GREAT NEWS!!

We have GREAT NEWS!

Ava's Canadian travel VISA was finally granted this morning -- we are returning for home assignment on April 12th!!! We are very excited to be finally returning to see friends and family.

Guardians of Hope

Patty and Erica meeting with the ACC&S development coordinator, Henry, today in Thika at the ACC&S headquarters.

Once or twice each quarter, representatives of the nine ACC&S Guardians of Hope projects gather in Thika to discuss the progress of their shared ministry and support the ongoing ministry to households affected by HIV/AIDS.

Along with being a part of budget planning with the group organizers, it was a great opportunity for us to meet the various grassroots leaders who are the backbone of the GOH.

Erica with Rev. Kimani, the area minister for the African Christian Church & School's Nairobi churches. They had both been students in the certificate of ministry course that Erica attended in Nairobi back in 2004. Kimani took part in today's meeting representing urban GOH projects for the ACC&S.

Guardians of Hope

Guardians of Hope

Guardians of Hope meeting in Ichichi

parish this past Monday

In August 2010, Erica and I will be joining Canadian Baptist Ministries/The Sharing Way's HIV/AIDS ministries as the African coordinators of Guardians of Hope (GOH). We will be filling the gap left by Patty Card who is retiring from this role and returning to Canada this spring. Patty's passion for seeing change for vulnerable women and children has lead GOH to be an effective program of transformation in Angola, Rwanda and Kenya over the past six years.

We will continue serving in an oversight capacity with the Iftin Women's Empowerment program in Eastleigh as we work together in the leadership of GOH. We are very excited to see how lessons learned from both Iftin and the GOH may compliment each program as the two overlap in many ways with a focus on mobilizing vulnerable people to overcome poverty and experience the abundant life of faith.

Erica with Patty Card and the ACC&S

Guardians of Hope group in Embu

Over the past two months, we have enjoyed several opportunities to meet with Patty and to visit GOH projects for monitoring and evaluation of the program. It has been an incredible encouragement to see the impact that GOH interventions are having in the lives of families affected by HIV/AIDS.

Living Positive!

Aaron and Patty with Guardian of Hope Lydia Waruinu who cares for three children in Kangema. With the help of the GOH, Lydia is putting her children through school, is harvesting maize from gifts of seed, and has raised her dairy cow which has now had a calf. Her cow produces 4 litres of milk each day for her family. "I thank God," Lydia told us in Kikuyu. "I could not be where I am if it were not for my church and the guardians."