Backstory to the 1200 Club

In Jake’s words…

I remember February 2013 like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my office at Kingdom Courts organizing rosters for another basketball tournament when my phone rang. My caller ID showed the name Tim Day. It had been years since I talked with Tim and I thought the call was quite random. Tim is also an elder at Cornerstone Church so we had passed by each other from time to time within the church, but it had definitely been a while since we had talked outside of the cordial hello.

Tim was calling to tell me that Cornerstone Church was preparing to do a one time free will offering and that they would be giving all the money away. Tim also informed me that Cornerstone was prepared to give Kingdom Cares International a portion of those funds. He had no idea what the amount might be, but he did give me a couple of stipulations. Tim told me I was not allowed to just sit on the money in the bank account and with that being said he asked if I had any immediate needs and/or projects that the funds could be used for. I don’t believe Tim knew me real well at the point in time, but God is always laying projects on my heart so my immediate answer was of course we have a project (even though I had no idea at that time what we would do with extra funds). The conversation basically ended with “Ok that sounds great - we will be in touch!”

Over the next couple of months I did not hear much from Tim or the church as the free will offering had come and gone. Then in May of 2013 Tim decided to call me again and inform me that Kingdom Cares International would receive $40,000 from that free will offering. Just writing this still gives me goose bumps. Then he once again asked me if I had a project we could use the money for. Over the months in between the first phone call and this phone call God had clearly spoke to me about what we were to do with the funds. God was telling me to use the funds to build the first Kingdom Cares International Mission Center in Asikuma, Ghana where we could care for the most needy and orphaned children in this community.

There was one small problem. The vision that God laid upon my heart was a $200,000 project - not a $40,000 one. I believe I may have left out a few of those details for Tim as I just went with the flow and said we were going to use the funds to build the first ever Kingdom Cares Mission Center. The one thing God has taught me since 2008 is that if we are going to truly live a life for Christ then we have to walk by faith. David Platt in his book the “Radical” puts it this way, “We know we are doing something for God when we are in major trouble if He doesn’t show up.” The reason God asks us to walk by faith is so in the end He will always receive the glory and not the individual that God is using.

In June of 2013 when those funds were received by Kingdom Cares I knew it was time to walk by faith and pray like I have never prayed before as I would REALLY need God to show up on this one. We took the first $40,000 and purchased the land, hired the construction team, and started in on the foundation without one clue where the other $160,000 would come from. Over the next few months every time we ran out of cash God would lay it on someone’s heart to donate or a random check would show up in the mail and at a snail’s pace the project would continue. Over and over and over again, God would allow the account to hit $0.00 and then He would provide just a little more.

In the months after that first gift I would be out telling people about what Kingdom Cares was doing and how we are building this mission center in Asikuma, Ghana. Everyone’s first question to me was after it is built how are you going to meet the monthly operating cost? The truth was that I had no idea how we were going to meet the monthly operating expense (let alone actually get the mission center built)! I just knew that God was telling me to take the next step and he would work out all the details. This is where the rubber meets the road with an organization that believes in what the Bible says as absolute truth. In the world of business - with people who have resources - this ideology makes no sense and does not seem like something that would be smart to invest in. With that being said I received a lot of handshakes and compliments on what I was doing, but not a ton of outside financial support. However, I knew what the bible teaches on how we need to walk by faith and how God uses the foolish things of the world to teach the wise! I just prayed that this would become a reality with my walk as there were many nights I woke up at two in the morning wondering what in the world was I doing. I was just so thankful that during this time God’s voice was so was clear to me that I had no choice but to continue to follow the Lord’s prompting and continue to walk by faith.

