On Saturday the Post Courier’s weekend paper had another story on Bible Faith Outreach Orphanage.
1. Breakfast one Saturday morning
Please find the linked article below (not sure how long the link will last). Hopefully will have an update this week or next for the orphanage.
By DAVID MURI
How would you best describe her? A Good Samaritan? The lifeline? Or the redeemer? I would rather sum all up and call her the perfect lifesaver. Mt Hagen’s Rosa Kepa is quickly becoming the lone breadwinner for more than 100 unfortunates, mostly orphaned and abandoned children in the city. These children are Papua New Guinea’s future. They have a bright destiny, but no today and no tomorrow. Their moment of joy and happiness is riddled with hunger and sadness. The little ones live with bated breath. They don’t know what the future holds for them and see Mrs Kepa as their sole light.
Mrs Kepa — or Aunty Rosa — as she is affectionately called is the only mainstay. She is the food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless and hope for the hopeless. Caring, loving and providing part of their basic necessities for these bereaved children has been part of her life. She strives to feed them as best as she can with the limited resources she has at her Newtown home. Her mission began 10 years ago when she started work with the Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF).
As an elite national, she was constantly challenged to see expatriate missionaries at MAF reaching out to the remote settings to serve unfortunate Papua New Guineans. Back then, her charitable operation was minimal and confined to the neighbourhood. She started giving out her hand for a few children who would pass her backyard with broken noses, swollen faces and teary eyes. Her deeds still remained unnoticed and isolated until the Weekend-Courier visited the safe house last Saturday. It was then that this paper saw the lifesaver at her best mood of feeding, caring, clothing and consoling. The children turned out as early as 6am for their breakfast followed by a main meal of rice and bisque. They also received miscellaneous items from toys to clothing, balls and footwear courtesy of MAF missionaries as Christmas presents.
Seeing the huge turnout at her yard and the desperation for survival on a daily basis, Aunty Rosa wanted to lend her services in a more organised manner. Today she not only caters for the orphans but also focuses her eyes on beggarly settlers, deserted children and jobless parents who can not afford to raise their children. She also counsels HIV/AIDS victims and abused women and children. Aunty Rosa has registered an association called Bible Faith Outreach Inc (BFO). This entity’s prime motive is to establish a home for the orphaned and destitute children. It also aims to set up a school to provide Christian-oriented syllabuses and to establish a vocational school to train and equip teenagers with basic life skills and ability to earn a living. BFO also aims to educate hostile parents and guardians on raising healthy and well-adjusted children.
“As long as the centre is sustain-ed through gifts and donations, we will enable a safe and secure environment where children can be nurtured and encouraged to reach their full potential,” she said. “We wish to meet the needs of orphaned, neglected and abused children with food, clothing and personal hygiene products. We will also strive to provide hope, wisdom and understanding by sharing the Word of God.”
Aunty Rosa lives with her husband Jiwa and their five children at Newtown. Their home is located next to a squalidly populous squatter settlement. Most of her adopted children hail from this community. She has a pressing task to provide for them. She is a mother whose heart is fondly generous and soft. “I want to raise and breed them as my own children,” she said, saying everyone was created for a purpose and plan. She feels that that plan and purpose must be realised somehow. Aunty Rosa says she had made a lasting covenant with God to make sure caring for others would be the way for the rest of her life.
Others may think that feeding hundreds of children en masse would be too costly. But for Aunty Rosa, that’s normal. She has seen the hand of God. She is satisfied when everyone gets a share of the daily meal through God’s divine intervention. Aunty Rosa also leases three houses to accommodate around 20 homeless children. Due to space limitations, others live at the settlements and come to get their feed. She has engaged three like-minded volunteers, women who are involved in the informal sector daily to earn a living. The proceeds from their sales sustain the three houses with food for the day. The routine continues.
Even though rich with a very small and manageable population, Aunty Rosa says PNG needs to do more as a nation to fight against pervasive poverty, alleviate HIV/AIDS epidemic, domestic violence, child abuse and other turbulent issues like law and order. “These are serious cross-cutting issues that need to be eliminated. If the Government cannot do it on its own then we, as concerned citizens and Christians, should contribute in any capacity we can to minimise some of these pressing issues,” she said.
Aunty Rosa said overseas missionaries were very committed and sacrifice themselves to save the lost, tame the wild and heal the sick even though they were highly educated and “so rich to come too low”. “They live the life that we expect but they sacrifice to bring hope, salvation and light to our dark corners. They remain the tower of strength for the deprived, the marginalised and the abused,” she said. “If we don’t raise these kids properly they will remain a nuisance in this country and continue to spoil our image. The golden asset PNG has today is these children so they have to have a proper upbringing.”
She expressed grave concerns about her children being lured to work as labourers and bag carriers in farms and rural areas. She pleaded that this exploitation must cease. “They are not slaves. They are young human beings. Leave them alone and respect their rights,” she said. Aunty Rosa’s challenge during the festive season is to task every thinking citizen to contribute positively towards PNG’s growth. There is no better time to pass a personal resolution to do your bit to change this country than this Christmas and the New Year. Be like Aunty Rosa and see what you can do for your country. Aunty Rosa can be contacted on 545 1477 or 725 87753 or email: rkepo(at)maf(dot)org
