Jeanette's Mission

Tino and his candy Someone once shared with me the famous quote attributed to St. Augustine who said, "Pray as though everything depended on God.Work as though everything depended on you."   While I carry on with my VOHA responsibilities, I've also spent alot of time in the last few months raising support - following Augustine's advice. In prayer, I've asked God to lead me. He has put names in my heart, many of them yours, to approach about becoming a partner with me in my mission and the good work of Villages of Hope Africa. I've also worked hard, spending many hours preparing and sharing the vision with individuals, businesses and churches. Augustine was right. The combination works. God is faithful and the work is paying off.   I'm excited to report that, as of today, I'm at almost  80% of my goal! Almost there! Yeah! My goal is to reach 100% of my funding by December so I can spend my time in the new year solely focused on my work with Villages of...

I love this book. I got it for 10 cents at a gargae sale many years ago. It's just page after page of things to be happy about - from fluffy pillows ... to beautiful sunsets ... to dill pickles (though they don't personally make me happy). Whenever I crack it open, I'm reminded of the thousands of things, experiences and people that make me happy ... and for which I should be thankful. That brings me to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is one of my favourite times of year - I just think it's so cool that we have a day set aside to be thankful. Not that we shouldn't do that everyday, but it's just nice to know we have this day to be with family and friends (unless there's a global pandemic brewing!), let them know how thankful we are that they are in our lives and to remember all our many blessings. This blog will be short and sweet..... I just want to pause amidst all the unknowns and craziness we are all experiencing to give a short list of what I'm thankful ...

 We ll, COVID continues. Don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of it. I want to go back to "normal" when I could plan things and predict what life will look like in a month, 3 months or a year from now. But, I know that's not reality, so I continue my "Trust" theme and a new "One day at a time" motto. This is a big week - school's back. I'm sure many of you are frazzled, relieved, worried, all of the above... so many nuiances and things to consider. You're not alone. School in Africa has changed too.  For some countries, like Burundi, they basically have kept business as usual, maybe living in a bit of denial that there even is a global pandemic. I'm thankful Villages of Hope Burundi is connected to us and the other villages so they can apply safety precautions and social distancing for the children in their care. All the children are safe. Tanzania opened the schools a couple of months ago and life is almost back to ...

For me, it was a Webinar on Child Safeguarding. Before I tell you more.. let me share the exciting news that I've been accepted as a Global Worker with the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, continuing in my role with Villages of Hope Africa. I have lots to do, and I will certainly give you a fuller update in the weeks ahead, but for today, I wanted to share about this amazing webinar I had in the middle of the night yesterday. Although COVID response and the children's health is still top of mind in the villages, and we are working hard everyday adjusting to the changing conditions, such as some of the schools starting to re-open, we continue to press forward with foundational elements at the core of our mission. That brings me to our 2 am webinar. I got the short end of the stick in regards to timezone.  Though I was the meeting host and facilitator, we had to accomodate the timezone for 25 leaders from 10 villages from 5 countries in Africa - Burundi, Malawi, Tanzania...

I had no idea what I'd be doing today when I wrote my first blog just over a year ago and declared I was "jumping off the deep end" into missions. I made a one year commitment. Having no clue what I would do after that. For the first half of the year, I was always worrying about what would happen when the year was over. But, in January, I made the conscious decision to let go, trust God for my future and live in the present. It made a big difference. Enjoying the moment.  Then COVID came along. So now, I'm back in Canada, continuing to support Villages of Hope Africa from here. Since I've been back, one thing has become very clear - I'm not done yet. I feel the call to missions and sense God wants me to continue as part of the ministry of VOHA, using my gifts and skills to help vulnerable children. So, I've made the decision - I'm applying to be a Global Worker with Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (the parent denomination under the whic...

I had a What's Up chat with my friend, Irene, on the weekend. She works at VOH Zimbabwe as the Lead for the Star Community Feeding program. Following is a snip-it of our conversation, where she shares the impact COVID is having on the people of Africa. I wasn't prepared for what she was about to say.  You may have to zoom in to be able to read the text, but p lease a 2 minutes to read our exchange... It will break your heart, as it did mine. This is the real thing. I hope her story reminds all of us to be thankful for Canada and ministries like VOHA who are impacting the lives of the most needy in practical ways everyday and that you're inspired by her confidence that "God is so faithful. He continues to provide." Please pray for the many who are so desperately impacted by the pandemic, especially in the developing world, like the families in this story. Go to the sidebar Prayer Requests to find a few specific prayer items. (If...

Since I started this mission journey, one thing that helped me through the many times when things were unknown, or didn't turn out as planned, was knowing people like you were praying for me, walking alongside me and standing by me. Now it's my turn to stand by you. During this crazy time, I know many of you are going through the same thing - not knowing what the future holds and having roller coaster emotions of feeling anxious one moment and then trying to remember God's faithfulness the next. I'm writing my blog this month just to let you know that I'm here for you. I'm praying for you and will be standing with you, just like you have done for me.  Perhaps we can find a hint of how to handle all this from the people in Africa. Many live everyday in desperate situations, but they have a deep dependence on God. Maybe it's because they have no other choice, or they've seen His faithfulness in the past. I'm not sure. But, I've seen...