My Grown Up Christmas List

Although there have been more recent releases, this song will always carry me back to the 1990’s and Amy Grant and a time when I thought I was much more grown-up than I really was!  I am not as optimistic or naive as I was then, but now that I really am a grown-up, I do have a Christmas list that can’t be bought in stores.  And these wishes don’t come from song lyrics, but from the backdrop of my daily life.  Would you like to give a gift that really matters to someone this Christmas?  If so, read on, because you can!  …This is my grown up Christmas list:

1. Needed SURGICAL CARE for our poorest patients

Tenwek Hospital has become a referral center for the sickest and most complicated patients in the region.  While our physician services are free through the support of our donor-team, the hospital operates by patient fees.  The Tenwek Compassionate Surgical Fund lets us give free or discounted services to the most needy of our patients, and is critical in allowing us to offer quality care to the poor in our community.  Most surgeries here can be covered with $400.

2. TEA PLANTS for our sustainable tea farming project

This sustainable project implemented with our national partners is designed to help support the daily needs of our local orphans.  One acre of tea plants costs $250.  Help plant fields of hope through the Tenwek Orphan Outreach Fund.

3. FOOD for our orphans  

One 45 pound sack of corn costs $50.  One 45 pound sack of rice costs $50.  Each of these sacks can feed 50 children for 1 month!  Invest in a healthy future for our community through the Tenwek Orphan Outreach Fund.

4. CLOTHES for our orphans

One pair of shoes costs $10.  One school uniform costs $20.  Invest in the practical needs of our kids through the Tenwek Orphan Outreach Fund

5. One year of EDUCATION for an orphan

Unfortunately schooling here is not free.  One child’s preschool fees costs $75; One child’s elementary school fees costs $125;  One child’s high school fees costs $500.  Invest in opportunity through the Tenwek Orphan Scholarship Fund.

Thank you for considering a gift to support our Kenyan community in meaningful and lasting ways.  Let us each seek to share the great great love of our Savior this season!

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me…  Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”   ~Matthew 25:36, 40