Oloile, home of the Eagles

One of Staff of Hope's co-founders, Pastor Jeff Spainhour, travels to East Africa every August, where he meets up with the director of Staff of Hope East Africa (Tyson, Image 1) and others from our organization. Upon his return to the United States, and after a week of well-earned rest, Pastor Jeff was happy to report that a lot was accomplished during his stay.

Most of what kept Pastor Jeff and others at Staff of Hope busy was helping to make needed updates to Oloile Secondary School, the school we planted in Kimana, Kenya, in 2007. Oloile is co-ed and now has 150 students enrolled. This August, the front gate of the school was freshly painted, as were the classrooms and restrooms. A rare, high-tech new projector was also installed in Oloile's computer lab. The computer lab is now one of the nicest in the county. Old plants around the property were trimmed away to make way for new plants called Kayaba (Kai Apple in English). These Kayaba plants, when fully grown, will weave themselves together to form a type of living fence. This will help with safety as well as soil erosion, which is often a problem in that dusty region of Kenya.

Staff of Hope is also partnering with Africa Untamed Wilderness Adventures to help bring the sport of baseball to Oloile. As part of his vision to see baseball grow in popularity in Africa, a man named Elphas Ongon'o from Africa Untamed has been working to get a baseball team up and running at Oloile. Hopefully by this time next year, Pastor Jeff will be reporting back about a brand new baseball team.

The last major update from Oloile comes with a dash of school pride. Staff of Hope helped the school pick a new mascot and design a unique logo (Image 2): our students are now Oloile Eagles! The school colors are blue and gold, while the name of the school was painted proudly on its water tower for all to see. We hope these changes will only serve to strengthen Oloile's school pride.

Staff of Hope was also involved in a few things not relating to Oloile. It is often difficult for farmers to compete at local markets due to production costs, so Staff of Hope spent some time in Uganda to help develop new produce and farming techniques that could reduce production costs and help alleviate the poverty many of these farmers face. Additionally, Staff of Hope is planning to restart a Pastor's Seminar next August to help local Kenyan pastors better minister to their own communities.

And last, but certainly not least, we will leave you with a short tale: Pastor Jeff preached a sermon while in Kenya. Two workers promised Pastor Jeff they would come listen. Those two workers were so moved by the experience that they committed to come to church every week, and bring their families too. True to their word, both of those families have now been attending church every Sunday!

Since our founding in 2001, Staff of Hope has helped communities in Kenya become more self-sufficient. By God's grace, we have been blessed to see that happen. We believe God has called us all to not withhold good when it is in our power to act (Proverbs 3:27). Staff of Hope truly is grateful for all of your prayers and financial support, which, through God's strength, has helped the people in this Kenyan village to grow in their love for Jesus and in their ability to care for themselves.

Please browse www.staffofhope.org, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Please also prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible gift. Thank you! Together we are making an impact!

 4711 Hope Valley Road, #114 Durham, NC 27707 919-627-8142