Now let’s fast forward to a cold November night in 2013. It had been a long night of training at the Kingdom Courts gym and I was down to my last session of the night. As I was training God began to speak to me once again. The idea that was planted on my heart was so clear. God was asking me to start something called the 1200 club. The 1200 club would be where people could give $100 per/month for Kingdom Cares International projects and on-going operations for things like the Mission Center. I wrestled with God that $100 was just too much. Organizations like World Vision only ask for $35 per/month to sponsor a kid. $100 was certainly out of the question. I even asked God if we could just do the 600 club…$50 per/month…much more doable for people. I continued to get the same response back which was NO. I felt as though God was saying to me that I want it to be a number that when people commit to it, that it will be a step of faith into an organization that walks by faith. I believe that God does not want Kingdom Cares International to just be a place where some cool things happen internationally for the Gospel, but a place where God can use and teach others to walk by faith. With that being said I was done arguing with God and was willing to follow where the Spirit was leading.

On the way home that night I called Doug Vander Weide and laid out the 1200 club vision for him. Doug always supports my crazy ideas and gives me encouragement when I need it and it was no different that night. The next morning I woke up feeling a little crazy, but I have also gotten used to that feeling as this is a regular occurrence in my life. That morning I skipped my treadmill time at Anytime Fitness and rushed to our offices. I announced to my staff that in December we were going to host the first annual Kingdom Cares International breakfast where we would officially announce the 1200 club, and hopefully raise some additional funds for the Kingdom Cares Mission Center because the account was back on zero. Alex looked at me like I was crazy and I believe Todd may have added in that December is only a few weeks away. I guess I thank God for Ankeny Rental & HyVee catering because we pulled off that first breakfast!!

As I continued to wrestle through the 1200 club idea God told me to put the names of all the people who participate on the wall as you enter the Kingdom Courts facility. We were just going to put up one small section but God once again said, “NO, I want you to fill the entire wall” and that He would worry about the details of filling it with names. I told Greg to head to fast signs and get this wall designed and what the name plaques would look like. I praise God everyday for being surrounded by people who just say, “ok,” while I know in the back of their minds that they have to be thinking I am working for a crazy guy!

I still remember when the silver back drop of the wall was installed. It was installed without one name on it; yet I was confident in God’s voice telling me that in due time that wall would be filled with names. We kicked off the first breakfast and slowly some names were added to that wall. In March of 2014 God blessed us with a large gift that finished the mission center and names continued to be added to that wall. For over a year as I ran my training sessions on court 2 (purposefully so every night I could stare at that wall) I would see names slowly added, but would also stare at the big wall with the portion of plaques where there were no names. There were no names on the big wall for 364 days. During those 364 days there were many times that I wondered if I was losing my mind!! Then as only God would do it, the night before the 2nd annual Kingdom Cares International Breakfast the first wall had reached fulfillment at 54 names and one lone name was added to the big blank silver canvas on the second big wall. Since December, we have added 6 new names to that big empty wall with 5 new names in production to be added in the next week or so. As I stare at that silver canvas every Tuesday & Wednesday evening, I am reminded of the promises that God made in my life in 2008 when He began to teach me to walk by faith. I am reminded of June 2013 when we received that first gift from Cornerstone Church. I am reminded of that cold November night when God clearly spoke to me about getting people involved through the 1200 club. I am reminded about how God faithfully saw us through in the building of the mission center. I am reminded of how there are orphaned children now with their forever families. I am also reminded of the work yet to be done as one by one the empty spaces come to be filled.

Today I want to invite each of you to possibly take that step of faith and come alongside what Kingdom Cares International is doing and become a part of the 1200 club. God can do awesome things with our lives, but often he asks us to take the first step of faith so that His glory can fully be seen.

To become a part of the 1200 club please visit http://www.kingdomcares.org/donate/ and once on the form select Kingdom Cares, select recurring gift, and follow the steps from there.

Thank you for considering supporting our mission!

Jake

We Need 10

The operating costs for our Kingdom Cares International Missions Center and recently completed adjoining school have increased by $800 per month just over the past week.

This comes as we have welcomed 7 new children into the full-time care of our mission center last week...

as well as confirmed how we will navigate the daily and weekly operations of the school. Upon our arrival home from our recent trip, the school was completed and saw its official enrollment day last week on January 19, 2015. Over 100 children were enrolled...

