Haven December Update
A message from Joseph…
Hallo everyone, I pray you are all well and in good health. You are an essential part of the fabric of Haven Family. You provide for our needs and enrich our children’s lives in so many different ways through what God has given to you. We want to say thank you for answering the call to partner with us and ensure we deliver to the children and the society at large the best. We believe in God and our God is The God of abundance. I believe you don’t give because you have enough but because of your love for God and the children. We also know there are so many other places that you can give your support to but you chose to give to Haven family and for this we are forever grateful and we don’t take you for granted that is why I began by saying you are an essential part of the fabric of Haven family. We never cease to make mention of you in our prayers asking God to bring into manifestation every word He has spoken forth. May He grant to you this day whatever you have asked of Him.
The Children
Children are home now and as I said in my last update it takes a lot of funds to cater for their food when they are home for the holidays. Everything they use doubles since they take three meals in a day. Delvin, the child we took in earlier this year was taken back to the father on 29th after the children department officers spoke to the father and concluded it is in the child’s best interest that he stays with the father but under supervision by the children officers. We will miss him a lot. Our only prayer is that the step-mother will stop mistreating him and accept him as one of her children.
Education
The three girls who just did their final exam in primary school will be joining High school earlier than we had expected. The cabinet secretary for education has changed the previous way of doing things. He said this time round their results will be out by December 10th and they should report to the school they will be called to by 4th of January 2017 failure to which the position will be given to someone else. The results are out and they did very well, but we have to wait until next week to know the school they will be joining. Since we are not sure of which school they will be called to we decided it is best to start fundraising with the National school fees standard in mind this will ensure we don’t go below the normal rates. The national school fees are Kshs 150,000 (1,579 dollars) per year per child which will total to Kshs 450,000(4,737 dollars) for all of our three girls. So we are praying for God’s provision of these funds by January 1st so that Mary, Frenzer, and Hannah can attend High School.
This is the month we buy school uniforms for all our children which is a onetime need each year. We will need 10,500 per child ( this will take care of two ties, two skirts (for girls) or two shorts (for boys) two shirts, two sweaters, two socks one track suit one pair of black school shoes, one pair of sports shoes and a jumper). The total amount of funds to look for is Kshs 420,000 (4,422 dollars).
Greenhouse Sustainability Project
The green house is doing very well. We are just having challenges with the usual things like tomatoes lacking calcium and magnesium and since it is our first time in farming tomatoes I would say we have done pretty well. The market is not so good at the moment but we believe God that the prices will be in our favor in a few weeks. We are selling the tomatoes ourselves to at least make a profit by ruling out the middle men. Most consumers we have approached like hotels and supermarkets are more concerned with consistency of supply and their interest is if we will be able to supply them for a period of eight months to one year. This is challenging for us since the green house may supply only for four to five months. This calls for us to come together and construct a few more greenhouses in 2017 so that we can assure people of consistency of supply.
This green house was to act as a pilot project to see if it is a good venture to get into and it has proven to be an ideal sustainability project to adopt for us.
Prayer Request
There are times that needs seem too great, and yet we rest knowing that God is faithful and has brought us this far and we know He will carry us. Mid November our land lady came to the premises to officially raise the rent from Kshs 35,000 to Kshs 80,000. This amount is exorbitant for the kind of premise we have rented since houses are going from Kshs 45,000 to Kshs 60,000 in the area. She said if we can’t pay the amount we must give a notice to vacate. We went to the lawyer and gave the notice to vacate by March 2017.
We are currently looking for a house to move into. We have scouted for a few but we have not settled on any all we know we don’t want a house that goes beyond Kshs 40,000 for rent per month.
For us to move we will need around 3 months rent deposit and one month rent according to the current trend of renting houses. That will mean we will need around Kshs 200,000. Moving expenses will be around Kshs 70,000. Another cost will be repairs of the house we are currently occupying which we have estimated at Kshs 150,000. This will total to around Kshs 420,000 (4,422 dollars) for all the costs to move activities. We have looked at all variables and a house close to the school will be ideal for us. We are praying for this provision in the next couple months.
Current Needs
Due to all of these needs, we have decided not to spend any funds on Christmas and cut out all spending that is not so necessary for us over the next 4 months. The children have agreed we must work together as a family to save as much as we can. Please I urge all of you to join us in prayers and in campaigning in raising finances so that we meet all this needs. As I said our God is The God of abundance and to us it may seem like a lot but to Him He is able to do exceedingly abundantly far above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
- School Uniforms, BEFORE JANUARY 30, 2017 $4422 ($110 per child)
- Moving Expenses, BEFORE MARCH 2017 $4422
- Hannah, Mary, and Frenzer’s tuition, BEFORE JANUARY 1, 2017 $4737
Donate to Haven’s Current Needs. Thank you!
Child Sponsorship
As our children grow, their financial needs grow as well. We will be raising our sponsorship costs in January 2017 to $75 monthly or seeking multiple sponsors for each child to meet the total need. Thank you!
I will keep you all updated on the house we find best for our children. I know this is a lot to take in but there is strength in numbers. Let us all unite young and old to ensure we meet these needs. Spend time in prayer, spend time in sharing with friends and family about haven family and I pray for favor with God and man in all your endeavors.
May God’s Peace guard your heart and mind as you prosper in life.Hugs and kisses from Haven,
Joseph
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