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Bore Holes in Malawi - Bringing both HOPE and Water

In many communities in Sub-Sahara Africa, the need for water is as overwhelming and intense as the need for food. Agrina Majawa lives in Malawi. Here is her story.

Agrina Majawa, 36, has lived in Lilongwe for over 10 years. She washes her clothes and bathes in one of the polluted rivers in the country’s capital city, Lilongwe.
Agrina cannot afford piped water supply from the water board. Even the price of 3 kwacha (2 US cents) per pail from the water kiosks is out of her reach.
A widow, Agrina supports her family of three selling vegetables in the central business district of Lilongwe and says life has not been easy for her family following her husband’s death a few years ago.
She is not alone in her predicament in search of clean water and sanitation. The vendors at the flea market a stone throw away from the Lilongwe River use it for cleaning their wares and vegetables. Along the banks of the river, vendors have constructed temporary toilets. There is a paying toilet at the flea market but most vendors say they cannot afford the 10 kwacha (7 US cents). Instead, they use bushes around and shelters they have constructed to answer the call of nature.

Heart for Africa is working to make a difference in Malawi. We are currently working in the areas of Deya, Ngona Slum and Njewa. Bore holes, a drilled well with a hand pump, have been installed in Deya and Ngoma Slum. We have repaired a bore hole in Njewa so the people there have fresh, clean water again. We have commitments and donations received to place 3 more bore holes in Malawi and we hope to have funding for the 15 more needed by the end of 2007. Each bore hole costs $4,400. In North America, $4,400 doesn’t go very far. It could buy a nice cruise or a used car. But in Malawi, $4,400 can bring fresh water to an entire community, and HOPE to a many hearts.

Agrina’s story is only one of many. There are millions that walk for miles and miles to gather water that will only sustain them for the day. It is inconceivable that there are still those living today who do not have this basic need for water met on a daily basis.

Please join us in bringing water and HOPE to the many precious people in Malawi. How many lives can we touch? How many mouths can we pour clean water into? To how many hearts can we bring HOPE?

Dirty Fingernails: Journals from the Field - Troy Johnson

Walking Beside Him

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to walk along side of Jesus? What would it be like to speak to Him, to listen to Him, and to see Him perform miracles? This is something that I have desired my whole life. I have sought the absolute presence of God and craved to experience God working through my willing hands for His glory and His kingdom. I had the privilege of experiencing this on my Heart for Africa mission to Malawi this last December.

I will never forget the anticipation before the trip as my wife Katherine and I worked to get everything ready. We collected donations, we prayed for guidance and spiritual preparation from the Lord, and we purchased all the personal items that we would need for the trip. We also prayed every night that God would prepare our hearts for the work that He had for us to do there.

When we arrived, I realized that this trip would be a little different from the Never Ending Gardens trip I was on the year before to South Africa. Heart for Africa told us that we would help where the need was greatest and in the second poorest country in the world, the need was great! We focused not only on planting, but we took part in ministry, in fixing roofs, in playing with vulnerable and orphaned children that the world had forgotten, in doing AIDS testing, and yes in planting gardens. God led us to a place where the people needed to know that He loved them. God wanted us to serve their emotional and spiritual needs as well as their physical needs. A touch of love, a kind word, and a warm smile gave hope where little hope existed before and fed the people’s souls. I remember crying as I walked among the impoverished children playing with us happily as they wore their dirty, tattered clothing and ran around us with bare feet. I did not cry out of despair, rather the tears were tears of joy, because I could feel the absolute presence of God. I felt God working through our Team’s hands and I could see our lives being transformed as God used each one of us to touch someone’s heart.

The little children had no toys, so they either made them themselves or they sang and danced for entertainment. I was so impressed by how well they sang and danced together. But what touched my heart was that their singing was always a song of praise and thanksgiving to God. On our last day, we visited the poorest slum that I have ever seen. The people lived in tiny mud huts with thatch roofs and lived in extreme poverty and disease. We brought food and medicine to the poorest of the poor and prayed with those in desperate need. After we traversed the maze of huts that made up the slum, Somebody Cares Ministry started to pass out candy to the children. The children started to ask us for more food or money or anything. It started to get very tense and the children started to get impatient, as we had we had no more to give them. But God had something to give them.

Katherine and I got a number of children to line up to sing. One young man was studying to be a pastor and I asked him to lead the children in singing. They asked us to sing first, so we sang Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little Children of the World. I asked our translator, Chapingua, what song we sang first at church on Sunday and he said Jesu Ayanaya (Jesus Saves) and then I asked the young pastor if the children knew that song. Well, they started to sing and dance and praise God. I will never forget that moment as long as I live! I saw the face of Jesus shine among the children. I felt God’s deep intense love and His presence as the entire atmosphere changed from “GIVE ME” to “PRAISE HIM”! The experience was life changing and it was truly a privilege to walk beside the Lord in Malawi and to be a part of what He is doing in Africa.

You Can Make It Happen In Africa

You've asked, "How can I help?, What can I do to really make a difference in Africa?"

Each year we receive a list of projects that our African Partners hope to be able to get done during the year. Without your help it is impossible to have these needs met. Please consider partnering with Heart for Africa and our African Partners to bring HOPE to the people and children of Africa. Please pray and ask God what your part in Africa is this year.

Are you to build a school for children who have no hope of an education?

Are you to buy a dairy cow so children can have the milk that they so desperately need?

Is your family or small group to fund a bore hole so that a whole village can have the clean water that they have never had?

Are you to support a children’s feeding program?

