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Village of Hope

Village of Hope School Container Project

The Village of Hope (VOH) school container project is a tangible expression of love and hope for children, their education and future in Harare, Zimbabwe. There is no doubt that orphaned and community children alike aspire to a higher education so that they too, like us, can become change agents and community leaders, climbing out of the trap of poverty into rewarding and meaningful lives.

Presently, we are faced with the stark reality and feel a painful awareness of the severe level of poverty and illiteracy that impact millions of African children everyday. The noble efforts of Gordon and Anita Cooledge, directors at the Village of Hope, are helping to eliminate this problem by further school expansion with the construction of a new secondary school block known as the Cornelius Hope Academy Secondary School. This current development is to be completed in 2010 and will provide continuity from the existing primary school.

The fact of the matter is that, in Africa, the schools and parents simply can not afford to provide the necessary means for school supplies, educational materials and equipment. Many students must fend for themselves simply because families are so focused on providing basic daily food requirements. Others, orphaned, have no parents left at all.

The opportunity exists to help empower, energize, encourage and build up the entire scholastic system at the VOH. It only seems appropriate to join other churches and supporters around the world, together making a real difference by providing education for orphans and children amongst the poor. Sending a full 40 foot shipping container with school supplies and equipment will create and support a sustainable path out of poverty for the VOH children. Our hope and prayer is that the contents of this container sent will help to make an everlasting impact in the lives of hundreds of children every day for many years to come.

Toward that end, I am asking for your prayerful consideration in making an immediate and significant difference, by providing funds and donations for the fulfillment and shipment of this school container project by Sept. 30, 2010.

Thank you in advance for your generous support.

Wolfgang Dombrowski

• Click here to download a list for the container (PDF)

• Collection dates: Aug. 15 - Sept. 30/10

• Collection site: smaller items can be dropped off at church on Sundays at the VOH container table donation center is at 6 Riel Dr. St. Albert, AB

• monetary donations - use offering envelope, mark donation as VOH container

• Contact info.: 
  Wolfgang Dombrowski 780-975-9117
  Faye/Wolfgang Dombrowski 780-973-9117 or 780-460-0166

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ZIM Team Update:

Team North Pointe is on the ground as of April 25th in Harare, Zimbabwe at the Vilage of Hope. The team consists of David and Linda Stride, Suzanne Stoddart, Tim and Sharon Ramstad, Madlene Christenson, and Wolfgang and Faye Dombrowski. They will be involved in offerng a Daily Vacation Bible School and a Sports Camp. 150 chldren attended the DVBS on the first day and soccer, basketball and volleyball lessons and games were held on the first day of the sports camp. Over $1,000 of sports equipment was donated by Grant McEwan College and the Edmonton Scottish soccer team.

 

Dear friends,

It seems that in celebrating the Village of Hope so spectacularly over the month of March, it is only appropriate to revisit the dream… where we came from and where we are headed. Please bear with us if you are familiar with the vision. But if you aren't, we hope this helps you join in and get excited over plans for the future…

HOPE…FOR THEIR FUTURE!

YESTERDAY….

The dream of the Village of Hope, from the purchase of the property in 2001, was to respond to the AIDS crisis in southern Africa. To house, care for and provide hope through the knowledge of Jesus Christ, for orphans and other 'children at risk'. From the beginning, the dream for this property in Zimbabwe was to affect little lives by….

• 16 orphan homes
• primary school
• church
• medical clinic
• community outreach

TODAY…

We are still celebrating in the throws of the Grand Opening of the Village of Hope, March 15th, 2008. It was incredible day as almost 600 people gathered from the community, local leadership and from other countries, to take part in a huge praise concert and listen to speeches, reveling in what God has done! The registrations of the primary school, and orphanage in 2007; the new school buildings; new water systems; new orphan homes; the children whose lives are changed forever because of this growth! Our dedication plaque is pictured below with Rev. Murray & Cindy Cornelius, founders (right), and Gord and Anita Cooledge, Directors (left). (Because it is impossible to share the whole day with you in this email, we will be sending out a separate sheet of pictures from the day. Watch for it, and thanks for being part of the day in prayer!)

