Ministry of Hope is now reaching beyond Malawi to other parts of Africa. Nancy Dimmock, who along with her husband Frank, once lived in Malawi and was instrumental in starting the Crisis Nursery, now lives in Lesotho and has recently helped establish Ministry of Hope – Lesotho.
 Lesotho is among those nations most severely affected by the HIV/AIDs pandemic, with an official infection rate of 23% of adults. The results are pervasive vulnerability, poverty, desperation, child abandonment and orphaning. These are all problems that Ministry of Hope understands. MoH has been working with orphaned and vulnerable children for a decade now, and is eager to partner and support Lesotho in the formation of a similar ministry.
There are three main goals of MoH – Lesotho: to reduce child mortality and abandonment by assisting nursing mothers to breast-feed their children; to minister to children and families in an appropriate and holistic way; and to support needy families and facilitate adoption and family reunions of displaced children.
MoH - Lesotho received its registration from the government in early December 2009 and ‘opened for business’ on January 12, 2010. Nancy and the Executive Director were initially busy with administrative and set-up details, but now have been asked by the government’s Department of Social Welfare to facilitate the adoptions of 16 children from three institutions. The task is huge, but also hugely important, and they feel privileged to be of service to these children.
It is exciting to be expanding the Ministry of Hope family to include orphaned and vulnerable children in Lesotho. Please pray for this new outreach. |