Here is an outline of the program and costs for the school in excess of the general educational curriculum:

• Each student will receive lunch Monday through Saturday at the school (each student enrolled - other than those staying at our mission center - pays Ghc 1.50p for enrollment) 
• We will introduce extra-curricular activities on Saturdays for the school children. They will learn how to do beads, weave kente (traditional African cloth), make bags, and how to print on T-shirts. This is to help the children learn to support themselves as they grow. There will also be sports and games provided. 
• We will have 7 teachers for the week days and 3 teachers for the extra-curricular activities. 
• The classroom teachers will be paid 200.00 Cedis (Ghc) each per month. 
• Extra-curricular teachers will be paid 50.00 Cedis (Ghc) each per month. 
• Two women will help cook lunch for the students and will also help to bathe the children at the mission center and wash their clothes. 
• The cooks will be paid 200.00 Cedis (Ghc) each per month. 

In summary it will be a projected total of 1,950.00 cedis each month to run the school.

[In case you are wondering, 3.27 Ghana cedis is equivalent to 1 U.S. dollar]

In addition to this, we are also in need of about $200 more per month to cover the increasing costs of the food needs for the children staying at our mission center as more and more keep being welcomed in.

In light of all this, we are looking for 10 new donors to become a part of our 1200 Club.….of course more would be gratefully accepted! The 1200 Club is a 1 year commitment to donate $100 per month to Kingdom Cares International so that we can continue to fund and move forward with our projects such as that detailed above.

If you would like to become a member, or feel led to give a one-time donation, you can do so online at: https://kingdomcaresinternational.cloverdonations.com/kingdom-cares-mission-center/ [Note, in order to become a 1200 Club member select recurring donation on the form]

Thank you for your support!

Kingdom Cares International Mission Center

Jake is just finishing out a trip to Ghana right now and I wanted to share these photo updates he has taken of our Kingdom Cares International Mission Center! Since 2009 it had been our vision to build a home in Ghana where vulnerable, neglected, voiceless, orphaned children could be cared for, educated, and given opportunities they otherwise would not receive. Last year our church, Cornerstone Church of Ames, helped to initiate our vision by gifting us $40,000 to begin construction on the home. From there God has kept the donations coming in jaw-dropping style as He is becoming rather famous for doing! The full vision of the project is to develop five acres of land into an entire youth complex that will include the children’s center, a school, and a recreational area that will have a soccer field, basketball court, and playground. For now, we are focusing on Phase I – the children’s home aka mission center - which will also house our long-term missionaries on staff. There is also a little section of the home reserved for short-term missionaries and for when our family visits. :) The mission center is on track to open this August! Many of you have asked me about individual child sponsorship. We did try out a sponsorship program for a 1 year trial period, but decided it was not the most effective strategy for how our organization can best impact the community. It has since been replaced with the 1200 Club which you can find more information about here: http://www.kingdomcares.org/donate/1200-club/  Donations from the 1200 Club fund projects just like this one. Pretty goosebumpy to see this vision coming to fruition…

Exterior view

Zoomed in view of front porch

Living room looking out to front entrance

Hallway to children's rooms

House Mother's room

Kitchen

One of the eleven bedrooms

They left a palm tree for me in the landscape :)

View from front porch looking out to the rest of the land God has allowed us to purchase

Water bole hole has been drilled!  Electricity goes in this coming week and then we will have running water in the entire mission center!

Our God-fearing full-time staff member, Wisdom, helping to prepare the land surrounding the mission center for farming.

Invitation: Join us for breakfast on December 13th, 2013

I wanted to invite all of you to a breakfast that we will be hosting on Friday, December 13th, 2013 from 7:30am-9:00am at our Kingdom Courts facility. The purpose of the breakfast is to continue to share the vision of Kingdom Cares International. We will use this breakfast as an information platform to share about our projects in Africa as well as some local projects we are looking to take part in over the next 12-18 months. We are also going to use that morning to kick off a major fundraising campaign, The 1200 Club, in which we are looking for individuals to get behind the organization as a whole as we try to meet the needs of those locally and globally.

