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The Zambia Orphan Choir (sponsored by our partners in Zambia - World Hope International) is just finishing a tour of the USA to raise awareness of the plight of the Zambian children orphaned by their parents dying from AIDS. Over 20% of the  adult population in Zambia has HIV or AIDS. The 15 person choir has less than a week of concerts left before returning home. These are kids like Chabota (pictured here), 15. She lost her mother in 1998. Her father, a teacher, died in 2003. She has three sisters and a brother, but after their father's death the family disintegrated. She walks about 35 minutes to school each day. She is in the 10th grade.Zambian children had much to learn about America. They had to learn that in America you may eat more than one meal a day. In fact, when they first came to America, the children thought that when a meal was served, that they should eat as much as possible, because they did not expect any other meals that day. We take so much for granted. Ukraine - Good news! In June 2006, Horizons Foundation sponsored and World Hope International - Canada opened a 'safe-house' for girls who were 'aging-out' of the state run orphanages in Odessa, Ukraine. 'Aging-out' means that when a boy or girl reaches their 16th birthday, they are discharged from the state run orphanage onto the streets of the town where the orphanage is located. With your help, Horizons Foundation is doing something to rescue these young people from a life of crime and prostitution. Last month the 'safe-house' was officially named the Shepherd's Home and now 8 girls are living with their new house-mother in the Shepherd's Home. Moldova - Good News and Sad News: First the good news: One of the first six children admitted  to Bethany Christian Center in 1999, has done so well in his studies that he has now been admitted to the university to become a medical doctor. Doru Cirdei, Director of Bethany Christian Center reports -- "We have a graduate from our New Elim School and recently he was admitted to the National College of General Medicine of Moldova. His name is Petrica Toi (pictured here), orphan of both parents, a former beggar on the streets of Chisinau city. Now, I am looking for some opportunities to find financial support for him? He needs about $100 per month."Peru - Good News and Sad News The good news is that a container full of goods with many computers is being shipped from the US to Pacasmayo, Peru. All the clothes, medical supplies, toys for kids, computers, printers and countless other items are being shipped this month. A hearty thanks to all who donated, delivered, warehoused and packed the many pallets of material being shipped. Fred Miller and his wife, Peggy, have returned to Pacasmayo allowing other family members to return to the USA. The sad news is that the preliminary reports coming from the audit of the microlending program show that the former Executive Director who was terminated in April 2006 may have committed fraudulent activities and certainly mis-managed the microlending program. Until all audit and legal recourse activities are concluded, our lending efforts have been suspended. The Peruvian Board of Directors is taking whatever action is necessary to protect the assets of Association Horizons. Our partnership with Go Ye Ministries is as strong as ever and recently Horizons Foundation formed a partnership with Hope for the Nations in Canada, so that any Canadian wishing to make a tax deductible donation to Go Ye Ministries may do so via Hope for the Nations. Horizons Foundation will then forward all funds received from Hope for the Nations onto Go Ye Ministries.  If you know an expert in drilling water wells, we need their help. Our drilling rig in Peru will drill thru solid rock or dirt with no problem at all. However, much of the soil around Pacasmayo has cobblestones at all levels. Our rig will go down 300 feet, but when it hits cobblestones, the cobblestones simply spin in the ground and the drill bits will not go thru them. If you know someone who can help us solve this problem, please let us know!!! Zambia - Good News - continued As a result of Horizons Foundation nomination, the Eagle Summit of October 2004, sponsored one Zambian orphan trust. Over 85 people's lives were saved by this one-time donation of over $5000 which created a) a deep well for a village, b) an animal multiplication program for a sustainable future, c) enough seed to plant a multi-acre vegetable farm and d) a tall fence around the entire vegetable farm to keep out foraging animals. Now, Zambia has 28 orphan trusts sponsored by World Hope International. The goal is to establish a total of 50 during the next year. Lives are being saved from this AIDS pandemic in Zambia! Ukraine - Good news continued This just in from Carole and Kerry Allison in Odessa, Ukraine: "We have promised for some time to present the biographies of our Shepherd's Home girls to you so