We are now in fast forward mode as we look to plans for the future. But touching 400 children's lives daily at present is only a drop in the bucket compared to the immediate need in front of us in Zimbabwe today.

Today, the dream is well underway by the grace of God.

- 2 orphan homes already exist, housing 13 children and two house mothers. 4 more orphan homes are now under construction and slated to be completed in the next few months (Rev. Murray & Cindy Cornelius, pictured left, being shown the completed foundation of one such home by Gord).

- Cornelius Hope Academy Primary School (CHAPS) is now open for 200 students, Kindergarten to grade 6.

- Hope Community Church boasts a congregation of over 250 each Sunday and runs countless programs and ministries into the surrounding community, under the leadership of Rev. Munetsi Zowa.

- The Medical Clinic has been mapped out with stakes on the grounds of the Village of Hope. Full funds for the building have been raised! We are now in the midst of researching the registrations needed and ensuring that the Clinic is fully sustainable for years to come. We pray to have the clinic under construction in the last quarter of 2008, and open to the public sometime in 2009.

- The Community Outreach program operates out of 4 feeding points (called 'Chosen Ones'), feeding 300 children in the community each day, Monday to Friday. Another 100+ children attend after school programs where they are taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, play games & sports, do crafts and get help with homework.

TOMORROW…

In an economy spiraling downward, and a general feeling of depression and oppression in the country, the future could seem dismal. We are again seeing things disappear from the shelves, as the people of this nation sit poised and waiting for the next phase of leadership and are uncertain. Yet God has given us this time of favour and so we keep moving forward. At times, the dream seems to take on a life of it's own as we watch the children grow in front of us and strongly desire to support them through to the realization of their own dreams. If the Village of Hope was ever needed, IT IS NOW! And so…

- 10 more children's homes, housing a total of 128 children, and already approved on our site plan, need to be raised both in finances and in building.

- We believe God's plans for CHAPS now include a double stream of classes in our primary school. This means another 8 classrooms are needed, a library, computer lab and sports facilities need to be developed. There are already plans in the works to build a 2 storey classroom block housing some of these needed facilities. (2008 prefect body of student leaders pictured left)

- And what about after primary school? Well, we believe that we shouldn't take children half way and then drop out of their lives, and so we are now also dreaming of land purchase nearby and the establishment of a secondary school for our senior resident children, and CHAPS graduates. A vocational training centre is also being dreamed of.

- With the growth of the Village of Hope, the number of congregants on a Sunday at Hope Community Church is increasing, while our average age is decreasing J. Therefore we now need to begin to think about a bigger meeting hall, and a focused children's program and staff that will keep up with the changes we are seeing on the grounds of the Village of Hope, but still serve the community as best as God allows us.

- Beyond Registration of Hope Community Medical Clinic and opening its doors we pray in 2009, we hope to further our service to the community by also pursuing Registration as an HIV/AIDS and TB treatment clinic. Right now, the number of clinics that treat these diseases in Harare are few and the waiting lists are long because of the availability of medicines and the economic environment. The children we now drive to these clinics every month could be serviced in their own backyard!

- The opportunities and needs are never ending when it comes to feeding the hungry, and reaching out to community children. Currently however, expansion of Chosen Ones and After Schools Discipleship Program would be simply to accommodate the growing number of CHAPS children as the primary school multiplies.

But the success of the Village of Hope today, cannot be measured in buildings and statistics, but in the lives God changes simply because the Village exists. Chipo is such a life (pictured top right)! We introduced you to her when we first met her in early 2006, when she was so ill she was kicked out of school. Yet today and with medical care, she is back in school full time, healthy and growing almost to the size of her peers, though she is 2 years their senior. She is a miracle of life, and one example of what God can do in the life of a child! What a privilege to see her kneeling at the altar in prayer a few Sundays ago, watching her grow spiritually and having a humbling moment to kneel and pray with her and over her.

