A documentary that powerfully chronicles the ground-breaking mission of a Central Alberta ministry is set to run May 23 at Home Church in Ponoka.
There is no cost to attend the event, which starts at 7 p.m., but donations are welcome.
Home of Hope, based out of Home Church in Red Deer, is a child-focused, church-based, non-profit organization that helps thousands of children and orphans with monthly sponsorship, school, feeding programs, animal projects, helping women to become self-sufficient with micro-loans and much more.
According to their website, the vision is to give hope to those who are hopeless, to help the helpless, to feed the hungry, to mend the sick, and most of all, to show the love of God.
An array of projects and ministries have been launched over the years, including The Boy’s Home of Hope in India which started back in 1982. Additional Home of Hope projects started in Rwanda in 2006, in Kenya in 2010, and in the Congo in 2012.
Meanwhile, the "Meant for More documentary provides a powerful glimpse into how Home of Hope rescues children in Kenya with George Akelo. Since 2011, the Kenya Dream Centre has made an impact, changing lives for generations," notes a description of the film.
Brian Thomson serves as Home of Hope founder and operations director. He explained how the project began to take shape in 2024.
"Dionne Wiebe was a Bible School student here many years ago, and he had gone to Africa with me on a team," said Thomson.
Wiebe and Britton Ledingham had since launched a video production company, and they approached Thomson about putting together a documentary about the Home of Hope work in Africa, particularly in Kenya.
One of the main focuses of the ministry is rescuing abandoned babies left in a sprawling garbage dump in Nairobi, Kenya. This work was begun back in 2011, and to date, more than 600 babies have been saved.
Thomson noted that many of the mothers are very young - 14 to 16 years old - and they are dealing with malnutrition among other horrible realities that can include sexual assault.
"It's hard to fathom what is really happening."
Thomson knew that a documentary would help take Home of Hope to another level, and so with the help of some faithful sponsors, they decided to move forward with the project. The team then flew over to Kenya last November for the shoot and captured as much of the ongoing work on film as possible.
Thomson said the very first baby that was rescued, who is now 14 years old, is featured in the documentary as well.
"His name is Samuel, which means 'God heard my prayer.'"
The boy has since been adopted, and his story is also featured in Thomson's book Meant for More, which was released in 2021.
Samuel wants to be a physician one day, and Thomson noted that his adoptive father is a doctor as well.
"That always makes me smile," he said.
For Thomson, seeing the Home of Hope story told in the deeply compelling, poignant and challenging documentary, is indeed a dream come true.
"I cry every time I see it," he said.
"My wife will come into the room, notice this, and say, 'Are you watching the documentary again?'" he said with a chuckle.
For Thomson, it's hard to put into words just how much the new project means to him personally - it's been a life-changing and profound journey from day one.
"First of all, I'm saddened that these babies are thrown away. But 620 babies are alive today because of Home of Hope, because of our sponsors, and because of our heroes over in Africa," he said.
In chatting with audiences who have seen the film so far, many viewers have told him how impressed they are with the documentary's quality and overall impact. Hopefully, it will inspire more people to support the ministry, as the more funding they secure, the more babies they can save, he said.
It's also a growing ministry, Thomson noted, adding that more work is continually being done in more countries across Africa as well.
"As soon as I saw the finished version, I felt the Lord speak to me to take it to 20 different towns and cities across Canada, and we are doing that," he said, adding that even more sites will hopefully be visited over the next few months, too.
For more about the Meant for More documentary, check out www.homeofhope.ca/documentary.
