Dear Sponsors, Prayer Partners and Supporters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord! Once again, thank you for your encouragement and support. Without you, what is happening in Muanda would not be taking place. Twenty-one orphaned children would probably not be taken care of in loving family homes. They might not be attending school, might be going hungry every day, might be sick and without access to medical attention, might be wearing rags for clothes, might be hanging out on the streets at the mercy of those who would take advantage of them and might not hear about the love and mercy that Jesus has for them. In other words, they might be left without any hope. When they lost their parents, they were essentially alone in this world, at least as far as their welfare is concerned. True, some of them might have had a grandparent or another relative somewhere, but usually those relatives are struggling themselves and can’t afford to take in other children. These things are stated in a negative way, because actually the opposite is happening. These precious children are going to school, they are being fed; if sick, they have access to medical attention, they have good clothes, including school uniforms, they are not on the streets, but protected in their homes with caring parents and they are hearing about the love of Christ through pastor Nkudulu, the director of AE and his wife, Esther. They are experiencing the love of Christ through the love that you are showing them by your support. Again, thank you so much for your devotion and prayers.

It would be awesome to help more children in this way but the limiting factor is provision. The Dutch are getting together money to do further construction on more family homes, but sponsors are needed to help support the children once they are in the homes. If you would like to sponsor or co-sponsor a child, or know of someone who would like to reach out to a struggling child in Africa, please contact Whispering Eagle Ministries at wemcongo@gmail.com or 719-510-2622. The cost to co-sponsor a child is $1.17 a day or $35 monthly. 95% of your support goes directly to the welfare of the kids. 5% goes to the New Horizons Foundation to administer the financial end here in the US. All other costs like the construction of the buildings, travel costs for team members; etc., are handled through separate accounts. All of the members working in the US are volunteers and unpaid.

What does AE stand for? ‘Abri De L’Esperance’ which means ‘Hiding Place of Hope.’
Abri De L’Esperance (AE) is the name of our NGO (Non-Government Organization) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. AE is a registered foundation in Congo much like Whispering Eagle Ministries (WEM) is a registered foundation in the State of Colorado. AE has its own board and Pastor Samuel Nkudulu is the director. It is imperative that the local people in Muanda take ownership of the project and not see it as some kind of extension of some people in the United States or Holland. Whispering Eagle Ministries assists, works with, offers guidance to, prays for, helps in any way to make AE succeed in its endeavor to minister to and care for the orphan children in Muanda. AE and WEM are made up of Christian members like you who have the same goal; to serve the Lord by serving others in a loving and practical way. A further goal of AE and WEM, as Christian organizations, is to reach out to the surrounding community. A school is being built that will not only be for the children of AE, but for the general populace as well. Plans are in the works for a clinic to be built that will reach out to others in the area. Please check out the website at www.wemcongo.org for further information.

Farmer Houses

Once again, building the farmer houses on the second piece of land across the river has commenced. It had previously been put on hold because, due to medical reasons, the person supervising the construction could not do it anymore. Brother James, one of the younger guys working for AE in Muanda, has taken on the role of construction supervisor as well as doing his other duties. There are plans for two farmer houses, one on each end of the 50 acres that will be used for agricultural purposes. The houses will be occupied by couples who will farm, supervise and oversee the agricultural project near their respective houses. By growing crops, not only will they feed the children, but also by selling them in the market place they will be able to raise funds for other needs of AE. To make AE more self-sufficient would be awesome. If any of you has any agricultural experience or would like to do that sort of thing and would like to travel with a team leaving from the US in August, please contact Len De Zeeuw at wemcongo@gmail.com or 719-510-2622. We would love to have you join the team.

Clinic

Money has been donated to build a basic clinic which is wonderful; of course. A medical foundation called Project C.U.R.E. has partnered with WEM for the past two years conducting medical outreaches to the city of Muanda and to children at two of the orphanages. Through their generosity and eagerness to assist others in need, they have offered to ship about $500,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies to Muanda once the clinic has been built. The obligation of WEM and AE is to pay for the shipping; expected to be around $20,000 for a forty-foot container and for a needs assessor to visit Muanda before shipping which will cost about $4,000. What a fantastic investment in the future of those who desperately need it; $24,000 to get $500,000 worth of medical equipment to Muanda! The clinic will be set up so that it will self-sustaining. Please pray about this opportunity to invest in the lives of others so needy. Donations can be easily given on the website, wemcongo.org.

Besides the clinic, there is a need for another building that would house those patients who would have to stay at the clinic for some days for recovery. For a good sized building, the cost would be around $30,000.

Upcoming Trips to Muanda

A Dutch contingency will be traveling to Muanda leaving on April the 23rd until early May. A group from the US and a lady from Holland will visit Muanda leaving the US on August the 10th until August the 30th. Another US lady will join the August group in Kinshasa as she will be travelling from Uganda. The team members are really looking forward to being with the children and reaching out to the community as well. Through another organization in Colorado, WEM has discovered a great source of water filters that will be very effective in purifying water in Muanda. This past year AE has been struggling with water issues. Last year, two manual water pumps were installed on two wells that had been dug earlier. Unfortunately, something happened that made the wells unusable. So water was obtained from a source in the city but for whatever reason, some of it was apparently contaminated. The new water filters will take care of any contaminants, impurities and bacteria that might be in the water. Clean water means good health!

Both the Dutch and US teams are looking into ways that one or two deeper wells can be drilled; that would be more reliable and produce cleaner water. Exciting possibilities! If water expertise is your forte and you would like to get involved, please email WEM at wemcongo@gmail.com. If you would like to get involved financially for fresh water, a professionally drilled well would cost about $15,000.

