Lifeline Ministries Orphans and Widows assistance

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world... James 1:27

2015 Update - Brian and Loxley continue to spend a week yearly in Central Mozambique - not only constantly travelling to conduct daily seminars for pastors and leaders in outlying areas as well as Nhamatanda, but to visit regularly Sparrows Nest Orphanage, and minister to the children, as well as keep up to date with how it is developing. We come away with a fresh sense of awe at the dedication of the Caetanos with their extended family (currently over 60 orphans) and staff. A vivid (6mb) PowerPoint presentation can be accessed here.

January 2010 - Loxley Ford has made two further trips to Mozambique that have included stopovers at Sparrows' Nest Orphanage. The developments have been remarkable! He has filed a comprehensive update (with photos) - go here to see and read it. And Lifeline gratefully praises God for the assistance that Save the Children has provided to seriously upgrade some of the substandard facilities that have been a problem for several years - as the numbers of children kept growing in Sparrows' Nest.

November 2009 - While Lifeline prayerfully and carefully seeks to engage with some of the many, many organisations and individuals who look after orphans, abandoned children, and widows in need, there are some we have a closer affiliation with - through years of relationship with those involved - both donors and those administrating the various projects. Among these is Sparrows' Nest, in Nhamatanda, Central Mozambique - which just "grew" from a small beginning nine years ago when people started leaving young children on Pastor Domingos Caetano's doorstep (literally!) in the night. Currently, Domingos and his wife Alice oversee the care of 61 children on their own personal home stand of land. Loxley Ford filed this very encouraging report recently, after two visits there in two months.

Another project nearing completion is the Home for abandoned children in Chegutu, overseen by Pastor Moses and Rufina Mamutse. This massive project has been a labour of Christian love funded from Winning Women Worldwide - connected with Carmel Christian Centre (Manchester UK), and assisted on the ground by Simon Smith, Peter Banda and others from Chinhoyi. After several years of rebuilding, the home is now ready to receive the first intake of children from the feeding and ministry point the Mamutses already conduct in Chegutu for some 100 children. Brian and Elizabeth Rensford videoed extensively the developments and showed them to the Winning Women's leadership in Manchester on their recent visit there. Go to their website for more info on WWW's other projects in Zimbabwe.

November 2008 - we have currently highlighted some of the emerging emphasis Lifeline is engaging in as the situation in Zimbabwe and Mozambique deteriorates regarding the care of orphans and widows (especially as the AIDS crisis continues to grow.

1] Martha Zulu's front porch is a defacto ministry centre for local widows and orphans.

2] Some of the children she feeds daily - note - no flies crawling up their noses; they are smiling! And not pit-bellied with starvation - these are not tear-jerker shots to pull money. They are spontaneous representations of what is really going on!

3] Alan Graham (Harare Child Evangelism Fellowship Director and Friend of Lifeline) at Moses Mamutse's new home for orphans in Chegutu, 100k south of Harare - this orphanage is supported by Carmel Christian Centre, Manchester UK.

1] Martha Zulu with widows and grandchildren	2] Kuwadzana orphans	3] Chegutu orphanage near opening with Alan Graham (CEF)
4] Nhamatanda orphaned girls present item at Pastors' seminar	5] Nhamatanda 59th orphan arrived 2 days earlier after living in a roadside ditch	6] his shyness dissolved after being welcomed into our room

4] Some of these girls have been at Sparrows' Nest for 7 years, and will be placed in the community when they turn 18. They were singing for our pastors and leaders' seminar.

5] The 10 y/o boy in this photo was found living in a roadside ditch near Nhamatanda , Mozambique . The look of uncertainty (like a stray puppy dog) is clear in his eyes in the full photo. He was Domingo's (current) 59th resident orphan! when we asked how he coped, he replied, "if he is sleeping in a ditch, what are you going to do? Turn him away?" James 1:27 says... Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world... Enough said...

We were deeply affected by meeting this boy. And when we invited him to come inside so I could photograph him, his eyes lit up like saucers! The look said it all! "I am accepted!"

OK! Is that a broad picture? yes, and of course there are plenty more. And yes, we can make a difference. See the index page for details of how to practically help these people and others like them. And Lifeline guarantees that 100% of all donations specified for a particular purpose - GO THERE.