Greetings to you, brothers and sisters in Christ.  We are thankful at this time for God's grace and for your partnership with us in following Christ's heart to minister to the poor and orphaned among us.  Our sacrifices are not without reward.  Take joy in the words below written by some of our students who will soon graduate from Grace Primary School at Solai, Kenya.

"I hope you normally pray for me as I normally pray for you"-Rebecca  8^th grade

"Here in school we stay well with a lot of happiness and we love each other."-Elizabeth  8^th grade

Our news from OCI in Kenya is mostly good.  The students got a break from studies during the month of August.  The 8^th and 12th grade students returned in the middle of August to prepare for the Kenya Certificate of Primary (and Secondary) Education in October and November.  These tests will determine what kind of continuing education they will be eligible for.  Please be praying that their study time will be productive and that they will have strong test results.

God has provided sufficient rain for good crop yields of vegetables and fruit.  Kale for example, has been so abundant that students could not eat it all so some was taken to market and sold.  A place for a second fish pond has been prepared and will be built and stocked when funded.  One of our cows has died and we hope to be able to replace it. The other cows have produced calves!  OCI has the goal of developing agriculture to the point where surplus products could be sold in the community with the proceeds being used to cover overhead costs.

At Grace Primary School, these children receive essential protection from a society that has no social safety net or public regard for fatherless children.  In a community rich with God's love, recreation, nutrition and academics, Grace Primary School restores a child's sense of value and belonging.  Here they are introduced to a saving knowledge of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ and have the opportunity to become a member of God's personal and global family.

God has used this year's group of fourteen 8^th grade students to urge us that the time has come to move forward on building the OCI secondary school campus.  In another month or so, these young teenagers who have lived, studied, played, worshipped, and prayed together at Grace Primary School will be split up and sent out to various public and private secondary college prep or trades schools.  Dr. Mwangi will be placing them according to their qualifications and will continue to supervise their progress.  Local pastors will also be asked to oversee them, but the daily discipling of these precious and vulnerable young people will be lost. 

Several years ago God gave OCI His vision to go beyond the primary school and to build a secondary school.  With a secondary school we could continue discipling the students through their adolescence and allow the OCI kids to remain together like the family they have become. The OCI staff can provide spiritual training that would track right along with their physical and intellectual development as they pursue a course of academics or vocational studies.  We all know how challenging those teen years are, socially and morally.  Apart from OCI, they don't have a stable family or community backing them up with a safety net when they make wrong choices like most of us and our kids have had and needed.

OrphanConcern International acquired 21 acres of land in Mwariki, Kenya, with this vision of building a secondary school where our students could be kept together and under the direct care and mentoring of OCI.  Since this land was acquired, it has been farmed for the purpose of feeding the students and livestock at Grace Primary School and when possible, producing a cash crop.   The land has been surveyed, a well has been dug and we have estimates for electrical service in preparation for building a school one day.  We are inviting our community of supporters to give generously toward the goal of providing a secondary school campus.

God has been so faithful to raise up generous people like you to come alongside His work.  In eight short years, Orphan Concern International has radically altered the lives of over 300 orphaned or impoverished children, built a school and a residence capable of housing 200 children, engineered sources for clean water, developed expansive agriculture and employed a small support staff for the school.  We have put a great work in motion and we need your support more than ever. 

The overhead for Grace Primary School is $3,000/month which is only partly offset by the $35/month orphan support.  That $3,000 covers salaries for 6 teachers, 1 farmer, 1 pastor, 5-6 cooks, 1 maintenance person, utilities and supplies!  That is a tremendous value by USA standards but when the cost is unfunded, it drains cash reserves quickly so we need supporters who can give monthly or occasionally for this overhead expense.  Maybe you are a teacher, farmer, pastor, cook or maintenance person who would like to connect to the ministry by contributing to the salaries of people like yourself.

With Christmas approaching, many supporters want to know how to give a gift to their sponsored child.  As always, we want each child to feel the love and support of their sponsor but not all sponsors will reach out this Christmas.  Each person who is reading this is invited to send a card or letter of encouragement addressed, "Dear Son" or "Dear Daughter".  With or without a card, you can also send a modest photo of your family.  The cards, letters and photos will be blended into a wall hanging where the children can collectively enjoy and find encouragement in the words and images of people who stand in support of them.  If you want to provide a gift, please send a monetary gift to be used for the whole community of sponsored children. Unfortunately, the delivery of packages mailed to Kenya is very unreliable and subject to pilfering.  Most importantly, they are children and can easily feel deprived or forgotten if some kids gets presents from their sponsors and others don't.

We have recently welcomed several more students into Grace Primary School.  As before, their joy, relief and excitement was indescribable!  We have room for more and a waiting list of needy children.  OCI still needs sponsors who can commit to fully supporting a particular child and sponsors who will give whenever and whatever they can to support the 'program children' who have remained under the care of OCI even though their sponsor's support has ended.  In fact, there are 80 children supported by OCI currently without sponsors (the kids do not know that their sponsorship has fallen off).

A gift we can all afford is the gift of prayer.  Will you pray fervently for the children, the staff who care for them, the supporters who share their resources to fund the organization, the short term mission teams who serve onsite and for the board of directors who hear from God and devote their time and talents to guide this mission?

May you have a blessed Christmas remembering the day our LORD came!

Your grateful co-laborers at Orphan Concern International

Please note that our mailing address has changed:

Orphan Concern International Inc.
P.O. BOX  680871
4574 COLUMNS DRIVE
MARIETTA, GA 30068

Also, please visit our new website to learn about new online giving options at  www.orphanconcerninternational.org