In his letter to Ephesus Paul writes, “Now my beloved ones, I have saved these most important truths for last: Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you” (Ephesians 6:10, TPT)
Even though we are in Aotearoa New Zealand we sit back and watch with pride at what our Hands of Hope Faith Academy (HOHFA) staff and church leaders are achieving in difficult circumstances. They are, as Paul says, standing victorious and walking in God’s strength and power. It’s awesome!
Ministry
The Small Groups, Sunday services, and Kids’ services are going well. Our church leaders are doing an incredible job as things haven’t been easy. They continue to move among the villages, spending time with people, building relationships, running small groups, and praying for people. I just love getting the photos and seeing them do it. Our vision has always been to train up local people to do the work of the ministry. We maintain that Filipinos are better at reaching their people than any foreigner/s. Very rewarding to see it happen. Click here to view a few photos.
Hands of Hope Faith Academy
The Philippines President is still not allowing face-to-face classes. However, despite this our school role has increased and we are almost at capacity. As most students don’t have decent internet access and/or gadgets to connect to the internet, we have a two-pronged strategy. Firstly, parents come to the church (sometimes the school) twice a week to pick up new learning modules for their children and drop off completed modules. Secondly, teachers connect daily with students who have internet access and are in regular contact with students who don’t. It is nowhere near as good as face-to-face classes, but it is working. We are proud of our HOHFA staff who are working hard and making it work
⭐️ Online School Competitions ⭐️
WOW! Congratulations to Brandon who came 1st in the Agoo District History Quiz Bee and Shun who came 5th in the La Union History Quiz Bee. Fantastic achievements. 🥳 👏
We have just completed our online Spirit Week. During Spirit Week, students participate in several events (e.g., dressing up as a bible character) and contests to show their support for their school. Click here to view a few photos. Thank you to Hope Centre Wellington and one of their church members who donated a Christian Education Curriculum plus resources. The resources arrived successfully and we will be introducing the materials in the next two weeks. We are always interested in receiving reading materials for our school library and/or classes (e.g., books or school journals). If you have such resources and would like to donate them then please contact us via email, [email protected] or, phone us on 022 404 1856.
Website
A big thank you to Jacob who has helped us update the Hands of Hope Ministry website. Click here to see our new look and how you can become involved. I would like to write a lot more but will stop here. We do post regular pictures and news on our Website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, accounts. It’s a great way to keep up to date. Please add us as we would love to keep in touch. Finally, thank you to all our partners. You are bringing hope and incredible change to people’s lives.
Love and Blessings
Duane, Jenny and Joe
