Because of Kennedy, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

This unique opportunity provides the Gleason’s ample time to serve the vulnerable in Ethiopia and deepen ministry relationships. Here is what the Gleason’s hope to do with their time in Ethiopia:

1. 1.Help Develop and Implement a Children and Youth Ministry Programs at Burayu Church. The Gleason’s will be working with the leaders of Burayu Church and the members of the church. We hope to raise up and empower members of the congregation to become small group leaders; challenging them to invest in the lives of their small group members. Our goal is to get this programs structure and training in place so that when we leave they can continue the program for their children and youth.
   

2. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
   

3. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road,  when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6: 7)
   

4. We will help implement a curriculum developed by Children Desiring God. This curriculums aim is to impart to children a vision of God, who He is, and who we are in relation to Him, and to establish children with a foundation of doctrine and truth. They want children to be biblically grounded, seeing God as the hero of every story, with a God-centered world-view and a faith that will hold them when the days of testing come. They want children to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and to delight in Him forever.
   

2. 2.Leading Self-Help Guardian Training Sessions. During Self-Help Guardian Training we provide entrepreneurial training for the guardians in our Child Development and Family Empowerment Programs. We will be spending a lot of time with the guardians this year in the following ministry efforts:
   

3. * Self-Help Training: during this time we will be encouraging, inspiring, and equipping the guardians to continue improving there standards of living.
   

4. *Lead Like Jesus: Interwoven into the self-help training sessions we will encouragement to the guardians to become leaders like Jesus. We will be using the Lead Like Jesus Series to inspire these women to be the leaders God has created them to be.
   

5. *Bible Study / Spiritual Discipleship Training: Most of these women have not heard the word of God before. This year will be diving into the book of John with these women. Our heart is the same as Johns: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that believing you may have life in his name” (John 20: 30-31).  We love these women and pray that each of these women will accept Christ as their savior.
   

3. 3.Teach English Language Classes at Burayu’s School. Many of the children in our sponsorship program attend the government-funded school on the Burayu Church Compound. We are excited about having the opportunity to teach English in some of their KG-3rd grade classes.
   

4. 4.Write Grants and Form Partnership. We will be working closely with our in-country partners to write several grant proposals and developing partnerships with churches, corporations, and other organizations to help meet our programmatic goals.
   

5. 5.Develop and Conduct Research Projects. Our child and guardian projects provide a great opportunity to conduct further scientific research to quantify the success of various implementation strategies. We will be developing hypotheses and research designs to be implemented this year and submitting research grant proposals to support these research efforts.
   

6. 6.Ambo Child Development Projects. This year, we plan on expanding our Child Development and Family Empowerment Program by partnering with Ambo Mekane Yesus Church in Ambo, Ethiopia. We will be involve in registering children and families and initiating implementation of this program. As soon as we raise 50 sponsors for the Burayu Child Development Project, we will be able to start this new project in Ambo.
   

7. 7.Ambo Sharon Child Development Village. God had impressed upon our hearts to build a Child Development Village in Ethiopia. Together with our in-country partner (SVO) we will be partnering with them to develop a model culturally appropriate and to raise financial support for the village. In June the Sanctuary Mission Team had the opportunity to pray over two plots of land where we would like to develop a village. Our vision is to provide a home and community for orphaned children who have no family to care for them. This village will provide a family structure to nurture and equip children as they grow to be spiritual and successful leaders in their country.
   

8. 8.Continue Developing Burayu’s Child Development and Family Empowerment Program. This is the first site of this program. This year we will continue to develop and refine the programs so that the children and guardians receive the best training and supplies needed to empower them to be successful members of there families and community.