Back to School in Kenya!

Our children are excited to start a new school year! They are hungry for knowledge and dug in deep immediately upon receiving books at our supply distribution. 

Our children are excited to start a new school year! They are hungry for knowledge and dug in deep immediately upon receiving books at our supply distribution. 

The 2017 school calendar is off to a great start while parents/guardians, pupils and students countrywide were in haste to beat the school resuming deadline.

Give Amore was also caught up in the bustles and thankfully at the end of it all, our school going sponsored children are all in school, ready and equipped to take up their learning responsibilities.

Listed on their school items each and supplied were the fundamental stationery, course textbooks, full school uniforms, school shoes, socks, pocket money for high school students and finally the much needed annual tuition fees paid in half.

Simultaneous to the above is the registration and admission of beginner learners in both kindergarten and high school respectively. Give Amore is registering five students as shown below:

·       Jayden – Kindergarten

·       Paulette – Kindergarten

·       Everlyne – 9th grade

·       Grace – 9th grade

·       Emily – 9th grade

·       Fridah – 9th grade

On the other hand, national exams student registration for both 12th and 8th graders kicks off soon countrywide and once again our students’ needs of registration fees and other requirements have been catered for thus what is left is a smooth sail through the process.

One child still needs an additional sponsor!

Grace still needs an additional sponsor of $600 per year to help keep her in high school. 

Grace still needs an additional sponsor of $600 per year to help keep her in high school. 

Friends, I'm so happy to say that 2 of our 3 children that still needed sponsorship have been sponsored by amazing families! But, we still have one sweet girl, Grace, that needs a sponsor! $50 per month or two people to commit $25 per month! OR, a bunch of people can make a one-time gift that can add up to her yearly sponsorship need of $600 for 2017. 

This is truly a gift that keeps on giving and the real definition of generosity!

I wish everyone could experience the joy of helping someone that will likely not be able to pay you back. This is how I got involved in Kenya...it all started with sponsoring one child...then two...then three...and it grew and grew into Give Amore! God changes hearts and perspectives and PRIORITIES! 

Most of us won't even miss $50 per month. We blow it on overpriced coffee, some gadget we will give away in a year or some toy our children (who have closets and playrooms overflowing with toys) will play with for a few days. Can you consider buying used toys for your child's birthday and instead sponsor a child, who without our program, will not be able to break the cycle of poverty because she won't have an education! 

I try not to get on a soapbox about things like this because, honestly, I would be left with no friends because no one wants to hear how they can sacrifice something small to make a difference..no body in America likes to go without...we work too hard to sacrifice our finances...but, honestly, the joy you receive in return is worth more than any trinket, any dinner, any coffee...it's eternal and it will help you through the off days when you feel sad or depressed or hopeless with our world. 

Consider giving someone a hope and a future for Christmas. This gift will always be my favorite. 

Meet Violet

Violet is one of the adults taking advantage of our free community sewing classes. 

Violet is one of the adults taking advantage of our free community sewing classes. 

Violet Atamba Makokha is a mother of three and currently a student in Give Amore’s free tailoring training.

After hearing of the program from a friend via word of mouth and consultations with her husband, Violet hurriedly took the initiative to enroll for the free training in the field of her passion, dress making.

Emanating from a poor family and with lack of finances to take her beyond 8th grade, the 25 year old settled for marriage at a younger age and since then held the house wife role for close to 8 years now.

She frames her experience away from her kitchen’s hearth as exciting and equipping and further goes on to say “My hope is restored, am blessed.”

Violet is a leader in class as confirms her instructor Evans. “She is punctual, keen, asks questions and always the last to leave. She is just my kind of student.” He couples.

Having clenched the opportunity and steadily scaling towards her dreams, a grateful Violet is confident her struggling family will sleep easy knowing unswerving supply of food on their table upon her graduation in the later weeks.

Gift that Gives Back

Hand made with love,  a student sews on our Made with Amore label.

Hand made with love,  a student sews on our Made with Amore label.

 

Following the safe delivery of much waited 140 Made with Amore tote bags shipment, another 50 are on their way coming soon with Anita.

