As we close the year, I want to thank you for all your prayers and support. This has been a fantastic year and God has provided in a mighty way through your generosity. It is amazing to see what God has done through your support in 2015.
Children from Faith Learning Center in Boma, South Sudan eat from their harvest.
Successes in Boma
Henry Okumu, our Director in Africa, provided a poignant summary of 2015 that I want to share with you. I trust it will be an encouragement to you and add to your joy this Christmas season.
2015 has been a year of tremendous achievements at the Boma Project. Nearly all of the activities planned for the year were fully implemented, and important lessons learned from the challenges that were faced. Here are just a few of the accomplishments you helped us complete.
- At Faith Learning Centre all the damages caused by the 2013 armed conflict were fixed: broken walls repaired. Also, new doors and windows were fitted and replaced.
- School children were fed a healthy meal each day using much of the produce we grew in Boma this year.
- 60 new desks made so the students did not have to sit on the floor to learn.
- Two of the tukuls in the SEA Partners compound were repaired and will provide better housing for our staff and guests.
- The container’s floor was repaired and a new grains storeroom has been built to increase our ability to store the agriculture products after harvest.
- We planted two ten-acre plots of maize and beans: the first in April and the second one in October. In October, we also managed to introduce sweet potatoes and cassava as additional food crops. Also, goat keeping and chicken rearing was introduced.
The one overriding motive behind all these initiatives is to build the capacity of the local community through demonstration effect as well as imparting of skills and better methods/practices to enable them take charge of their own food production and eliminate hunger.
We thank the Lord God for all that has been done in Boma this past year after the conflict. Going forward, we look to Him to continue and expand His work in Boma to accomplish His will for the people of Boma. May you all be blessed abundantly as you allow yourself to be part of this good work.
Children like Elvis, learn to plant and harvest their own crops at Faith Learning Center in Boma.
Raising Hope 150
Going forward in 2016, we believe God is leading us to expand the agricultural component of the Boma project. The number one problem facing people in Boma is hunger and families have been leaving their homes and villages in search of food for their starving children. SEA Partners must find a way to provide hope to these families by not only giving them a way to raise their own food, but an opportunity to have meaningful work and a source of income.
Raising Hope 150 addresses this issue head on and provides hope for those currently in desperate need. We have been given 1,000 acres to increase the farming capacity of Boma and by the grace of God we hope to utilize all of this land. Beyond the standard crops of maize, beans and cassava, we want to plant fruit trees and introduce a greater variety of vegetables. The surplus from these crops will be taken to markets in other areas of South Sudan. To accomplish our goals we must raise $150,000 to purchase a tractor, hire and train local workers and support staff, buy seeds and tools for planting, and fund the transport of equipment to Boma.
This is a big step of faith for SEA Partners. Our annual budget is about $175,000 and your faithful support these last 10 years has encouraged us to make this leap of faith. We know that if God in in this project, we will succeed. Please prayerfully consider a year-end gift to fund Raising Hope 150.
May God grant you a Merry Christmas! Thank you again for all your prayers and generosity. God is using you in a mighty way to help the people in Boma, South Sudan.
Sincerely,
Mike Funk
US Director
PS. Please consider a year-end gift to raise hope for the children in Boma, South Sudan. Give to Raising Hope 150.