February 2023 Newsletter
Hi Nyayo Family!
February was yet another month filled with God’s blessings! Not only did we reach the basic needs goal for the month, but we also had growth in our sustainability projects as we welcomed some new additions to our piggery and cattle herd! Just a couple days ago we met with Gordon and have some pretty big and exciting news! It’s a fairly significant shift in our direction and vision but one that we believe is the right move. Since it is so close to us needing to release this newsletter though, we are going to wait to update you on this new vision next Month!
In this newsletter, you’ll get all the updates on what we’ve been up to this past month, as well as the financial report so that you can see how much we’ve raised and expended. In addition to these updates, you can also find the final 3 days (Saturday through Monday) from what our team did on our mission trip this past October!
February 2023 Giving Report
Donors gave $6,434 towards Basic Needs this month! This is now four months in a row that donors completely covered basic needs so once more we feel blessed. At this rate, it looks like we will be finished raising for Basic Needs before December! In addition to Basic Needs, the below graph shows all of the many other projects that were given to this month. Please click Monthly Financial Report for a full detailed breakdown.
The below is a breakout of how the money raised was expended, this month. As you can see not all funds are expended in the same month that they are raised. For instance, you can see where the extra from Basic Needs was saved and will be applied to March’s allocation.
A few things to note:
We have met our first quarter goal of $250 for Easter and January through March birthdays! We will be sending this amount in March so that Gordon can buy the cakes and sodas for each home in April! We are now collecting for the next quarter of birthdays.
We received another $724 dollars from the same donor who gave $3,000 to purchase start the washing machine project. We were asked to put this $724 wherever it was needed and decided to save it and add it to this project while we wait for Gordon to finish costing it out. It may change but for now it was added here.
A special thanks to our regulars and one time givers for this month’s allocation:
Stacey and Earl Sutton, Bill and Tracey Walkup, Ryan and Sydney McKenna, Curran Hyde, Taylor Handley, Jordan Anderson, Lydia Foutch, Nathan and Cayce McAlister, Angi Keel, Sebastian and Eun Joo Tarchala, Christan Yarbrough, Armin and Hannah Jahandarfard, Josh Cornett, Taylor Sutton, Arman and Leslie Jahandafard, Brandon and Mahalie Todd, Lauren Russo, Joyce McConnell, Ashley Kennemer, Amanda and Jacob Patterson, Alex Moore, Sierra and Sam Smith, Cindy Dorsainvil, Pat and Alex Burgess, David Phillips, and Anna Barrera.
Thank you all, we truly would not be close to meeting the needs and are already seeing the fruit from the sustainable projects. We couldn’t do this without your help!
What’s New?
First Litter of Piglets!
We are so excited to inform you all that one of our first pigs that we purchased back in June of 2021 has given birth to a litter of piglets! This sustainability project started with just four piglets and has now grown to 51 in total! Piglets in Uganda sell for about $70 each, which in turn can help us off-set expenses as well as possibly provide a source of meat for the children as well. It’s neat to see that our drove of pigs are now creating new piglets allowing the project to grow itself and continue to benefit the kids of Ibonde and Jinja, as well as the community. It is also neat that we didn’t end up needing to purchase the original goal of 50 piglets (we only purchased 40) since this new litter came along.
New Calf & Heifer in the Herd!
Not only did one of our pigs give birth to it’s first litter but one of our heifers also gave birth to it’s first calf! Our cattle herd project has been helping tremendously with the daily supply of milk for the kids and caregivers and it’s exciting to see how much the project continues to grow! We also were able to purchase yet another heifer from the generous donations of our donors! We now currently have 16 heifers in total roaming our pasture. Thank you to our donors for making this possible and we pray that God continues to bless our sustainability projects as they expand and flourish.
Nyayo Volunteers
Meet Lydia!
Lydia has been a close friend of ours and has been joining us on our weekly bible study for the past few years! She has been giving generously to Nyayo for some time now and joined our mission trip group this last October to help the kids! She was a group leader for some of our kids the week we were there and shared the word of God in bible lessons, and even taught the kids some amazing worship songs! When we got back from Uganda, we asked her if she would be interested in helping share various content we post on our newsletters and website on our Nyayo Instagram and Facebook accounts. She agreed and now helps create content which helps update those who follow us on these social media platforms. Thank you so much Lydia, you’re awesome!
Upcoming News & Events!
First Ever Nyayo Fundraiser
Come join us for Nyayo Night at Beezr for our first ever fundraiser on Sunday, March 19th!
We have partnered with Chandlers Ford Brewing at Beezr to create "Nyayo Lager", a clone of Guiness Harp lager. They will be selling the beer on our behalf with a dollar from each beer sold going to a Nyayo project of the Chandlers Ford Brewing’s choosing. We would love for you to come celebrate with us if you’re in the area! The McKenna family also plans to provide St. Patrick's day dinner fixings for their guests. Address will be provided below!
Beezr: 109 North Side Square Huntsville, AL 35801
Please RSVP by 5 March so we can get an accurate food count by registering via this Eventbrite link.
Mission Trip 2022
In last month’s newsletter, we talked about how we decided to take somewhat of a “rest” day for the volunteers to be able to see the beauty and unique culture Uganda has to offer. We went to Queen Elizabeth National Park on a safari ride and got to see a variety of wild animals, which was an absolutely awesome experience! This month we’ll wrap up the last days of our mission trip, which include a ty-dye experience for the kids, Sunday church service in the community villages, a few birthday celebrations and our farewells to the kids and caregivers!
Saturday 29 October: Ty-dye and Sorting Donated Goods!
