2024: March Newsletter
Go Ye Ministries + Horizons Foundation, by Cara Lottes
· Playground equipment
· Good reports
· School fees needed
· Solar power system update
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Playground equipment
Most of the kids living at the orphanage, Bartholomew Children’s Family Home, had never gotten to slide down a slide or swing on a swing. Now, that has all changed and we are thrilled to share images with you of this newly installed playground equipment! A special donor gave funding for this very special purchase!
Good reports
-We asked, and you answered … again! Betty Bartholomew’s Amazon Wish List was 100% filled! THANK YOU for filling her luggage with items for her trip to Kenya! She begins her journey on April 7 and she will take toy cars, yo-yos, and the other toys and household goods you supplied.
-The farm continues to provide much of the food consumed onsite. The sukuma wiki (like a collard green) is being harvested, and that is one integral part of their daily diet. Another item that is being harvested right now and enjoyed is papaya. They have recently run out of the tomatoes harvested; yet, there are more planted and they hope more will be available soon. They have also planted maize, and are in process of weeding around the maize and preparing to plant beans very soon.
-We moved forward with adding a sheep pen and chicken house! And, the chicken nest boxes are being built. We are very excited about the future of having eggs for the kids which would be a great addition of protein to their diet. We are also hopeful for generating income from the livestock, and eggs, as part of continuing to move to offset ongoing costs like food. The sheep are both butchered and eaten onsite; and, raised and sold for income.
-The gas station and convenience store continue to operate for-profit with all proceeds to help the kids! Nearby the gas business, we have 3 commercial buildings (owned by our joint Kenyan charity, NLCPM) in town. The government recently told us we either had to complete their construction (we had only a brick shell built from over a year ago), or they would repossess these 3 buildings. As part of our long term vision for financial self-sufficiency, we chose to prioritize this expenditure now to be able retain ownership. Please pray with us for ideas about how to best utilize these 3 commercial buildings! Two of them are approx. 10 ft by 10 ft in size; and the third is a double size, 20 by 10. We pray businesses could inhabit these spaces and create profits to use for orphan care and education! Here is one of the interiors of the newly-finished commercial buildings:
School fees needed
The kids next school term will begin on April 29. While we have about half of the schooling funds set aside from donations, we need about $2000 more to cover the next term. This is an opportunity to give directly to children’s education!
Solar power system update
There have been no electrical outages since the solar power system was installed! This is truly incredible. While in the USA outages are rare, Kenyans have learned not to be surprised when electricity is out for 1 or 2 days at a time on a somewhat regular basis. Since being blessed with funding to build the “power house” with the large battery to store power, and the solar panels, there has never been a time without electricity. This is a rarity in Kenya and such an improvement to the kids and staff in daily life!
In related news, there were 3 buildings that were not originally wired for electricity, but now this is completed! The dining/study room, the cooking room, and the storage building are all newly wired and can be lit at night; as well as the dorms which were wired at construction.
—–>We continue to ask for funds to purchase a uniquely long power cord to run the water pump, to move water from the pond to the farm’s gravity tank. With the exchange rate moving against the US dollar, this may now cost about $300. We’d love to get this done in April while Betty is in Kenya!
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 an abbreviation for New Life Covenant & Power Ministries [the legal charity created in Kenya by Go Ye Ministries and Horizons Foundation]. NLCPM owns the new dorm/farm/pond “compound”; plus the gas station/convenience store, and 3 commercial buildings in town.