BRIGHT HOPE WORLD NEWSLETTER: SPRING 2011
From the Executive Chairman
“It’s hopeless, I give money and it all goes to overheads or the corruption is so bad the people in Africa never benefit from our giving”.
I often hear this sort of thing said. Friends, I’d like to tell you it’s not hopeless, its life changing. In Bright Hope World 90 cents or more in every dollar given gets to our partners in the developing world.
Recently I was in Zambia with our Partnership Facilitators, Jerry and Hayley Field. They have spent the last few years of their lives developing and teaching the poorest of the poor in Africa how to dramatically change their lives. By selecting key leaders and training them in changing mindsets and basic horticultural methods - and then once they are approved loaning them US$30 - they are now seeing life-changing results; an approximately 200% increase in return on their investment.
That’s right, with a loan of US$30, and using the ‘Farming God’s Way’ method, our partners and the communities in which they work have increased their productivity by 200% on average. Jerry and Hayley believe they can still do much better and improve results by a further 200-300%, but our partners are on a learning curve to change mindsets of generations so it is a gradual process.
Friends, these people for the first time in their lives are experiencing dignity, empowerment and gratitude to God. Please pray that many more of the communities our partners live and work in will be totally transformed by economic and spiritual empowerment and remember: your dollar goes a long way when used judiciously in the developing world.
Rob Purdue
Jerry and Haley Field (and kids).
Growing God's Way.
Miraculous Events in Ethiopia
Two of our missionaries, M and G are working together in villages in the West of Ethiopia, towards the Sudan border. (For safety reasons we are unable to mention names).
Three weeks ago, a boy from a nearby village died. His family members were, of course, very upset and someone told them there was a powerful witch doctor / healer in the neighbouring village who may be able to help. Our missionary partner was out early that morning and upon his return home, saw the large crowd gathered outside. He was very initially scared, unsure as to what was happening, but as he walked up he pushed through the noisy crowd to find the dead boy.
On being told the story, he did not know what to do, so he went into his house and prayed, asking God for wisdom.
With a great deal of trepidation he went back out to the crowd and told them that he was not a healer, but that he knew The Healer. He then commanded the dead body to come back to life in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. The body jerked up and then slumped back to the ground. He then kneeled down beside the boy and began praying for him and laid his hands on him for about 15 minutes. The boy sat up, then stood and started walking and talking. He was completely healed. The crowd was astonished.
The missionary then spoke to the crowd telling them about Jesus Christ and forgiveness of sins. Because of this miracle more than 250 people came to Christ. The church in the village grew from 120 attendants to 380 in one burst of growth. Their Sunday service is now conducted under a tree since the grass house they built is no longer large enough to accommodate them.
Worku, our Ethiopia Partnership Facilitator visited there on Sunday the 30th of October. The photo to the right shows Worku speaking to many of the new converts. It is a challenge to make disciples of this many people when most of them don’t read or write.
Worku has been asked to send more missionaries to this area. They are desperately in need of help and five more villages want church planters. He is working on this and will attempt to find at least three to send out. Some people are walking 1½ hours each way for church. This means that children and old people cannot attend, so they are endeavouring to gather sufficient funds to erect more buildings.
Praise the Lord and glory to God that he works so awesomely!
New converts
Worku
Prayer and Praise Points
- November and December are our biggest funding months due to the need to pay school fees for many orphans in our partnerships. Pray that God will provide these funds.
- Pray for our partners in Thailand who are living in very difficult circumstances following the floods there.
- Praise God for the lives that are being changed by the farming techniques Jerry and Hayley are teaching.
- Pray for Worku and the other church planters in Ethiopia as they seek the disciple the new converts there. Praise God for the miraculous sign that brought these people to faith.
Floods in Thailand
We have a number of partners in Thailand who are affected by the current flooding there. In particular the Good News Team (click to see partnership details) and John and Nok (click to see partnership details) are experiencing significant flooding.
The flooding continues to get worse as the water is taking over more and more of central Thailand, and is also far deeper than anyone has ever experienced before. All on the Good News Team that were in danger areas had lifted most things in their homes at least a metre off the ground. But that wasn’t enough in some situations. In some of their homes the water came nearly to the ceiling so most of their furniture is now under water and will be for several weeks it seems.
Please pray for our partners in Thailand as they deal with this difficult situation. If you would like to assist them financially please contact us.
Thailand flooding.
New Partnerships
It has been very exciting over the last three months to be able to commence three new partnerships, one in Pakistan and two in Thailand.
Friends Fashion Centre (click to see partnership details)
Edward Qasar and his father, Pastor Manzoor Jalal, have had a long term vision to establish a sewing factory in Lahore to both provide employment for local people and generate income for their ministry in Pakistan.
The plan is to develop this factory so that eventually it will employ around 300 people. This factory will be largely established to produce export clothing and they already have contacts outside of Pakistan, mainly in Europe.
Chuenjit’s Halfway House (click to see partnership details)
Since 2004 Chuenjit has been working with highly 'at-risk' young people (14-17 year olds) in the Youth Detention Centre north of Bangkok. She visits three times per week and conducts Bible studies as well as teaching them basic life skills. However the young people are often only in the remand home for a short period of time (1-3 months) and after they leave the home they don't know what to do. Often they cannot go back to studying because of what they have done and so are at a loose end. Chuenjit has set-up a half-way house so she can continue to look after these young people short term after they come out of the remand home, usually just 3-6 months but no more than a year. She helps them until they are able to get a job.
ITDP Water Village Project (click to see partnership details)
Most hill tribes in Thailand and surrounding regions still do not have access to clean water and sanitation facilities. And, because they are poor, do not have the knowledge/experience in design and construction, and are not afforded the same opportunities as local Thai, they are powerless in establishing such facilities.
The Integrated Tribal Development Programme (ITDP) is seeking to do something about this situation by providing clean water systems and proper toilets/bathrooms in these villages.
Bright Hope World Summit 2012
In April 2012 we are planning to hold a Bright Hope World Summit for anyone interested in the work we and our partners are doing around the world. This will be held in Christchurch on Saturday the 28th of April 2012, starting with a dinner and keynote address on Friday evening.
Our theme for the summit is Exceptional, as this is exactly what our partners in the field are. We want to share some of their stories and highlight the exceptional things God is doing through these people around the world.
If you live in New Zealand we would love to have you join us next year as we share the vision and stories of Bright Hope World and look to our future. Further details will be sent out via email in the New Year but we encourage you to mark this date in your diary now and plan on being in Christchurch that weekend!
If you have any queries, please contact Heather McLennan by email on heather@brighthopeworld.com or ring the office on (03) 341 0933. If you have received a hard copy of this newsletter and are keen to come to the Summit then we would be grateful if you could please let us know your email address.
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