100 Christmas Dollies: #GivingTuesday

Have you heard about #GivingTuesday? Giving Tuesday was created to unite us all in a day of generosity, to make a difference in the world any way we choose to at the start of this busy holiday season. Every year Surprised by Hope officially launches its 100 Christmas Dolly campaign on #GivingTuesday and we’d like you to join us. What is the 100 Christmas Dolly campaign? We identify a pastor and...

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100 Christmas Dollies 2016: Building Churches

Every holiday season, Surprised by Hope launches its 100 Christmas Dollies campaign and the most commonly remembered message is that children receive dollies for Christmas. But the program is so much more than that. Those dollies are indeed a lovely gift but, even more so, the money raised from dolly sponsorship is gifted to a church who has applied what they’ve learned from our business teachings...

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100 Christmas Dollies 2016: Child Recipients

Gifting children on Christmas day is perhaps one of my favorite activities. Take a look at just a few of those happy faces and then read more about each story. The children of Victory Christian Fellowship received 100 Christmas Dollies in 2015. They made quite a procession out of that wonderful gift giving day. Gathered under the tree, and out of the hot sun, we shared the...

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100 Christmas Dollies 2016: Select Your Dollies

More than 100 adorable, handmade dollies are waiting to find their new home with boys and girls in Kenya. Every year the 100 Christmas Dollies program unites these dollies with new families who are associated with the selected church. This year the children of PEMA Church will receive the dollies because Pr James and the church members faithfully applied what they learned from our Entrepreneurship...

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100 Christmas Dollies 2016: Dolly Makers

Every year Surprised by Hope gives 100 dollies to children in East Africa for Christmas. In the process of that giving, we share the story of Jesus’s birth with 100 children closely gathered around. The gift of these dollies to the children is very much like the gift Jesus is to all of us, and the children learn to love and thank God for that gift. The first dolly maker—my beautiful mother—never...

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100 Christmas Dollies 2016: Beneficiary Announcement

Pastor Ephantus proudly wore his new Surprised by Hope shirt to a community meeting where he represented us well. Before the meeting began, however, Pastor James excitedly introduced himself and said, “I know that lady! I know that lady!” while pointing to the logo on Pr Ephantus’s shirt. Pastor James attended our first ever business workshop in Watamu, Kenya almost four years ago. Though...

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A Rabbit Trail Day

I opened the kitchen cupboard to pull out a pen and saw six plastic boxes holding a variety of household items. Surely six is too many. I set about condensing those items the result of which was two Jiff jar storage containers and one storage box with a few officey things contained within. I sat down in the middle of my living room to finish sorting the Legos I’ll use for some business education...

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