Archive for the ‘Miles In Missions’ Category

Leaving an Impact

Posted: March 21, 2023 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Core Values, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Empowerment, Fundraising, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, Orphans, People of Egbe, Sponsorship
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There are many ways we can impact lives across the globe and truly make a difference. DonorSee is one of those platforms and what a blessing it has been to the ministry. A couple of months ago, I did a blog on how DonorSee emerged as a platform and eventually upscaled to impact hundreds of lives in 38 different countries, see Why DonorSee?

It has been two years since C.A.R.E. Africa came on board the platform, and now we have a community that is familiar with the ministry and has given us the opportunity to impact the lives of our children, staff, and the community at large!

You truly get to see lives transformed and improved on DonorSee. We have been able to empower some of our caretakers through the community from DonorSee, maintain our ministry vehicles, send our children to computer camp, and even assist with several community needs. I have included pictures of some of those funded projects below.

Ever since C.A.R.E. joined the platform, we have been able to raise $81,093, of which many of you reading this have contributed to that number. We are thankful that we can utilize a platform such as DonorSee to positively impact so many lives.

Would you like to see more of what God has been doing at C.A.R.E Africa through DonorSee? I have included links to some of the projects that are currently still waiting to be funded on DonorSee.

Check out these new videos on DonorSee

Do join us in this journey of impacting the lives of families in Egbe Nigeria and beyond!

Do You Pray For Us?

Posted: March 7, 2023 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Core Values, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, Orphans, People of Egbe, Prayer, Sponsorship
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We hope that you do! Prayer transforms us as we seek our father’s face and plead for his will. At C.A.R.E., we recognize that the ministry entirely relies on the prayers and support of believers across the globe. We are a family preservation ministry, which means that at our core we are constantly working to undo the enemy’s influence in the lives of our children and the community at large.
This is why the newest addition to the CA.R.E. team is so crucial to the entire ministry. Alison Douma is our prayer advocate, and she will be working closely with the Nigerian staff as well as the American team to communicate situations and needs to the prayer group in a bi-weekly prayer letter. Alison will also be sharing our prayer requests regularly with churches and others to have as many people praying for C.A.R.E. Africa as possible. We currently have 230 prayer warriors, and we would like to continue to grow that number. We are excited to have Alison join the team because we know with this addition, we are well on our way to achieving our goal. Here is the link to our most recent Prayer Letter. The past few months have been quite busy for the ministry and we are very thankful that God has continued to direct and provide for the team in Nigeria and America. If you would like to subscribe to our prayer group and advocate for us with your prayers, please click on this link and join us as God continues to do tremendous things through C.A.R.E Africa! Prayer Warriors!

#GivingTuesday Success Update! We are 100% Funded!

Posted: December 13, 2022 by Patrice Miles in #GivingTuesday, African School, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Patrice Miles, People of Egbe, Prayer
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We are so excited to announce that our school project is completely funded after our #GivingTuesday campaign. With pledged contributions, our donor match, and all donations received we are funded!! Thank you to everyone that contributed or helped us Build Our School! Now sit back and watch the progress as it is going to be fun. Below is our first update video from Yomi our project manager.

#GivingTuesday is Today!

Posted: November 29, 2022 by Patrice Miles in #GivingTuesday, C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe Hosptial, Egbe Nigeria, Fundraising, Miles In Missions, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, People of Egbe
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See the video below for an update on the work going on in Egbe, Nigeria. The school project is underway for the 152 children in our school.

#Giving Tuesday is today. Help us reach our goal of $16,500.

We have a gracious donor that is matching all gifts up to $16,500. Visit our school project donation page at https://donorsee.com/school to help us reach our goal so we can finish building our school.

#Giving Tuesday is 1 Week Away & We Have a Donor Match

Posted: November 22, 2022 by Patrice Miles in #GivingTuesday, African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Orphans, People of Egbe, Prayer
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See the video below for an update on the work going on in Egbe, Nigeria. The school project is underway for the 152 children in our school.

#Giving Tuesday is one week from today.

We have a gracious donor that is matching all gifts up to $16,500. Visit our school project donation page at https://donorsee.com/school to help us reach our goal so we can finish building our school.

🏫 Our School Is Almost Finished! Donor Match Alert!

Posted: November 4, 2022 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Missionaries, Nigeria, Orphans, Patrice Miles, People of Egbe, Prayer
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We are so excited to announce that a Donor has agreed to match any donation received between now and the end of the year up to $16,500 for our school project. https://donorsee.com/school


Meet the Makens. They visited Egbe years ago and genuinely fell in love. The Makens formed an attachment to a small, five-year-old boy they chose to sponsor.  Their commitment to this child was so sincere that he graduated and is now attending university with their full support. They also support his caregiver, which is his grandmother. Their support has allowed us to help her with monthly food packages, accommodations, and provisions. The Makens are dedicated to the education and empowerment of the children and caregivers of CARE Africa and wanted to assist us in completing the construction of our school, Foundations Academy of Egbe. The Makens have generously agreed to match any funds we raise through the end of the year up to $16,500, which is half of the $33,000 needed to finish our school. 

This is an unbelievable opportunity to have our school completed. Please join the Makens and help us build our school!  Visit https://donorsee.com/school to donate

Check out the latest video of the school wall and the buildings that we will start renovating this week here.

C.A.R.E. Africa Core Values, Empower

Posted: August 18, 2022 by Patrice Miles in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Core Values, Egbe Nigeria, Empowerment, Miles In Missions, Nigeria, People of Egbe, Seamstresses
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By Jolene Eicher,

Over the next few weeks, we want to share C.A.R.E. Africa’s core values with you. We hope it will resonate with similar values you use in your own life and that of your family/friends.

