November 2011 Praise and Prayer Requests

Please join us in praying for the work in Eburru and in praising God for the mighty ways in which He answers our prayers!

Praises:

• A new bull was born and is healthy.
• The support of many generous donors, sponsors and prayer partners
• Teacher’s dorm construction is going well and just needs the roof to be put on. All the teachers are excited about these new accommodations.
  
• Orphanage parents dorm home is now fully funded and construction will begin shortly
• Pastor Steven’s new truck has been working well on the rough terrain near Eburru
  

Prayer Requests

• Pray for Mary Njenga (Pastor Steve’s wife) who had a bottle fall on her and lost several teeth
• David’s Hope Leaders Retreat-November 11th-13th  - pray for us to see God’s plan for our future involvement projects & strategies. Praise for the people coming from Colorado, Prince William campus and elsewhere who are/have participated with us.
• Possible future plans for a boarding school, hospital, and/or tourism business in Eburru. Pray for God’s wisdom as there are many questions and research to be done to determine how these projects would operate, contribute to sustainability and potentially be supported by David’s Hope.
• Logistics & wisdom for Pastor Steve’s possibly visiting the USA in March or April

Pumpkin Carving Night – Oct 22nd

On Saturday, October 22^nd at 4 pm Kelly Hastings and Britney Butler are hosting a Fall Pumpkin Carving Party/David’s Hope International Fundraiser at Britney’s House ( 518 2^nd Street, SE Washington, DC). Please bring a pumpkin and we will supply the knives, stencils, fall themed snacks, and hot apple cider! We will talk about what David’s Hope International is and about the new Child Sponsorship Program for the students attending Camp Brethren School in Eburru, Kenya.

October 2011 Praise and Prayer Requests

This October 15th we are encouraging everyone to participate in our Day of Prayer for Child Sponsors. Please consider committing to 15 minutes of prayer this Saturday to pray for our current and future sponsors and for the students in Eburru.  We currently have 20 sponsored children thanks to your generosity (in just a few short months!).  There are still 150 more students who are looking for a sponsor to help cover their school fees, meals and supplies for the year.

Please also join us in praying for the work in Eburru and in praising God for the mighty ways in which He answers our prayers!

Praises:

• 2 of the cows are pregnant – this will help them continue providing milk and will produce revenue!
• Over 260 individuals have donated to David’s Hope this year so far.

Prayer Requests

• The David’s Hope Leadership Team is going on a planning retreat this November 11-13.  Pray for clarity in goals and strategy and for some great new ideas!
• The monthly David’s Hope meeting will be held on Sunday, October 16th.  Pray for those who come out to show their support and learn more about our mission.
• Continuing fundraising for a new dorm parent’s house to compliment the orphanage which opened this summer.
• Prayer for Pastor Steve, Mary, Jonathan, Eva & the many other Kenyan leaders who are busy at work in the ministry each day.

September 2011 Praise and Prayer Requests

Please join us in praying for the work in Eburru and in praising God for the mighty ways in which He answers our prayers!!

Praises:

• A team from Colorado visited & blessed the ministry in Eburru last month
• 18 of the 174 children at Camp Brethren School have been sponsored since we launched the sponsorship program last month
• The CBM compound was able to successfully host a Pastor’s Conference – a blessing to them and a new source of revenue for the ministry
• New goats have been born & this program continues to provide nourishing milk for the students
• Mattresses & linens have been funded for the orphanage, which is set to open soon
• Teacher Eva has agreed to be the orphanage dorm parent when it opens in September

Prayer Requests:

• Teacher Simon is leaving the school (he was offered a great position with the government!).  Pray for wisdom as a replacement is sought for his position
• Pray for the orphanage as it opens in September – 12 students will live there.  8 of them are already students at CBM; the other 4 are new to the program
• Funding is needed for a teacher’s housing building.  This will help provide a great incentive to attract and keep talented educators at the school

August 2011 Praise and Prayer Requests

Please join us in praying for the work in Eburru and in praising God for the mighty ways in which He answers our prayers!! Praises:

• Camp Brethren is hosting a Pastor’s Conference on August 4th & 5th.  The school compound enables them to raise some revenue by housing group events
• Fourteen wells have been drilled and are providing an abundant supply of water
• The Frontline Prince William team arrived home safely from their July trip and were greatly blessed by the opportunity
• 150+ gifts have been given in 2011 by generous donors.  A portion of this was recently raised to help buy necessary medical equipment and to fund 1/2 of an ambulance

Prayer Requests:

• A team from a church in Colorado is now in Eburru serving with Pastor Steve & Mary
• A large reservoir tank is being built to efficiently store the new water supply
• Pray for funding to begin work on a building to house the dorm parents and teachers
• David’s Hope launched a child sponsorship program – the goal is to find a sponsor for each of the 170 students at $30/month
• Additional volunteers to serve with their time in the USA
• For the David’s Hope leadership team as they make decisions and prepare for a fall retreat full of planning
• For strength, energy & guidance for Steve, Mary, their 2 sons (Kenneth & Lucas), Jonathon, George, Peter, Pastor Peter and all of the other staff member in Kenya

An evening of prayer and praise is scheduled for August 18th.  If you would like to join us, email news@davidshope.org for more information.

