The following is written by Steve Sanchez. Steve is the brother of our global outreach pastor (and dear friend) Tom Sanchez. We are so excited about what God has laid on his heart and hope you will consider partnering with Steve and his wife as they celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary!
As of August 10, 2014 $11,000 has been donated to the Bibbo school project!
As of August 10, 2014 $11,000 has been donated to the Bibbo school project!
Greetings from Steve and Nancy!
On August 16th we will be celebrating our 45th wedding anniversary and 50thyear of knowing each other (we dated for 4 years and were engaged for one)! Since we don’t have children, we aren’t in the habit of having big celebrations on our anniversary dates, but this year we are considering something a bit different.
In 2013 I (Steve) returned to Ethiopia to do some follow-up training with Food for the Hungry social workers. As part of that trip I was also able to visit True Vine Ministries, a national ministry in Uganda. As part of my time in Uganda I visited the small community of Bibbo some distance from Mukono. A minister and his wife, Mama Agnes, had built some very rough school rooms for this community in the early 2000’s and then began one of two proposed permanent school buildings and church in 2012. In April of that year, Agnes’s husband was brutally murdered. Agnes has been committed to carrying on the vision of providing education and a ministry to this community. When I met her in 2013 she was teaching in another community and using all her salary to pay for the teacher’s and expenses of the Bibbo school project. I was informed that for just $6,500 the one school building and church could be completed and came back dedicated to raising that money. It only took one month and some very generous friends to come along side us and get that done.
After returning I discovered that the second building for the school still needed to be completed in order to house all the grade levels and remove them from their original rough beginnings.
In May of this year I was able to return to Bibbo for the dedication of the church and school building. There are now about 300 children attending the school and the community is receiving assistance in other areas from some other ministries.
When I returned from the trip, Nancy and I decided that we would like to try to raise the funds for the remaining school building as a celebration of our 45th anniversary. I have attached a word/pdf document so that you can see pictures of the progress being made in Bibbo. The school building will house four more classrooms, the offices for the school, and can be completely constructed for $17,000. It would cost more than that just for the permits here in the US! Nancy and I have already committed $45 for each of the 45 years we will have been married, so $2,025 has already been sent leaving a little less than $15,000 to go! With the money they have received, they have already begun the footings and the foundation. The school and church have brought new hope and purpose to this community.
Nancy and I are asking you to consider joining us in funding this project as a celebration of our successful 45 years together. You can join us in making a donation by clicking on the red Project Hopeful hand on the right hand side bar. 98% of the donations made on this site reach their destination – the 2% is used for wiring the money. When you reach the donation page you will see a designated dropdown. Click on it and choose the Hope+Uganda Bibbo School designation and go on to complete the rest. Project Hopeful is a 501-3c and your donations are tax deductible. If you would prefer, you can write out a check and mail it to us at 1745 Yew St. SE, Salem, Oregon, 97302. Checks should be made out to “Project Hopeful-Uganda” with the designation to “Bibbo School Project”. We will consolidate the checks and send them to the Austin office of Project Hopeful.
Please send us an email letting us know if you’ve decided to join us – we want to keep you informed of the progress so you can celebrate the school’s completion along with us.
We’re hoping to have two reasons for celebrating our 45th anniversary this year: God’s grace and provision in our marriage and the wonderful completion of this school. For years, children in Bibbo, Uganda, will have hope and opportunity as a result of what we are all doing. Thanks for considering being a part of our celebration!
Steve and Nancy
