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Christmas and Construction Chronicles

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Consistently, I am in awe of how things are coming together in God’s timing and order. He continues to make His fame known in Kibera and in my own heart. When I begin to get anxious, His provision comes through in many ways…usually not in the way my own mind would expect. In October, I had decided to totally empty the account in order to continue construction of the new school, a huge leap of faith. $10.050 was sent, with $8,800 going toward construction. Less than a week later, I was already beginning to panic when no funds had come in to replace those sent. When will I learn in a permanent, sustaining way the true goodness and faithfulness of our God?

“Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments.Deut.7:9

24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this. 1 Thess.5:24

God has done great and mighty things! What a great Christmas present to the children. This school will be built and God will get ALL praise and glory for it!

We thank God for each and every one of you that has responded in great ways, you have done so much to just pour out your love, some of you in a sacrificial ways to see this school continue being built.

Without your help, where would we be? After my panic, our friends from Georgia made another hugely generous donation($10,000)! We received an unexpected gift from Schwab Charitable to help with the monthly budget. Our sweet summertime teacher, Katie Ruth, her mom Sue and friends had a wonderful fundraiser to contribute more than $6,000 towards the school and student sponsorships. Just yesterday, a good friend surprised us with another super generous gift! So, why I am I telling you this? Because God is good! He loves these children so much!! He wants to glorify Himself in Kibera! He wants to glorify His deeds in North Carolina, Georgia, California and Illinois!! And the entire world!!!

Thanks so much for praying for us! God is answering your prayers!!!

According to our fundraising thermometer, there is only about $25,000 left to be raised in order to complete the school building. YIPEE!!

If you had asked me this time last year, where the school would be in it’s state of completion, I probably would have said maybe 1/3 complete…but with God. (I recently was heckled by an atheistic, saying I should not be giving credit to God for anything because it was people doing this…but without faith, you just cannot understand how God is truly at work in our lives- it is ALL His doing)

The children have completed the Kenyan syllabus and are preparing for exams. Pray for them to remember the things they have learned and to have peace during this busy time. After this, they will celebrate together on Christmas Day at school. Remember, they are family to each other and are so thankful for food they will receive, plus some extra goodies for each of them. They will sing, dance, have fruits, juice and some candy to celebrate our Savior’s birth.

Pray for Monica and the teachers, they work so hard, especially around exam time.

Here is a short video showing some of the windows in the lower level.

Consider helping us with a year end gift. We thank you!

Some Trust in Chariots…

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  • Children with books.
  • new books for children
  • New Shoes
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Trusting God for the Children

This song was one of my favorites during my youth.Psalm 20:7 I liked it because it was an upbeat, joyous song about our Lord, reminding us that even if others put their trust in the machines of war, our ultimate trust was to be in God. It is well to sing songs, but another matter to put trust in God for something you KNOW YOU CANNOT DO! But, He is my hope, my song, my strong tower, the lifter of my head, my everything in this world. I cannot look to any individual to provide enough money to meet the needs of orphans in a third world country. It is God that touches hearts, it is God that orchestrates connections, it is God that goes ahead and is in fact there in His omniscience, tenderly taking care of them much better than I ever could. So, we are declaring, we trust in you God! I have learned that I can’t trust how I feel anymore. This has been a very confusing, difficult year to walk through filled with exciting highs and devastating lows, but God does not change and I can count on God’s word and His faithfulness and that is enough. I will remember the name of the Lord MY GOD and we can continue saying that He is the One that has provided.

School Needs Text Books

In the last month, so much has happened! We were notified in September that changes had been made to the Kenyan School Syllabus, requiring the immediate purchase of brand new text books in each grade level. As you know, that is very expensive, but someone sent in funds at the perfect time, enabling us to purchase books. Thank you Jesus!!

New books for the children were delivered.

