“The mini bus slowed down making a sharp left turn unto an unpaved road.  I slide open the window to get a better view, the tattered curtains swayed to and fro as we swerved left and right in an effort to avoid the huge potholes.  As we slowly crawled along the narrow muddy road, children stopped their play to wave and shout a cheery greeting at the foreigners peering at them from the strange vehicle.

I heard them before I saw them.  As we approached the brightly colored gates of “Baba Nyumbani” I heard them singing and clapping a happy rhythmic song.  The children.  I had come for the children. The faces.  I will never forget their faces. As we drove into the compound, dark smiling faces lined both sides of the bus, children dancing, singing a song of welcome and calling out “I love you”.  My heart filled with emotion, a huge lump formed in my throat as hot tears rolled down my cheeks.  I was already touched beyond words.  And I had thought I had come for them.

The children who lost their parent and have no one to care for them. They are tossed aside, unwanted, despised, little ones as young as four and five, sleeping in rubbish and abandoned rail cars, running the streets, overlooked or treated with disdain. The broken, the abused, the cast aside, the desperate – they turn to glue and solvents to take away the hunger in their stomachs and their hearts.

Every child should have a childhood.  Every child should have a bed and a safe place to call home. Every child should have a hope and a future.  Every child longs to be seen and heard.  Every child cries out for one thing, love.” ~ Karen Strite, Co-founder of Sent Forth Ministries

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On October 18, 2011, Gene and Karen Strite (founders of Sent Forth Ministries) will be traveling to Kenya with a small work team to visit the new Horizon Initiative Orphanage, Baba Nyumbani in Kitali, Kenya.   Please consider partnering with us through your financial contribution to one or both of the following efforts.

$5000 Goal for Orphanage Play Ground:
There are many needs at this facility and Sent Forth Ministries has committed to raise $5000 to pave the basketball court and the playground facilities.  A need for organized recreation, vocational and creative arts opportunities.  Paving the basketball court would be a positive step in that direction.

Famine Relief Funds:
If you have been watching the news, you may have seen reports of the devastating famine due to extreme drought, that is ravaging parts of the nation of Kenya.  We are raising funds to distribute food and needed supplies to refugee camps in the areas most affected by the famine.  If you would like to designate money to Famine relief, please donate to: Horizon Initiative and type “Famine” in the message section at the bottom of the form.

To contribute to one or both of these, click here to donate through our website or send donations to Sent Forth Ministries, 826 Tallow Hill Road, Chambersburg PA  17202.

God Bless.

Karen & Eugene Strite

April 15, 2011 – 500 new opportunities… and then some

POSTED BY: AMY

I will begin by introducing myself as the newest member of the Horizon Initiative team. While I haven’t yet been to our micro communities in Kenya, it is not at all difficult to sense the love, commitment, and energy that is poured into them daily, from multiple locations across the world. It is an undeniable privilege to be a part of one simple yet powerful vision: to Empower The Poor To Self Sustainability. Each day, I see this vision in action through the people I work with, the stories I hear, and the pictures of each and every child residing at Baba Nyumbani, our micro community in Kitale, Kenya. Although they are without parents or a home outside of Baba Nyumbani, their eyes are bright, and their hope is humbling. I know I will be personally blessed to meet them one day.

I have witnessed how many individuals can come together with their skills and resources to create and fund initiatives that will continually bear fruit for those in impoverished areas of the world. It is not just about meeting basic needs, but providing the opportunity to meet those needs to individuals who would otherwise not have it – building a foundation upon which one can build his own success and reap the benefits of his hard work, and perhaps then share that reward with those around him. It’s simple, yet smart, and even beautiful – because dignity is found in the process.

With that, I am excited to share a new project that is nearing completion at Baba Nyumbani and will bear even more fruit for the people of Kitale. After several years of planning and awaiting necessary funds, the building of the micro community’s brand new poultry unit, Hallehluya Ku Ku, is in progress! Five hundred chickens will call Hallehluya Ku Ku home, providing eggs for the children’s meals and to sell in the local community.

Thank you to our Board Member and North American Executive Director Jim Pesce and many of our friends in Canada for their contributions and involvement in making this initiative a reality!

Go here to see blog posting with pictures http://www.horizoninitiative.org/links/blogs/poultry-unit-update.html

Horizon Initiative is an organization founded with a core competency of Empowering The Poor To Self Sustainability. We achieve this through developing Micro Communities that are backed by Venture Capitalists who leverage their ability to generate wealth and establish Corporate Sponsorship Partners.

By empowering the poor to attack the World’s central challenge of alleviating poverty, we implicitly believe it is not just about giving money, rather developing self sustaining individuals and communities. - Horizon Initiative

Horizon Initiative from Held fast on Vimeo.

Dear Friends of TCOH,
The new year for all of us at Teamwork Ministries has started off with excitement and anticipation. We hope that this is the case for you as well. We are happy to report that we keep moving forward in fulfilling the vision of reaching out to the whole person, meeting spiritual, mental and physical needs at Teamwork City of Hope.

Pastors’ Meeting
In January, we invited fifteen pastors and bishops to come and pray with us at TCOH. Word gets around quickly in our surrounding villages, and to our surprise we had almost seventy pastors and bishops show up for our time of prayer and fellowship. We had to stretch our prepared lunch for fifteen to feed all seventy; however in the end, we were surprised to learn that we still had leftovers. We were able to share our vision with them and the possibilities of reaching their communities with the Good News. In the meeting, we forged new relationships and planned how TCOH and the various local churches can work together to help the children of Tanzania. These leaders begged for a two-week training conference (to train their leaders). Unfortunately we do not have a facility that can accommodate that kind of event, but we would love to do these kinds of conferences in the future.

