2024: July Newsletter
Go Ye Ministries + Horizons Foundation, by Cara Lottes
· Funds at work!
· Projects completed in July
· Local support
· Updates
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Funds at work! —– a report on June’s requests
We put out the call, and IT WAS ANSWERED! Thank you, donors! The exchange rate also improved and boosted the donations.
1. PAID IN FULL: August’s school fees total (with our growth) was expected to be over $5,000. Actual cost ~ $4000 USD. 74 orphaned or abandoned kids will continue in school in the August term thanks to your donations! As our readers know, there is no free public education in Kenya.
2. PAID IN FULL: Build a drinking water system, a rainwater roof filtration system ~$8,000. Actual cost ~ $6000 USD. Collecting and storing water for drinking and cooking will replace purchasing purified water, and should pay for itself in 18 months! This is a good long-term move towards self-sufficiency. We hope to have pictures and a report by our next newsletter!
3. OVER 75% FUNDED: Build a road into the compound ~ $26,000 USD. WE HAVE RECEIVED $20,000 IN DONATIONS … we can get the road built before the rainy season in late October with your help! We’d love for this project to be in process by the next mission trip, September 24; when both Betty and Avis head over, through October 30. If any others are called to be on mission to Kenya this fall, please reach out and join in the fun!!!
Projects completed in July
1. A need showed up, and was met, all since the last newsletter! Bishop Washington felt some of the kids’ illnesses last month could be related to them being cold on the early morning walks to school. And, most of them did not have any kind of jacket at all. Betty put out a social media post, and the need for new hoodies/sweatshirts was totally covered through spontaneous gifts. THANK YOU!
Then, with the money collected, Betty and Bishop Washington spoke about the best place/town to get good prices … and the answer was Nairobi, the huge city with better prices than nearby towns. So, Washington and Moses took an overnight bus ride for 10 hours into Nairobi, to then shop all day, and return back home on another overnight 10 hour bus ride. Because of this great effort (and personal discomfort!), they were able to purchase NOT ONLY 1 new hoodie for each child, but also 1 new pair of crocs-style shoes and 1 new piece of clothing FOR EACH CHILD with the original donation total. Thank you, Washington, for going the literal extra mile to stretch these donations!
2. We added new irrigation to the crops in progress right now, pictured here added to the growing beans, plus a new field just planted with more sukuma wiki. We have previously run irrigation on the farm; yet with the continued growth of the amount planted, this was an identified need – to add more lines of it to maximize our harvest.
Local support
Bishop Washington has been teaching a group of pastors in Kenya; they often have no formal Bible training or even a study Bible, so there is a great need for wisdom and knowledge sharing. The pastors typically have a lot of interest in how Washington is doing what he’s doing with the kids, and the farm and businesses, as he shares his testimony. He also provides congregation encouragement. Now, these pastors have decided and are committing to giving him a certain amount of money to support the kids! And, one of them is asking his company if they would send an amount each month! We are excited about the recent outpouring of local support.
Updates
-Derick, the 22yo social worker intern, continues to be – per Bishop Washington – “a God-send. He is very good with finding out what is going on with kids and then counseling them.” We are so thankful for Derick giving his time and talents; pictured here working with some of the kids.
-Last letter, we described the government’s destruction of the Mathare slum area church plant. The people of our Mathare church continue to meet, now in a school classroom, which does not have enough space for everyone. We pray in time someone may feel called to give towards buying land (estimate $5,000) to build a permanent church in Mathare. A church building could be shared with other church congregations who experienced the similar destruction of their meeting places during the flooding and governmental teardowns. If we had land, we believe the locals may be able to gather together to build a building.
-THANK YOU for your prayers for Kenyans, Washington, intern Derick, and all the kids and adults working at the home. There has been a relief/release from suspicions for Washington this past month, and that is an answer to prayer. And, as noted above, there is more local support! As for the protests in Kenya, they continue ongoing but with less violence and are now typically planned and held on set days of Tues/Thurs in the cities. This continues to stop transportation of things like food on protest days, and prices are still rising. Also adding to rising food costs is the widespread flooding in recent months which destroyed most of the maize crop, a diet staple. Please continue to pray for the aftermath and victims of the flooding, for a peaceful resolution to the protests, and for Washington and all involved to have favor with God and man.
-Gas station and convenience store: in recent months, these have generated small profits. We are thankful these provide employment and offer services, yet we hope to make a more substantial profit to have an ongoing basis to support the kids. This may mean either buying products at a lower price, or selling for a higher price or quantity, or finding new products with higher profit margins. Our plan is to take a deeper dive into this business and related reporting during September/October to improve the return on these efforts. One roadblock has been the gas has become totally controlled by the government in terms of the prices we can buy at, and sell for; so the actual gas portion is not currently much of a revenue generator.
-Three commercial buildings update: we are now in talks with a woman who is like a beautician/cosmetologist to potentially move to the area and operate out of one of the buildings. If so, we will create a profit sharing plan and an agreement for job training opportunities for our young ladies. We pray this could be a win-win usage for one building!
To Donate, where 100 % of your gift is used to help orphaned and abandoned children:
Go Ye Ministries: PO Box 736, Prairie Grove AR 72753
Horizons Foundation: PO Box 596, St. Peters MO 63376
PayPal link: Donate to HORIZONS FOUNDATION
Reach us: Horizons4kids@gmail.com – https://horizons4kids.com/
NLCPM is New Life Covenant & Power Ministries, the legal charity created in Kenya by Go Ye Ministries and Horizons Foundation. NLCPM owns the children’s compound with the farm; plus the gas station/convenience store and 3 additional commercial buildings.