{"id":2,"date":"2010-04-17T03:13:34","date_gmt":"2010-04-17T03:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2010-04-21T18:28:17","modified_gmt":"2010-04-21T18:28:17","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/?page_id=2","title":{"rendered":"About Esther&#8217;s House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Life is very hard in most sub-Saharan countries, especially in Malawi. In this one small country, two-thirds the size of Arkansas, there are now over a million orphans. Most are \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 fending for themselves without food, shelter, or hope that anyone even cares. With the average life expectancy of 37, most children don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get the opportunity to know their parents , learn from them or even have what we would consider a normal childhood.<\/p>\n<p>The statistics are harsh and are a part of why our teams started traveling to this country.\u00c2\u00a0 What began with short term teams on mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ, and meet some immediate physical needs turned into an orphanage facility which is a hub for ministry throughout the area.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC_0172.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-26\" title=\"Team members of a 2008 short term team.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC_0172-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC_0172-300x201.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC_0172.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-26\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Several members from a 2008 short term team.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As teams were faithful to go Christ began to open the eyes of these short term missionaries and gave them a heart to help the people of this impoverished nation.\u00c2\u00a0 Together Americans and Malawians united as the Body of Christ showing His love and making this life a little easier for many of His children.<\/p>\n<p>The vision for Esther\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House was truly God sized.\u00c2\u00a0 It is the only facility of it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind in the central region of Malawi.\u00c2\u00a0 Our work there isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just executing an American vision in a foreign land, its been developed in collaboration with local input, volunteer efforts and oversight.\u00c2\u00a0 God is clearly at work having granted tremendous relationships over the past few years with government officials and tribal authorities, many of which have come to accept Christ.\u00c2\u00a0 When the time came to construct Esther\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House the village stepped up, baking brick, carrying water and volunteering time to the construction.\u00c2\u00a0 Their American brothers and sisters stepped up both financially and by making the two day journey to work alongside local laborers.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_27\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC9545.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-27\" title=\"_DSC9545\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC9545-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC9545-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/DSC9545.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-27\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Village Chief: TA Kwataine and his wife<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_29\" style=\"width: 210px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-089.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-29\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-29\" title=\"kb - 089\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-089-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-089-200x300.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-089.jpg 428w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-29\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Americans and Malawians working together to raise a water tank.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The result isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just an orphanage, but\u00c2\u00a0 so much more than that.\u00c2\u00a0 Esther\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House is a platform for ministry and sustainable development in the country of Malawi that expands far beyond the scope of caring for kids within its walls.<\/p>\n<p>Current\u00c2\u00a0 ministry includes full time care of orphans who call Esther\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House \u00e2\u20ac\u0153home,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 a non-residential program which offers assistance with food, clothing, education, and discipleship.\u00c2\u00a0 Also,\u00c2\u00a0a ministry to local widows who have taken on the responsibility of caring for orphans,\u00c2\u00a0 and a feeding program providing hope to over 1,000 impoverished children daily.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_28\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-145.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-28\" title=\"kb - 145\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-145-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-145-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/kb-145.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-28\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children eating at Esther&#39;s House<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Special projects\u00e2\u20ac\u009d have been selected which will benefit the community as a whole and will in turn allow\u00c2\u00a0 Malawian natives to provide a better quality of life for their children.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 American team members travel on both short term and not so short term trips making the implementation of these projects possible.<\/p>\n<p>We are not called just to preach the good news, we are commanded to go and be the good news.\u00c2\u00a0 The Bible tells us that if we claim to live in him we are to walk as He did. (1 John 2:6) That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exactly what Esther\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s House is about, walking as He did.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not about building buildings or about elevating our work in this impoverished country.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not about fixing people or their culture.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about pouring ourselves into selfless acts of love and compassion as He did.\u00c2\u00a0 It is about meeting physical and spiritual needs as He did and sharing the hope and good news that we all have to look forward to.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about this project and to learn how you can get involved, please visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.puremission.org\">www.puremission.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Life is very hard in most sub-Saharan countries, especially in Malawi. In this one small country, two-thirds the size of Arkansas, there are now over a million orphans. Most are \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 fending for themselves without food, shelter, or hope that anyone even cares. With the average life expectancy of 37, most children don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cindyhouse.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}