Village of Hope Newsletter - GG

[gaye norrie]

Happy Thanksgiving to all - trust it was a blessed time with family, friends, and of course food!

Here at the Village of Hope it was a big five-day celebration but not ‘Thanksgiving’ per se, but a celebration of the 13th anniversary of Hope Community Church. Yes, there was much giving of thanks to God and expressions of appreciation to those who have contributed in the past and continue to invest in the ministry of the church. In our opinion, Hope Community Church is the heart and soul of the Village of Hope and is vital to the remarkable success of the Village. We are blessed to be able to be a part of this growing, vibrant church.

As many of you know, we were denied an extension on our work visa so we are in the country as visitors for 90 days. We will return to Ontario the first week of December with plans to return to Zimbabwe in March of 2015, and again next fall. While we are absent the capable administration team here will continue to care for the Village, as they have in the past when no global workers were present. While back in Canada for a few months over the summer we were privileged to have the opportunity to present the ministry of the Village of Hope in about 8 churches, as well as meeting with several pastors/individuals who expressed interest in the Village. We are grateful that there continues to be a big heart for helping the disadvantaged of this world.

It is difficult to reduce to a single newsletter all that happens at the Village in the course of a month - it is a place of lots of activity. The next six weeks will be especially full as another school year winds down (we run on the calendar year). There are exams, end-of-year celebrations, the biggest event of the year - Prize-Giving Day, the beginning of the holidays (December is an ‘off’ month), and getting ready for Christmas. In December many people travel to their rural homes for a number of days or weeks.

The past three years plus that we have been involved with the Village of Hope Zimbabwe have been very enriching and have gone by quickly. Thank you for your continued interest in and prayer for this ministry that continues to experience the favour and blessing of our God.

Blessings,

Gaye & Elizabeth