Dear Friends,
We know that every good thing and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights (James 1:17) and that apart from the Lord, we can achieve nothing (John 15:5). Therefore, as we review our work in 2022, we are ever grateful to the Lord. By God’s grace, we achieved – even exceeded – our ambitious goals for the year. With support from Hydromissions International, we completed 20 water and latrine projects. Hearing administrations give thanks to God for answers to their fervent prayers for clean, safe latrines and a source of water, brings us true joy. Watching children proudly recite the Scripture verses we send in advance of our visits for the project dedication ceremonies gives us confidence that the Lord is using us to further His kingdom. Rewarding the children for their memorization of verses with Bibles, books, school supplies, and toys blesses us as much as it blesses them.
Our 40’ container embarked on the MSC ROSA in December. Our hopes for a delivery before Christmas were dashed by delays at the port in Norfolk and additional delays at sea. The container is currently scheduled to arrive in Mombasa, Kenya, on 1/22/23 with its 85,000 treasures. In 2022, we doubled the number of Bibles we sent to 10,000. With the Bibles, 5,000 Scripture card packets, and thousands of Bible studies and other scriptural literature included in the shipment, we dramatically increased the biblical materials our team will be distributing throughout the year.
In addition to our building projects, our facility visits are an integral part of our ministry. Of the over forty orphanages and schools in our network, our team in Kenya visited a majority of them at least once, some multiple times. While distributing books, clothes, and toys, showing films, and providing treats are fun, sharing the Gospel with the children is our primary mission. On every visit, the children are given a Biblical message and encouraged to memorize Scripture. We often show a film on the life and ministry of Jesus, followed by a discussion about the film.
Immaculate spent Christmas at Patti’s Children’s Heart Orphanage. As with most orphanages and schools in Kenya, inflation and hard economic times are making survival difficult. The administrator, Mary, was grateful for the Christmas gift of a good meal for the children. This is our first year working with this orphanage. We also hosted a Christmas dinner at the Mwangaza Children’s Home, in Kilifi. They were delighted to be able to celebrate our Lord’s birth with a good meal. Mwangaza is one of our original eight orphanages, so the children there are dear to our hearts.
We ended 2022 with gratitude not only to the Lord for His provision and protection, but to the many, many people who enabled us to continue sowing seeds of life in 2022 (1 Corinthians 3:6). Special thanks to
- Immaculate, Roselyne, and Sheila, our project managers in Kenya
- Caitlin Terry and Hydromissions International for their financial support of our water and latrine projects
- Sharon Hill from Hill’s Storage in Mechanicsville, who donates a 20’ storage unit
- Louann Rodgers who maintains our website, and Dave Nuckolls who provides technical website support
- Karen (“The Angel who Brings the Boxes”) and John Dawson for their ongoing help
- Kyle Soderberg and Kim and Bob Schultz, the team captains, who expertly packed the container, and all those who gave up their Saturday to help
- Elena Calamaro, who assembled 5,000 packets of Scripture cards
- The people at Mount Vernon Baptist and Berea Baptist Churches who move boxes, pack the container, and help with whatever is needed
- Jackie Dewey from Dress-a-Girl International who donated thousands of dresses and Jane Nichols who delivered them from Maine
While I could only name a few, we are grateful to the countless others who faithfully prayed for us and provided financial support, donated articles, and gave their time to the work of the ministry. May the Lord bless each one with every good thing in 2023 and beyond.
Blessings,
Kathy Carlin, Executive Director
