Sheltering
Wings sponsors Missionary Amy Riddering who runs our orphanage, school, women's
crisis center, and medical clinic in West Africa.
Amy also manages our Children's Sponsorship program. All of this is done with the help of her mission team
including Rebekah Wyman and Becky Schroeder.
Child sponsorship reaches the most vulnerable children by giving them the opportunity to be educated, learn about God’s love and grow up healthy…All things critical in helping children escape extreme poverty. Sponsorship provides the children with school fees and supplies, a daily meal at school or a semi-annual food and goods distribution, and basic medical care. Sponsors give $35 per month which allows us to provide on-going support to the child they have selected. We hold weekly bible clubs in village churches close to sponsored children's homes to ensure they receive the gospel.
We have been given land by a nearby village to address the short growing season and food shortage crisis. Agriculture experts and University students, studying agriculture and engineering, are recruited to seek and find solutions for growing food all year round. Aquaponics has already been tested and we have a working model. Other growing methods, like hydroponics and aeroponics, are just a few techniques that will be explored. Once solutions are found, national teams of evangelists will be taught how to duplicate these farming methods and train local West African, which will bring both food and the Gospel into villages.
One out of five children under the age of five will die in West Africa. This can be due to treatable diseases, but more often it is because they do not have the nourishment that they need and are not thriving. Children become weak and vulnerable when their mother dies, becomes sick or has twins or triplets. The child nutrition program provides assistance with infant formula or enriched porridge and trains families on health, first aid and nutrition. This program equips families to care for their children at home rather than placing them in an institution.
Sheltering Wings partners with a Christ-Centered Well Drilling team, Friends In Action, to help bring safe drinking water to villages located near the local church. Clean water means a healthier village and an opportunity for the local pastor to connect with his community and share the Gospel. Many villages throughout West Africa are waiting for clean water to be brought to their area.
We have a medical clinic on site at the orphanage that serves the needs of the babies and children living on property as well as children and widows in our sponsorship programs. We also provide medical assistance and health trainings to villages that have no access to clinics. Approximately 100 walk-ins who are stricken by extreme poverty and sent to us by the government each month. Our future plan is to open as a pediatric clinic to the community.
We come alongside the local church to equip, encourage, and engage national pastors in caring for the needs of their community. Help includes clean water, medical clinics, shoes and bible club support. We also provide pastors with training, equipment for village evangelism, bibles and setting up animal programs.
Thank you for considering the Hope Host Family Fund. You can make a real difference in this family's life. To support Host families we are looking for U.S. families to commit $50/month to fully support this family's foster care ministry. Please join us in prayer and action!
Young widows or women abandoned by their husbands find themselves homeless and without family support. This 9-month residential program equips women with skills such as sewing, traditional weaving, soap making, jewelry making, bread making, crocheting and crafting- handwoven goods. Each day begins with devotions, and our instructors not only teach, but mentor these women. Afternoon classes include a literacy class, basic math class, basic French language class and Bible Study. Each participant must develop a personal budget and a small business plan for the skills they have mastered. After graduating and moving back to the village there is a 6-month follow-up program. Our hope is that once these women go back to the village, they too will become disciples and trainers to other women in need.
Thank you for partnering with Amy Riddering and the work she is doing in West Africa. May God richly bless you as you help change lives, one at a time!!!!