More detailed information about BMCC from Rev. Domnic Ochoo .
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BALA MERCY CHILDREN’S CENTRE
(ORPHANAGE HOME)
c/o BALA FAITH CHRISTIAN OUTREACH CENTRE
P.O. BOX 438
HOMABAY, KENYA 40300
(A CENTRE OF HOPE AND REFUGE FOR THE HOPELESS, LONELY, DEPRESSED, OPPRESSED,
DISADVANTAGED, POOR ORPHANS AND STREET CHILDREN)
E-mail: Balamchldren@yahoo.co.uk
Balamchildrenc@hotmail.com
Praise the Lord Jesus Christ, King and Saviour of the world!
Bala Mercy Children’s Centre and Orphanage Project is caring for over
300 children. These are orphans, abandoned children, street children,
disadvantage and poor children. The home supports them from the very
meager resources of the sponsoring church constituency, church Bala FCOC
(Bala Faith Christian Outreach Centre , the local church which
provides the spritual care to the orphaned children). This church that sponsors the
project is established in a poverty stricken and populated area. Most people
live below poverty line.
HIV/AIDS and other related diseases have killed many people and has
left children, orphans, widows and the aged with no one to care for them.
Right now, there are over 1,900,000 children orphans within the region,
most of them orphaned by Aids.
This is why Bala FCOC has been compelled by the love of Christ (2 Cor.5:14).
We are moved with compassion as our Lord was always moved with compassion
to heal the sick and feed the hungry, both physically and spiritually.
Mathew 9:36 "But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with
compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as
sheep having no shepherd."
James 1:26-27 "If any man among you seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion
is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to
visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world."
James 2:14-18 "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man
say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or
sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them
not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even
so faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say,
thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and
I will shew thee my faith by my works."
Mathew 25:34-36 "Then shall the King say unto them on his right
hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world: For I was hungred, and ye gave me
meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took
me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,
and ye came unto me."
Mathew 18:3-6 "Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted,
and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same
is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little
child in My name receiveth Me. But whoso shall offend one of these little
ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
Isaiah 58:3-12 "Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou
seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?
Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.
Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smit with the fist of wickedness:
ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul?
is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes
under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye
break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou
bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked,
that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall
spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the
glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord
shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, here I am. If thou take
away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and
speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and
satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and
thy darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt
be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail
not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou
shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called,
the repaier of the break, the restorer of paths to dwell in."
So we as the church have been challenged and compelled to provide:
Shelter
Food
Clothes
Healthcare
Education
Other essentials in life.
The following brief descriptions of a few of our children’s lives will
help you to understand the situation here.
Vincent
Vincent lost his mother and father. There remained no one to help
except one member of the extended family, who opted to take care of him and
3 of his brothers and 2 sisters at Homa Bay Town. Because the relative
is an alcoholic, he was unable to provide the children with food, clothes
and other essentials in life. Vincent was in Std. V then (this is
the equivelant of fifth or sixth grade). Because of frustration, hunger,
nakedness and because he was sometimes thrown out of the house when the man
came in with women, Vincent ended up in the streets. We had to take
him in, like other children, even though we didn’t have a sheltered home
for them to sleep. They sleep on the church floor. Would you give him
a home?
Evans
Evans ended up in the streets because his parents got separated.
Since then he has only seen his mother once, but she refused to talk with
him. She has turned to prostitution. Evans has never met his
father.
Dan, Erick, Emily and Mzee are orphans. They lost their
parents. They have no home, because the extended family had divided
their parent’s property including utensils, and the grass thatched house
their parents once owned collapsed.
They are aged 13,11,9 and 5 respectively. Will you give them hope
by providing a home for them? The centre has accepted them. Please
help and give them hope. Your donation will bring a change in their
lives will give them a home, education, clothes, medical care and
other essentials.
As I write to you now, there’s a young girl aged 10, who is still
suffering from burns. The relative she stays with burned her hands,
accusing her of stealing food from the kitchen. She probably did this
because of hunger. Few care - will you care? There are many cases of
child abuse, rape, labour, etc. You can make a big difference in their lives.
ALL CHILDREN EQUAL BEFORE GOD
BOY CHILD AND GIRL CHILD ARE THE SAME
The Boy Child:
Traditionally in Africa, especially among the Luo’s, the boy child is
highly honoured and respected. In fact if you don’t have one, then you
are not regarded as a person or a man. Most men chase their wives
away(divorce) if they don’t have boys. People do consult witchdoctors,
in case they don’t give birth to a boy. Even in the Old Testament,
with Abraham, we see the importance of a boy child. He reasoned with
God until God answered him. I don’t want to prove the importance of
boy child but just explain my point.
The boy child is important only if he is born within wedlock.
But if he is born outside wedlock, in most cases the boy is then killed,
or rendered useless by magic powers. Most men will not accept marrying
a woman who already has a boy child. Such children may end in frustration
and death. Men perform rituals to kill the children whom they didn’t
father, especially the boy child. If the father dies and the mother
is remarried, the stepfather does not receive the boy child easily.
This makes life very hard for the male children and in many cases they run
into streets. Some rituals turn them insane and useless and they later become
a sexual cleanser for dead people. They are being used to perform rituals
with the dead. If a woman dies before she is remarried or inherited,
the boy child is endangered. These children need homes of refuge
– please help them get shelter & education.
