This August, our New Hope 10-year anniversary celebrations and 10-for-10 focus moves from East Africa to Central America. Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America and is slightly bigger in area than New York State. It is also one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, with great opportunities to share the love of Christ with people who have both physical and spiritual needs.
We have partnered with a dynamic local ministry called Familia Avance Nicaragua, located in the northern mountainous region of the country, supporting a school and church plant. It is reported that 35% of the children here do not attend school. Our new team leaders on this project, Pastor Porfirio and Blance Jalepa, have a deep understanding of the spiritual and practical needs of the community.
We are excited about this project, not only because of the great need and potential in the area, but also because of the proximity of this work to our friends and supporters in the United States.
Our 10 for 10 partnership goal is to raise $5000 for 50 students to attend school, which provides a uniform and school supplies for these young men and women to hear about the love of Jesus and further their education.
One of the most dramatic changes in recent years with mission teams and trips is the desire for families to experience cross-cultural ministry together. New Hope Initiative is at the forefront of this new and important change. Not only does NHI not prohibit children from participating but we actively encourage families to bring their young people and children to take part in this life-changing experience.
This June we hosted our largest mission team ever as 53 team members joined us from The Church at Nolensville, located in suburban Nashville. This team is comprised of families from 2 to 7 in number and from 2 to 60 in age. As these families experience the work of God around the world and see firsthand the need in the developing world the children and young people will be forever impacted and changed.
We were also able to partner with 3 other groups of families who came to Nairobi to serve in our New Hope Academy, meet our Project Biashara, and also support some of our Penda Project students.
We highly encourage your church as a whole or you as an individual family to consider how eternally impacting a mission trip could be for you and your family.
NEW HOPE KIBERA BEGINNINGS...
New Hope Academy in Kibera educates roughly 300 students every year.
The great working of God’s providence often turns on the most inconsequential moments of daily events. Over a decade ago Sandy and Karen Baird were on their way to Uganda to offer advice on a new orphanage project. A layover in Nairobi, Kenya, and a visit with a local missionary resulted in a short unexpected trip to the Nairobi community of Kibera, one of the largest slums in the world. This short visit became a monumental event in the life of Sandy and Karen.
Although the Baird’s had been involved in poverty alleviation work around the world. the scope, immensity, and striking need in the Kibera community immediately and powerfully impacted their lives. The faces of the children, in a small church-run school, that Sandy and Karen visited were an image that they could not push from their minds. This short unplanned visit created a God-sized vision in the Bairds’ hearts and led to the building of the Kibera Academy and the Penda Project scholarship program that is the cornerstone of NHI’s work. Not soon after they founded New Hope Initiative and began partnering with projects all around the world.
PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER SUPPORTING NEW HOPE ACADEMY STUDENTS AND FAMILIES IN 2 SPECIFIC WAYS:
1. $40 will provide one student meals and a school uniform for an entire school year
2. $100 will provide as above and annual basic medical needs