Mattaw Update, July 2016

After finishing up a full couple of months....  I have a bit to share :).  But it's going to take another week or two to finish up the post I'm writing to share of how full and wonderful all our teams have been.  And we still have one team left, coming next week!  My bestie is leading it so I might be a tad E-X-C-I-T-E-D.

It has been a beautiful summer full of testimonies of Jesus.  The Mattaw Children have been blessed, to say the least.  So we truly are thankful for every person that came and poured out love.  Pictures and testimonies to come.  I promise :).

While teams have come and gone, the children were able to continue in their routine of school and life.  If you haven't heard yet, we have an organisation we partner with called Joshua Blueprint.  They are currently in the second year of teaching and training our older children in vocals, instruments, drama and dance.  It's been beautiful to see God use these classes to awaken the arts in our children and to see such deep healing come to their hearts through it.  Our children have so many talents that Joshua Blueprint has been able to discover.  Some children, once traumatised, broken and feeling they have nothing to give, are being transformed and becoming confident in knowing God has deposited gifts in them that the world needs.  It's been life changing for many.

In our school, we are now in the fourth year of using a new curriculum called Accelerated Christian Education.  We've also seen God use this curriculum to transform children in their thinking.  Many come to us with little to no education and this system has helped them to catch up.  It is still a work in progress but progress is made daily.  We love that this curriculum teaches critical thinking and also has God's word woven throughout it.  It also helps to build character that pleases God.  There are life-lessons given that set our children up to be successful adults.

In using this curriculum, there have been challenges that have come with it.  One is that our children are not in any local sports or academic competitions that the public schools have.  Thankfully, we receive our curriculum from a base in Nairobi.  This is an International curriculum and has students graduating from it that are able to attend Universities around the world.  We are thankful that the base here in Kenya holds national competitions every year for schools around Kenya that use A.C.E.  They call it the ACE Convention.  This year, we took a leap of faith and have registered our students in this.  They are BEYOND excited to be a part of this.  They have been practising diligently on a daily bases.  There will be events such as bible drills, sporting events, essay writing, drama, dance, music and spelling bee's (to name a few) .  The timing is perfect to see how what our students have learned from Joshua Blueprint classes will highly impact how our students do in these events.  We are able to register 20 of our students in these competitions.

But it isn't cheap.  And we know the price it costs is nothing compared to how much of an impact it'll make in our students.

So we share this to ask that you pray as they prepare.  We also ask that you consider giving towards them going.  The dates are August 22-26 and it is held in Nairobi (the capital of Kenya).  The cost to register each student (which includes cost for food and lodging) is a total of $2,000.  We were a bit hesitant to do this as it is costly but like I shared, we realised what a great need this is for our students and how much value it will be in their life for years to come.  Any amount you can give towards this will be so appreciated and helpful.  You can go to the Mattaw Children website, click the donate tab at the top and give through paypal.  Just please specify in the memo that it is for "Convention for Mattaw Students".  www.mattawchildren.com

If you've made it through this entire post, thank you!  Thank you for continuing to stay connected to all God continues to do in our midst.  Much love to all those that follow, support, love and pray for our Mattaw family.