“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” -G.K. Chesterton
We wage daily battles in the Great Rift Valley against two formidable barriers to lasting change – generational poverty and widespread corruption. While doing so, we are surrounded by a beloved group of babies, orphans, and impoverished community children who have been set apart as a growing army to carry out the main work of transforming Kenya one day. This fact bears remembering lest we waste energy “hating” those whose actions serve to obstruct our forward progress. After all, many in Kenya’s current population of adults also came from backgrounds tainted by poverty and corruption. Peeking through the baby room window during another day of challenges, our hearts fill with love again for the objects of our labor. Losing is not an option.
In 2018, our army determined to fight hopelessness with the power of God’s love grew larger. Over 100 Kenyans, 13 missionaries, and 2 U.S. staff now work in our ministries, infused with living hope and the resources you help provide. Together we symbolize His redemption to a struggling community, built on the confidence of a strong vision and buoyed by eight years of steady progress.
That community around us has noticed the impact of our love. True and lasting changes now stem from positive outlooks, right attitudes, and better choices in hundreds of nearby homes. Real resources are now available for families, like quality education, clean water, proper nutrition, solar lighting, table banking, social work and nursing programs, and community facilities to provide trainings for adults who never went to school. The Maendeleo Initiative and MTOTO Early Childhood Program we founded are helping to comprehensively develop the resources of parents, families, businesses, and the Rift Valley region.
At Naomi’s Village, 85 kids live on one of the most beautiful children’s home campuses in Africa, where they continue to lovingly welcome new abandoned babies and serve their neighbors on weekends. Their redemption stories shout the glory of Jesus so loudly that visitors to our home can’t possibly miss Him. Almost 300 of you, including a dozen interns, came to visit us in the past year alone.
LEAP Preschool and Cornerstone Preparatory Academy currently educate 227 students, providing 12 nutritious meals and snacks per week, outings, PE, spiritual care, healthcare, counseling, and extra tutoring.
To complete the vision God gave us, we must go forward in 2019, continuing to fight with the people of rural Kenya for lasting change. In January, we add 50 community pupils to our schools, each needing sponsors. By the middle of 2019, we will begin mobilizing resources to construct a high school at Cornerstone.
Thank you for serving faithfully with us this past year! You may not know, unless you visited, just how much your contributions have spoken love to the unwanted, hope to the hopeless, and courage to the fearful. May God richly bless you this Christmas!
With love,
Bob and Julie Mendonsa
To Make A Year End Gift:
1. Click here to donate using a credit card or checking information.
2. Mail a check to Naomi’s Village, P.O. Box 270057, Flower Mound, TX 75027
3. Click here to begin a child sponsorship.
