October 2021

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” Eph. 6:4

The Orphan and COVID Pandemic

There are around 160,000,000 children in our world who are classified as orphans. There are 1,500,000 million children worldwide who have lost parents, grandparents, caregivers due to COVID-19. The U.S. ranks 4th with the most kids orphaned by COVID-19 deaths, behind Mexico, Brazil, and India. In Zimbabwe, to care for only 10% of their number of orphans would require construction of 100 orphanages a month for a year. International child welfare organizations have shown that children benefit greatly from care, personal attention and social connections of family and community.

Hands of Hope in Communities

On September 6 , schools reopened in Zimbabwe and HOH opened 5 new preschools and 5 new bridging schools through 5 of our HOH churches in their respective communities. This was an historic day for HOH when around 200 children at risk came under the care of the 5 local churches daily. We are so grateful to our Lord and to you for making it possible. We could never have imagined this even 5 years ago.

The Future is Here

You have heard it said that “children are the future” but we know that the children are already here. It is the responsibility of God’s people to teach them to love the Lord Jesus and His Word. That is why we are starting AWANA clubs in these 5 churches as well. AWANA is an international evangelical ministry that provides Bible-based evangelism and graded discipleship resources for children and teens ages 2–18. The name AWANA is an acronym for “Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed,” which comes from their key verse is 2 Tim. 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” The goal of AWANA is to “reach kids, equip leaders, and change the world” by making one disciple at a time. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  

Thank you for making it a reality!

For Jesus’ sake and for the children,
Glen and Patty