their business. They meet together weekly with Pastors Patrick and Grace Mulenga for counsel, brainstorming and encouragement. There are many opportunities here to learn about budgeting and money management. The understanding is that if the women do not make an effort to sell they will not receive their monthly money.
These women are making a great effort through our gifts to them. God is working amazingly through the lives of Patrick, Grace, and Shula there and through the prayers of supporters here. Please keep them in your prayers as there is still much to do with the micro-business loans and other projects underway.

IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE

2007-08-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

Work in Africa is not for the faint of heart. We realize that again and again, as we see those who are there long-term looking trauma, death, and dysfunction in the face. It can be overwhelming. How important to continually remind ourselves of the One we serve, the One who promises justice to the oppressed and healing for the broken-hearted! We must come back to Him repeatedly, not only on behalf of the suffering but also for those who work with them.

In our travels we have been privileged to meet quite a number of young people who are wholeheartedly laying down their lives in Africa. It may not be universal, but many of them struggle with loneliness. They know they are where God wants them, they experience fulfillment in their work, but they long for the encouragement and camaraderie and “coming-alongside” that happens in deep friendships. To serve in relative obscurity, to learn to know Jesus as their best friend and have few others, this is a lonely path.

The intensity of need is also heavy on these warriors’ shoulders. Listen as one bares his soul:

“I was angry, confused, outraged and full of compassion all at the same time. Two questions were asked in the sex education class I give each Friday to children between the ages 9-16 that made me react in that manner. After MUCH and extensive talk on what rape is, one of the teachers asked these questions that have changed forever how I see my children. The first was:
“Who has seen someone being raped?” To my disbelief, three children raised their hands and said the following:
" I saw a 20-year old raping a three-year old girl"
"I saw my uncle raping a girl in my room"
"I saw a man raping my neighbor’s daughter”

The second question was, "Who has raped someone?" To my horror and disbelief, four boys raised their hands and said:
"I asked one girl to have sex with me, she refused. I offered her money, she still refused, so I forced her to my house and raped her"(14 years)
"I have had sex and have raped so many girls, I don’t know how many"(14 years)
"I forced my neighbor’s daughter to have sex with me. I was ten, she was nine"(11 years)
"My brother got raped by a 15-year old" (he was eight)

As they talked, it felt like someone was jabbing a sword into my heart. I wanted to cry, I wanted to run, I wanted to hit something.

What about the girls? They won’t talk. They all say they have never been raped but some of them have this look of shame that I know so well. When they are ready they will talk. Maybe they will never talk to me, maybe they will talk to someone else, but I know that I have opened a can of worms and healing HAS to begin.

I haven’t cried; as you know, I hate doing that, but God is always merciful and faithful. He will make me cry again. Before writing this email, I lay on my bed and I had this thought: I am like Jeremiah in the valley of dry bones. God is telling me to speak to these dry bones so that they live again, but how? My children are the dry bones. My children are broken, broken. They don’t know love, they don’t know how to love. I am asking for prayers once again. In such a case it is so easy for me to be dragged down by the devil. I need your support through prayer. If the Lord gives you a word on how to go about helping my children, please feel free to tell me because right now I am still waiting for the Lord to tell me what to do with the boys. This problem is huge but I just want to concentrate on the ones that God brings my way and not to stretch myself too far. I want to find his rest everyday before I go to work because this is also a spiritual problem.”

Please, if you have ever been touched by the overwhelming need in Africa and felt that there was nothing you could do—please take a moment right now and pray for these who bear the pain of many to our Father. Your prayers are immediate and effective. If you can give, whether financially or in resources that might help in the issues being dealt with above, contact us. Maybe you have a word of encouragement for those on the front lines. Finally, if you can go and be the hands and feet of Jesus, if you have counted the cost, there is a place for you.

Yes, there is a cost (and I’m not talking money). The life of Amy Carmichael, a single woman who served the poor in India, is a challenging example to us. She knew well the cost of following Jesus. She knew so well that she almost tried to discourage those who wanted to join her work. She asked potential workers the following questions:
Do you truly desire to live a crucified life? (this may mean doing very humble things joyfully for His Name’s sake.)
Does the thought of hardness draw you or repel you?
Do you realize that we are a family, not an institution? Are you willing to do whatever helps most?
Apart from the Bible, can you name three or four books which have been of vital help to you? Apart from books, what refreshes you most when tired?
Have you ever had opportunity to prove our Lord’s promise to supply temporal as well as spiritual needs?
Can you mention any experience you have passed through in your Christian life which brought you into a new discovery of your union with the crucified, risen, and enthroned Lord?

Amy was a gifted and prolific writer. We include here two of her poems, taken from her biography by Elisabeth Elliot, “A Chance to Die”:

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned;
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And pierced are the feet that follow Me;
But thine are whole: can he have followed far
Who has no wound nor scar?

Thank God our wounds and scars do not disqualify us for service to Him! Whether through our own poor choices in life or received in the line of battle, our injuries are able to be healed, redeemed, restored. In fact, they are to be expected, especially in working with the needy of the world. Here there is great victory, and around the next corner baffling defeat. There are no magic formulae, no silver bullets. There is only a great and loving and faithful God, who will lead us as far as our faith will carry us.

Amy knew much loss during her life in India. The year 1912 was particularly difficult. First, her spiritual mother in India died. Amy had counted on her continual prayers and her comfort when times were hard. Four days later, “little Lulla, leader of kindergarten games and all nursery joys, died.” Amy loved each child who was brought to her as her own. “She was the sort of child who nestles into the heart and we could not help her slipping into that innermost place, which perhaps should never be given to any little child. And yet, we cannot love too much.” Shortly thereafter Thomas Walker, leader and Captain of the mission, died suddenly. How did she cope with such as this? She turned to the One who was watching still over her soul with utmost care and trust.

From prayer that asks that I may be
Sheltered from winds that beat on Thee,
From fearing when I should aspire,
From faltering when I should climb higher,
From silken self, O Captain, free
Thy soldier who would follow Thee.

From subtle love of softening things,
From easy choices, weakenings,
(Not thus are spirits fortified,
not this way went the Crucified,)
From all that dims Thy Calvary,
O Lamb of God, deliver me.

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire.
Let me not sink to be a clod;
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.

Children's Cup - It's About The Children

2007-08-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

2007-07-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a video overview of our three month trip to Africa with Mandate school and other young people this spring. If you want to see more video from the trip check out orphan hope on you-tube and all the best pictures on Picassa. Click on the links that follow.

http://www.youtube.com.orphanhope

http://www.picasaweb.google.com/orphanhope1

Another orphan home in Maputo

2007-07-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

Another orphan home is built in Maputo! Here is the report and the pictures.

How many more hundreds - no, thousands - could be built to help with such a horrendous situation!

Kyle Showalter is a great young man - about 22 years - who loves to travel and do God's works. He traveled with us from Orphan Hope for a while in Africa, and met the people from Kutwanana in Maputo. He wrote home about how we had built a house and the need for more. Within a couple weeks they had enough money ($1600) to build another house. Kyle traveled with us for another month then returned and helped to build the house.

