Tuesday, February 23, 2010

From today's Global Fingerprints newsletter


Congo: On The Ground Status Update

GlobalFingerprints continues to grow, praise God! Together we are sponsoring 1,048 children in the Congo. Imagine how the sponsorship changes each child’s life — they are valued, and are cared for and belong to their village community. They study and learn about the love of Jesus. Being sponsored is truly an incredible blessing to each child!
Life has returned to normal for most of the Congolese sponsored children after the recent uprising over fishponds. There are three regions where many people are still living in the garden and forest areas: Dongo, Kungu and Tandala. Pray that the GlobalFingerprints supervisors will be able to locate all of the children in these regions in the next month.


Honorine's Story

A story that repeats itself over and over again in Africa is that of parents dying and grandparents becoming parents again, as they care for their grandchildren. As one of the sponsored orphans, Honorine is just such a child. She was born in Gemena in 1998. At three years old her mother died. Honorine’s father’s family took her in, but she was sick and very malnourished.

When her grandmother realized that Honorine was not healthy she decided to care for her. A lonely widow, Honorine’s grandma was very old. She struggled to feed Honorine. She could not afford to send Honorine to school. Every morning she’d go to the garden to look for food to sell and eat, but what she could find was not sufficient.

When the GlobalFingerprints program started, there was a great need to select which children would be sponsored. Honorine’s grandmother was in church when the news about needing to select children was shared with the Congo churches. She talked with the local committee and Honorine was selected due to the difficulty her grandmother was facing to provide for her. After a few months in the sponsorship program, her supervisor noticed Honorine’s health was still not improving, so he chose to take her to his house where she still lives.

Today Honorine is 12 years old. She’s been in the GlobalFingerprints program since November 2006, sponsored by the Women’s Ministry of the United Church of Sumner in Sumner, Nebraska. For the past three years Honorine’s life has changed in many different respects. Where she couldn’t attend school due to her grandmother’s poverty, she now studies with other children. She’s in third grade and making good progress. She’s healthy now because anytime she’s sick, GlobalFingerprints provides her the opportunity to go to the clinic for treatment. She also benefits from the nutritional gifts given through the program. Her desire is to finish her studies and then learn to become a seamstress.

When I was talking with her she told me happily, “This program gave me a reason to hope in life.” She also shared she is praying for all the people who help children through GlobalFingerprints, as am I.


- Mandaba, for GlobalFingerprints in Congo 


Honorine is one of the 1048 children in GlobalFingerprints whose life is being changed. Thank you for your commitment to profoundly impact a child’s future.

What if?GlobalFingerprints is a ministry of EFCA TouchGlobal. Visit TouchGlobal at www.touchglobal.org for information on how lives are touched and hope is found, across the country, around the world, every day.