In You The Orphan Finds Mercy

When I think about the special needs orphanage in India that New Hope Initiative supports, I think about the gospel. Honestly, what an amazing picture of the heavenly Father. I think about the words accepted, redeemed, loved. Without Christ Jesus, we were rejected, condemned and alone. But, Christ turned that around for us. As His children, we are accepted, redeemed, loved.

So are the children in our special needs orphanage. They have been rejected by the culture, condemned for their needs and left fatherless.  But, our God is a good Father and in His great kindness, He has recued these children from the cruel world around them. Through the leadership of Pastor Timothy and his family, these children not only have a home, education and healthcare, but they also have had the opportunity to learn about our great God, His love and His power to save.

““…in You the orphan finds mercy.” Hosea 14:3b”

Pastor Timothy’s daughter, Grace, has started to take a larger role in the leadership of the orphanage, and we are excited about her dreams for the future. We have seen great change in some of the special needs children after hiring a full-time therapist to teach them and work with them to learn basic life skills. Small things like learning to write their names and dress themselves have been great accomplishments over the past year for these children but also for the orphanage as a whole.

Also, Grace was excited to tell me that she has developed good relationships with the local government and awarded some funding to help take care of the children. This is a helpful acknowledgement of the orphanage by the government and the good work we are doing to care for the children.

In addition, God has provided a new supporting partner in the States to help raise funds for special projects. So far, we have received funding to upgrade the plumbing and fix the washrooms. And, just recently, we were told the funding is coming for a much needed upgrade to our security wall around the compound.

We are grateful for how the LORD is providing for His children and thankful that we get to be a part of His work in India towards special needs children. We continue to look for new partners in our work and are hoping to visit late 2016 or early 2017. Feel free to contact Lauren Allgood at lkallgood@gmail.com if you have interest. 

It's The Right Thing To Do

My role at New Hope Initiative (NHI) is a strategic role. NHI desires that the projects we support around the world set goals and vision for the future and work toward accomplishing those goals. By setting goals and vision, NHI projects can grow and impact more and more individuals living in poverty and for many years into the future. NHI strives to have sustainable programs that are led by well trained, competent leaders. My role with NHI is to support and encourage these strategic initiatives of setting goals and vision and training leaders. The role fits me well. I am a business, strategic thinker. I like to think hard about problems and figure out ways to solve them. I like to see people and projects grow and improve and be a part of that growth. And, I like to think how we can leverage our projects and our influence for the advancement of the gospel. Last week, I had the opportunity to visit NHI’s special needs orphanage in Hyderabad, India. God showed me how all the strategy in the world could never justify what we are doing there. Only what we read in Scripture and when we understand God’s heart for orphans can we justify why NHI supports this orphanage. These kids will never be leaders. These kids will never be pastors, teachers, or influencers. They will be lucky to make it to their next birthday. Several years ago, a major donor of the orphanage pulled out and it would have been the perfect opportunity for NHI to drop the entire project. I asked Sandy Baird, Founder of NHI, why he stayed. His response was, “because it’s the right thing to do.”

Sometimes as Christians, we have to make hard decisions especially when it comes to limited resources like money. Many US churches want to see the money they give make maximum impact for the gospel. And, I understand that. But sometimes, we must only look to Scripture and the heart of God and do things because they are the right thing to do. They are the things God cares about. They are the things Scripture commands of us. Even if they have absolutely no strategic value.

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. - Psalm 68:5

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. - James 1:27

The best strategic ideas will not make these kids different. But caring for them the way Jesus instructs us will make them feel loved. It will help them see there is a God that loves them just as they are and that He sent His Son to die for them so that one day they might have perfect bodies without sickness and have joy that will last forever. They can know today that though their parents have abandoned them, that their country and community have rejected them, they have a Father in heaven who accepts them and who has adopted them into His eternal family.

- By Lauren Allgood - Leadership Development Director

Amazing India

We want to invite you to be a part of an amazing experience as New Hope Initiative travels to India this coming September. You will have an opportunity to serve as a volunteer in our special needs orphanage as well as experiencing of of the worlds most distinctive and unique cultures. The trip dates are still a bit tentative however we are planning on departing Saturday September 27 and returning around Monday October 6. The cost cannot be finalized until we have the airfare booked however we estimate the cost of this all inclusive experience to be between $2200 and $2500 dollars.

The major focus of this trip will be to spend time and help with the developmental issues of our special needs children who live in our orphanage near Hyderabad India in the center of this amazing country. Even if you have no experience with special needs children we can train and prepare you to have a part in this mission. We will also, depending on the skill set of our team, spend some time working on the physical buildings, and possibly doing some training of the staff.

We want to have our team finalized by late May so that we can get the best prices on lodging and airfare so if you are interested please communicate with our director Sandy Baird at s.baird@newhopeintiative.org. Sandy is planning on personally taking part in this trip. He will put you in contact with our India project and team trip directors Miguel and Katrina Bustos. This promises to be an incredible experience, we would love to have you join us!

Progress & Growth in 2014

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

It Is Well!

2012 provided us with the opportunity to deepen our relationships, enhance our work, and learn more about the specific needs of our various projects around the world. At our orphanage for children with special needs in India, we recognized their critical need for a deep water well.  We could not exaggerate the importance of a well at this orphanage:

1. There was no clean drinking water readily available at the orphanage compound.
2. Purchasing sanitary drinking water was prohibitively expensive.
3. There was not enough water for basic laundry or hygiene concerns.
4. And there was not enough water to grow vegetables in order give the children a balanced diet.

There was no money budgeted for this need, nor were any donors identified as we looked at the New Year wondering how we could address this pressing need. Incredibly, during the first few days of 2013, a previously unknown donor stepped forward and offered to fund 100% of the drilling costs for a new well! We immediately transferred the funds to India and before the end of January, wonderful, clear, clean, and drinkable water abounded for our children.

Not only are we able to meet the previously mentioned immediate needs, but we are now able to teach the children the self-sustaining skill of farming! The well also allows us to provide water to many of the poor villagers that live within close proximity of our facility. It is such a blessing to see the passionate and generous response of our donors who time and time again come through above and beyond our own expectations.