2023 August Newsletter – Inspiration from Kendu Bay, Kenya
Go Ye Ministries and Horizons Foundation, by Cara Lottes
· Missionaries on their way to Kendu Bay
· New buildings and major land improvements
· Gas station, sewing and farming updates
· Back to school
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Missionaries on their way to Kendu Bay
Three missionaries arrive at the orphanage this week; followed by Betty Bartholomew in about another week. Avis Goodheart, Fred Miller, and Leighton Kasper’s bags are all packed; and, now they have visas (which meant a few days delayed). Please join us in praying for safe travels for all four, that God’s work will be done through them and for favor on them throughout this journey and beyond.
Note: Avis and Betty are open to invitations to speak at churches or groups for October and beyond!
Praise reports
We would be remiss not to tell the praise report that our missionaries can meet in Kenya with Bishop Washington as planned! Bishop Washington is the orphanage director at Bartholomew Children’s Family, among many other roles. He was involved in a motorcycle accident in the past month and experienced a head injury. There was a deep cut in his head that required stitches. This happened in the course of running morning errands related to helping the children. We give God the praise that he is alive and healthy today, that there is no long term damage. We join in praying that the Lord will protect Bishop Washington with a special covering as he works day in and out in tireless work to help orphans and widows and sharing the Good News of the Gospel. He is wearing the black and white shirt, with some of the boys at the farm, here:
Another note of praise is a brag on the kids! During their 2 week school break (in August between trimesters), they went to nearby widows’ homes and helped wash their clothes and collected wood for them!
New buildings and major land improvements
We are so thankful for both large and small financial donations that made this possible! And, we know the lesson about how Jesus valued the widow’s mite and remember all donations are greatly significant. THANK YOU. How thrilling to be partners in this ministry when we can see tangible results of months and years of preparation coming together! There is so much happening simultaneously at the land owned by our group’s Kenyan charitable entity (NLCPM*).
First, the pond which was dug earlier in 2023 and miraculously completed before the rainy season in time to capture water, did eventually go dry during the current dry season. Because of this most basic need for water, a truly precious commodity in Kenya, it was prioritized to double the pond in size. If there is no water, then in any modern style building the sinks and showers would not run, nor the toilets be flushable. We are praying to have enough water to use for the farm, cooking, and cleaning with the expanded pond, as well as for utilities in new buildings. We now need funds to fence around the pond due to the government requirement for fencing over concerns for kids and livestock. See the expansion image here!
A new brick building is what we hope to see while the mission team is in-country, with their helpful hands. The final step of architect drawings submitted for government approval is nearing completion. Bricks have been ordered, and are being made in real time and delivered to the property (that’s how it works in Kenya) – see the image above.
We look forward to a beautiful 4-room brick building on our NLCPM* charity-owned land. What a legacy! Each room will have space to hold 8 bunk beds (for 16 orphans per room possible) and 2 showers, 2 toilets, 2 sinks. One building can house 64 people. The improvement from sheet metal and wood pole buildings cannot be overstated. The brick will naturally act as insulation; and there will be SCREENED windows and roof vents, all to help keep the rooms cool and safe from mosquitos. We hope this will reduce the recurrence of malaria among the kids from mosquito bites. Unfortunately due to heat, doors get left open and/or kids will sleep outside the current dorms to be cool enough.
Not only do we eagerly anticipate one 4-room brick building, but now TWO! Because of generous donations, we can start a second dormitory building. This is miraculous because we learned through the permitting process the government requires boys and girls to be in separate buildings. So, one building would not be allowed for housing all our kids, even with separate rooms and entrances. So, we expect to build TWO 4-room brick buildings, in the same configuration, for a total ability to house 64 more (or 128 in all). This allows space for more orphaned and abandoned kids to come! We have 65 kids now.
(*NLCPM stands for New Life Covenant & Power Ministries [the legal charity created in Kenya by Go Ye Ministries and Horizons Foundation]. NLCPM owns Bartholomew Children’s Family [the orphanage] and land, the Jehovah Jireh farm, the gas station, and the new brick dorms coming soon.)
Gas station, sewing and farming updates
The gas station, which includes the gas pump and convenience store (pictured below), continue to be operational and making profits! This is paying for its own employees and creating local jobs, as well as having profit left over to help pay ongoing costs of feeding and daily needs for the kids. The mission team looks forward to thinking about ways to improve profits through the convenience store products offered.
Sewing training resumed for the kids; and they were able to learn how to repair clothes as well as continue work on feminine products for the girls. They have learned how and made reusable cloth sanitary napkins and a bag to hold their personal supply. In the USA, we don’t remember how vital this would be for young ladies! Please see these 2 images taken during lessons.
Farming news this month included harvesting tomatoes (see the image above) and using the corn-sheller both to shell our farm’s and other’s corn. This corn shelling project resulted in someone else plowing our fields rather than having an out of pocket expense for plowing; so that was great. Now with the drought in effect and dry season nearing an end, we await the rains before next steps.
Back to school
Since it is “back to school time” in the USA, we will highlight two ongoing needs: 1. clothing and 2. schooling. While the mission team is in Kenya through early October, they would love to purchase 1 new outfit per child and that is at an estimated cost of $15. Would you like to send $15 to bless an orphan with a new outfit? Or send $150 for 10 kids? For one new outfit for all 65 kids it would be $975.
Schooling was funded for the August trimester (as they have in Kenya), praise God! About $4000 is needed three times a year if kids are to attend school, otherwise they cannot since there is no free public school. We know education is key for these kids futures, so we ask for ongoing schooling donations.
100 % of donations sent will be used for the work in Kenya:
Go Ye Ministries: PO Box 736, Prairie Grove AR 72753
Horizons Foundation: PO Box 596, St. Peters MO 63376
PayPal to Horizons Foundation: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=5TFSWGGQEBMJC&fbclid=IwAR1-eR-RKZIMCisHI5gJfRvWAabd0pTN-Y7sZda73jtFULYhX2tiwnODpls
Reach us: Horizons4kids@gmail.com – https://horizons4kids.com/