LEA SCHOOL & ORPHANAGE HOSTEL UPDATE

LEA SCHOOL & ORPHANAGE HOSTEL UPDATE
Martin Tango and his wonderful family (above) run an amazing school and orphanage in the small town of Dongobesh, Tanzania. I've touched on LEA in past blogs...but a brief summary of their beginnings and where they are presently at are as follows:

• Martin was an orphan by age 13; made his way from the bush villages to the town of Dongobesh and was taken in by Pastor Zakayo (another amazing story that I need to share about some day). Pastor Zak and his wife, still take in "stray" children and have something like 20 to 30 living in their humble home.
• Zakayo mentored Martin, brought him in as part of his evangelical ministry called Maasheti (spelling might not be quite right).
• Martin was touched by the plight of the street kids, and the lack of education or housing for them, as he was once in this situation himself.
• With the encouragement of Zakyo and some of his supporters; LEA preschool and primary school began in 2005 with 20 children.
• When I first visited in 2013 LEA had about 300 students, about 280 living in very rough housing (but better than living on the streets, see past blogs for images).
• In 2015 a local friend, Mark Croskrey, his son, and friend David Slater, along with other donors raised funds and had a well installed in this parched part of the earth, to help the school, and town. At that time the school had a little over 400 students.
• LEA now has over 600 students, is adding a secondary school is achieving some of the best academic test results in this part of the country; mostly orphaned or single parent children...all because of a vision the Lord gave Martin, encouraged by pastor Zak 12 years ago.
  
• Housing is still a problem; the government made the students move from the substandard living conditions, but the cost to rent the new housing is high. 
• I was blessed to help design a hostel (dorm) for the children; and in 2015, towards the end of our visit to Tanzania, a landowner next to the school agreed to sale LEA his land for this dorm and more educational buildings in exchange for other property LEA owned not quite a close to the campus.
• Please pray that the Lord provides the funds to help build the housing and improved kitchen facilities for these amazing students and this amazing program.
  

YUMA FREE CLINIC

YUMA FREE CLINIC is an amazing program that organizes medical, dental, opthalmology, and veterinarian clinics for small towns and villages within Mexico. Rene and Gloria Bustamante are the couple behind these clinics. These two have become particularly close to our family, and even visited for a long weekend in 2014. Helps architects are finishing design of a ministry headquarters and home for these two located near the Mexican border in Yuma County, Arizona.  Lord willing, Sally and I will be joining Rene in central Mexico this coming February to help on a construction project he has going on there, while also visiting another Mexican ministry (Business as Ministry) for another Helps (and possibly Crux Community Design Studio) project...but more on that in a few months.  Following are some photos of the various clinics that are organized through Yuma Free Clinic; volunteer professionals and lay persons who help real physical needs while sharing the gospel and building bridges with small village leaders as well. What an amazing ministry and way to serve our Lord and others.

YEEHAW ALOHA

YEEHAW ALOHA is a thrift store in Walla Walla, Washington operated by Gabriel and Laurel DeYoung. The DeYoungs head up the Young Life program in Walla Walla, and use sales from the store to provide for this ministry. Their story is awesome, but will need to be shared on a future blog. Their store has expanded and they needed more storage...which meant an addition to their present store...which required stamped architectural drawings. 

Gabriel and Laurel have a tremendous outreach with the youth from Walla Walla; sharing the Hope our Savior among many who are searching for purpose and direction in life. They envision remodeling a storage mezzanine within this shop to accommodate youth meetings and a recording studio.

THE SCHOOL OF PROMISE, THAILAND

HELPS, HIS, CRUX, & SCHOOL OF PROMISE

In August Amy-Brock Devine introduced me to Joel and Marvel Vander Kooi, founders of Hope International Schools (HIS), and operators of The School of Promise; a Christ based school near Chiang Mai, Thailand. Currently the School of Promise is only for preschool through grade 6, however they have been granted permission to begin to add grades 7-12 in upcoming years. This is a big PRAISE; the challenge is that the facilities they are presently renting will not accommodate more than grade 8, perhaps 9. Because of this they have begun praying for funds to purchase and build a Secondary School facility, with the site sized large enough to accommodate a future Primary school so they will someday no longer need to rent their present facilities. HIS has teamed with Crux Community Design Studio (a ministry under the umbrella of Helps Ministry, which links with California Baptist University School of Architecture) to begin master planning and designing the new School of Promise Complex.  Following is more information regarding HIS and this school:

BREAKING THE CYCLE OF POVERTY AND OPPRESSION

Life in Thailand presents many risks for children, especially children in poverty. Human trafficking and forced prostitution are tragic realities. In addition, God’s love and forgiveness are largely unknown. Only six people out of a thousand know the love of Jesus. HIS started the School of Promise with the goal to break the cycle of poverty and oppression by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and providing excellent education to children and families in Hang Dong, Thailand (near Chiang Mai).

THE CHALLENGE

The School of Promise is an elementary school, educating students from preschool through  grade six. Upon graduation from grade six, students must find ways to continue their education elsewhere. The teen years are critical to developing a solid relationship with the Lord. We need to continue discipling students in these years. Middle school age is often the time in children’s lives when families push them to drop out of school. It is a very risky time of life in Thailand. We have been sought out by many 6th grade graduates from other schools who are seeking help to stay in school. Also, students often enter the School of Promise as older students who are not reading or doing math at grade level. This is due in part to draw of students from low-income families, but it is due also to overcrowding and neglect of special needs in the mainstream school system. The School of Promise needs more time with our students.

THE SOLUTION, COST, AND TIMELINE

HIS will work with the School of Promise to purchase land, build facilities, and start secondary school with capacity for 280 students. The cost of the project is $2,500,000. HIS will work with foundations, charitable organizations, businesses, churches, and individual donors to raise the funds and locate the appropriate site in 2017. The School of Promise will break ground for construction by December 2018 and open High School in May 2020.