Day 1 – Can Jesus Really Hear my Prayers?

Written by: Heidi Kittredge

Today was a day filled with blessings from God.

First we visited with the children from Kimironko Child Hope center. We were greeted with joyous songs, poems and all around happiness. We shared “Can Jesus Really Hear My Prayers” written by 7 year old Jenisys Oliver-Joseph and we distributed a beautiful prayer letter written by Jenisys for each child.

Then, we visited my friend Garry Lane’s sponsor child and family. Through Garry’s generosity, the family was able to purchase a home large enough for themselves plus 2 two bedroom units and 2 one bedroom units that they rent out to other families for additional income. God (through Garry) has blessed the family beyond their imagination.

We ended the day visiting 5 businesses at the Kimironko market. We met Mediatrice, Olive, Elina, Marie Claire, Yvonne and Benita. They are part of the Kimironko Women’s Cooperative group I visited last year. The women sell vegetables, tomatoes, bananas, tailor and one woman has a mini supermarket. The group received their $400 savings bonus that was offered to them last year. Each of these women received a portion of the bonus to build their businesses. This allowed them to purchase more “capital” (more tomatoes, more bananas, a second sewing machine and a larger brick & mortar supermarket space.

We asked each of them how the saving bonuses impacted their lives? Each of them reported that it has allowed them to increase their weekly savings as much as $20 per week; build their businesses, provide for their families, to trust their judgement and have confidence that they can run successful businesses.

But most importantly, each of them expressed that none of this could have happened without God’s will.

“We were so impressed at the excitement and gratitude shared by these women. Experiencing their gratitude for the saving bonus moved me to tears!” – Liz Henrich