Hello from Heather!

““We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.”  ”

— Sir Winston Churchill

We are off to a GREAT year so far and I wanted to update you on a few of God’s blessings that could NOT have happened without your generosity.  

2017 Recap

• Give Amore built FIVE new clean water wells!
• We graduated FIVE sewing students from our adult training program!
• 1 new motorcycle was added for the team of 5 full time staff
• 300+ tote bags were made and sold
• Our community computer classes received a new projector (after ours was stolen). Three computers were repaired and 4 new computers were purchased!
• Over 60 students graduated from our free computer training program
• CPR and the Heimlich were taught to hundreds in the Cornerstone Church community and our orphan program families
• 50 pairs of The Shoe that Grows were distributed
• The Give Amore office building roof was repaired
• Four of our Give Amore Graduates were given opportunities to continue their education through vocational training
• Faith’s nasal surgery was a success!
• Shaddi received a wheelchair
• Our team received new phones and a new camera
• And so, so, so much more!

It’s only March, but God is already pouring out his blessings.  We pray that He continues to bless you and Give Amore this year.

2018 Happenings

• It’s only March, but God is already pouring out his blessings.  We pray that He continues to bless you and Give Amore this year.
• Give Amore has completed 2 new water wells, bringing the total to 11, with another funded and about to begin! 
• We have now brought clean water to 23 of the students in our orphan sponsor program.  There are 16 students who still do not have access to a clean water well and we pray God will provide a way to bring water to their villages!  Wells cost $2500 and provide so much more than just clean water. 
• Give Amore added 2 new students to our orphan sponsor program bringing our total to 38 children! We have 7 more still on our waiting list. 

We are going back to Kenya in June!

I am so excited to be joining Christa again this summer on my 2nd trip to Kenya with Give Amore.  We are thrilled that 3 other people will be joining us including Tara Vafadari from El Paso, Texas, Christa’s daughter, Camryn, and Camryn’s best friend Jordan.  These beautiful ladies have such a heart for the Lord, immeasurable energy and are ready to serve.  I can’t wait to share with you how the Lord has used them for his Kingdom when we return. 

Our trip is scheduled for JUNE 16-30, 2018 and will cost approximately $3000-$3500.  We will visit the Give Amore community in Kenya, love on Cornerstone School children, help with the monthly food and supply distribution for the orphan sponsorship program, shop for fabrics for our sewing program in open-air markets, visit an elephant sanctuary and more.   If you would like more information about joining us on this trip, please contact heather@giveamore.org. 

I am still in awe that I get a front row seat to what God is doing in Kenya through Give Amore.  Thank you, dear partner, for following us on this journey.  It is incredible. 

Heather Duncan

Meet Paloma!

Months and years of prayers have finally paid off for little Paloma after Give Amore finally integrated her in its sponsored children’s program. Her sponsorship officially begins in April and with this much needed help, she is assured to stay in school and grow up feeling loved.

Paloma, 6, has had it tough since her mother died during delivery and thereby forcing her to be moved under her grandmother’s care, a place she has since stayed until we met her. Through the six years, the family lived on meagre profits they reaped from sale of illicit liquor which her grandmother desperately brewed.

With her new-found sponsorship comes a package of full school fees payment, food, clothing, toiletries among other gifts she will be blessed with.

When we recently met her, playful little Paloma confidently exchanged greetings with us least conscious of the good news we had for her a sign she is destined for great things. She now joins the growing family of Give Amore and our prayer is that her life changes for the better under our care.

The Eleventh Well of Wellness

Another village is brimming with joy after receiving a clean safe water well sponsored by Give Amore. Men and especially women and children thronged the well on its inauguration day to have a drink from a source that is deemed to serve them for a long time to come.

This is our eleventh village to be blessed with a well and with the increased need of clean safe water for drinking and home consumption, this well is an ultimate remedy.

The well is situated in Gladys’ village, two miles from our 9th well at Frida’s village.

On the other note, our 12th well is fully funded and the caretaker beneficiary home soon to be identified. This new baby will keep growing our family of wells as well as the numerous families we have already blessed and so many more to come.

The essential objective of our well projects is to help eradicate waterborne diseases, water-related infections, water-based- illnesses and water-washed- ailments through provision of lasting clean safe water free of pathogens among other contaminants. For more information on this and more visit our website.