The Girl Child:
The Girl child is easily accepted anywhere and even today everybody
likes the girl child. But the problem is that today they are being
misused. First they have been and are being denied education. Some
turn into commercial sex workers early because of frustration or forced
marriages. Some are being forced into early marriage, especially
if she is an orphan or her parents are poor. They need refuge and an education,
for education is a light. Please help give them an education.
SPECIAL NEEDS PROGRAMS
THE YOUTH
There are youths between the ages of 16-25. Many of these orphans
now head their families because of their parents deaths. They now assume
the headship of the home and are in charge of taking care of their brothers
and sisters. The youths need vocational training such as:
(i) Tailoring, dressmaking, knitting.
(ii) Welding
(iii) Other commercial courses, typing etc.
In this way they can earning a living and support their families.
It costs between 16,000- 25,000 Kenyan shillings for a youth to get
training. If you sponsor one youth to get training, then you
have restored lost hope and the future of a family trapped darkness.
Sponsor one youth today! – plans are under way to start a vocational
training for the youth. Already we have land – so help is needed to
build a workshop and obtain tools. We need your prayers in providing
materials for training.
SPECIAL CHILDREN
We also have special children in our program that are crippled, deaf,
blind, and dumb. So far we have four deaf and dumb children.
Because it is difficult for them to be with the other children, they
have been taken to Monato Good Samaritan School in Homa Bay. But
our centre pays fees for them. Write for details for those needy
special children, if you would like to sponsor one.
SPECIAL PARENTS
The centre also cares for special parents that are crippled, deaf,
or have other disabilites. We care for street parents as well. There
are people who have grown up in the streets and today they have children.
Those children need homes and education. This includes even very poor people
that are in pathetic poverty and can’t even afford one day’s meal.
These people, the aged and the widows are cared for.
Because of these needs we have a special program known as Sponsor a
Child /Sponsor a Family. This is a program where a child is not taken away,
but stays there to help change the family.
The child goes to school and is taught responsibility.
When he goes back home, this enables him to bring
about positive changes in the family.
He is introduced to the love of Christ.
He comes for food and clothes and takes these
back home to the family.
The pastor or evangelist visits the family
and brings change - the light of Christ changes
everything and poverty moves out slowly.
Welcome to the service, sponsor a family and make a difference
in some precious lives.
The special parents need attention and help with the provision of wheelchairs,
crutches, homes, food and clothes. Some need financial assistance to start
a small scale business such as shoe repairs, tailoring, selling of items
such as vegetables, sweets, etc. Together we can make a difference in the
ocean of need! Your prayers make and bring that difference.
THE FATHER'S HEART!
God has a father's heart for us. He cares and loves us.
We too should have that same attitude.
Do you know that God has given you extra money and wealth so as to help
the poor and the needy? He knows that and so He has entrusted you with
more, but not just for yourself - for others too! I pray that He will touch
your heart and give you a father’s heart to provide and care for the poor
and needy. We have few people from different areas who have been such
a big help. They have stood with us to provide the daily food.
The needs are great. Lets join hands together to bring about a change.
Your little donation will make a difference!
Please pray for God’s guidance in choosing how to help.
DEVELOPMENT FUNDS: -
You can also send for information in case you want to know more about
this program. We have a plan of renting land for food crop production.
This makes it easier for provision of food to the centre.
NEEDS
The centre needs the following: -
1. Funds for the construction of the children’s dormitories,
administration block and staff houses.
2. Provision of food clothing, healthcare, education,
and other essentials.
The site plan for the structure are available upon request. There
are some urgent needs here that need to be addressed to foster development
of the centre. They are as follows:
The B.M.C.C Urgently Requires:
Kshs.416,100 or US$5700.00 . . . . . For food production unit to produce
food for the children.
Kshs.440,263 or US$6031.00 . . . . . For the tailoring and knitting
project for the production
of school uniforms to the children, as well as
training
of the youth, and widows to earn income.
Kshs.255000 or US$3500 . . . . . . . . For the nursery school.
Kshs.280,680 or US$3845. . . . . . . . For the construction of the temporary
offices and stores - very urgent.
Kshs.40,500 or US$555.70 . . . . . . . For the installation of telephone
lines - very important for
the centre’s development
Kshs.155,000 or US$2,124 . . . . . . . For a portable generator (Honda
5.5 K.V.A or
Kshs.70,000 for Honda 2.4 KVA . . These are for the provision of electrical
power in the centre
Kshs.10,000 or US$2,150.10 . . . . . For wiring and installation
Kshs.90,000 or US$1232.80 . . . . . For each computer x
3
Kshs.120,000 or US$1643.90 . . . . . For installation of water tank
and guarts
US$ 20.00 . . . . . . . .Will buy basic school equipment for one
child
US$1.70 . . . . . . . . . Feed one child per day
US$ 15 . . . . . . . . . . Buys second hand clothing for
one child
US$1700 . . . . . . . . . Feeds 250 children on 2 meals per month
US$2363 . . . . . . . . . Build one classroom
US$10.00 . . . . . . . . . Feeds a needy family per week
It is estimated that Kshs.6,580,000 or US$83,334 will completely build,
on block, a children’s dormitory that can accommodate up to 100 children.
Space will not
allow me to explain, but there is a big cry for help. It also costs money
to print letters and post or e-mail them. If you request information
to be sent to you by mail, BMCC would very much appreciate it if you would
include US$2.30 for the cost of mailing. God will reward you if
you give willingly. God Bless You Indeed!
The cases described here typify the life situations of most children
we have and help. Remember it is late but not too late. There
is still hope, and together we can make a difference and restore the lost
hope and confidence in the childrens lives to face the future with courage
and confidence!