A New Season Brings Renewed Sense of Urgency to Help

Gizel and Khalid receive additional food supplies, new masks and a home visit as Give Amore rises to the challenge of protecting the most vulnerable during the pandemic.

None of us saw this coming and we definitely were not expecting it to last as long as it is (and sadly recognizing that this virus is here for a while). I think the word that best describes my emotions at all that’s unfolded is shock. Shock that this could even happen and then shock that we can’t seem to get rid of it. As we’ve seen the explosion of cases in America and the rise in deaths and hospitalizations here in a country with amazing resources, I can’t help but be very concerned for the people around the world who lack basic necessities on a good day, let alone during a world pandemic.

All this has done is increase our sense of urgency that we need to do what we can to help our brothers and sisters across the globe. The Kenyan government recently announced that schools will be closed for the remainder of the year. All children will be repeating their grades come January. However, our children used to receive food provisions at school (our sponsorship program paid for this) and now they are home more, with guardians who are out of work. The needs are greater than ever for food, for clean water and for basic medical care, yet our sponsorships are falling behind.

Would you consider donating to our general fund so we can continue to provide additional food supplies to our children and their families? Or consider sponsoring a child? We have 4 children whose accounts are now behind. $50 per month per child will keep them in school when schools reopen, provide monthly food and basic medical care. General donations are used when medical needs go above and beyond (see story below) as well as help us offset the difference between what our program typically includes and what we are providing now during COVID.

We trust that God will stir in the hearts of others to meet our needs but we are aware that we can’t receive if we don’t ask! Please make your tax-deductible donations at www.giveamore.org and be a part of being the hands and feet of Jesus to one of the most vulnerable populations in the world.

Thank you all for your support. We appreciate you and can’t wait to be on the back side of this pandemic looking back at all the ways God showed up among his people.

Christa Horst

Founding Director, Give Amore

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

— Matthew 7:7

Through Your Prayers, Brian is on the Road to Wellness

Brian was bedridden for days suffering from severe malaria and anemic conditions that left him frail and in great pain. However, due to swift medical intervention and a number of days in the hospital, he is back home and recuperating well. 

Living with his grandmother in abject poverty and in a very remote village, he was lucky we got to him when we did. At the hospital multiple blood transfusions were done on him and at some point volunteers had to chip in to donate blood.

This little guy will also need a diet change to help avert any future occurrences of anemia plus to help speed up his recovery. The good news is that despite the dark times in his recent life, he is gaining back his good health and soon enough will be active like his peers.  

We are glad he is ok and we thank you for your prompt and caring intervention when he needed it most. 

Harnessing the Good Fight Against COVID-19

Give Amore’s final batch of self-made face masks were distributed this moth alongside extra food to our sponsored children and their families. This was in our continued effort to help combat the spread of COVID 19 as well as keep our sponsored children fed.

Some positive observations drawn from the exercise included regular hand washing, social distancing from strangers and awareness of the existence of the virus. Also, our team alerted our young girls to the alarming rise of teenage pregnancies in the country and the importance of having the right peers for friends.

COVID 19’s spread in the country is alarming and worse still is its penetration into the remote villages where access to medical care, protective gears, water among other essential supplies is scarce or entirely out of reach.

Please join us in prayer for an end to this virus.

Lest We Forget

Despite this being the worst pandemic in our lifetime and all the lessons we draw from it, it doesn’t escape us that there is so much we miss and are eager to get back to once all this is over. Meanwhile we are thankful to still be able to touch and change lives in definitive ways imaginable. 

Regardless of the silence in our tailoring classes, we still harbor the hope that someday soon enough we will be able to once again joyfully see off empowered motivated and well equipped sewing school graduates in to the community to be the change they can be and infectiously share their gifts with others in love.

The list is endless, however on a positive note, we are grateful that together, we can still do clean water wells and door to door food distribution among other vital causes during these trying times that not only change lives but also unite us as the body of Christ in love!  

