Happy Thanksgiving
from
Hearth to Hearth Ministries'
Orphans and Orphanages
Thanksgiving greetings from the hearts of the
African orphans to your heart. How overwhelmed the orphans would be if they
could for just one day see for themselves the bounty that most of us take for
granted. And how overwhelmed we, the sponsors of the orphans, and we who have an
interest in their well being, would be if we had to live for one day as they
have had to live for most of their lives on the streets of the cities and
villages in Africa! These orphans have lived without hope, and life without hope
is a pitiful life indeed.
The orphans who have been blessed to have already been taken into one of the
orphanages where their food and clothing and shelter are provided have been
given hope--a gift of hope from someone who decided to
sponsor an
orphan and share their plenty with an orphan child who had nothing.
You who have sponsored one or more orphans have experienced the thrill, the joy
of knowing that you have made a difference--a life and death difference--in the
life of a child. Would those who have not yet had that experience, please think
about it as you plan and prepare for this Thanksgiving season. Would you not
like to do your part to feed the children who otherwise would go hungry? Your
decision to sponsor an orphan will provide food, clothing and shelter for an
orphan who would otherwise be hungry, near-naked and homeless, void of hope both
for today and the future.
Sponsor an African orphan that is suffering because of
poverty and enjoy a real Thanksgiving experience!
Feed the children, and you will be "fed" yourself, filled with the joy of
providing comfort and hope to one who has known little if any of either during
their brief lives.
Blessings to you on behalf of
Hearth to Hearth Ministries' orphans and orphanages. Join
volunteers in making a difference in the lives of orphans.
My Father,
Thank You
By Esther McDaniel
Thanksgiving day is just ahead as I write this, and I have so much to be
thankful for. Somehow, though, I feel confused as I look forward to that day:
"Last time I requested money for the temporary dining hall I think the money was
too much for the temporary structure. Actually, I wanted to have it very smart.
Temporary but smart. Now I want to make it in a way that will not be very
expensive. I like to make things look smart even if it is temporary.
Please, please, I beg you all in the name of Jesus to sympathize with the
situation and send us the money ($1500) immediately. There is much rain
here and we have no shade. The money you will send will not be a waste. We will
use the iron sheets in the future."
– Moses Nyamora
Thank you Father for my comfortable table and chairs in my dry kitchen. It is
modest but sufficient. And there is shade.
"We've been busy trying to build [the secondary school]
and we are moving ahead. Surely the money was too little to an extent that we
are wondering how far it
will take us with the construction. I am really trying to stretch it up and most
of the work is being done by students. Sometimes they walk miles to carry
materials because we don't want to waste a penny."
– Maurice Anyango
Father, thank you so much for our car. It's true that gas prices are soaring but
I've never had to walk miles to carry supplies. And thank you that my children
had such nice schools to go to. I am so blessed!
"Right now we have no beds. We need metal beds. The wooden ones,
many of them are broken down and they are beyond repair. Most of our
children, right now they are sleeping down. I requested the money for beds two
months ago but no answer and I knew that there is no money. We also need
mattresses since they are very old and some already are burned out and cannot be
used since they are now small pieces." ($130 ea.)
– Moses Nyamora
Father, thank you for my comfy bed!
"I would like to let you know that I have failed to transport the materials to
Jovanance [to build the house her sponsor is providing] due to heavy rains
causing floods in Kiboga and other districts of Uganda. It had been raining but
the last one-and-a-half weeks it rained nonstop— mornings, days and nights. All
the roads have become muddy and slippery. The bridges are covered with
water—no way. So I am back in Kampala. I have kept the iron sheets at the
Maranatha Centre. The government is announcing the expectation of cholera and
terrible malaria. Pray with us for this epidemic diseases." – Fred Musungu
I am so thankful for the place I call home, and that I have
little worries about epidemic diseases. Father, you are so good to me. But
why me, Father? Surely I don't deserve such abundance when there is so much
want. What can I do? How can I be truly thankful for luxury amidst such
suffering?
[Eighteen-year-old Logan Harvey spent six months visiting our projects in
Kenya and Uganda. Home again, he has much to share of his experiences there.
This prompted him to write the following letter to our readers in 2006. Editor]
Dear Readers,
It is Thanksgiving time and I can’t help but see this holiday in a different
light as I look forward to the good food around our holiday table. After
my trip to Africa, I can see how much I really have; so many things that I took
for granted before. We Americans have so much to be thankful for and don’t
realize how blessed we really are.
After seeing so many people survive with so little, I sometimes wonder why God
chose to have me born as an American. I remember wondering what it would really
be like if I was born in Africa or in some other third world country.
While I was there, if I got tired of eating the same thing every day, or missed
the comforts of home, I knew I would be going home soon. But those poor people
don’t have that hope. Most are stuck there with no chance of a better life. I
can’t imagine what their life must be like: working all the time, struggling
just for food, and doing without most of our so-called “necessities.”
I never think twice about where my next meal will come from or if I can afford
to go to the hospital when I’m sick, but so many there do go hungry and can’t
afford to take their children to
the doctor. I remember nine hundred children coming to the gates of Hope
Center, hoping to get something to eat, during the first week I was there. Many
of these children were terribly thin and
had protruding bellies because they didn’t get enough to eat every day. It broke
my heart watching them have to send these precious children away to go to sleep
hungry again. Someone told me that some of these children might get a few meager
meals a week and that’s how they survive. How many of us can say that we
have gone hungry or have had to walk for miles looking for food. Actually, for
most of us, we have the opposite problem, especially at this time of year.
Thanksgiving is the holiday when most of us pig out and eat too much without a
second thought for those who go without. You know, the money we spend to go out
to eat once is probably more than many people get a month for food over there.
It’s not just food. There are so many things we take for granted that these
people go without, like clothes, a house, and an education. I saw so many people
going barefoot and wearing rags because they couldn’t afford anything better
while I, on the other hand, have several pairs of shoes and too many clothes to
fit in my dresser.
I remember doing anything I could do to skip school when I was younger, but for
those children in Africa, going to school is a privilege and something that some
can’t afford. For those who are fortunate enough to go, they absolutely love it
and work hard.
And I can’t tell you how much we take for granted our homes here in America. We
live in an older farmhouse that we have fixed up. I used to look down on our
home but I have come to realize that it really is a mansion. There are so many
people there who don’t have a place to call a home and many of those who do,
live in a small mud hut. I visited a widow who had ten children
and lived in a mud hut that was around ten feet by eight feet. Some of her
children had to sleep at the neighbor’s house because of lack of room. Seeing
how this family lives really makes me realize how rich I am. I wish everyone
could go to Africa and see how these people live so they could see how much they
have to be thankful for.
I know this trip has changed my point of view on life and I can’t take for
granted all the things I used to. So, this holiday season I hope we all remember
to thank our heavenly Father who has chosen to bless us so much by allowing us
to live in this wonderful country. And please, try not to forget all these
precious people who are not as fortunate as we are. God bless, and have a
wonderful holiday season this year.
Sincerely,
Logan Harvey