this is the first installment. Her name is Lena Azarov and she is 17 years old. "Lena has known life on the streets since she was very young. However, when looking through Lena's life, we can see how God protected and kept Lena right from the very beginning in her mother's womb. When Natasha, her mother, was pregnant with Lena, she continued to do drugs, but isn't it amazing that it didn't harm Lena's health?"From childhood Lena worked for living. Together with her mother she sold flowers. Lena would come up with the flowers to a couple of young people who were sitting on a bench and ask the man if he would like to buy flowers for the pretty lady. Of course no one could resist her sweet smile. "We met Lena in the spring of 2002. At that time Lena's mother was in prison for the third time for drug abuse, and her father, Igor had died from tuberculosis. "Natasha went to prison for the third time, and she left her two kids, Lena and Jenya, with her boyfriend Sasha but Jenya ran away that first day. It wasn't long before Lena began to live on the street as well. In the afternoons, she would hang out with her friends on the streets and at night she would sleep at a construction site. All the kids that Lena lived with sniffed glue and had sexual relationships with each other, but a medical examination showed that Lena didn't do either of these things. The Lord was continuously preserving her during all that time. "Many of the kids Lena lived with also attended World Hope's First Step Centre, which the kids call "The Club" and that was how we first met Lena."One day the kids from First Step went to Calvary Church for a youth event. The pastor realized that Lena had no real place to sleep so he offered to let her stay overnight in the church. The first night, Lena was scared to sleep alone, so Masha! , anothe r one of our kids, agreed to stay with her. For one week Lena slept there. "One of the members of this Church congregation was an elderly lady named Zina, a widow and a pensioner, who lived in a small house by herself. The pastor of the church approached Zina to ask about taking Lena to live with her, and Zina agreed, as she felt that God wanted her to do it as a ministry. World Hope accepted financial responsibility for Lena and she lived with "Babushka Zina" for several years.  "When Lena began to come to First Step on a regular basis, the staff explained to her what she needed to do to have a future. She came to "school" at the Club every day plus she was not allowed to meet with her former friends, or to hang out in the center of the city. She was only to come to the club and then go right home. It is very hard for any teenager to submit oneself to such strict rules, let alone one used to the independence and freedom of the street. There were some tough issues that had to be resolved but Lena preserved."Lena discovered that she loved to study and to reach goals she set for herself. She covered grades 1, 2, and 3 during the 2002/03 academic years and during the summer of 2003 she covered the 5th grade program. However, Lena longed to go to school, to sit at a desk, to have classes like others kids her age. The staff tried to convince her that it would be too hard for her to get used to school, that the level of her knowledge was far below that of other kids her age, and that even emotionally it would be complicated to fit in with them. However, in spite of all this, Lena would not give up her dream and not long after that she entered the 9th grade at night school. "It was a true miracle that Lena was accepted to the school. Besides the fact that she had not had any formal education, she also had no documents, and didn't even have to give any "gifts" that are often required to gain entrance to school. The principal of the school met Lena and saw her willingness and great desire to go to school so he gave her a chance to get an education. "The difficulties that her tutors had warned her about were certainly present. The transition wasn't as smooth as she had thought it would be and she had a hard time understanding the study material. However, she asked a lot of questions, exerted her best effort, and was very persistent in her studies. When taking her exams, Lena didn't want to cheat, which is unfortunately a common and almost accepted practice here; she wanted to really earn her grades. "In the summer of 2003 Lena went to a Christian kid's camp and there she learned of her need to accept the love of a Heavenly Father. In 2004, Lena took some English courses, which were carried out in the Central Baptist church, and she also began to learn to play the guitar. "Lena had a dream - she wanted to enter medical college and become a doctor. There were many obstacles in her way if she was going to choose that path. She would first have to finish gra! des 10 a nd 11, and then she would have to pass an entrance exam either with a grade high enough to ensure that she would receive government funding, or she would have