The beautiful tote bags are hand made from Kenyan fabrics and are currently on sale for $25 each. The proceeds go a long way in supporting our programs among them buying our tailoring students a sewing machine to set up their own business upon graduation.

To give this gift that definitely gives back; to yourself, family or friends this Christmas, pick your favorite fabric via Give Amore ‘s Facebook page and purchase at www.giveamore.org.

The sale of the previous bags is currently on and we ship too.

The other projects the proceeds support are:

·       Education for orphans

·       Clean water wells and

·       Adults skill training (our sewing program)

What's for Christmas?

Coats and chickens were on all our children's Christmas list and their prayers were answered!

Coats and chickens were on all our children's Christmas list and their prayers were answered!

This Christmas Give Amore wasn’t left out of the giving arena and apart from the usual food and toiletries distributed to our sponsored children, there were additional chickens for everyone.

Also available in the list of goodies were jackets for our sponsored children and the honorable presence of friends of Give Amore all the way from Illinois-Mama Anita, Pastor Ed, Larry and Mama Cindy.

They brought encouragement, teachings and so much prayers for longing hearts. Further, Larry made a donation of $100 to the women co-op, solely conceived, initiated, and run by the guardians of Give Amore’s sponsored children. The money will be ploughed in corn farming which hence will be sold for profit gains that will service the co-op’s other projects.

Now that is a way of giving a Christmas blessing! 

Give Amore's Accomplishments in 2016!

 

2016 is rapidly coming to a close and God has stood by us and overwhelmingly used us for his glory.

Give Amore is proud to see an additional 5 students graduate this year alone, bringing our total to 12 graduates in 2 years. While they wait for the results of their national tests, they will take advantage of the free computer classes going on at the TGD building and continue to receive monthly food and toiletry provisions. We wish them great success! God has plans for bright futures for all of them!

This year, Give Amore financed two community wells that are going a long way in quenching the thirsts of many households in the communities. We currently have two more wells funded and the sites picked out! We will start January off right with clean water for two new communities!

This year also saw the birth and incorporation of our newest outreach-free community sewing training! The students make our beautiful Made with Amore tote bags while at the same time imparting in them all round fundamental and specialization training in tailoring. It is also important to note that successful graduates in the program will each receive a new sewing machine courtesy of Give Amore to start their own business and help them provide for themselves and their families!

Some of the challenges we faced this year-so much unfortunate malaria, scalp infections, a few burns, the time our team spent a day in jail for not wearing reflective vests, etc. have all worked out for good and helped us turn to God for our strength. God is so good!

November Newsletter

"Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:18-19 NIV

Christa's Corner

 

Donors, Sponsors and Prayer Partners,

We’ve done so many amazing things this year because of your support and yet we find that December is our biggest month of the year with our most pressing needs approaching. 

We are still in need of $5000 in general donations before the end of the year, nearly the amount our missing “Made with Amore” bags would have raised. God is providing! We trust Him to stir in the hearts of others to join us and give amore!

The funds we still need are for our school fees and school supplies for our sponsored children. While nearly all of our children have sponsors, we have a few whose sponsors have lagged in their sponsorship and we’ve been covering them so that depletes our account and now, we are faced with a large lump sum of funds needed up front for our children. We do not have any large corporate sponsors nor do we have any large general sponsors. I’m thankful to say that we are able to do what we do in Kenya because of lots of individual sponsors adding up to cover our needs. It’s pretty impressive to see how God has stirred in the hearts of so many. We know he can continue to do that and expand our donor base!

How can you help? 

  • Share Give Amore with others (www.facebook.com/amoreministries, www.giveamore.org) 
  • See if your company has a donor match program and choose Women’s NPA (our 501c3 umbrella)!. Please note on the account that the funds go to “Give Amore” or let me know so we can be expecting their check
  • Give your 2017 donation up front by 12/10
  • Give any amount that God leads you to by 12/10 (and beyond, of course)
  • Gift Give Amore sponsorships/wells, etc. for Christmas in lieu of traditional presents. This will be a gift that keeps on giving! (I can provide you with a photo of our children/well/programs as well as brochure you can provide to recipient)

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving I am so thankful for you-our sponsors, faithful donors and prayer partners! Thank you for joining us on this journey!

