doorofhope-ourfamilynews-mar2019
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Our Family News<br />
March 2019<br />
“The God of heaven<br />
will make us prosper<br />
and we his servants<br />
will arise and build”<br />
- Nehemiah 1:20)
WE HOPE AND PRAY YOU HAVE HAD<br />
A GOOD START TO 2019. FOR US, IT<br />
HAS BEEN A MIXED BEGINNING.<br />
It is still early in the year but already there have been<br />
a couple sizeable and unexpected challenges thrown<br />
into our path. First, proposals have been put forward<br />
to amend the South African Child Protection Act.<br />
These amendments, if passed, could have devastating<br />
consequences in the adoption arena, very likely bringing<br />
them to a grinding halt. Door of Hope, and similar<br />
organisations, would be severely hampered in our work<br />
of finding forever families for children needing a home<br />
(Follow links below to read more about the situation*).<br />
Second, our building plans at the village have been<br />
stalled due to a, seemingly unreasonable, rezoning<br />
process. As you know, we are establishing the Children’s<br />
Village as an additional solution for children needing<br />
a home and not finding it through adoption. In order<br />
to continue our building projects, we need our land to<br />
be rezoned by the authorities and given the suitable<br />
permissions for development and use. We were told at<br />
the beginning of this year that our imminent plans for<br />
building the next houses must stop immediately due to<br />
environmental reasons that, to us, appear unreasonable.<br />
There are other challenges, too, but these are the two<br />
biggest, at present.<br />
Yet, God has been reminding us that we are not alone. He,<br />
the sovereign King, goes with us. Recently, I have been<br />
led to reflect on the story of Ezra and Nehemiah in the<br />
Bible. These men led remnants of Israel out of exile and<br />
back to their homeland to rebuild its temple and city.<br />
They, too, faced many challenges and building was even<br />
forcibly stopped for a time. But God led them to victory<br />
in due course. We would be naive to think the path we<br />
are walking will be easy and straightforward. Our task is<br />
to remain faithful to God and obedient to Him, walking<br />
closely in step, and trusting that He will work sovereignly,<br />
in His time, in the areas we cannot. Just as God worked<br />
in the hearts of King Cyrus and King Artaxerxes moving<br />
them to look favourably on Ezra and Nehemiah,<br />
respectively; please pray that God would work in the<br />
hearts of those in authority to look upon us favourably.<br />
May God accomplish His plans for the saving of many<br />
children and to show His great goodness and glory.<br />
“May the God who has caused his<br />
name to dwell there overthrow [anyone]<br />
who shall put out a hand to alter this or<br />
to destroy this house of God”<br />
(Ezra 6:12)<br />
*Why Adoption is a problem in South Africa – by Dee Blackie<br />
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2019-01-17-why-adoption-is-a-problem-in-south-africa/<br />
Access to adoptions will decline if Children’s Act amendments are passed – by Robyn Vorster<br />
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2019-01-07-access-to-adoptions-will-decline-if-childrens-act-amendmentsare-passed/?fbclid=IwAR0wbcI1pYlGr2bE146DMNE4aH68sbgAjtTwTnpJZo-SEbvGWD6BqMZ9tHU#.XDL5m4nSz5g.facebook<br />
We have our own fundraising page on GivenGain. Here you<br />
can donate to one of our projects - choose from assisting<br />
with our everyday needs through to one of our major events.<br />
<strong>doorofhope</strong>.givengain.org
BABY NEWS<br />
Our precious Baby Boy S will be moving to his new home soon.<br />
We were blessed to welcome this child into our home in July 2018 who<br />
was born prematurely after surviving a failed abortion. He had not<br />
even been in our care for 2 weeks when we had to rush him to ICU for<br />
breathing difficulties and a very high temperature. The ICU doctor<br />
informed us that the hospital we received him from should have not<br />
discharged him because he was so fragile. He spent almost 2 months in<br />
hospital before he could finally settle into our family.<br />
Unfortunately, because of his medical condition, we<br />
are not able to give Baby Boy S the medical care that<br />
he needs. After months of trying to get him into a<br />
special needs home, he will finally move there soon.<br />
We are going to miss him so much but will keep in<br />
touch with his new home and even visit him. It has<br />
been a true blessing for us to witness his growth and<br />
development. He is a super special boy and we give<br />
God all the glory for how far he has come! We pray<br />
that somewhere out there is a very special forever<br />
family for him. Until then, he will continue to receive<br />
love and care from us and his new home.<br />
We want to use this space to say thank you to every single person getting involved and<br />
helping Door of Hope and our babies. Not just this month but every month. We won’t<br />
be where we are if we did not have God’s blessing and your support. THANK YOU!<br />
If you want to get involved email us at info@<strong>doorofhope</strong>.co.za
JOIN US FOR<br />
THE UV RUN!<br />
SATURDAY, 30 MARCH 2019<br />
Choose Door of Hope as the charity of your<br />
choice at registration and a portion of the<br />
proceeds will go to support our mission.<br />
To learn more visit www.glow4events.com or visit our Facebook page!