Because so many of you have asked how to help…

Here's a few material needs that need to happen with current growth:

• A firefighting system at $6,000, complete with hoses and reservoir.
• $5,000 for a new soak away to service the expansion of the orphanage.
• $5,000 for house furnishings per house, to fill the new children's homes once they are complete.

PRAYER REQUESTS THIS MONTH

• For our work permit which needs renewing.
• For the political and economic stability of Zimbabwe through this time, for peace.
• For a hunger for God, in our children at the Village of Hope.
• For the team of 8 due to land April 25th – for effectiveness in ministry and their safety.
• For our family's safety through this time.
• For the dark hold on Plot 17 – for deliverance for the people there, that they might see God's power.
• Unspoken request.

Thank you for the emails and phone calls we have received, as once again Zimbabwe is in world news! We are doing okay and life is going on as normal as possible. However we do realize the volatility of an uncertain future in this nation and so your prayers and encouragements are so appreciated! Thank you for standing with us once again! You are a blessing in our lives!

Take a look at the status of the project and find out how you can make a difference!

To learn more about the Village of Hope, check out this special presentation. (PowerPoint - 5-minute download).

Central's Village of Hope in Harare, Zimbabwe

According to CNS News, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) issued a warning December 1, 2002, that the number of children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa was expected to double to 25 million by the end of the decade. UNICEF said sub-Saharan Africa faced an explosion of parentless children because of the spread of the disease.

"Given that the global AIDS pandemic is still in its early stages, there can be no doubt that the growing number of children orphaned by AIDS means the world will see an explosion in the number of child prostitutes, children living on the streets and child domestic workers," said Carol Bellamy, UNICEF'S executive director.

"Nearly 2,000 years after Jesus gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan, we are still asking the question, 'Who is my neighbor?' And we're still getting the answer wrong," says World Vision President Richard E. Stearns. "This simple, yet most profound parable speaks to the AIDS epidemic. Today, it should challenge our own community of faith, an North American Church that largely is ignoring the AIDS pandemic."

“North Pointe Community Church is working in partnership with ChildCARE Plus, ERDO and Jim Cantelon, Director of Visionledd, to do something about the AIDS pandemic. Our objective is to establish thousands of Villages of Hope throughout Sub-Sahara Africa. Villages of Hope offer medical care, education, housing, food, spiritual care and self-employment opportunities for widows and orphans of AIDS. The best delivery system for AIDS care is through local African churches. North Pointe has raised funds and built the first Village of Hope in Harare, Zimbabwe.

We are half way towards raising funds for a second home in this village.

Pastor Bob and Jocelyn Jones traveled to Harare in February 2003 to plan the development of the Village with Murray Cornelius, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada regional director for Sub-Sahara Africa and a partner with Visionledd. Murray has already established a church, Hope Community Church, on the site of the Village of Hope in Harare. Our goal is to influence people to give $1,000,000 over the next ten years to create Villages of Hope.

Entrance to the Village of Hope in Harare, Zimbabwe

Chapel and residence at the Village of Hope

Some of the children cared for in the Village of Hope - Harare.

"The face of the AIDS Pandemic"
Cindy Cornelius cares for a young mother named "Perfect." Cindy and her husband Murray performed Perfect's wedding ceremony. After a few of years of marriage, Perfect learned that her husband was HIV positive. He died from AIDS. She also developed full blown AIDS and was brought to the Village of Hope to be cared for. Two days after this picture was taken, Perfect passed away, leaving her two children in the care of the Village. Your dollars have given them hope as they receive housing, medical attention, education and a lot of TLC.

Visionledd
Emergency Relief and Development Overseas (ERDO)
ChildCARE Plus (CCP)

Donations for the Village of Hope Harare can be made by calling North Pointe Community Church at (780) 452-5566. Cheques can be made out to North Pointe Community Church.