Below is a brief preview of the various projects that will be discussed at the breakfast event:

1. Development of the Kingdom Cares Mission Center and Children’s Outreach home in Asikuma, Ghana. Construction has already begun and we are excited to share with everyone the full scope of the project. 
2. Development of a youth sports center in Chad, Africa in partnership with Athletes in Action and Campus Crusade for Christ.
3. Clearly paint the vision for the new program we kicked off locally this fall called Beyond Ball Ministries. We will paint the vision for how we see Beyond Ball making a difference not only on the basketball court but more importantly making a lasting impact for the local community of Des Moines.

We hope you will consider joining us for breakfast on the 13th as we look to take major leaps forward as an organization. PLEASE RSVP by email to jake@kingdomhoops.com if you would like to attend.

Thanks,
Jake Sullivan

[Kingdom Courts facility location: 6095 NE Industry Drive, Des Moines, IA 50313]

More on the Children's Center ~ In Jake's Words

In Jake’s words…

Today was a day filled with sadness and heart break, but also a crystal clear vision from God. As we drove down the streets of Apeguso all I could think about was the song called “Yours” by Steven Curtis Chapman and the lyrics that say “I walk the dirt roads of Uganda and I am reminded that every child in Africa is yours.” The roads to Apeguso, Ghana were made of a rich, dark red clay that were surrounded by bush on both sides.
 

It seemed like we were on the road forever until we finally reached the little village tucked back away in the bush just off the red clay road.
  

I was on my way to meet a young boy named Israel. Israel has HIV, is an orphan, suffers from epilepsy, and was recently badly burnt by fire. I had seen the pictures and heard his story, but nothing in this world could prepare me for what I would see on the streets of Apeguso.

As we approached an isolated mud hut I was told that this is where Israel lived all alone.
 

As we opened the door a young boy appeared who was so ashamed of himself and his surroundings he could not lift his head to look at us in the eye.
 

His entire body screamed Help me, I am alone, I am afraid, and I am ashamed. My father has died, my mother has run away, and I have been neglected by this fallen world.

It was the first time in five years that I was lost for words and simply wanted to cry. I wanted to cry and ask God why? Why allow this type of suffering? Why allow this type of heart break? Why allow a child to be alone, afraid, and ashamed? 

Then I felt God reverse the same questions that were stirring in my emotions and my own head right back to me. “Jake,” God seemed to ask, “Why would you allow this boy to be alone? What will you do to meet his needs? How will you provide him an earthly family and teach him about his true Father above? How will you raise his chin and provide him eyes of hope?”

It was so clear right then. Over the last five years my wife and I have dreamed about opening a children’s center in Ghana where the most vulnerable and hurting children could be loved. Where God could provide the least of these an earthly family and a loving setting to be taught about our great Savior.

Just an hour earlier I was sitting with the Ahodwo Architecture Firm discussing the plans of the children’s center we want to build in Asikuma. Everything seemed too easy until we came to the cost of the project. The total cost for Phase 1 of the project, which is the children’s home that will provide a family to those suffering and alone, would cost $130,000.

A couple months ago Kingdom Cares International received a surprise gift from our home church, Cornerstone Church in Ames, Iowa, of $40,000. When I received that gift I was sure that would be plenty of money to complete a children’s home. However, that would be too easy and require very little faith. I know the vision that God has given me for the home and I know God has shown up in big ways in the past. I felt as though God was saying to me, “Are you willing to take that step of faith and see Me provide once again?”

I gave a tentative yes to the architects, but yet doubt filled my mind as I made the trip to Israel’s house and village. Even as I sit here in the Ghana airport writing this post doubt covers every ounce of me. I know Satan will put those thoughts in my head and he will try to put up road blocks in our path. Tonight I got a call about someone disputing the land which now means we have to go to the land’s register office to make sure the land is clear and free. This just delays the project by a week or two and fills my mind with doubts and second thoughts.

