Welcoming Ignatius into the Family of Love

Clothes, shoes, education and HOPE for a brighter future are in store for Ignatius thanks to a sponsor.

Somewhere in Shibuli location resides a handsome little man called Ignatius who was recently considered for a place in our sponsorship program.

Born out of wedlock and to an unknown father and a runaway mother, Ignatius, 8, and his only sibling Junior are stuck with their widowed deaf grandmother alongside four other grandchildren. 

With the claws of poverty closing in on her, old Selina is forced to take up menial jobs in people’s farms for LESS THAN A DOLLAR A DAY in order to feed her six grandchildren and this only means, no school for her little ones.

For little Ignatius however, a new dawn is on the horizon after landing a God-given sponsorship from Give Amore. This support means that this fine-looking rafiki (friend) will go through the gates of a school, receive school supplies, monthly food provisions for him and his family, toiletries, make new friends and get mentorship from the Give Amore fraternity. 

We pray this blessing brings lasting change to this beautiful family beyond the joy they currently hold.

Sponsorship for elementary aged children is $50 per month. We currently have a waiting list of dozens of children. Please go to www.giveamore.orgto sponsor a child and give hope, give joy and give amore. 

Anti-Jigger Soldiers Marching On

The fight against jiggers intensified in the last month as the anti-jigger team stationed camp in Ebwambwa primary school, a school in one of the most infested villages in the county.

Among the most affected were children and as expected, the elderly also showed up for this anointed disinfection exercise.

The camp that endured for the rest of the day included both painful and painless methods of disinfection and as reflected in our follow-up stories, the results of both methods are equally phenomenal for either dire or beginning cases.  

Also, the team sterilized the classrooms’ floors to rid of any fleas and further supplied the victims with shoes to protect them from re-infestation by these vicious parasites.

Shoes are the best fight against the contraction and spread of these unwelcome pests.

Our jigger clinics cost $1500 and treat hundreds, fumigate homes/classrooms and provide shoes for all. Please join us in this battle to save feet and souls.

The Hands of All Give Amore Wells

Our brave and strong well worker, Jacob, and his family.

Since its inception five years ago, we have seen the well digging project transform lives on a larger scale than we ever imagined, including our diggers. Jacob has been with us from the beginning.

Jacob Nangabo is an experienced well digger, a husband, and a father to four amazing children. Further, due to his clean slate of job well done in well digging, he is and has been the hands of all Give Amore’s clean water wells across rural western Kenya.

Speaking to him, he describes working with Give Amore as the best thing that happened to him in a very long time and a great contributor in not only keeping his family safe, but also in keeping his medically dependent child alive.

In addition to that, courtesy of his well sinking talent, his children are in school, he has a roof over his head and thus stands out among his equals.

“Life has been on the improvement lane in the past five years and I have God and you all to be thankful for.” he concludes inSwahili.

We are thankful to him, his bravery, his hard work and his dedication to a quality job and we pray that God will continue to expand our territory, so we can help expand his.

Abundance Mindset

“You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. ”

— Matthew 25:21b

Dearest Partners,

We thank you for your support of Give Amore and are excited for you to read just a few of the highlights from the past month. It’s crazy to think that these life changing transformations happening across the globe are because of what we are doing over here. The generosity of hundreds of people each month make what we do possible and we are grateful to be the vessel being used to transport these blessings! 

It has become increasingly aware that sometimes our mindset can be so focused on the little we need that we hold back on praying for the big things that God is more than capable of making possible. We often sell Him short. I’m guilty of this with Give Amore. Is it a trust issue? I’m not sure. But now that I’ve seen God provide above and beyond what my little vision was for Give Amore, I realize that I’ve been selling Him short of what He wants to do and is capable of doing with Give Amore.

 When we were in Kenya last year, Heather and I both had a vision for our Give Amore campus. God gave it to me so clearly, out of the blue, down to the tile on the floors and the paint on the walls. I see our campus as a beacon of hope for the community! It will be filled with students learning and growing. We will have a full floor just for our sewing program. We will have a medical clinic, a food pantry, a community library, tutoring, and Bible Studies. Our computer program will expand and we will be a resource for the entire community to learn, to grow, to connect and most importantly to know about Jesus. Oh, and an American style restroom (thank you Jesus!).

