Category: Uncategorized

Angaza Discovery Camp is OPEN!

Almost 6 weeks ago the first MOHI 6th graders showed up for the very first week of Angaza Discovery Camp! Katie joined them for the first week of the girls’ 2-week camp and then again for the first week of the first boys’ camp. There are already so many exciting stories coming from camp!

But first, you really need to see it for yourself! MOHI made a video from the first camp and we wanted to share that with you!

As you can see in this video, this is life changing stuff and we are already seeing transformations! Yes, it’s #GivingTuesday, a day when every worthy cause ask you for help. Angaza is an experience all MOHI kids from slums and remote villages should get to experience.

Angaza is staffed by pastors, camp counselors (most are MOHI graduates), mentors for the counselors, cooks, a nurse, a horse trainer, an ocean life guard and a librarian – all helping to put on a quality and powerful camp experience. As you can see this 2 week camp takes resources to put all this together.

This is where you can be a part of giving this experience to almost 1900 kids this year alone. Pray for everyone involved in putting on camp and for these 1900 campers this year. Altogether it costs around $300 for a kid to travel and spend 2 weeks at camp.

Will you send a MOHI kid to camp? Maybe 2 or 10? Their parents are not in a position to provide anything like this for them, but you probably are. Give whatever amount you want with a joyful heart knowing the joy these kids are experiencing at Angaza Discovery Camp.

This #GivingTuesday you can give to the Angaza Discovery Camp through CMF’s website. Join our family in sending kids to camp and let’s see how many kids we can send to camp!

2017 #TeamGerbersGo Gear is in!

Summer weather has arrived (in the US)! Update your summer wardrobe AND help “SPREAD HOPE EVERYWHERE YOU GO“!

Our new 2017 #TeamGerbersGo shirts are out and available to order today! This year we also have adult shirts in Gray, Black, and White. We also have kids sizes, a mug, a tote bag, and a hoodie for us because Kenyan winter is coming!

Shirts are $20 and get cheaper the more you buy. SPREAD HOPE EVERYWHERE GO!  Go to our GEAR page to purchase.

Meet Virginia

This is the biggest production video I’ve (Patrick) made in years.  I’m a little rusty.  I do have a great team I work with here that I was able to collaborate with to make this happen.  We wanted to show the difference child sponsorship makes for a child growing up in the slums.  I also wanted to show enough hints at the holistic way MOHI does child sponsorship by including shots of feeding, health education, social workers, and economic empowerment for the parents.

Last week we released it on MOHI’s Facebook page and already it’s been viewed over 14,000 times.  If you would like to download the video, click here and when the page loads click the arrow pointing down to download the file.  There is also a version with a more general ending here.

Facebook Posts Now Here!

So there are a few of you that can view this site, but don’t have a Facebook account.  It is so convenient for us to post quick updates to Facebook, so it’s where the most updates end up.  Now, you can come to this updates page and the most recent Facebook posts will be in the sidebar to the right. 

Look Who We Found!

Big hugs!
She mostly wanted to see my camera.
2008 and 2011

WOW, what a surprise today! Today we ran into one of the kids we sponsor. We’ve sponsored Millicent since 2008. We met her in 2008, Patrick visited her in 2011, and now today! Hannah has the day off next Friday so we are planning to introduce them for the first time AND we’ll all meet our other kid, Francis.

The best part for Patrick is that Millicent wants to be a Photographer! She is studying photography and was very interested in his camera!

Special Needs in the Slums

14993446_528725703993481_9100093477088600597_nToday was a wonderful and very difficult day in the slums. Patrick and I have been blessed to be doing a few home visits in the Slums.

Today we went to visit a single mother and her son who has Cerebral Palsy. The mother is loving and strong and does everything she can to provide for her family. I’m so grateful for Amon who works with the disability program who visits this family often to show Jesus’s love to this family and offer encouragement and support for this beautiful family.

We are excited for our teammate Nikki to come back soon. She is currently raising support to return and serve in the disability program at Missions of Hope.  Support Nikki!

Crazy Weekend!

Got a cake our last day of school.
Katie lead worship in Swahili.
Pat lead devotions in Swahili.
Randy made a new friend.
Touring the slums.
The Carnivore Restaurant.
Hannah ate everything.
Kids always find Katie.
Picture Bible

What a great weekend! Friday was our last day of language school! First Katie lead everyone in worship and Patrick taught a devo, all in Swahili! After that we had our final exam, a brutal oral exam. A friend from school got us a cake to celebrate.

Then we got to host our first visitors from Home! Randy, Tony, and Anthony were here visiting Anthony’s ministry in Kenya and we were delighted to host them at our house at the end of their trip. We had the awesome privilege of taking them to the Mathare slum to hear about the ministry we now work with and to take a quick walk into the slums. It was great to show off our city and host them and talk at our house. They even treated us to the world famous Carnivore restaurant with Anthony’s Kenyan family! It was Hannah’s first time there and we all enjoyed beef, leg of lamb, chicken wings, ostrich, crocodile, pork ribs, sausage, and turkey.

Sunday we went to church in Mathare before the boys headed home. We had so much fun with them! We know God will use this trip to do some cool stuff in them and through them.

Today was our first day fighting traffic going into the office in Mathare all day. We are spending the next two weeks getting to know the different ministries and their staff and starting to help out some. It feels great to finally be getting to work!

Team Retreat at the Indian Ocean!

14691182_515865958612789_1239173129923727306_oHannah’s the first in the family to step foot in the India Ocean. Our team is at the coast for our annual retreat. Since we skipped family vacations the last two years, this will do.

This team retreat has been a great opportunity for our family to get to know our teammates better, talk about the team culture we’re striving for, and just relax after a long 22 months of crazy transitions for our family.

Children’s Bible

14449713_511542149045170_1272920172775970317_nHannah brought a Children’s Bible to church today and it was passed around church by so many children big and little. When this little boy got a hold of the Bible he touched it like it was the greatest treasure in the world. You know what, it is.