TODDLER NEWS<br />
Over the past month there has been a lot of<br />
interest in transport, especially because we have<br />
had a lot of different vehicles on our Village<br />
property where our “Play and Learn Centre” is! Our<br />
children have enjoyed watching these vehicles<br />
from a distance (we get a little nervous if they get<br />
too close). We also love to ride in our school bus on<br />
the way to our “Play and Learn Centre” each day,<br />
and sometimes we like to sing The Wheels on the<br />
Bus while we ride.<br />
At the village, we have had a little yellow<br />
digger working on various projects. Usually,<br />
his appearance prompts our children to sing,<br />
“Varooooom went the little yellow digger in the<br />
ditch…”. The tractors and trucks in our playground<br />
are the perfect toys to imitate the vehicles we<br />
see. We also had a concrete truck come and pour<br />
concrete by our playground. The concrete truck<br />
was very loud and made us a little nervous as he<br />
reversed up behind our “Play and Learn Centre,”<br />
so we clung on tight to our aunties, but we didn’t<br />
want to leave! We were fascinated with the way<br />
the concrete truck kept turning around as it mixed<br />
the concrete, and then got really excited when the<br />
concrete mix started pouring down the chute.<br />
The new concrete path is the perfect place to<br />
ride our bikes.<br />
The hanging barrel in our playground has become<br />
a tractor and our children often race each other<br />
there so they can “drive” it first. A few of our books<br />
are full of pictures of different transport, and when<br />
we see the picture of the fire truck, we begin<br />
singing, “Fire truck, fire truck, I want to ride in a fire<br />
truck…” (We have discovered there is a song for<br />
just about every type of vehicle.) We also love to<br />
guess which car belongs to whom on the village<br />
property, and we are pretty good at remembering<br />
most of the time!
VOLUNTEER TEAMS<br />
Door of Hope Village is a beautiful piece of property full of life and<br />
potential located in De Deur on the south side of Johannesburg. Though<br />
it abounds with promise, our vision for the village could not be reached<br />
were it not for help from a variety of local and international volunteer<br />
teams. These teams come to the village to help maintain this evergrowing<br />
land, to develop new spaces, and to build, block by block,<br />
so that this place might continue to transform into a village of<br />
hope for some of God’s most vulnerable children.<br />
So far this year we have had 4 different teams<br />
come to volunteer at the village. The North Carolina<br />
Baptists on Mission have already sent two groups:<br />
a group of 4 in January and a group of 9 in February.<br />
The February team, led by concrete expert Skip<br />
Greene, persevered through rain and mud to build<br />
a retaining wall and lay a concrete walkway outside<br />
the “Play and Learn Centre” that will provide clean<br />
and easy access to the play area for our children.<br />
This was Tom and Barbara Burns’ first time on an<br />
international mission trip, but they are pretty sure<br />
it won’t be their last. When asked what advice<br />
they had for someone else considering coming to<br />
volunteer of Door of Hope, they quickly responded,<br />
“It was hard work, harder than we thought it would<br />
be, but so worthwhile. You’ll come back with so<br />
much more than what you have given.”<br />
“These teams come to the village to<br />
help maintain this ever-growing land,<br />
to develop new spaces, and to build,<br />
block by block, so that this place<br />
might continue to transform into<br />
a village of hope for some of God’s<br />
most vulnerable children”<br />
Local teams enjoy coming to volunteer at the<br />
village as well. A group from St. Paul’s United<br />
Church came to the village on a Saturday in<br />
February to cut grass, paint a jungle gym, and make<br />
blocks to be used in future building endeavours.<br />
This team will return in May to help again. Team<br />
member, Janine Brown, told me they have chosen<br />
to invest in Door of Hope Village because, “As a<br />
church we know that pew-warming is not what<br />
our faith is about…. The problem of abandoned<br />
children is also our problem. As the church, we<br />
need to own this problem, practically.” Churches<br />
are not the only ones choosing to be a part of the<br />
solution. Corporate teams, like a group from ACCA,<br />
also join with Door of Hope to serve their local<br />
community together.<br />
You, too, can be a part of this life-giving work.<br />
Though the work is construction-style labour, it<br />
does not require any specialised skills. Church<br />
teams, corporate teams and people of all ages,<br />
from all over the world can come and help us<br />
build a place of hope for the children entrusted<br />
in our care. To learn more please contact teams@<br />
<strong>doorofhope</strong>.co.za. To see our teams in action visit<br />
us on Facebook.
