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We Are So Thankful for You!

Dear friends,

The American Heritage dictionary has the following

definition of family: 1. A fundamental social group in soci-

ety typically consisting of one or two parents and their chil-

dren. 2. Two or more people who share goals and values,

have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usu-

ally in the same dwelling place.

Each year as Thanksgiving approaches, we take pause

from the hectic pace of our lives to reflect on the many bless-

ings bestowed upon us during the past year. This spirit of

thankfulness often stays in our hearts for the next several

weeks, as we remember the gift of the Christ child and look

forward to His plans for us in the coming year. It is a glorious

time of year for many, but for millions of others, there is no

joy. We are speaking of the widows and orphans of this

world who, through no fault of their own, are struggling to

exist in an endless spiral of poverty and illness.

You have reached out to make over four hundred of these

suffering souls part of your families. Although we do not

“live in the same dwelling place,” we share common goals

and have long-term commitments to one another. Truly, we

cannot measure the impact that your joining this family has

had, but one thing we know for sure, the women and children

who are benefitting from your participation now have the

blessing of a future.

We have struggled through many difficulties in this

work, often feeling inadequate to the task God has laid be-

fore us. Most of the time, we find we are running ahead of

God, expecting Him to provide what we need exactly as we

ask for it. We are slowly learning patience, and most impor-

tantly, we are constantly reminded that this work is His, not

ours. We also know that without each of you, this ministry

would not exist. We are so thankful for your love and trust.

As you gather with those who are dear to you to close out

the year 2006, please take a moment to reflect on that mem-

ber of your family who is in Africa. We can promise, your

child or widow will be thinking of you. Each of us is forever

joined at heart by love and gratitude to God for bringing us

together. That’s how it is when you are a family.

God bless you each and every one.

On behalf of the Volunteers and Board

of Hearth to Hearth Ministries

We Face Many Challenges Ahead

As we look forward to 2007 with gratitude for the year

just past, we would falter at the already-known challenges

we are facing if we were not confident of God’s leading in

this venture and His eagerness to supply all the needs of His

trusting children.

One of the first challenges we must face is the need to

find a satisfactory way to continue putting out this monthly

newsletter. Due to circumstances beyond our control, our

November issue arrived in your mailbox very late, and actu-

ally three weeks after it appeared on our website. We are

very sorry for this.

Smyrna Gospel Ministries has been a tremendous help to

us since the beginning of this ministry, in printing our newslet-

ters at way below their cost. This is, however, the last issue they

will be printing as they are facing printing challenges of their

own at the present time. Ben (the one who has been doing the

printing) and Bethany Turner are returning to their home in

Australia in compliance with their visa and, hopefully, soon

enough to still have some quality time with Ben’s ailing grand-

mother. We are thankful to Smyrna and, especially, to Ben and

Bethany, for their voluntary labor of love in processing our

newsletters since the relocation of this ministry.

So far the lowest price quote we have received for print-

ing (which includes collating, the first fold and stapling) is

$450 per (black and white) twelve-page issue, which factors

out to about fifty cents per newsletter. This still requires

some willing manual labor on our part for the second fold

and staple, plus mailing. Or, we can change our format to

single 8-

1/2

x11 sheets and use a Risograph machine (also

donated by Smyrna). This would entail much manual labor

(though also willing), but first the machine needs some re-

pair, which we are looking into.

Another option we are considering is sending the news-

letter out quarterly rather than monthly, but this would be a

last resort, as so many have indicated their enjoyment of the

latest news from the projects.

This challenge, along with the roughly $15,000 [an edu-

cated guess at this point] we will be needing for school fees

when the school year begins in January, in addition to our

necessary building projects, leaves us looking forward in an-

ticipation of God’s major rescue plan. He has never failed!

With the high costs of secondary education as they are, it

seems imperative that we think ahead to the necessity of build-

ing our own secondary school before we are faced with such

high educational expenses for another year (after this coming

one). The year just past has been extremely difficult with the ex-

penses of caring for a hundred extra children who were not

sponsored. This, along with famine and illness escalating the

cost of living while sponsorships remain the same, has resulted

in nothing set aside for the year ahead. We are praying that God

will meet the need for our students this year, as well as for a per-

manent school where students from all of our projects may

board to receive a secondary education.

As we work to better serve the needs of this growing minis-

try, we also have several staff positions that need to be filled. We

are looking for volunteers who have a real love for the orphans

and time to devote to them. We need men and women with good

organizational skills, good record-keeping skills and good people

skills to apply. Even if you are strong in only one of these skills, if

you would like to help, we would like to hear from you.

If God speaks to your heart with suggestions for solu-

tions to any of these challenges, please contact Esther. She is

looking forward to hearing from you!

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