From “I am no missionary” to “All In!”

When I was young, growing up in the church, missionaries living in South America, Africa, and parts of Asia would often come to my church, telling us amazing stories about remote villages they were living in and about people being introduced to the Gospel. For years, I saw this as what a missionary was, and for that reason I determined that “I am no missionary!” With that as my definition, it never even dawned on me that I could be a part of Global Missions. In fact, for most of my twenties I was the guy happy to write the check that enabled others to go, but was never really open to going myself. Then, in late 2009 a colleague and friend approached my wife and I about going to Kenya and Tanzania in the summer of 2010 with New Hope Initiative. She had been to multiple developing countries on similar trips and was very enthusiastic about missions. I took the information in and tried to get past the idea of giving up my vacation time and the thought of getting sick in country. I considered going, just this once, so that I could check the box and move on. That was my intention, even as I stepped on that plane for that first trip.

In retrospect, the process leading up to the trip, the trip itself, and surprisingly, the time of reflection after the trip, all worked together to change my marriage and my life. Since that first trip three years ago, we’ve been in a process of getting more and more involved with the works there, from leading a trip the next year, to sending trips, to raising money, to working with NHI’s leadership to set the direction for the organization. As cliché as it sounds, it all started with one step. Going on that first trip was my first step to “All In”.

This October I completed my third trip to New Hope Center in Nairobi, Kenya. The purpose of the trip was to take my leadership experiences in Corporate America, University, and my local church to train and equip New Hope Leaders to have the right strategies and tactics to take on their current leadership challenges. The trip was an amazing experience, where I took the things I have learned over the years, built interactive training modules and delivered them just as if I were in the States. And from that experience, I already have several ideas of other things my wife and I can do to strengthen and support our partners in Africa.

Maybe you’re reading this having never gone on a trip, but always had interest in doing so. Or maybe you sponsor a Penda student and sometimes think you’d like to visit them. Or maybe you joined us on a trip and can’t help but occasionally think that maybe you should get more involved. There is so much good work going on through New Hope Initiative, but there’s always so much more that could be done. After all, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Usually the first step to getting involved is to go and see the works. I needed to do that in order to see how I could fit in. So I’d like to encourage you by saying that God has a plan and you can be part of it. He’s looking for people who are available and open. I’d encourage you today to take your next step toward “All In”.

Blessing Baby Bren This Christmas

Three years ago a precious baby girl was left at the gate of our New Hope Initiative Center in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. We knew literally nothing about her. In the 36 months that have passed, there have been many challenges, however little Bren with her radiant smile and charming personality is a favorite among our local friends as well as our visiting teams members. Every year we have a special New Hope Initiative Christmas Project that blesses amazing little children like Bren in Kenya and around the world. Would you consider blessing little Bren this Christmas by hosting one of our Christmas parties in your home? This is a proven model for New Hope. We will equip you with all the information and ideas you need in order to host a simple fundraising gathering at your home that will make the difference in a child’s life, like Bren, this Christmas and into 2014. Every dollar given, that’s right, 100% of what you raise through this party will go directly to the children we serve. If you would like more information about blessing baby Bren this Christmas please begin a dialogue with Karen Baird at k.baird@newhopeinitiative.org.

Penda Goes To College

A Word From The Directors

As we strive to bring excellence to our school in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya, we must be reminded of our foundational goal of bringing real hope and real change to the children that we work with. We have been reminded this season that to accomplish such a lofty goal we are going to have to offer quality in education to our children. We are very excited about the foundational processes we have in place through the New Hope Primary School and the Kibera Penda Project scholarship program to accomplish these goals. For the first time in NHI history we are seeing some of the long-term fruit of our programs as we have admitted five of our students into college and university. In order to move these precious children from the Kibera slum into more adequate lives they must complete an upper level degree that will offer them the hope for a better job and a better life.

It is our five-year goal to have 125 secondary school students in our Penda program as well as 100 university students completing their upper level degrees. It will be our ongoing goal to maintain these numbers into the future so that we can develop a growing base of students who begin in our elementary school and end up as university graduates. That is the blueprint for changing a community. It is not fast, it is not cheap, is it not easy, but it is achievable and it will be effective.

