We have an exciting week!!! We are thrilled to be dedicating the High School, Laboratory & administration block. It’s a big miracle in the area, as it is the only secondary school around. We are also overjoyed to be welcoming our dear friends, Randy & Cyndi Joiner to visit. Stay tuned for the fun! @chrishadsell @jenniferhadsell
Between our kids, jobs, and just trying to be a human we are exhausted most of the time. Who has time to go out and actually “do something”? We want to. As a matter of fact we probably NEED to. But we’re just too dang tired. As a dad of 3 I GET IT. We are always looking for people we can trust to do the right things, the right way to help us be a part of changing the world. That’s what Jenn and I try to do with retouch. Help you change lives in the midst of everything life throws at you. What to get involved? Shoot me an email and find out how. Chris@retouch.is
They say It takes a village to raise a child.
We prefer a happy one.
We’re so grateful for you. Ten years ago we started with 10 kids. Today that number is over 400. All thanks to you! But our work together is just getting started. Become a sponsor today. We need your help. www.retouch.is
Hello from Africa’s eastern shores! I’m writing you today from the cold tile of our bedroom floor as it’s the coolest place I can find to sit and gather my thoughts during hot season.
Jennifer and I are busy finishing up the year and recounting all the great things God has done as a result of his great mercy and your generosity toward Retouch. We are so grateful for the support of all the amazing partners and donors who join us in reaching Africa for Jesus.
Today, on Giving Tuesday, I wanted to share with you a short testimony that I hope will encourage you.
The testimony is about a young girl who has reached her Senior Year with us. For the sake of respecting her privacy we’ll call her Sarah. Sarah comes from a family of another faith and for years has lived with her father and uncles. She has been able to attend school and join in on discipleship activities through our sponsorship program. Through this, she has received Jesus as her personal savior despite all of the opposition at home. Recently during a visit with our social worker, we discovered that Sarah was the victim of abuse at home. Thankfully we were able to remove her from the home and temporarily place her in safe care until she graduates in December and can move on to a college.
Sarah is now safe and free to be herself because of the intentional discipleship offered to her through sponsorship. This would not have happened without folks just like you.
We do not have the capacity to help every child, Lord knows I wish we did! But this is where the Kingdom of God shines brightest as we work together with our sponsors to ensure girls like Sarah are safe, happy, and healthy.
If you’ve never sponsored a child through Retouch, I’d like to ask you to consider joining us for the next year. There are 45 kids, just like Sarah, that we would love to help and it is simply not possible without the generosity of people like you. We just posted their profiles in our bio with the goal that all of them can begin school when it starts in January.
If you are already a sponsor, we are so very thankful for you and everything you are doing to invest in kids like Sarah. Would you consider sharing this post?
Recently we met with some of the High School students to catch up, encourage them, and to pray together.
During the course of our time together one of the girls began sharing about how she was being abused at home. The story was hard to hear and we immediately began praying and thinking of what to do for her.
Thankfully God has made a way for her to be placed in a safe environment.
Taking kids out of their family homes is never the first choice but unfortunately it’s sometimes the best option. This particular girl is a senior in high school and is graduating in December as well. She’ll transition easily into a college or technical school of her choice in January and get to live with a community of other young Christian women.
Thank you all so much for your prayerful support of Retouch. Your giving enables young women like this one to not only go to school but to have the opportunity to flourish.
Much love in Jesus,
Chris, Jenn, and kids.
1 in 10 girls are missing school because of a lack of access to sanitary pads.
20% of their school days missed.
No more. At least not for our students.
This month we’ve begun distributing sanitary pads to our girls as needed. No shame. Just the things they need when they need them.
Parents work HARD
Most of the time kids have no idea what really has to happen for them to survive a day at school.
In Birikani the parents are deeply involved in our school programs. While they may need help affording school, they are able to contribute through volunteer work.
Here’s the latest pics from Birikani!
A huge shoutout to parents across the world that made breakfast, picked outfits, gave hugs, broke up fights, prayed over their kids, and sat through drop off lines. We SEE YOU
Jesus.
Without Him we are nothing. Social justice warriors at best. Burnt out missionaries at worst. The entirety of our lives are built and established in him. (Col 2:7)
Jesus is better than we can possibly imagine. His goodness extends beyond the edges of our perspective. He is so much more than a Sunday school story, so much more than a crucifix, more than a vending machine of miracles.
Jesus, our exceedingly great reward now and forever. We cling to him. We lean on him. We adore and worship Him.
Without Him, we are nothing and will be nothing.
We meet people all the time who say “I could never be a missionary!” As if the thing we are doing is somehow spectacular or better than what they are doing.
It’s not.
It’s just what we are called to do.
Our response is always the same, “we could NEVER do what you are doing!” We couldn’t. It would be a square peg in a round hole. Same goes for most of you.
We have to learn to ignore the grass that appears greener. Learn to throw off the guilt of not being or doing enough. The reality is that if he has called you to stay home, you should stay. Be rooted and planted. Be faithful.
If he has called you to go… you should go. There are few things worse than ignoring the call of God.
Life is
hard.
Exhausting.
Full.
Everybody wants to know how to make a difference with the little bit of time they have left after working, cleaning the house, playing with the kids, and walking the dog. But most of us are too tired to do much of anything.
There simply aren’t enough hours to be the world changing people we thought we were.
But that’s a lie.
Every time you show up for your kids, text your friends, carve out that date, and put in the work you are moving the needle toward a better world.
Those morning “help me Jesus prayers,” the make yourself sit in the pew Sundays, or the three minute devotional you managed to squeeze in between kids tv show changes are adding up.
From your couch. From the phone you’re holding in your hand you’ve reached out, given money, and prayed.
You are more of a difference maker than you realize. Stay the course. Change is incremental until it isn’t.