There are as many opportunities as you can imagine to become involved with the people of Swaziland, Kenya and Malawi. Please consider the following opportunities in the following countries:

El Shaddai Childrens Home/ Swaziland
5 school rooms $30,635
Mission House $7,000
School garden project $2,730
Staff housing for 10 teachers $6,300
New homes for orphan headed homes $57,600
Chicken project for ongoing income $5,650
Expand Dairy 10 cows @ $825 $8,250
Plant fruit trees 400-500 trees $5,500
6 sewing machines $1,320
Cloth, cottons, beads for crafts $1,870

New Hope Childrens Centre/ Swaziland
2 Houses for teenage children $132,000
28 Seater bus $66,000
12 Seater van $8,250
Wardrobes for new children $3,300
Bunk beds for new children $880
Clothing for children $4,400
School materials $5,500
School curriculum (ACE wookbooks) $6,600
New homes in community for orphans
And widows 20@ $2,880 $57,600
Arts and Crafts at school $2,750


Somebody Cares / Malawi ( Villages of Njewa, Chatimba/Chikudzulire, Mvunguti/Ngona, and Deya)
School supplies for new school in Deya $5,500
Bore Holes (wells) 11@$4,400 $48,400
Feeding centers in 5 villages $27,500
Community gardens at feeding centers $16,500
Home repairs for widows, aged and ill $75,000
Building pit latrines at Ngona 10@$750 $7,500
Seedling/seed farm at Balaka $82,500
Repairs of churches in 5 villages $16,500
Repairs on 5 child care centers $16,500
Funding for 5 feeding centers
5@$550/mo for 12 months $33,000

Rongo and Kitutu Masaba, Kenya
Bore holes 2@$11,000 $22,000
Medical supplies $1,100/mo $13,200
Orphan feeding center in Rongo $33,000
Orphan feeding program $1100/mo $13,200
Oasis Childrens Home 100 girls $278,573
Classroom for local school in Rongo $12,000
Complete church building in Rongo
Roof $6,600
Floor and seats $4,400
VCT testing center building $11,000
Staff training $2,200
Staff $4,800
Sports outreach soccer tournament $1,650
Vehicle for AIDS ministry with GOA $11,000.

Herefords Never Ending Garden Project/ Swaziland
Bore Holes 2@ $13,400 $26,800
Follow up nutritional study $23,500
Fontotje Care Center
Fencing $100
Classroom structure $1,775
Cooking Shelter $260
Ncatsavaneni Care Center
Fencing $100
Classroom structure $1,775
Cooking Shelter $260
Seedling shelter $500
Transportation for Jabulani to gardens
$85/wk $4,420
Daily laborers $1,560
The need may be overwhelming and maybe you don’t feel that you can make a difference. But if by your giving you can bring one shred of hope to one person in need, you will have made a difference far beyond anything you had imagined.
BRING HOPE TO THE PEOPLE OF AFRICA, GET INVOLVED, TAKE ON A PROJECT AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
All donations are tax deductible.

It's NOT OKAY with me...

It's Not Okay with me that girls are traded for cows.

During one of my visits to the Mully Children’s Family home in Kenya I was out in the bean processing building on the farm and saw a strange poster on the wall that made me laugh. It said “Don’t exchange girls for cows. Give them an education.” What a silly poster. Who would exchange their daughter for a cow? I didn’t quite take a moment to think it through, but rather asked if I could take the poster. I was sure that no one in North America would have ever seen something like this before. When I asked if I could have it I was met with some surprise and disbelief. My hosts politely shook their heads and explained that it is important that it stay up here to remind the local workers that they shouldn’t trade their daughters for cows. This poster was not created by the Mully’s, but rather was a government produced and distributed poster that was designed to address a growing problem in the country.

What did they mean? I probed as I was sure I had heard them incorrectly. It seems that often when a family runs out of food and does not see a solution, they will take their daughter to a neighbour who has cows and exchange their daughter for a cow. That’s right, “Hey, I need some food – I’ll give you my daughter if you give me one of your cows, and I’ll throw in a couple of cabbages to sweeten the deal.”

The girl is then pulled out of school (if she was lucky enough to be in school) and is used as a house servant and sexual slave by the man who purchased her. This is crazy! This is absurd! This is happening in our world in 2007. We stand and wonder why 75% of all girls between the ages of 15-24 don’t know that AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease and I propose that this is one of the reasons. If a girl does not get an education she will never know the truth about AIDS. She will never have a hope for her future. She will live and die and become one of the terrible statistics we read about.

This is NOT OKAY with me. Is it okay with you? If not, what are you prepared to do about it? Come with us to Africa in 2007 and help us bring hope to families so that they don’t have to exchange their daughter for a cow. Help bring them hope so that they CAN give her an education. Will you join us?

Why vacation when you can go on a life changing adventure?

Imagine, you’re on a cruise ship; you eat and sleep, read a book at pool side, catch a show or two and hit the shore for an excursion of snorkeling and shopping! You head home and get back to the grind. You share some pictures with friends and work hard to make up the debt you’ve incurred. The joy of it all wears off and you’re dreaming of next year again.

Now imagine you go to a land that makes you feel closer to GOD. You toil in a garden and play with some orphan children and meet people from a culture that you often wondered about. You even see animals that you’d thought you might only see in a zoo or a circus show, up close and personal in the wild. You’re just as comfortable in the accommodations and equally fed.

But…
You start journaling, because you’ve experienced soooo… much that you don’t EVER want to forget a second of it. Every emotion is at peak awareness. The Spirit in you has found new life. You make friends for life. You feel the eternal bond and your heart swells with joy, TRUE JOY!

You head home and you’re still so high, your feet haven’t hit the ground after half a year of sharing it with everyone you encounter! The entire cost was tax deductible and everything in your life has changed. You look forward to going to work; you look at your children, parents, employer, neighbors and friends differently. You’ve gone through a paradigm shift in your perspective of the meaning of life. You’re continually blessed with the stories of others who say they were inspired by your trip and story and the way you life has changed. You look forward to seeing the same change in them, when they return and relive the excitement with them.

I’ve been there done that and I’m begging you, “Get out of the Boat,” and walk where you never dared before. I promise, you’ll be changed forever and the entire world, more than you can ask or imagine.

