Christmas in Liberia

This has been an exciting time for our field staff, making all the preparations for a special Christmas for each orphanage home we are helping.
Christmas is always such a difficult time for the Directors of these orphanages due to their lack of funds for gifts for their children.

This year we wanted to change that. Through your giving we have been able to provide a gift bundle to each child, which included some fresh fruit, candy, school supplies, a toy and a new outfit. “Oh the joy on these children’s faces when they received this”.
Many of you also donated towards something larger such as for chickens, rabbits, bunk beds, food, etc.
What a blessing this has been for these children.
As Orphan Relief and Rescue we are very committed to utilize all donated funds very efficiently to bring the largest impact for each dollar given.
Many blessings back upon you for your generosity.

Trip to Benin update

While in Benin I was able to be there for the opening of the new orphanage that we partnered with others to bring to pass. A dear friend from Switzerland made this building a reality by taking this on as his personal project. This was a huge answer to prayer for the many orphans whom do not have a safe place to live. The Country of Benin is known for having the largest child trafficking numbers in all of Africa. Just in the main city of Cotonou alone there are approx. 200,000 child slaves working in homes as stated by the USAids statistics. We have seen that orphans do not have any value in this place and are commonly treated as worthless human beings. It is appalling the conditions we have found these children living in.
It was amazing to be there for the acceptance of the first 15 orphan children into this new home. A week later another 16 accepted. Capacity will be at 80. My friend who was raised in the West, agreed to take on the ownership and management of this home. Which was also a huge answer to prayer. It was very sobering to realize that all these children will now have an amazing future as they are being raised for God in this dark place where 80 % of the population practices voodoo. God has some amazing plans for these kids. We look forward to seeing how Orphan Relief and Rescue can be involved in a larger way with the many more needy orphans in this country.

Up Country in Liberia

We never know what we will find around the corner.
Traveling upcountry in Liberia was supposed to just be a scout out trip into the interior, yet we stumbled upon an orphanage of 88 children who were in a very difficult situation. The government closed down a neighboring orphanage 2 months prior and literally dropped 42 more children on their doorstep with just the rags on their backs. These children were extremely malnourished and sickly. The orphanage director was pleading with us to please pray for them because they had no extra food and had no extra clothing for these children, and did not know where to turn. The government promised to come back for the children in 2 weeks, yet 2 months later there is still no sign of them.

We decided to bring them enough food for the month, as well as put new clothes on these kids in little rags. The orphanage Director was overjoyed to receive these things for the children. She was jumping up for joy when she saw the food. We committed to pray for them as well as to represent them in the Government’s office with our existing relationships there. We are also evaluating what more we can do for them.
Your financial gifts helped us feed and clothe these children. Thank you for continuing to partner with us.

Celebrating great things happening in Benin and Liberia

I am now back in the States and Tim will return tonight.
The trip to Benin and Liberia was very successful.

Benin we accepted our first 31 orphan children into the new orphanage we are helping. My friend who was raised in Canada,lives there full time is the one in charge of this new home. It was so neat to be there for this initial acceptance of children.
I will write more details of this experience in a few days. This was not without great emotion, knowing these kids lives will now have a hope for a future because of being in this home.

Liberia was also a highlight to be able to connect with all the projects currently going on there. We are building a 4400 square foot dormitory for an orphanage that has been in a closing displaced camp. This new dormitory is an answer to their 6 year prayer. I continue to be so impressed with our team on the ground there who is overseeing over 25 local workers daily in all these projects. A well, latrines and showers are also being built at another orphanage whom we plan on also helping in a larger way in this year to come. The screening process is extremely thorough as we pick these orphanages to be involved with in a larger way, so that is where I come in with having to have a lot of wisdom. My job is to pick all the projects that we will take on now, and future. So this is never an easy task. The needs are so great, and the finances to small. Yet, I am always amazed as we continue to move forward in what God asks of us, He gives us the wisdom and discernment we need to see His heart for the next step. Our goal is always to work with the Directors whom have showed great integrity and honesty. We also look for those who are giving out to their community, as well as those who duplicate all that we do for them. This has been proven to be very successful. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we pick our future orphanages and projects to be involved with. We know that God is the one who has to lead and guide us through this process.