More Love from Kenya

Also tagged on our array of successes are our Made with Amore tote bags currently on transit for the US. They are set to arrive in a few weeks to come.

The bags are made with love by our tailoring students who learn the embroidery art freely under our sponsorship in an initiative to create a self-reliant society that can fend for itself in the long run.

Aside from providing you with the feel of African art and embrace, they also give you a chance to change a life for the better in the community via every purchase you make. Each bag goes for $25 and the proceeds contribute in training and equipping students in our tailoring program with sewing machines upon graduation.

To land your favorite pattern, fabric and shipping terms, follow us on Facebook, and Instagram.    

A New Life for Josephine!

Within days of hearing of Joesphine's plight, Give Amore supporters covered her school fees, uniform, supplies, clothing, food and much more! She was in a new school within a week!

Josephine Nafula is in school at last courtesy of the help extended by our wonderful donors after Give Amore ran her plight among our urgent needs two weeks ago.

Having been out of school for months, Josephine, 16, walked through the gates of a local high school with disbelief into a 9th grade classroom armed with books and stationery among other essential effects ready to learn, thus commencing her second phase of education.

This beautiful teenager has faced the hardest of blows life could throw at her such as rape, physical and emotional abuse, depression, neglect, homelessness among others all her life after the demise of her parents when she was a toddler.

Fortunately, enough she is now safe and loved under the confinement of Judith and Polycarp who take up as her new God sent guardians, nay parents. The now family of five is excited to accommodate her and so far they are so happy God sent Josephine their way.

She is now officially in our sponsored children program.

A Cow for Asman

Asman, a complete orphan, is so happy to show off his new cow! This cow was purchased by Sunset Canyon Preschool families in Austin, TX for Christmas!

Milk, butter, and ghee come into mind at the mention of a cow, and now Asman and his family will have the privilege of enjoying these as well as growing a herd from their new cow gift.

The family of eight received the cow donated by Give Amore, courtesy of a preschool children in the U.S with great joy. The gift came at a time they least expected and being the only animal the family has ever owned; they were moved by it.

Residing in a large milk consuming community, the cow suffices as a long-term economic boost to the struggling family right from its milk to later meat and other products as the herd grows from the single cow. 

Apart from school sponsorships, Give Amore seeks to equip the community with lasting economic and social deliverables for self-reliance and continued community empowerment and such venture is one of them. 

Monthly Roundup

Give Amore students and workers are busy building and creating!

Give Amore’s 11th well is on course and judging from its sinking pace, it should be completed in the next fourteen days.

So far there aren’t any complication pelting the process and the diggers exude great confidence of hitting the water table soon enough.

Concurrently, Made with Amore tote bags are in progress and should be ready for shipping soon. The bags purely made from carefully handpicked African fabrics are hand made by our community tailoring students.

The team mainly comprised of women and girls has mastered the art of making your favorite bags from their predecessors who graduated in the fall of 2017 and are expected to use the art among more skills they have garnered to positively impact and empower the communities they emanate from. 

Visit our website, like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/amoreministries and follow us on Instagram @giveamore to find out how you can get your favorite pattern as well as discover how your great support is changing lives in Kenya.

Christa's Corner

“Above All, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ”

— I Peter 4:8-10

Happy New Year Friends, Family and Supporters of Give Amore!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season focusing on presence instead of presents!

We had a wonderful Christmas season in Kenya and we couldn’t have done it without God stirring in the hearts of so many to make it possible! It was our best Christmas yet for our children as they ALL received something and many were abundantly and exceedingly blessed! What a joy to witness (through photos and stories) how God is blessing Give Amore and therefore advancing the reach and opportunities for us

Enjoy the gallery of photos above to get a glimpse into what our Christmas party looked like!

We are currently working on wrapping up, as best we can, all that Give Amore accomplished in a tangible way in 2017. As you can imagine, trying to summarize an entire year is challenging, but we want to provide some tangible results from your prayer and monetary investments for Give Amore. There’s much we can’t even measure such as love, hope and joy! But we will do our best to convey that as well. Please stay tuned!

Also, coming up will be our announcement of our 2018 Summer Trip to Kenya with some details, estimated pricing and more!

Please read, comment, reply, share, etc. our newsletter as we have so much joy in this newsletter everyone needs to know about it! It’s sure to bring a smile to your face!