Teacher Training & Shoes

Monica recently attended teacher training in Nukuru. She will be holding training sessions for the teachers at Miracle Victory Children Centre to pass along her newly acquired knowledge. At another training session, teachers were asked to list some of the major needs at their own schools. Monica decided to list the need for shoes as a high priority. What a blessing, when she later learned that the children would each receive a pair of Tom’s! Tom’s usually requires biannual follow up after a child has been given a pair of shoes. If that turns out to be the case, each child will receive a new pair of shoes every 6 months! How cool is THAT!! I was super excited about this because more than 2 years ago we had sought out Tom’s, filled out applications and attended meetings in Nairobi to investigate being a Tom’s partner. After expending lots of energy, we learned that we would be responsible for distributing 1000+ shoes biannually to children and be responsible for the shipping container and any taxes due. It was overwhelming to even think about the time, energy and expenses we might be faced with in this type of commitment, so we just put those ideas away on a shelf. But God, He had better provision for the children. He made arrangements for Monica to attend training, write down our needs and then later learn that Tom’s shoes would be delivered to our children!! So much better than my plans and the ensuing stress and responsibility. Thank you God for your goodness to the children!

School Demolition Slated

A little over a week ago, we learned from Paul Obia, our Kenyan Contractor, that our current school will be demolished because of it’s location. All shanties that are close to the railway will be demolished to make way for permanent structures. While this is a great step, it means we will not have a place to continue school coursework. We are trusting God and believing that money will come in to pay for the new school to be completed. God is able to do amazing things and we know He wants good for these children. He will touch people to give and there will be more than enough to continue feeding the children, providing teacher’s salaries, medicine and any other need that comes. The teachers have asked for a raise- I believe God will provide that as well!

I got an email from Paul last night, telling me that he was going to keep the men working, with the promise to pay them at the end of the week. normally he pays a daily salary. He is taking a huge leap of faith in doing this. These men and women rely on their salaries to feed their families. It is not like our first world realities. They shop daily for food because most do not own a refrigerator or have running water. Let’s step out in faith together and be a part of seeing these children continue school. With their new text books now in hand, help us make sure that they will not have to disrupt their education because of lack. Let’s complete the new school in time for them to move out of the old school and move in to the BRAND NEW SCHOOL!

Be a part of celebrating God’s provision, faithfulness and goodness!

PLEASE DONATE NOW, it is easy with our giving tab!

THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!

shoveling dirt

School Build Bringing Hope to Kibera

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God gets the Glory

 People are craning their necks to see what is happening in Kibera. They pass by here every day and cannot believe what they see!  They say, “You mean that lady Monica, this is her school? She is from Kibera, how can it be? It MUST be GOD! It has to be GOD!!  This is too hard for a woman from here to build this, NO WAY!” God is being glorified here! The King of Kings and Lord of Lords is getting credit for THIS!! No human is able to do this.  

It’s a Terrible Place

Tommy Emory, from Jesup, Georgia, member at Calvary Baptist Church went to Kenya to help start our new school. Tommy told me that nothing I had told him prepared him for the reality of Kibera. It changes you, it gets in your soul, the people are melded in your heart, you see God and hear God better than you ever have before. I asked him to write a little something about his trip, this is his note:

Cindy,

While I was at Monica’s I sent my wife an e-mail that she said touched her heart in a special way. It best describes my days there. I would like to to share it with you along with some pictures of the building site:
The footing on the school was started today. Paul had a lot of men working on it. I took some pictures of Monica shoveling.
The property was nothing like I imagined.  When I looked at the area, I thought from the world’s view this would be a terrible place to build a school, but the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said from the Kingdom’s view it is the best place to build.
I went to a fellowship meeting with Emory,Monica, some of her friends, and three pastors in this area. I was really aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Cindy, This school will give hope to those who desperately need to know that God loves them. The second photo was taken the day that we prayed giving thanks to God for His goodness.
Love,
Tommy
And this is my response:

Dear Tommy,

Thanks so much for sending this post! It is interesting that while I was in Kibera, the same thing happened when I first saw the land in person. I knew that the world would think it was crazy and we needed more land, but God showed me that we are ministering to children in Kibera and that is EXACTLY where we were supposed to be!!
God is good and His plans are so much better than ours.
I hope you are feeling rested. Let me know how it goes when you get to share with your church!
God bless!!
Love,
Cindy
School Build Phases

We just began construction on the new school! Phase 1 is coming to a completion. Please pray with us

and consider making a critically needed donation to begin Phase 2. PLEASE DONATE

Here is a break down of each phase and the cost:

The first phase of the foundation, ground floor walling, assembly area flooring, and ground floor

columns should be complete. ( $25,000.00- this is paid in full!!)