Right NOW; Go to www.heartforafrica.org and educate yourself about this non-vacation adventure opportunity of a life time. Then go to www.itsnotokwithme.com and buy Janine Maxwell’s new book. Read it share it and answer the title question. When you’ve done that, you’ll be ready to sign up and watch GOD work in your life, like you’ve never known!

Listen, in the whisper of the wind, your name is being called….

Written by David Lee Waters, Sr.

On Board with Heart for Africa's Board

Heart for Africa will take its North American volunteers to Africa this year with a renewed sense of purpose and clarity about its goals.

Meeting in Alpharetta, GA, in February, the directors unanimously approved the strategic plan presented by President Ian Maxwell. The plan recognizes both the organization’s roots and its call by laying the cornerstone of Heart for Africa as backyard gardens leading to food security.

By coming alongside Africans in Malawi, Kenya and Swaziland to plant seedlings rich in nutrients, we will be helping these families and villages—who choose too- to move toward a sustainable food supply. By doing so, they will have hope for a future. Bringing that hope is central to why God has called us to Africa.

We will use the three-phase planting model that was piloted in Swaziland last year in Malawi and Kenya. Utilizing drip irrigation and compost trenches, it leads to sustainable rotational gardens.

In Malawi, it’s particularly intriguing because Ian’s research led to a missionary couple that had flourished for more than 20 years by only growing food crops native to Malawi. They’ve dubbed the program permaculture. Isn’t it remarkably logical to encourage folks to grow the plants that God put on that land originally?

We’re excited about the new partnership in Kenya with Glory Outreach and Help a Child Face Tomorrow that will combine our efforts with a medical mission and evangelism followed by discipleship.

Our trips will combine gardens, work with orphans (both in villages and in children’s homes), some light construction and, for trained professionals, medical outreach.

The board left Georgia excited to see what God was going to do this year and thrilled to have a role in His plans for His kids in Africa and North America.

Come join us and serve as the hands and feet of Jesus in Africa.

by: Tim Hunt, Chairman of Heart for Africa Board

Never Ending Gardens - Does it Work?

The purpose for planting Never Ending Gardens is to create self sustainable food security within a family unit. Family units might not consist of a mother, father, and children, but instead it might be a "go-go" (grandmother) and several children. We define a family unit as 8 people living together. The Never Ending Gardens plan is to provide self sustaining food within 18 weeks, and we have proven this can be accomplished in 3 stages.

In May 2006, Heart for Africa began the process of implementing Never Ending Gardens in 726 family units in the Hereford region of Swaziland. This is 95% of the homes in this region. Much work has gone into this accomplishment. This work was undertaken by the Swazi people working alongside hundreds and hundreds of North American brothers and sisters. Much more than seedlings have been planted in Swaziland.

The Never Ending Garden plan is accomplished in 3 stages.

• Stage 1 requires that the Swazi family unit put posts in the ground to support fencing that will go around their future garden. (Both posts and fencing supplies are provided through donations from Heart for Africa supporters.) We then assist them through team work in planting seedlings in 1/3 of their new garden giving them instruction on watering and caring for the young plants. They are then given instructions to build compost trenches in the remaining 2/3 of the garden. (Trench gardening will produce much healthier, hardier plants.)
• Stage 2 takes place 6-8 weeks later.Here we return to their gardens to install drip irrigation systems as long as they have done their part in caring for existing plants and creating the needed compost trenches. Family units are taught to leaf pick mature plants, leaving the healthy plant to continue to grow. In this way one plant can continue to produce food security for weeks. New seedlings and seeds are planted in the newly formed trenches, and some mature plants are marked to be left to mature and go into seed producing plants.
• Stage 3 takes place 10 - 12 weeks later giving time for plants to mature. During this time the family continues to be able to eat immune boosting vegetables while also preparing for future planting. During stage 3 they learn how to harvest seeds from mature plants, and continue planting in areas of the garden that are now ready for new seedlings. The drip irrigation system is monitored to be sure it is still working properly and repairs are made if needed. Families are given seed packets as well.
• Follow up for each garden is done every month for the next year by the Ministry of Agriculture of Swaziland or Heart for Africa staff. New seeds will be given throughout this time. At the end of this 2 year process, family units are now prepared and educated to continue growing plants to both eat and to produce seeds for the future.

Heart for Africa has commissioned a thorough study to follow up on the long term effectiveness of the Never Ending Gardens project in Hereford. This study is now being conducted by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare in Swaziland. The results of this study will be of great interest to our organization, other non-profit organizations, and the Ministry of Health in Swaziland. If successful it will offer much hope for other areas of not only Swaziland, but for all of sub-saharan Africa. We all anxiously await the results.

Never Ending Gardens is not an effort to simply "give" food to those who are hungry. Never Ending Gardens works to assist and enable them to plant, grow, and produce food for themselves. It takes a great deal of organization, patience, prayer, and hard work. We are eternally grateful to the hundreds of individuals who traveled to the Herefords region with us, to work alongside the people there to enable them to produce their own food.

May God bless the plants, the people, and the results of the study currently underway.

School Construction Begins in Deya, Malawi

There is great excitement and hope flowing in the village of Deya outside of Lilongwe, Malawi these days. Through the generous donation of a Heart for Africa volunteer the first block of a school is under construction and will welcome 120 children in 1st and 2nd grade! The next two blocks will be built once an additional $44,000 is raised. There is now hope for the future of this village where up until last year had no source of clean drinking water until a team from the Heart for Africa raised funds to install the first and only bore hole (well) in the area. This well now provides clean drinking water for the entire village.

On December 2, 2006 I was privileged to be part of a Heart for Africa team that visited Deya to be part of a prayer service to begin this school. We were led to the site of the school by a group of men beating drums made of goat skins with women dancing and singing as we walked. Arriving at the site we gathered around the area where the footings for the foundation had been dug to begin the ceremony to lay the first foundation blocks. As the village chief spoke (through an interpreter) you could sense his gratitude for what God was doing in his village and the burden he carries for his people.