to find the money to pay for it herself. The competition for government funding is very fierce (and not always fair), and tuition is very expensive. She knew that this dream was out of her reach."Babushka Zina's relatives moved in with her so Lena had to leave and go stay with her mother. Natasha was doing very well by that time, using no drugs or alcohol and was on staff at First Step Center. Natasha lived in a room in a dormitory with no running water or bathroom but Lena wanted to try to help her Mom. "In the winter of 2005 Lena got a job during the day working as a salesgirl in a stationary store and then went to school at night. During that time Lena came to First Step every day and was able to shower, study with the tutor on staff and enjoy a hot meal every day. The cook always made up a lunch for her to take to work the next day. We love it when we see one of our kids try!"In June 2006 the Shepherd's Home opened up its doors and Lena was one of the first girls that we thought of to invite to come and live here. She met with Lina, the director (and Live-in Mom) and Lina spent many hours talking to her about her future. Lena made a big decision and because of her love of English (from the courses she took at the Baptist church several years before), she decided that she would write the entrance exams for the three year course to study to become an interpreter but she failed the tests. One of the programs offered at Shepherd's Home was a tutor who was hired to work with the girls all summer and when Lena re-wrote her entrance exams she passed and in September she began her first year as a university student."Lena discovered that the work required at the university was much higher than she was capable of so everyday when she comes home from her classes, the tutor works very hard in helping her to complete her homework."In addition to all of this Lena goes to church, takes voice lessons and sings in her local church choir, and also helps with an at-risk children's program in a nearby village. "Without Shepherd's Home, Lena would never have been able to get an education that would give her a successful future and for that we say Praise the Lord to all who helped get this program off the ground."Special Prayer Request - Lena has struggled since school began with the amount of school work required in this program. Please pray that she will stay encouraged and be able to continue to study hard." Moldova - Good News and Sad News (continued) And more good news from Calvin Klaus in Belti, Moldova: "The children at risk program is on-going. The Lord blessed us with funds to purchase books for school for the children. We are thankful that Horizons Foundation continues the financial support that pays the meager salary of the director of this ministry, Corina. Corina is a very loving and caring young woman who has a habit of putting children first. Ana and Iana, twins - 17 years old, have her attention now. Their mother has been bound by drugs and alcohol for years. After the girls' father died, the mother gave herself to a life that has brought the family to the lowest level imaginable. (See the report about the twins below.) "The mother approached us and asked that we would help her go to a drug rehab center, which we have done. However that left the two girls alone. A senior pastor here was willing to take them into his apartment with his wife and three small children but Corina said it would be best if she moved into the place where the girls live. It's a small dwelling without water, gas, electric, or heat. Because of the mother's lifestyle, they were all cut off. These twins - Ana and Iana have been part of the HOUSE OF LIFE Children at risk program in our church for 4 to 5 years now. So Horizons Foundation has been helping our involvement in their lives by supporting Corina. For the next year there is a real need for some extra support for the two girls and Corina."  Figure 1 - Ana, Corina and Iana Ana and Iana are twins. This year on 16th of August they were 17 years old. They normally live with their mother. When Ann and Iana were 9 years old their mother started to drink and do drugs after her husband's death. Much of the time their mother wasn't home. Their house was always full of drunkards and drug addicts. Their mother didn't pay attention to the girls' plea to stop this terrible life style. The girls started to visit the program "House of Life" in "Lumina Lumii" Church (in Belti, Moldova). Also they started to visit the church services and began to pray for their mother and invite her to the church. Veronica, the mother, had been coming off and on to the church for one year and even wanted to be baptized, but she again turned back to her previous life. Sometimes she visited church and was a loving, attentive mother, but other times she drank excessively and her life was immoral. One time she was beaten so badly that her ribs were broken and she almost died. Ana and Iana have been praying for their mother