Thought from Nairobi

Thanks for joining in on the journey back to Rwanda and New Hope Homes. For those of you who are new, let me provide a quick background. New Hope Homes are dedicated to freeing orphaned and abandoned kids from despair. We are a small but mighty group. We pair 10 orphaned or abandoned kids (new born to about 5) with a Widow (they are in need of love and she has an abundant amount to give) to create a new family. The “Mommy” is supported by 2 young “aunties,” a night watchman and a cook. That becomes the nuclear family. Importantly, these are NOT orphanages. These are “homes” in every sense of the word. Our 1st home opened Feb of 06 and I got involved just 3 months later. It’s been a blessed journey. I’ve watched our kids arrive in really tough shape. Scared, suffering from malnutrition and wondering what life has in store TO healthy thriving kids who are top of their classes in school. The transformation has been nothing short of remarkable. Today we have 3 homes. It’s just a tiny dent in the challenges the country faces, but for our kids, their lives are forever changed. All this is possible through the donation of so many. Are needs are the moment are significant, so we welcome any support you might be inspired to. (All donations are tax deductible – just click on the donate button on this page or facebook – New Hope Homes, Rwanda. We are trying to raise another $3000 towards our goal of $4200 so we can give the Mommies, Aunties and Staff raises of simply $20-$30 a month. Their work is love filled, yet hard and we want to ensure they are being cared for as they care for our kids.) This is my 2nd trip this year and I timed it to be there when the ‘big kids’ get a little break from school as they basically go year round with 3 breaks. 2 extra special parts of this trip are. Abbey Cullen and Sarah Wehrenberg will be joining me. They ministered to our kids 3 years ago for an entire month. They fell in love with the kids and the kids with them…so I can’t wait for them to see how much the kids have grown and introduce them to the new ones. They really showed what they were made of when their personal bags never made it to Rwanda so they lived for a month with basically 1 change of clothes. Imagine that! I have not heard of visitor that gave so fully of themselves by helping hand wash the clothes etc etc. I used to get jealous of the idea of other visitors here when I was here as I wanted time for “me” with the kids. But now, having experienced it with Kristen Cavallo and Liles Repp, I’ve learned to fully embrace it with the mantra of – the more the merrier. 30 kids are a lot of kids. The more one on one time they can get with friends the more they thrive. I love seeing how many people come and love on our kids. The blessings flow both ways. So…wanna join me next time?