I am sure we will face more roadblocks and question things more than once, but that is what faith is all about. I know God wants us to take a gigantic step of faith and to not just speak the verse that what seems impossible according to men is entirely possibly with God (Matthew 19:26), but to actually live it out in our lives.

The entire vision of the project is to develop five acres of land into an entire youth complex that will include the children’s center, a school, and a recreational area that will have a soccer field, basketball court, and playground. We want this to be where the children go and it will be our opportunity to impact their lives for Christ at an early age. The entire project will cost roughly $250,000 to complete. We are only focusing on phase I at this point and that is the development of the children’s center so we can care for children like Israel.

We have the first $40,000 thanks to Cornerstone Church and pray that all of you reading this post will choose to play a part in serving the vulnerable children and being the family that God intends for every orphaned child.

Below we have included all of the architectural drawings for phase I of the project. If you have additional questions please feel free to call me at 515-291-1542 or email (jake@kingdomhoops.com).

I always have great fear and reservations when I look at something so big. However, I know the vision God has given me. When God started the journey five years ago to Africa some of the first words I read were from David Platt in the book “Radical”. It said when you start in on something that in no way can be accomplished by man, and the only way you will make it is if God shows up in a big way, you then know you are walking in the footsteps of God.

God Bless,
Jake Sullivan

Donations can be mailed to Kingdom Cares International – 315 Ridgewood Drive, Huxley, IA, 50124 or you can donate online by going to www.kingdomcares.org and click on the donate tab at the top of the screen. All donations are tax deductible and you will be sent a receipt following your donation.
 

Israel's Story and the Birth of a Children's Center

I introduced you to Israel in this post...

Our in-country worker, Wisdom, was able to accompany Israel to the hospital to receive treatment for his burns while Jake and the team were in Cape Coast on Monday.

Israel & Wisdom

Yesterday Jake and the team were back in Asikuma, and as promised, the two ladies from Israel’s village came and got Jake and took him to meet him. In Jake’s words he said that meeting Israel and seeing first-hand his condition and the reality of how he lives was the saddest, most upsetting encounter that he’s ever had in all the times he’s been to Ghana.

The two ladies had found Israel living here….

But have since been able to help him get into this mud hut…..

where he now lives all alone and sleeps on the dirt floor….

he weaves together these fans and sells them to survive…

As it turns out, Israel is epileptic. He was cooking for himself one night, had a seizure, fell into the cooking fire, and that is how he got the burns. His father has died. His mother, is in fact not dead, but ran away. He has HIV. Because of all these stigmas the community has abandoned him. He looks at the ground when you talk to him, unsure of his worth.

Kingdom Cares gave 500 cedis ($250) to the women who are helping defend Israel’s cause. They will use that money to get Israel to the nearby hospital in a neighboring town each day for the next weeks to have his wounds re-bandaged. Next week the mental nurse will be at the hospital to evaluate Israel’s epilepsy and write a prescription for the appropriate medicine. Today Jake recruited a woman within in the community to cook for Israel and make sure he is getting to eat each day. KCI provided the woman with funds for her help and to cover the cost of his food. The two women advocates in the community will continue to monitor Israel and ensure that all these details play out as described. Thanks to some of the teenage boys on the current KCI team, Israel now has a handful of clothes to wear which he has on in the pictures.

My heart is so heavy and burdened for this young man. This all just doesn’t seem like even coming close to being enough to help ease his suffering or the torment and loneliness he must be feeling inside.

 

With Israel’s situation in full view, I think it is now the appropriate time to tell you about a project that KCI has had in the works for a couple of months. Israel’s situation has become another one motivating us to break ground and get moving on what I am about to share.