for a long time. Last week the mother went to a christian rehabilitation center in Ribnita. She will be there for one year. The girls were left alone in a three-room house with no water, no gas and no heat. The services were cut off because of high, unpaid utility bills: water - $265, heating - $377, and a little more for electric. It will take about $1600 to repair the water and heating system since many of the pipes are busted and the hot water heating radiators are busted. The twins are studing in school now. Ana is a pupil of the 10th grade (she missed one year because she was working in helping her mother provide for their family). Iana studies in the 11th grade. Iana also is a part of musical ministry in the church. She is singing in a musical group and at the same time studies in the church's music school. Corina the director of our children at risk program has decided to live with the two girls in their house during the year their mother is in the rehab program. This is a great sacrifice for Corina as she still needs to help her two sisters pay all the expenses for the apartment where they live. Corina's salary has been supplied from the monthly support from Horizons Foundation ever since she started as director. In the last two and a half years inflation in Moldova has been very great. She is living on a salary of $75 a month, which is below a living wage. Now that she has made up her mind to help these girls, with out any one asking her to do it, she will need more support. Please pray for this need. The two girls are at a very difficult age. They are both very beautiful and are a easy mark for people who try to pray on young women like them in Moldova. Truly they are at risk if we do not continue to help them for the next few years. This year expecially is critical because of the mothers absence. But we are doing our best to try to help them finish high school and the Lord willing to go to a professional school for a education that will help them in life. The reality of having a program to help young girls like this is to work with them long enough to see their lives placed on a firm foundation. We have had many young boys and girls that have come in to the program and we try to help them all however, it is only those who stay the long run that we are able to really make a difference in their lives. If any of those involved in Horizons Foundation would like to help us to see these two young girls through this year it would be a great help. Also if you would like to be on the front line of helping children before they go bad, but you can not be there, you could support Corina. Anatol, one of the men on the committe that oversees the children at risk project, made the comment the other day that at a person needs at least $250 to $300 a month to survive in Moldova as a result of the extremely high inflation during the last two years. The intervention into the children's lives continues to push forward as many join together to make it happen. However, it takes one person to be responsible, it takes one person to be on the front line day in and day out. Corina is that person. And the sad news Doru Cirdei also reports, "This year was the most difficult year, I think, since we started the work at Bethany Christian Center (in Chisinau, Moldova). We've experienced a series of difficulties as follows: first, in January there was a couple ready to move into the tenth house, but the lady developed a terrible problem with mental illness, and ended up in the psychiatric hospital. Now she is home, but is very depressed and we do not know what is going to happen to her and her family (they have 3 children). Secondly, in June, the man that was originally in charge of the bakery, decided to quit his job at the bakery and together with his wife, resigned their job as house parents at Bethany Christian Centre as well. He and his wife left Bethany Christian Center on the first of July. Then, the new Director of the Bakery, came to report me a debt of $6,000.00 at the bakery and quit his job on August 1, 2006. So, at the present I am dealing with the bakery. A new manager was appointed, and he is in the process of taking over the responsibility. Please pray with me for God's mercy. I am really, really disappointed, and I do not know what is going to happen next." THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT - YOU MAKE IT HAPPEN In His Service, Al and Charlotte Lockhart Horizons Foundation Donations may be sent to: PO Box 6022, St Charles, MO 63302 Al Lockhart Past Newsletters: 30 November 2003 31 December 2003 01 January 2004 01 February 2004 01 March 2004 01 April 2004 31 May 2004 30 June 2004 01 July 2004 01 August 2004 30 September 2004 31 October 2004 30 November 2004 31 December 2004 31 January 2005 28 February 2005 31 March 2005 02 May 2005 02 July 2005 31 August 2005 11 October 2005 18 December 2005 02 April 2006 30 June 2006 31 October 2006 |
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