Newsletter – January 2011
Happy New Year! We are certainly thankful for you! The impact your gifts have made on the children at Ms. Agnes’ orphanage cannot be overstated. Fair Havens Ministries counts you among our blessings as we move into this new year. We will be sending out newsletters throughout the year with updates and prayer requests. Please share this with friends and let us know if you know someone who would like to be added to our distribution list. ***We would love to be good stewards of our money and resources and send this email to you electronically. If you are receiving a paper copy and would be willing to receive this via email, please email Jennifer Blackmon at: jenblackmon1995@gmail.com with Fair Havens Newsletter in the subject line. Thank you! ***
Jennifer Blackmon visited Ms. Agnes and the children this past July and was able, through the generous help of many of you, to take all of the children a new outfit, including underwear and shoes. They all received toothbrushes, toothpaste and small toys as well. Partnering with Kelly Green Evangelistic Association and Call to Africa, we were able to gift Ms. Agnes with 100 lb bags of flour, rice, and beans, plus washing powder, soap, etc. All of the children needing medical attention were able to see our American doctors while we were there, and Ms. Agnes was left with all the remaining medicines to use for the children. The children are all doing well in school, and four of them will be in secondary school when the term starts again in January. They had made many necklaces to send back to the States, and are anxious to make more.
Ms. Agnes wrote recently that all four of the students headed to secondary school passed their “final exams” at the end of last year! She threw them a feast and really celebrated this accomplishment in their lives.
There is a vegetable garden and cornfield that Ms. Agnes has acquired and is farming. She is teaching the children how to work the land, and has been pleased with her harvest so far. Her biggest challenge with this garden is that it is far enough from the orphanage that she has to acquire transportation to get herself and the children there, but she is very grateful for the food and the opportunity to grow it!
The most exciting news from Ms. Agnes’ is that a school will be opening out of Agnes’ Children’s Care! After several years of dreaming about this and many prayers, and spurred on by a generous donation, Ms. Agnes has received permission from the government to open a school for P1-3 students. (1st-3rd grades) This school will serve not only the children at Agnes’ Children’s Center, but children from the surrounding neighborhood as well. These children will pay a fee to attend school, so their fees will help offset the cost of running the school. The curriculum will include Christian education, so this school will be an outreach to the neighborhood. God has moved this along quickly, and first semester of the school will open January 31! The facility is getting a fresh coat of paint this week in anticipation of the “first day!” Please join us in praying for this huge endeavor.
Kelly Green and Kelly Green Evangelist Association are preparing a trip to Kenya/Uganda in June-July. If you are interested in helping support this mission, please contact them through their website at www.kgea.org.
Anytime you are doing some shopping for gifts, please consider giving a gift that blesses TWO people… the recipient of your gift, plus a precious orphan (or 40!) in Uganda! To order beads, visit www.beadsfororphanneeds.blogspot.com. To make a donation, please contact Fair Havens Ministries at www.fairhavensministries.com.
Prayer requests:
God’s constant protection and provision for Ms. Agnes and the children.
Provision for the school fees for the children for the next year, including the increase in cost of secondary education for Joshua, Christine, David, and Bryan.
For the school that is opening – that God would be in every part of the process, and that the students would not only grow in head knowledge, but in heart knowledge as well.
For God to help us spread the story of these children and touch the lives of others here in the US, bringing more people to this cause.
For God to do more than we could ever ask or imagine for these precious children.
