Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church - Volunteers in Mission

Members of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church are often called by God to embark on individual mission trips to work as volunteers in other parts of the world.

Brenda Johnston, member of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, writes from Hope's Promise Orphan Ministry.

March 2005 Newsletter

March 2005 Prayer Calendar

Brenda can be contacted by e-mail, bgaylejohnst@msn.com

The following article appears in the April 2004 VOICE

An FAPC Benevolence Grant Recipient:
Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries: Helping Children
in West Africa
by Brenda Johnston

Sing for Joy, O Africa
The Lord Your God has Risen Upon You
Jesus, River of Life to Our Thirsty Land
Savior Meeting Our Needs with Your Mighty Hand
Sing for Joy, O Africa

These words from a praise song titled 'Jabulani' (Rejoice in Zulu) speak volumes about what God is doing here in Africa. This is a song written for Africa, and every time I hear it I am reminded how active God is on this continent!

I am writing this article from the heat and desolation of a community called Rehoboth in Namibia, Africa. God has taken me slowly on my personal journey to fulfill His purpose. Each step is a bit more difficult with just a bit less comfort than the step before. You will remember that God called me out of my personal comfort zone in September 1999 and asked me to serve His children on the African continent. I have been serving in some capacity since then, and I am now in my fifth year as a fulltime missionary. Life from corporate America to full time mission has not been easy but it is fulfilling!

Since January 2003, I have been working with Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries (HPOM), headquartered in Castle Rock, Colorado. I spent the majority of my first year with the ministry working from my base in Colorado. God used this time to teach me about the world of social services so that I can better help our ministry staff in the countries HPOM is serving. Additionally, incorporating my gifts and the skills learned in the first 20 years of my secular life, I have spent the year networking with churches, individuals, and foundations as possible donor partners. Through this God continued to bless me by taking care of my own personal needs through friends, family, and churches while he supplied just what HPOM needed for the ministry! God has blessed Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries in an awesome manner during 2003!

Our pilot project for HPOM is in Namibia, a country that I knew from my service here from 2000-2002. We are working closely with the government to make a positive difference in the lives of the many children who are being orphaned and abandoned as a result of the AIDS pandemic. As a Christian, humanitarian aid organization, we reflect God's heart by redeeming the lives of the orphaned and vulnerable by placing them into the context of a family. HPOM recruits, screens, trains, and monitors the families with whom the children are placed. Since July 2003, we have placed 30 children with 11 different families. God has even blessed this ministry with two adoptions within Namibia!

God has continued to press on the heart of HPOM His children in Sierra Leone. Through Hope's Promise Adoption Agency, God placed 12 children from Sierra Leone with American families in 2003. As a result of a ten-year war, there are countless orphans in this country. HPOM has assisted with the renovation of a house in Makeni, Sierra Leone, that now houses 10 orphans who have been enrolled in the local school. We are currently working on the renovation of a second house that will be for infants only. As God continues to provide the finances, HPOM will continue to expand throughout Africa. Botswana is another country awaiting our assistance. In sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS causes unimaginable numbers of orphans. In Western Africa, civil wars and famine result in orphans. God needs His people to stand in the gap for His children.

I am returning to Africa as my fulltime base of operation in April 2004. I will live in Namibia and be the liaison for HPOM on the African continent. Continuing to raise funding for the ministry will mean two months a year in the US sharing the mission and the vision. FAPC has been a faithful supporter of me personally and of the ministry since God called me in 1999. Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries is a recipient of benevolence dollars available for God's work around the world for the 2003/2004 church year. Each month the FAPC web site has an updated letter and prayer calendar from me on what God is doing through HPOM at the moment. We covet your prayers and welcome financial support as God moves you. I can be contacted via mail: c/o Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries, 309 Jerry Street, Castle Rock, Colorado 80104 or via e-mail (bgaylejohnst@msn.com).

The Lord our God has risen upon all of us! May the ministry of FAPC continue to be blessed as you minister to the millions of God's people at the crossroads of His world! This comes with many greetings from all of us serving His children through Hope's Promise Orphan Ministries.