May 2012 Newsletter
Dear Friends of Our Journey,
As Mother’s Day approaches I can’t help but think about my own Mother, she has been gone now for many years but never forgotten.
As a single mother with very little money she faced many challenges; I never realized until I was grown how poor we really were. I always felt like we were rich, I was not only loved, I was cherished.
My heart aches for my forgotten orphan and street children in Africa; they face challenges we could never imagine, something as basic as a meal day seems next to impossible.
Please take the time to read Our Journey updates from some of the local Pastors we partner with in Kenya & Zimbabwe.
From: Pastors Julius and Dave in Kenya
Once again the Pastors had an opportunity of visiting the street children and the orphans at the city dump site in Nakuru. We conducted a feeding program at the site, feeding them with bread and milk. These children go for days without a proper meal, and in order for them to survive, they are forced by the situation to eat rotten food from the garbage competing with the wild dogs, vultures and pigs. We appreciate so much the support given by Our Journey Organization towards this program, this support has really changed the lives of these children, Our Journey has made this program a reality, and may God bless you and all the supporters. We have a burden to reach these suffering children but we are sometimes short of resources, your helping hand is most welcome. Thank you so much.
From: Pastor Ken in Kenya
It was an honor to be with the orphans, slum, street and other vulnerable children at Rhonda Slums on 28th April 2012 for the feeding program. It was an opportunity to put a smile in a child's face. The turnout was amazing. We had over 80 souls come to the Lord. We are more determined like never before to make a difference and impact the lives of this children. Pray as we plan for the next program this month at the same venue.
From: Pastor Wellington in Zimbabwe
The feeding program is providing a meal every day of the week to almost 400 primary school children, for most, their only meal for the day. The provision for a meal has improved the enrolment as well as the children’s concentration in class. When Our Journey came to Somalala School, the pass rate was at 8% in 2008, 11% in 2009, 17% in 2010 and 54% in 2011.
We believe this improvement in the pass rate has been facilitated by the fact that once a child’s tummy is full, his or her concentration in class is good.
Please help Our Journey in supporting these programs:
Feeding orphans and vulnerable children
Blanket Project Books
local volunteer women cooking for the school children
Feeding orphan preschool children at “Sunshine Academy”
Our Journey Community Gardens
Our Journey is committed to help break the cycle of dependency.
If you would like to support any of these ongoing projects please go to our web site and see how to donate. www.ourjourneyinc.org
We also have Our Journey angel cards if you would like to make a donation in memory or in honor of your Mother this Mother’s Day! E-mail Maureen at:
Much love,
Maureen