An Unexpected Door to Africa

When the Lord Opens a Door, He takes Care of the Details.

February 2007

The door to Africa opened unexpectedly for John and Jesma O'Hara when, in 2005, they began to receive emails from Pastors in Malawi and Kenya wanting teaching materials.

"We sent many packages and soon received invitations to come and speak," Jesma explained.

"We saved up, went and were hit fair and square in the eye by Africa,"

"You can never go to Africa and return unchanged," she said.

The extreme poverty they encountered was devastating.

"The AIDS pandemic has swept through the nation and 50% of the Malawian population is under the age of 15 with a life expectancy of 34.5 years."

"Much of African culture relies on the expectation that children will grow up and care for the older generation. We found the traditional culture reversed with grandparents having to step in and care for young families that have lost parents to AIDS."

Eager for Teaching

Their main contact, Pastor Joe, organised a meeting of 250 leaders from the area, who were eager for teaching.

"We visited the poverty stricken Chickwawa region of Southern Malawi for more meetings. “It was unbelievable, we were in a dust bowl in a thatched hut with people who had come to hear me speak, yet had not eaten for days," Jesma said, "we fed them, billeted them and taught them for two days."

"It was so humbling to see faces that could not stop smiling, they almost split in two because, as they said, 'nobody had ever been there before and nobody had ever sent them anything."

Less than two years later

Less than 2 years after their first visit to Malawi the O’Hara’s with the help of many friends, are caring for 160 children in 2 orphanages & schools who are mainly AIDS orphans and children from AIDS affected families.

They also pay all the teaching staff, social workers, pastors and wives as well as all the food, schooling and medical supplies

Working with Needy Children

John and Jesma have been working with needy children since 1987.

They have supported AIDS affected children in Mercy International orphanages in Thailand as well as orphanages in Israel.

They have with a very practical, hands-on approach to missions, in fact they have been taking groups of Aussies on "Helping Hands Working Expeditions" to both Israel and Thailand for a number of years now.

The Helping Hands teams take on numerous tasks on these visits and have been known to paint, renovate and build, but are also involved in entertaining and educating the children.

When asked what drives their work, Jesma replied, "I guess having five kids ourselves and now grandchildren, we felt so blessed and realized that most kids in the world don't have the freedom and abundance that we have."

Incredible Needs and The Need to Do More

The urgency to do more for children at risk was particularly pressing whilst leading a group to Israel in 2001. The incredible poverty and unending needs prompted them to imagine how they could do more.

"I guess all of us were asking what we could do, and the idea that we should start an Op shop dropped into my head," Jesma said.

"It seemed ridiculous really, as I never go into Op shops."

"I told John, expecting him to say you're kidding, but he didn't, he said 'let's do it!"

"Everyone told us it wouldn't work and that we wouldn't get volunteers etc. but we really felt compelled to press ahead."


Rapid Growth

Their first Sunshine Coast "Neighbour's Aid Community Store," opened in early 2002, when they cleaned and refurbished a huge neglected warehouse in Currie Street, Nambour.

"Within six months it was too small and we had taken over the top floor of a warehouse a couple of doors up."

"Within another few months we had outgrown that area and were becoming cheeky, asking the owners if we could have the whole building for a nominal rent!"

In just two years they have opened three more stores, in Caloundra, Crows Nest near Toowoomba and Tasmania and last year gave $125,000 to the organizations they support [ the year before it was $100,000].

They have also been able to send clothes to Fiji, the Ukraine and Indigenous communities, supply books for local hospitals and hospices, and have send medicine and toiletries to Mercy Ships.

If You Can Make them Whole, You Can Change a Country

When John and Jesma arrived back in Australia after their first African trip, their minds were full of all they had left behind.

The situation in Malawi was unique to them because, unlike the other projects they supported, the children in Malawi were totally dependent on Neighbour's Aid to provide for them.

"We knew that the children were in huge moral danger from uneducated men who believed that they could lose the AIDS virus by sleeping with a virgin," Jesma explained.

"Also at that stage it was expected that 4 out of the 16 million population would actually die of starvation because the World Bank had forced the Malawian government to sell their grain reserves in order to pay off a bank loan."

"But We also understood that if you can feed and educate the kids, give them a quality of life and give them Jesus, He will make them whole."

"If you make them whole, you can change the country."


The Lord's Incredible Provision for Africa

The list of needs was huge but the Lord had already prepared the way.

"Before we left the Pastor had told us that if he could buy four acres of land he could build an orphanage and grow food for the children."

"Soon after returning, I walked into Nambour Christian College and one of the staff handed me an envelope saying, 'this is from by brother, he told me to give it to you for needy children."

"Suddenly we had money to buy the land and also to start the building."

"Then people would ring and say, 'I hear you are doing something in Malawi, I want to give you $10,000. When I asked for their name so that I could write a receipt, they said, 'I don't want you to know who I am."

"This happened to us over and over again."

"One time we had an email from a Pastor in Africa telling us it would cost $3000 to put on water in the village and set up a pump. That week a church in Tasmania rang us telling us they wanted to give money for us to put on water in the village."


Africa Now

As well as the two orphanages and two schools they have opened they have recently bought a car for Pastor Joe.

"Pastor Joe is wonderful, we gave him a little to start with and he has done all that he said he would without ever asking for anything for himself.

He even goes into the little internet café, which is a tin shed with a dirt floor, and scans accounts and sends them to us. We have found that his integrity and his concern for the people is absolutely above reproach."

New doors are continually opening and their support now reaches into Nairobi and also along the Ugandan border.

The Pastors working for them have some wonderful ideas, they want to start training schools to equip the people and help them get jobs and the O'Hara's are keen to support their ingenuity and commitment in whatever way they can..

 

End Notes:

You can visit the Neighbour's Aid Community Store website at:

http://www.neighboursaid.com.au/

Or contact John and Jesma O'Hara for more information about their work at:

admin@neighboursaid.com.au

 

Bev Holmes-Brown lives in Brisbane, Australia.  In 2001 she began Link-Zone, a Christian Resource ministry with a mandate to “Bring the Body together in specific interest areas and to Believe and Pray for the Reformation of Values, Systems and Wisdom.“ In the last nine years Link-Zone has focussed on praying for governments, communities and ministries.  ‘We are currently transitioning,’ Bev says, ‘believing the Lord wants us to begin to tell people’s stories.  There are so many people living amazing and victorious lives for God against the odds, we want to hear from them, to understand their hearts and glean the treasures that God has laid up in their hearts for our own breakthroughs.    Of course we will continue to feature our favourite columnists and will not give up on praying but we believe this is a season where God wants us to identify and clarify the frontlines that need our support.   It’s exciting to venture into whatever He lays upon our heart. The website can be found at www.Link-Zone.net  Contact Email: bev@link-zone.net