Student Spotlight!
Sheila Wensley
Sheila is 11 year and in5th grade. Her Mother Millicent Achieng doesn't have work and her father's whereabouts are unknown. They live in Kisumu with Sheila's grandmother. Sheila loves playing with her friends at school and wants to be a doctor when she grows up.
Quarterly Newsletters
Newsletter
(December.2024)
(PDF)
Newsletter
(June.2024)
(PDF)
Newsletter
(March.2024)
(PDF)
Current Programs
Farm Project
The farm project generates income locally to support Hope for the Destitute through raising and harvesting sugar cane and maize crops.
Home Based Care
We encourage and empower the relatives of orphaned children to care for them. Building new homes for widows and providing education for the children gives hope to the entire family.
Catechetical Seminar
The catechetical seminar is an annual one week seminar for all our orphans and the youth in the area, led by Lutheran pastors to teach the Word of God, Christian doctrine, and important life skills.
Kibos Hope Academy
Kibos Hope Academy was founded to provide education for young students from 1st through 7th grade who are sponsored for their tuition.
Completed Projects
New Well
New Fence
New Desks
Sponsor a Child
Because the budget is so small for Hope for the Destitute and the opportunities to help children are so big, you may not get mail back from your child, but be assured that they WILL know you by your love. You will receive a picture and a little background information about your child.
How it works
When you sponsor a child, you’ll be connected with a boy or girl who will know your name and treasure the thought that you care. Your support of $50 per month, only $600 per year) provides life-changing opportunities for elementary students. Support of $100 month provides for high school students. All students receive
What sponsoring a child provides
An opportunity to attend or stay in school;
Medical care, often life-saving;
Nourishing food;
Mentoring and a safe environment;
Most importantly, opportunities to hear the Gospel.
Sponsor a child today
Allow God to work through you in the life of a child in poverty.
Donations by check should be made payable to Aboite Lutheran Church and sent to the following address:
Aboite Lutheran Church
10312 Aboite Center Rd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46804
Please indicate Hope For The Destitute in the memo section of the check.
Donate to a Project
Kibos Hope academy
School Van: $25,000
The van is used to bring water and some children living far from school.
Kibos Hope academy
Long Term Goal: Building a permanent school with bricks: $300,000.
We are looking for support to build a permanent school with classrooms and dorms. See details here
Widow Shelter Program
Build a home: $1000
This is a housing project for widows who take care of orphans. $1000 includes a semi-private mud house with iron sheets. A widow in her house will get a place to sleep, together with her children or grandchildren, a place to cook her meal and a place to bring up children the Lord has given her.
Yearly Catechetical Seminar
Yearly Catechetical Seminar: $1000
This yearly catechetical seminar brings about 300 children (including children from the local area churches) together to hear the word of God and share their experience. Local pastors are invited to teach students about Lutheranism, and discuss social various social issues. This event costs $1000.
Farm Project
Piece of Land—40 acres: $1500 per acre = $60,000
This is an income-generating project for the organization. By raising and harvesting crops, Hope for the Destitute can provide a stable source of income for its other projects, while using local resources and contributing to the economy.
Director
Rev. Dr. Bishop Joseph Ochola Omolo - Director
Hope for the Destitute was started in 2005 by Rev. Joseph Ochola Omolo and his wife Ruth. Dr. Ochola Omolo grew up as an orphan in Kisumu Kenya and struggled to receive an education.
Through philanthropic donors in the Lutheran Church, Dr. Ochola Omolo received an education and became a pastor in the Lutheran Church.
Education in Kenya is not free and thus many low-income families and orphaned children often do not have access to it.
Lack of access to education leads to generations of illiteracy and poverty. Hope for the Destitute strives in its mission and vision to provide educational access and the gospel of Christ to orphaned children and low-income families.
Dr. Omolo currently serves as the Arch Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya is in table fellowship with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS)
Board
Rick Imel – President of the Board
I have been in the financial services industry for over 40 years and currently, work as a securities compliance consultant for Lincoln
Financial Group. I’ve been blessed to be able to be a part of our church’s (Aboite Lutheran) involvement with HFD for over 14 years (we call it Mission Kenya). I’ve also been blessed to have been able to travel to Kisumu, Kenya on a couple of mission trips in 2004 and 2009 (I’m hoping to make another mission trip very soon). I agreed to join the board because I wanted to be more involved in helping raise awareness and increase support for the overall mission of Hope for the Destitute.
Dianne Moellering – Board Treasurer
I look forward to serving on the board. It is an opportunity to bring more
people to Christ while helping them receive some of the physical necessities of life. After having met Pastor Ochola Omolo and having heard his selfless passion for ministry with the orphans and widows, I am drawn to support those efforts through Hope for the Destitute.
Alicia Herman – Secretary
Alicia Herman is a Hoosier by birth who spent nine years as an Active
Duty Army officer living the dream and traveling the world where she learned to appreciate the wonderful diversity of human cultures before she voluntarily became a Hoosier again to spend more time with family. She earned an MSW from The University of Michigan with a focus in Management of Health and Human Services and was overjoyed to have a
faithful, physical LCMS church to belong to again. She was drawn to Hope for the Destitute`s mission because of its strong emphasis on providing children and families with the tools they need to improve their lives in the direction of their choosing and its acknowledgment that the spiritual life of an individual has a lasting impact on their future. Alicia loves cats, helping people solve problems, and her adorable nephews, althoughmaybe not in that order.
Monica Ochola – Development and Program Manager
Hope for the Destitute is a project whose mission and vision to educate orphans and vulnerable children is near and dear to me. Growing up, my
father who was an orphan, emphasized the importance of education and through well-wishers and donors, was able to not able receive an education, but also currently serves the Lord as the Arch Bishop of the Lutheran church in Kenya. I joined Hope for the Destitute about 15yrs ago to collaborate with the director (my father) to give back to the community by providing access to education and spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to orphaned and vulnerable children and their families in Kisumu, Kenya. Hope for the Destitute is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran church in Kenya. May the Lord continue to bless everyone who is part of this great mission to bring hope to orphans.Partners
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya
(ELCK)
Our Savior Lutheran Church
(Iowa, USA)
Aboite Lutheran Church
(Indiana, USA)
