One Gift Every Orphan Living in Poverty Needs

By Kelly Little – Executive Director, Light Up Hope I read an interesting article this year on child sponsorship.  It was the cover of the June issue of Christianity Today: “Does Child Sponsorship Work?…a top economist answers”.  I was literally frozen with fear when I saw the cover, we had just met with a web developer to talk about adding child sponsorship to the new website launching later this year and we have people asking us all the time if they can sponsor a Light Up Hope child, I thought to myself “can this be all wrong”?  The article was on the cover of Christianity Today and the two best known child sponsorship programs in the world (Compassion International and World Vision) are both Christian organizations so I told myself there must be good news in here – or a public relations hurricane is about to hit this magazine! I learned two things from this economic study.  First,  Compassion International is doing great things for 1.2 million children across the world.  Second, the approach our Kenyan partners have taught me through their interactions with children is a statistically proven way to fight poverty: children growing up in poverty need PEOPLE […]

20 Things I learned in Kenya

(Heidi pictured second blonde from the left) In October we sent a team of 10 to visit, serve and play alongside the children of Hope Children’s Home in Kitale, Kenya.  One of the team members, Heidi, shared her reflections with us and we in turn share them with you… 1.      Squatty potties and airplane toilets take talent. Pure talent. 2.      A “ball” can be a plastic bag that’s filled with dirt and then tied. A hammer can be a stone. Food leftovers can provide a meal for pigs. Just don’t get too attached to the tiny bunnies and don’t ask them what they want to be when they grow up because the profession of “lunch” might depress them. The circle of life can sometimes put baby in a corner. (one of the empowerment projects in place at Hope Children’s Home Farm is raising rabbits for food) 3.      Red dirt + moving bricks + pouring rain + orphans’ smiles= Therapy you can’t buy. (the team helped build another one of our empowerment projects – aquaponics vegetable gardening and fish farming) 4.      Eating the meat off fish and chicken heads is known as zero waste. 5.      Kenyan churches put the “mega” in […]

It is amazing what can be done when people come together

It is amazing what can be accomplished when people come together with open hearts for children in need.  At the beginning of December we had hopes and prayers to be able to provide for the needs of the children at their new home in Kitale.  By January 1, 2013 we had collected an additional $27,000 in donations for the care of the children.  With the help of generous spirits we have provided new beds, sheets, blankets, school uniforms, school fees, water filters and a new home for the children we sponsor.  We have also been able to send a grant to finalize the purchase of the land and to begin construction of two additional buildings: a girls dormitory and a building that will provide housing for additional caretakers, a study/dinning room and a new kitchen. They say a picture tells a thousand words, so check out this 4 minute video that shows the excitement our friends in Kenya are feeling over their new home and enjoy the photo gallery below with pictures from our most recent visit in December 2012. [wpvideo tY8he7aF]

Official Members of Christian Alliance for Orphans

We received our approval letter this week and we are now members of The Christian Alliance for Orphans, a great nationwide organization that works to promote global orphan care through a network of churches and non-profit organizations.    November 6, 2011 is Orphan Sunday.  Churches across America will be highlighting the importance of adoption, foster care and orphan care.  Light Up Hope will be participating at Discovery Christian Church. If you live in the Denver/Boulder area come check us out! Discovery Church meets Sundays at 8:30 am and 10:00 am at Legacy High School in Broomfield.