Morning Worship
We had yet another amazing worship with the kids while some of our team members started to prep all of the supplies for our ty-dye stations! Worship, as usual, was filled with dancing, singing and praising the Lord! There is so much energy in these worships and they’re truly an incredible experience, as God’s presence is surely felt throughout the room!
Ty-dye Time!
Michael had it on his heart to have shirts designed that best represent who Nyayo is and what our organization is centered around. The front of the shirts have a design of three “footprints” from various animals that represent the Nyayo founders’ favorite animals (Michael is the emu, Gordon is the elephant, and Hunter is the dolphin). The Celtic knot below, symbolizes the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is what binds us together in this mission. The design on the back has the names “Ibonde” and “Jinja”, which are our Nyayo districts and villages of operation in Uganda. Below that is a cross that sits above the three animals of our founders with “Nyayo” written across the bottom. A friend of Michael’s, Austin, designed the shirts for us with very minimal guidance from Michael. He did a great job!
One of our donors Shellie, funded almost all 275 shirts that Michael brought with him. Each kid and caregiver not only received one, but also were able to customize their own as we taught them how to ty-dye! We set up stations which allowed the kids to learn each step of the ty-dying process. We taught them how to twirl the shirts, rubber band them in place, soak them, add their favorite colors and bag them up before washing and hang drying them! It was an absolute blast and the shirts came out looking so awesome!
Sorting Donated Goods
After we got back from a long day of ty-dying, we finished our day by unpacking our suitcases full of donations! Our team brought over a lot of clothes and shoes for both adults and children along with many other donated goods. In order to hand these gifts out more efficiently, we needed to separate the clothes and shoes into groups. It was incredible to see how many clothes and bibles we received from our friends and family as donations to these children, caregivers and pastors of the local communities!
Sunday 30 October: Church & Birthday Parties!
Sunday Service
Gordon decided to show our team around the villages surrounding the Fort Portal area to see how they worship God each Sunday! Silas is the senior pastor and has close relationships with these churches and pastors in the region. People come from the local villages, sometimes even miles away, usually walking, to worship God at these churches, which shows just how deep their faith is. These churches may have little to no infrastructure, but that doesn’t stop them from pursuing God each Sunday. The first church we visited had no roof and instead they improvised by using big tarps that were held up by planks of wood. Mike decided to bring over communion supplies so that we may all enjoy communion together with the people of the church. Although we weren’t sure if we would have enough for everyone, God provided a way! We ended up breaking up the small pieces of bread into even smaller pieces so that everyone could join, which ended an incredible service! On the way back to Ibonde, we ended up stopping at two more churches, where we greeted the people and prayed for one another. This Sunday was a very humbling experience that we’re so glad we could be apart of!
Surprise Birthday Party!
Once we got back from church and had lunch, Gordon came up with a plan to surprise Mike, Christan and Curran for their birthdays! The kids all walked over quietly to Gordon’s home from Ibonde Village, where they hid within the gates of the property. Gordon said that he wanted to show all of us something on his property, so he took us through the gates where we were greeted with all the kids for a birthday surprise! Gordon had cakes made that were sliced up and shared with all the kids, as well as soda and candy! After singing happy birthday and having some cake, we wanted to surprise the kids with our own treat as well! We pulled out our bags of marshmallows and showed the kids how to roast them! It was a new experience not only for the kids but for team as well! After loading up on sugary treats, we used that energy to have a dance party! Everyone seemed to be on the dance floor, showing off their moves and sharing many laughs! It was a successful birthday surprise and a great way to end our last night with the kids! There is nothing more special than to see people who have served these kids for over decade and had a lot of stress during that time in trying to provide, have fun and enjoy themselves!
Monday 31 October: Farewells & Journey Back to Entebbe Airport
Farewells & Caregiver Gifts of Appreciation
We woke up the next morning packed up our belongings and enjoyed our last breakfast together. We made sure all our donated goods were properly separated and packaged up for the kids and caregivers to be given as gifts. We thanked Betty and Silas for allowing us in their guest home and for being such amazing hosts. We loaded up the bus and went over to say goodbye to the children before they started their school day, and even got to take a big group picture with them before leaving! As the kids went to their classes, we wanted to show our appreciation for the caregivers and all the hard work they put in each day. We let them know how grateful we are for them and gave out bags of clothes and shoes for each individual. We said our final goodbyes before stepping on the bus and taking off for Entebbe airport.
Conclusion
We are so blessed for everyone that was involved on this mission trip! Our team put in a lot of hard work and we truly appreciate them! We thank God for all the guidance in our mission trip preparation and execution, as well as always opening up new doors for us when obstacles arose. We pray that our volunteers return one day and that new volunteers decide to take a leap of faith and join us! Thank you again to our volunteers and donors for making all this possible for our kids!
Things We Are Praying About
We continue to ask for your prayers for God’s continued guidance as we follow along wherever the Spirit leads. Prayer is clearly being answered in ways we aren’t even asking for help in. If you’d like to pray along with us, these are things Michael, Gordon, and Hunter are currently praying for:
Blessings for the children and caregivers of Ibonde and Jinja Children’s Home
Guidance for Michael, Gordon, and Hunter as they continue to lead Nyayo
Guidance for others who are helping
Guidance on upcoming projects for the children’s homes
Bible Study
Weekly Zoom Studies
Please reach out if you’re interested in joining our bible studies via zoom every Sunday at 7pm CT! We welcome anyone who wants to learn more about Jesus, even if you just wish to keep your camera off and only listen in on our discussions! We like to keep it light and informal as we have casual conversations about the various chapters we read throughout the Bible! We are currently reading 1 Samuel.
Peace and blessings,
Michael, Gordon, and Hunter
