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Good News to be Proud of
Recently I joined a small Bright Hope World group that visited partners in Uganda and Kenya, with a focus on understanding what becoming a Partnership Facilitator might look like. My parents - Matt and Judy O’Byrne - have been Partnership Facilitators in Uganda for around ten years, and I had heard a lot of stories about the partners they look after, a number of whom we had the pleasure of meeting on our trip.
In Kampala we met a partner named Ephraim Tumusilime, who spoke to us about a reusable sanitary pad project, and then gave us some of the background on the other projects that he and his wife Jove are involved in. They oversee a movement of 100 churches, water projects and Foundations for Farming, and they are planning to expand into microloan / table banking as well.
We met Thomas and Joyce Lubari in Jinja and heard their story. They oversee microloan and vocational training programmes, and are moving into trauma counselling work as well, which is definitely necessary when you understand the history of this part of the world. They also pastor a church, and Thomas is finishing his PhD based around a holistic view of the Gospel. In Busia, we visited James and Gorret Mayende, and spoke to some of the beneficiaries of their microloan programme. We met Dennis, a man who lost everything in a house fire and was suicidal as he was unable to pay his debts or provide for his family. He was loaned money for a chainsaw, which he has subsequently paid back, and at the time we met him he was working for himself, providing for his wife and 7 children, and was building a house for them, 9 months on from his crisis.
Leaving Uganda, we flew to Nairobi and visited Mathare Community Outreach in one of the world’s most notorious and dangerous slums. Bright Hope World’s partner there runs a number of schools and is feeding more than 1,200 children every day. For most of these children, this will often be the only meal they get.
I was so impressed by what I saw while away, and the work that Bright Hope World’s partners are doing. Within it is a gospel that combines faith with practical action that produces organic, simple, sustainable life transformation, as evidenced by the story of Dennis. A small amount, not even a gift, at the right time, to the right person, with a focus on relationship and community can be revolutionary, and produce a dignity and hope for the future that was lacking previously. It is much more labour intense than just giving people money, but in the end appears to help a lot more than a gift without relationship. The other big take away was the benefit of support groups for people with similar struggles. It reminds me of James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”. It is certainly food for thought.
David O'Byrne (front row at the left in the picture)
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Bright Hope News
Every year, as we prepare this report, we go through each of our partnerships and update them with the numbers of people they’re helping, employing, educating, lending money to and so on.
So often we’re focused on the process and challenges of what we are doing, so it is truly encouraging to take a step back and look at the outcomes; at the net impact of what God is doing through our partners. Check out our latest Annual Report to get a sense of the reach of our partners (see link below).
We’ve also made a couple of La Mai changes lately. Firstly, we’ve made a mobile version of the La Mai website so you can order coffee (and read the story) easily from your phone.
Secondly, after some years of wanting to make it happen, we’ve partnered with the good folks at The Coffee Capsule Company to be able to sell Nespresso coffee capsules full of wonderful La Mai coffee! We have both La Mai Blend and Single Origin available, so if you have one of these machines, get some of our pods here.
Life Change Story – Fountain of Hope, Zimbabwe
Prayer and Praise
Gladys Chidharara (pictured above with Fountain of Hope’s Agricultural Officer) is a widow in Mandiva village. She is a woman who fears God and who desires to walk according to what the Lord is doing in their area. Her passion is to shine the light of Jesus Christ in her community and beyond through the work of her hands.
Her husband died in 2005 and left her with the task of looking after their children. She currently looks after three biological grandchildren whose parents succumbed to HIV/AIDS and seven more children who were left in her custody when her sister passed on. She takes care of many people in a community that has always known hunger. Gladys had been praying and asking God to remember their area and send rain to sustain their crops. Some of her children had already dropped out of school because of a lack of school fees. Her prayers were answered when the Foundations for Farming training was brought into the community by Bright Hope World through Fountain of Hope. She took the training seriously and, without wasting time, put into practice all that she had learnt.
This year, even though they did not get their usual rainfall in January, her maize crop did very well and she was voted the best farmer in all three wards of Chivi District Council. Politicians, traditional leaders, school heads and government officials were invited to come to this widow's field to learn about farming. God is truly amazing; a poor widow became a teacher of so many people throughout the whole district of Chivi. People gathered at her homestead and in her field to learn how best to maximize high yields from their fields!
Read more about Fountain of Hope – Mandiva Community Development (ZIM02d) here.
We greatly appreciate your prayers for us and our partners.
- Pray for the people of Uganda and Kenya and are amazing partners there. Pray also that God would make clear to those looking to join our team whether or not this pathway ir right for them.
- Pray (and praise) for Gladys, the community in Mandiva and the Fountain of Hope team as they see real transformation in this part of Zimbabwe.
- Praise for 2017/18 and the reports outlined in the Annual Report. We are so privileged to be part of the great work God is doing around the world through his people.
- Please pray for the successful launch of our coffee capsules! It is not often that we launch a new product like this, so please pray that this would be a success that would enable us to assist more Thai farmers.
2017/2018 Annual Report Available
Find out what Bright Hope World has been doing during the 2017/2018 Financial Year in our Annual Report.
You can download the report here.
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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