The ceremony consisted of four separate groups each taking part in this foundation laying experience, each bringing an important piece to the future of this area. The four groups included the Chief who represented the community, Theresa Malila representing Somebody Cares Ministry (provides ongoing care for Deya and 14 other villages), several pastors from local churches, and Janine Maxwell representing Heart for Africa. In turn each of these people placed four foundation bricks, laying them so each brick was supported by another, symbolizing the joining of these four groups in ongoing work in Deya.

There is much more for Heart for Africa to do in Africa and you can be a part of a story like the one in Deya if you choose. I believe God is calling many of you to become involved in His work in Africa, some may feel led to go and serve, others may be called to give and not go and some may resist what God is asking of you. The needs are great and God is asking you to be a part of what is happening. How are you to be a part of His work?

We have so much in North America; it seems that it requires so much to meet our needs. And yet in places like Deya, they do not require nearly as much. Receiving even the smallest of blessings can result in filling them with great hope for their days ahead in Africa. Be a part of what is happening! Your life will be changed and so will theirs.

By Rob Shoemaker

"Guide My Feet While I Run This Race"

On January 14, 2007, Caroline McGraw ran a marathon in honor of those suffering in Africa. Caroline tirelessly and lovingly shares her heart with everyone in her world and she is making a huge difference in Africa. We thank you ... and we love you Caroline.

Here is her story...

"My heart for Africa.....You save what you love.....

As my feet met the street during my recent marathon run, I ran with great joy and in fierce pursuit of HOPE on behalf of the widows and orphans of Swaziland, South Africa.

After two trips this past year and one half to Swaziland, South Africa with Heart for Africa, the silence of their story seemed too loud and I knew I had to put Love into action and empty myself, sacrifice, you know, like running a marathon on their behalf!

ITS NOT OKAY WITH ME was taped to the back of my shirt, encouraging people to learn more about the plight of the AIDS Pandemic in Africa, specifically in Swaziland, the world's highest rate of AIDS where 1 in 3 are HIV positive. http://www.itsnotokaywithme.com/

As I trained for the marathon, the children's faces, the precious people of Africa, and their harrowing plight played like a news reel in front of me. Etched on the insides of my eyelids forever.

As my feet moved along during my training; some days fast, some days slow, most days I felt encouraged that my love and action could make a difference. Strangely enough I felt HOPE for this Nation, a Nation that is literally dying before our very eyes. Within three short years a whole generation of Swazi people will be extinct due to the AIDS Pandemic unless we take urgent action.

Currently in a Nation of 1 million there are 132,000 orphans, not to mention the vulnerable children and widows.
*Every 14 seconds a child is orphaned by AIDS in Africa
IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU?
*Every 3 seconds a child dies of hunger or malnutrition-
that is 30,000 children PER DAY
IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU?
*75% of girls between the ages of 15-24 do not know that
AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease
IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU?
*In the past 12 months, 1.6 million more children have been
orphaned due to the AIDS pandemic in Africa, leaving
15 million children children to fend for themselves.
IS THAT OKAY WITH YOU?

THIS IS NOT OKAY WITH ME, SO,MY feet ran the race in Pursuit of HOPE AND JUSTICE for the people of Swaziland and all of Africa!"

Caroline McGraw

Keeping You Connected with our New Forum

How many participants have come home from a trip, and suddenly felt disconnected from their fellow travelers who felt like family to them while in Africa, and from those they met and fell in love with in Africa? This has been a consistant, reoccuring comment from our past participants. It is for this reason that we are thrilled to now offer a wonderful way for everyone to stay connected through the Heart for Africa Forum.

To become a part of this Heart for Africa community, you simply need to register with our new website, and it is free. To register, please go to www.heartforafricaconnect.org/forum/register.php

There are so many ways you can use this forum, here are just a few:

1. Post Conversation Topics or Questions:
www.heartforafricaconnect.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=112

2. Upload Photos from your Africa Trip or view photos of other Trip Participants:
www.heartforafricaconnect.org/forum/photopost/

3. Start your own blog about Africa or Heart for Africa:
www.heartforafricaconnect.org/forum/blogs/

4. Help answer questions of others who want to know about Africa:
www.heartforafricaconnect.org/forum/showthread.php?t=71471

5. Read news and watch videos about Africa and Heart for Africa:
www.heartforafricaconnect.org/

We look forward to staying connected with you and to assisting you all in staying connected with one another.

A special "Thank You" to Drew Strickland for creating and managing this forum for Heart for Africa. You might want to let that be your first message after you join --- thanking Drew for his work in making this possible.

Janine speaking in California - Sharing "It's Not Okay with Me"

We praise our Lord for His movement in hearts as they read Janine's book "It's Not Okay with Me". The response has been overwhelmingly beautiful. It is surely a God kiss to see hearts moved so deeply in such beautiful ways over such a deeply troubling book. But God loves truth --- and this book is honest in every way.

Janine has already recorded Chapter 3 in the studio and it can now be downloaded from both the Heart for Africa website (www.heartforafrica.org) as well as the books' website (www.itsnotokaywithme.com) There were many tears in the studio, as Janine's heart revisited the realities of the moments when she saw, loved, and rescued Kantwa.

Be watchful for an update letting you know when the entire book will be available on audio with a chapter being released each month by pod cast.

Janine is currently receiving emails requesting that she speak at churches, chapels, schools, and ladies groups. We are working to make this happen as often as possible. If you would like to invite her to speak, please email us at speaker@heartforafrica.org . What a blessing to see God open doors of opportunity as He is longing for His children to know the truth and to act. What is happening in Africa is not okay with us --- and it is most definitely not okay with God either.