May God bless you and continue to bless Give Amore this upcoming year. Thank you for your support!

Christa Horst, Founding Director

Flowing Into the New Year

Five days into the New Year, amidst all the celebrations and toasting to 2018, a community in a remote village in Ebulechia, Kakamega in Western Kenya was receiving a clean safe water well, one of the very few in the village.

The well, funded and donated by Give Amore, is situated at Brenda’s home and yards from her is Shalline's family and both are the direct caretaker beneficiaries from the project.

Blessed by a junction of three main village foot paths crisscrossing not far from it, the well is strategically placed to effectively serve the community’s population and further extend its cool waters to visitors using the tracks to neighboring villages.

The well brings our total number of boreholes dug to 10 and a commission for more wells in 2018.

Currently thousands of people in communities in western Kenya are enjoying clean safe water from wells donated by Give Amore across the region and as a result more time has been saved, many lives protected from disease causing pathogens and most importantly, many hardworking Kenyan mamas rellived from the heavily tasking duty of fetching tens of gallons of water on their heads from far off distances in the scorching heat.  

Clean water is life. 

Shadrack's New Ride!

Shadrack will be wheeling all the way into 2018 after being blessed by a wheelchair donated by Give Amore, at the beginning of the year.

The 14 year old paraplegic child has never had a convenient way to move around and thus relied totally to being carried and closely monitored not to hurt himself from his unpredictable movements.

A son to a single struggling hardworking mother, Christine, and a cousin to Everline and Grace, Shadrack has seen it all growing up as a paraplegic child. His bones grew stiff by the years and due to his poverty stricken background, nothing could be done to secure him physical therapy services. However, despite all his pains, struggles and untold feelings, the love he gets each day and minute from his wonderful family has kept him stronger and smiling all the way and gladly, he is conscious of this.

Therefore due to his condition, a special chair had to be fitted for him and now a happy Shadrack is loving his new ride. Though he can't speak, his joy is obvious. 

A New Motorcycle It Is!

Our Home/ Schools and Transport docket has received a new motorbike in a move to ease transport snags of the team in service for the community.

This new acquisition brings the number of motorcycles in use to two after the team grew to seven members. Therefore, this will not only cushion transport difficulties, but also cut on avoidable transport costs accrued from other auxiliary means.

Bikes form a wider network of transportation in rural Kenya and since most of our sponsored children live in very remote areas featured with poor seasonal roads/paths, these machines suffice as reliable and time saving means of transport to access these areas with ease compared to others.

This new baby comes in handy to support your great work through Give Amore! 

Christa's Corner- Abundant Joy!

“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. -Isaiah 9:6”

Dearest Partners,

Words cannot express the joy with which I’m writing this to you. To say we’ve seen a Christmas miracle would be an understatement! I’m beyond blessed to have a front row seat to see God stir in the hearts of others to help people that they will likely never meet and who will likely never be able to pay them back. 

What started as a complete, giant leap of faith has turned into God’s unmistakable assurance that He has Give Amore and all of our team, children and guardians in His loving hands. Right before Thanksgiving, I spoke at my parent’s church in El Paso. A man I’ve never met came up to me and said he had a word from God for me and for Give Amore. He went on to tell me that God told him that the river of blessings that has had some dams holding up the flow were being cleared and that God’s blessings would flow in abundance. I wanted to believe him. Who wouldn’t love to hear those things? 

Immediately or shortly after this word from God the following happened:

-We received funding for another clean water well!

-50 Made with Amore tote bags were sold that day! 

-Children began to get sponsored (let me tell you that this is the biggest area of faith for me as we’ve struggled for the past 3 years with getting and keeping sponsors). All but one child is currently fully funded! Eight children remain on our wait list.

-We were presented an opportunity to pitch for a grant for more clean water wells (please pray for this please!)

-We were given an opportunity to come speak to a business and sell our tote bags (we sold 20 that afternoon!)

-And our Christmas Wish List items was a hit! EVERY child was able to receive something specifically for them picked out by us or by their sponsors-goats, chickens, a bicycle, clothes, toys and even a COW!!!!

-And thanks to a few generous general donations, we were able to make our Kenyan Team’s dreams come true with a new motorbike, helmet and safety vest!