Earlier this year, our church – Cornerstone Church of Ames, decided that they wanted to take up a free will offering one Sunday with a very specific purpose in mind. Every single penny from this offering would be given away to local and global organizations who were reaching out to the poor, needy, oppressed, overlooked, ignored, and disadvantaged. Kingdom Cares International was informed ahead of time that we would be one of the organizations receiving a percentage of whatever the offering was. Our pastors and church leaders had no idea what to expect….no idea how much God’s people would give. They gave the congregation a few weeks notice of when the offering would be, and they listed off the different organizations that would receive percentages of the offering. The Sunday of the offering arrived, the money was tallied that next week, and in total our church body gave over $250,000 in an offering that day. Unbelievable. I have goosebumps just typing it. That next week Kingdom Cares International received our percentage of the offering which ended up being $40,000!!! Almost immediately God specifically laid out what to use the money for.

For children like Israel.

And Emefa.

And Emmanuel.

And George.

And….the list goes on and on.

A children’s center. A place in the community where we can meet needs. Hand out a meal a day. Ensure children are getting access to medical care and help to administer the medicines they've been prescribed. A place to take in true orphans in dire situations like Israel….give them a place to live, help care for their needs, sponsor them in school, love them in action. A place to share the gospel and give out the fullness of real hope.

In addition, we need a place to house our short and long-term missionaries. We currently have two interns from the U.S. that just arrived to live in Asikuma and volunteer for KCI for the next 6 months. They are staying at the lodge in Asikuma, but it would be much more ideal if they could live and serve out of the same place….the children’s center. Same for our family. We would love to make this center a place that we could stay in during our frequent trips to Asikuma.

With Cornerstone’s donation in hand, it has enabled us to start on the project right away. Over the past few months we hired architects from the Kwahu area in Ghana to begin drawing up the plans. Jake met with them earlier this week to review the drawings and to begin picking out the more detailed pieces of the home such as how he wants the security wall done and what kind of burglar proof windows he wanted to choose.

There are two chiefs in Asikuma, both whom fully support KCI’s ministry to the community. We found out on our last January trip that one of the chiefs was considering donating 5 acres of land to KCI.  Yesterday Jake and the team went and met with him.

The chief finalized the donation of the land, the land was commissioned (which is the official agreement between Jake and the chief and is the customary time for Jake to present a gift to the chief) and tomorrow the land will be surveyed. The children’s center will sit on 1 of these 5 acres. Friday the bulldozer will come in to clear the land, and next week construction starts! I told you we were moving on this! :)

There are numerous ideas of how to develop the rest of the land in the future, but for now we are focusing on the children’s center.

Jake will be writing a blog post on more of the details of the children’s center when he gets back, but for now you can picture it as a big, giant house. There will be 6 bedrooms for house mothers and orphans, 1 bedroom for our long or short-term missionaries, and 1 guest room for non-live-ins (like our family when we visit), bathrooms, kitchen, etc.

The project total looks like it is going to be $130,000. The $40,000 we received from our church has enabled us to start right now, and will likely be able to fund the first few months of construction. We are choosing to trust God to provide the rest, just as we did in our adoptions. The good thing about Ghana construction is that everything is paid in cash. So if you don’t have the money the work just stops until you get more money. They don’t do loans or credit cards or anything – you only hire workers as you can pay them in cash. If you don’t have the money you don’t hire and the project just sits. We are trusting in faith that this project won’t just sit. 

Those In Need

Jesus doesn’t say to the poor, ‘Come find the church,’ but he says to those of us in the church, ‘Go into the world and find the poor, hungry, homeless, imprisoned,’ Jesus in disguises.

