HOPE for Hope for Children

We became involved with Hope for Children nearly a decade ago sometime after the launch of our series of children’s books, The Adirondack Kids®. As the books began to do well, we wanted to "give something back”, so we decided to sponsor several children.

I can’t even remember exactly where we picked up the Hope for Children brochure, but do recall scanning the checklist printed inside - list of areas in the world we could choose from with eligible children.

The checklist included:

Africa/Caribbean/South Pacific/Asia/Central America/Where needed most...

I looked at the list and said, "Lord, how do we choose? Which one?" So we prayed and checked – Africa.

Hope for Children then sent us our packets with the information for the 3 children in Zambia, Africa we would be sponsoring, all from the same family.

Fast-forward 10 years, and Carol and I find ourselves in the ministry as a pastoral couple and become foreign correspondents for Global Partners - the missionary arm of the Wesleyan Church. And where did GP want us to go on our first assignment?

GP: "Africa."

Us: “Where in Africa?”

GP: "Zambia.”

Us: “Zambia?”

So I called Hope for Children and asked:

Us: "I know Zambia is the size of Texas - but is it possible for us to visit our sponsored children if we are anywhere near them?"

HFC: “Absolutely.”

And guess what? Our children were less than 20 minutes from two of the missionaries we were scheduled to stay with and photograph! And they knew the family. And knew them well. And they drove us directly to their home and then to their budding church. Amazing. Which God is, right?

The family photo accompanying this piece has the faces blotted for security reasons. That is my wife Carol interacting with them.

Honestly, standing there with the family that incredible day, I could not remember exactly when we began our sponsorship. While I was stumbling over my tongue trying to figure it out – the children's father knew and spoke the exact date immediately.

Several months have now passed since that moving visit when we were able to see first-hand what such sponsorship means to these children around the world and to their families. Each sponsored child at $34/mo. receives clothing, nutritious food, an education and some medical help and maybe most importantly - hope.

Two weeks ago, I had an idea of inviting others to join us in sponsoring the balance of the eligible children in the same village where our children reside. I learned there were 7 still eligible from the village. I issued a challenge on my personal Facebook page and now there are only 5.

Encouraged, I called Hope for Children and dared to ask how many children HFC hopes to enroll – what is their goal?

Hope for Children currently has some 3,500 children enrolled – but are positioned to handle up to 10,000!

So - here's the challenge. If you are interested in sponsoring one of the five remaining children who need sponsorship in the village where our 3 children reside – let me know at garyvanriper@yahoo.com If God leads you to consider a child in a different location, you can contact the organization directly, (www.worldhope.org) click on Hope for Children, and ask God to help you choose.

WARNING: Be careful about the country you select. You might end up there yourself one day!

gary.

He's Got The Whole World in His Hands

Among the most eye-opening revelations of our trip to Africa was to see the way God is so powerfully moving among nations throughout the world. Among our greatest highlights of our trip to Africa was a spontaneous 2 and a half minute interview with a young boy named Joshua.

Video link is here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/garyvanriper#p/a/u/0/EX5s1QMtH8U

PIcture Yourself Making a Difference - in AFRICA

Before Carol & I left to serve as correspondents for Global Partners, we asked the Lord to help us with two specific things.

First, that He would enable us to finance our work as short term missionaries as much as possible ourselves. Once word was out we were going to Africa to serve in this way, our immediate family and incredible church family insisted on helping, and for their help we are most grateful. And so, we were able to keep the circle of support quite intimate.

Knowing we would be returning to make appeals for much of the worthy work we were called to report on, we wanted those who heard us to understand we were not asking anyone else to make any voluntary sacrifices we were not willing to make ourselves!

Second, we asked God that He would direct us to those ministries He wanted us to spotlight for prayer and finances upon our return.

Carol and I have had the privilege of making several presentations at churches already. These have been more general reports, but now we want to get more specific.

And so the next few blog entries will be devoted to several of those missionaries and work which are in need of prayerful and financial support.

Among Global Partners Missionaries and projects in Africa we expect to highlight over the next few weeks and months are Mike and Cindy Helvie and the Pilgrim Wesleyan Bible College and a Bible Student Scholarship Program; Drs. Dan and Joan Jones and Zimba Mission Hospital and Zimba Eye Hospital; Jerry & Jody Manwaring. We also plan a special and very personal report on Hope for Children.