Please pray shamelessly and without ceasing that we will make great strides toward this vision God gave me. I know it is from Him because I wouldn't dare take on something like this in my own strength. But I know what He’s capable of doing so I believe He will make a way by opening up hearts and wallets to support this and make it a reality. 

Please join us in making this vision a reality by donating at www.giveamore.org. I can’t wait to see it unfold. 

Blessings, 

Christa Horst

Overflow of Blessings

When Give Amore learned of a problem at our 2nd well (from 2014), we came back and fixed it so water is flowing freely fo this community again!

Water is flowing again at our well number two which experienced an underground clog a few weeks ago. The well is located at Derrick’s home, the family of Jayden, Michele, Michael, Gladys, Jimmy and Thomas all in our sponsorship program.

Apart from the caretaker family, the well serves an array of families both distant and from close by therefore, its restoration means business as usual to many women who had embarked on long distance treks in search of water, an indulgence they forgot when this well was sunk for them four years ago.

In another update, work on well number 18 is scheduled to begin soon and this time its location will be at sherlyn’s home in Ebulechia village. 

According to our dedicated well digging team, work will commence in the coming week and, without any difficulties, end 2-3 weeks later. Pray with us as we undertake this tasking yet fulfilling project in the days to come.  

Well Equipped! Now Lays the Chance

Blessing and Irene, Made with Amore’s newest graduates, proudly display their well-earned sewing machines.

Tens of students, largely women, have been channeled through our sewing program and today is Irene and Blessings’ turn. They proudly graduated in the joyful embrace of their peers and Give Amore staff.

These two beautiful women joined our sewing program at a time that their odds of making a breakthrough were meager to any possibilities. As mothers, wives, friends and steel-willed women in a harsh male society, they took a leap of determination into the sewing class, and contrary to their expectations, emerged well equipped with embroidery skills, a sewing machine each, sewing kits and new friends. 

Speaking to them at the display of their new gifts, they each in their capacities reckoned all the hard work, determination, sacrifices, support and love they received from their families and spouses alike as they took to a challenge they thought was impossible at the time. 

Blessings already has a laid out vision of a tailoring shop, whose pillars are supporting her family, making a living, learning and giving back to her community. “It is not easy, but I’ll give it a go!” she reiterated in her native Luhya language. Irene on the other hand hopes to spark something out of her new found path with the help of her family. 

We wish the duo all the best as they take on new challenges that will result into bigger newer possibilities. Congratulations!

Meet this Perfect Mother

Gladys and Volenshel, her daughter, take advantage of our free computer training classes at the Give Amore campus. Trainees are getting younger and younger.

Little baby Volenshel plays in her mother’s lap least aware of her setting yet exuding greater joy and pride of being in the loving arms of her mother Gladys Ambetsa. Miss Ambetsa is a high school graduate, a student at our free adult computer training program and much more sponsored by Give Amore. 

Unlike her classmates, she brings her baby along to class when she has to, defying the challenge of staying at home to look after her while missing her lessons, whenever Volenshele’s dedicated grandmother and nanny has to run daylong errands. 

This beautiful young woman never gave up her daughter, despite being raped and left helplessly pregnant when she was only 16. And even now, she miraculously finds a way to juggle taking care of her sweet daughter simultaneously to honing her computer skills. 

She hopes to become a nurse and the greatest role model to her daughter knowing that she is the happiest thing that ever happened to her. “She is the reason am here!” she chuckles away.

We wish this young mama all the best in her endeavors to come.

Off to a Great Start!

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech
but with actions and in truth.
1 John 3:18

 ”

Dear Partners,

First off, thank you for your support. I say it over and over, but we could not do what we do without your support. Thank you!!!

Our year is off to a great start! Here’s just a glimpse at what’s happened so far:

• Our newest well is complete! 

• We held our first jigger clinic of 2019!

• We graduated 3 more students from our Made with Amore sewing school

• A batch of tote bags that has been lost at sea for over a year arrived (minus 96 tote bags that must’ve been a hit with someone along the way as they carefully took what they wanted and repackaged 53 of our 149 bags and sent them on to me. How nice of them!) ☹

• We have another batch of tote bags arriving the end of this month via Sheila’s luggage so we are hopeful we will receive these in-tact! 