July 2011 Praise and Prayer Requests

Please join us in praying for the work in Eburru and in praising God for the mighty ways in which He answers our prayers!!

Praises:

• Scott’s safe trip to and from Eburru which generated many new ideas for the future
• Frontline Prince Williams’ missions team who are In Eburru until July 8th
• For Sarah and her team of volunteers who are creating a new child sponsorship  to support the 170 children in the 5 classes at Camp Brethren’s school
• The new Jerusalem church’s continued grownth – they now have 54 members and 200 children in just 5 months

Prayer Requests:

• Funding for an ambulance to avoid still born deaths when there are labor complications
• The 14 children who will be move in to the orphanage in July/August
• The Frontline Prince William team as they are currently serving in Eburru until July 8th
• The upcoming launch of a David’s Hope Child Sponsorship program
• Strength and wisdom for:
  • Pastor Steve & Mary as they oversee the ministries in Eburru
  • George as he manages the onsite and mobile clinic and farming project
  • Jonathon as he fulfills the administrative role at the school
  • Peter, the new clinic nurse, as he settles in to Eburru and cares for patients
  • Pastor Peter at the Jerusalem Church

Scott Sweat’s Blog: Back from Kenya!

one of the classrooms, taking a quick break

Hello David’s Hope Friends! I’ve just arrived back in America after an amazing trip to Kenya! What has been accomplished by David’s Hope in just two years is almost mind-boggling. There is a school where there was no school. There is a church where there was no church. There is an orphanage where there was no orphanage. A small community ministry now has electricity and water where there had been none before. These things have taken a lot of generosity, hard work, and, most of all, God’s grace. Thank you all for your help and prayers in this effort. It has made a huge difference in the lives of so many people that I’ve met with this week.

I learned so much and grew to appreciate even more the sacrifices Pastor Steve, Mary and their team make each day. I was able to spend over a week really walking in their shoes and learning first-hand about their vision for the ministries there. We are blessed to have partners in Kenya who are so selflessly committed to the work there. God is really blessing the church and its ministries. The new church is thriving, and I was priviledged to have fellowship with the church members all week. The school, orphanage, clinic, and church have all grown so much more than Steve and Mary ever hoped, dreamed or imagined. But with that expansion comes great responsibilty. I arrived in Kenya with a to-do list and I’m coming home with an even bigger to-do list. I am excited about how David’s Hope can help provide more avenues to share God’s love and hope with more people. I hope you will come hear about what I learned and how we can help this Sunday afternoon (June 19th, 2pm, 312 Wesmond Dr., Alexandria).

me and students from the school

Have a glorious day!
Scott

Scott Sweat’s Blog: Your Past Donations are Helping!

Jambo from Kenya!! What an amazing trip this has been. I’m getting close to the end of my time in Kenya, and I still have lots of questions (not surprising for those of you who know me!). I feel like I could be here several more weeks and just be scratching the surface of all the things God is doing and leading Steve and Mary towards. One of the projects whose blessings have been apparent is the water system. David’s Hope has provided $8,000 for piping and drilling for a steam well (basically converting steam trapped below the ground’s surface — Eburru sits on a dormant volcano). This source of water is consistent and clean — two major feats in Africa! In fact, it is so clean that I have been drinking it for the past three days with no problems. There is clearly a need for a larger storage tank and almost 5 km more in piping. What’s really amazing is that this water, coupled with the newly arrived electricity, are allowing the ministries to reach more people than they ever could have otherwise. The water will enable the school and medical clinic to enlarge — bringing much-needed care and education (both physical and spiritual) to larger numbers of people. So we will likely be fundraising to expand the water system pretty soon.

Many of you helped last year by donating funds for chickens, goats, and cows. I’m happy to report that all four of the cows are now pregnant! So your investment has had a great return and provided milk to the children at the school. Eggs are being sold in the markets as well. This is a great step toward sustainability for the ministry. Thank you for your support. It goes very far in this area, and I know you are reaping rewards for your generosity.

In Him,
Scott

Isaiah 58:10-11
“If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

Scott Sweat’s Blog: So Much Work To Do

We finally have a consistant water source for the ministry! Steam!!

Hello from Kenya! It was another good, although exhausting, day! We drove around alot today — meeting people and picking up some trees, bushes, and bags of corn. We also visited the home of a mother of 14 and grandmother of 5 — all of whom live with her. She is destitute – no land and no decent income to support her family since her husband left her. Pastor Steve and Mary have made sure two of the kids are in the Camp Brethren school and hope to take in some more next year. Right now all of their classes are full. This kind of story really shows the need for more classrooms at the school. David’s Hope has committed to raising the funds to build at least one new classroom a year until they are able to serve preschool – eighth grade. We have 4 more classrooms to go, but it is clear to me that we could build them all tomorrow and have them full the next day. The school is such a great refuge for these children to learn and get two meals a day. They also have a daily chapel service and learn about Christ. It really is giving these kids, and their families, the “hope” that David’s Hope was created to give.