US OFFICE UPDATE<br />
The US office of Door of Hope has both encouraging<br />
progresses to report, as well as serious prayer concerns<br />
to present to our faithful supporters.<br />
The most urgent prayer need is for 501(3)(c)<br />
non-profit status to be granted in the US. The<br />
application was submitted on November 28, 2018,<br />
with the hope that it would be approved within<br />
four to six months. However, this was well before<br />
the US federal government shutdown, and it is<br />
unknown how much time this will add to the<br />
process. Please pray for a miraculous parting of the<br />
sea of governmental paperwork so that our nonprofit<br />
status can be granted.<br />
We’d like to introduce you to our new board<br />
member on the US team, Brenda Kelling. Brenda<br />
is from Marietta, Georgia and we are thankful for<br />
the great energy, enthusiasm and compassion she<br />
brings to our work.<br />
In the past few months, Door of Hope<br />
representatives in the US have presented the<br />
ministry to churches and individuals in North<br />
Carolina, Virginia and Iowa. We are praising the<br />
Lord that from those churches three “cots” (cribs)<br />
have been adopted. Our “Adopt-a-Cot” program<br />
allows individuals or groups to cover all expenses<br />
for a single child and then commit to praying for<br />
that precious child.<br />
12 short-term mission teams from American<br />
churches and 1 group from Holland are scheduled<br />
to serve at the Village in 2019. We are thankful<br />
to note that more than half of that number are<br />
returning workers, as well as a significant number<br />
of teams that will be first-time servants at Door of<br />
Hope.<br />
In March, Elaine will be leading two breakout<br />
sessions at the “North Carolina Baptists on Mission”<br />
annual conference. This is a significant opportunity<br />
to present the ministry in greater detail and to<br />
generate both financial and prayer support, as<br />
well as future volunteer teams. Baptist churches<br />
in North Carolina send representatives to this<br />
conference, seeking ministries with which their<br />
churches can partner.<br />
We praise the Lord for the growing US support<br />
for Door of Hope. The urgent prayer needs are for<br />
non-profit status approval from the US federal<br />
government as well as significant and imminent<br />
capital investment. Thank you for your prayers and<br />
financial support.
Latest Stats<br />
1658<br />
Babies<br />
saved since 1999<br />
692<br />
successful<br />
adoptions<br />
213<br />
Babies SAVED via<br />
our “BABYBOX”<br />
to date<br />
74<br />
currently<br />
in our care
ADOPT-A-COT<br />
Big Girl S is a 4-year-old who loves spending her<br />
weekdays at the “Play and Learn Centre” located at<br />
the Village. She is now the big sister in the group, the<br />
oldest girl, and she loves this responsibility. Big Girl<br />
S has a group of 4 families caring for her through our<br />
Adopt-a-Cot program. These families have combined<br />
their resources to make sure Big Girl S has food, health<br />
care, housing, education, and the love and care she<br />
needs to live a full and healthy life.<br />
Big Girl S<br />
Baby Boy L is a quiet observer at eight months. He sits<br />
back and takes in his surroundings before joining in the<br />
fun. It may take a minute to get a smile out of him, but it<br />
is worth it when he does. Baby Boy L is blessed to have a<br />
whole corporate team supporting him! Each month the<br />
employees of his sponsoring company receive a letter<br />
with pictures, stories, and updates on his development.<br />
Baby L<br />
We currently have a total of 7 children<br />
sponsored through our Adopt-a-Cot program.<br />
Businesses, church groups, and individuals<br />
give monthly to sponsor these children in<br />
our care. We love keeping these supporters<br />
up-to-date on their Adopt-a-Cot children. We<br />
especially love sharing when one of these<br />
children have been adopted by their forever<br />
family and are always excited to introduce our<br />
supporters to their new Adopt-a-Cot child.<br />
We are so grateful that these 7 children are<br />
receiving financial and prayerful support by<br />
such generous people, but there are so many<br />
more children at Door of Hope who could use<br />
this kind of dedicated assistance. Would you<br />
consider joining our Adopt-a-Cot program?<br />
Your monthly donation of R5000 (US$380)<br />
provides food, nappies (diapers), medication,<br />
education, hope, and love to a child in our<br />
care. For more information visit: https://<br />
<strong>doorofhope</strong>.co.za/adopt-a-cot/ or email<br />
adopt-a-cot@<strong>doorofhope</strong>.co.za
REZONING FAQ’S<br />
At Door of Hope one of our repeated prayer requests is for the rezoning process at the Village. Chances are<br />