I can't express to you my joy in watching all these donations come in. God’s blessing Give Amore and it is my pure joy and honor to facilitate it and help others. I’m beyond grateful that God has answered so many of our prayers in 2017. 

In January, we will provide you with a recap of the year and just some of the tangible ways we’ve been blessed and been able to bless others. We hope you will continue to support us and our mission to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our brothers and sisters across the globe. Our 2017 recap will also include information for our 2018 trip to Kenya! You won’t want to miss it!

As much as I love giving all these gifts to others, I’m reminded that the best gift we’ve all received is the gift of Jesus Christ our King. 

May the joy of the season be with you.

Merry Christmas!

on behalf of our Give Amore Team, Christa Horst

Clockwise: Heather Duncan and family, Henry Anjeje and hfamily, Jack Nerrickson, his mom and sisters, Christa Horst and family, Paul Mukani and his grandma who raised him, Erick Lukandu and his family. 

Love and Joy at Christmas Time!

Brian was one of many of our children who received a goat for Christmas! While the goats will one day supply meat for the family, for many years, it will provide milk! A goat is really the gift that keeps on giving! 

Santa made an early stopover for Christmas this year, and amazingly, wishes were granted.

As it can be recalled, our Christmas wish list went out a little late but through God’s blessings, it earned great favor from you, our amazing donor, and now each home will have a feel of the beauty, love and joy that comes with Christ’s birth.

Ranging from a cow, goats, Chickens, shoes, clothes, etc. our excited sponsored children and their guardians took home a share of Santa’s pie as each bagged gifts that define their core needs and wishes.

Unlike preceding Christmases, this year our focus was on individual needs and wishes, and from the sparks of joy and satisfaction in their glittery faces, we delivered just that.

It is a season furnished with gifts of all kinds and from our pool of love and cheerful givers, together, we delivered a Christmas bigger and breathtaking than ever before.

Straight from our hearts, Give Amore Team wishes you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New-year!

A Year of Wells!

2017 has been our year of wells and well, a new well will make way into 2018.

This new well will be Give Amore’s 10th baby of wells and the good news is, it is fully funded and digging will commence as soon as possible and las all the way into the new year.

The well will be set at Brenda’s home in Ebulechia village and will further spread its wings to serve Sherlyn’s family, also one of our sponsored children, plus hundreds more in the village and beyond.

This year alone, together we have gifted over 500 families with long-term sources of clean safe water for drinking and domestic consumption and from the energy exuded within, we aren’t stopping at that.

As to date we have fully commissioned disciple wells at the homes of Asman, Michelle, Paul, Yvonne, Frida, Fredrick, Lydia, Elvis and most recently Eugene. All the homes are in populous, remote needy villages, nay communities.

We pray the New Year keeps this vision alive and orchestrates new ones to better lives for a brighter tomorrow.

Computer Training Boost

New computers and older computers being repaired are just a few of the blessings bestowed to Give Amore this Christmas!

The free computer training facet of Give Amore has received a master boost towards the end of the year, beginning with the replacement of the lost television with a new one to the purchase of four new computers, repairs of stalled monitors and furniture, and power terminals among other accessories.

The monitor was purchased by Give Amore whereas the new computers and repairs facilitated by Give Amore donor Larry Baird, during his visit to Kenya earlier this month. 

The free computer training has seen over 1500 students shaped into competent basic IT experts boasting of prestigious jobs in the growing Kenyan economy which is rapidly conforming to the demands of modern technology and more.

With high demand for the training escalating with the mass graduation high school in the region, these machines come in handy to deliver ease in learning and application of knowledge learnt.

Christa's Corner-Christmas Wishlist

“We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.”

— Winston Churchill

I can't believe we are about ready to begin our hectic and crazy holiday season here in America. While Thanksgiving and Christmas are definitely my most favorite times of the year, I've found myself troubled in the past years over the commercialism of it all. Not only because of the redirection away from Jesus being the reason for the season, but also because of the excess and gluttony of it all.

I'm certain this has happened also due to the perspective change I've had as I've seen how so many around the world celebrate Christmas in a very different way. I can't help but laugh when I hear the radio commercials for us to get our carpets and kitchens ready for the holiday...and yet, so many around the world don't even have access to clean water! My heart has been troubled and just like this song in the video above says, I had to do something! So, our family, years ago, started giving extra to many causes and organizations, including what is now Give Amore. It somehow helps me turn down the commercialism and turn up Jesus' message of hope and love and joy. 

