Hope Village and New Friends/Neighbors

When Don and I heard about Hope Village and saw its mission statement printed AND at work, we knew God had planted us in the right garden. It reads:

Our vision is to see vulnerable children and families released from poverty so they are self reliant, spiritually mature and impacting their local communities.

The Hope Village website explains the project in detail, and more of its operations will come out in my forthcoming blogs (i.e., orphan care, vulnerable family support, medical clinic, job skills training center, micro businesses, day care and preschool program, at-risk infant care, secondary school, etc.)  

The heart of Hope Village, however, lies in the management team that keeps it beating. Let me introduce you to our new friends and the two families that make this all work:

The Gill family from left: Chloe, Paul, Tracy, Joel, Benji

Our new Malawi friends and next-door neighbors, Elim missionaries from England named Paul and Tracy Gill, are the directors of Hope Village. They have invited us to stay here, and as long as we continue to work here, we have been provided a beautiful home to enjoy. They have been a blessing to our family beyond our wildest dreams.  They have 4 children, with 3 of them living here: Joel is 17, Chloe is 14 and Benji is 10.  Annie and Chloe are the best of friends, although she enjoys time with all 3 of the Gill kids. You can read about their family and missionary work here:  http://www.gillsinmalawi.com/

Annie enjoying a day at a local pool with the Gill kids and her visiting brother Matthew.

Our other new friends and neighbors are Paul and Esther Rombout, missionaries from The Netherlands who have been living and working here for 7 years.  Their huggable, squeezable children are Ezra, 2 years old and Anna 8 months old.  This young couple is an inspiration to me because they’ve learned to communicate in Chechewa and have sweet relationships with so many Malawians. Paul manages the Hope Village micro businesses (more on that later, too!). Esther is a full-time mom and a full-time servant who spends quality time with Hope Village employees and local villagers on a daily basis.

 The Rombout Family: Paul and Esther with their children, Ezra and Anna

A more recent picture of baby Anna.

Here, Annie enjoys a little bonding time while she babysits the Rombout children.