Dear friends.
As the end of the year draws ever closer, and the number of days left for Christmas shopping get ever smaller, I just wanted to take some time out of the rush and bustle to write and thank you very much for your support over the past year.
As I look back over the year it is amazing just how much has taken place, and from an Open Arms perspective none of it would have been possible without the wonderful and generous support of your good selves.
The year started with the terrible post-election violence, depicted most graphically by the burning of the church in Eldoret with over 200 terrified and displaced people inside; thanks to the many donations from OAI supporters we were able to provide much needed food and medical care to those who had nothing.
A few months later came the wonderful day in Open Arms history when the dream of the Open Arms village became a reality. April 23rd will no longer just be St Georges day, it will now also be the anniversary of when we were able to welcome the first 14 children into the Open Arms village, and provide them with security, stability and best of all, loving parents who pour out God’s love on them every day.
Whilst the children in the Village are being sponsored by supporters from the US, UK supporters have come forwards and started sponsoring 8 children who are living in the Eldoret community and who we have contact with through various programmes. Each child is benefitting from the financial support that allows them to be able to go to school, have access to nutritious food, and health care as required. There are still more children that we would like to see sponsored, but many thanks to those who have already come forward.
The feeding programme in Kambi Teso, a very poor and largely ignored part of Eldoret, is providing 100 children with regular food, and the knowledge that someone cares about them and is available to them if they need to talk, or seek advice. It was also to this area that we took a team to run the medical clinic in the summer, and to do the jigger digger clinic in November.
Thank you, so very much, for whatever part you played in helping us achieve all of this; be it financial support, prayer partner, team member, promoter of OAI in any way: thank you.
If you would like to get more involved then please do say, but this e-mail is a thank you not a sales pitch, so I won’t go further down that path. Suffice to say, if I can be of any help or answer any questions then please do give me a call or drop me a line, and in the meantime may I take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy and Peace-filled Christmas and many blessings for the New Year.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
God bless
Helen