• All of our children are in school (52 children)!

• We have plans for a great year ahead with God on our side!

I’m excited to see the visions that God has given me, and then confirmed with Heather, coming to fruition in the following ways:

Give Amore has our first fundraising event happening by someone other than Heather and myself this Saturday! If you are in the Austin area, please come by! There’s a silent auction, a donation based yoga class, private donations and I’ll be speaking and selling our tote bags. I can’t tell you how happy this has made me to see other people pour their gifts and talents into supporting Give Amore. WOW! I’m beyond blessed and in awe! 

I’ve also been asked to speak to women at my church and at another church in the coming months! These opportunities are an answer to prayer and I believe are affirmation of God’s promise to me that, after the rotten jigger experience, He would expand my territory for His kingdom. 

Please read on for a little more about some of the highlights of the month and stand with us in prayer for others to join us as love in ACTION!  

May God bless you and keep you. May he make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.

Christa Horst

How much do you like clean, beautiful fingers and toes?

A non-graphic image of the children being treated for jiggers. Trust us when we say the photos that accurately display the trauma that jiggers cause are too graphic to share in our newsletter. Please message us if you’d like to see them.

Another jigger clinic went down last weekend and multitudes of individuals had their feet and hands disinfected from the vicious parasite, this time using two removal methods concurrently thanks to a new trial technique advised by the ministry of health.

Unlike the previous clinics, this one was widely painless as the method focuses to suffocate the profound parasites to death on less critical victims. On the other hand, manual removal methods were employed on dire cases whose parasites were intensely superficial. The former method is however still on trial and if proves effective, will widely save the victims much pain during the removal exercise.

Our team this time targeted local pre-schools whose main population learns in dirt floor classrooms with neither desks nor shoes on. It is worth noting that dust provides a breeding haven for jiggers and thus the more dirt floor classrooms there are, the higher the chances of children in them to get infected by these malicious parasites.

With hundreds of beneficiaries to the project, there are still more victims to reach out to still in dire plight  and through your prayers, support and our dedicated team of volunteers, together are will save many lives.

17th Well is Complete!

Mildred and Petronilah proudly show their community’s clean water well!

After weeks of wait, our 17th well of wellness is complete and from its location in Petronila and Mildred’s home, the village nay community it was commissioned to serve is joyfully drawing from it.

From muddy pond water to safe clean water well, this is a huge upgrade for this village, given that they couldn’t even afford spring water before. 

The community as a whole is bound to reap good health, reduced tiresome treks in search of clean water over long distances, enhanced productivity, a sense of responsibility and benefits of sharing in the love of Christ extended to them.

The village has tens of families and through the well’s strategic location, access to it from the various thirsty dwellers is guaranteed.

So far Give Amore has 17 wells to its name and is focused to keep sinking more water wells since the water problem is far from over in the rural western Kenya. Thank you for supporting us through this journey!  

Graduating More Tailors of Love

Our 3 newest graduates from the Made with Amore sewing program proudly displaying their new sewing machine and table-tools to start their own businesses and provide for themselves and their families!

Made with Amore brand of Give Amoregraduated three more students this month after successfully completing a six months course in everything embroidery. The three women’s hard work, dedication and enthusiasm to learn earned them tailoring skills, sewing kits and most importantly a sewing machine each. 

Emanating from deprived backgrounds with meager to go home to, this empowerment is handy in ensuring that not only are these wonderful souls  equipped to fend for themselves and their families but also give back to the society in the many ways they’ve learned to.

The six months’ course is cost free and a Give Amore’s venture to empower men and women with skills and knowledge that is essential in enterprise development  and much more enhance a ripple effect of ‘learning to fish’ in the entire community for the long term to come.

On the other hand Made with Amoretote bags are ready and will be shipped soon. The bags are handmade with love from the finest of African fabric carefully selected to suit your multipurpose needs. For more details on how to get your favorite pattern, contact us on Facebook, Instagramor via our website www.giveamore.org.