Thank you for taking your valuable time to read and prayerfully consider these stories and needs. Our hope and prayer is that there may be those who have never really given to missions before who may be able to PICTURE themselves making a difference with us to the glory of God – in Africa.

It’s Your Move

Drafat. It is a board game we saw played in Zambia. But what we’ll consider here is no game…

I just read another incredible story of great need in Africa. Another solid Christian organization is doing good work to meet the need among young people in Nigeria. Another worthy cause.

Bombarded with so many requests for help can seem overwhelming – and assuming you are moved to respond – the question often arises – which one?

The Bible College? The Hospital? The orphans? The AIDS educator? The doctor? The nurse? The maintenance man? Do I go myself? Do I pitch in to send someone else? And where?

Maybe this will help.

A number of years ago after starting to write our children’s book series – we decided we wanted to give back to something or someone with a portion of the profits.
I had heard about World Hope International’s ‘Hope for Children’ and so we decided to support a child somewhere in the world. Opening the brochure, it read like a menu and listed different areas of the globe: Asia – Africa – Caribbean – South Pacific – Central America – Where Needed Most

Where do you begin? “Lord," we said, "which one?”

We discovered a special program where it was possible to sponsor the children of national pastors. That resonated.
“Which area is this being offered?” Africa. “Okay, Africa it is.” We decided to sponsor 3 children – all from the same pastoral family.

Fast-forward nearly a decade.

Through a series of circumstances, some of which can be found on our earlier blog entries, Carol and I were led to fulfill an identified need as correspondents for Global Partners, the missionary arm of the Wesleyan denomination.
“Where do you need us to photograph?” Africa. “Okay, Africa it is.” “Which country?” Zambia. “Okay, Zambia it is.”
“Hey, World Hope – the children we have been supporting are from Zambia. Do you think we might be able to meet them?”

Long story short. In a country the size of Texas, we just happened to be placed by Global Partners with an assignment 30 minutes from our family and with missionaries who knew them!
And so we met Billy and Brian and Fidess, who now aspire to be a doctor, an engineer and a teacher.
We were emotionally overwhelmed at the meeting with the family. I could not remember the exact year we began the support. The children's father knew the exact date.

What were the chances? Of all the continents in the world – of all the nations – of all the families and individual children – what were the chances?
With God? 100 percent.

Try not to listen to who has the loudest megaphone – rather listen for the still small voice of the Spirit. Then make your move.

Global Partners: http://www.wesleyan.org/gp/
Hope for Children: https://www.worldhope.org/

The Face of Christianity

David Livermore challenges us to picture the typical Christian and asks, “What do you see?”
Then he lets us in on it.
“The vast number of Christians [in the world] are young, nonwhite, poor, theologically conservative, and female.” *
Would it surprise you to know, “The western church is no longer the trendsetter and center of Christianity…?”*
Would it surprise you to know, “The largest Christian communities today are NOT in the U.S. Bible Belt but in Africa and Latin America – and that none of the fifty largest churches in the world are found in North America?”*
Spending time at a Bible College in Jembo, Africa, we learned that the dedicated students there spend their holidays and time between semesters - doing ministry. A district superintendent we met has a great number of churches over a vast area he serves – mainly on foot. We saw home-made instruments and heard a lot of worship singing that was ‘a cappella’. A banner we read in a Pilgrim Wesleyan Church in Livingstone that has grown from some 200 to 600 in two years has a banner hanging in the sanctuary that dares to read, “Bringing Thousands into God’s Kingdom” with the motto: “Arise & Be Involved” – Matthew 28:1
Selah.

* From Serving with Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore, pages 31-33.
For more information on Global Partners – to support missionaries or perhaps - become one. See http://www.wesleyan.org/gp/

Photo: Student at BibleCollege’s Married Housing © 2010 Gary VanRiper

How Far Do We Reach?

Question: Should we reach out to Jerusalem? Or Samaria? Or the uttermost parts of the earth?

Answer: Yes.

I love these quotes from David Livermore: "Don't go running overseas to do something you aren't already doing in your own neighborhood." AND "Short-term missions is just another opportunity for us to live out what we need to be doing 24/7 wherever we are." (from Serving with Eyes Wide Open, page 173)

We are blessed to be part of a missions-minded church. To me that means we are part of an obey the Great Commandment & Great Commission church. We serve at home - we serve the region - we serve the globe.

