Saturday, 13 September 2014

A long overdue Update......with some big awesome news!!

Hello Friends and Family,

This post is long overdue! Its been an incredibly busy summer, and an even busier return to Kenya!!! However, we are home in Kenya, and very happy to be here!!!

We last posted an update on July 2nd. Thanks for your patience, here is a rundown on what we have been up to!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION HERE:

Our mailing address in Canada has changed: It is now 160 Delaronde Road, 
Saskatoon Saskatchewan, S7J 3Y4. 

We landed in Saskatoon on May 9, and we left for Nairobi again on August 6. That is 89 days in Canada. Its strange for us, because when we leave Kenya, we say we are going home, and when we leave Canada, we also say we are going home.

During this time we drove approximately 20,000 Kilometers, visited 14 churches, 5 of them new to us! On our travels we stayed in 14 different homes, (thanks for your hospitality, the great meals and warm beds were greatly appreciated), we spent 23 nights in 13 different hotels, we spent time in 20 different towns and cities. We changed our location 41 times! In all this travelling we made 17 formal presentations!
The Sheppards, with our honorary Sheppard
 and much loved Jacqueline!

As many of you know, when we come to Canada, we are there to work, and work we do! This summer was incredibly busy, yet in all that we enjoyed many visits with so many wonderful people! We loved having Jacqueline Schoenfeld working with us this summer as an intern. Jacqueline continues to work with us from Canada, and she is a valued member of team Mission:180! She is also an honorary member of our family! We miss Jacqueline very much!

Our summer was very fruitful and productive. We were able to raise funds from new sources as well as to report to all you who are already regular supporters of Mission:180! We came to Canada hoping to see an increase of $2,500.00 per month in pledged giving. The kind of donations we can actually budget on. One time contributions are a major help and blessing, please don't stop giving whenever you feel like you can or should, however we really need pledged regular support! While we were there many of you made pledges and started to give as a part of our monthly support base! We were able to see about half of our goal accomplished! Thank-you everyone who signed up!  If you are still considering it, please know we need your help! Every dollar counts as we strive to make an IMPACT in the lives of the neediest Kenyan's! 

Now For Some Big News!!!
Breaking ground on houses 3&4! Very Exciting!
Thanks to the generous contributions from Concentra Family & Friends, an employee led & sponsored initiative, house #3 is under construction! And, if that isn't big enough news, house #4 is also under construction thanks to a special couple in Saskatoon who know what it means to exercise generosity! We are well on our way to being able to rescue as many as 40 babies! Canadians, you are a generous group of people! I said this at a special presentation at Concentra this past summer, and I want to repeat it again here; Canadians really do put their money where their hearts are! Jennifer and I and the whole leadership team at Mission:180 are humbled and so incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love and generosity you continue to show the people of Kenya through your support of Mission:180!
I love watching a dream become a reality! 
It was a beautiful day! I also love watching heavy
equipment at work!























From left to right, Douglas, Connor, Ashley, Robert, Moses
and our very first rescued baby, Marjorie! 



I want to close this update with some news about our little people! The babies are growing so quickly! They are healthy and happy as they receive a very high standard of care and love from our team here in Kenya! Marjorie, Connor and Ashley all have teeth! They are sitting up on their own and are very,very close to crawling. It kind of looks like an army crawl on their bellies right now.  When they want to get somewhere, they manage! 

This is our happy place!!!


THANK-YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT, WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND PRAYERS!

We cannot do this without you, and we are not going to try!!!







Jason, Jennifer and Joshua Sheppard, and all of us at Mission:180.