The phase 2 will include:

Form work for floor beams on second floor

Steel work for second floor

Floor slab

Electrical conduit for lighting

Plumbing rough-in on second floor

Interior stone work

Complete pouring columns and bearing beam on outside wall perimeter

estimate for second phase: ( $32,000.00)

Phase 3 will be the roof:

Third phase estimate ( $16,000.00)

The 4th Final Phase will include

The final wall plastering

Painting

Installation of doors

Grill work over wall openings

Septic Tank

Finish plumbing and electrical

Gutters

Fourth phase estimate ($25,000.00)

Please join to help us with meeting the needs of the extremely poor. Our Lord Jesus Christ began His

ministry by proclaiming good news to the poor! We need your help to make it happen!

  • Monica Turns Ground

    shoveling dirt

  • Breaking Ground

    ground level

  • School Bathrooms

    bathrooms

  • Walls in the School

    school building

  • Walls are built

    kibera school
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Isaiah 61:1

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Please pray for us! Please share the needs! Please invite us to come speak to your church! THANK YOU!!!

We are a 501 c 3 non profit organization and have a transparent policy to release our accounting records.

  • Volunteers at Building site.
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image of school

Building the New School!

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UPDATE: School dedication

image of school

Monica turns the shovel to signify a new beginning for the school!

Miracle & Victory Children’s Centre

We build this new school to the glory of God, for the children in Kibera, Kenya.We ask the Lord to guide and direct them as the building goes up and as each part comes together, that God will dwell in every centimeter of this school, that many will come to salvation through the testimony of God’s faithfulness, that the children, teachers and anyone who passes will be stirred to want to know God. You are so good Lord God and we thank you!!

 

childrenGroupKneeling300Our prayers are being answered and the long held hope is beginning to visualize- hallelujah! Tommy Burch and Emory Wilson fly out to Kenya January 18th. Some of you may remember Tommy from our August fundraiser. He and his wife Janis, from Jesup, Georgia had asked for prayer at the end of the worship service. They wanted to do something significant for God and wanted us to pray with them to understand exactly what God would have them do for Him. From that point, Tommy and Janis would need to fill in how the decision was finally made to go to Kenya and build the school. We believe that it is all a God connection! From the time we visited the ladies from Calvary Baptist Church last fall, God has had a plan!

Tommy and Emory will stay with Monica and her family for 2 weeks, working alongside our Kenyan contractor Paul Obiya. Please pray for everyone and for the building process. We are trusting God to strengthen, give wisdom, cultural fluidity, excellent planning, safety & provision. We know God is able to do above and beyond whatever we might ask or think on our own. The children and  teachers are completely thrilled and can’t wait for the new school. Pray for them too!      Here is the architectural drawing of how the school is designed, it follows the lay of the land that we purchased last year. We have also started fundraising, our 2 man team cannot do this alone! They are working with about $25,000 that was donated by the generosity of an anonymous donor in the Georgia area. We hope to raise the necessary $75,000 to complete the structure. There are also more needs for each classroom, chairs, desks, blackboards, paper, pencils, textbooks, etc

Please check out our fundraiser site :https://www.fundraise.com/bringing-miracles-inc/school-build-in-kibera-slum   Or you can engage with us directly and save the fees involved. Thank you so much!

I have been there and seen the needs of these children. The heartache is real, the stories of incredible strength and hope in the midst of horrendous obstacles is humbling and very powerful. Jesus has plans for each child, really each person involved in the school. They have all seen their share of heartache and loss, but Jesus, through His shed blood, has bought redemption for those that receive His mercy, love and grace. They are getting a taste of His goodness and love.

Children in schoolyard.