My good friend and phenomenal photographer Emmanuel captured this shot of Carol and me this afternoon while we were reflecting on our recent time in Zambia. This Sunday at our home Camden Wesleyan Church (Camden, NY) we will share highlights of our experience with God's people and neighbors in need on the other side of the world.

"He who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard. " - Psalm 21:13

One of the quotes I committed to heart before traveling to Zambia from David Livermore's book, "Serving with Eyes Wide Open", was this one: “Here is what some African church leaders said when asked what they wanted most to say to American churches: 'Please raise our dignity before the Christians and citizens of North America. We are not naïve, backward, and ignorant black people. Instead, we are your brothers and sisters in the family of God who are seeking to be faithful to his calling on our lives.' (Serving with Eyes Wide Open, Page 169)
One of the promises I made to the Lord was that I would watch for stories and images that would do just this - raise the dignity of the Zambian people before the Christians and citizens of North America within our sphere. Such stories and images were not hard to find - in fact, they were everywhere. We are hardly experts after being guests for just 9 days. And we did see great need. Particularly at the hospitals and clinics. But it did not take long at all to realize that the people of Zambia do not need more of what we in the west have in terms of material wealth. We need less of what we have.

"A Costly Sacrifice"

That is what Pastor Morningstar from the Pilgrim Wesleyan Church in Livingstone called a series of sermons he delivered to his growing congregation when the decision was made by the church family to enlarge their sanctuary. 80 volunteers from the congregation of nearly 600 met Saturdays for several months to begin digging the new foundation for the new building which is being built around and over the old one! Once the new shell is constructed, the old building will be removed from within. For now, tarps are draped over the old and new walls to provide shelter for the overflowing congregation on Sunday mornings. Much more to come on this blog about this project when we return home! Pictured with me as I interview Pastor Morningstar between the old and new walls is Global Partners missionary Jerry Manwaring.

Touchdown in Zambia

Not easy to e-mail from Zambia. While still in Livingstone with internet - here is the plane Carol and I arrived in safely at the Livingstone Airport in Zambia early Wednesday morning. We did not know others from Sierra Leone attending the Global Partners Missions Retreat were on board with us until we arrived at the conference site, Amazing story to tell about the Ashers and a couple we all met from Los Angeles.

WARNING - May Contain Spoilers

At this time tomorrow we should be somewhere over the Atlantic – so this is our final communication (until we find someplace with internet…)
All packed now with messages complete for Missions Retreat. Here is the theme and ‘titles’:

THERE IS NO HOLINESS BUT SOCIAL HOLINESS - John Wesley

Thursday: What's Buried in the Tent? Joshua 7
Friday: And They'll Know We are Christians – By our Unity Ephesians 4:1 - 16
Saturday: And They'll Know We are Christians – By our Purity Ephesians 4:17 - 5:2
EASTER a.m.: Because He Lives - We Live Also 1 Corinthians 15: 1-20
Sunday p.m.: Pushing Out Leaves Mark 11: 12-20

Incredible congregation here at Camden Wesleyan, with support in every way imaginable. Have been asked for several weeks now, “What else do you need? What can we do?”
I say, “Just keep on loving God and loving one another – keep taking care of each other – live lives worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!”

Nice Wristband…

And so, our church family’s missionaries to Africa, Jody and Jerry Manwaring, send this cool thank you gift in a thank you card after a visit here to our church in Camden (NY).
I think it is so cool that I decide that I’ll read the thank you card to the congregation while wearing the wristband. What a great way to remember to pray for Africa and for our missionaries – yes? You look down at your wrist to check the time and – “oh, it is time again to pray for Africa”.
I guess I should have read the card thoroughly first, because as I am reading it aloud to the congregation, I come to the part about the gift and the Manwarings say they hope we will enjoy the enclosed…bookmark?
You mean, it’s not a…wristband?
Well, if laughter truly is good medicine, then anyone in the congregation sick that morning was healed.
Undaunted, I kept sporting it until one day the end loop finally popped loose. Then one of our incredible seamstresses at church sewed the “bookmark” onto a piece of black elastic and with a pinch if Velcro on each end. It’s still a wristband to me, and it’s still one of the ways that helps me remember to pray – for Africa.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE VERSE?