2018 Recap/Highlights

The Give Amore Team in Kenya, June 2018

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. ”

— Ephesians 3:20

2018 was AMAZING! I can’t believe that as we embark wrap up our 4th year with Give Amore all that God has done in this short time. And as I’ve said before and will continue to say-I AM BLESSED TO HAVE A FRONT ROW SEAT TO IT ALL! If you are reading this, you are very likely a supporter of our missions and we absolutely could not do what we do without the generous giving from others. I’ve been blown away to watch this little vision God gave me years ago grow into what it is and He’s only just getting started! Read on for a glimpse into SOME of the highlights of the year that were made possible because you listened to the tug on your heart to join us…

• 6 Clean Water Wells

• 13 children added to our sponsorship program

• 9 Made with Amore Sewing School Graduates

• 3 Jigger Treatment and Prevention Clinics each helping 200 people

• Added 2 more full-time staff in Kenya

• 5 of us went to Kenya in June

• Over 300 Made with Amore tote bags sold 

• 15 computer school graduates

• Over 150 Donors supporting Give Amore

• So many various ways we’ve helped in Kenya, I’ll mention a few:

  • Paid for a few students who had extreme circumstances and were no longer in school so we caught up their school fees

  • Opportunity for Brian who has 5th grade education and is 18. We are teaching him to read and he’s in our sewing program

  • Maurice, a man who was beyond debilitated by jiggers was treated, his home fumigated, he received food, blankets, clothing and a bible

  • Mama Ruth’s surgery was paid for. She also had a new roof put on her home, her grandchildren received clothing, food, mattresses, blankets and more

  • Jennifer, mother to Fednand, Joseph and Brian, received an addition to her home and all the home makeover goodies to go inside! 

  • Cows, chickens, goats and more given to various families

  • Dozens upon dozens of scalps were treated for fungal infections

  • Painted classroom chalkboards 

  • Supplies for midwives

  • Dozens of children were de-wormed

  • Children treated for malaria

  • AND SO MUCH MORE! 

Thank you again for all you’ve done and all those you’ve blessed through your giving, your sharing, your Made with Amore purchases and, most importantly, your prayers! 

I can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2019! God is in the business of miracles!

Christa Horst and The Give Amore Team

God's Overflowing Grace

“You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. ”

— 2 Corinthians 9:11

2 Corinthians 9:8–11  

“God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will overflow in every good work. As it is written: He scattered; he gave to the poor.His righteousness remains forever.

And he who provides seed to the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing, and will increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you may be generous in every way, which produces thanksgiving to God through us”

In this chapter Paul is writing to the Christian living in the Greek city of Corinth. In the verses just before this verses, he had just encouraged the Corinthians to be generous in their giving, supporting the work of the church and their fellow Christians. But where would they get the resources to do that kind of giving? Why would they want to do it?

Paul says, “God is able to make all grace overflow to you.  “In all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will overflow in every good work.” All, all, all, every. Paul is very all inclusive here. When God is involved, there is nothing lacking. Everything we need is here and provided.

Consider this past week or month or year. How many times were you hungry? Not the kind of hungry that says it’s almost time to eat, but the hungry that says, “I wish I had food but there is none. I’ll just go to sleep and hope for the best in the morning.” How many of us found ourselves with nothing to wear—not because we hadn’t done laundry but because our last pieces of clothing were ruined and unwearable? How many of us slept under the stars, not because we chose to go camping or rough it for a few days, but because we had no access to a roof to put over our head? All things, all times, having all that you need…

God provides. He provides through our families. He provides through people who care about us.  He provides through our hard work and skills. He ensures that we have what we need, even if it means working a miracle to feed a crowd of thousands with a small lunch. God has the power, the will, and the follow-through to make sure we are well taken care of, having everything that we need for our bodies and life.

But that doesn’t even touch the real overflow of God’s undeserved love for us, does it? Why do we call God’s love undeserved in the first place? What makes it that God technically shouldn’tlove us? It’s that we have sinned against him. God demands perfection from us and we have been far from perfect. Even one sin means that God should turn his back on us, and yet we sin a countless ways each and every day. We are unkind to the people in our lives. We leave good things that we should do undone. We think horrid thoughts against other people. We prioritize other things in our lives over God and his Word. On our own, we could not be more the opposite of what God expects that we are.

