Burdened with Hope

  The clock is ticking.

     The next school year at Good Harvest and New Life schools begins in a month.  We are rejoicing and in awe that there are 70 children are leaving for boarding school.  70 kids getting the top teachers and the top education in Rwanda.  70 kids getting a new, clean bed all for themselves.  70 kids getting a shower and clothing.  70 kids getting three meals a day.  70 kids being cared for and nurtured by staff that knows the special needs of orphaned and vulnerable children.  Yet it gets better.

70 kids now feel wanted.

      The children and young adults of Kimisagara know what it means to be orphaned.  Most of them have spent their lives at the top of a cliff, watching life happen.  Their view from the orphanage allows them to watch kids with families get walked to school every day.  They can see and hear and smell what they are missing out on.  Seeing those kids sit and watch life happen was one of the many ways that God shaped our hearts to start Imana Kids.
     Our sponsors are already bonding with their sponsored children.  They are filling their paperwork with words of love and encouragement.  Our Imana Kids are getting framed on walls across North America (see what we did there, Canada? wink), their names are being whispered in prayers and their stories are being told.  Each of those 70 kids is beginning to believe that they matter.  That they are worth it.  And to us, that is one of the best outcomes that we could pray for.
     You may be crunching numbers now.  We've said from the beginning that we had 93 stories to tell.  We still do.  Some of those stories are of children and young adults that are not orphaned but they find acceptance and companionship and a meal in Kimisagara Orphanage.  And the reality is that until poverty and disease and all the sin of the world is eliminated, there will always be more children.  We know that and we know that our work as a foundation will be life long.
     Some of those remaining are our kids that haven't been sponsored yet.  That breaks our hearts.  That is our burden.  The little (and big) faces of those that we don't want to get left behind.  Although we are burdened by this thought, we know that our God knows each of these children's story.  He has counted every hair on their head and He knows them by name.  They are already His.  And we are only a chapter of this story.
     It is Advent.  A season of hope.  We find our peace that the God of the Old Testament kept His promise to each and every one His people as He does to us now too.

"And again, Isaiah says: 'The root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule the nations; in Him the Gentiles will find hope." -Romans 15: 12

     That hope arrived 2000 years ago on a cold night. That hope hung on a tree and vacated the grave and overcame death.  That same hope shows up in the mundane and in the extraordinary

His HOPE in the form of a long-awaited railing.

   

His HOPE in your actions of love and your commitment to changing lives.

 

You can still sponsor a child.  If your heart is tugging but you have concerns about the financial commitment, can you email us?  We can still use you in other ways to bless a child in Kigali.  We are in need of families that can commit to praying for and writing to a child on an ongoing basis and the financial element we can work on together.  We also take one time donations and you can specify how your gift used (nutrition program, mattress fees, school supplies, medical needs, transportation fees).

Will you also pray for James? 

      If you don't remember, James is our staff in Rwanda.  He has the enormous job of getting each child registered for the appropriate school, transporting them, paying fees AND ministering to everyone at the orphanage.  And he's rockin' it.  On December 21 they are having a Christmas and baptismal celebration where, as of today, 16 kids are getting baptized.  James has requested that we send him someone to help with all of the schools starting up, but we just don't have the money to do that.  He needs prayers for strength, endurance and discernment.  He also requests that we prayer for these "new" believers as well.

We can't find words for our gratitude.

Thank you from each of the board members for the many ways that God has used you to bless our new ministry.  Thank you for believing that we can changes the lives of each of these kids.