May Mission of the Month:
Living Hope orphans are immensely grateful, first to God that they are blessed by being able to be a student at Living Hope and second, grateful to Americans like you here at Jarrettown Church who through your giving enable the children to have more fulfilling lives.
Founder and Director, Marilyn Uhl, before she died last November, called me with a request. “Connie, I want to build a Library here.” I was able through my speaking to various groups to raise enough money to begin the project. I saw the foundation laid, the walls go up and the roof put on. I saw the supports for the front porch added – and then nothing. After two days I asked Nic, our builder, “Why has work stopped?” His answer was simple: “No money.” Before I left, he calculated it would cost about $10,000 for windows, doors, flooring, wiring, etc. to finish the project.
When Marilyn told the students about her idea, one student said, “What’s a library?” Schools in Kenya don’t have libraries. In fact the students have never owned books, and the opportunity to BORROW a book is unheard of. One girl said to me, “Mum it will be wonderful! I hear I’ll be able to go there and pick ANY book I want, take it back to my dorm, read it and then take it back and get another one.”
While I was there, the Kenyan Board of Education paid a surprise visit. The 5 members spent the day looking at everything connected with the school. They were most pleased with the library, saying we will be a model for other Kenyan schools. They advised us to “Get busy, and get it finished!” Of course, they didn’t offer any funds to help!
The children’s world is confined to the boundaries of Living Hope. What a marvelous opportunity it will be for them to expand their horizons, to learn about other cultures, other countries as well as to read a novel for pleasure. A library will provide limitless opportunities for growth for our students.
There will be a display in the Lobby and I’ll be there before and after every service to answer any questions. If you can help, please make out a check to JUMC with “Living Hope Library” on the memo line. Let’s continue to help the children at Living Hope. AMEN and Thank you! Connie Damon
BOOK SALE to purchase medical supplies for Living Hope in Kenya Come to the Mission hallway and see the totally new selection of books: religious, drama, fiction, non-fiction, cookbooks, children’s, etc. Take what you want, and please leave a donation in the box on the top shelf.
Living Hope is an accredited residential Christian school that has been in existence since 2010 in Bungoma, Kenya – 8 hours north of the capital of Nairobi. One hundred and nine impoverished teens who live and are educated at Living Hope have lost one or both parents due to AIDS, desertion or disease. Some have both parents but live in abject poverty. Students fortunate enough to be accepted to live and study at Living Hope find their lives radically changed as they experience, many for the first time, a bed to sleep in, three meals a day and the opportunity to envision a bright future.
In spring 2023, Jarrettown was able to step up and help purchase a new van. The old Land Cruiser we purchased 2nd-hand 9 years ago now had 283,000 miles on it and was in constant need of repair. It is used to carry food from town a half hour away. It is used to take students and residents in the bush to hospitals. The uses are endless as it is the only vehicle for miles around. It gets extremely hard use on the rut-filled dirt roads. Below is the recent purchase:
Click here for a video thank you from Moses at Living Hope in Kenya – “Hello, My name is Moses. I want to start by thanking you so much for your support. I would have not been at Living Hope if it were not for your help. I want to promise you that I will work very hard to achieve my dreams, as well as, make you guys feel proud of me.” Thanks you from the bottom part of my heart.
Update on Moses: In December of 2022 Moses graduated from Living Hope, but he had no money or no place to go to live. Jobs in the area are practically non-existent. He was permitted to stay at Living Hope as Dorm Father for the newly-admitted Form 1 students, but was told he could only be kept in that position until the end of February. When Connie arrived at Living Hope in February, she heard of his situation and felt led to help Moses. It seemed that he would benefit from attending a technical school where he could learn skills that would equip him for future employment; so during the time Connie was there, she accompanied Moses to visit two schools for interviews. She took him to Market Day and bought him a shirt, pants, shoes and a fleece jacket so that he would have something to wear on his interviews beside the ragged, worn clothes he wore every day. Before leaving Living Hope to return home, Connie insured that Moses will be able to enter one of those 4-year schools in May.
Below is a recent letter from a student our church supports at Living Hope High School in Kenya:
Jarrettown Church and Living Hope
JUMC’s Connie Damon has been going to Living Hope since 2014 as our Ambassador. Although the pandemic prevented her return this past January, she hopes to be able to return in January of 2022 to continue work begun there in past years.
Through her sharing of needs upon her return here each year, Jarrettown Church members have caught her sense of urgency to help with the needs of Living Hope. In 2014, we were able to raise the money to have a Well dug. In years since, we have helped with the purchase of a vehicle for emergency transport of ill students and those in the surrounding Bush. We built a Healing Hut (small Dispensary), equipped it with medicines and hired a local nurse who sees to the medical needs of the students. We helped with purchasing a parcel of land adjoining the campus for a new dorm to be built. These are just some of the ways we have answered the call. Marilyn and the students constantly say “THANK YOU JARRETTOWN!”.
The vision and goals of Living Hope are becoming a reality as sponsored children have their lives changed and are given hope to replace hopelessness. God is at work at Living Hope, and we can continue to help.
How You Can Help
- Pray for the children at Living Hope.
- Contribute during May to our fund-raising for the ministry of Living Hope (click here for info/form).
- Sign up to sponsor a student.
Living Hope receives no support from any source except individual donors from the US who sponsor individual students, paying $110 monthly. Donations are 100% tax deductible. The total amount goes to pay for the student’s living expenses and education. All support donations are handled by the Riverton UM Church, which acts as the 501c3 coordinator.
For more information about Living Hope, contact Connie Damon Conniedamon624@gmail.com or go onto the Living Hope website Livinghopehighschool.org.