Leaving for Africa Oct 23rd, yeah!

I am getting packed and trying to work out getting extra luggage onto the plane for the orphanage in Benin that we are opening. This is such an exciting time for us all.
I will actually be spending my 40th birthday in Benin. My friend (Gloria Milholland) and I will be staying at the newly constructed orphanage. We will be the first guests to stay there. I feel so blessed to be able to be there for the actual opening of it.

The first 10 children ages 2 to 10 will be moving in any day. The plumbing and electrical just got completed on Friday, so they are now ready for kids.

Oct 30th we will then head to Liberia for the remaining 2 weeks to see the other 20 orphanages that we are helping there. Tim (my husband) will be meeting us there. We have a professional photographer coming as well as a friend who is going to get some video coverage so we can more adequately tell the stories of these children. We are excited that they will be joining us.

On this trip to Liberia we also have a Liberian man named Zeke coming back to his country after being away for 15 years. He lives in Seattle and is coming to see what he can do to help his people get back on their feet after 14 years of civil war. He can't wait to unite with friends and family after all these years. This will be an amazing time for him to come back to his native home. We are really blessed he will be with us on this trip.

New Benin Orphanage almost open

More exciting news from Benin.
We are hoping to have the orphanage ready for Children Oct. 15th.
I will be personally going to Benin Oct 23rd to see all the progress. I am very excited about this. More details to come.

Near end of Rainy Season in Liberia

Our team members are now all re uniting back in Liberia as the rainy season is coming to an end. We are excited that our friend Solome who is the Director of The Gold Child orphanage in a Displaced Camp,will soon have a new home to bring the children into thanks to the many people who helped raise finances for her new facility. She has waited 6 years for a home for these children and her family. She has been such an amazing leader with in her community as we have watched her through out the years give to all those in need around her. She has struggled to just survive herself, yet continues to give of her self to who ever needs her help. She started a school on her own for 300 children in this displaced camp, that will continue even after she moves. She now has the faith to start another school in this new area where we are building her dormitory. This new area has no school and she has such a heart to see these neighboring children educated. She already has a full plan in mind for this. She is a perfect example of what we are looking for as we use our resources appropriately. We love helping those who we see will duplicate everything we do for them. They are truly leaders within their own communities.

We have many neat things coming for this fall with a lot more Capacity Building (animal farming, agriculture, and micro enterprising) too. Stay tuned on the Orphan Relief and Rescue web site.

Almost finished Benin orphanage

After a 4 year relationship with these kids in Benin we are very excited to announce that our construction of a new orphanage is almost complete.

We have been very blessed with a good relationship with the Mayor's office from the very beginning of our work there. The social welfare office has been pleading with us to please build a permanent facility for these children. The current buildings have always been rented for these kids.

So with the Mayors donation of land for this new orphanage, we began construction last October. There has been nothing easy with this whole thing. Pretty much anything that could go wrong has. A project that should have taken 3 months is not almost a year.

A friend from Mercy Ships has moved to Benin and we have put everything in her organizations Name. She will be the proprietor/president of this new orphanage. We are so happy about this. She is an amazing woman and we have 100% trust in her. She has been such a gift to these kids and to Benin. (As well as her new husband and children are very happy she is there too).
So we will keep you posted on this. Please pray hard that the kids will be able to move in the next 2 weeks. School starts at the end of Sept. for them, and we really need this to be complete by then.

Exciting News from Liberia

The social welfare department of Liberia just recently toured one of the orphanages that we completely renovated called the “Rock of Divine Healing Orphanage home”. They came back with saying that this orphanage is one of the top orphanages in all of Liberia now. We look back at this home and remember that just 3 years ago no other organization would even consider touching this orphanage because of how awful their conditions were. The statement given to us by every organization we asked for help for these desperate hungry and sick children was always the same discouraging response "This one is just too complicated, and if we got involved it would just create dependency on us". We'll, we can honestly say that 3 years later, they are now doing great. We are so grateful to all of you who prayed and who given to this project. Such a miracle.

Rebecca Pratt's Africa Adventures

This is the beginning of sharing the amazing things that God is doing through our work with the orphans in Liberia and Benin West Africa.
So many miracle stories.