Past Mission Trips
March 2010
| Arrival Date: March 2010 Destination: Ngoketunjia, Northwest Cameroon Trip Length: 13 Days Contribution: 800 backpacks & supplies View pictures from this trip > |
Working with our partners in Cameroon, the Ngoketunjia AIDS Fighters (NAFI), our group also met with several government officials and tribal leaders to discuss our objectives and gain the endorsement and support needed for successful and sustainable implementation of our initiatives.
At every stop, we were welcomed with warm Cameroonian hospitality and heartfelt thanks. In every village, we met with people who, despite living in the most primitive conditions, exuded their joyous faith in Jesus Christ and the belief that their lives will be better, if not in this world, then the next.
What impressed us most is the desire of the villagers to be self-reliant. Although there are still many unmet needs, there is great determination to overcome the inherent challenges of poverty and a resolve that, with a little help, they will prepare a better way of living for the next generation.
Find details about future missions on our Upcoming Trips page.
November 2007
| Arrival Date: November 2007 Destination: Ngoketunjia Trip Length: 2 Weeks Contribution: Backpacks & supplies for 150 OVCs. View pictures from this trip >> |
The highlight of the trip was meeting the children. These students were content to be in classrooms with no air conditioning, often with dirt floors and unfinished roofs. One of the largest schools conducted classes under a thatch roof supported by posts. We met elementary school children who were learning calculus, world history, and vertebrate biology. Education is so highly valued that children whose families could not afford tuition were allowed to peer into windows to glean what education they could get from a distance.
We distributed gift bags filled with school and hygienic supplies, pajamas and candy to 150 OVCs we were already supporting. We also distributed 100 backpacks to other children. While we had supplied much, the need was far greater: we learned that more than 4,000 confirmed OVC lived within the villages we visited.
While looking into the faces of these students - some barefoot, some with uniforms torn, some with little more than the potential within - we saw the hope of what they could become: educators, physicians, nuclear physicists, government officials, even presidents. Only an education stood between them and their potential.
The need continues for the foreseeable future and A Place of Hope resolves to answer the clarion call of Isaiah 6:8: “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then said I, ‘Here am I. Send me.’”
Find details about future missions on our Upcoming Trips page.
September 2006
| Arrival Date: September 2006 Destination: Cameroon Trip Length: 1 Month Contribution:School supplies, uniforms, tuition. |
During her month-long visit, Abong counseled with many of the children and families who were benefiting from the work of Place of Hopes. Many children touched her heart, but one young girl stood out. “I couldn’t get Ida out of my mind,” she remembered. This was a quiet 11-year-old who had already lost both parents, and an aunt and uncle. “She told me that everywhere she went to live, someone died. She was grieving and feared the unknown – yet she wants to become an AIDS advocate. She wants to educate others, so perhaps they won’t experience what she has.”
Abong says the trip was enlightening, encouraging and inspirational. “It was gratifying to see the progress we have made,” she said. “We have helped many children, families and caregivers. But there is much more to be done. We continue to need financial support; we continue to need prayer.”
“It is easy to become discouraged when you see the pain and suffering first-hand. But when I looked into the eyes of these children I visited, I saw light and hope. They are the future of the world. We can’t let that future slip from their grasp.”
Find details about future missions on our Upcoming Trips page.