God is able to make all grace overflow to you.

God opened the floodgates of his grace when he sent his Son, Jesus. Jesus was the fulfillment of every saving promise that God had made to his people throughout history. Jesus, being both God and man, was able to take the full debt and weight of our sins on his shoulders and take it all away.

How do you respond to something like that?How do you show your thanks to God? By being generous with what he has given you. Do you have food to spare in your home? Share it with those who have less! Do you have financial resources beyond what you need? Share them with those who have less!

Maybe today is a good time to take stock of your generosity. How overflowing is your thankful generosity to others?

You can find ways and organizations that will do well with your resources, who will get them to people who are truly in need. Help your family and your friends, your coworkers and your fellow Christians at church. In doing so, you also become the way that God provides daily bread for others.

But you have a treasure worth far more than any amount of food or clothing or even piles of money. You have the gospel. You have the assurance of God’s overflowing grace. You have all that you need for eternity. And that, too, is something you can share. You can invite someone to church. You can give them a basic summary about Jesus. You can share this overflowing grace with others.

There are a myriad of ways that you can help support the work that we do together as the body of Christ, not to build ourselves up but to share this overflowing love of God with a world that desperately needs to hear it. We have a God who has provided for us everything that we could possibly need, both in our physical lives and in our eternal lives. May God bless your overflowing thanksgiving, your generosity to all, as you seek to thank your Savior who has given himself for you! AMEN!

-by Jack Nerrickson, Give Amore Staffer (who wants to be a Pastor!)

17th Well of Love

Work on our 17th clean water well is underway at Petronila and Mildred’s home in a remote village with tens of families who suffice as the ultimate beneficiaries from the clean water well project that seeks to solve water related problems while creating room for growth through the massive time it will save women from fetching water in far off streams and springs, all thanks to your generous donation. 

Living in abject poverty, the family of three and their neighbors are sometimes obliged to fetch water from a nearby frog infested pond, a huge threat to their lives since they sometimes end up consuming this water without any form of sterilization.

Hopefully, the well will be completed in two weeks’ time, hence the entire village to start drawing from its clean safe waters toned with love.

This well is the very first in 2019 and 17thin the Give Amore well list. We are proud at the many lives we have saved, touched and changed since the inception of this thoughtful project and we intend to continue in the same motivation through 2019.  

Back to School in Kenya

As the year commences, it is back to school for all scholars in Kenya, and as tradition, we equip our sponsored learners with education tools to help them get the very best out of their day to day learning activities. Each of our sponsored children each received books, stationery, school approved socks and a pair of school shoes as part of their back to school supplies.

Further, Give Amore ensured their tuition fees is all settled for the next six months and their school uniforms fully paid for, specific to each school’s requirements.

Almost all of the children are progressing on to the next grade with the majority being between grades four to eight. And in as much as we graduated three of our children from high school last year, we have another three joining high school this January, a growth that is exciting to be part of.

We wish them all the best as they face the next chapter of their education

Hope and Abundance this Christmas

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
”

— I John 3:18

Dearest Partner,

Christmas greetings to you! We hope your holiday season is a beautiful time of giving gifts, joy, love and hope! That’s exactly with Give Amore is doing this Christmas season! 

Heather and I had the privilege of compiling the list of all the generous giving for our sponsored children! In addition to their monthly supplies, this is what else the children will be receiving:

2 COWS

28 BIBLES

13 GOATS

33 CHICKENS

6 EXTRA SETS OF FOOD

1 BEDDING

10 BALLS

50 CLOTHES

4 JACKETS

4 MOSQUITO NETS

2 UMBRELLAS

1 SUITCASE

3 TRAVEL BAGS

3 SHOES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

3 SETS OF PERSONAL 

3 POCKET MONEY

1 COLLEGE STUDENT MATTRESS

And a partridge in a pear tree! ☺

We were able to provide each family with a chicken and a bible! Some children received more, some received less but all the children will also receive a new set of clothes! Wow! 