This house is built by Kutwanana which is a home based care ministry of Christian Mission Church in Maputo. The leaders are Patrick and Grace Mulenga and their 22 year old daughter, Shula. We have mentioned them many times, as they are doing such a wonderful work for God and the "least of these" orphans and AIDS victims.

This house is for Mrs. Jaime and her 5 grandchildren shown here.

You can see her given the key to the first house she has probably ever had with a door and a lock!

Kutwanana says they would love to have a full time team working on new homes for orphans and grannies. One situation we have seen is two little 5 and 7 year old orphans living with their granny in a reed shack that was so small - probably about 10 x 8 or so. There was only room for the granny on a make-shift bed, the two kids slept on the floor with the rats. Their feet were chewed from the rats. The granny has AIDS so when she is too sick to cook the little ones need to somehow find fire wood, find some little food, cook, and clean up. These little ones got sick one time at the same time the granny was sick - they were all going without food until Patrick and Grace Mulenga stepped in and took the two little ones into their home. These two had never seen an apple before or milk!

But praise God, we are able to see progress amidst the great distress of this land. Pray that more will donate so we can build another house or two or 5 or 10!

Here are some words from Kyle on his experiences in Africa:

"by far the most challenging thing is seeing all the need here in Africa.....i have met countless orphans who are in desperate need as well as seeing Aids victims on their deathbeds. it can be very overwhelming at times when you look at all the hurting.....being with hundreds of children who have been sexually abused and who now have no parents and often times are going to bed with little or no food and little or no shelter. it seems like a daunting task, but then God reminds me that He loves each one of them and that I can only help those He has called me to.....and usually that means one at a time...or one family at a time. (like the boy throwing back the
starfish on the beach)"

"this trip has definitely had a huge impact on my life as God continues to mold me into the son that He desires me to be. i think one of the main things i will never take for granted again is the fact that i have a loving family and loving parents. after being around so many children who have grown up alone with virtually no love, i will never again think having loving parents is "normal".....i will know that God has truly blessed me and that I have a responsibility to bless others with His love. (the abrahamic covenant....God blesses us SO THAT we can be a blessing to all nations.) also, really loving reading the Bible and praying.....this trip has made me seek Him for guideance, and I have done that through prayer and reading His word. It has
never been more alive to me than right now, and that is something i will take with me for the rest of my life....a confidence in His word and a confidence in the Holy Spirit to guide me."

"advice to others......PRAY FIRST....if you dont feel that God is saying a big fat definite "no" then go for it. Take a trip away from the comforts of home and let God blow your mind. Be open to a completely new way of thinking. God is going to shatter your "american dream" and replace that with the will He has for your life, but first pray and get your heart in the right place.....dont come over to africa and think you are going to save the world.....instead come over here and be open to God showing you new things and new ideas.....He may call you back for something more long term, but during that initial trip just be open and sensitive to His Spirit.....and
get into His Word. It's brilliant. It's life. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." "The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit; joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Cob house builders

2007-07-02T15:56:00.000-07:00

One of the places we visited while in Northern Mozambique I did not mention in these blogs, but now so many people are finding out and are extremely interested. Therefore, I must include it for all to see.

While in Lichinga, we visited some American missionaries who were invited to build a compound in a Yao village. Their ministry may appear somewhat natural, but it is exceptional, and I believe God is using it. Not to mention what visions it is stirring up in us for a base of our own!

These missionaries met as young couples in college preparing for service to Africa. Then they moved over to Mozambique - two couples are here in Lichinga and three others are in another location.

These two couples were allowed to make a compound in a Yao village near Lichinga. They wanted to make things that could be built of all natural and locally available materials and be useful for the Yao people. So they found a cob house building book (published in Oregon) and began to build. (Cob is a mixture of earth, sand and straw.) The places are amazing! So artistic, creative and free.

They also designed a wood stove that is amazingly efficient - it will cook 21 pots of water with the same three sticks of firewood that would normally only cook five pots of water. This is such a great benefit because the women travel four hours each way to cut firewood and haul it home on their heads. The stove was "marketed" in this way-- they would come and build it for free for a person (it is made of cob, as are their houses), if he will find two others who will come and watch the process. Then the three of them will build stoves for the other two. This stove project has caught fire! They are all over now.

These missionaries are planting sunflowers and developing a cold-press to make oil for cooking. They have a tilapia pond from which they take daily scoops of fertile water for their hydroponic garden; they plant the "miracle plant" moringa, which has so many health and nutritional benefits (many relief organizations hope it can make a big impact on poverty world-wide); they designed a "chicken tractor" to contain their chickens (which most Africans don't) and fertilize their ground; they give out a breeding pair of rabbits with the condition that when they have babies, another breeding pair are given away again; and the list goes on.

See their website for the full story: www.yaomission.org/images/holtons/construction_site/construction_site.htm

Look what God can do with a vessel who is submitted to his instruction and whose aim is to love the poor. God will give us creativity and wisdom. He will use the schooling and experience we have and go far beyond that for His purposes. No one should think himself/herself unqualified to be a missionary. What skills do you have that God can breathe on for His glory - handyman skills, mechanic, nursing, teaching, gardening, ditch digging, love for kids, horticulture, construction, diaper-changing, midwifery, agriculture? The list is endless.

When we walked with care workers through Maputo, I first began to get discouraged at the endless sea of need. No one had an income he could depend on; everyone had an orphan or two or four they were trying to feed; some were chronically sick - probably HIV. Then God began to put hope in me that there is a solution in Him to the insidious poverty, disease, ignorance, and social and familial dysfunction. His answer? You and me. He sent us into the world to be his hands and feet, to be his salt and light. A community of Christ-bearing servants can do miracles in such a place. Lord, send your workers!

Current Happenings

2007-06-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

June 10

As soon as I step onto the American tarmac, busyness surrounds me like a suffocating blanket. I have left a place where the sun sets at 5:30 and only candles dimly light the necessary rooms until we get tired of fighting off the dark and rest our heads. I have left a place where an hour in the early morning of prayer and listening before my God can be counted on, and little else can. I have left the small world of a missionary family who have given up myspace and music videos and youth conventions long ago - like John the Baptist in the wild. My heart longs for that place again.

Now my family and I are going to churches and interested groups to share our pictures and stories and life lessons. We are touching base with our church family and learning to live outside the parameters of being a "pastor", yet still being a father and a servant. We are learning that God does indeed provide for our needs - the first pledge from a church of regular personal support has brought us to our knees in thanks to our Father.

Here are the current and upcoming happenings of OH:

A church has donated $1000 to help build the next project at the Lichinga, Mozambique (NW corner of Moz) base for orphans. The building will be an open-air kitchen and cafeteria with a thatch roof. If any would like to help with the construction you can contact us and we will put together a trip for this.

We are available to share our stories and our vision for what God is doing, at your church or group. Contact us at orphanhope@onlinemac.com . Regina and Dan will be in Manitoba for July and August, then return to Oregon in September, but the younger (and more dynamic) ones will remain in the Oregon area.

