Save a child's life, change a region.
A Word from Our Founder
Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) causes the death of thousands of children in developing countries each year. Eight out of every thousand births around the world have some form of CHD. While vast resources have been expended in the West to treat these children, most developing world countries lack a comparable infrastructure.
I believe God's healing purposes are made manifest through this physical care of children, through the joy that this fosters in the family and in the loving relationships that are built with them during these great journeys in life.
~ Hank Dannecker
About Us
Since 2009, 1 New Heart has been in operation as an internationally recognized 501 (c)(3) non-profit corporation, originally established by the Dannecker family, as an international aid agency in Israel to help Palestinian children who suffer from medical abnormalities, especially congenital heart defects (CHD). Since its modest beginning, 1 New Heart has assisted many children to find life-saving medical services in cooperation with Save a Child’s Heart, at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel.
In 2014, the Geists, an American family serving on the mission field in Romania, contacted 1 New Heart with a special request to help a nine-year old girl who was suffering from the effects of holes in her heart. Because medical help in Romania was difficult to find, plans were quickly made for the child’s life-saving surgery in Israel. Please read below about this special Romanian girl, named Denisa, and other Romanian children with CHD’s whose families have asked 1 New Heart to help them.
Would you please prayerfully consider making a donation toward the $10,000 estimated cost of sponsorship for each child’s surgery. All funds are conscientiously allotted by 1 New Heart toward the cost of travel, medical testing, treatment, and fees associated with the care of the children. The families and individuals who volunteer for 1 New Heart in Palestine, Israel, America, and Romania, offer their services free of charge; and any unused portion of sponsorship will “roll over” to help the next needy child. Your gift will be multiplied in value as these children are personally escorted with their mothers to Israel, where they may be blessed to receive life-saving medical attention valued as high as $100,000 or more.
Our current goal is to sponsor four children each year for open heart surgery and to support their medical and travel costs to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel.
1 New Heart's Mission
Uniting the World, 1 New Heart at a Time...
We facilitate and offset the costs of travel and medical expenses for heart surgeries and procedures for children in under-developed countries. It is our hope and prayer to save the lives of these needy children, who are the most innocent victims of situations and circumstances well beyond their control, and to cultivate relationships of trust and mutual respect, in order to bridge the divide between people who would otherwise not have access to one another.
The most important things you can contribute to our cause are Prayer and Sponsorship. The children we help are most often critically ill, as they suffer the effects of congenital heart defects (CHD), and yourprayers may move the heart of God to lend them the time they need as they await their sponsorship. For each child, we need $10,000 to cover their travel, testing, treatment, and fees. If you, your church group, or organization is interested in sponsoring a child, with any amount, great or small, please contact us or donate through our donation page.
Hank and Michele Dannecker
Hank and his family have been traveling to, and connecting with people in Israel since 1995. In September, 2007 they relocated to Israel with their three children: AbbyRose, Levi & Moriah. We have worked for the past eight years helping to bring children born with Congenital Heart Disease into Israel for life saving heart operations.
Khaled and Khulood Banoura
Khaled has been a faithful partner in this work from the beginning and is currently our Middle East Liaison. He is a compassionate and hard working Palestinian living in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem. Khaled can speak several languages and many times is called upon to use his language skills to interpret cross culturally. Khaled is married to Khulood and they have three children, Duraid, Bshara & Layla. The whole family has been a great blessing to us and those we serve.
Scott and Gabriela Geist
Born and raised in communist Romania, Gabi immigrated to the United States at the age of 21, where Scott, a Pennsylvania native, found her. They were married in 1990, and lived in America until September 2014, when they moved (with their six children) to Romania to help the fatherless, the widows, and the poor, and to distribute Bibles to those who do not have their own.
On their very first food delivery to a needy family, they met Denisa, a nine-year-old Romanian girl who suffered since birth with congenital heart disease. 1 New Heart quickly made arrangements for life-saving surgery in Israel, where Denisa's heart was repaired.
In addition to their original mission goals, Scott and Gabi look forward to helping more children with congenital heart disease, as they join 1 New Heart to direct their work in Romania.