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Change
Romans 12 says to “no longer conform to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. Just how difficult is change? In my own life, I know that to change the way I think or longstanding ways of doing things takes a lot of truth, and effort.
On our trip to Zambia earlier this year, I was reflecting on the privilege of being in partnership with friends there for over 11 years. Looking back and being able to see some of the changes that have occurred in these communities gives a tangible sense that God has been at work in their lives as they look to spread the gospel and alleviate poverty.
In Chaba they have trained 312 families in either farming or managing small business loans. They have seen greatly increased crop yields and profits meaning the families can afford to feed themselves and send children and orphans to school. Peter Bobo Chomba wrote us a report stating: "we would like to thank Bright Hope World for their initiative to bring to us this wonderful programme 'Foundations for Farming'. Since this programme started, hunger is no more the talk of the day. People have enough to feed their families. For us who are using the new method we are very happy because food is in abundance!"
At Ukusenaminwa, deaf young people have been brought out of victimhood, shown the love of Christ and given a real chance at life. Now the older children have their own businesses or jobs. People are learning that just because your child is deaf, it does not mean they are cursed.
At Patience Child Care (pictured above), they have now trained all of the 36 orphans’ guardians to see them increase crop yields and help the orphans into secondary school.
In Kaishe, where for so long there has been resistance to anything new, they have started training carpenters, meaning they now have wooden doors and roofs that last more than a year. They’re also training tailors, and Foundations for Farming is starting to take off with 15 people doing well with the methods.
We’ve also seen fantastic progress in Lulamba, at Kero Farms and in Chipata, with real progress in farming yields, micro-loans and church-planting. For all of these partnerships, has it been an easy road? No. In fact, many times we are faced with the question “should we even carry on?” However, we believe we must stay the course in partnership, even when things get rocky.
The area of transformation and development seems to be like our relationship with God. A relationship that brings hope for change. We are so thankful for the relationship that these partners have with the communities around them. It is such a powerful catalyst for bringing about renewing of minds.
Jerry Field
Zambia Partnership Facilitator
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Bright Hope News
We have been doing quite a bit of work lately on our website – have you visited recently?
We’ve added some new videos on our Media page here.
We’ve also noted on each of our partnership pages the impact that the partnership has, such as the number of families being helped. We’ve then collated all this information into a single page that shows the overall impact that Bright Hope World partners are having on our Impact page here.
And, we’ve recently added a ‘windfall’ page to explain how we would handle a large donation and which of our partners have the ability to substantially upscale their operations. It may seem a bit optimistic (or even cheeky) to do this, but we think it is important to be prepared! You can see this information at our Windfall Strategy page here.
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Life Change Story – Mrs Nati, Vision Thailand
Prayer and Praise
“My name is Mrs Nati. In the past, I grew up in a village that had a church building in it, so I used to say I believed in God but I did not have a real walk of faith. I was living a hypocritical selfish life. I played cards, had other gambling addictions, was addicted to alcohol, and used drugs. I had an aggressive temperament and argued with my family or cursed people who opposed me. I was arrested and imprisoned four times but that did not help make me a better person or turn me from my old lifestyle. I did not enjoy being like that, someone that everyone hated. I tried so hard to change, but could not stop my sin or addictions, no matter how hard I tried. I presumed I would have to live with those habits and sins until I died. During that time, because of my addictions, I also had chronic pain in my internal organs, my ovaries were inflamed and I had terrible knee pain.”
“When Pastor Somchai Arlee and his team from the Vision Thailand church came to my village, I responded to the gospel message and confessed my sins. God forgave me and changed me by His power. God delivered me from my addictions and healed me of my pain. I have been walking with God now for three years. I thank God so much that he has freed me from all my addictions and I now have great peace. I know I have changed dramatically and people in the village can't believe I am the same person. I have become more tolerant and forgiving towards others and no longer look for a fight with people who don’t agree with me.”
“I wanted my home to be a blessing to the village I live in which has no church so I opened my home to be a place of worship to God each week. There are now about 30 believers who come every week. Initially many people in the village opposed me for letting the church meet in my house but now they have seen how much my life has changed for the better and can see I have found peace. The attitudes of people in the village have changed and they are now asking when we will build an actual church in the village. Praise God for his grace.”
Read more about Vision Thailand (THA10) here.
We greatly appreciate your prayers for us and our partners.
- Pray for the people of Zambia and praise God for the progress that is happening in difficult places.
- Pray for the Vision Thailand team, for Mrs Nati and for the church that meets in her home.
- Praise God for everyone who attended and the good time that was had at the two Summits we held in Invercargill and Auckland last month.
- Pray for our team members travelling over the next few months, including Kevin Honore who is visiting Ethiopia and Fraser Scott who is visiting churches and donors in the US.
Bright Hope World, PO Box 8928, Christchurch 8440, New Zealand
Phone: (03) 341 0933 Fax: (03) 341 3363
www.brighthopeworld.com
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