We have come up with an easy way for you, our donors, prayer partners and supporters to also turn up Jesus' message of hope and love and joy and help us gift others with items/opportunities they would not normally receive for Christmas or any time of the year. We have opportunities for you and your family and/or company to stand up and DO SOMETHING and they come in every price range. We have chickens, we have goats, we have cows, we have bicycles, a motorbike, sponsor sewing students, sponsor children (we have 3 still needing sponsors and 8 waiting to join our program), we have clean water wells and of course, we will just take your donations to our general fund. Any amount is appreciated! 

You can also gift these items in someone else's name and if you send us their address, we will mail them a certificate to let them know what you donated to in their name! Or send to you so you can wrap it and gift them with it! How cool would it be to get a certificate with a picture of a cow that was purchased for a family for Christmas in your honor? I'd love a cow in my honor! :) Or a goat...or goodness gracious not much could make me happier than a clean water well for Christmas knowing hundreds will now have access to safe, clean water steps from their home! Talk about a gift that keeps on giving!

Please check out our Christmas Wishlist and join us in our mission to be the hands and feet of Jesus and to give hope, joy and love for Christmas and the year ahead. 

You can donate online at www.giveamore.org. We will soon have a "text to give" option as well! 

Thank you very much for your support. We are blessed and honored to see how God has stirred in the hearts of others to support us. We couldn't do what we do without your support.

God bless, 

Christa Horst & The Give Amore Team 

“Do not forget to do good and to share with others.”

— Hebrews 13:16

Faith is Breathing Normally Again

Faith was in excruciating pain when Christa and Heather met her last September on the steps of Cornerstone Church.

She was suffering from Hypertrophy of Nasal Turbinates, a condition that causes congestion of nasal breathing cavity thereby, making it difficult to breathe at night, causing atypical snores and chronic sinus infections. 

When we met her, the condition had persisted long enough to its chronic phase. Her entire face was swollen, she had searing sharp headaches alongside pain in her eyes. It further partially impaired her hearing and body balance whenever she stood to walk.

Thankfully, when Heather and Christa encountered her, they were able to get her prompt treatment to ease her agony until she underwent a successful surgery just a few days passed.

The total cost of the treatment/surgery was $700, an exorbitant amount of money for a Kenyan family, but this was footed by our wonderful donors. God is good!

She breathes normally for the first time in a very long time and is expected to fully recover soon!

Our prayers rest with her!

An Extra Special Well Nears Completion-Well #9

In a few days, the community of Injira, a remote section of upper Kakamega western Kenya, will be drinking from a well flowing with clean, safe water donated to them from the heart by Give Amore.

The well which brings our total number now to nine, is the VERY FIRST long-term community clean water project orchestrated by Give Amore in this extremely remote area and should sufficiently bless over 100 families closely around it and impact greatly the lives of even more from beyond.

The well is in its last phases of development after the diggers hit the water table mid last week. Currently other auxiliary constructions are underway and soon it will be ready to drink from.

This latest baby is located in Esther’s home, a single mother of seven, six of which are in our homebased and school sponsorship programs (we would like to add her youngest child to our program as well). Plus, it is placed in a strategic location, nearer to the seasonal dirt road; connecting the area to the outer Kakamega grid.

As it is tradition, the well will be officially commissioned in a a few days via a blessing prayer at the well before handing it over to the community for consumption.

Life Saving Skills

Following the sudden death of Henry’s 9 year old nephew who passed away from choking on food, Give Amore put together an educational sitting on both the Heimlich and CPR for the guardians of our sponsored children, the sponsored children, the team and the community at large on handy lifesaving skills. Anyone who was on our campus was dragged, I mean, encouraged to attend. 

Give Amore brought in local health practitioners who did their best to demonstrate how CPR is critical and why it is handy for everyone to apply it whenever there is a choking victim in their vicinity most especially, children.

The life saving clinic included real life demonstrations on children and adults and everyone present benefitted greatly. We can only hope and pray that everyone in attendance will never have to need these skills, but without ambulances and paramedics, these skills are tremendously needed here.

This was just one of many ways we were able to use donated funds to help others. Please join us so we can bring more programs like this to this community. www.giveamore.org