Dear Friends,
Psalm 78:6-7 beautifully represents our mission at Serving in Jesus’ Name. Our hearts’ desire is for those we serve to come to know the truth of the Gospel and come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, setting their hope in God. We desire for them to grow in faith and keep His commandments, so that they may one day share their faith with others.[1]
| That the next generation might know them [Thy Statutes], … and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. Psalm 78:6-7 |
Our ministry’s Scripture verse, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17), is the foundation on which we build every part of our ministry. We know that the Bible is not just words on a page or painted on a structure, but living and active, having the power of God to bring people to faith (Hebrews 4:12, James 1:21). When we finished the last of our 2022 latrine and water projects in November, we had the assurance that the Bible verses painted on the water tanks and the latrine privacy walls will perform a spiritual work in the hearts of many children who see them daily.
[1] Adapted: “That the Next Generation Might Know,” Together We Can SPAN the Globe, John Luck
Although we currently have 39 facilities in our network, the original orphanages are still dear to our hearts. Over the years, we have provided ongoing support to the Lumino Orphanage. In addition to our annual deliveries of clothes, shoes, and school supplies, etc., we have given their buildings a facelift and have built latrines, a water catchment system, and a library at their facility. Immaculate recently visited the boys in the Lumino Special Unit for children with disabilities. She showed a film in their native language, Swahili, on the birth of Jesus and hosted a celebration with soda and queen cakes. Their head teacher, Walter, reinforced the message of the film, so the children could better understand how the Good News of the Gospel is intended for each of them personally. He later called Immaculate to let her know how excited the boys were and how eager they are for her to return.
Each year, in addition to our ministries to orphanages and schools, we provide “a leg up” to a number of individuals whose desperate situations deeply touch the heart of Roselyne Mwabishi, our Western Project Coordinator. Immaculate recently connected with Collins, who Roselyne had selected to receive two chickens several years ago. This young man, an orphan living with his grandmother at the time, grew his flock to 200 chickens, which he recently sold. Using the money from his poultry enterprise, along with savings from other work, he purchased land and built a home for himself, his wife, and young daughter. He did much of the construction, and while his house does not have a bathroom yet, he is happy to have a rent-free home for his family. Seeing the tangible fruit from our small investment in Collins is a blessing. We pray for a similar 100-fold spiritual harvest from our outreach to the thousands of children to whom we “give” the Word of God. We look forward to seeing how the Lord will use our investment in the five families to whom we gave two sheep this year
Other Activities in November
- Learned Hydromissions International, which partially funded our water and latrine projects for the past two years, will be making the same level of contributions to the ministry in 2023. Praise the Lord!!!
- Delivered 1,000 packets of Scripture cards to Mount Vernon Baptist Church for inclusion in Operation Christmas Child boxes.
- Worked (and continue to work) with Child Evangelism Fellowship. This powerful worldwide ministry recently has started Good News Clubs in five of the orphanages in our network, and we are eager to see how we might support this outreach.
As always, we are grateful that our work goes on, and we send our thanks to each of you who pray for our ministry, donate items, provide financial support, and give time to help with our work. We are grateful for all those who enable us to continue sowing seeds of life in 2022 (1 Corinthians 3:6).
Blessings,
Kathy Carlin, Executive Director
