Beautifully situated, surrounded by mountains, in central Mozambique, in the province of Manica, not far from the Zimbabwean border, lies the city of Chimoio, where our orphans, whom we care for, are at home.

Our heartfelt desire is to give a home to children who have lost their parents, who have no relatives (or anyone else) willing to take care of them, who are unwanted, and who would otherwise have to live on the streets. We currently have 25 children living with us, but we will take in many more once all the houses have been completed.

We provide the children who come to us with a roof over their heads, regular meals, a good education and training, healthcare, pastoral care—a safe home. Local staff live together with the children in one house as parents and care for each and every one of the children with love and patience.

We have been working with street children here in Chimoio since 2009. Every Wednesday, the children came to the agreed meeting point. We spent time with them, listened to them, got to know them, gave them a warm meal and soap to wash their clothes, which were always completely filthy. If a child was ill, one of us went with them to the hospital and stayed until the child had been treated.

Over the years, we developed a growing desire to get the children off the streets. We were able to reintegrate some of them into their families, but for others this was not possible. We acquired a huge plot of land for a symbolic amount, legalized the property with the city administration, and began construction. The house we currently rent as our office and meeting place is strategically located next to the mayor's house, which helped to get the paperwork done faster than normal. In addition, the mayor arranged for us to be exempted from property tax (possible for social projects, but probably the first time in the history of Chimoio that someone has been completely exempted). This allowed us to start building the first house, and no sooner was the shell of the building almost complete than the first ten street children turned up in January 2015, announcing, “We're staying here now.” Hmm. The houses didn't have doors or windows yet, and there were no toilets, beds, blankets, etc. But sending the children back to the streets was not an option either. So, on the same day, a makeshift toilet and “shower” were built, we bought a few straw mats, blankets, and sheets, and brought over the cooking pots and plates that we had otherwise used for the meetings.

At the same time, a few more children from the neighborhood arrived who were regularly beaten by their parents. They stayed too.

So we continue to take in every child who comes to us, who has been or is being rejected or abused by their family, whom everyone says will never change, and we have seen and continue to see how God's love is changing their lives bit by bit.

We are grateful to God for His provision and faithfulness, and we are thrilled about everything we have been able to experience with the children over the past few years. We are a small organization, but with your support, we are making a big difference here.