Camp Brethren eggs being transferred to market

As many of you know, last year David’s Hope furnished the maternity ward with beds, and babies in Eburru are now starting to be born outside their homes under medical supervision in a clean environment. This is a major step forward and reduces maternal and child mortality. In the last three months, there have been 17 deliveries. In May, three deliveries were a bit more complicated than medical workers at the clinic could handle and so the women were transported the 35 KM to a hospital in Naivasha for C-sections. If not for the medical personelle at the clinic, these women would have died. Unfortunately, the women had to be transported to the hospital by motorbike….at night….with no drugs…while in labor. As a result, one of the babies was stillborn. Camp Brethren was recently gifted with $7,000 to go toward the purchase of an ambulance. Initially, I did not understand the need for this gift, but now being here and hearing their stories I see what a blessing an ambulance could be. The total cost of an ambulance is $15,000, so we’re almost half-way there.

Our faithful partners, Pastor Steve and Mary Njenga

The ambulance is just one of the goals I discussed with Steve, Mary, Jonathan, and George. We had a marathon 3.5 hour meeting to discuss their strategy and vision for the ministries in Eburru. One of the short-term goals they are very excited about is furnishing a library with computers for the children. This will be a focus for David’s Hope in the coming months. It has the potential to impact not just the school children, but also the larger community as internet access is extremely rare. We laid out short-term, medium-term (2-5 yr), and long-term (5 yr +) goals for the school, orphanage, health clinic, and sustainability projects. There are so many potential ways to help impact the people of Eburru physically and spiritually. So we’re picking up that conversation again tomorrow. I have lots more to report, but I’ll save some of it for Sunday when I’ll be sharing about my trip at our David’s Hope meeting. It is open to anyone who wants to come hear about what God is doing and how we can help — Sunday, 2pm, 312 Wesmond Drive, Alexandria VA 22305.

Thank you all for your prayers! Please keep them coming — Pastor Steve and Mary are clearly not on their own power but on God’s!
Have a glorious day,
Scott

Scott Sweat’s Blog: Packed Schedules and Big Dreams!

Hello from Kenya! One of the things that has struck me the most during my time here so far is how the children at the Camp Brethren Ministries School (the David’s Hope funded school) are noticeably larger than children those that are not in school. This is because of the feeding program that operates through the school. The demand is so great that they have had to limit enrollment to grow at a manageable rate (there are 170 children now). The costs for the feeding program would be astronomical if not for the farming that CBM does on the land surrounding the school and 2 acres of fertile land that David’s Hope bought them. The growing of the food makes the costs manageable and is a fantastic model of the self-sustainability. I toured of the 2 acres of farmland that CBM bought last year. It is almost two hours from Eburru, and I found it to be the largest 2 acres I’ve ever seen. The potatoes are thriving and they have a rudimentary irrigation system in the unlikely case that there is a dry spell. George, who is Mary’s brother (i.e. Pastor Steve’s brother-in-law) wears two hats – clinic nurse (2-3 days a week) and farmer. He rides his motorbike out to the land at least 1 or 2 times per week to check on things. In addition to these jobs, George works 2 to 3 nights a week in Nairobi (three hours from Eburru) and somehow manages to see his wife and two small children, who live 30 min. from Eburru. George is just another extraordinary part of the Camp Brethren team.

Steve and Mary are tireless. She works full-time at the hospital in Kijabe and spends her weekends in Eburru, serving at the clinic and mobile clinic and preparing food for the church-based weekend feeding program. She also makes all the purchases and preparations for the school feeding program. And if that weren’t enough — she does all of the cooking and cleaning customary for Kenyan women. Steve’s schedule is equally as taxing. He serves day and night driving Simon (his 1985 Toyota Land Cruiser with over 420K Kilometers on it!) all over Kenya. He’s usually in Nairobi one day a week and in Eburru 4-5 days a week managing the numerous projects and ministries. He attempts to spend Mondays at home in Kijabe trying to rest, but things always seem to come up. Steve is dedicated to discipleship and leads several Bible studies during the week in addition to his Sunday preaching duties. You can imagine with all the projects going on that the work really never ends. Just wait until I share some of the thoughts of what they would like to do and you’ll really get exhausted. It’s all very encouraging and exciting and they make these big dreams sound even reasonable.

Tomorrow, I’m having an American-style business meeting with Steve, Mary, Jonathon (school administrator and Steve’s brother) and George. I hope it will be a very productive meeting and we will be able to firm up the next set of projects to fund. There really are so many cool things that could be done and have a huge impact. I am challenging myself to do a much better job of describing what’s going on here and how people can help. It’s so clear that God is working here, and I am convicted that we could do so much more for His kingdom. Dollar for dollar I have never heard of a ministry that can have so large an impact for so little. I have tried not to get too outwardly excited (since I’m trying to be very cautious about what commitments we make or are perceived of making) but there are big things happening! I hope you’ll join me in praying for those and what role we can each take in this amazing ministry.

Have a blessed day!

Scott

1 Cor. 15:58 “Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain!”

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