One
year ago, Hope for Tomorrow was just a dream.
It was a dream of changing a child’s life, a dream of being Jesus in a
tangible way, and a dream of sending only five students to school. Today, Hope for Tomorrow is Matthew 17:20 in
action. “If you have faith as small as a
mustard seed…nothing will be impossible.”
Because of faith and generosity, the impossible has become possible for
our twenty-eight children!
As we take a moment to look in the
rearview mirror and reflect over the first year of Hope for Tomorrow, I can’t
help but first stop and say “Thank You”.
Thank you to God for blessing this ministry beyond our wildest
imagination. He opened doors for us and
provided opportunities we never thought possible. We also want to thank our sponsors. Your generous donation of money, clothes,
books, shoes, vitamins, angel gifts, school supplies, and other items allowed
us to minister to these children’s every need.
Your support allowed us to provide more opportunities for these children
(Hope for Tomorrow Sundays, Field Trips, Honor Roll Program, End of School
Party, Christmas Program, Carnival, Children’s Library, Summer Program, etc)
than we ever
imagined.
The children in the Hope for
Tomorrow program come from nothing. Most
of them live with dirt floors and bamboo walls.
Many of them have chores we would think should be done by adults. They have worries most children their age
should not have to even think about. All
of these responsibilities and realities are forgotten when they are in school
and participating in the HFT activities.
With us they get to just be a kid!
It’s in this environment that we have seen the children soar! Their self-esteem and self-confidence have
grown exponentially. They now feel
special, loved and worth something.
We
have so many wonderful memories this year of the children reaching new
milestones. I vividly remember James
Ombao giving Gepher a high five because he could read! Vanessa and Princess bring a smile to my face
every time I remember them telling me they use to be teased at school because
of where they live (they live outside of the cemetery), but now because of HFT
they aren’t! I can’t help but smile when
I think about Marilyn coming into church on Sunday to tell me she finished 10th
in her class! And then there was Hannah
Mae who was so proud of her homework grades that she couldn’t wait to pull it
out of her backpack to show me at lunch.
I’ll never forget Joan who repeated the 3rd grade this year and
finished with the highest grades she’s ever achieved. These are just a few of the victories the
children achieved.
This year has been an amazing year filled
with answered prayers, transformations, and God’s hand actively at work. We know this is only the beginning and we
cannot wait to see what God has in store for this coming year!
No comments:
Post a Comment