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24

Wow. If our world ever needed Jesus more in my lifetime it’s right now. I know that darkness cannot overcome darkness without light. I want to urge us all to be the light in this dark world! We cannot debate someone into knowing the love of Jesus. We can’t force them into knowing Him. We can’t argue and try to rationalize away someone’s pain, fear and life experiences. But we can BE THE LIGHT! We can LOVE others as Jesus loves us. We can be HIS hands and feet by showing up and listening and helping. Our world is hurting. We’ve been faced with some of the greatest challenges in many years-as a globe! There’s so much fear and anxiety. Add to that racial inequalities that have sadly long existed but are being brought to the surface and we’ve got an infected, open wound for much of our country and the globe. Jesus is our healer!

I encourage you to look above the mess below. Look UP! Look to Jesus!! He is our anchor. He is our hope! The best way we have to change the world is to change ourselves! Our aim is to be like Jesus!! I’m blessed to say that’s what the mission of Give Amore has always been-to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our brothers and sisters across the globe and to always, always preach the gospel and when necessary, we use words. (Thank you St. Francis of Assisi for those beautiful words). 

We pray for our generous givers, we pray for all of the lives we’re impacting in Kenya (and here through the blessing of generosity) and we pray for our entire world. We’re in the messy middle of change but it will bring a beautiful, much needed transformation to many lives!

Please read our newsletter for ways we are continuing to make a difference!

Your Sister in Christ,

Answered Prayers of Clean Water

Tens of families are currently drawing clean safe water from Give Amore’s 23rd well that was completed and commissioned on Monday, June 15, 2020.. This latest blessing is situated strategically at Kelvin’s home, one of our latest additions to our sponsorship cause.

Amid the worldwide raging Covid-19 contagion this well suffices as a vital means in controlling possible contraction and spread of this deadly virus. Its bounty of clean water will help effect hand washing and further easing sterilization of the common reusable face masks in this village and beyond.

Also, other water and related glitches will also be resolved hence providing an enabling platform for the beneficiaries to focus on maximizing their scarce economic undertakings to fend for their families during these harsh financial times. 

The well was hand dug by our proficient devoted team of well builders who also happen to have worked on our previous life changing boreholes. Based on their consistency and good work, we believe this well, just like its predecessors, will go down in history as one of the rarest projects that changed lives eternally in western Kenya. 

Sustaining the Vulnerable through the Pandemic

Once more this month Give Amore distributed food and toiletries to the families of our sponsored children in our new a door to door delivery method. This venture also seeks to help cushion the children and their loved ones against the current raging tough times courtesy of Covid-19.

Further, our dedicated team utilized this occasion to follow up on their sanitization routine and we are glad to report that they are devoted to the set guidelines of steady hand washing and regular sterilization of their face masks. Also we observed limited interactions with strangers, an encouraging factor that they are aware of Corona Virus and its deathly nature.

Currently the number of cases are surging at an alarming rate in Kenya as the government races against time to restrain its spread.  However, there are no confirmed cases in western Kenya but this doesn’t rule out possible victims since only a handful of the population has been tested due to the ravaging lack of effective testing kits.

Emmanuel’s Alleviated Pain

The las time we paid Emmanuel a home visit we learned he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for over a month due to irritation and excruciating pain triggered by blood slurping jiggers which had all his toes annexed. However, after timely treatment he is now doing well and sleeping peacefully again like before.

During one of our routine visits, a formerly miserable Emmanuel was beaming with joy and proud of his restored to health feet. Also, he was grateful for the opportunity and swift response our team had to his plight. Alongside Emmanuel three other jigger victims were also treated including an elderly man in a painless treatment therapy. 

In addition to the treatment, their family house was disinfected of jigger causing fleas in a thorough fumigation process of its walls, floors and lawn. Praxidise, Emmanuel’s mother testified that the home is now flea free and that our efforts paid off. 

Jiggers’ containment is still a work in progress in Western Kenya but we believe someday, victory shall be realized over these vicious parasites.  

For Such a Time As This....

Our Give Amore Sewing Students, September 2019. It’s incredible to see how our four year old sewing program is now being used to serve the community at large during this pandemic.

Dearest Partners,

We hope this newsletter finds you safe, healthy and hopeful! I know that so much feels out of our control right now, and it is. But the one thing we can control is our response! We choose to respond to fear with faith. We choose to respond to chaos with peace.