This has been a beautiful, and hard, or as I like to call it “brutiful” year. SO. MANY. HIGHS. And a few lows. But we have been blessed exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask or imagine. God has shown up mightily. It is incredible to have this front row seat to see Him provide through His people. 

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for joining us on this mission to BE the hands and feet of Jesus, spreading his love in Kenya and giving hope, joy and love to our brothers and sisters across the globe. We will try to summarize all Give Amore has done this year so you can get a glimpse into the impact we are making. 

 We can’t thank you enough for trusting us with your time and treasures and we look forward to whatever God has planned for the New Year! It’s going to be amazing!

 Christa Horst, Heather Duncan and our Amazing Team in Kenya!

Goodbye Jiggers!

Hundreds of families benefited from Give Amore’s third Jigger clinic held in conjunction with the Cornerstone outreach ministry. Among the beneficiaries were children, middle aged adults and the elderly. 

Divided into four teams, the jigger clinic team (comprising of volunteer resident medics, community volunteers and the Give Amore team) charged in different directions only that this time they favored door to door visits to the severely affected victims to communal gatherings we are used to. 

Almost all of the target population was disinfected except for an elderly woman who passed away from jigger related complications minutes before we got to her.

Despite this campaign being the hardest to watch, many hands and feet were rid of this vicious parasite with a record high of over five hundred jiggers removed from the foot of a 101 years old man, this being the highest figure of jiggers removed from a single foot ever since the campaign begun. 

So far, two deaths courtesy of jiggers are documented in our books but despite all the hardships and the most traumatizing sights that come tagged to the exercise, your contribution is going a long way in giving a larger population of western Kenya another chance at a life of wellness. 

Early Christmas Gift of Wellness

 Give Amore commissioned its 15thwell and like its predecessors, it will go a long way in serving hundreds of deprived families with clean safe water for consumption especially during the looming dry spells.

The well is located in Marceline’s home at the center of a village that greatly relies on vegetable farming for daily upkeep, thus boosted irrigation farming will be one of the coveted advantages that come with this new baby.

Our wells are hand dug by dedicated men who work round the clock to ensure the ultimate deliverable is of the right quality and fit for its expected long-term sustainability goals.  

We aren’t stopping at that, our 16thwell is coming soon! Keep up with our subsequent monthly bulletins and social media handles to find out more on the next well and so much good work our wonderful partnership is delivering to those in need.

Graduating More Ambassadors of Love

Our latest Made with Amore Graduates have hope and skills to provide for themselves and their families!

As the year comes to a close, our tailoring program boasts of graduating three lots of students in its pipeline, the latest being the class of December 2018.

The beautiful graduates each received a sewing machine, a sewing kit, prayers and well wishes from our team and their tailoring peers. These gifts are handy in ensuring that they “fish” for a lifetime.

The motive of their equipment is to send them off to the community as ambassadors of love to the communities they come from. By embracing tailoring business startups, they not only gain financial independence but also give back to the community by bringing such services even closer while also providing mentorship and possible employment to viable assistants as their businesses grow. 

We wish them well as they share the love of Jesus to and with their communities.

My Grown Up Christmas List

It’s the time of year when ads for holiday cheer (in the form of unhealthy food and collections of junk that fill our homes and our time) are non-stop.
The thing I’ve learned after really helping others the past years is that which brings true joy and happiness is not bought in a store, it is that which we GIVE to others. I’m not talking about the Apple Watch or a new iPhone. I’m talking about generosity that comes from our hearts to help others that will never be able to repay us here on earth.

How I combat the American consumerism that is about to explode next week is by giving and giving generously to organizations like ours that are really making a difference.

We’ve made it super easy and have compiled a wish list of items we need. You can pick any items and purchase them in honor of someone else! We will mail them a card that says that you bought a cow or a goat or 3 chickens for children in Kenya in their name. Or, as a family you can come together and do a family gift for a child! Or heck, even build a well!!!!

It is my joy to have a front row seat to all those we are able to help. I’m so thankful for every one of my family and friends that has joined me the past years. We really are making a difference.

Pease join me in giving hope, joy and love and shop from my grown up Christmas list. And just watch what you receive in return. It’s priceless.

http://www.giveamore.org/wish-list/

Christa Horst

Give Amore Founder