From the desk of: Tom Andersen

   

Dear Oasis Family,

 

Ok, let's see... Ah yes, the Shelter... a.k.a. St. Martha's... a.k.a. Children's Home Number Two. Did you know that these are all the same project? Confused? Well, let me clear it up for you. Our first children's home is known as "The Hill." It is in the Maasai tribal area of Western Kenya near a small town about five hours' drive from Nairobi. Since Oasis has been working to expand our impact on Kenyan orphans, we have been looking for local Christian organizations with which to partner on a new project: Children's Home Number Two. Our Oasis missionaries, Rick and Ann Smith, have made contact with many organizations, and we have focused on one ministry in particular, known as St Martha's, that is working to rescue widows and orphans from the Kibera Slum just outside of Nairobi. As we have developed a good working relationship with St. Martha's over the last three years, the Oasis board used the code name "The Shelter" for the potential Children's Home Number Two project. So, there you have it, our children's home, The Shelter, will be built in partnership with St. Martha's Ministry. (There may be a pop quiz later.)

 

I'd like to give you some background on the story of The Shelter. To begin, St. Martha's Ministry was founded and is still run by a wonderful, Godly married couple, Caleb and Eunice. (You will hear a lot more about their incredible lives at our 10-year celebration on March 2nd. Save the date now for this memorable event!) Caleb and Eunice run a small craft jewelry store in Kibera, and all of the products are made by widows they have

Eunice and Caleb on The Shelter property

trained. The skills learned from the St. Martha's Ministry have literally saved the lives of many widows and their children, as there is no government safety net in Kenya. There are many more orphaned children living in the slums, managing as best they can, but it is a very nasty place with little hope for the future and lots of opportunities for these kids to be abused. St Martha's and Oasis have a plan to move about 20 of these kids to The Shelter as space becomes available. About 30 additional orphans will be accepted into The Shelter from the local area. Caleb and Eunice will direct all activities and take up residence near or at The Shelter. They will develop and hire the staff, make sure the children are safe and treated well, take care of the facilities and implement a holistic development plan for each child. This is a very big job, and it will evolve over many years.

 

The facility plan we are developing for The Shelter is very different from the one for The Hill. The Shelter will be built using a care model that is designed to create a feeling of family. There will be room for up to six family homes on the property, and each one will be able to house between 6-12 kids, a "Mama" and an "Auntie." We will start with six kids per home and gradually build up the number of kids per home as the staff gain experience and we see how things go. There will also be a central kitchen and meeting hall with several offices for staff. Mamas will pick up food for their families at the central kitchen, but they will eat together with the kids in their home as a family. The Hill was set up with two dormitories (one for boys and one for girls) and a dining hall, pretty much like going to camp. Our research has shown that the family home model is better for the children's development and re-entry into society, although it does cost more per child to build and operate. The Mamas are not expected to cook, and maintenance is handled by St. Martha's, so the Mamas are able to concentrate on mothering the kids and developing long-term relationships. We will invest in professional training for the Mamas; there is a school for Mamas in Kenya, and we are evaluating how we can use it to staff our children's home.

 

We will also work closely with St. Martha's to bring in the best possible staff to assure the spiritual, educational, vocational and physical growth of the kids. These three or four people are essential and can be fantastic role models for the kids. They must work in harmony with the Mamas and the director of the site. They must also demonstrate Christian values, leading by example and developing well thought-out programs. They must walk the talk faithfully every day.

 

Last year, one of the St Martha's board members knew of some land for sale about two hours' drive from The Hill. Early this year, we purchased the land with funds raised by 

The road "under construction" on the way to The Shelter

our running team, TEAM Oasis. As I write this letter, we are building a road to The Shelter and are developing plans with St. Martha's Ministry for the first two family homes, a kitchen and a central building. There is also a lot of preparation work for utilities. We have access to power nearby; however, we have to plan for our own water and sanitary needs. "City water" may become available in the next three months, but we have to wait and see. Site grading, rock removal, security fencing and foundations all have to be accounted for in our master site plan. We will continue to add family homes to the site as funds come in for that purpose, and we hope to be at full capacity in about 18 months.

  

Now, would you like to know about The Valley... a.k.a. Children's Home Number Three... a.k.a .... Pastor Moses? We'll be discussing that in a 

future letter! 

Tom and Ruthmari Andersen and some of the kids on The Hill on their recent trip to Kenya

 

Best Regards,

 

Tom... a.k.a. Pastor Rufus (Now that's a very interesting story... Remind me to tell it to

you when we next meet.)

   

Tom Andersen

Manager of Oasis US Operations 

 

 

 

 

 

We are hear to answer your questions regarding the ministry of Oasis for Orphans. You can always reach us at info@oasisfororphans.org and now you can also reach us during business hours at our new phone number 224.277.5678. And for up to the minute updates we invite you to "like" us on Facebook as well.

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