Hope for Children Center - Oyugis, Kenya
By Dee Stringfellow
The test of the morality of a society
is what it does for its children –
Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
What you are doing at the Hope for
Children Center is just that, giving them
a side of society that is moral and a rea-
son to hope. The dictionary tells us that
the word “hope” means trust, reliance or
desire, accompanied by expectation of
or belief in fulfillment. Also it says this,
“someone or something in which hopes
are centered.” The name, Hope for Chil-
dren Center, truly does fit, doesn’t it?
As you know, sometimes this word
hope is used so casually that we forget
the importance of it in all our lives. We
all live with hope!
It gives these children hope when
we are financially helping, when we
are writing letters to them, when we are
praying for them. We receive the same
hope (expectation) when we look to the
future for them and find that we have
had a small part in their having some of
their hopes and dreams come to pass.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we
encouraged these children to
share some of their good for-
tune and love with some of the
children in the streets? Maybe
give them a little hope?
“As you have done it to
the least of these my brethren,
you have done it unto me.”
(Matthew 25:40)
Many of you have re-
cently received pictures, let-
ters and/or cards from your
“adopted” children at Hope Center. It
was a thrill for me to be able to read
them and see some of the pictures and
compare them with their first ones.
Some with just rags on and now with
big smiles and dressed neat and clean.
The smiles are there because of the ded-
ication of so many of you. This is what
some of them had to say in part of their
letters: “I am feeling fine and no more
hunger,” “God has kept me,” “Thank
God for life up to the new year,”“I
would like to thank God because He
protected our life last year,” “I know
that one day, or one time, God will join
us together as a family.” HOPE!
Many of them thank God for just
keeping them alive the past year. How
many of us even gave it a
thought about His protect-
ing us from harm this past
year? Maybe we should
thank Him for the same
reason.
One of the new arriv-
als at Hope for Children
Center is Irene Atieno. She
is fifteen years old and has
lost both of her parents.
She was rejected by her
uncle and, therefore, de-
cided to go to the streets.
She is a very polite girl, but needs to be
loved and a place to call home.
Maureen Adhiambo is fourteen
years old and an orphan. Both of her
parents died of AIDS. She was left all
alone because even the
grandparents had died. She
needs educational support
plus shelter and clothing.
The fear of sexual abuse
for these girls is so much a
part of life on the streets.
Both of these girls were
taken off the streets by Julia,
a member of the Hope Cen-
ter Committee. Then Julia’s
husband became very ill and
unable to work and they had
no means of support for even
their own family. [See Julia’s story in the
January issue of Spotlight on Orphans.]
These girls needed a new home.
Julia requested Pastor Maurice to take
them in so they wouldn’t have to go
back to that kind of a life. We can’t
imagine how it feels to have someone
take you in and then realize that now
you may have to go back to the streets,
knowing what kind of life that would
be. But they were taken in at the Center
and I’m sure they had hope in their
young hearts once again for a better life.
Something for all to celebrate is the
return to Hope Center of Diana
Adiahambo and Michael Martin.
These children were with us from the
start of our project after their mother,
who was a prostitute, died from AIDS.
They were removed in November
2003, in an attempt to disrupt the work
Pastor Maurice was doing with the
children. (We have since
drawn up legal forms to make
such withdrawals unlikely.)
The children cried and begged
to stay, but to no avail. Pastor
Maurice recently learned that
they were suffering and being
mistreated. Diana, a healthy
and robust four-year-old, and
her brother Michael, who was
just seven, are now thin and
sickly. They are so happy to
be home, and will soon be
strong and healthy again. We
are hoping for a family to sponsor this
beautiful little girl and boy.
There is a story told of a young boy
at an orphanage, who was being con-
sidered for adoption. The man and his
wife told the boy of all the wonderful
things they could give him. He told
them that if all they had were a good
home, lots of toys and all the things
other kids had, that he would just as
soon stay where he was. The couple
wondered what in the world more did
he want! He told them that he just
wanted someone to love him!!!
I have learned very quickly by the
letters and emails that I have received
that these children at Hope Center are
truly loved by all of us. You are fulfill-
ing their HOPE for the future.
?
If you are interested
in helping
with the work at Hope for Children
Center please contact:
Donations: Sally Specht, PO Box
741, Angwin, CA 94508, Phone:
(707)-965-1379; Email: slspecht@
hotmail.com.
Child Sponsorship: Dee String-
fellow, PO Box 223, Galvin, WA
98544, Phone: (360)-746-7481, Email:
sdeloras @ncplus.net.
-3-
Maureen Adhiambo
Irene Atieno
