| Twice Sown Seed - Acres of Love |
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 Sept 3, 2012
See the Power of Partnership and Twice Sown Seed in action: Acres of Love
ABOUTThe Acres of Love story begins in a suburb in Johannesburg, South Africa, where Ryan and Gerda Audagnotti were busy raising their own four children far from the death and despair of the AIDS epidemic. However, as Christians, they were moved by the plight of the South African children who were being abandoned in ever increasing numbers as one or both of their parents succumbed to the rampant disease. In early 1998, the native South African couple heeded God's call to help these children. They applied for an orphanage license and converted an investment property they owned into "Acres of Love," a home focused on providing the highest quality of care for abandoned South African children and those infected with HIV/AIDS. From the beginning, the Audagnotti's goal was to provide these children with much more than the basic living necessities offered by institutional orphanage facilities. "Our mandate from God was not to just provide a bowl of food and a blanket for these children," explains Gerda. "Our mandate was to provide each child with hope and a future. We were to do for them exactly what we would do for our own children." Today, Acres of Love follows this same overriding mandate at all of the homes in operation. Each home is located in a carefully selected neighborhood where the children are distanced from the hopeless poverty from which they were rescued and where they have access to the highest quality medical services and educational facilities. MISSIONThe mission of Acres of Love is to provide the most vulnerable affected and infected infants and children with the highest possible quality of care and with love, a strong early childhood development foundation, a community-based safety net and hope. MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF ABANDONED CHILDREN
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More than 350 infants and children have spent time in an Acres of Love home over the organization's first 10 years of operation. The large majority of these children have been placed in adoptive or long-term foster homes. Some have been reunited with their families.
With medical advances in the treatment of HIV, Acres is committed to the belief that the future is bright and full of promise for the HIV-positive children in its care. Many are expected to continue their education and flourish in their adulthood endeavors, perhaps even becoming leaders who can make a meaningful difference for the people of South Africa.
• Residential care in a normalized family home with "house parents" supported by specialists, caregivers and volunteers
Faith & Hope