We have approved a $1000 micro-business bank project for the ministry of Kutwanana Ministry in Maputo, Moz. They have 24 trained careworkers who visit and minister to AIDS patients and orphans in thier respective routes. We would like to help each of them get a business started, but at this time we are starting small with about ten of them. As we see the program operating successfully we will increase the bank to help more orphans. The goal of this is that with added income these caring ladies will be able to take an orphan or two into their homes as well as offer more care for the orphans in the community. If anyone would like to help them with these businesses or with extending the orphan care in this area, we have a place for you here.

Kyle Showalter, who accompanied us on the latter part of our Africa trip, has independently raised $1600 from family and friends and is right now in Maputo helping to build another orphan home with Kutwanana Ministry. Way to go, Kyle. Anyone can do this! OH is not here to get everything running through us - we will get on board and brag and help anyone who wants to help orphans for God's glory.

Jordan Shamburg is finishing her term as an intern with Kutwanana Ministry. She developed and ran a preschool for them, and is now returning to the States. Thanks, Jordan, for preparing the way for many others.

There are numerous ministries in southern Africa where we would love to send some equipped and directed interns. Too many young people go for a few months to help out and, because they are not prepared, are not able to accomplish what they thought. And too many African ministries suffer as they receive these well meaning "helpers". OH is attempting to develop a course to take our interns through to evaluate and equip. If you would like to help with this course, please contact me.

Word is getting out that we are praying for five families to start a base in southern Africa. We are beginning to pray with a number of people whom God is speaking to. We do not want to depend on persuasive words, but on the call of God within willing hearts. It is such an encouraging thing to see God working independent of man's methods! We are tentatively planning on going through the Church Planing eXperience (CPX) in Cape Town, SA in Feb-July 2008. This is with All Nations and Floyd McClung. Anyone wanting to join us for this should look at the website http://www.floydandsally.org/training-programs/ .

We have a few people wanting to help OH with web and administrative skills. We hope in the coming months to develop a more effective manner of communicating the message of love for the poor that is burning in technicolor in so many hearts. If your heart burns with this same desire and you have some time or skills you would give to this effort we would gladly give you some things to do for us. We are also setting up a new office, so if you have a good computer or something to donate to this we would appreciate it.

Upcoming mission trips:

Dec 13-Jan 3 trip to Maputo, Moz.

March 1-31 trip to South Africa and Moz.

July 2008 trip to northern Moz, Zambia, South Africa.

"This is Africa!"

2007-06-11T12:31:00.000-07:00

This diary excerpt from a day in the life of our Africa journeys is a fun way to experience some of the uniqueness of Africa.

Written by Liana Bumstead on May 18

My mother sits upwind from me, knuckles knotted tightly around the rebar frame above our heads. The foreign waft of white woman’s deodorant creeps back to mingle with the heavy musk of Africa that surrounds me. This is no scent to be put on- nothing to be found on the shelves of a shopping center or contained in a dainty flask- but it IS definitely mass produced. Still, it’s a smell I’ve come to love for all that it stands for that I hold dear. It’s something you must be born into, and perhaps appreciation of it must be born into you. If this smell could somehow be bottled and shipped to Oregon I don’t imagine it would go over so well. But to anyone who’s spent a few hours sandwiched between a toothless old gogo and a ripe young man on an African chappa; or who’s clutched their valuables tightly and mumbled the only word they speak of this foreign language over and over in an attempt to convince themselves (and the curious onlookers) that they really could fit in in this African market; or who’s made it through the stifilingly hot four-hour African church service with a sweet sticky stream of sweat finding its way down their chest- partly their own, partly that of the tiny black body asleep in their arms; or who’s danced and worshipped for hours and hours to songs that their mind can’t understand, but that their heart knows very well… yes, to anyone who understands these things, YOU know the smell that I speak of.

It is at the heart of this country, from the very womb of this soil, as deep and rich as the skin from whence it comes; as stubborn and forthright as the personalities that the skin covers. Without apology it comes crowding into my nostrils, like rowdy high-schoolers at a football game, standing room only. There is nothing else to breathe. I inhale deeply and begin to appreciate. This is the smell of Africa.

“This is Africa,” I think to myself, and smile on the inside. This has become our motto; an anthem, perhaps. I myself could not have imagined how frequently we would find ourselves in situations where this phrase- and perhaps this phrase alone- is fitting. Today is one of them.

But there is naught to complain of. We spent our earliest moments winding through tree-covered slopes, inching our way to the top. I think each of us pulled our sweaters a little closer and for the first time I appreciated how tightly we were packed... 28 of us in all, 29 counting the red-colored hen dozing contentedly in my neighbor’s lap. She has been an amiable travel companion. From the get-go she’s proven herself to have enough personality to deserve a name. I picked Henrietta. She’s one minute craning her head interestedly to closer inspect my bag, the next fluttering her eyes in her peaceful, self-confident manner, making her way to chicken dreamland. I’m certain she has not the slightest inkling of what this journey means for her. I fear she is not on her way to visit any relative or friend as she obviously supposes- but today, with every turn of these wheels, Henrietta draws nearer to her final hour.

At last we’re emerging from the valley and 6:30 AM’s sunshine has found our canopy, filling the space with golden light and immediate warmth. Everyone stretches out a little, except for Dawna, who’s still hunched over beside me, teeth chattering in my ear. She’s just informed me that her hindermost parts have gone numb- whether from the cold or the jostling, I’m not sure.

Poor unfortunate.

I do feel that I’ve understepped my bounds by mentioning jostling. In fact, it is much more severe than that. From the very beginning I realized there would be no such thing as pot hole dodging when the road consists more of the pot holes than of the ground that connects them… the driver does the best he can without swerving or shifting out of second gear the whole way up the hill. Brake for the hole. Brake again! Brake. Go! Go! Go! Brake. And so on…

I also use the term “road” quite freely, as this path seems frequented by goats and an occasional bicycle, much more than by any contraption with four wheels and an engine. But we are very grateful for this ride. It carries us back to the home that we love, the people we admire, and the food that is so simple but so good. At this moment sweet potatoes, bananas, and peanuts seems like the best dinner that ever was…

This is the life that I love. Even with all the inconveniences and difficulties that are part of every day here, this life is simple, and our God is faithful. It seems a little easier to see that here. As we jolt along, these beautiful lines play over and over in my head: “Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand has provided, great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! There is no shadow of turning in Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not! Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”

Technical difficulties

2007-06-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

During our three month trip to Africa, from which we just returned, we were having technical difficulties which sent our blogs to our old blog site. So if you want to see more pics and read more stories please go to www.orphan-hope.blogspot.com

Home again, Home again, didilly dee!

2007-06-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

We have returned to our home and our church and family at last. We have been gone now three months - half the life of our first (of many) grand-daughter. How she has changed!

And we have changed as well.

Our vision for our future is clearer and expanded from what we thought.

Our love for Jesus is deeper than we have ever known. We are trusting him for all things, and he is so patient and gracious with us.

