2017 in Review- Bread of Life

We are ending the year 2017 with a reflection on some of our ministries and how they have grown and change this year. Each day, we will share highlights from one aspect of ministry. We encourage anyone who served with DR Missions to join in and share your own memories using the hashtag #DRMissions2017. Today, we are sharing about Bread of Life!

The Bread of Life feeding program provides a healthy, nutritious meal to community children every week day. We currently have over 100 children enrolled! We have experienced a powerful year full of growth and purpose. Here are some of our favorite highlights:

VBS- We hosted the second annual VBS in June. This three day event is staffed by our missionaries, staff, and interns. It’s a busy time full of snacks, crafts, games, Bible stories, and worship! We had a jungle safari theme and shared a different Bible story and main point each day. The children loved the event and many of them still talk about the main points months later.

School Supplies and Black Shoes- In July, we distributed school supplies and black shoes to all of our school aged children. These gifts allow many of our children to attend school who wouldn’t be able to otherwise. One story from distribution day:

Freimi is 12 years old, and he has never been to school before. This year, his family was able to get him enrolled in night school to make-up what he missed in elementary school. He still needed supplies and shoes, and this is where the Bread of Life program came in... We were able to provide the supplies that he needed, and he officially started school for the first time in August. He told us the first week “I don’t know how to read yet, but I will soon. I’m a fast learner and I’m going to work really hard.” We couldn’t be more proud of this young man! A big thank you to the Myers Team for their help organizing and distributing all the school supplies, backpacks, and black shoes.

Tutoring and Library-

The Bread of Life program is slowly but surely moving down to the new Multi-Purpose Building. While some things, like the kitchen, can’t move quite yet, we have moved the medical clinic and the library down to their new spaces. Because of this, we have noticed that the library is getting so much more use! The children love finding new books to read each day, and we have also added other quiet time activities like puzzles into the mix. The children love sitting quietly and listening to stories, which is such a change from our normal happy mayhem!

Along with the library moving locations, we also started weekly tutoring in September. The kids are invited to the Bread of Life property in the afternoons twice a week for help with homework and tutoring in reading and writing. For right now, it’s only open to our kids who are very behind academically, but we hope to soon open it up to all of our school aged children.

Christmas Shoeboxes- In July, we also handed out the yearly Christmas Shoeboxes. It was a process to get them to the DR and we were so excited to finally make it happen. The children loved them, as always! We had the opportunity to share the gospel message with the children and remind them of Jesus’ love for them all year long, not just in the Christmas season. Thank you to the BSU group from Missouri Western University for your help carrying in the shoeboxes and handing them out!

We could go on and on with more Bread of Life highlights. Like we said, it was a powerful year! But now, we want to hear your stories. Share your favorite moments from Bread of Life this year with the hashtag #DRMissions2017 so we can follow along!