It’s incredible to see how God set the stage four years ago as we began our free sewing school to prepare us for these days as we use it to serve the greater community by providing much needed face masks! In Kenya, if you are caught without a face mask you face 6 months in prison or a $200 fine! We’ve provided over 500 face masks and counting thanks to our generous donors and our Give Amore team! We are beyond thankful!

I’m reminded of this quote:

“ I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

— Mother Theresa

While everything feels beyond our control, we can all choose to spread love, hope and joy. It’s far more contagious than disease! The ripples of what we do now will be felt in the days, months, years and generations to come!

While, we may be a bit behind in sharing photos and updates, please know that our work in Kenya is continuing on and is more important than ever. With no government assistance, no free health care, lack of basic necessities such as water, sewage, electricity and education, we truly are the hands and feet of Jesus to our Kenyan family. THANK YOU for your continued support during these challenging days!

With Much Gratitude and Humility,

Christa Horst

Founding Director, Give Amore

Celebrating the Strength of a Mother

It is a common staple of some understanding that a mother only brings a child into this world, but knowing that they chose to stay and nurture is a blessing. Gladys, the rarest of young mothers, has proven to be an outstanding example of those women who have suffered more than the rest of us, worked harder than most of us and created more good than the rest of us.  

Having been abandoned as a child, raped in her teenage hood and introduced into early motherhood, this wonderful young woman has endured so much ranging from ridicule, anxiety of an uncertain future, difficulties of single parenthood and rejection from her peers.

 However, instead of bitterness, Gladys made good her pain by working hard in school, exuding strong will to learn extra skills such as sewing, caring for her daughter the best way she could, and never complaining about a thing. In another sense, she saw good in the reign of bad.  

Currently social distancing at their remote village in western Kenya, this young Momma vowed to live to be a good example for her daughter by forgiving and letting go of the hurt others caused her. Further, she is proud that what was once considered to mark the beginning of her lifelong misery has turned out to be the source of her greatest joy.

Continued Covid-19 Response

Amid the raging Covid-19 world pandemic, Give Amore upped her fight against this invisible enemy by supplying face masks in some parts of western Kenya. Alongside the masks, food and soap were also distributed to our sponsored families to help see them through these tough times.

During the activity, our team upheld education on the pandemic; emphasizing the importance of wearing masks to protect others in case of infection. Further they demonstrated how to wear and remove them without contaminating one’s hands. For washable masks, they insisted on daily washing with soap to sterilize them.

As cases continue to surge in the country and more stricter measures ratified, most of the locals have had to cut down on their daily food ration to some living on a meal a day to survive. This is due to scarcity of demand on all kinds of menial jobs that they solely depend on.

Over 500 masks were distributed and more are on course. 

A Time to Reflect and Rejuvenate

One of the affirmative outlooks of this pandemic’s impact is how it has given us all a moment to reflect away from our busy lifestyles and realize how we all matter to each other in so many ways despite our potent diversities. 

Without your active involvement, kindness, love for humanity and God, we wouldn’t have made it this far with 22 wells completed and counting. Via this initiative, hundreds of families are now enjoying clean water free from pathogens and so much time converted to economic productivity.

Also tens of women across Western Kenya are economically empowered through our highly impacting sewing school which has culminated to many children kept in school and families provided for. We couldn’t be any happier for this.

Finally, we could overlook your generous contribution in the lives of our sponsored children and staff and how much you have done to grow this big family of love. Give Amore thanks immensely! 

Unprecedented Opportunities to Love

Our Give Amore Team in Kenya, September 2019

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. ”

— John 16:33

First off dear partners, we pray this newsletter finds you healthy and safe. In this unprecedented time for our globe, I think we can all agree that we are in this together. Something that has struck me long ago when I started working in Kenya was how what happens across the globe affects us all. We are seeing this clearly now (if there was ever any doubt). We are truly global citizens and how much our physical/emotional health, our faith, and our economies are all connected. We are one kingdom under God! 

