2024: May Newsletter
Go Ye Ministries + Horizons Foundation, by Cara Lottes
· The family is growing!
· A microphone and a speaker
· Projects in process now
· Projects to be funded
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The family is growing!
-2023 was a transformational year of growth with so much land work, major buildings completed, and large scale improvement projects.
-In 2024, our Kenyan family moved into our new “compound” master planned to house up to 128 orphaned or abandoned children with our current buildings!
-After the move from Bishop Washington’s mothers land (where they were living before), we had exactly 56 kids in our care. Just in this last month we have agreed to and taken in 18 new kids to bring that total up to 74. WOW! That’s a 33% growth in one month of kids being helped! You are part of improving the life of 74 individual children; each with their own story, and hopes and dreams.
>>>Who are our 18 new kids on the block?
-2 boys that were living with their grandmother who spends most days unalert/unawake. She is only on the floor on a mattress and can’t get up or walk. It is so sad. She was begging to know the boys could be cared for as she can tell her time on earth is nearing the end. These boys are now part of our Kenyan family! Please see 3 images before coming, and final one after moving.
-2 kids whose father died about 5 years ago, leaving their mother widowed. Their mother is also an Albino who cannot work outside in the Kenyan sun and is subjected to prejudice and stigma because of her skin. This was a unique case where the mother was begging us to take in her kids as they had run out of places to live and food to eat. But we also wanted to help keep their remaining family intact and give compassion to their mother. At the same time, we had been considering hiring a female to come stay overnights with the girls as a nanny/mother figure onsite at night. We believe it is answered prayer and she has agreed to come and live onsite and work indoors (mostly cooking). So we are thankful both these 2 kids and their mother are now part of our Kenyan family!
-2 girls: on the right, mother deceased and father mentally ill, she was living with great-grandmother; on left, a total orphan who was living with an uncle.
-3 girls: on either side, girls are total orphans; middle – mother passed and father crippled.
-2: girl is an orphan who was living with a very sick grandma; boy is an orphan with eye problems.
-The 6 kiddos pictured here are cousins who were being watched over by a sick grandma who may be near dying. The grandmother’s two sons and their wives (all these kids’ parents) are deceased. There is 1 more, not pictured, of these cousins who are all now part of our family!
>>>PLUS, Another new addition giving much-needed help!
-MEET DERICK: a 22 year old studying social work in Kenyan university who is tasked with a 3 month internship – who chose to come live onsite to help in so many ways. He is up early morning and late nights helping kids with their school work, he is checking in if kids are crying or downtrodden to find out what is going on and what can be done, he is staying to care after a sick child (just today, 1 kiddo was taken to the local clinic for unexplained and terrible stomach pains). Before university, he attended Washington’s church and we are so thankful he is freely giving his time, energy, and talent for (at least) these 3 months!!! Amazing.
A microphone and a speaker
-Do you want to hear some GOOD NEWS? While the kids were just on their recent school term break, they asked Bishop Washington if they could borrow a speaker and a microphone. Well, of course being wise, he had to ask what exactly they would be up to if they wanted to borrow that equipment. I know that in my childhood when I was allowed to borrow one of those huge VCR camcorders for a couple hours, it was for some silly video of nonsense fun (I was a tech era away from the YouTube stars, ha)! What did they want to do with it? They wanted to go and preach God’s word in the city center … and they did! They were allowed to take the equipment, Washington did not even go with them, and they went to the center and they ministered to their town! Later on, Washington can now report there were 4 women who came to church after that; and they said it was because they heard the children speaking on the microphone!
-This reminds us our ministry is not solely an orphan-care ministry, it is also one of sharing the Good News of Jesus. While Betty was on mission there this past month, she was able to visit 9 of their 11 previously planted churches all around Kenya. She only missed the last two due to impassable road conditions and sickness. We expect to add more details in future letters about these wonderful church plants!
Projects in process now
-Our next steps with recently received donations are as follows:
1. Reinforce one embankment of the pond that approaches our “road”. This has gone to priority 1 due to torrential rains and possibility for calamity of the pond wall collapsing on one side.
2. Quadruple our chicken count from 50 to 200, buying 150 more. A good price on laying hens is available at this time so we will move sooner than expected. With the 50 we have, after selling eggs to pay for chicken feed, we are currently at about 60 eggs per week left being used to feed the kids. Since our chicken house has capacity, this looks like a scalable choice to improve kids’ diets, reduce the need to purchase other food in the market, and sell more eggs for profit.
3. Purchase sukuma wiki (greens, a daily staple food) from the market for the next 75-90 days. This is an emergent need due to crop failure after the excess rains. We have replanted just in recent days and expecting to go back to harvesting our own in 2-3 months for the kids’ dietary needs.
Projects to be funded
-DRINKING WATER: We have identified another longer-term cost saver/move towards self-sufficiency to supply our own drinking water. We have already worked tirelessly to make systems to supply the water for bathing, toilet use, animals, crops with the pond and gravity tank. At this time, the cost for filling our onsite drinking water tank adds up to nearly $500 USD per month. We are finishing bids to collect, store, and filter rainwater using a roof system; total cost around $7-8000 USD. (This creates a positive money move, in about 16 months time.)
-ROAD: The private road into the compound is impassable in rain and will require an overhaul. We believe the best company with a competitive quote is one for $26,250 USD (as of today’s exchange rates). See images during Betty’s visit of the big boys pushing the car out!
-Please pray with us on these large-scale needs!
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 a gas station/convenience store and 3 more commercial buildings.