2019 Goals

Every year, we renew our vision and set concrete goals for the upcoming year. So far, 2019 has been a bit crazy - in good ways, with two of the staff members bringing home adopted children, one staff member getting married, and busy ministry and work schedules - so, it's mid February and I'm just now sitting down to do this!

God blessed us in huge, unexpected ways in 2018. Kids got educated, learned life skills, and, importantly, everyone survived another trip around the sun without jail time. (You probably remember that 1 out of 10 kids from hard places commits suicide, and many more still lose their lives in other ways, whether to foul play, criminal activities, or human trafficking.) Our LoveUganda program took off far more quickly than we ever anticipated. Our goal for 2018 was to have 10 kids mentored; we have 24 mentored children as of January 2019.

Here's a quick recap of what happened in 2018:

• We officially became a nonprofit in the state of Missouri
• We sent various aged-out orphans to school, encouraged them to take certification tests, etc., and everyone learned a lot and grew as humans
• We began the LoveUganda mentor program in earnest and worked out so many procedures there to make it run as smoothly as possible
• We threw a Christmas feast for our Ugandan friends
• We experimented with selling handmade Ugandan jewelry to see if there is an American market for it. Turns out, there is

Here's what we are aiming for in 2019:

• Apply for 501(c)3 status so that all your donations are tax deductible :)
• Provide 10+ school fee scholarships for Ugandan youth
• Increase jewelry sales. We pay outright for the products that Ugandan women make, and sell them in a lovely shop called Olive + Grace located in Fulton, MO. We don't really earn money ourselves from this, but the Ugandans do
• Establish a goat program with the help of our dear friend Alyssa at The Sewing Goatherd. She has tons of experience with goats and with Africa, and we are very excited to have her on board
• Get 10 more kids mentored in our orphan program
• Organize our files better :)

Please continue keeping us in your prayers, and volunteer with us if you have time to spare! Much of our office work can be done in front of Netflix in the evenings. :)

Blessings,
the Eleos Ministries staff - Justin, Elizabeth, Teresa, and Carrie