 While, none of us were expecting what has occurred to happen, I’m thankful that God provided means for Give Amore prior to this pandemic. While we had hoped to build our 23rd clean water well, we instead used those funds to provide sanitation stations to almost 50 communities! While we had planned to train our next sewing graduates instead we are using the skills of our teachers (one is a graduate from our program) to make hundreds of masks for our team and our community. We hope to continue raising funds to make even more! And while our children are out of school, we are thankful for donations that have allowed us to purchase extra food for our families to offset this burden to the families.

Our newsletter this month is just a glimpse into our COVID-19 response so far. We are working hard to let our faith be stronger than our fear as this disease spreads, it leaves our communities in Kenya open to horrendous outcomes. There’s also a locust swarm (the size of the state of California) heading for Kenya. These two disasters are in God’s hands. All we can do is pray and continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our brothers and sisters across the globe. We are using the time, talents and treasures God has given us to do our part in stopping the spread and to give love, hope and joy! 

We thank you for your support, prayers and partnership. We pray for God’s face to shine upon you and give you His supernatural peace.

Your Sister in Christ,

Christa Horst 

Founding Director

Give Amore

Covered With Love

Judith, one of our Give Amore team members, is on the front lines in Kenya as she supports our children with health assessments, home visits and more! These handmade masks by our Made with Amore teachers will help protect our team and our community at large.

Give Amore has converted its sewing class into a ‘mini factory’ producing masks to be distributed to our community. This is a tremendous contribution towards the fight against Covid-19 that is taking a destructive toll world over.

Our first batch targets the production of about three hundred masks or even more for the community around us and even beyond. The masks are made from locally available fabric and some are toned up with the touch of African prints. Because there is a universal shortage of essential PPEs and given the deprived state of the locals, these reusable masks come in handy to help protect them from the virus.

Some of the masks are already distributed alongside information of their paramountcy in protecting others from the deadly virus. Further, our well informed team taught them of personal hygiene and behavioral/cultural adjustments that are essential in stopping this enemy.

Contact such as handshakes, hugs, etc. are a huge thing in Africa and has existed for centuries therefore placing it on the firing range of the virus. We pray for change hence a better outcome!

Supply Distribution COVID-19 Style

Joseph using his community’s new hand-washing station equipped with extra soap, a basin and a demonstration on how to properly wash their hands.

Our second 2020 general distribution went down differently from our tradition due to Corona virus related restrictions. Our usual congregation at the Give Amore center was replaced with our team transporting supplies to the homes of the beneficiaries.

Besides the food and toiletries we typically issue, this time there was an augmentation of hand washing stations, extra food and soap to supplement their provisions during these lean moments and help curb the spread of the virus in case of an outbreak in the remote rural areas.

All our sponsored children come from families that live on under a dollar a day and thus are faced with tough times ahead unless this virus is contained.

Currently Kenya records an average of eight cases daily, a number that would grow exponentially if a countrywide mass testing would be conducted. This would give a better perspective on its national spread hence containment; meanwhile we are doing the best we can to contribute in the fight against this invisible enemy.

More Women Empowered for Business

Our recent graduates proudly sitting behind their new Singer sewing machines they earned through our one of a kind sewing school!

On a hope-instilling twist of things, Our Made with Amore program saw off six graduates from its tailoring training school well equipped and ready to take on sewing opportunities around them. The graduates spent six months eagerly learning sewing skills absolutely free!

Each of the ladies took home a graduation gift package of a sewing machine, sewing kit and a new dress made as an exhibition of their unrivalled prowess. Some of these women are widows, survivors of failed abusive marriages, while others are semi-literate individuals who had to quit school for various reasons.

By empowering them, not only do you help put daily bread in their bellies, but also keep their children in school and give them a sense of purpose. While exuding great excitement, they were so grateful to you for making their dreams come true and launching them into business.

Perspective from a New Generation of World Changers

Dearest Give Amore Supporters,

I’m excited to share with you that God is providing for us in so many new and exciting ways! A season of change is upon us and it’s been fun to see support and encouragement when we needed it most! THANK YOU!!! I also wanted to share a sweet recap from an exciting opportunity that Give Amore was blessed to be a part of-our local high school’s service day! Read this month’s article for more about this specific opportunity but this sweet recap that one of the students wrote warms my heart! I learned so much from these young world changers! First off, they are social media pros and they offered perspective into how we can better communicate and engage their generation with what we are doing! I hope you enjoy this recap from one of the students…

Christa Horst, Give Amore Founding Director

My name is Dominic Gearing and I am a sophomore at Dripping Springs High School. When I first found out about service day I wasn't really too excited about it. I thought, while it was a good concept, it really did not help anybody and just would end up being a bunch of kids messing with shovels outside for a couple of hours. This all changed when I got assigned for a special service day group. My business teacher took over a dozen students to help a non-profit, Give Amore, with their business and marketing. This to me was much more interesting and I saw the opportunity to use my skills to really help someone. 