We’re so glad you’re with us on the journey to a better world.
#localcharity #charityfundraising #caringforothers #goodcauses #helpthoseinneed #charityevents #instacharity #raisemoney #charitable #africanchildren #takethefirststep #helpingchildren #greatcause #charityfoundation #childrenarethefuture #charityfundraiser #communitydevelopment #helpinghands #charitywork #notforprofit #communityservice #nonprofitlife #weareinthistogether #humanitarianaid #socialgood #socialimpact #philanthropy #nonprofitorganization
Where should I sit?
Remember walking into your school lunch room and trying to figure out where to sit? Anxiously searching for a friendly face to motion you over or praying for an empty table by yourself?
School cafeterias and lunchrooms haven’t changed much and they aren’t that different here in kenya. Kids still group up looking for friends and finding their spot. Cool kids. Nerdy kids. In-crowd. Out-crowd. They’re all here searching for belonging.
We teach that Jesus has made the outsiders insiders. He’s the ultimate includer of the dis-invited, dis-enfranchised, broken, and lost. He’s the table that makes room, the guy who slides over to make space for you. Left your lunch at home? No worries. He’s got extra.
Who was your favorite teacher?
We all had one or at least one we sort of liked 🙂
This pic is of our high school teachers at our Birikani school. Dedicated folks that show up each day to teach, grade, counsel, and care for our students. Without them, there would be no school and without school…. You know the rest.
We celebrate teachers. Those at home and abroad. Who work longer hours than most of us realize and often have to buy their own supplies. At our schools we pay competitive salaries, purchase ALL classroom supplies, and empower these amazing folks to teach their students at the pace they need.
Science!
Recently we expanded our high school to include a science lab! Complete with microscopes, beakers, and Bunsen burners, these young people are ready to take on the world.
One of our goals is not just education but education that will ultimately lead toward a job that can support their future families. STEM learning is a huge part of that goal and through the generosity of folks like you we were able to find this beautiful science lab.
Dunk ‘em
Any of you remember Sunday night baptism service? Long hours of singing and praying while the new converts somehow got to wear bathing suits and being beach towels into the sanctuary?
We sure do.
We often take baptism for granted these days; a casual or antiquated action. A symbol that seems to be losing its cultural prowess. But this isn’t the case in Africa.
To be baptized is a thing of incredible sincerity. It is often the one true evidence to your old faith community that you’re moving on to something else. Publicly you’re making a break for it and attaching yourself to this new place of faith. It’s a radical act.
We stared baptizing out here almost immediately. One of our first additions to the church was a rudimentary baptism tank. Recently we decided to upgrade it by faith that a whole new crop of radical folks will choose to step into the baptismal waters and come up different.
Sign time.
If you ever have the pleasure of rocking and rumbling down the bush-track that leads to Birikani, somewhere between the broken bridge and the top of the hill sits our little school.
Only now, you’ll see a sign. Or at least the start of one.
I wonder if it’s the same with us. Signposts on the road pointing to something better. A respite for weary travelers. A place of hope, love, and joy. An invitation.
7 years ago we started with 20 kids wearing tattered clothes and hungry bellies. 💔 Today, we are able to feed over 400 kids every single day. 🎉 These are kids we know and love personally. Kids with dream and a purpose. Kids who only eat because of people like you.
And we need your help. In order to keep this critical program going, we need to raise $24,000 by August 1st. Watch below to see Jenn join the lunch line!
📲 Donate today through the Link in Bio
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#localcharity #charityfundraising #caringforothers #goodcauses #helpthoseinneed #charityevents #instacharity #raisemoney #charitable #africanchildren #takethefirststep #helpingchildren #greatcause #charityfoundation #childrenarethefuture #charityfundraiser #communitydevelopment #helpinghands #charitywork #notforprofit #communityservice #nonprofitlife #weareinthistogether #humanitarianaid #socialgood #socialimpact #philanthropy #nonprofitorganization
We are now serving over 20,000 meals each month!
However, we can’t keep this up without your help. With the rising cost of food we are struggling to keep this program going. Like you, we believe that children should not go hungry.
Our kids would love your support. Check out the link in our bio to get involved!
Contact us!
Email: hello@retouch.is
WhatsApp Chris: +1-757-535-5644
This photo has so many amazing FIRSTS in it! Getting measured for her FIRST ever high school uniform, being the FIRST person in her family to complete Elementary school, and being the FIRST woman in her family to attend High School. Focusing on educating women completely changes the entire culture of a village. Educated women are more informed about healthcare, nutrition, literacy and problem-solving. They pass those traits on to their children and those around them, and the entire area advances forward. We are SO proud of our girls who work so hard in school to cultivate a new life for themselves.
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#educatingwomen #womenempowerment #caringforothers #goodcauses #helpthoseinneed #strongwomen #instacharity #raisemoney #charitable #africanchildren #takethefirststep #helpingchildren #greatcause #charityfoundation #childrenarethefuture #charityfundraiser #communitydevelopment #helpinghands #charitywork #notforprofit #communityservice #nonprofitlife #weareinthistogether #humanitarianaid #socialgood #socialimpact #philanthropy #nonprofitorganization
Joy, one of our amazing program directors has been doing discipleship all week with our teens. So proud of them growing into strong men & women of faith!
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#localcharity #charityfundraising #caringforothers #goodcauses #helpthoseinneed #charityevents #instacharity #raisemoney #charitable #africanchildren #takethefirststep #helpingchildren #greatcause #charityfoundation #childrenarethefuture #charityfundraiser #communitydevelopment #helpinghands #charitywork #notforprofit #communityservice #nonprofitlife #weareinthistogether #humanitarianaid #socialgood #socialimpact #philanthropy #nonprofitorganization