Hope Partnership Update

Missions of Hope shares fall 2009 update

Mary and Wallace Kamau and the staff of Missions of Hope International recently shared some of the highlights of the past several months as they work to transform the Mathare slums into “the Mountain of God.” To read the entire update, click Hope Update.

Visitors

A team of eight from Parkview Christian Church in Illinois joined the Kenyan staff and speakers at a weeklong camp at Joska for 157 high school students. The students were encouraged to make a difference in their world. The girls attended self-defense classes provided by two martial arts black belts from Parkview, learning to protect themselves from predators in the village.

Crossway Christian Church, Nashua, N.H., and White River Christian Church, Noblesville, Ind., are partners with Hope in Village Two. The center in this village is the newest in the MoHI family, opening on Sept. 28, 2009. These two churches supplied new shoes for every child and donated $8,000 to finish paying for the land purchased for the school. During their visit, the teams from the churches conducted a health clinic, a three-day VBS, pastors’ training and visited Business Development Services clients.

A team from LifeSpring Christian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, visited Kosovo in early Novembers. The 14 members of this team led a VBS for 465 kids, held a medical clinic for 862 patients and painted a four-story mural on the school building.

A team from Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Md., also visited in November. They spent a week with the community workers to implement the Health Home Initiative, which seeks to proactively prevent disease and promote good health.

Celebrations

Mission of Hope and Hope Outreach Church held a baptism service for 160 Kenyans on Nov. 14 in a local swimming pool.

Before all the centers closed for Christmas break the schools held celebrations for hundreds of kindergarten students who graduated to first grade. During the Joska celebration, the school said goodbye to the first class of eighth-graders, who will move to the public, national high schools. Most of these students have spent all of their primary school years in a Missions of Hope center. MoHI will have to pay high school entrance fees of $1,000 per student.

MoHI has worked closely with Outreach Hope Church to create a healthy, positive “rite of passage” into adulthood for the young men and women of Mathare as an alternative to the often dark and dangerous tribal ceremonies. The Hope program separates the boys and girls for gender specific instruction on healthy living, positive relationships and developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This year, 62 boys and 37 girls participated in this celebration of preparation for adult life.