Sincerely,
Dr. Wendy Wilson Fall
Acting Director
West Africa Region

“Assalamou Aleykoum, Nanga def, Ana waa ker gui” (How are you? How is your family?)
Greetings

Dear Mr. Tony Haywood,
After receving from your Helping Hands Ministry many different supplies for our youth at “Keur Xaleyi,” we are so happy to send you this letter of thanks. Through the SAO, you have positively contributed to the growth of House Of The Children.

The different supplies namely clothes, cosmetics, toys, and other useful items you sent were in excellent condition, abundant, and very appreciated. They were brought and freely distributed to our children by the US Military (ARRIFI) Civil Assistance Office led by Mrs. Chapman and Mr. Tramway.
So we are grateful to you for this important Help, this positive Assistance which came at the right place, at the right momemt.

Presently, we are working with our Solar System Community Development Project Child 2000, and we really need the Helping Hands. So we thank you a lot for your big Help with the Hope of keeping contact with you.

Grateful Feelings,
The Secretary General
Mr. Ndiol Cahire

To whom it may concern:

Hello, my name is Scott Miller, I had the privilege of meeting the founders of Helping Hands Ministries, Tony and Donna Haywood in 1999 when we were heavily involved in emergency relief efforts after hurricane Mitch. What a blessing their ministry was and still is to the people of Honduras.
Do you know that their ministry alone has shipped well over 210,000 POUNDS of humanitarian aid to Honduras? Mind you this aid is not just your ordinary garage sale stuff! No, we’re talking ambulances, hospital beds, medical equipment such as x-ray machines, school furniture and supplies, office furniture, computers, dental clinics, linens, and towels the list goes on and on. These things may seem like no big deal to the average person who is accustomed to going to the hospital and having an x-ray machine that actually works or a bed (with a sheet on it) to lie on. Or taking a trip to the dentist and having a REAL dental chair to sit in instead of a regular plastic chair where someone holds your head while the dentist pulls your tooth because he has no other equipment to fix teeth.

Helping Hands Ministry has not just sent down aid, no they have sent down a new quality of life for some of the people in Honduras. (I say some because there is still a vast area to cover) For example when our city received the ambulance that was sent by Helping Hands, the people were so excited because before the ambulance the only way to get someone to the hospital who had, been in an accident was by putting them in the back of a pickup truck or flagging a taxi. The people are proud of the equipment they are receiving therefore it boost their self esteem. That in itself is priceless when you work with people in a third world country.

It has not just been adults that have been on the receiving end but the children as well. We have been able to bless schools and orphanages with school supplies donated through Helping Hands Ministry. Please keep in mind these are like one room school houses. There are no books for the children; everything they must study has to be copied down from the black board. That’s a very difficult task for some when they can’t afford paper or pencil to write with. We could go on and on about the many blessing that have come to Honduras by way of Helping Hands Ministry. They have been a true blessing to us and the people of Honduras.

We do want to thank those of you who live in Moore County and the surrounding areas, who have in some way, either by tangible donations, money donations, or by giving time helping to pack things in the ministries ware-house.

Thank you for making these blessings possible to the people of Honduras.
If you have not supported this ministry we would ask that you prayerfully consider it because we know that Helping Hands Ministry could use a few more “helping hands”!

God bless you all,
Scott Miller
Note: Scott went home to be with the Lord in 2002 – The ministry remains strong under the guidance of Scott’s widow, Sandi and her husband, Pastor Currie Burgess.

Words cannot describe what God did on this trip! Some called me crazy for even considering to take a team of 24 on a mission trip, but that is the number God chose. I left it up to Him, after all, who am I to make the decision about which one should go. I was counseled that some of the team members, financially, would never be able to go and yet God provided all the funds for every single person.

A team of 21 left Grace Church in Southern Pines on Friday, January 20th and was transported by a transportation company we had hired to carry us to Raleigh Durham Airport. We had to break up the group to get everybody from Raleigh to Washington Dulles Airport due to airline problems. Once we all finally arrived, three more team members joined us. The last nine of our group to leave Raleigh Durham Airport was on a plane that was late, arrived in Washington Dulles Airport with 15 minutes to spare only to sit on the runway. We finally moved to our gate but then were unable to deplane. Our watches said we were now 15 minutes late and I just knew that our plane was ! now gone! We were also told that the airline would never hold our plane for that long. The rest of the team had boarded and was praying. After a 15-minute wait, there was an announcement to them that they were waiting on an additional nine passengers. The team members told me that there was a resounding whoop and clapping by them on the waiting plane. Glory to God, He was already at work!!

We arrived in Kenya, were met by our transportation and escorts and started our journey. I had tried to prepare our team for what was coming but they had no idea! About two hours from Nairobi, we encountered Baboons all along the road looking for food and Zebras in little cluster groups on the sides of the road and an occasional animal of some other sort. It was about this same time that road conditions drastically changed. They were still paved but they were as rough as you have ever seen. The top speed was 35 M.P.H. or so for about 12 hours. Windows rattling, bouncing, shaking and all other descriptives would not do it j! ustice!