Once again, thank you everyone for your support and prayers. Without you, none of this would be possible.

Blessings,

Len De Zeeuw for WEM
www.wemcongo.org

Dear Sponsors, Supporters and Prayer Partners,

Greetings in the Name of the Lord!    Fall is upon us and as it is in the US and Canada, so it is in Muanda; back to school, time!   I can’t say that it was one of my favorite times and I am sure that some of our kids feel the same way.   But there are others who excel at school and really enjoy being there.    In Muanda, the important thing is that these orphan kids have the opportunity to go to school in the first place.  Thank you so much to you sponsors and supporters for making this happen.   As you can see, all of the kids have to wear uniforms.   You not only supplied the uniforms, but tennis shoes, backpacks, books, school supplies and school fees.   In DRC, all of the children have to pay fees to attend school; even public ones.

When I was in Muanda in July, I was able to spend time with the kids; especially the boys.    I was staying at the Mama Ans house where Pastor Nkudulu and his wife, Esther, live and the boys would come down to visit, full of curiosity about the US, Canada and many other things.   I was able to show them some maps and answer many other questions using my iPad.   I was using a mobile hotspot device that you can purchase there to get on the Internet.   The kids were so curious and excited about what they saw, so it got me to thinking how amazing and helpful it would be if they could have access to something like that at school.   Unfortunately their public schools are struggling just to have basic classroom for the kids.   The schools where our children attend right now do not even have electricity.   But we are trying to change that; especially for our kids.   The Dutch contingent of Whispering Eagle Ministries is building a three room school on the property and they hope to make it a private school.  By that, we mean that the school will be run by a Christian individual who runs other schools for profit.   The goal would be, that since we are building the school; we would offer this individual the opportunity to run the school and charge other kids in the surrounding community, but not our kids.  Private schools are able to attract better teachers and offer more options.   Besides that, the school would be much closer for our kids and present them a better education.

Some of you reading this newsletter will wonder why we do not do this for all of the children in Muanda; but funding is the limiting factor.   If there are some of you in education who would have a heart for such a project, we would be more than happy to partner with you.

What a difference a year makes!   Here are photos of two of the girls that we got last year; Anna and her sister Nancy.    The first photo shows the girls when they first arrived at AE, looking kind of frightened.    The second photo shows them this past July, a lot happier.

Once again, thank you everyone for helping make miracles happen.   Without you, we don’t know where these kids might be.    As you can see, you are making a wonderful difference in their lives, not only physically but spiritually as well.   Pastor Nkudulu, our director and pastor, along with his wife, Esther, make sure that the children attend prayer meetings and hear the Word of God several times during the week.

Our goal is to provide for other children as well, so if any of you reading this newsletter would like to partner with us through child sponsorship, please contact us at wemcongo@gmail.com or phone us at 719-510-2622.   Please visit our website at wemcongo.org.

Blessings to each and every one of you,

Len De Zeeuw for WEM

Dear Friends,

                        Blessings in the Name of the Lord!  It has been a little while since we have had the last newsletter but things are still progressing at Abri De L’Esperance (AE) in Muanda.   For those of you who are new to reading a WEM Newsletter, AE is our NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that was founded in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to carry out the work of reaching out to and providing for orphaned children there.    Abri De L’Esperance is French meaning ‘Hiding place of Hope.’    As of this writing, we have 24 children in the family homes.    

Last year, the Dutch WEM group began the building of a three room school and the modification of one of our other buildings to make a bakery and an office.   We in the US were in the process of building one of the farmer houses, but things came to a standstill when banking regulations changed regarding sending money to foreign banks from Europe and from the US.    The original bank that we were using was bought out by a Nigerian bank and that caused a change in the SWIFT code, necessary for sending money overseas.   To make a long and challenging story short, we had problems getting money to AE.   But good news, we have that problem solved and now things are starting to get going again. 

Yesterday, Julie, one of our board members left for DRC to work with the children and to have an outreach to them.    On Sunday, six others of us will leave for DRC; four from Project Cure, a medical Foundation that has graciously partnered with us and then Chris, my wife, and I.  On a side note, please know that each of us raises our own money for travel and expenses; none is ever taken from the WEM accounts to pay for us.   Three of the people from Project Cure; two of them nurses, are certified HBB (Helping Babies Breathe) Trainers.   In Africa many babies die at birth and this training and equipment, can save many of them.   Our nurses will train local nurses and midwives at the MPH clinic in Muanda.   Then too we will conduct medical clinics for our children in the family homes and also for another orphanage that is further away in another town.    On top of that; six of us will conduct health and hygiene classes for not only our own kids but also for the kids in the surrounding community.   It will be a busy time; but well worth it.

On July 25^th, 15 people from the Dutch WEM group will come to Muanda.   They will have a sort of vacation bible school for the kids in the surrounding community and also continue building the school.   It is wonderful to see how many young people from Holland are involved. 

One of our desires is to develop the 50 acres of land that we have across the river for agriculture.    I had a meeting with an agricultural specialist who works with EMI (Engineering Ministries International) and he has given me some homework to do while I am there in Muanda.   Because we have access to water, the potential for our land is pretty awesome.   That way, the project could be more self-sufficient.   

We will talk to Doctor Tony, the local doctor, to see what he thinks would be needed in the way of a building for a new clinic on our property.    We already have the majority of the money needed to build it; but it too got put on hold with the banking problem that was mentioned earlier. 

Exciting possibilities to make AE an awesome place to live for these kids!   Please keep the upcoming trips in your prayers and thoughts.    Thank you so much for your support and for your love for these children.   That in itself is such a blessing.    May we glorify the Lord by what we do. 

Blessings,

Len for WEM