That was the question posed to us via e-mail by organizers as preparations are made for a special gathering at the Missions Retreat in Zambia on Easter weekend. Not sure what it will be used for there, but for us the verse selection was easy:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4: 7 & 8

It was easy, because this has been the most common verse to come to mind throughout our Christian lives through everything from buying our first house to sitting alongside the hospital bed of a loved one. Carol has been cancer free for more than 30 years after being given by doctors six months to live. This was the internalized Word from God that helped us maintain an eternal perspective at times when it appeared the cancer might have returned.
Paul was aware of our temptation to worry, or he would not have addressed it. And he was not writing these verses from an ivory tower. He was writing these verses from prison.
As we prepare this final week for travel, here is what we know God guarantees. Not a trip necessarily without incident. Not without surprises. Not without challenges. What He promises His people is peace. Peace that passes all human imagination.

Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:4 – For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.

Thank you for your continued prayers - prayer partners.

MEET the HELVIES

Mike & Cindy Helvie have served as Global Partners career missionaries since 1994. Mike sensed a call to missions when he was 19, and Cindy at age 11. They were assigned to minister in Zambia in 2008, and in a few days, Carol and I get to meet them.
Following the Missionary Retreat at the front end of our journey, the Helvies are scheduled to take us to Zimba Mission Hospital. The 106-bed hospital is located some 60 miles north of Victoria Falls and provides general medicene, pediatrics, surgery and OB-GYN. Carol and I will take photographs at the hospital for a new brochure.
Tentative plans also include taking photographs at a Bible College to help promote that institution along with a student scholarship program. We may also try our hand at helping to create a video postcard for the Helvies for their use at the end of their term. Intriguing to us is a project the Lord has laid on Cindy’s heart entitled, Brave Women in Zambia.
Pray that God will guide all of us to engage in those projects He has ordained.
If you would like to learn more about the Helvies or the Manwarings or any of our Global Partners missionaries in Africa or around the world visit http://www.wesleyan.org/gp/

What in the World will we be doing in Zambia?

We first met Jerry and Jody Manwaring a number of years ago at our home church in Camden, New York. Little did we know then that we would one day be joining them in the field. (That is Jerry and Jody pictured behind several gals from our congregation).

It was on their most recent trip home and visit to our church when we were having lunch after the service that Jerry overheard me say to another aspiring missionary – “Carol and I submitted our names to World Hope several years ago to serve as photographers and journalists, but we never heard back from them.” Jerry jumped in on the conversation at that point and said, “Are you serious?” I could tell he was being serious, and in fear and trembling I said… “Yes.” (In hindsight, I wondered if my reply sounded more like a question than a statement.) Jerry then revealed one of his and Jody’s assignments while in the States was to search for a couple who might replace another retiring couple who had done photography and reporting for the church in Africa. A short time later, Jerry and Jody and Carol and I were sitting in our home with the sole purpose of exploring the possibility. And the rest, as they say, is history.

What will Carol and I be doing on this preliminary trip to Zambia?

A general description was provided by Jerry when we were introduced via correspondence to national church leadership. What follows is part of that message:

“Gary and Carol VanRiper recently received final release for ministry in Africa. As GP [Global Partners] Africa Area Correspondents the VanRipers will visit Wesleyan work around Africa gathering material to create articles, AV presentations, and the like to enlighten and inspire the North American Church… Gary and Carol will be under the direction of the GP Africa Area Office. They will be coming to Africa for short periods of time to visit targeted Wesleyan works then returning to North America where they will prepare promotional materials. The time they have to dedicate to Africa will be limited as Gary continues his responsibilities as Senior Pastor of the Camden Wesleyan Church.”

From the moment the word was released we were officially approved by Global Partners, the outpouring of warm welcomes via e-mails and the mobilization of what struck us to be a very special family within the Family of God working together to make sure we were smoothly transitioned, was at once amazing and humbling. We look forward to this adventure with this special team of authentic believers and with Him, discovering what those good works are which He has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Angels in the Basement

Maybe there was only one.

One day last week Carol tried to call me from the road. She was traveling with her brother south to take their parent’s car to the AutoTrain near Washington D.C. “You’re not going to believe what happened,” she said.

“Can I call you back?” I said. “You are not going to believe what just happened here.”

We finally reconnected an hour or so later and took turns relating our stories to one another and saying, “Whaaaat?”

Carol and her brother were in a 20 car pile-up on a highway slippery with black ice. She described a car that was spinning out of control and coming directly at them when at the last second it hit the edge of another car sending it careening like a pin ball off the road. Three hours later, the police let her drive off, both the car and its two passengers without a single scratch.

