An example student profile from our new sponsorship sheet.

Rainbow Network has a new Student Sponsorship sheet; open it up and take a look!

The new sheet’s benefits are twofold; it makes it easier for you to share students with friends and family as well as streamlining our office’s  tracking process for unsponsored students.

The sheet includes 8 students, a description of our education program, and a mail-in form for sponsorship. We will periodically update the document as students are sponsored.

Print one for yourself, one for your Sunday School class, one for your men’s or women’s group, one for your reading circle, and one for your softball team; get excited about these bright young students, and what you can do to literally transform their lives through education, leadership, and support in love.

The classic individual profiles will still be sent to sponsors after payment is received.

A woman uses a sewing machine purchased with a Rainbow Network micro-loan

Upon returning from his most recent trip to Nicaragua, Keith was excited to share success stories and words of thanks from people impacted by Rainbow Network programs.

One such story is that of Eunice, a 29 year old woman living in the  Nagarote network. When Rainbow arrived in her community 12 years ago, Eunice was newly orphaned and raising her two younger brothers in a tiny mud hut. She said they survived on handouts from the kindness of similarly impoverished neighbors, but there often wasn’t enough food to share.

With Rainbow scholarships, she was able to attend first high school  and then trade school for a year to become a professional seamstress.

Five years ago, she moved into a Rainbow house, where she now lives with her husband and 2 year old son. They make much of their living with a sewing machine bought on a RN micro-loan, using cloth from another loan.With the profits from each piece of clothing, she is on track to paying off their mortgage. She was grateful for the opportunities afforded through Rainbow, speaking of answered prayers.

Think now of her son, who at two is watching his parents, educated entrepreneurs, pay off their home. He has a safe place to play, grow, and learn the value of education and hard work from his mother and father. When the opportunities of Rainbow combine with the hard work of people like Eunice, the impact ripples through generations.

Funding a micro-loan is a sustainable way to change lives; you really can’t go wrong with a program that cultivates work ethic, takes steps toward self-sufficiency, provides business training, bolsters local economies, and, when paid off, repeats the whole success story by providing the funds to another family. A family’s way of life can be transformed with a micro-loan for only $300. Click the donate button to the right or contact our office to fund a micro-loan.

Our offices have just compiled the lists of all the new students accepted into the scholarship program, and each of these students needs a sponsor.

There are 2 ways you can help:

These three young ladies volunteer in the medical clinic in their community, but only one of them was able to go to school last year. Photo credit: Rochelle Collette, Springfield, MO

Sponsor a student for $25 a month. Bright students often wish to continue their education, but without financial means, end up working in the plantation fields. A scholarship of $25 a month ($300 a year) provides tuition, transportation, 2 uniforms, and supplies for one student in need. To give back, the student will write at least 2 letters per year and will do volunteer work in the community.

Volunteer to visit an adult Sunday School class with student profiles. This is so easy, anyone can do it, and the impact of sponsorship ripples through every group that hears about it.  Get your profiles here!

Our scholarship program grows or shrinks based directly on the number of sponsors; I challenge you to take action and make sure that the program grows in 2012. Every student sponsored has the chance to earn a degree, develop leadership skills, and create a relationship with a sponsor that reminds them they are loved; could that sponsor be you?

Community gardens are a source of fresh fruits and vegetables for families and feeding centers, as well as a source of income for those who trade or sell extra produce in the market.

Freshly picked produce contains more nutrients than shipped produce harvested before it is allowed to ripen. These gardens also add variety to diets that would otherwise be little but rice and beans.

You can multiply Baker Creek’s donation of 100 gardens by adding to the gift! Click the give button to the right, call 417-889-8088, or mail a check to our office to make a donation.

December 2011 Online

Best to you in the New Year,

The Rainbow Network