News Update 21st October 2017

NEWS UPDATE 21st October 2017

Exciting things are happening at Home of Peace.

As you know we try not to send out more than 4 newsletters a year as we don’t want to flood your inbox so there is a lot to try and fit into this letter. Remember you can keep up to date by ‘liking’ our Facebook page. Just click here.

In our last newsletter, we mentioned that our Manager, Hellen, had needed to stand down due to health problems so for the past 7 months Marilyn has had to manage the home herself. Not an easy task from 6,500 miles away but thankfully we have 2 Department Managers (Erick and Faith) who with our Senior House Mother, Florence form the Leadership Team.

Praise God we now have a new on-site Manager. His name is James. When we first took over this work he was our Manager on a voluntary basis for 4 years but then stepped down as he had health problems. He lives near to Home of Peace and his wife, Florence, is our Senior House Mother and part of the Leadership Team.

 Manager, James inspecting Junior Dormitory mattresses

Manager, James inspecting Junior Dormitory mattresses

Thankfully his health has improved and he has agreed to take over as Part-Time Manager. We know him very well, trust and respect him. He is a retired Factory Manager and also a community Elder and is Chair of our Kenyan Trustees. Please pray for James. He will work with Marilyn and consult her on any major decisions or changes.

SPECIAL THANKS

We have so many people to thank that we simply can’t name everyone but there are some that we feel deserve special mention.

Our water supply comes from a river half a mile away from the home and our water pump died leaving us with a major problem. We sent out an emergency prayer request on the 24th of July and within 24 hours the £700 had been provided. God is so good. Thank you to the wonderful people who gave.

One couple who regularly sponsor the work received an inheritance and gave us just over £2,000 for Home of Peace. What a blessing. This money enabled us to put plumbing through to the laundry, buy sandals for the children in the summer, overalls for the staff and make up for some of our shortfall in running expenses for a couple of months.

Some of our children showing their new sandals
Some of our children showing their new sandals

Our Trustees Val & Keith Norton are a constant blessing going way beyond what they need to do. Val runs craft stands, does nails, and generally takes every opportunity to raise awareness and funds. Keith, as we reported last time ran a 10km race to raise funds and last week to celebrate his 70th birthday he asked everyone to donate to Home of Peace instead of buying him a gift. We thank God for them and ask that you uphold them both in your prayers.

Last week we received an unexpected visit from the officials at the Government National Health Insurance Service office. They said that they wanted to express their appreciation for all we do for the children and brought a van load of food including oil, bread, and tea, 10 litres of washing detergent, 20 litres of oil, sugar, sweets, cool drinks and biscuits. This is a big help as food prices in Kenya have gone up dramatically.

DELIVERY FROM NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SERVICE STAFF
DELIVERY FROM NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SERVICE STAFF

 

POLITICAL PROBLEMS
As you will no doubt know from the newspapers, TV or Radio news Kenya had a general election 2 months ago. Sadly this was accompanied by violence and deaths. Then the court declared the election results flawed and ordered a re-election which will take place on the 26th of this month. Please pray for the safety of our children and staff.

Because of the fear of violence and riots the Education Dept. has decided to close the local schools from this week until January. That means we now have 56 children at the home full-time for 11 weeks instead of the 6 weeks we expected. This will put an additional strain on the staff. We will also need to buy additional sports equipment to keep them occupied. If you would like to make a donation towards this it would be greatly appreciated.

NEW CHILDREN
On the 9th of July, we were visited by the Department of Children’s Services with a lovely 7-year-old boy who needed urgent placement. I will not go into the details of why he needed the placement.
He arrived with just the clothes he was wearing. Nothing else!

Our dilemma. Do we accept him even though we did not have any extra funds to look after him? To us the answer was obvious! He is now living happily and safely at Home of Peace. Here is a picture of him feeling excited that he has a safe place to live, clothes, food and loving people to look after him.

Then on the 2nd of September, they again visited with a lovely boy who is 12 years old and had been abandoned, then taken in by a non-related family who mistreated him and used him as a servant.

The 2 boys mentioned above happy and dressed in their new school uniforms
The 2 boys mentioned above happy and dressed in their new school uniforms

Both these boys are now safe, clothed, going to school, well fed, receiving medical attention and love. Thank you to those who read about this on our Facebook page and gave towards these 2 boys.

JANUARY

In January we will have children finishing their primary schooling and needing to move on to Secondary School. In addition to the normal cost of having a child and feeding them etc, Secondary School will cost us £375 per student for their school fees, uniform, books and a bicycle to get to and from the school. We should have about 15 students from January (depending on their school results.) If you would like to sponsor one or more children please let us know. We will need the £375 by the first week in January.

In January we will send out a Newsletter with pictures of the secondary students as well as photos of all our children taken at Christmas.

We really appreciate and thank God for every person who supports this work financially. For some, we know it is a real sacrifice. God richly you. But sadly we do not yet receive enough to cover our regular monthly expenses. God always provides somehow through one-off gifts but we do need more regular support. Please, will you ask Him if He wants you to do more or if you can speak to others, get your church interested or help by sending occasional donations?

Prayer Request. As mentioned in our last newsletter we are in a remote location well off the beaten track and have no transport. When anyone is ill and needs to go to the clinic or the hospital, go to the bank, do shopping they have to phone for a TutTut (motorbike taxi). These are not safe and there have been a couple of accidents recently.
When we purchase anything such as groceries or other goods we have to hire a van and driver to have them delivered. This is both costly and not an ideal solution. We would love to be able to supply Home of Peace with a 4×4 vehicle and have seen them advertised in the area for around £5,000 plus £500 for insurance and tax.

May God richly bless you,
Love in Jesus,
Marilyn & Ray

If you would like to make a donation towards the Home of Peace Children’s Home please click here.