We are overwhelmed again with the magnitude of the opportunity for the Church of Jesus to make a difference in this dark and dying world. A. The Spirit wants to give creative insight to some, how to plant and harvest for countless starving grannies and orphans in Maputo. B. The Life found in Jesus will transform orphans more than new clothes and counseling - they need it. They need a "mom and dad" who are Alive with this Life. C. We need to plant churches to spread this Life and retain what is born - there is a desperate lack of real church life. Church planters, arise! D. Many pastors and Christians are walking in constant defeat - they do not know truth and personal transformation. They need fathers to walk with them. E. There are many peoples living in remote areas of this world who have never heard the good news of Jesus. Satan will do everything in his means to keep us from going here. Some spiritual giants are required to lead us into these realms. F. We need a training base for many to become cross-cultural Life-bearers in the world. There is a call to go to all nations - we need to be equipped and go.

In light of this, we believe God is calling us to invite radically transformed men and women who are called by God to give their lives in long term missions, to join together and begin a base (a "farm") in Southern Africa from which to extend the Kingdom. We are believing for five families (single, married, or with kids, young or old) for long-term commitment. We believe that with such people, God will provide for every need. We are believing He will provide land and houses and vehicles where and when He desires. We also want to send out interns for one-year commitments, and more short-term teams. We only have so long to live in this realm. I figure we might as well make the most of it for eternity.

We may lose all we own - even our own lives. But as has been so well said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." I believe there is an urgency in the Church today - young and old want to be about the Father's business. This world is winding down and soon Jesus will return. Will we be found doing His business? Or shining our own shoes!

If Jesus is calling you to join with us in this bold effort, contact us and we will sit with you and pray with you and discern with you. It may take a year or several before all things are in order to make such a move, but the longest journey begins with the first step.

Contact us at orphanhope@onlinemac.com for more information.

2007-06-01T11:08:00.000-07:00

4-28-07
All Nations - Maputo
We have spent a wonderful weekend with a hilarious South African family of five, who operate a baby house near Maputo. They have seven babies at this time - some have AIDS, some have died, one has been adopted, one has been taken back by her prostitute mother, one taken into a dreadful State hospital for children and, they believe, allowed to die because she was "positive" (testing positive for HIV/AIDS - the most negative positive word in the world!). This family and home has been through a lot. At times they have had nothing to eat, and a miracle happened. Once some of their "volunteer" staff took them to court for not paying them! But now things are better, and it was such a blessing for us to be with them. We loved it. The children have incredible stories. If they live and grow into the men and women of God like this couple is praying for, they will be a tremendous victory of God over the works of Satan. He has redeemed these little ones, and whether they die young of AIDS or die of old age, their lives have been rescued for God's Kingdom.
Here are some of the children's stories, as related by the Boersmas:
"Luis came to live with us in August 2005. When we received him he was a tiny two-month-old baby, very malnourished and weighed about one kilogram (2.2 lbs). He tested positive for AIDS and malaria. He also had a severe chest infection. His grandmother brought him to us. Being very old and living in an extremely poor rural area, with his mom very sick and dying of AIDS, she knew that she could not take care of him, and asked us for help. Luis became so ill that he had to be fed through a feeding tube and eventually ended up in hospital. We thought it was the end and almost made peace with God that He was going to take him home. One of our friends told us: Sometimes you love them to life and sometimes you love them into the arms of Jesus. Even if you make this peace, somewhere deep inside there is always a flame of hope. After two months of being in hospital, Luis was released. He gained weight and started on the anti-retroviral medicine for AIDS. Today Luis is two and a half years old, and there is no sign that he is living with AIDS. Every time we look it him we see the miracle that Jesus has done in his life and we are reminded that God says in His word that faith is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see!!"

"One of our baby workers told us that she heard about a little girl who lived all by herself in a village. The chief of the village told people how he would wake up at night and see this tiny little girl walking through the village crying of hunger and fear, with no clothes on. We sent Luis and Aida to see if they could find this girl. When they found her she was asleep all alone in the house, lying naked on a little torn grass mat. She had not eaten in four days. She is about fouryears old, but the size of an 18 – 24 month old. When she saw Aida and Luis she started walking to them. Luis took her into his arms and asked if there are no clothes for her. They found some underwear of her father in the house and tied it to her waist with a safety pin. Her mother has a new husband, but he is not willing to take care of Aninha, so they abandoned her at the father's, who was not taking care of her either. He left her alone at home for many days; neighbors gave her some food when possible. After a year, Aninha is doing much better; she has gained weight, laughs and runs around. She does not talk yet because of a lot of trauma that she went through, but she is starting to repeat what you say. She is a joy and is a real little helper. She still needs a lot of healing, but the love of Jesus brings healing and restoration."

Alicia came to the Boersmas' home severely traumatized by neglect and abuse of every kind. She had no name, and her age is uncertain--she is very small but may be three years old. She is such a beautiful child. She was probably abandoned because of her mixed-race heritage, and will certainly experience prejudice in the years to come. Alicia has V-shaped scars on her abdomen, cuts made by the traditional healer. For the first months of her time in the children's home, she spent a lot of time crying or singing a little mournful song and rocking back and forth. She was in a world of her own, and would not interact with other babies or adults. Now she is slowly beginning to emerge from her shell, and will occasionally even crack a smile. Pray for her complete healing from the wounds of her young life.

Dulcy and her five-year old daughter Jessica are staying at the Boersmas' home temporarily. Dulcy is HIV positive, and has been kicked out of the house by her family. AIDS carries such a stigma here--most people don't want to be tested, don't want to know, even though anti-retroviral drugs are available. Dulcy's father is a police chief, but he is no different--he doesn't want the shame of this label connected to his family. There is hope that he can be convinced to reconcile with his daughter and grandchild. Meanwhile, Dulcy helps the staff care for the children, and Jessica has many little playmates.

Chris enjoyed playing not only with the Boersmas' three boys, but also with the children they care for. Little Quiteria, whose mother died during a C-section, was a favorite of his. After playing with her one day he told me, "Mother, if I was older and had a lot of money, I would adopt her." Lord, let this heart be duplicated in all of us--a desire to love like you do. They are also starting a house church - discipling four young men, and the female workers they hire. Some of the guys around here have grown up in an amazing orphanage that we have visited before. The problem: when they reach the age of 17, they must leave. So they go back on the street and fend for themselves. And it is ugly. Most of them, though they were great at worship and hype, did not have the depth of discipleship worked into their soul. So they returned to the world. Pieter used to work in this large orphanage, so he knows the young men. Now he has found one and is discipling him one-on-one. He has become his father, is sending him to school, putting him in charge of many details of the home, and giving him a second chance.

2007-06-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 7, 2007

Above the waving grass, great billowing clouds give way to sunset’s colors, and it’s easy to forget for a moment that we’re in Africa. This is Big Sky Country, and there are many reasons to feel that we’ve stepped into Laura Ingalls Wilder’s world. The prairies (or savannahs) are covered with grass tall enough to get lost in, interspersed with six-foot high stands of yellow-orange Shasta daisy-type flowers.