The same hour, I was walking home with the church mail and opened the door. My parents, who had decided to visit unannounced, were just inside, and as I opened the door it knocked my father, as upright and stout as a bowling pin, all the way down the cellar stairs (see photograph) where he landed on the cement floor below. I watched helplessly as he moved almost sideways in slow motion through the air. My mother screamed and I ran down the stairs to his side. Laying on his back, his head landed on a small bag of empty soda cans that acted like bubble wrap. Stunned and laying there, staring up at my poor mother, all he could say was, “I told you I wanted to stay home today!” He sat up and stood up and walked back up the stairs, completely unharmed. He is 86 years old.

We have more than 50 prayer partners praying now for our imminent trip to Africa. No one will ever convince me that the prayers of God’s people were not at work that day and that there were not angels on the highway and at least one in that basement during that same single hour. A different outcome in either one of those scenarios would have changed everything, and forever. Thank you for your prayers!

Gary.

A Shot in the Arm

And another. And another. And another.

Last week we had our consultation at the county health clinic to determine what shots we would need for the part of the world we would be visiting. Because I am a pastor with a congregation, the consultation fee was waived. That was not only painless, it felt pretty good.

Then we were given leaflets and brochures loaded with tips for safe travel. Here is one such tip, this one regarding food: “Cook It… Boil It… Peel It…or FORGET IT!”

Apparently, a main concern where we are headed is malaria. For that we will be taking some pills. A small boatload of pills. Then came the shots. Something for typhoid. A polio booster. And hepatitis shots.

The flu shots I received the following day at my family doctor. There was a call to some special number to make sure we could be given certain shots together. All clear. “You have really tough skin,” the nurse told me as she prepared to stick me. “I was involved in journalism for quite a few years,” I told her. And then the needle broke.

I had already received my tetanus shot in ‘07, so would not need one of those. How disappointing.

But there are a few more shots to go – and quite a few more pills.

And then there was the bill.

That was really the only shot that hurt.

EYES WIDE OPEN

SERVING WITH EYES WIDE OPEN by David A. Livermore was required reading by Global Partners, and nearly talked me into abandoning our plans to go to Africa. If there had not been several strong memorials over several years that made it clear this was the time, there is no way we would be going.

Livermore writes his goal in the book is to “open our eyes to existing blind spots in global missions, specifically short-term missions. I want to change the way we see and therefore do short-term missions.” (page 13) The book confirmed a number of the suspicions I have always had regarding short-term mission trips. Exaggerated testimonies from returning pastors and groups, mischaracterizations and misrepresentation of cultures, the imposition of western ideals in the name of the Gospel… I did not agree with everything in the book, but when I finished reading it was immediately resolved to recommend this book not only to everyone thinking of embarking on a short-term mission trip BUT JUST AS IMPORTANTLY, to everyone thinking of supporting someone going on a short-term missions trip. With American churches now spending as much on short-term missions trips as support for long term missionaries, I think it vital.

It is with fear and trembling we travel at the end of March. I hope and pray God will help us to direct our thoughts and so our cameras and pens to relate stories that are authentic. I may refer to other excerpts of Livemore’s book in future posts, but here is one paragraph that I am trying to internalize as an editorial guideline before we leave:

“Here’s what some African church leaders said when asked what they wanted most to say to American churches: ‘Please raise our dignity before the Christians and citizens of North America. We are not naïve, backward, and ignorant black people. Instead we are your brothers and sisters in the family of God who are seeking to be faithful to his calling in our lives.’” (page 169)

BEHIND THE NAME - PICTURE MAKING A DIFFERENCE®

With this post we begin to officially log our journey with Global Partners to points around the world.

Both Carol and I have been using our cameras and pens for most of our adult lives as a means to put bread on the table of our family. Now is our opportunity - our privilege - to use our cameras and pens to help others 'put bread' on theirs.
We chose the name, Picture Making A Difference, with a double-meaning in mind.

First, that perhaps the pictures we take will help to 'make a difference' in the places and in the lives of the people we photograph and write about.

Second, that perhaps others will be inspired to step up and 'make a difference' in the lives and places we photograph and write about.

In a few weeks, we are scheduled to be in Africa. And we hope you will visit this blog often, journey with us, and discover ways you might, Picture Making a Difference - in Zambia.

Gary 1.29.10