many of you know exactly what that means and can pray for the specific effects rezoning has on our building<br />
plans at the Village. But there may be a few of you who, like me, smile and nod when you hear the word<br />
rezoning, offering prayers that go something like: “God, I have no idea why this rezoning is such a big deal,<br />
but you do. Could you handle that please?”<br />
If this is your prayer and you want to know more about what you are praying for, maybe this will help.<br />
WHAT IS REZONING?<br />
Certain parcels of land are zoned for specific<br />
purposes. If you want to use the land for<br />
a purpose other than the one for which it<br />
is zoned, you must go through a rezoning<br />
process to get permission.<br />
WHAT DOES<br />
REZONING ENTAIL?<br />
Rezoning requires the completion of several<br />
assessment reports, such as an environmental<br />
impact assessment, traffic assessments, site<br />
development plans, and a whole lot more.<br />
These reports are conducted by various<br />
specialists and officials and need to be<br />
approved by several different governmental<br />
departments. They can often<br />
be quite subjective.<br />
HOW CAN I PRAY?<br />
Please pray that our rezoning application<br />
is completed and granted quickly. Pray that<br />
those who are completing these assessments<br />
and reports will be able to see the hope and<br />
vision of the village and will do everything<br />
they can to help us make this dream a reality.<br />
Pray that these reports come back with as<br />
little impact as possible and that we will be<br />
cleared to begin building soon. Pray that those<br />
of us here at Door of Hope Village will not get<br />
discouraged and will persevere as we seek<br />
to be faithful to God’s call.<br />
HOW CAN I HELP?<br />
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR<br />
DOOR OF HOPE VILLAGE?<br />
The land purchased for Door of Hope Village<br />
is zoned as agricultural property. In order<br />
to see the vision for the village come to<br />
fruition, this land has to be rezoned from<br />
agricultural to institutional. Rezoning is a<br />
lengthy process with a lot of moving pieces<br />
and so, with permission, we began building<br />
according to agricultural zoning guidelines<br />
while the rezoning process was underway.<br />
We have recently been informed, however,<br />
that we shouldn’t necessarily have been given<br />
permission and our ability to continue doing<br />
construction at the village has been delayed.<br />
Consider making a donation to Door of Hope.<br />
This process is quite expensive, and we are<br />
relying on the generosity of our donors to help<br />
make this dream a reality. You can give<br />
online by clicking here.<br />
Also, consider bringing a group to volunteer<br />
at the village. There is much to be done as we<br />
continue in our efforts to develop this land<br />
into a safe place for God’s children. For more<br />
information, email teams@<strong>doorofhope</strong>.co.za
But most importantly,<br />
please join us in prayer:<br />
Lord, God of heaven,<br />
You have given us this land and charged<br />
us to build a village for your children.<br />
Stir our spirits and move in our hearts<br />
that we might be inspired to join in<br />
your work at Door of Hope Village.<br />
Jesus, Ruler of all,<br />
The process has been stalled by the<br />
rezoning process and at times we feel<br />
frustrated and discouraged. But we<br />
know that you reign over all things and<br />
so we ask you to intervene so that we<br />
might begin building again.<br />
Spirit of the Living God,<br />
Move in the hearts of the specialists<br />
and officials as they make decisions<br />
about our property. Inspire them to act<br />
with urgency and to do everything they<br />
can to help make this process move<br />
smoothly and quickly. Grant our staff<br />
courage and persistence as we seek to<br />
remain faithful to your call.<br />
Father, Son, & Spirit, Great Three-In-One,<br />
May all this be accomplished so that<br />
your name will be glorified in all the<br />
earth. Amen.
Urgent<br />
needs!<br />
Nan Optipro formula<br />
Tin Tuna, Tin beans<br />
Peanut butter<br />
Pronutro, Oats, Corn flakes<br />
Long Life milk<br />
Baby Hair and body wash<br />
Tissues<br />
Auto washing powder<br />
twitter.com/DoorofHopeJHB<br />
facebook.com/<strong>doorofhope</strong>SA<br />
Door of Hope 15 Barbara Avenue, Glenvista, 2091, South Africa<br />
Telephone: +27 11 432 2797<br />
Email: info@<strong>doorofhope</strong>.co.za www.<strong>doorofhope</strong>.co.za<br />
Non-Profit Organisation: 009-149 • Public Benefit Organisation (Tax Exemption): 9208/629/15/5. All donations are tax deductible. Section 18A certificates<br />
issued on request. Please provide full name and mailing address. Bequests are exempt from payment of Estate duty.