A WORD FROM THE DIRECTORS
2014 has gotten off to a busy but very blessed start for New Hope Initiative. In every area of our work and planning we have seen progress and growth. We would like to highlight a few of the amazing blessings we have enjoyed in this first quarter of the year.
1. Our medical clinic in Arusha, Tanzania continues to amaze us with its scope and effectiveness. We are currently offering daily X-rays as a new service and on a Monday last month we saw a record number of patients for a single day at 168. Pray for Dr Byemba this month as he has to travel back to the Congo to take care of legal requirements related to his ability to stay in Tanzania. Many of you have heard the incredible story of his families escape from the civil war in the Congo so this trip home is enjoyable but also fraught with challenges for him.
2. In Kibera our newly reorganized school is already showing incredible progress. The first trimester has recently finished to sterling academic growth and we are looking forward to an awesome year. The construction in Kibera seems to be never ending. We currently are working on a new clinic building as well as a new complex for Biashara. We also will be starting a perimeter security wall at the complex and paving the school compound during the next month. Project Biashara had it most successful event ever at McLean Bible Church's women's conference where they sold over $12,000 in merchandise made by our Kenyan women!
3. Penda Project has grown to its highest level to date with 142 students in secondary school and another 15 qualified for university. We still are in need of about a dozen sponsorships so please consider helping us give the gift of education to a deserving student.
4. In Sierra Leone theft and security issues are pushing us to install a security fence around the entire large complex. We already have had several faithful partners who have stepped up to help with this fence. We believe about $20,000 will be needed to complete this urgent project. We are finalizing plans in the next few weeks for an early January trip to Sierra Leone. If you are interested in joining us please contact our staff. We would love to have you be a part of that team.
5. We have dates set for our team to travel to India to help with our special needs orphanage. Please take time to read the accompanying article and pray about joining us on this life changing experience.
In closing, we have 3 MAJOR projects that are in the serious discussion and planning stages. These include new school projects in Ethiopia and Nicaragua and a guest house in Nairobi Kenya. These 3 developments are big and very exciting for our future and we ask you to pray with us for clarity and direction as we take the final steps in each of these. We will give you more details about each of these in our quarterly update in July.
We love and appreciate all of our friends and supporters who help us make a difference around the world.
Sandy and Karen Baird - New Hope Initiative Directors