 

 

Fifth Amore Well

Frida Mutika’s home is the site for our new well.

The family and their neighbors have to make countless trips, a mile each, every day, to a far off stream in order to access water for drinking and their daily household needs.

The well will also serve Gladys Ambetsa (also a sponsored child with Give Amore) and her family who live a few yards adjacent to Frida.

From their narration, the muddy rugged terrain to the water sources wears them out on each trip, thus, a well will come in handy to tame their daily water and other related struggles.

Digging will commence as soon as the spot is identified in the compound.

Stay in the loop on this project via www.facebook.com/giveamore and www.giveamore.org .

 

Chickens for Christmas

It all begun with Bob, and now Howard, Gertie and 36 other chickens will find their way home this Christmas all thanks to the donations from you, our generous donor.

Alongside food and toiletries, the families of our sponsored children will receive a chicken each in our quest to jingle the Christmas cheers in the lives of our sponsored children.

Chickens are a luxury in our community in Kenya and also a reliable source of income and food. With every chicken, a family is guaranteed either of the latter two or both.

To gift a child/family this festive season send in your donations via www.giveamore.org. With every gift you share in the Christmas gift.

 

Cycling all the way

On 10/22, Abednego received a bicycle from his sponsor, an aid that will play a huge role in his school life.

From his recent letters to his sponsor, she noted Abednego was struggling walking a far distance to school every day, thus, she surprised him with a bike.

Talking to him, he admits that this gift was least of his expectations and that it is the biggest thing he has ever got as a gift. “Feels like Christmas already.” He says in Swahili.

A thankful and happy Abednego could not help test ride it in the Give Amore compound. His happy adrenaline propelled him to ride it all the way home proudly.

Now that is making a difference.

 

Newsletter written by Give Amore Staffer Paul Mukani

 

 

 

Waiting on God to Provide...

First off, thank you so much for all you do for our children! We couldn’t be the hands and feet of Jesus in Kenya without your financial and prayer support. We are so thankful that you’ve listened to God’s tugging on your heart to do something and that you've chosen to support Give Amore.

We have an upcoming full supply distribution on October 29th. Our children LOVE receiving your letters/photos/drawings and some really enjoy drawing/writing back. Some, maybe not so much. :) If you’d like for your child to receive something from you, we will need these by Sunday, October 23rd at 8pm. 

Secondly, our newsletter is written and produced by our team in Kenya and is the best way we can provide you all with the highlights of the month as well as our needs and updates/changes, etc. In this month’s newsletter which came out today (link to it below), we briefly discuss some of our huge financial needs that are approaching. 

The biggest financial need is the fact that on January 1st we have to register our children (35 of them) for the 2017 school year and pay their school fees UP FRONT in addition to their school supplies, school uniforms and shoes. Add that we’d like to gift them with something small for Christmas and our hope to provide each family with a chicken for their Christmas meal and we find ourselves with a huge bill. 

While our sponsorship program covers the cost of most of these items (everything except Christmas) most of our sponsors pay monthly. When we started our sponsorship program in 2015 we used every single dollar that came in to keep the children in our program that didn’t have sponsors at the time. Our plan for 2016 was to use the sale of Made with Amore bags to help us get to the point that we had a cushion in our account to cover the up front costs that are due in January, but our first shipment of 140 bags is currently lost at sea and therefore we have not begun a second shipment as we had hoped because we don’t feel confident those will ever arrive either. So, we find ourselves EXACTLY where we were last year…praying for God to stir in the hearts of others to help us meet this lofty need by December 15th. 

I ask that you prayerfully consider a couple of options:

  1. Pay your 2017 sponsorship in full or in half or in a quarter by 12/1 (plus this gives you maximum tax savings for 2016)
  2. Make an additional one time donation for Christmas by 12/1
  3. For a minimum $25 donation I will provide you with one of my scenic prints in a 5X7 or the digital image for you to print in any size. I have a gallery of these items on my Facebook page and/or I can send options to you. 
    • Beautiful African Safari pictures
    • Tuscan hillsides
    • Montana mountains and bear grass
    • Reflections in rivers
    • Church Steeples
    • Beautiful Doors
    • Magnificent sunrises and sunsets
    • And more!
    • On the back of each print (which when framed will make an excellent gift!) will be a sticker that will state the location and that the purchase of this print helped feed and educate orphans in Kenya. 
  4. Be on the lookout for a listing of business/products that when purchased the company will donate a portion of their sales to Give Amore. 

