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

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!

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

In the month of May, The 410 Bridge is focusing on our quality education sponsorships for all of our 410 Bridge communities in Kenya.
Our goal is to generate 410 new sponsors, and we ask you to consider partnering with us to change the future of a child.
Through educational sponsorships, we are changing thousands of children’s lives in Kenya, but we have a long way to go.
Would you please consider sponsoring a child and showing them the love of Christ by providing them the opportunity for a brighter future?

The Team

The medical camp was amazingly successful.  First of all, if you would have told me that a team of 17 people could work together cross-culturally without any relational drama, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have believed you.  However, God graciously created on our team a spirit of unity, flexibility, and service.  As a result, relationships thrived.  I could not have asked for a better team environment.

waiting to be seen

During our medical camp we were able to see 850 patients in 3 1/2 days, and 293 of them were students that we treated at Ngaamba Primary School.  It was encouraging to see everyone seamlessly go through registration (host), triage, treatment, prayer, and pharmacy.

Triage

Treatment

It was a historical day in the Ngaamba community after the clinic was dedicated.  Hundreds of people, from miles around, walked to the future clinic site for three hours of singing, dancing, prayer, and thanksgiving for God’s provision of a clinic.  People shared that they have been praying for this since 1963 when the Ngaamba community formed.  The women were excited that they will no longer need to travel a long distance to have a safe delivery of baby.  The village elders commented that the government may bring electricity to the area as a result of the clinic and challenged every person to participate in the construction of this facility.  The ripple effect of donations on one day in Georgia are being felt thousands of miles away.

Ultimately though, the prayer station was my favorite during the medical camp.  This area was an opportunity to let those who came know that we cared for them and God loves them.  With every person who attended the clinic we prayed for their physical pain as well as prayed for any other request they might have.  So briefly we were able to walk alongside those with stories of hurt, pain, brokenness, husbands who are alcoholics, and families with no income to meet their needs.  It is hard to describe, but they were extremely grateful and thankful that someone cared enough to listen and pray with them.

prayer station

A couple on our team were able to pray for a little child who was born without legs.  The mom of this little girl was overwhelmed with the lifelong responsibility of raising a child without legs.  When the couple on our team shared that their daughter was born without a leg, tears flowed from this mothers eyes.  She commented, “Finally, I now know someone who can relate to me.”  Needless to say, this certainly was a God moment.

The prayer station was an area that many team members found a little intimidating and out of their comfort zone, but several took a step of faith and served.  All who participated commented that it was an amazing experience, and it gave them boldness to talk about Christ.  In fact, one of the ladies on the team was overjoyed that God used her to lead someone to Christ.

Overall, it is humbling that God would take a group of people with broken backgrounds and allow us to serve.  For some, joining a globalX trip was WAY out of their comfort zone, but they knew it was the next step in their journey.  For another, God brought them to Kenya to remove them from life’s distractions so they can clearly see and hear Jesus.  For a few, God showed them the power of service on a previous trip, and they wanted to continue to serve. Regardless the reason, God took a hodgepodge team and did something beautiful with it, and NO ONE will ever be the same…not even close.

Billy Nolan
globalX Partnership Development Director

Wiliam receives his certificate for the Genesis Class

Following the 410 Bridge model to be led by the local Leadership Council, members of a recent service team set out to answer the request for a Bible study. Fortunate to have deaf ministry expert, Kathryn Montoya, on this team, the study of Genesis was explained in sign language with no interpreters to slow the communication down. Kathryn was able to explain in the desired detail, the stories again and again, so the deaf truly understood. She spent time on concepts, such a sacrifice, that the deaf had never fully comprehended. Translating words during a sermon familiarize the deaf with the language of the Bible, but it was clear they needed someone who signed to explain what is behind those words.  Using their own sign language and a story cloth, the stories came alive for them.

And they soaked it up, continuously asking for more. To prove they fully understood the lessons, Kathryn asked them to teach others what she had taught them. The newly trained teachers did such a good job, that those attending all of the classes received a certificate of completion and many accolades from the service team and other residents.