We are guests of the Peter and Debbie Wilcox family, Australian missionaries living outside of Lichinga in northern Mozambique. We share their cement home. There is no electricity, no refrigeration, no running water. We take “cup showers” with heated water (the weather is cooler here), the toilet is flushed only when really necessary by pouring in a bucket of water. Food is cooked over a gas stove-top or outside over a charcoal fire, dishes are washed in a tub. Mozambican guards double as yard- and household-help, keeping water buckets full drawn by a rope from the well. We can wash our clothes in the cement laundry tub outside, or hire local women to do it for 30 meticais ($1.10 US). The Wilcox family includes 20-year old twin daughters Annelisa and Antoinette, full partners with their parents in devoting their lives to the people of Mozambique; Elias (11), Miriam (8), Mikaila (6), and Karmelie (3). Also considered family are Violet, a Malawian woman who serves as the Wilcox’s noon cook, her two daughters ages 15 and 21, and five grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 13, children of her deceased daughters. A renovated out-building serves as their living quarters.

What can you eat when there’s no oven, no refrigeration, lots of mouths and not much money? Actually, one can live quite nicely, and possibly be healthier than at home! Breakfast is always porridge—coarsely-ground white cornmeal. Lunch, the main meal of the day, consists of rice or nshima (fine white cornmeal cooked into a thick mush) topped with a sauce made of chard or cassava leaves and other vegetables, ground peanuts, or pinto beans. The evening meal varies, from boiled sweet potatoes or pumpkin, roasted peanuts, green salad or banana to the occasional fried egg with bread.

Life is simple here, not in terms of labor but regarding modern conveniences. There is a small windmill topping the house which powers a laptop and battery chargers. The Wilcoxes also own a cell phone, and a 1969 LandRover that tops out at 60 km/hour (35 mph) and hauls 8-10 passengers.

Life is simple. If you want to talk “primitive”, then you must ride with Peter to a nearby village of people from the Yao tribe. Take a twenty-minute drive across the rolling hills, turn left at a nondescript corner in the middle of the prairie and you will reach Chinaliwila. Here are dirt roads, 75-100 nicely-built mud homes with heavy thatch roofs—no tin roofs for miles. I can’t imagine when the last time a car other than the LandRover entered here. Peter has been coming by invitation of the chief of the village, to talk about Jesus. Today he has asked Dan to accompany him. After chairs have been brought for the visitors, there is a lot of curious pointing and speculating about Dan’s backpack and what it may hold (even Peter, who speaks fluent Portuguese, needs an interpreter here). When finally a Bible is pulled out, all is hushed as the women and children look with wonder at the beautiful book with markings in it. Pointing to the words, Dan reads a passage from Isaiah. Even though the language is strange, they are spellbound. To think that those black scratchings could communicate! (We’ve been told that the literacy rate is less than 30%). Through an interpreter, Dan teaches from Romans 5: “But God demonstrated his love for us in this--while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Yao people have historically been antagonistic to the gospel and to any intrusion by other tribes or cultures. They are known as the tribe that raided other neighboring tribes, stole their people and sold them to the Arabs for the slave market. Because of this they are feared and hated. God is opening a door here that may have never been opened before – an invitation by a Yao chief to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The people are leery, but the chief and his grandsons are eager. In fact, the grandson who is next in line to be chief has confessed Christ and is coming to the compound here to be taught the Word and learn English, though he has not yet submitted to baptism (the line of no return for these people). The old chief and his wife (he only has one! very unusual for a chief) were here in the compound today. When I introduced Liana and Dawna as my daughters, his wrinkly face lit up in a buck-teeth smile, and he invited us all to come and visit him in his home next week – that should be interesting.

The Wilcoxes have a litany of God-stories, miracles and blessings they have experienced in their two years here. In a world where witchcraft and curses are as common as football games and traffic jams are to us, they are dedicated to bringing freedom, truth and light in the darkness. Construction is underway on a family-style orphanage for 18 girls and a house for their family. Other buildings will follow in time. As visitors, we’ve helped with cement-block construction work, school and Bible teaching, and using the treadle sewing machine to hem fabric into bedsheets.

Annelisa and Antoinette are rare young women, beautiful in features and spirit. They are one in heart and mind, having felt a call to African orphans at the age of six, and they work as a unit. Rolland and Heidi Baker, founders of Iris Ministries, asked these 20-year olds to establish a base at Lichinga. They’ve thrown themselves into the task with single-minded focus. Currently the twins teach school in English to 11 children. They are creative and loving instructors. In spite of limited resources, their students are receiving a quality education. They also handle the ministry’s finances and help with hospitality.

Darkness comes early here on the windswept grasslands. After our evening meal seated on benches around the rough-hewn kitchen table, we carry candles to the bedrooms and children are settled for the night. I step outside for a moment, and I’m sure I’ve never seen stars in a sky like this. There is no trace of martyrdom or complaining in this family—instead, there is joy and a sense of privilege in serving the One they love. From the soft glow in the window comes ethereal music—evening worship has begun. It’s not a formal service, and doesn’t happen every night. This is not religious obligation but soul-refreshment, lovers delighting in the other’s presence. A beautiful wood-burned plaque on the front door proclaims from Hebrews, “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.” I go inside to join the others in worship. Here is simplicity, here is beauty, here is rest in loving Jesus. –Regina and Dan

A NEW DAY FOR THE BUMSTEAD FAMILY

2007-02-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

Eight years ago I stood on a hillside above Sheridan, Oregon and asked God if he indeed wanted me to start a church in this town. His answer came in the words of Nathan the prophet to King David's desire to build the temple (I Chron 28) "You are not to build me a house for my name... but your son shall build my house and my courts... and David set about acquiring materials for the house of God..." So we started with 6 families of materials, and now there are about 50 families. Good solid materials for the real temple that Soloman will build after me. Me and my family are knit right into the fabric, or the foundation of this family of Open Door Church. We will always be the father and mother of this wonderful family. But now God is calling us to be more like grandparents.

Last year, on our annual prayer retreat to the coast, my wife and I received very clear directions from God concerning our future. This time the words came from Judges 18 - the tribe of DAN was looking for their land of promise - "Go in peace; your way which you are going has the Lord's approval."

So, now, in a few weeks with the tearful blessing of our church family, we will be released from the responsibility of "Pastor", to now be "friend". We will then head out to find that land of promise. It seems it is somewhere in southern Africa right now. We know it is with orphans. We feel like Abraham - commanded to go to the land of promise, but not really knowing where it is or what we are looking for; only trusting that He will go with us and make us successful in all he has for us.

How will we live? Who will provide? Did Jesus not promise that our Father is well able, and committed to do that? We are trusting in his Word. This summer I spent 2 days of solitude on the beach asking God for sure to give me clarity of direction. He was giving me so many wonderful promises and insights I could hardly believe it. I couldn't believe it! So I asked him for a clear sign that it was from Him. What for a sign....? If you have ever been on Oregon beaches you know that there are tons of pieces of sand dollars, but NEVER do you find one absolutely whole! So that would be the sign - if these words are truely from you Jesus, show me a complete sand dollar with no defect. I prayed and looked all day and finally found one that had only a small hole in it - I took that as a pretty good sign. Then next day I continued my prayers on the beach and before long I found it - a perfect sand dollar! A SIGN FROM GOD! Then I found another! and a few minutes later, another! and then another! This went on as I was singing and shouting and picking up sand dollars for a couple hours. Finally I ran out of steam. I counted them - GOD HAD GIVEN ME 32 PERFECT SANDDOLLARS! Then the still small voice of my Father spoke to me - "so will be my blessing and provision for you: as much as your strength will endure will be the limit of my grace as you obey my voice."