~Shane Claiborne, Irresistible Revolution~

*****

Yesterday was dedicated to Jake and the team visiting with families, children and individuals in need in the Asikuma area and determining how Kingdom Cares International can best assist them. Look deeply into their faces, read their honest and humble pleas, and feel the impact of what our King whispers over them to us, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Their stories…

The Ekavi Family

This family had been living in Togo, Africa when the father, who worked for the military police, was tragically killed during fighting. After her husband’s death, the newly widowed mother relocated the family to Ghana which is where she was originally from. They had been living in HoHoe, Ghana for 8 months when a tribal war broke out in their village. The opposing tribe came in and attacked their home, burnt down their house, and also burnt down the widowed mother’s shop where she sold cooking supplies and utensils to make a living. After the attack she and her family fled their village and ended up in Asikuma. Since then, in order to survive she has been borrowing from the community and has become in debt to community members in Asikuma. Our in-country worker, Wisdom, often makes appeals to his church to provide the family with cloth and other necessities. All of her children had to drop out of school due to lack of funds. When the mother explained their situation to Wisdom she shared that she often felt like committing suicide when she looked at her hopeless situation and that she could not provide education for her children. One of the faith-filled women in the community from Wisdom’s church met with the mother and introduced her to Jesus. She accepted Him as Savior and was baptized at the end of June!

We had learned about the Ekavi family by email back in June, and since then we were able to secure a $2000 sponsorship for them via a family in Jake’s Kingdom Hoops program. Yesterday Jake was able to meet with the Ekavi family in person and take care of dispersing the funds appropriately. The $2000 was able to provide and cover:

~School fees for all of the children. Daniel, the oldest (16 years), had ambition to attend a specific senior high school that specializes in agriculture and science. Janet, 13 years old, will now get to continue on with her high school education...she had just completed junior high school when she had to drop out. Christian (11 years) and Courage (4 years) were both in basic school needing assistance for their uniforms and books. Admission starts in September for all of the kids.

~Gave the mother start-up funds to open up a new shop and sell her cooking utensils and supplies again. This will be the main income for the family. The agreement is that KCI will sponsor this year of school for her children so she can get her business going again. But next year she will be responsible for paying their school fees with her business income.

~Paid off the mother’s debt to the community members that she borrowed from. There can become quite a stigma attached to this as you can imagine so KCI wanted to ensure that she could get a free start.

*****    

HIV Cases

In a neighboring village to Asikuma called Apeguso, HIV is running rampant. Our in-country worker, Wisdom, had met two ladies in the community who have hearts captivated by Jesus and have been helping to care/defend HIV orphans, and are actively promoting HIV awareness and education. The plan is that Jake will get to go around with these ladies on Wednesday of this week and meet more of the children they are helping. For now, they have brought KCI two cases of orphaned children with HIV who desperately need financial assistance. It has been determined that the total care for 1 year for an HIV orphan will be approximately $2400. That would cover their HIV medicines (over $100/month for the best medicines – health insurance in Ghana does not give these patients access to the BEST medicines…so this is a cost beyond what is covered by insurance), medical care, schooling, food, and assistance for their caretakers…

The first child KCI has pledged sponsorship for is Anita who is an HIV orphan being cared for by her elderly grandmother…she is pictured here with one of the two ladies in the community helping to defend her cause….

The second is Israel, an HIV orphan who’s mother and father also died of AIDS. Israel is 15 years old and because of the social stigma of HIV he has literally been living in the ‘bush’, fending for himself with no one to care for him. He was unable to come and meet Jake yesterday because he was ashamed that he only had one pair of shorts for clothes that he wears every single day. Jake took the following pictures off the computer that the two women had brought with them. Israel recently fell into a fire and has severe burns which obviously need medical attention.
 

There is a hospital in Koforidua which the ladies believe will treat him. Kingdom Cares donated 200 Ghana cedis to get Israel the hospital visit. Jake was able to gather up some clothes from some of the teenage boys on the team in Ghana currently with him, and they put a little suitcase of items together for the ladies to take to Israel. Jake hopes to get to meet him on Wednesday.

Joyce is an HIV orphan who lives in Asikuma and is being taken care of by her aunt.  KCI is hoping to raise $2400 for her support.  She has not had any previous access to medical care.

