God is overwhelmingly powerful and gracious, and i have been able to bask in his many blessings especially over the past couple days. My friend Holly has been here in Tarime since January and when she returned to the states headed up a project we lovingly call the "stepping into each others' shoes" project. Holly, Jordan, their church, friends and family collected enough shoes for each of our 40 kids to have a pair of school shoes and a pair of tennis shoes. i thank God for stirring the hearts of all those who participated. yesterday we had the honor of distributing 2 pairs of new shoes to each child. amazing.
i want to thank each of you so much for supporting me so graciously and just wanted to give you a glimpse of how your support is helping our 40 angels at MAHOTT.
Education here is so very important for the kids, for their futures it is the single most important thing that can help them step out of poverty and make a change in their lives. having an education puts them one step closer to having their dreams come true. It came to our attention Saturday that they did not have the supplies they needed for school which began today (monday), and the orphanage funds were lacking in providing for their needs. We had the secondary students make lists of all the priorities they would need for school and we met as a team to figure out how much money we could pool together to cover as much of the cost as possible. thanks to you for supporting this cause, we were able to purchase a set of textbooks (which they haven't had before) for the girls and set of textbooks for the boys, notebooks for each child, pens, mathematical sets, rulers, and backpacks for each student. i am so thankful that they started school today with a deeper sense of hope and determination.
there is another project we are hoping to tackle this week, as it's our last week here, and i am really excited about it. Holly had the idea to teach the kids (especially the older ones) how to get a bank account, manage money, make budgets, how to save money, etc. life skills that will all need and we have been told that doing business in the banks here can be intimidating if you have no idea what is going on. luckily, we are friends with the bank manager in town and are hoping for him to meet with the kids and open a bank account for each child with 10,000tsh (which is equivilent to about $8), and teach them skills they may need. it's a ministry of empowerment and am blessed to be a part of it all.
so, thank you for blessing me, but thank you most importantly for blessing these children...may you be abundantly blessed in return!!
the kiddos with their new shoes!
lucy
Sammy
Rose
Mwita Hura
3 comments:
Nice kicks! :) What a gift you've given them.
So good the hear you're doing well and being so blessed in your mission. I missed seeing you in Wichita when I visited the week of July 4, but know you are following your call. Keep the posts and pictures going, it's so fun to hear about your adventures. Love you, Aunt Kay
Nicole you write so well, you should write a book on your adventures in Africa. Are you feet okay? I will send healing energy your way. I am soooo proud of you and your ability to care! Love the shoes. No ninja tricks in the jungle LOL:) Miss you and Love you very much. Have fun and stay safe. MOM.
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