"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV
Beyond Vision Foundation wishes you a blessed Christmas.
Hello and Merry Christmas from your volunteer team here at Beyond Vision Foundation!
We're so grateful for your support and partnership in our mission. We are blessed by your support for the work of God's tireless servants in Kenya who pour love and hope into their community as teachers, social workers, staff, and volunteers.
Our co-founder, Karen Skoog, and Board Member, Brenda Grassel, went to Kenya in June to visit Beyond the Vision Community School, The Happy Place, and Scholarship Beneficiaries. You can read their mission report at: https://www.beyondvisionfoundation.org/post/2024-ministry-report
This year, $108,000 donor dollars went directly to support our students through education, nourishment, support, and scholarships. We now have 450 students enrolled and have robust participation in our Christian Counseling and Mental Health Program. We received a $15,000 grant from a private donor to help us run electricity through the slum to the primary school and $1,500 to expand two of our classrooms. Beyond the Vision Initiative received a donation of 11 acres in rural Kenya where we hope to build a boarding school called The Happy Place. The Happy Place will offer secondary education and mini vocational training so that all of our primary school graduates have a clear path forward.
The boards both here in America and in Kenya have often turned to God for strength and encouragement through the challenges of serving our mission, and God has continued to reveal His plan to us. With his provision of the land for The Happy Place, we are temporarily expanding Beyond the Vision Community School to retain the graduating class and offer secondary education.
BVI Executive Director, Jackline Musyoka, explains the change, stating that "At the Community School, we are adding a grade, 3 more teachers, lab apparatus and textbooks. Beginning in January 2025 we will host Primary school (Grade 1-6) and Junior Secondary School (Grade 7-8 and Grade 9). If God allows us to build The Happy Place in 2025, grades 7-9 will move to The Happy Place. Offering Junior and Senior Secondary education at The Happy Place will ensure that we transition 100% of our graduates to Secondary school, educate over 1,500 kids each year, and offer higher education and skill-building with the vocational program to ensure they flourish outside the classroom."
Temporarily offering secondary school at BVCS has some risks that we are committed to addressing:
Increased budgetary expenses. The cost of educating secondary school students at BVCS will increase the operating expense of the school. The per student cost will be significantly less than the per student cost of the Sponsorship Program.
Increased student risk. The Sponsorship Program removed adolescent students from the slum environment and sent them to remote boarding schools with the benefits of reducing the risk of gang affiliation, substance abuse, and sexual assault. Now that we will be keeping our adolescent students on campus in Tassia, these risks are increased, and therefore keeping our secondary students on campus must be a temporary solution while we build The Happy Place.
For all of you who have provided scholarships in the past and are still supporting secondary school students, thank you so much for your support. We want to assure you that your scholarships continue to benefit your secondary school students, and they will be allowed to finish their current programs at their current schools.
Our goal is to offer sustainable pathways out of poverty through primary education at BVCS and secondary education and vocational training at The Happy Place. As a part of this goal, BVF Founders John and Karen Skoog and their daughter and Volunteer Communications Director, Miina De Lara, will all be visiting Kenya in February 2025. While there, they will be visiting the school and The Happy Place building site and working closely with Beyond the Vision Initiative staff to strategize for future development.
In preparation for this trip, the Skoogs will be leading 40 days of prayer on our Facebook page starting on Christmas Day and progressing up until their departure to Kenya on February 3. We invite you all to join us by following our Facebook page and tuning in daily to pray with us as we seek God's continued guidance and support for our mission. Our Facebook page is: Facebook.com/BVFfund
Play the above video to learn more about the 40 Day Prayer Journey and hear a special prayer from Jackline.
This Christmas, we launched a "$5 Christmas Cup Fund" donation campaign to request $5 donations to our feeding program and cover increased budgetary expenses. We hope that this will help us in our goal to sustain the feeding program. We also want to offer financially accessible pathways to donor partnership to more people.
If you want to learn more about the Christmas Cup Fund, you can read more on our blog, or if you want to participate, you can click the photo below and it will direct you to the donation portal where you can make your $5 donation.
There is so much to be grateful for, and amidst the joy, this has also been a year of much prayer and many tears as we have struggled to reach budgetary needs and provide adequately for the mission in Kenya. We know that we are called to keep pushing forward and trusting God’s plan and provision which extends beyond our sight or knowing.
We never could have imagined today when God called John Skoog to this mission in Christmas 2016. We were recently reminded of our beginnings in a humble $200 gift for food when the Initiative requested $1,004.58 for a Community School Christmas Party. This Christmas party includes fresh beef, lollipops, a Christmas tree, and a Christmas celebration for the students. A donor provided a grant for the Christmas Party and their giving is a wonderful reminder of our tradition of providing food for God’s children, and our origins in a simple story of Christmas goodwill.
Back in 2016, John answered God's call with a courage and compassion that inspired so many more to join him, and with God's continued guidance and your support, we will continue to serve the mission and help Tassia children blossom.
May your family have a blessed and joyful Christmas!
With Love,
The Beyond Vision Foundation Volunteer Team
Comments