Bibles
Books and Shovels Inc.
Po Box 1176
New Castle, Delaware 19720
Phone 302-656-6881 Fax 302-656-0859
www.biblesbooksandshovels.net
Greetings to all and
may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with us all in the year 2007. The
year of 2006 was a great year for all of us. We have had some ups and more ups
and the LORD has seen us through.
We, the staff of Bibles Books
and Shovels, are eternally grateful to the people who continue to support this effort.
Support has come in many different forms and we know it takes all forms of support to make things happen. This is our fourth year in existence and we could not manage without this continued support. Your support has not gone unnoticed or without our most gracious appreciation. Thank You.
I also want to give a
very special thanks to our staff in Kenya. Without their guidance and help we
could not operate efficiently as we do.
Plans for 2006;
We started early planning
for our first ever benefit concert, “Eclipse Over Kenya”. The concert
was held on Saturday, April 29, 2006, 7:30
PM, at the First and Central Presbyterian Church, 1101 Market Street in Wilmington, Delaware. All in attendance enjoyed
the professional performers and the entire atmosphere. Our Kenya advisor from
Washington, D.C. also attended the concert, and recited in Swahili, a poem he
had written. Because everyone showed great appreciation we are sure this
was a success. The benefit from this concert was directly applied to the expenses
of the children in Mombasa, Kenya.
In May the first of two mission teams went to Mombasa, Kenya. There were
three members on this team from the Unites States. Our Bibles Books and Shovels
staff in Mombasa joined this team. The team and the Mombasa staff worked together
for almost three weeks. During this stay the team met with the school administrators,
children and parents, the local community, the on-site pastor, and a local medical doctor.
This team also established a medical program that will support all of the children in attendance at Victory Academy. This is a total of 311 children. The
intent of this program is to give some financial assistance to all of the families for medical treatments for the children
of Victory Academy. This team also established a support program where the local
parents will assist in the daily feeding program at the school. There was a fun
day with the school children and some emergency medical needs of the children were met.
In May Bibles Books and Shovels had the opportunity to establish important contacts in Toledo, Ohio. A local church in Ohio arranged an “Eclipse Over Kenya” concert at their church. This church has adopted our mission and has pledged to be a continued supporter. There is also a church in Swanton, Ohio that has pledged to be a supporter of our
mission in Kenya. We are very excited for the enthusiasm shown by both of these
groups.
In July the second team went
to Kenya. This team had four members from the United States and a doctor and
his wife from Nairobi, Kenya joined this team for a very special occasion. Our Bibles Books and Shovels staff in Kenya also joined this team during their three week
stay. This team had a major medical day at the school for the children. We are very grateful for a donation from GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company and employer of one of our board of directors. With this donation of medicine this team was able to have, “A day at the clinic” for the children
and staff at the school. Most of the diagnoses were less severe in nature but
one teacher was in very serious condition and was sent to Nairobi for surgery. We
are very pleased to report that all went very well and the teacher is back in the classroom.
This team continued with the spiritual program established, the feeding program, family visits, and there was a fun
day with the children at school. The team also took care of some other emergency
needs as they saw fit.
On a local note Bibles Books
and Shovels, assisted with the Christmas day dinner for the less fortunate in Wilmington, Delaware. This year we served over 420 dinners thanks to local donations and volunteers. This dinner was served on December 25, 2006, at Old Asbury Church, 3rd & Walnut Sts., Wilmington,
Delaware. There were over 50 volunteers involved with this effort. A big thanks to all!
Plans for 2007;
Our plans for 2007 will be
to continue to support our children in Kenya. This will be our first year to
support a student in High School. Agnes Nzangi has taken her exams and will be
continuing her education in her first year of high school. We have stated that
our mission is to support these 15 children through high school. As you can imagine
each year the cost for this support is increasing. The cost of secondary school
or high school will double for each child who attends. We will continue
with our medical assistance program. We will become more involved with the feeding
and the spiritual programs going on at the school. We will start some planning
for a fresh water pump to be installed at the school.
We have plans to continue
the presentations of Bibles Books and Shovels at any location we have the opportunity.
We will also start planning
for our 2008 return trip to see our children in Mombasa, Kenya. Plan to join
us.
We continue to ask for
your support in any form you feel led to do. If you would like a full presentation
of the works of Bibles Books and Shovels, please contact us, in person or at our website.
www.biblesbooksandshovels.net
Thank you again for all that
you have done, are doing, and will do. Have a great 2007.
Sincerely,
Mike Minor
President / CEO