By Sandy & Karen Baird

A Change of Heart in Kenya

On Thursday June 13, my thirteen-year-old daughter, Abbi, and I anxiously boarded the airplane in Dallas, Texas. Neither one of us had ever been to Africa let alone crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Our trip was filled with everything we expected and numerous unexpected events as well. For the past several years our church, The Oaks in Grand Prairie, has participated in giving to Project Biashara. The ladies of our church have specifically been drawn to this unique ministry. Our intention was to go as a survey, with the hopes of establishing a future trip for our church in the summer of 2014.

If you are going on a mission trip it is important to remember to plan for the unexpected because plans will change. In route to Nairobi, Kenya, one of our planes was delayed by four hours causing us to miss the next leg of our itinerary. After several phone calls and new flights we landed in Kenya.

Due to our delay, we missed the first part of the trip that Sandy and Karen had organized for us.  This meant that we needed to join with another church. We were both a little nervous and bummed because we did not know anyone.

Midway Church from Aubrey, Texas, welcomed us with gracious arms and made us feel like we were a part of their church family quickly.  God knew that my daughter needed the experience of other teenagers on the trip with her. Thank you Midway for being a Godsend in the middle of Africa!

As a pastor, I was looking forward to speaking in a foreign country with an interpreter. However, with the flight delays those plans evaporated. Honestly I was a little disappointed, but quoted a popular saying, “This is Africa,” and moved on.

On Sunday we had the privilege of worshipping in Kibera with some of the participants of Project Biashara and the New Hope School.  I had no idea how God was going to move. It was a divine set-up. God had so orchestrated the events for our trip so that He could speak into our lives.

People and children began to overflow the church building with laughter and excitement. The girls were excited to touch and pull my daughter’s curly hair. To my amazement, Abbi picked up a little child. She quickly sat the kid on her lap and hugged her.  I was impressed and for a moment I was awe struck- that was my little girl.

During the worship service, there was a little girl who was playing on the floor in front of me. Abbi encouraged me to pick her up and immediately my inner struggle began. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. This little girl appeared filthy and I was clean. My daughter continued to say, “pick her up.” I replied, “she is okay, she is having fun.”

Finally, the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let me go, so I picked up the little girl and she was wet from soiling herself. I sat her on my knee and then to my excitement she wanted down. Just as I was putting her down, Abbi, reached out and picked her up. Immediately she sat her on her lap and began hugging her. I was shocked, humbled, and convicted. Secretly, I was glad that was over.

We stood back up to sing and little boys grabbed my hand. This was good. I could handle this. In my mind I thought I was doing great.  God and I had a good conversation during the current song. I apologized for being such a snob and asked God to forgive me. There was even a commitment to pick up the next child without my daughter’s prompting.

As we sat back down, a little boy with his enormous eyes looked up at me and I picked him up. Not even thinking about it I hugged him. One member of Midway’s team got up to sing a special song. The lyrics of the song talked about how much God loves us. After the song, one of the pastors from Midway began to preach. He began talking about God’s love as well.

Right then the little boy relieved himself and it began running down my leg. When he finished, he cuddled up next to me, laying his little head on my chest. I hugged him. God whispered into the depths of my soul, “I see your filth and yet I welcome you in. I love this little boy. I love you.” I am not a crier and not driven by emotions. There in that little church tears began to flow down my face.

God had a message for me and it took me getting out of my comfort zone and being willing to do something different. I am so thankful for Karen and Sandy and their New Hope Initiative. They are doing great work. Lives are being changed for the better. If you get a chance to take a trip with them, please don’t hesitate. Who knows, God may have a special message waiting for you in Kenya!

By Heath Marion

Diane meet Irene - Irene meet Diane

One of our precious young ladies from Penda Project is Irene Misena. She was a part of our very first class of Penda students that entered secondary school four years ago. Irene excelled both as a student and as a leader and now is the primary leader of the children's Sunday School at New Hope Church. Irene recently began a new phase of her life as she enrolled at Nairobi Aviation University in their hotel management program. We are excited that she is among our first class of university/college-level students and are expecting great things from Irene.

In July we had a very heartfelt reunion as Diane Peters from Sagemont Church in Houston was privileged to be with us in Africa and to meet Irene for the first time. Diane has been Irene's sponsor for the past three years and it was an emotional meeting as each party got to meet the other for the first time. These are moving relationships for both parties and we love the close bond that develops between our young people and their sponsors. You may never get to be like Diane and meet your student personally, but please be assured that our Penda students love and appreciate each of their sponsors and realize the vital role they play.