Becoming a sponsor of dear, sweet Betty Harriet Wanjiru has truly changed my life and my relationship with God.

I was never raised to be a “giver”. My family was in the ministry and most of my life we were scraping by… I wish I could say that in the midst of that I was taught to give generously, but I can’t. My main thoughts regarding my money were my own security, comfort and enjoyment. Choosing a life in ministry didn’t help this as my extra income was not much… but, to be honest, I’m not sure that I would have been very generous with it even if it had been “much”.

In addition, I was overwhelmed when considering to whom and what I could invest in.  It just felt like no matter what ministry or person I could support with my little income, it wouldn’t make a difference in the larger scheme of things…

In 2007, I began to travel with the Daraja Children’s Choir of Africa and we would put the children who traveled with us up for sponsorships. I began to notice, as each child was found by their sponsor, that lives were being changed. Hope began to spring up in the Daraja kids… not just from the promise of a better education and a more secure future… but from the understanding that someone had CHOSEN them, someone had COMMITTED to them, someone LOVED them.  This began to change my perceptions of giving and I really wanted to sponsor a child. The funny part was that after 4 years of traveling with the choir, I had over 77 Daraja kids who I loved and called my own.. and I didn’t want to pick from among them.

The game-changer for me came from a sermon by Andy Stanley.  He talked about how we often use our “not wanting to pick favorites” or not wanting to “do for one unless we could do for all” as an excuse to not get involved, invested or committed. This totally called me out. I decided that day to follow Andy’s advice and “do for one what I WISH I could do for everyone”.  And by God’s grace, I began to sponsor Betty Harriet.

Nelly, Me and Betty at the Callaway Gardens Christmas Lights

Betty and I had a deep connection on tour, but more than that, I think we were connected at heart because … like the others… I CHOSE her. And she knows it.

I have been blessed to see Betty on my visits to Kenya and to walk with her through her post-Daraja journey.  She is in high school now… a freshman who is passionate for God and for making a difference in the world. She wants to be a judge and I pray with all my heart that she achieves that goal and brings some true, godly justice to the corruption in her little country.

Sponsoring Betty has changed my life, my view of my money (which is not mine at all, but God’s), my understanding of what it takes to change a life, and my relationship with my Savior who gave everything for me that I might give my life away too.

I strongly encourage anyone interested to sponsor. It will change your life as well…

Christi Baker

This afternoon, I had the privilege of speaking with a 10 year old girl, Ashton, and her mom. Ashton attends a local public school and her teacher is a trip leader for one of our North Point Church teams.

Ashton (in yellow stripes) and her friends

She recently saw a story on the Discovery Channel about children who die from water-borne diseases in Haiti and decided she wanted to help. She recruited a group of her friends to help and they have sent letters all throughout her neighborhood and done several bake sales etc… Her original goal was $450, and has now surpassed that by raising $563.61 to be exact.

She shared her sweet story on the phone with us this afternoon, with language of a 10 year old, but passion of a person twice her age. It was precious and inspiring… wish you all could have been on the call to brighten your day like it did ours.  She and her friends have now set a new goal of $1850.

I have invited them to drop by our office one afternoon, and you would have thought I gave her new bike she was so excited. God is up to some amazing stuff and we are SO blessed to be a part of it.

Jennifer Ward

The gardens behind the new homes have become a true source of pride for the families who have moved into the Leveque community in the past few months. Families have developed their own green spaces with fruits and vegetables of their choice. The gardens are a great sign that the deaf are creating their own self sustaining community!

Several members of the Leveque, Haiti, Deaf community gathered for art lessons taught Esdras Delva. Also a member of the community, Edras used his beautiful sign language and pencil drawing demonstrations to show his students how to create scenes of life in Leveque. The completed pieces were quickly purchased by members of a 410 Bridge service team and we hope this art class will eventually become a micro-enterprise opportunity for the budding artists who wish to continue selling their paintings.

The women of Karima, in the Mwihoko women’s group are continuing to expand their talents. Now they are making not only rugs and wool shawls, but also kikoi (a light shawl used in Kenya), blankets, baskets and jewelry!

The women literally take the wool off the sheep, spin it into thread and make the most beautiful items. Now they are saving their earnings to buy lumber to create another loom so that they can continue to expand.

A blanket in progress

For all those who love Christopher, our beloved Karima community rep… You’ve for sure heard this story. For those of you who haven’t, you’re in for a treat!