We have unashamedly raised money for orphan work and for others who are involved with it. But we have not felt a peace about trying to solicit funds for our own living. We feel that part of our ministry is to be examples for others to follow - "If Bumsteads can do it, surely I can too!" And so we will share how God is so faithful to provide for his servants to give glory to Him and to encourage you to trust Him for your own needs.

So here is our story - we have this 3 month trip to Africa planned. And the truth is, even with totally cleaning out all the money in our savings and leaving debts unpaid on our credit cards, we do not have enough money! We prayed about it and trusted that God would provide. Soon we find out that the Mandate School is going to give us $2500! After that I decided we needed to pay off all our credit card debt before we go. That left us $50 in the bank! We then found out the church will give us a 3 month severance pay for our time in Africa! Then we found out that one of the students had an extra $2000 that they wanted to designate to us! Then we started seeing if we could fill our house with a bunch of young people to pay some of our mortgage or utilities, and it looks like it will be full (watch for the 24-7 parties going on there!). We have no idea how much we will need for our three months there - will we be traveling to different countries or just digging deep in one place? I heard that the church may be setting up a fund for people to donate to our travel expenses. And when we get back home how will we find income? What kind of ministry will be ahead of us? More questions than answers. But "Jesus was sleeping in the boat" - He goes with us every step of the way - so never fear, it will all work to his glory and our good.

CHRISTIE BIGELOW HAS ARRIVED IN LIBERIA

2007-01-27T12:01:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!
I'm here in Monrovia. We got in last night without ANY problems with our
luggage or weight restrictions or anything except Rachel didn't get her
checked bags yet. She should be getting them tomorrow. Pray that they would
come through without any problems! Please join us in praising the Lord for
the traveling mercies we have had so far.
We stayed at ACFI headquarters down by the beach last night. We got to meet
another American girl who is teaching at a high school and college in town
here. She is from Virginia and has been here for five months and will be
here almost until we leave. That was encouraging for me and Rachel to see
that it is being done by someone else.
I have been so glad already to have Rachel here. I'm praising the Lord
that she was able to make this adventure as well. We had our first
experience with a giant spider last night. I don't know if I can do the
story justice but I will try. I was going to the bathroom to take care of
some of my nightly duties and being the great white hunter that I am I
decided to look around the room carefully and make sure that everything was
as it should be. :) Well I discovered a rather large spider perched on the
side of the shower/bath wall... I called in Rachel to take a look and she
decided it was a moment that should be captured on video. I ended up getting
into the tub and trying to swat it with my shoe... that large bug was so
quick it got away... so I think we will be dealing with him again sometime
in the near future... my reactions will be quicker and i will get him...
It's super humid, it's hot but the humidity makes it a hotter hot, a
sticky hot... i don't mind it too much, i just haven't had much energy yet
but it could be the lack of sleep i had going into the trip and then the jet
lag as well. Pray for quick recovery time.
Please also pray for sweet times with Jesus... that we would be filled to
overflowing to pour forth for Him... for His glory... one day at a time.
Pray that we would make this home and not simply "survive" it but really put
down roots and live and love and all of those things here...
We haven't gotten a phone yet but soon. Please remember if you are planning
on calling here it's 8 hours ahead of you and it is good to buy phone cards
through speedypin.com. Any other questions on that please feel free to ask
my mom.
I love you all and am so blessed by your prayers and support. Please feel
free to write. For now, we have internet access daily if we want to and it
looks like while we are at the orphange it will probably be about once a
week. Feel free to write. I would love to hear and keep up to date on your
lives.
to HIM be all the glory.
christie b.

WATCH OUT AFRICA!

2007-01-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

Alert! LIANA HAS JOINED THE TEAM!!

Those who know Liana know that we are so blessed to have her join. She will lead worship for us as only she can do, she will provide leadership, zest, and a little too much adventure at times - but that's ok. And what is a real blessing - she will continue on for 3 months along with Regina, Chris and I. We don't know where we will go when we say goodby to our team on April 3, but we are anticipating some exciting adventures.

We met Floyd McKlung at our leadership conference in Jan and we talked about our common vision for Africa. We want to meet up with him and his work at All Nations in Cape Town. See his info at www.all-nations.info

Also Kyle Showalter (son of the famous pastor and evangelist Rick Showalter) is going to fly over and work with us for the months of April and May. He may stay and work and travel as long as his visa holds out. I love to see young people ready and willing to serve the poor and orphan.

We at Orphan Hope have been sharing at congregations and schools about the AIDS pandemic, the orphan crisis, and what our response as Christians should be. It is wonderful to see how many people are truly amazed and enlightened by the information and motivated to respond. We would be glad to share with any church or group within distance. Write to us at orphanhope@onlinemac.com

We bought plane tickets for the team today out of Portland. If anyone wants to join, get on board quick! Call 503 843-6736 or write open-door@onlinemac.com . You need $2000 by Feb 5 (or so). You will fly out March 5 and return April 3 or 4.

March Mission Trip

2007-01-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Well this is interesting - instead of our group growing as we near our time to go to Africa - instead of it overflowing and having to turn people away - instead of feeling bad and taking more people than we really feel comfortable about - instead of all that - we are at this time a fairly small team. In fact we got an email from JoEllen last night that she will not be able to go at this time; and it looks as if Josh will not be going either! So at this time we are 8.

What do you have for us Lord?

Will we be "The Lean, Mean, Fighting Machine"?

Is it Gideon's Army that can give more glory to you when we accomplish with few what is miraculous to do?

Or is it just so we can all fit in a single vehicle for once!

But then there is our good friend Joyce in Canada (I think she is 55 :) who is praying about coming, and Liana is going, though she does not know it yet! (For some reason God told me about it before her! Strange.) And who knows - maybe YOU should come!

But anyway - it is still open for you to join if you want. Aprox $2000 and an application due by Feb 1 (or so). Write to open-door@onlinemac.com for more info. Look down on a lower post, where I have the itenerary laid out.

We are having a fundraiser "Mega-Mexican" dinner for the Mandate School students who are going, as well as for the orphan work we will be engaged in:

Sat, Jan 20, 5-6:30pm at some large church in Sheridan. Dinner is free, with an offering taken. There will be a report from the team going to Liberia, the team going to S. Africa, and Orphan Hope. There will also be a silent auction on pies and donated goods and services. Write mandate_schools@yahoo.com for more info.

