New Hope Nicaragua Opening Soon!

Our newest project in Jalapa is set to open soon. Our brand new school and church facility in this needy, forgotten corner of Nicaragua is moving towards a grand opening and full operation later in 2016. The new church is already using the facility weekly and after some additional government mandated updates to the buildings we will begin outfitting classrooms and registering students this summer for the next school year. We already have 4 teams scheduled to be in Jalapa this year to specifically assist in the formative stages of the school as well as assisting the new church with outreach into this community. We are so excited about our first work in Latin America and excited for the great results that we will see in the years and decades to come.
 

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. 

Extreme Makeover: Tanzanian Edition

At New Hope Initiative's medical clinic in Arusha, Tanzania lives are changed on a daily basis. Of our 25,000 annual patients we have stories of amazing transformation very often. One of our more poignant stories occurred recently in the life of an older gentleman named Mr. Sikn. He for many years had a cyst growing in his forehead. Not only was it painful but it was unsightly causing him to be ostracized in his community and even to be ridiculed as demon possessed. Mr. Sikn visited hospitals and doctors for miles around his rural home, however, because he was poor and had no money, he could not find any one to help him. Finally he heard about our NHI clinic in Arusha and, even though it was hours away from his home, he heard that this clinic would effectively and compassionately help people who were poor. You can see from these amazing photographs the incredible job Dr. Byemba did in this surgery. We talk often about changing people's lives but truly Mr. Sikn's life as forever been changed by Dr. Byemba and New Hope Initiative.

EXTREME-MAKEOVER

Ebola Finally Ends

Our New Hope Initiative orphanage in Sierra Leone has struggled greatly for the past 18 months as the Ebola crisis has ravaged that country. So it is with great joy that we can tell you that the country has been Ebola free for almost a month and that early in November the World Health Organization should be able to declare Sierra Leone Ebola free! This is the day we have been praying for. Thankfully our 72 children have remained healthy during this crisis, but the country as a whole has suffered untold damage. Economically inflation is running 20% and the GDP is in negative numbers. Educationally the school system is in shambles after months of closure. Practical things like food are in short supply as farmers abandoned crops in fear of epidemic.

We would ask you to continue to pray for our children and their leadership and to consider a special gift to help us offset the sharp rise in food and educational costs. Finally we would ask you to consider visiting this facility in 2016 with one of our teams. We have missed so much visiting the children and we are very excited that we have scheduled a mid February team.

If you are interested in being a part of that team contact our NHI project director Phil D'entremont at phildentremont@yahoo.com

Meet Zack Kirago

In July, Zack Kirago was hired as Project Director in Kenya for Kibera Penda Project. Zack brings ten years working in children's and youth ministries, as well as experience working with a non-profit and in social work. Zack is married and has two young boys. Previously, Zack was serving Kibera Penda Project on a part-time basis as the youth minister. He began the Saturday Youth Services and reenergized the time with games, discussions, and lots of cheering! It was encouraging to get to know him and see him interact with the students over the course of the past year. Zack's passion to influence the lives of young people is evident.

Since beginning in this position, Zack has been working to gain more background on the lives of our sponsored students and build relationships with the school's that we send students. He also took twenty of our students to a youth camp during the school break in August. This was a reward for some of the students and it was encouraging to see the growth of each of their relationships with Christ. Recently, Zack has been doing college advising with a few of our students who are applying to Kibera Penda Project College Scholarships.

Kibera Penda Project is thankful for Zack's heart, hard work and natural organization!