Janine has many talks planned for the Atlanta area, but if you live in California or Hawaii, we hope you will join her on the following dates:

February 28, 2007 – North Coast Calvary Chapel
Carlsbad, CA
7:00 p.m.

March 1, 2007 - speaking in Fresno, California
(details coming soon)

March 4, 2007 – Christ the King Lutheran Church
Fallbrook, CA
8:00 and 10:30 a.m.

March 29 – 31, 2007 – Hawaiian Island Ministries
Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu
Heart for Africa Booth display

In Honor of my Friend, my Sister, my Daughter – Rahab Njoki

Today I received news that Rahab is dead.

Rahab had the most terrible life from the beginning. She had no father, her mother was a drunk and used to beat her regularly with a big stick. She had 8 siblings and at the age of two years old (yes, two) she ran away to the streets to find food because there was none at home. Rahab moved in to the slums and went from hut to hut looking for shelter, food and maybe even love. The “big girls” took her under their wing at the age of three, but they beat her up and mistreated her daily.

When Rahab had just turned nine a group of boys grabbed her and raped her. She went home to find her mother to tell them and get help, but her mother beat her badly and sent her away. Her mother told her now that she was damaged goods, she was of no value because she would never be able to get a dowry for Rahab if she married. At that moment Rahab became a “street girl” – a soft expression used to not make us “westerners” uncomfortable in saying that a nine year old girl is a prostitute. Rahab was just that.

In 1993 when Rahab was 12 years old she was rescued by the Mully Children’s Family (MCF) home in Eldoret where she struggled to get clean from the life she had been living. Her addiction to drugs, sex and freedom caused her to run back to the streets three times over the next many years. In 1999 she ran away to Mombassa and lived on the street where she got malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Emaciated, dying and alone this young woman made her way back to Eldoret in 2003 to beg her Aunt or her brothers to let her live with them. They said no.

Terrified with no where to turn this 80 pound skeleton crawled up to the big iron gate at MCF not sure if she would be welcomed. But of course she was. The prodigal was home again and welcomed with open arms, and loved. Rahab’s AIDS then was full blown, she had tuberculosis and it did not appear hopeful that she would live.

It was at this point that I first met Rahab.

In April 2003 we had to help carry her to her chair as she was too weak to walk. She was on anti-retro virals to keep her alive, had a special diet that “Daddy” provided her and was living in isolation from the other children for a time, because of the contagious nature of TB. But her smile … I will never forget Rahab’s wonderful smile when she spoke of the love that the Mully’s showed her. She was their daughter and all was forgiven. She rededicated her life to God and was a soldier who waved His banner high for all to see.

Rahab rallied and became strong. In fact, so strong that when we rescued Lillian from the Kipsongo slum in October 2003, Rahab went and slept in the hospital with Lillian to reassure her and make her feel safe.

In 2004 Rahab decided to marry a young man named James, with the blessing of the Mully’s. Both Rahab and James were HIV positive. In 2005 Rahab gave birth to a baby, but the infant died only days after birth. Pneumonia combined with poor hospital care were blamed.

On December 12th 2006 Rahab gave birth to a baby girl by caesarean, but became sick due to complications and died on December 30th, 2006. Rahab was buried in Eldoret and the baby is under the care and protection of MCF. I await further details as to her health and future.

Rahab will not be mourned by her natural family, in fact she has been dead to them for a long time. The Mully’s will mourn the loss of their daughter and she will be missed by them all. And I will mourn Rahab because she was my friend, my sister, my daughter. No one deserves a life of such pain and sorrow.

Rahab, I will always remember you and will continue to scream from the mountain tops your name and the name of so many other children who are being starved and beaten and raped every day because no one cares about them. This is not okay with me.

God bless your rest Rahab.

Thank you Mully family for being the arms of Christ.

From the heart of Janine Maxwell

Download the audio version of "It's Not Okay with Me" - Chapter 3

"It's Not Okay With Me" was published on December 1 , 2006 and has been met with amazing response. We have received incredible stories from so many of you who purchased the book and were moved to action. Many of you have shared your own stories of how God changed your life while on a Heart for Africa trip in the past few years and many of you have told us that it is Not Okay with you either.

To help spread the message, Janine has just spent time in a recording studio creating an audio version of chapter 3, "A boy named Kantwa". We are pleased to offer this as a free download to anyone who is interested . You can stream the file from our website . Or even better, right click on the link and choose to save the file to your computer. Once saved to your computer, you can listen on your computer, put it on your iPod or other mp3 player, or burn a copy to CD to play in your car or share with your friends and family.

In the near future, we will offer the complete book on CD for purchase from our website, http://www.itsnotokwithme.com/ and will be releasing one chapter per week for 15 weeks via pod cast. In the meantime, please enjoy this free download and share it with your friends and family. We hope you will come and serve with us in Africa in 2007 - you can make a huge difference to so many people in just 10 days. Please go to http://www.heartforafrica.org/ for trip details today.

A message from the Maxwell's

We am so excited about what God has in store for Heart for Africa in 2007. 2006 was a year of transition for the organization and for the Maxwell family. We are all settled in Atlanta and are looking forward to the plans that God is laying before us for this year.

Our goal in 2007 is to IGNITE people about Africa, have them EXPERIENCE Africa through a trip and CONNECT with the people they meet to form an ongoing relationship with Africa. We will do this through our H.O.P.E. trips (Hunger, Orphans, Poverty, and Education) with the Never Ending Gardens being a foundation block for the “H” on all trips. These trips will continue to focus on providing sustainable food security for the people of Africa.

We are adding three trips to Kenya in 2007 as well as continuing trips to Swaziland and Malawi. Please visit our website for dates and more information on the trips.