For those of you who know Sally McKibben and the work she has carried for 20 years in South Africa - Thembalethu - pray for her. She just went thru cancer surgery and she is loosing some major funding for her home health care ministry, some key people have left - well, you can see - she needs the prayers of the saints. And if that ministry goes down, there are 3000 orphans and 250 orphan headed households she is carrying, not to mention hundreds of AIDS patients who will have no one to care for them... Pray as you read this: Jesus, bless her with a substantial blessing from you today. Amen.

Christie Bigelow to Liberia!

2007-01-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

Christie Bigelow of Washington State is leaving soon to spend 6 months in Liberia, West Africa, helping at an orphanage of ACFI in Monrovia. Below are some of her pictures from last time she was there. She is still needing support for her work there, though she is reluctant to say how much - she trusts God will provide what she needs. We are just getting the word out for her. if you want to donate to her work there, simply click the donate button below, AND WHEN YOU GET SENT TO PAYPAL, SPECIFY THE DONATION : "TO CHRISTIE IN LIBERIA". It will be put directly into her account. Bless you Christie.

Here are Christie's words:

Liberia has such a unique history and has direct ties to the United States. It was founded as a nation of freed slaves from the U.S., but it has been plagued by internal civil wars since 1989, the result of which has been chaos, extreme poverty, and a population of battle-weary, psychologically wounded children. These wars have left a huge population of young people who have been deeply wounded in almost any way imaginable. This generation of Liberian children is the future of the nation; if their lives can be touched and changed, then the nation will also change. This is a God-sized feat, but He chooses to use people who are available. I am excited to be His hands and feet over there. I see a lot of value in not only helping to give an education to Liberian children but in also helping them to deal with their emotional, physical, and spiritual wounds so that they can break out of the cycle of violence and retaliation in order to begin to build a new life for themselves.

Daniel Hoover Children’s Village is one orphanage that is run by African Christian Fellowship International (ACFI). ACFI is an organization that works specifically with war orphans and widows. I admire the work that they are doing. I also appreciate that it is an African organization and a natural outgrowth of the Liberian community. They have given me the opportunity to go and live at the orphanage and serve there. I will be doing some teaching and some coaching while I am there.

Since I was a little girl I have been interested in missions and serving and building relationships with people in other countries. That is part of the reason I went into teaching. So much draws me to Liberia. First off, the extreme need of this country and the people there really drew me in. I have never really felt called to the “safe” places so much as to the places where the needs (physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally) are great. When I heard about the years of civil wars that this country has had and the countless orphans whose lives were torn apart because of this violent history… I realized that there were numerous ways that I could help, whether that was sending finances or packages to the children or actually going myself.

Jesus came to me in my great need gave me hope and life and He calls me to do the same wherever I am…I want to do that in Liberia.
A simpler answer would be that my mom was born in Africa, so I like to say that Africa is in my blood. After I went to Liberia in 2003, I guess I would have to say that the Liberian people are now in my heart… so I suppose I can’t help but go back to Liberia…. Christie

This is a bit of the compound of the orphanage. You can see, they have a Christian school on the grounds as well. We are close friends with many children from this orphanage who have been adopted into forever homes.

Donate here: REMEMBER - WHEN AT PAYPAL, NOTE THAT DONATION IS FOR CHRISTIE BIGELOW, LIBERIA.

Mandate / Orphan Hope S.Africa trip 2007

2007-01-06T16:31:00.000-08:00

Here is the team so far:

The Mandate students 5: Brandon Amerine on left; Titus Wenger next to him ; Katie Tristano; Lenna Zeigler; Josh Shamburg in back

The Bumsteads: Dan, Regina, Chris

Evan Finley (no pic), and Joellen Armstrong (no pic).

Here is our itenerary:

March 5 fly to Johannesburg South Africa and board a public bus to Maputo, Mozambique. We may be able to butcher and cook our own chickens on the ride, I hear!

March 7-14 Kutwanana home health ministry. (Read next article about them) We will build an orphan home, help in the school, encourage mothers with many orphans, love, love love.

March 14-21 Iris Ministries, also in Maputo. This is the ministry of Roland and Heidi Baker (see the website www.irismin.com ). Read about it in the book "Always Enough". This large orphanage of 500 children who are always eager for someone to pay attention to them. We will be doing a good share of that, as well as going on day and overnight trips to the people who live in the dump and other small villages where we will pray with and encourage many. The last time i went here we prayed with a woman who was dying right in front of us and God miraculously healed her, then saved her and her household - they were Muslim!

March 22-25 We will head to Swaziland to find Childrens Cup (see their website www.childrenscup.org ). We will just have a few days here to help out how they need us.

March 26-30 Up to Tongo South Africa to be with the ministry Music for Life (otherwise known as African Children's Choir www.africanchildrenschoir.com ). We will put on a one week kids camp for as many children as we can feed, teach, get to know - probably 150-300! We will be staying in the community with the families who are living in the poverty and disease of this area where there is 80% unemployment and 45% HIV. This will be a real chance for us to walk in thier shoes for a week.

March 31-April 1 Kruger Park - this is a tremendous opportunity to see all the wildlife you can imagine in Africa, in a wild setting of hundreds of miles of reserve. We will spend the night in a tent within sound of hyena's, lions and guinnea pigs!

April 3 fly home to Portland OR.

Do you want to join the team? Applications due Feb 1. Apply at mandate_schools@hotmail.com

For more info see Mandate School site: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=125352998

Do you want to donate items to take? contact orphanhope@onlinemac.com

Do you want to donate to one of the team members? mandate_schools@hotmail.com

Do you want to donate to one of the projects listed above? send to Orphan Hope, PO Box 65, Sheridan, OR 97378 with a note of where you want it to go. Or hit the donate button in the article about the 2007 calendars and when you pay at paypal note where the money is to go.

It is all for Jesus - and what we do for the least ones, we do for him.

Kutwanana

2006-12-29T15:29:00.000-08:00

Kutwanana is a ministry in South Mozambique. We are going to work with them to build a home in March 2007 with a team of volunteers from the US. Grace and Patrick Mulenga are pastors of a church in Maputo and founders of Kutwanana, a home health care ministry.

We are excited to partner with them in this work. They have a school in their church of 60 students, 50 of which are orphans. There is a need to take many more children, but they need more teachers before they do. We will be helping them with crafts and games for the children the week we are there. Here is a look at the kind of house we will build.

Here is a brief overview of their orphan work:
"There are two people who head the orphan project, Mr. Domingo and I. Our joint responsibility is to look out to the needs of the orphans in our care. We work together with Kutwanana’s volunteers to make sure that the children:
Ø Have enough food in their homes and if not, making them part of the food distribution program.
Ø Giving uniforms at the beginning of a school year to those who can’t afford to buy.
Ø Taking those who are sick to the hospital, and monitoring those who have AIDS. For example making sure that those who are under ARVs are taking them correctly.
Ø Visiting the orphans at their homes so that they know that we are there for them when
they are in need.
Ø There are any orphans who could not get into school we make them a part of our community school.
Ø Making sure that they have the required documents to go to school and encouraging them to attend school

Here are some pictures of some of their orphans:

Many of the orphans they oversee live with grandmothers or neighbors or caregivers. They have 5 orphan headed households with no adults. They are looking for places to build more houses if donors will support this work. They are in contact with 268 orphans, but have enough to regualarly help only 60 with food, school uniforms and fees.

