Back to School and Mid-Year Report, 2024
Dear Sponsors, Supporters and Friends September 14,2024
We are praying this letter finds you well. We have been very busy these past two months reviewing budgets, wiring funds, and getting children back into school. We are writing with a long overdue update. Mostly though we are writing just to say thank you!!! (MURAKOZE!, in the local language of Rwanda and Burundi). We cannot thank you enough for the blessings you have given these children and young adults. We also thank you for your prayers and ongoing support.
We are happy to report that all of our kids in Burundi, Kenya and Rwanda are back in school. Final arrangements for our Uganda children are nearly complete. Here is the latest:
Project Burundi: Through your support in Burundi, we continue to fully fund the primary school in Ngozi, which serves nearly 350 children. Our school director has worked with the Burundi government to provide a second meal each day for the children in the primary school. The school has planted a large garden and is now raising some of their own food. Five of our Burundi students are in college and four are in trade school. About half of our Burundi kids are now in secondary school (high school).
Special needs: To ensure full funding for those children in college and to improve services to children in secondary school, we have raised future sponsorships in Burundi to $50. Those who originally sponsored at $35 will not have their sponsorship raised, but some sponsors have voluntarily raised their support. We are hoping to increase our number of sponsors from 75 to 100 to create sustainability and improve overall services in Burundi. Pray we are successful.
Project Rwanda: Last year, three of our young adults in Rwanda completed college, with one going on to law school. We are now funding university education for 10 of our Rwanda students. 91 sponsors are funding school fees, medical insurance, food and supplies for a total of 85 children. Children in college and secondary school require additional sponsorships to be fully funded
Special needs: While we fully support 85 children, our program remains under funded with expenses for the year expected to outpace Rwanda income. Last year both Rwanda and Burundi sponsorship fell $7000 and $8000 short respectively of full funding. Fortunately, year-end giving to the general fund covered this shortfall. This year we are hoping to find adequate sponsorships to fully cover our school budget in Rwanda. To date we have never dropped a child due to loss of sponsorship or inadequate sponsorship coverage. Those funds come from our general fund donations.
Baho community, our Rwanda partner, hopes to complete a school in Rwanda, similar to what we have in Burundi. Funds from Windsor Christian in California helped to secure the permits and lay the foundation for the school. Funds from Baho partners in Oklahoma have helped to keep the project moving with the first story about half completed. While keeping our kids in school through sponsorship and general fund giving remains our first priority, we do accept and transfer funds for the school building as they come in.
Project’s Kenya and Uganda: We continue to support three children in each of these countries. In Kenya we have two children in secondary school and one girl who just entered teaching college. In Uganda we have two kids in college, one who is in nursing school and one in agribusiness. The third child is in culinary school. The child in culinary school needs a new sponsor. As already mentioned, God has been faithful. Even when we have lost sponsors, due to life changing circumstances, we have managed to keep kids in school until we find a replacement.
Africa Visit: A team from Common Ground Church in Sacramento recently visited Baho Community in Rwanda. They came back inspired and very enthused about the work we support there. Eight new sponsors are coming on board at this time. We are hoping to have other teams visit our African projects in the future.
Budget: The good news is that as of June 30th this year we are about $4,000 ahead of where we were last year, even with more kids in school. Income for the first 6 months of 2024 was $45,506, up from $44,457 from 2023. Expenses were down for the first 6 months of 2024 to $42,532, compared to $45,670 in 2023. Income was up due to more sponsorships and giving. Expenses were down due to a delay for one Kenyan college student and three of our Rwanda students graduating from college. Our second half income always tends to go up, due to Christmas gifts and year end giving. Expenses also increase significantly in the second half as we have two rounds of school expenses before the end of the fiscal year.
Last year we had $20,147 in General fund giving and ended the year just over $200 in the black. It will take close to that amount again this year to break even. General funds so far in 2024 are at $4750. Last year at this time we were just under $2000 in General Fund giving so we have made some progress this year.
Prayer Requests: Pray for the safety of our kids and success in their studies. Pray for an increase in general fund giving so we are not short at the end of the year. Please pray about joining our board and our efforts to help the poorest of the poor. We continue to function on an all-volunteer basis on this side of the planet. We are reaching a point when extra support will be needed and deeply appreciated. Pray for our upcoming outreach to several new churches. Early response has been good so far. We are excited and optimistic that God has His hand on these children and their families.
Thanks again for your loving support of our children. May God richly each of you.
Gratefully,
Your Board of Directors
Neil Church, Arden Lites, Jerry Lites, Theresa O’Connor, and Patrick Parks