Graduation with a Purpose

Our newest Made with Amore graduates are confident in the dresses they made for themselves as part of the completion of their 6 month training. These single mothers now have a skill and the tools necessary to start providing for their families! Now that’s how we break the cycle of poverty and despair!

Made with Amore, a dynamic segment within Give Amore, marked its very first tailoring school graduation after the onset of the deadly global pandemic, Covid 19.  This was made possible via government’s eased restrictions and well-practiced social distancing rehearses among other required proposed measures.

This time we had five women graduating after successfully completing a six months training on everything embroidery. Each of them was awarded with a sewing machine and a sawing kit to kick-start their journey in business. 

Almost all of these women are single mothers looked unto to care for their families nay village. Therefore, their graduation and awards trickles down to the very last person who depends on them in both the short and long run of their business successes.*

We wish them all the best. 

Tribute to Brian

Our beloved Brian, gone too soon, but we rejoice that he is with Jesus and we will see him again one day!

About a month ago our Brian went to be with the Lord after a long battle with anemia that s. shook him to his last breath notwithstanding our great efforts to keep him alive and thriving. Despite being a rock to his grandmother (and only family) and to his friends and extended Give Amore family, he was an endearing joy, glimmer of hope and most of all love, to us all.

His demise caught all of us with a huge surprise and ominous grief but understanding that he knew and embraced Jesus by living according to his ways makes heaven even more fun than we could least comprehend. 

So much to be said about our boy but we can boldly liken him to our appealing values of joy, hope and love given that we watched and molded him into a fine teenager that he was; strong, empathetic, loving and visionary. We are glad, proud and blessed to have known him for the better part of his life.

We are thankful to our generous givers who came alongside us in our moments of grief with love, prayers and financial support for a beautiful send off for him.

Water the Meaningful Things in Your Life

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, wether living in plenty or in want. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. ”

— Phillipians 4: 12

2020 is absolutely epic. It will be an unforgettable year like none other-for everyone! While it’s been an absolutely challenging year for most everyone, it’s also been a year of growth in unexpected areas-IF you are watering those areas! What we focus on grows. We can focus on our challenges OR we can focus on helping others. We can focus on what we’ve lost OR we can focus on what we’ve gained. We can focus on despair OR we can focus on hope. We have a choice and that choice requires effort and strengthening of the muscles of gratitude!

While 2020 has been so hard for us blessed and privileged Americans, it’s been unfathomably hard for our brothers and sisters across the globe who struggle to receive education, a meal in their belly, medical care and clean water on a good day! This pandemic has shaken them to their core and yet they are filled with gratitude for what they do have! We can all learn so much from those who are used to clinging to Jesus for their daily needs!

We are blessed that while our sponsorship program has taken some losses, overall, Give Amore is still going strong making a difference in the lives of so many with a new clean water well, jigger clinics, additional food provisions for our children and their guardian families, resuming of our computer and sewing schools and so much more!

We continue to water the meaningful things in the lives of other and focus on what we CAN do! While much is out of our control, we can continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus! This is exactly what Jesus would do! Read on for just a few positive stories of how we are continuing to make a difference. We are so thankful for our donors who make this all possible!

May God bless you and keep you safe!

Christa Horst

Founding Director, Give Amore

No Chance for Jiggers

Jack tends to a woman whose feet were highly infected with jiggers.

Jiggers have freshly been on the rise in most parts of rural western Kenya, a profanity that compelled Give Amore to carry out two emergency jigger clinics to help ease the agony of the affected population. So far dozens of people mostly children are pain free from these vicious bugs.

Part of the population treated included Give Amore’s Violette, Queen and Moses who were among the hardest hit individuals and at the time of their diagnosis, they could not walk properly nay sleep peacefully due to the excruciating pain from the jiggers. However, our dedicated team treated, educated and decontaminated affected homes.

So far, reports indicate our timely intervention is bearing fruits and most of the patients soon will be jigger free and back to ther normal lives. The treatment method was painless and everyone that turned up received the best care possible.

24th Well in Process

Our well workers begin the challenging test of hand digging our latest clean water well.

Give Amore’s 24th well is on course and is due to be accomplished in less than two weeks. This new baby is situated at Emmanuel’s home and from its strategic placement will serve dozens of families at its disposal and beyond.

With the raging Covid-19 threat that is growing exponentially in Kenya’s rural areas, this well suffices as one of the vital source of clean water that is paramount in the fight against the deadly Corona virus. Also, it comes at a vital moment that most people trek far and wide in search of clean water for drinking and domestic consumption.

Give Amore so far has 23 wells to its name serving hundreds of fammilies in tens of villages across western Kenya and the dream isn’t stopping at that. To be part of this life changing quest visit our website for this and more projects.

Monthly Round Up

Thomas receiving additional food and toiletry supplies due to the effects on his family of Covid-19 quarantine measures.

Covid-19 cases are soaring in Kenya and though western Kenya is not one of the hard hit provinces, fears still lurk of a possible outbreak given that existing control measures are hard to abide by due to inadequate education on the subject and economic disposition of the locals.

Give Amore upped its response to the pandemic by distributing food and toiletries once again to our sponsored families whilst ensuring that they stayed in line with set procedures to control the spread of the virus. Further, the team emphasized effective hand washing with soap and daily sterilization of reusable face masks.

Also, both our computer and sewing classes have resumed successfully. However, all students and staff are required to strictly observe social distancing, wear a face mask at all times, regularly wash their hands and observe other set regulations to control the spread of Covid-19 long term.

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!