At FUMC Fort Worth, our Mission is to: Love God. Serve People. Transform Lives.
In Kenya, we are doing this in a VERY BIG WAY!
Good work, FUMC-Fort Worth!
FUMC Fort Worth partners with two Zoe Empowers’ groups in Kenya. The pictures above show our “Precious Gakuuru” and “Tumaini ‘Hope’ Nkondi” Empowerment Groups. That’s a total of 178 orphaned children and vulnerable youth who now are well on their way out of extreme poverty. These children were recruited into the Zoe Empowers program in January 2023.
Also, our FUMC Fort Worth partnership with these two groups activated a match of FOUR more groups that were funded by anonymous donors. The pictures below show these additional 327 orphaned children and vulnerable youth. That’s a total of 505 orphaned children and vulnerable youth who are becoming self-sufficient and will never need charity again.
With our donations, prayers, and presence, the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children and youth in Kenya are being transformed. This is part of our commitment to “transform lives.”
In June 2023, Ken and Carrie Hinze visited our FUMCFW Zoe Empowers groups in Kenya. To see more of their visit with the FUMCFW Zoe Empowers groups and meet some of the kids, contact Rev. Brenda Brooks-Alexander or Ken and Carrie Hinze at carehinze@yahoo.com
The Zoe Empowers model is distinctive and effective because of its focus on self-sufficiency of the young people themselves. The goal is to not do anything for program participants that they could do for themselves. The Zoe Empowers approach has proven that orphans have the necessary gifts and abilities to overcome extreme poverty; they lack only opportunity and support. Once on the path toward self-sufficiency, every child becomes increasingly independent, quickly moving beyond the need for charity, in the present and future.
For orphaned youth, life can revolve around survival. They often quit school to find work. When $1/day doesn’t feed their family, they beg, steal, or starve. Exploited, abused and sick, they may suffer in the shadows. Eventually, they lose hope, battling a cycle that is unfixable by relief-based aid or foster care systems that cannot feed them forever.
Through Zoe Empowers’ three-year, locally-led program, orphaned youth are organized into groups of 60 -100 children and receive micro grants, life skills, and vocational training to become secure, healthy, and connected community members. Health and safety are a primary focus and include food security, house, health & hygiene, and child rights initiatives. Sustainable, generational change is emphasized through education, vocational training, business development, and financial fluency. Children are wrapped in layers of community. Social and spiritual concerns are addressed through community reintegration, family reunification when appropriate, and spiritual strengthening.
For more information or speakers to talk with your group, contact Rev. Brenda Brooks-Alexander or Ken and Carrie Hinze carehinze@yahoo.com
To learn more about the Zoe Empowers Program, explore 10 Reasons Zoe Empowers Is Unlike Other Children’s Charities
https://zoeempowers.org/10-reasons-zoe-empowers-is-unlike-other-childrens-charities/