Progress or Excellence? - A Letter from the Directors

One of the inherent dangers of exclusively working in poverty-stricken areas with materially challenged people is we can sometimes only measure success by the standard of how far we have come, instead of overall excellence. It is easy to allow progress to be the final goal and as long as we are moving forward we can become complacent about the level of progress and the future rate of growth in a particular community. That is the place where New Hope Initiative finds itself now in one of our largest projects, the Kibera New Hope Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya. The progress in this institution has been amazing. We replaced most of the dilapidated buildings, the student population has grown dramatically, we instituted a daily feeding program, the staff has been enlarged, and we have seen a 400% increase in the number of our students who annually pass the secondary school entrance exam. The blessings in Kibera are astounding and we are continually thankful for what we have achieved together with our passionate partners.

However, the future in Kibera is not without its challenges. Will we settle merely for dramatic progress? Or are we going to continue to strive for even greater excellence? You can easily excuse complacency by saying, "it is a slum school and we can only do so much," but we are convicted and convinced that our ultimate goal must be more than progress and nothing short of excellence. We are in the process of evaluating our educational ministry in Kibera. We should have no less expectations for Kibera, because it is a slum school, than we would for any other educational institution in the world.

The past successes have been amazing, but we cannot grow complacent. There is still plenty of room for progress at Kibera New Hope Primary School. The classrooms are too crowded, staff/student ratios are too large, the new facilities deteriorate too rapidly, and 40% of our students per year do not pass the critical secondary school entrance exam.

Our goal is not progress only. We are driven for the sake of the children of Kibera to see New Hope Primary School become a model school. We ask that you would pray with us, and offer any advice or expertise that you might have in this coming challenge. Change is never easy. We desire to change the cultural mindset of an entire community and we are absolutely convinced that we can and will achieve the goals we have set. We will not settle for the subtle trap of being satisfied with progress. We are committed to strive for nothing less than absolute excellence.

Summer 2013

For some the number 13 has an unlucky connotation, however for New Hope Initiative the summer of 13 promises to be a season of amazing opportunities. We have an incredible schedule of nine teams, 150 motivated individuals, who will join us in East Africa with a great desire to make a difference through the work of NHI. We have some of the most diverse and talented teams we have ever assembled. Our work will include day camps, musical teams, sports camps, village ministry, medical opportunities, construction teams, and women’s initiatives. Also during this summer we will dedicate the new wing of our medical center in Arusha, Tanzania and begin a major building program for the school and clinic in Kibera. We also will focus in the coming weeks on major improvements to the Kibera New Hope School. We are confident these changes will help make the school one of the finest educational establishments not only in Kibera, but in all of Africa. We would ask you to pray for our leadership, the team leaders, and every team member coming to work with us in Kenya and Tanzania. Pray that this summer will be a life changing experience for all.

USA Tour

For the first time ever, New Hope Initiative was privileged to tour the USA with two of our international partners. In the last quarter of 2012 NHI directors Sandy and Karen Baird, Tanzanian mission partners Vernon and Mary Smith, and our African medical director Dr. and Mrs. Byemba, crossed the country sharing the mission and message of New Hope Initiative with churches and other organizations. The dynamic presentation centered on the Arusha medical center and the riveting story of the Byemba family’s sojourn from the Congo to Tanzania. Ten churches and many other smaller venues across the country heard their inspirational story. This tour brought a much higher level of recognition and interest to the ministry of NHI and was fruitful in producing specific help for the incredible work being done by our medical center in Arusha, Tanzania.

Letter from Pastor Rogers

Dear All, We are grateful to God for your self-sacrifices in making our once hopeless children now bounce with hope.  We are grateful to you for making this project a wonder in our small village and its environs.  If not for the love of Christ in your hearts, these children would not have become what they are today.  Our children want to be in touch with their sponsors very often, but Internet is a luxury in our village.  I have been trying everyday for a week to find a strong enough signal to send this message.  Cell communication is also poor in our remote setting.

Everyone here is healthy and kicking.  Prayer for you, our sponsors, is a must in our daily devotions.  The kids are curious to see those who have never seen them but love them so much.  This is because we let the children know who is sacrificing so much to give them a future. 

The love of Christ is vividly shown to our community through this project and to some extent, makes evangelism easy to the lost.  This would not have been possible without you.  God could have chosen to use another person, but He chose you and that makes your sacrifice for these kids very significant. Especially since this is the first project of its kind in our entire district!

Once more, we are grateful for your great love for us.  We assure you that your donations are raising a mighty army for the Lord.  He will richly bless you.  We love you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For and on behalf of the kids, Pastor Francis Rogers - Home Director

Tanzanian Clinic Expansion

We are putting the finishing touches on an exciting and extensive remodeling project at our medical clinic in Arusha, Tanzania. The new wing will more than double the space of the facility and make it more effective for us as our patient base continues to expand. The new two-story wing will host all of our imaging services (x-ray and ultrasound), a new receptionist office, and a waiting area that will greatly improve crowd flow in the facility.

We will have an entire floor upstairs that will be set aside for future development. The new facility should be fully operational in the coming weeks and will not only improve the effectiveness of our center but also raise the visibility of our presence in the greater Arusha area. We are still in need of about $25,000 to finish the project so please be praying with us that these funds will be available shortly.