Many of you have asked how you can assist Heart for Africa. One of our biggest needs is in the area of recruitment for trips. We would love to have you join us on a trip and also to bring a friend with you. If you can’t go please help us to encourage others to go. If you are interested in recruitment for future trips please contact donna@heartforafrica.org and join the IGNITE TEAM.
We need your help to make 2007 be a year that changes lives in Africa. Each of you has a part in God’s plan for the African people. Ask how you can IGNITE , EXPERIENCE and CONNECT. Ask what God is saying to you. Please come and join us this year as we bring HOPE to the people of Africa.

God bless you,

Ian and Janine Maxwell

Important Note: Heart for Africa Address Change

Please take a moment and change the address you now have for Heart for Africa.
Our main office accounts are no longer located in Oklahoma.

If you are mailing something to us from the USA, please mail it to:
Heart for Africa
PO Box 573
Alpharetta, GA 30009

If you are mailing something to us from Canada, please mail it to:
Heart for Africa-Canadian Office
P.O. Box 246 Dept. HOPE
Pickering ON L1V 2V4

Thank you so much for taking the time to make this important change. We certainly do want to receive everything you mail to us.

It's Time to Ignite - want to join the team?

Ignite: verb, to set on fire; kindle.

If you have joined us in Africa, then it is our prayer that you have felt a kindling in your heart that has not gone away. To look into the faces of the people living in Africa, to be witness to the hardships of their lives, and still to see the love of our Lord there with them, truly does ignite a fire inside our hearts.
It is our hope that everyone who travels to Africa with us will return home holding an armload of "kindling".

So what can we do with this kindling? Kindling has one good purpose. It is used to ignite a fire.

We invite you to share your heart, share the warmth of your fire with others. The only way we can continue to make a difference in the lives of those in Africa, is by continuing the labor of love we have begun. And in order to continue this work, we need people joining us on trips this year.

Is there anyone in your life that would love to be a blessing to someone suffering in Africa?
Then ignite them to join you on a trip.

Is there anyone in your life that would love to be used as a vessel of God's love?
Then ignite them, and ask them to join you in Africa and lavish those there with the love of God.

Is there a day that goes by that you do not remember your time in Africa?
Then ignite your own flame, and fan it again by joining us once again this year.

Do you still enjoy the blessings of what the Lord did in your life in Africa?
Then seek Him further, join Him again, and walk with Him again in Africa.

Heart for Africa longs to help you Ignite - Experience - Connect.

Ignite by fanning into flame the desire the Lord has placed in every heart to help those who are hurting. To be God's hands of service, His voice of love, and show His heart of compassion for any and all who are in need.

Experience what God is doing in the lives of those living in Africa as He uses the Body of Christ to reveal His deep love for them, while He is also seeking to bless you in new and amazing ways.

Connect with those living in Africa and with others who seek to know God more, serve Him more fervently, and make a life-changing difference in the lives of those we meet in Africa.

If you would like to inspire others in your world to experience God in Africa, we would like to invite you to join a special group of people known as our Ignite Team 2007.

If you would be interested in being a part of our Ignite Team please email Donna at donna@heartforafrica.org

We look forward to hearing from you as we lay our kindling together and fan the flames.

Watching Doors Open in Kenya - Tim Hunt, Chairman

Heart for Africa will serve in its fourth African country in 2007 after God threw the doors to Kenya wide open.

The team exploring options spent from Nov. 22 to Nov. 29 in Kenya meeting with potential partners and discussing how we could work together. Heart for Africa Vice-President Janine Maxwell led the North American team which also included new operations director, Rob Shoemaker, and board Chairman Tim Hunt.

We invited the leaders of our two Swazi partner children’s homes, El Shaddai and New Hope, to join us in Kenya as well as Lad Chapman (Heart for Africa Country Manager in Swaziland).

We visited inspiring programs run by African Enterprise in one of the major slums in Nairobi and then traveled to Ndalani to spend three days at the Mully Children’s Family Home. We also visited the sister facility a few miles away at Yatta where Mully is teaching practical skills to teen-aged mothers so they have a way to earn an income. Seeing what God is doing at the Mully Family inspired all of us, particularly when you see kids from toddlers to teen-agers all coming together to celebrate what Jesus has done for them.

We returned to Nairobi for meetings that would transform the trip. The first was with Dr. Meschach Ong’uti, founder of "Help a Child Face Tomorrow", is a specialist who has been a leader in pro-bono cleft-pallet repair for kids. Dr. Meschach explained his plans for a medical mission team in Kisii, a very poor region of Kenya about two hours from the capital city of Nairobi.

The next meeting was with Bishop David Thagano from Glory Outreach Assembly (GOA) whose ministry has six pillars including evangelism and discipleship. The bishop was very excited as he had just returned from a hugely successful evangelism drive and was dispatching an emergency discipleship team to the area to spend a month working with the new believers. His enthusiasm and passion was contagious and inspiring.

Janine pulled out a map and asked where the evangelism campaign was, it was located about 25 miles from where Dr. Meschach already was working. Incidentally, Dr. Meschach’s group already has a list of more than 150 orphans in the target area. Bishop David was interested in expanding into that area, but thought a medical mission would really help draw people.

In 2007 we have 3 trips planned for Kenya partnering with GOA and Dr. Meschach's medical teams to bring H.O.P.E. to the area of Kisi. A medical mission will be included in each of these so we are actively looking for Doctor's and any medical professionals to join us. The first team will leave on July 9th and is being specially designed trip called the NextGen Team where parents and teenagers can go to Kenya and serve side by side. The other teams will travel in October and November. Please consider joining us for this important work.

God is moving and He’s using us in His efforts. Praise Him and join us in 2007.

Dirty Fingernails: Journals from the Field - Liz Higgins

We are home from Swaziland, changed forever by our trip. We fell in love with the kind Swazi people, the breathtaking landscape and the precious children of the El Shaddai Orphanage.

God first put Swaziland on our hearts last year as we helped my father prepare to travel with Heart for Africa. We loved learning about Swaziland and praying for the people he would meet. When he returned, he brought stories and pictures and a real love for this special place.