Give Amore, I learned, was a small non-profit dedicated to helping people in Kenya. They secure sponsorships of children so that they can receive their education and be taken in by families. They then become a blessing to that household and village by getting the whole family food provisions monthly, instead of being the economic burden they would normally be. They also recently have built over 20 clean water wells for many villages throughout Kenya. This was intriguing to me, not only because of how much good they do but also because of how small, focused, and dedicated this non-profit is. 

I was excited to use my talents to help them in any way possible. When we arrived, we were put into 3 groups. I was assigned to help update and edit their website, while the other groups designed t-shirts and worked on social media marketing for the business. Over a short 3.5 hours, we accomplished what would have taken months without the extra hands, and learned a lot about the project. I think overall it was a very successful day and was much more productive and meaningful than I would have imagined. I enjoyed it so much I would like to continue working with Give Amore to help the children and the Kenyan community who need it so much. It is a great organization with a great service and mission and I can’t thank them enough for giving us the opportunity to participate and help.

Well #22 Flowing with Joy, Hope and Love

Look at the joy for this community that received our newest clean water well!

 Ever imagined something as abundant as clean water to be so scarce and even the slightest of its presence to be very reassuring and promising continuity and ease of life? Well a remote village in western Kenya, where clean water has been history for as long as they can remember had a magnificent chance to receive, a clean water well has been gifted to them courtesy of your generous thoughtful giving. 

This blessing is located strategically in Violette, Moses and Queen’s home, all sponsored children of Give Amore.  This family is the custodian of this well and will protect it while reaping the joy and love from opening their gates to the larger community to quench its thirst.

This well adds up our total number of wells dug in various communities to twenty two (22)- a number we are confident we can grow further through our wonderful God-sent partnership to eradicate waterborne maladies while providing lasting solutions to clean water scarcity problems in Kenya.

To be part of this big dream, visit our website and be the vessel of massive blessings in the world.

Still Sewing into a Brighter Future

Rukia,l a single other of two, sits in our Made with Amore sewing class eager for the skills and opportunity for her to provide for her family.

In our February newsletter publication we had asked for your help to save our tailoring school program and guess what??? We are so gratified by your intervention that aided in saving our life transformative program from shutting down hope for a brighter future for many who need it.  

In the class of seven sits Rukia (shown above) a single mother of two who not only enrolled to gain sewing skills, but also set on the avenue of entrepreneurship via the gifts of a sewing machine, sewing kit and a stool upon her graduation. Engulfed in abject poverty, this opportunity is not an alternative for her, but the only option to keep her children fed and in school.

The news that she will continue with her training successfully to completion came as a pleasant surprise to her and the rest of her classmates. She described it simply as “Answered prayers!” amidst joy of disbelief. 

The sewing team and the rest of Give Amore family thank you, our dedicated donors, for this wonderful act of neighborliness, love and compassion.

Sharing Talents and Skills for a Cause

Dripping Springs High School students support Give Amore for their Service Day!

Despite an uncertain start of the year 2020 for us, it turns out God had so much blessings in wait for Give Amore this month. It is a period that not only got so much done, but also saw the highest number of volunteers coming on board when they were most needed. 

Volunteers range from friends, family and well-wishers of Give Amore but the big surprise was that of  the Dripping Springs high school students who apart from learning  so much about Give Amore got hands on to help on everyday Give Amore tasks. The tasks ranged from website updates, social media, photo editing, graphic design and so much more.

More help is always greatly appreciated and you get to be part of a much bigger and vibrant course of changing lives for the better and have a front row seat to all the God is doing around the world! It’s so encouraging Give joy, Give hope and Give Amore!