THE HOPE TERTIARY TRAINING INSTITUTE

Have your read When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself by Steve Corbitt and Brian Fikkert? I do not necessary agree with 100 % of any book that I read but I usually always find common ground on some issues or a new insight into something that we need to be doing or at least doing better.  

In When Helping Hurts, there is this insert entitled "Material Poverty Alleviation". It says: "Working to reconcile the four foundational relationships so that people can fulfill their callings of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruit of that work." One of these relationships is related to work with the emphasis on skills that workers need. The Hope Foundation is using this approach to not only fulfill our utmost priority of reaching people with the Gospel and building churches but also to help the poor gets the skills they need to take care of their families, their churches and ultimately bring glory to God.

Our main idea is to establish churches that will become mentoring centers for development both spiritual and physically rather than just relief centers.  We want our Kenyan men, women and children to participate in the improvement of their lives as they prepare themselves also for eternity.  So we endeavor to provide occasions every day for people to use biblical principles to address the massive problems in their lives and their communities.

This is why Christian Education is so important to our organization. To break the spiritual and economic poverty in our areas of ministry, a practical place to start is with the children.  It has been great for the past ten years to see over 800 students growing in their spiritual walk with Jesus as they learn the skills they need to change their lives.  And the amazing thing is to see the changes that have taken place in their parent's lives.  Many of them have come to know the Lord.  Many have enrolled in our Adult Literacy programs. Many are now able to work outside of the villages.  God has done a great work through the Hope Foundation.

At the end of 2015, we will be graduating our first 8th graders. It is going to be an exciting time, but in order for these children to go on to high school they must take and pass an national exam in Kenya.  To be eligible to attend our Valerye McMillan High School, they must score 300 or above on this exam.  We are confident that many will pass and are making plans for support from sponsors.

But the truth is that some may not pass the test which lead us to the question how can we help?  As always The Hope Foundation dreams big and believes that God through His people will provide.  We want to start The Hope Tertiary Training Institute. Maybe you are unfamiliar with the British term "tertiary". Simply stated it is a vocational training college.  We believe that we need to help our eighth grade graduates have a great life by providing one to two year courses in such areas as: Carpentry, Masonry, Tailoring, IT, Business, Management, Social Work, Book keeping, and of course Bible Ministry. This will also open up the opportunity for us to bring in adult students to learn skills but also to hear the Gospel.

All of this does not come cheap. The estimated cost is $700,000 US to be done in several phases over several years.  I told you it was not a cheap endeavor. It is a God-given vision to change the lives of a whole section of Kenya.  The first phase provides the buildings; borehole; library; office equipment/furniture, classroom furniture, textbooks/manuals; and the equipment for masonry, carpentry, tailoring and computers at an estimated to cost $300,000 US.  

Would you pray with us? We cannot accomplish this eminence under-taking without your prayer and financial support.  If you would like more information of this project please email me at info@hopefoundation.co.ke. 

Thanks, Bobby