We arrive in Busia, Kenya about 9 p.m. check into our hotel and finally get to bed about 11 p.m. The beds in Kenya have mosquito nets on them to keep you from getting eaten alive at night. Some of the team did not know what these were and didn’t have a very enjoyable first night!

Our work with Edwin and Phaustine Agogo of End Times Ministry began on Monday. We visited the hospital there on two separate occasions, prayed for the patients, led one to the Lord and found some that were so poor that they could not afford the medicine. Since one of our team members is a doctor, we went to a pharmacy and bought $2.00 worth of medicine for a small boy with malaria. How many of you know that is really cheap. But, if your income is almost nothing, that’s a lot! We discovered that this is a regular occurrence so Helping Hands Ministry has set up a fund to provide medicine for those who cannot afford it. The team gave testimonies and preached in a prayer confe! rence that was on going in Edwin’s Church. We attended the prayer conference part of the day each day we were there. There are a lot of widows with children mostly due to Aids. Most of these women have no support and have to turn to other means, such as sex, to support the family. Some of the children become street kids because the family cannot take care of them. End Times Ministry has an outreach to the street kids and feeds them as regularly as the money is available to do so. We were able to feed them one meal, meet and pray for them. Edwin and Phaustine have also taken 5 orphans into their home. The team also purcha! sed three treadle Singer sewing machines for the church to use to trai n the widows to sew so that they can get jobs. We also have plans to set up a co-op with more machines so the widows can own one. The machines are new and we negotiated the price for three machines at $135.00 each. Treadle machines are what we call antiques, you pump them with your feet, no electricity.

End Times Ministry has proposals for several other projects. They already have a rehab dormitory under construction, it will house orphans and/or street kids 10 boys and 10 girls. They will build a widow house at the cost of about $600. This widow will be a mom to these kids, training them with regard to hygiene, Bible studies, and just doing mom things for them. They will need a well, estimated at a cost of $1,000. This will pay for a generator, tank, pump and the digging of the well. Helping Hands Ministry and the team left enough money for this to be accomplished. End Times M! inistry also has plans for a training center where they will learn a trade such as sewing, welding or woodworking so they can make a living. A cow can be purchased for $200 and goats for $50, each which would help them to be self-sufficient. There is enough room on the land for a garden too. Across the road is another piece of property that will be the site of a new hospital. Edwin and his team prayed and has asked Helping Hands Ministry to be a partner with them and to be their contact here in the USA so all donations will come to us. Our team was due to leave on Wednesday, January 25th but I did not have a peace about leaving yet, so I brought the team together to see what they thought. That was ! a hard decision for me since everyone was already packed. It was a unanimous decision that we stay, so when Edwin came to pick us up, I told him our decision and found out that he was feeling the same thing but did not know how to tell me. So we stayed another day, there was some unfinished work we were able to complete.

We left on Thursday morning early, January 26th. We were headed to Kericho to meet an old pastor friend of mine named Francis Koske. We were first slated to stay the night in Kericho but decided just to have lunch with him and be on our way. He told us a lot of people were waiting to see us and wondered if we would consider just stopping in for a minute to see them. There is no way to describe neither the road nor the trip.

Let it suffice to say that when we told people where we had been, they could not believe we had taken 22 people and a bus down that road. After a really rough, dusty, long ride, we arrived in Barshiele. What a welcome! People came running down the hill to welcome us. It was overwhelming! We walked up the hill/mountain to Francis Koske’s home and were greeted by his wife, Rachel, all 12 children, and their wife or husband and their children. There were probably 50 people in all! I asked them to do a few praise songs for the team. Their! praise consists of a drum about 2’ across and perhaps three inches thick and played with a stick. Their songs are chant style, where one leads and everyone repeats. The praise and worship was fabulous! We had a time of prayer, enjoyed a soft drink and I asked Koske if he would allow us to leave. He agreed on the condition that we would return.

After an additional 5-hour drive on those same roads we arrived in Nakuru. This 3 day visit was with our friend, Ismail Wagongo. We conducted a service in his church, visited the orphanage, went to see the children’s officer to find out information regarding the orphans and requirements for operating one, visited a school of 1050 students and shared the gospel with them, visited with a land agent to inquire about land and prices and held an outdoor crusade.

We left for Nairobi and the airport about 1 p.m. and arrived at the airport at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 29th. The team arrived in Raleigh Durham Airport at about 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 30th.

It was a great trip and we could see God’s hand all over the whole trip. Some of the team is already talking about our return to Kenya. Ismail Wagongo and Edwin Agogo will both visit the United States sometime this summer. If you or your church is interested in meeting or talking with them please contact me so I can get you down on a list.

I want to publicly thank God for a fabulous group and team, They were awesome!!! I also Thank God! That was some trip! God, you just amaze me!!!

Thank you again, for your prayers and support as we go about doing what God has for us to do!

May God richly bless you,
Tony and Donna Haywood
Servants to the King