We just got this letter from Shula, the 21 year old daughter of the director:

"Hey
Its one in the morning, cant sleep. Figured I must write you an email and tell you how I really am doing. I don't know about you, but there is something soothing that I find in writing.
I am struggling, another one of my kids died about 10 days ago and it hurts, it hurts real bad. I wake up in the middle of the night and my heart wants to cry, needs to cry but I push everything in, I hate crying. I need your prayers cos sometimes the pain is more than I can bare…I loved her, she was positive and for a while I even thought that maybe I could adopt her and look after her myself. This year I knw I will meet even more kids like her, daily I have to face the fact that some of the kids I see all the time will die soon… I wish God would just for a moment give you my heart so that you could understand my pain. I love my kids. So in the moment of my weakness I am turning to you and imploring you to please remember me and pray for me. There are a lot of things I am involved in and I love them all, but sometimes I sit and think, Father I am only 21… this is too much, and yes his grace has always been enough. I have cried my way through writing this email, tomorrow I will wake up with a headache, but for now all that matters is I have healed a small part of my heart."

If you would like to help with these orphans - join the team going there in March, donate to them, send them letters of encouragement... write me at orphanhope@onlinemac.com God Bless. Dan

Orphan Hope 2007 Calendars are out!!

2006-12-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

Calendars are $12 (covers postage). You may buy them by credit card with the link below. Or you may send a check to Orphan Hope, PO Box 65, Sheridan, OR. 97378 Or if you are one of the Agape Network Churches you will find one there for sale. If all else fails write orphanhope@onlinemac.com

Thanks to Paula Watts Photography in Bend OR for designing the calendars
Thanks to One Way Printing in Sisters OR for the printing.

Orphan Hope

2006-09-09T13:01:00.000-07:00

Orphan Hope 9/9/2006 I am excited that Mark Armstrong is working on this blog site and will soon have a real web site opened for Orphan Hope. There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes that will soon be in print and action. We will possibly be taking a trip to Haiti in November 06, and we will be going to South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland in Feb 07. If you are interested in coming along contact us at orphanhope@onlinemac.com Thanks for your support.

September '05 NEWSLETTER

2005-09-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

Ps 68:5 “A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is our God”.

FROM BRYANNA:

The Lord has mandated us, as His people, to be the ones who care for “the least of these”. The tragic state of so many areas of the world, stricken with poverty, hunger & injustice, gives us the opportunity to shine the light of God’s love in the world. There are millions of orphans and widows that need care, and the Lord is looking for those who will rise up at the sound of His calling and declare, “Here am I, Lord! Send me!”

We are creating this newsletter to let you know about the opportunity you have to get involved in this tremendous work of helping the orphans of Africa. This is our first issue, of a bimonthly publication.

FROM DAN …

In 1998 God began to speak to Regina and me about adopting a child or two. After Regina got done laughing and me

questioning and crying, we decided to move our family to Haiti for a few months and adopt a child. We had no idea what we were in for.

God led a very sick little 3-year old girl named Lovena into our arms and hearts. It was heart-wrenching to see her plight – orphaned soon after birth; raised by an aunt who had three kids, no husband, and was not able to feed her own adequately; so she was left at the voodoo temple to fend for herself. She weighed 17 lbs, slept on the dirt floor by herself in the voodoo house, was always feverish, and had no one to care for her. We did all we could to complete the adoption, but before we could bring her home, she died. She was buried in a common grave, without even a casket or headstone, by the hospital in Port-au-Prince where so many of the poor are buried.

Lovena is just one little orphan in a little village in a little country. God put her into our family for a moment – but it changed our lives forever. We began to identify personally with the millions of uncared for orphans who will struggle to survive day to day with no one to help.

In 2001 I read an article in Newsweek about the 10 million children orphaned from AIDS in Africa, and I felt my conscience gripped and the beginning nudges of a call of God. I allowed myself to wrap my mind around the staggering statistics and allowed God to touch my heart with compassion. Before I was done with that magazine I told God I was willing to help if he wanted me.

That was a dangerous prayer! Within just a couple years I was able to go with a team of young disciples to Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa, to areas that are some of the worst-affected by AIDS in the world. It was life-changing. I knew after this visit, that, apart from the work and ministry involvement I carry on at home in the US, I must also bear the work of caring for “the least ones” in Africa.

Thus Orphan Hope was born. Our church leadership embraced the vision, and we started an account with a mission objective of raising money to pour into the orphans in Africa. Our first project is in the area of Mpumalanga, South Africa, through the channel of a home-health organization called Thembalethu. Right now they serve well over 3000 orphans. Many of them are living with relatives or neighbors. They have over 200 “orphan-headed households” on their rolls. They are beginning to build small orphan villages – 5-10 orphan homes in a small plot of land, with house- parents and Christian training.

My desire is to make a way for every Christian to get involved in some way: come on a short-term trip; “adopt” an orphan-headed household and make sure it has food and secure housing; help pay for construction of a new building ($10,000); etc. Even children can help!

Before we left for Africa in March, a 13 year old boy brought a bag of odds and ends from home – used pens, pencils, calculators, bouncy-balls, paper, stickers, bungee cords - you can imagine. I would not have taken it if I had known about it. Well, we got to our last days in Africa and visited a little orphanage with 32 kids, way out in the sticks. They barely had enough food for the week. They were alone and depending on God for help. We just came and did work around the place and held the kids and heard the amazing stories of survival. Regina pulled out that little sack of stuff, and they were elated! We apologized, but they cried in joy! They need $100 every month. Could a congregation support them? There was a lady with TB – too sick to work, but with no one to support her family of five kids – when we gave her the little money we had (about $10 US), she knew she would have food for her family for a week. Would someone want to support her every week? I could give you 10 more options – 200 more options!

"Do little things; love greatly.” – Mother Theresa.

Ways to get involved:

·Send $30 / month to support an orphan.

·For mission developers – come with me to Africa this winter and we will discover ways to improve our serve.

·Go with a short-term team to loose your heart in Africa.

·Send $10,000 and we will name an orphan home after you! And you can be the house- parent, too!

·Become a volunteer staff – web design, media productions, fundraising, etc.

Contributions are tax-deductible.

Send donations to:

Orphan Hope c/o Open Door
PO Box 65
Sheridan, OR. 97378
(503) 843-OPEN

orphanhope@onlinemac.com
www.orphanhope.com

FACTS

•There are 2300 verses pertaining to the poor.

•Yet, according to a recent Barna poll, non-Christians are more likely to give to African aid than Christians (fewer than 3% are giving).

•Twice as many people die daily from AIDS in Africa than died in the Sept 11 tragedy.

•Every month as many die in Africa from AIDS as died in the recent tsunami in Asia.

•If every family in our network of churches (8 churches) gave $10/mo, that would be $84,000 a year – enough to house 100 orphans and feed 70 orphans for a year!

•Imagine – if Africans orphans were raised in a Christian environment, what an impact that would have on the continent of Africa!