by Cathy Lessig
Last Saturday was a special day in Kipkaren, a time to gather and celebrate children! At the Kipkaren Children’s Home it was “Guardians’ Day”. Every December the kids eagerly anticipate this time to see relatives, show them around the children’s home site, and welcome their relatives for a meal.
We love celebrating our children and the day they were born! For children who may have felt forgotten or abandoned in the past, we desire for them to know the truth that they are loved and not forgotten. We celebrated birthdays in October and November and it was a fun time with all the children together. The high school children had been away at boarding school but they were able to join everyone to celebrate while home on holiday.
Kevin Kipngetich Then and Now
Kevin Kipngetich, one of the boys in our Ilula Children’s Home reflected on how much he has grown since he first arrived to the Children’s Home in 2004. He looked at the photos of himself when he first came and he was a small boy. Now he is grown and in high school.
Children eating their cake!
Brian (13), Nivah (12), Sandra (12) and Denis (11) enjoying their Birthday cake
This week ended the vacation bible school in Kipkaren. The children were blessed by learning about God, His Word and growing closer to Him. Here are some photos from the day:
Children 4-6 years old
Teenagers
By Amy Rogers
This past Saturday we had our annual Guardian’s Day in Ilula. This is a day that the relatives (aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins) of all the children travel to the Children’s Home to celebrate another year that God has been faithful. After the celebration the children return back to their home villages for two weeks with their guardians. (more…)
What a relief! Our 8th grade students in Kipkaren and Ilula Children’s Homes are done with their end of the year exams! The children are so happy to have completed the 3 days of national testing to determine what high schools they will be accepted into at the beginning of 2013.
In Kipkaren, some of our children, Eliud, Sharon and Nekesa were chosen to sign the opening exam papers on behalf of the rest of the students. What a privilege. (more…)
Several ELI Board members and champions of ELI have committed to giving towards a special matching fund totaling $30,000. You can watch the power of your dollar double while bringing hope and empowerment to more than 3,500 needy lives in Africa.Several ELI Board members and champions of ELI have committed to giving towards a special matching fund totaling $30,000. You can watch the power of your dollar double while bringing hope and empowerment to more than 3,500 needy lives in Africa.
Your donations towards our general fund will be matched dollar-for-dollar through the end of the year, totaling $60,000. These funds will help us to train and educate needy families while sharing the power of God’s love.
This is a special time to give thanks and we hope that you are blessed. There are few things in life as rewarding as knowing that you are making a concrete difference in the lives of people in need. It is with grateful hearts that we lift our thanks to God for each of you as we journey together to see orphans cared for with the love of God, and the needy empowered with ideas and skills for a brighter future.
Here is a link to an important (3 minute) message I hope will be an encouragement to you.
Emmanuel is pictured in the bottom right corner
Heaven is rejoicing to have five of our boys from the Ilula Children’s Home decide to be baptized! All five of these boys attend Concord Boys High School in Kenya and were baptized at the A.I.C. Kao La Amani Church.
One of the boys, Emmanuel Kiprono, had taken a baptism class at his high school and at the end decided he wanted to die to himself and resurrect as new creation in Jesus Christ. It was an emotional moment for friends and family to watch him be “buried with Jesus and resurrected with Him”. Emmanuel has grown so much spiritually and we are so excited for his personal desire to follow Jesus. Everyone worshiped together in celebration of the baptisms. We thank God for Emmanuel and all the boys who have committed their lives to Christ.
On November 9, some of our youngest boys in the Ilula Children’s Home graduated from preschool into the first grade!
The same day, the entire school prayed for the eighth grade students as they prepare for their exams that will determine what high school they will be accepted into. Please keep our children in prayer as they study hard to obtain good grades on this final exam.
We had a great turnout as many sponsors wrote to their children. Thank you so much!
The children were so excited to receive letters and pictures from their sponsors. Thank you for being a part of bringing smiles to our children!