Mike and I had always hoped that we would be able to take our children on mission trips someday. We figured it would be in the future, when they were older. When we discovered that we could join my dad and take Jacob and Andrew (who are six and four years old) on this trip to El Shaddai, we were thrilled and began immediately to pray for God’s permission and blessing. It was a long road, we faced fundraising obstacles and opposition from some of our family. But it strengthened us in following the Lord and trusting Him completely. Before we knew it, He had cleared the way and our adventure was beginning.

Our first day in Africa, I was overjoyed to be there. I was awed by the beauty, warmed by the friendly people and eager to begin our work. But by the end of the next day, I was heartbroken. Of course I had known about the hardships in Swaziland, but to be there was different. I felt completely overwhelmed. I wondered how we could begin to help solve the problems that Swaziland was facing.

Again, God showed me that I only needed to bring everything to Him. Yes, the problems in Swaziland are overwhelming. But God is there.

Throughout the week, He refreshed my hope. He did it through the fellowship of our wonderful team, through Lad’s uplifting messages each night, through meeting Jabulani and seeing his love for God, and through witnessing Kallie and Charmain’s obedience and faithfulness. It was a special joy to serve alongside my family. Our family will be strengthened by all that we experienced together. I was proud to see my husband and my father working so hard and caring so much for the people at El Shaddai. Jacob and Andrew were so eager to pitch in and help. Our team was amazing. Twenty-four people who love the Lord and His children, ready to do whatever needed to be done. We cleaned, painted, sorted, installed and built. And while it felt good to be productive and complete our tasks, the real joy was in interacting with the children! They were so sweet! They are being taught about Jesus and they love Him so much. I dearly loved watching Jacob and Andrew play with their new friends. They are already asking when we can go back again.

We would love to go back to Swaziland, if that is God's plan for us. It was an honor to serve Him with Heart for Africa. In the meantime, He has put it on our hearts to pray for the children of Swaziland. The hope of Swaziland is in the children and the hope of these children is in the Lord. "Bambelela Ku Jesu," it says on the roof of the church at El Shaddai. "Hold onto Jesus."

A God Moment in Malawi - Rob Shoemaker

Every time I go to Africa my eyes see a new perspective on life and my November trip to Malawi was no different. We worked in several villages meeting and working alongside some of the friendliest, most amazing people, but one man in particular that I met in a village named Deya had the greatest impact on me.

Theresa, our host in Malawi, told me about this man and wanted me to meet him which I was glad to do. As we walked up to his garden I saw this man sitting on the ground beside a container of water in front of the best garden I had seen in Malawi. He didn’t get up and as I looked at his legs I realized he had polio or some disease that left him crippled from the waist down but very fit looking from there up.

This beautiful garden of about 1/3 acre was his and he tended it by himself, on his knees, using his hands to move about. He had tilled the soil by hand, planted by hand, watered by hand and now sits for hours watching so the goats don’t eat his produce. His wheelchair was an upside-down bicycle mounted on a three wheel chair. Dragging himself from his house to this chair, he peddles 300 yards to his garden where he crawls out of the chair and around his garden each day to tend the future food for his family. He pulls water from a shallow well by hand and delivers it to each and every plant up to two times per week.

His resolve to take care of his family is so very rare for an African male, much less for one with a severe handicap. He is 46 years old and has been paralyzed for 20 years and takes care of a wife and three children that live with him.

I later asked Theresa what we could do for him and I was told he is a tinsmith by trade but has little money to pursue his craft, so some tin and cutters would be a real blessing for him. Two days later we return with the tin and cutters and he is so grateful but I still wonder what we can do to assist this man. I have Theresa ask him if there is anything else he needs and his response is my God moment. He says that what we have done for him with the tin and cutters is all he needs because now he can provide for his family. So little given but so much received.

He could have asked for a new wheelchair to replace the old one that is falling apart or he could have asked for a new roof for the part of the house where the kids sleep which blew off the day before or he could have asked for food for his family. But this humble man only thought about the abundant blessing that God had given him in the tin.(by the way he will peddle many miles to sell his tin buckets).

So many times we are only thankful for the big blessings from God that we fail to see the everyday blessings we are given. This man is thankful for the life God has given him and consequently for every blessing no matter the size.

It is sad that we in the United States do not have this same attitude about life. We seem to only value the large, whether in giving or receiving, and so we are sad when we can’t give a large expensive gift or we get a small one. What would our lives be like to have the same grateful hearts that this man has, who can’t walk and has so little, but is so humble and content with all God gives him? Please ask yourselves this question as the New Year begins and be prepared for God to answer and start you on a journey with Him.

Are You Wondering H.O.W? You Can Help Orphans and Widows???

Not only is H.O.W? an acronym for Helping Orphans and Widows, but by hosting a H.O.W? Jewelry Party, you can help contribute to the orphans and widows safety and well-being in Malawi, Swaziland and Kenya.

H.O.W? is designed to actively support women in African countries, helping them become self-sufficient and able to pay for their children’s or grandchildren’s food, clothing and education as opposed to prostituting themselves or their children to raise money to eat.

Our goal is to raise seed money to train women in need to skillfully create handicrafts of jewelry, rugs and tote bags to be sold at a profit through H.O.W?, benefiting the women, their children and Heart for Africa. This is done by partnering with ministries with which Heart for Africa already has a relationship (Somebody Cares in Malawi, Women’s Prison in Swaziland, Mully Children's Family in Kenya). All profits that come from the sale of the goods goes back to support the work and projects of Heart for Africa

In less than a month, 14 H.O.W? Jewelry parties were hosted mostly in the Atlanta area, raising more than $23,000 toward that end. The excitement about the products as well as the cause was infectious. If you would like to host your own party, please contact Deitra Shoemaker at deitra@heartforafrica.org or call 678-546-3782 for more information.