Middle East
After leaving TCOH in January, I had the wonderful privilege of visiting brothers and sisters in the Lord in the Middle East. We greatly enjoyed sharing with the church there about TCOH. We have wonderful supporters who are passionate about TCOH and have committed to install the solar-powered system for our mission center. With the previous gift received to install the solar power for the children’s home plus this commitment, we can proceed with lighting up TCOH. It will be wonderful to have our own power and not have to depend on generators.

Teamwork Bible College
Teamwork Bible College held its first onsite graduation in Martinsville, Virginia on January 30, 2011. Nine students graduated receiving various degrees. We extend our congratulations to all of the graduates.

Many are Catching the Vision
We are excited because of the great support of many people who are using their talents and areas of influence to help TCOH.

A New Vehicle
We are very excited that Barry Nelson of Martinsville, owner of the Nelson Automotive Family, is helping to raise money for a new vehicle for TCOH. Mr. Nelson committed to donate $100 for every vehicle sold at two recent sales event and was able to present TCOH with checks totalling $10,000 towards the purchase of a van. This vehicle will be used for various transportation purposes, but most especially as an ambulance in times of emergencies. During these recent sales events,  Mr. Nelson and his sales staff enlisted support through local media and other means. We are grateful for any donations that you might wish to make toward the purchase of this van.

Art
Helen and Miller Robinson from Darien, Connecticut have implemented a great idea for raising money for the children at TCOH. They are both artists and established a business called “Art for Hope.” They are drawing custom pictures and donating forty percent of their proceeds to help the children at TCOH. . Check out their website at www.artworkforhope.com to learn more. Helen is the young artist who painted the beautiful murals of the animals which bring so much life to the Rotunda in our children’s home where so many of the activities take place.

Cards
The fifth grade class at a local private school (Carlisle School) has set up a small business selling greeting cards to raise money for TCOH. While they are learning business principles, they are most importantly learning how to give to help others. The students are excited about their endeavors and feel connected with our children at TCOH. It is exciting to watch as they work with enthusiasm to reach the goal that they have set for themselves.

Sponsor a Child
The children were so delighted with the Christmas gifts and sweaters they received from their sponsors. We are still in need of more sponsors as we have a long way to go to meet our goal. We are so thankful for those who have made the commitment to support our children. Please share this need with any friends or family members who might be interested. This is a great project for a small group or Sunday School class.

Hydraform
At TCOH, we are currently learning the techniques of brick-making with the hydraform machine. This is a wonderful investment and will help us with our future building. We are currently making 800 bricks a day with a goal of reaching 1,000 a day. Once we have enough bricks made, we will be able to put the walls up for the staff quarters. It is our goal to have the staff quarters built so that we can open the medical center this year.

TCOH Academy
God has blessed us in our school. We have wonderful, excited teachers who get up every morning eager to teach. Not only are we teaching the ninety children in our children’s home, but we have children coming from different parts of Tanzania. Every day we have more students who want to come, but space constraints limit our numbers. We believe that in order to break chronic poverty, education is vital and our school is helping us fulfill our vision to bring transformation by touching a village to touch a nation. We are providing a great education to these children and giving them opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Our family has committed to see TCOH reach its fullest potential. It is always wonderful to hear the laughter of the children and to see how much TCOH means to them. Our workers and volunteers are anxious to serve in the various departments to continue making this dream come to pass. I’m back at TCOH and am delighted to see the children growing and learning and to see the staff working together so well.

Water
Water continues to be a challenge, but we are making progress. We want to extend our sincerest thanks to all of you who generously supported this project. After drilling and only getting enough water for a hand pump, we realize that we need to purchase land and drill offsite. The high elevation makes this a difficult area for water, but we are thankful that we have the government plus the people from a nearby gold mine who are committed to helping us get water.

Mission Teams
It is time to prepare for the summer missions. We are welcoming individuals who can join a group to go to TCOH and we are also looking to put a group together to take part in a convention in Nakuru, Kenya on August 4 – 15. We need preachers, teachers, singers and those who can lead a children’s convention.
For those mission teams going to TCOH, we are looking for those who can work with children as well as those who are artistic, who can paint, help build, and also work in agriculture. These are the suggested dates: June 20 – July 1 or July 4 – 19. If you cannot go, perhaps you would like to help sponsor the missions. Click below to make a donation towards the mission trips.
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As I look at what we have been able to accomplish the last three years, I am totally amazed. It confirms to me that  ”  . . .  all things are possible to him who believes.”     Mark 9:23 NKJ   May God bless all of you as you seek God’s plan and purpose for your life.

Sincerely,
Dr. John Chacha

My associates from HISG just returned from Cambodia where they have been made aware of an urgent need for 72 abandoned and orphaned children that were found in the fields near the city. These children are currently being taken care of by 16 volunteers on a temporary facility. Please see the pictures below and prayerfully consider helping us raise $28,000 to construct a permanent home for these children with safe drinking water and toilet facilities.

Send your tax free donations this month to: Sentforth Ministries, PO Box 1107, Chambersburg, PA 17201 or click here to donate with your credit card on a secure website..

Eugene Strite

Director, Sentforth Ministries

For more information on the Cambodia project, please click here.
To make a donation to the Cambodia Orphan Care Situation, please click the image below.