Missions Family

Hanover Pentecostal Church has “adopted” Gord and Anita Cooledge and their children, Nathan, Ben & Latasha as our missionary family. The Cooledges are serving in the field in the country of Zimbabwe where they give oversight to the “Village of Hope”. In their own words, here’s what they have to say about their call to Africa:

Our focus is the Village of Hope in Harare, Zimbabwe. Because of our life experiences, God has given us both a passion for orphans. To see them given hope, love and security so they too, like us, can dare to dream of a vocation and a calling. ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit’, we know that this vision can happen for the children of Zimbabwe - those orphaned because of AIDS. With love and Christ centred discipling, the ‘least of these’ can be come great! (Zec. 4:6 / Luke 9:48)

This Village of Hope is one of three in southern Africa. On the edge of Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, a 20 acre campus with a church, preschool and two childrens’ homes already exists. When fully developed, this property will contain another 16 childrens’ homes, housing about 200 children altogether, an elementary school and medical clinic. With over one million orphans as a result of AIDS in this country alone, the needs are huge. With God’s help and guidance, these developments, staffing and day to day operations will be our responsibility.

Since our first arrival in Zimbabwe, September 2005, we have come to realize the amount of people it takes to see this vision become reality, both here in Zimbabwe and in Canada!

We are grateful to God for the partnership He has given us with the Cooledges and are excited about the ways our church can assist them in their ministry. Here are some ways in which you can be involved with HPC’s partnership with the Cooledges:

In Prayer

As it is with any ministry endeavour, prayer is the key to success. The Cooledges will be the first to tell you that they value the prayers people offer on their behalf more than anything else because when God is at work anything is possible. In the sidebar to the right is listed the most recent prayer requests of the Cooledges.

Communicate

The great thing about adopting a missionary family is that we can really promote and develop ongoing communication with the Cooledges both corporately as a church and individually! Do you want to encourage them or find out more about what they are doing? Then send them an email! Another way of encouraging them is to send them a card or gifts. Here’s some contact information for the Cooledges:
Mail: P. O. Box WGT 412, Westgate, Harare, Zimbabwe
Email: gcooledge@zol.co.zw
Home Phone: 263-4-331787
Office Phone: 263-4-302035


Financially

Our church has committed to assist the Cooledges with the financial needs of their family and their ministry. We have dedicated $500/month from the church budget towards these finances. There are three ways in which you can contribute financially to the Cooledges if you would like to do so:

1. Give in the offering plate during our Sunday Service. You can use the provided envelopes to do so. Just make sure you designate your giving to the Cooledges and include your name and address with your gift if you would like to receive an income tax receipt.
2. Mail in a cheque to HPC. The address for the church is: Hanover Pentecostal Church, 1100 7th Avenue, Hanover, ON, N4N2K1. Make sure you include with your cheque a note indicating that you would like the money to go to the Cooledges. Also include your full name and address if you would like to receive an income tax receipt for your gift.
3. Give Online (see the donation link in the sidebar)Through the use of CanadaHelps.org we are able to provide a “Donate Now” button via our site. When you donate through CanadaHelps.org the benefit is that you can donate using your credit-card and it will be transferred directly to the church account. You will also receive an income-tax receipt immediately for your donation. However, keep in mind that they deduct a 3% administration charge from the donation before we receive it (to cover banking fees etc.) so if that concerns you then you’d be best to use one of the first two options.

And finally, you can…

Visit Them!

We currently have a Short Term Missions Team going to serve the Cooledges in June 2007. It is anticipated that this will not be the only STM team we send out and that there will most likely be future trips planned. When those trips are planned it will be announced.