Book Launch and Open House in Atlanta, Georgia

On December 10th, past Heart for Africa trip participants living in the Atlanta area came together for a time of renewing and welcoming. We all joyfully welcomed the Maxwell family to Alpharetta as they have now enjoyed their first Georgia Christmas (just a bit warmer than their prior Canadian Christmas').

And how dear it was to us to enjoy time together with those from the Atlanta area who have traveled with us to Swaziland, South Africa, and Malawi. We thank our Lord for the family connection we all feel for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

Just days later we celebrated together at King's Ridge Christian School the official book launch of Janine's life changing book, "It's Not Okay with Me" www.itsnotokaywithme.com

Our sincere thanks goes Canadian television program 100 Huntley Street for hosting the Candian launch of the book on the progam. To see this interview yourself go to our new Heart for Africa Forum at www.heartforafricaconnect.org The program can be launched from here.

For more information on how you can order a copy of Janine's book, please visit our website at www.heartforafrica.org and click on the link for "It's Not Okay with Me". While visiting our website please take a look at our trips for next year. We would be thrilled to have you join us for a time of service and love in Africa.

A Christmas Like Never Before

"Love one another deeply, from the heart." 1 Peter 1:22b

Christmas this year will be an amazing and precious time in Malawi and Swaziland. We are thrilled to share with you that we have seen Christ through your generous giving this Christmas, and it is not even Christmas yet.

There are few things more beautiful on this earth than to see someone love deeply and from their heart. It could only be rivaled by the beauty of watching someone receive this pure, deep, and sincere love.

As we prayed over and longed for an outpouring of our Lord's favor on these Christmas Gifts for Africa this year, we walked in faith as we realized the limited amount of time allotted to be able to receive these gifts and distribute them to those in Africa. But we are simply awed and amazed at the beauty of the "Body of Christ" which stretches across all of North America.

This Christmas there will be food, food, and more food for several communities and Children's Homes in Malawi as donations to purchase food have reached almost $3000.

This Christmas there will be 11 new bicycles delivered to volunteers who in the past have walked for miles to deliver food, medicine, and care to those in rural areas in Malawi. This gift will enable them to carry more, go further, and touch more lives for our Lord.

This Christmas the children at El Shaddai Children's Home in Swaziland will have an abundance of food and enjoy the pure pleasure of opening Christmas presents purchased especially for them. This will be a first for them.

Praise God, for He is showing His love for those in Africa through your obedience to share with others what He has entrusted to you. We at Heart for Africa, are humbly jubilant as we are allowed to see our Lord's love flow through each of you, and as we see the joy on the faces of those in Africa who will this year experience a Christmas like never before.

.

December Child Sponsorship opportunity

Name: Suzzane, girl

Birth Date: 18th April 1999

Suzzane has suffered much loss and trauma during her 7 years. With both parents dead, Suzzane lived with her grandmother, a very old, frail woman. With her grandmother unable to care for or protect her, Suzzane suffered sexual and emotional abuse. She learned many unhealthy behavioral habits and will need much prayer, patience, and time to overcome her traumas and heal.

Suzzane is a very bright child with a strong personality. Channeled in a healthy way she will grow into exhibiting gifts in authority and leadership. She will do great things in Kingdom work with loving guidance, direction and education.

Suzzane is thankful to have become a part of the family at the New Hope Centre in Swaziland .

To sponsor Suzzane please contact Penny Ballew at penny@heartforafrica.org

Dirty Fingernails: Journals from the Field - Mary Shamburger

Indescribable ("seeing is believing") - a verbal expression that best describes what we saw and felt on our mission trip to the poverty stricken country of Malawi.

At our orientation the night before going into the field for work, Theresa Malila, spoke to us about her local organization, Somebody Cares, who we would partner with us in the villages.

The interpreters of Somebody Cares were mostly young men, totally committed to serving our Lord and sincere about helping those in need. Their spiritual maturity amazed me! They minister physically, emotionally and spiritually in the name of Jesus, to people of various remote villages, schools, slums, street children, the hospital, etc.

We were in teams of 7-10 people going to different villages. Our first day of seedling planting and loving people was in the village of Mvunguti. When I first looked upon hundreds of people with nothing but the clothes on their backs, I was overcome with tears of compassion, love and humility toward these people!

As their culture would have it, the first thing we did was stand before the village chief(s), introduce ourselves, and state our purpose for being there. Then the chief proceeded to either welcome us...or not. We were of course welcomed because of our life-sustaining purpose. We planted cabbage, lettuce, pumpkins, parsnips, tomatoes, onions, and banana trees. There were two small watering holes from which we drew water with watering cans, carried them to the gardens and poured. Playing with the children and trying to communicate in Chichewa were the most enjoyable memories for my son Grey and me . Even though we could not communicate with words, our spirits connected as we interacted in love. I really enjoyed holding the babies and singing “Jesus Loves Me” to them.

What “sunk in” that day was that these people we were with for a mere 7-8 hours, live this life of poverty day in and day out.

When we were ready to leave the village we were given an opportunity to express our hearts with the people. As I made eye contact with several of their precious faces, I explained to them that in the Bible, God says His people are the “light of the world”, and that their smiling faces were His light to me that day.

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

I intended to say more, but felt my throat swelling as I choked up with tears, so I just thanked them for letting us be there and told them that I would pray for them and for their gardens to be bountiful.

Isn’t it amazing what it takes for us to realize and appreciate how much we have in America? It is just as hard for us to imagine how little they have, as it is for them to imagine how much we have. A tissue, a ball, a matchbox car, a bottle of water, hand sanitizer - these are just a few things that they have never seen. They live daily with little to nothing that they can call their own, and yet they are not hopeless. These dear people do not base their hope on their possessions. They find their hope in Christ, and that is what brought us to this poverty stricken land, to share the love and hope of the Savior.

Indescribable – yes, “seeing is believing”. I invite you to go and see for yourself.