Thank you for reading this and for your support. We couldn’t be the hands and feet of Jesus to this community in Kenya without your financial and prayer support.

We wait with eager anticipation to see God move in the coming days and provide above and beyond our expectations.

Please share Give Amore and what we are doing with others! And if you haven’t read the newsletter, (link below) please do so! If you aren’t receiving it, please let me know.

http://us11.campaign-archive2.com/?u=08a906edd6244718320951da8&id=7337b50da6&e=60c7f097e7

 

Our New Website Is Live!

We are so excited to launch our brand new website, logo, image and online shop! There's still a couple kinks to work out but it looks great and we are excited to be able to offer a beautiful site that we can update easily including photos, blog, newsletter and online shopping of our beautiful products that have all been Made with Amore! Christa's talented Aunt, Judith Carnie, is painting stunning pieces that are replicas of photos that Christa has taken of beautiful scenery in Kenya. We've uploaded 3 original paintings and have more coming! Each piece is an original and by purchasing them 100% of the proceeds go directly into our programs! If you live in Austin, TX, Christa can arrange to get the items to you. If you are out of the city, please select shipping option at check out! We are expecting 140 new Made with Amore tote bags to arrive this month and they will be available for purchase on here or through Christa or other Give Amore ambassadors through Trunk Shows! Stay tuned to all that God is doing through Give Amore to the least of these in Kenya! 

Joy unspeakable. Faith unsinkable. Love unstoppable. Anything is possible!

Sewing program-Made with Amore-underway!

We are so excited to announce our new program-Made with Amore! We have started a sewing school where adult students can learn skills so they can provide for their families. Part of the program teaches them to sew tote bags that we are selling in America! All of the proceeds of the sale of the bags goes back to this program and when the students graduate, they will receive their own sewing machine so they can start their own business! Our "soft launch" has been incredible and we've sold over 100 bags so far!

Food Supplies Delivered!

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We are making a difference! 12 of our neediest children received food supplies on Saturday! Their guardians were thrilled to receive these necessary food provisions and to hear that Amore Ministries will continue where TGD left off! Thank you to our donors who made this possible!

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Sewing Program Underway-Made With Amore!

We are excited to announce our new sewing program-Made with Amore! In May, we started a sewing school with adult students. These students will learn how to sew/tailor all necessary items so that upon graduation, they can start their own businesses. Part of the program includes them making amazing tote bags that we are selling here in the United States for $25. All the profits go back to this program and will allow each of the graduates to receive their own sewing machine so they can start their own business! The soft launch has gone extremely well with over 100 bags sold so far! IMG_8297

49 Orphans Receive Supplies!

The first FULL supply distribution to the children was held this past Saturday! All 49 children received much needed supplies and provisions. The children were greeted by part-time staffers Judith and Sharon who checked their hygiene and health. Then they went inside the Cornerstone building for music and dancing while the guardians were greeted by Bishop Titus who explained to them about the new program under Amore Ministries. They children were given photos/letters from their sponsors and allowed an opportunity to write back and draw pictures. Everyone was served lunch. Then they were off to take pictures so we can share them with their sponsors! Enjoy the smiles of the children whose lives Amore Ministries, through our donors, are being changed for the better!  

 

 

Brian supplies Brenda checking in Emmanuel M. IMG_9197 (640x427) Arnold full length IMG_9224 (640x427)

Would you like to join us in Kenya in 2016?

[fusion_text]IMG_7012[/fusion_text][fusion_text] We are in preliminary planning stages of our next trip to Kenya in May or June 2016! Please contact us if you'd like more information on the costs and details of this trip. We are looking for the following people:

  • Photographer/videographer
  • Teachers
  • Nurses/doctors/dentists
  • Seamstresses
  • Artists
  • Construction Workers
  • Farmers
  • Evangelists
  • And anyone with an open heart and open hands!

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