*****

Princella

In July we had received an email from Wisdom about Princella. She was having troubles in school because she was appearing to be mostly deaf. KCI sponsored her to go and get a hearing test back in July. It was found that she was not completely deaf, because when they put a hearing device on her and tested her she completely lit up with a huge smile plastered all over her face….with the aid she could hear! However, her family was not able to buy her the hearing device which cost 400 Ghana cedis ($200). Yesterday Kingdom Cares International donated the funds needed so the device could be purchased for Princella.
 

*****

Alfred

When Jake arrived in Asikuma on Friday he received from Wisdom a hand written letter in brail which had been translated to English. The letter was from a man named Alfred who was hoping to come to the hotel to meet with Jake and ask for KCI’s assistance. Jake got to meet Alfred yesterday and heard his story. Alfred explained that he had suddenly gone blind at the age of 18. Tragic as it was, God came to him one night and spoke to him about his condition. What Alfred heard from God: “You may be physically blind but you are not spiritually blind. Use what I’ve done to you to share the gospel.” And so, Alfred is a missionary. He brought his brail Bible with him and told Jake to pick out any verse in the Bible and he would read it to him. This is not the best video because of the all the background noise - it’s really hard to hear….but it will paint a picture for you of what it is like to be Alfred….

Alfred’s desire is to go to a specialized blind school in which he can get his social worker degree and pastoral training degree. But he needs a special typewriter to type in brail. He can’t do actual college level work handwritten in brail….the typewriter is a necessity if he wants to further his education.  The total amount needing to be raised for Alfred is $2500...$1200 of that covers the typewriter and the rest would cover his school fees. 

*****

Seyrum

Seyrum’s father brought him from a neighboring village to seek KCI’s assistance (in the picture he is being held by one of the ladies who cares for HIV orphans). It is believed that Seyrum was deprived of oxygen during the birthing process. Jake said his condition seemed to be like a version of cerebral palsy. Seyrum has normal breathing but can’t move his own body parts, yet he laughed and giggled when Jake tickled him and interacted with him. Seyrum’s father asked if KCI could provide assistance to purchase a special medical chair that can help Seyrum to sit up on his own and hold his neck in place. The chair can be picked up at a local hospital and costs only 50 Ghana cedis which is $25. Kingdom Cares was able to give the family 60 Ghana cedis to cover travel to the hospital and cost of the chair.

*****

The Donkar Family

Eight months ago the father of this family passed away unexpectedly. The mother was left with her 2 month old baby (at the time) and 4 other children to care for. We received word on her desperate situation back in June via email from Wisdom. That same day, Jake received an email from a mom in his Kingdom Hoops program. She said, “God has put it on my heart to donate $2000 to KCI. But I don’t know if I should donate it now or save it aside to come to Ghana as part of a team sometime in the near future.” Jake forwarded her the email of the Donkar family and said the decision was up to her, but that this was a need he had just gotten that same day. The Kingdom Hoops mom knew God was giving her an answer and she donated the $2000 in sponsorship of the Donkar family. One of the best supports we can provide widows is giving them capital to start their own business. The Donkar’s are living in a decent house that had been earned by the father which just happens to be right along the roadside. Momma Donkar wanted to go into selling fresh fish for reasons that she could do so right from the roadside….not having to leave her house or her children during the day. In order to do this she needed to purchase a small freezer to keep the fish in. Yesterday KCI was able to purchase the freezer for Momma Donkar as well as the first round of fish to get her going on selling. KCI also sponsored each of her children for the year in school. When the children went to get dressed for the picture taken above, it was noticed that the little boy in the red could not get one of his arms through his shirt. Upon a closer look Jake realized that the little boy’s elbow was extremely swelled up and enlarged.

When Jake asked about it he was told that it happened by some sort of accident about a month and a half ago. Now the little guy won’t let anyone touch it, let alone wash it, because it hurts so bad. While Jake was inspecting it he did touch it and said it is on fire temperature-wise. The plan is to take him to the medical clinic in Asikuma today and it seems likely that he may have to make a visit to our ever beloved FOCOS hospital after that depending on the diagnosis......