EMPOWER
Empower describes the process of change wherein an individual with a prior inability to choose has the access and freedom to make choices (Kabeer, 2005).

The solution to slowing poverty isn’t about how much money you can give or about inserting western interventions. It’s about providing people with the tools to build their own better future.

Here are some empowering tools C.A.R.E. Africa is providing:

EDUCATION
Over the past 7 years, we have provided orphaned and impoverished children with an education that gives them opportunities to become future leaders in their country and across the world. We equip them with biblical values and basic skillsets needed to become strong, independent young adults.

The SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
This allows some of C.A.R.E. Africa’s most promising students to continue their education through the post-secondary level. This higher education provides them with skills needed for life-altering employment so they can lift themselves and their family from the depths of poverty. Once selected, scholarship students receive full financial support including tuition, books, room and board, clothing, requirements, and health care.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING and MICRO-FINANCE
The empowerment of vocational training such as tailoring, barbering, and computer/information technology provides success in a challenging economy. It is ideal for those students who are looking for a way to become gainfully employed in a small business.

Bank loans are almost impossible to obtain. C.A.R.E. Africa provides micro-finance loans to young adults and the women of C.A.R.E. Africa. We become “the bank” and provide the loan to start and grow small businesses. Small businesses are the lifeblood of African economies and a significant way to empower those looking for a way out of poverty.

Hopefully, you can now understand why EMPOWER is the first of the four core values in the mission objectives of C.A.R.E. How we are empowering the children and women of C.A.R.E. is not much different than what we do with our own children, family and friends to help them secure a successful future.

View all empowerment programs at https://donate.icareafrica.org/projects

Why DonorSee?

Posted: May 25, 2022 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Egbe Nigeria, Fundraising, Miles In Missions, Orphans, People of Egbe
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Over a year ago a C.A.R.E. supporter introduced me to DonorSee. As soon as I heard the story of the founder, Gret Glyer, and why he started the ministry, I was on board. I am including a beautiful video about DonorSee but also want to share Gret’s story. 


Gret lived in the U.S. working a job that left him feeling unfulfilled. He wanted to make a difference and leave a legacy so he made a brave move to Malawi. Gret discovered that the people of Malawi were in need of small things like straw for a roof or a uniform to go to school. Because of the value of the U.S. dollar in Malawi he could change someone’s life situation for as little as $20.


Gret started videoing the needs and sending the videos to people he knew asking for donations. He would send the donors a video of the recipient receiving the gift. In the year Gret was there he raised enough money to build a school that now educates over 300 girls. He contributed the outpouring of support to the videos he sent for the “donors to see”. Once back in the U.S. he started DonorSee with the purpose of connecting donors with worldwide ministries working with people in need.

It has been an amazing partnership with DonorSee. We have raised over $53,000 to date for C.A.R.E. Africa. Many of you reading this blog have contributed to that number. 


C.A.R.E. Africa is so grateful for this platform and we love the relationship it builds with donors in allowing them to see their gift at work. 


We were excited to enter into year 2022 with DonorSee for our large school building project. We had hoped to start construction in February but still needed significant support to begin the first phase of construction. Click on the video below to see how you can help with Phase 1 in Egbe, Nigeria and join this beautiful journey we are on.

Fill the bags

Posted: May 19, 2022 by Patrice Miles in C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Miles In Missions, Orphans, Outreach, Volunteers
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We are so excited to announce that we have the opportunity to send items to our kids, caregivers and staff at C.A.R.E. Africa again. We have several bags that can be filled with needed items. We do our best to buy everything in country to support the local economy and Nigerian business owners. The items on our list are either hard to find our the quality is very poor and we end up having to replace the items several times throughout the year.

If you would like to help fill the bags, visit our Amazon list here. https://www.amazon.com/registries/custom/37CK4SE2YMS3Q/guest-view

Send a package to your sponsored child! Email diana@icareafrica.org for the address to send your package.

 God, please don’t ever make me go to Africa.

Posted: March 15, 2022 by dbeville in African School, C.A.R.E. Africa, Child Sponsorship, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions, Mission Trips, Missionaries, Nigeria, Sponsorship, Volunteers
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I remember sitting in church as a kid in the early 90s, listening to a missionary discuss their life in Africa while flipping through a slide reel of pictures. I don’t remember anything they said, just the feeling of fear and dread that God wanted to punish me enough that one day I would have to go to Africa. That night and for years to follow, I begged God to never make me go to Africa. I’d do anything else.

Then in the spring of 2014, I felt the wind blow in a different direction. The Miles had sold all their stuff and moved to Nigeria six months prior. I felt my curiosity suddenly outweighing my fear. It now seemed as if maybe God had a gift waiting for me rather than a punishment. I wanted to visit friends. But I also felt a new and unfamiliar tug. An exciting invitation. A “just you wait and see…”

Since that first trip with Stephen in 2014, I’ve traveled back to Nigeria 3 more times, with another trip scheduled for later this year. I am now eager for each next chance to go to Africa.

When C.A.R.E. Africa first began, Patrice asked if I would attempt to sell some jewelry participants had made. Having no experience in sales, marketing, promotion, or distribution, I said, “Sure!” We bought a tent and tables. Stephen’s sister used sharpies to draw a poster board sign, and we began vending at farmer’s markets in Louisville, KY.

C.A.R.E. grew into a full-blown ministry in Nigeria with many facets, including a seamstress training program that creates numerous products including clothing, handbags, jewelry, and aprons. Our garage transformed into an “Amazon Fulfillment Center,” stocked with shelves of sorted boxes of products, market display items (many built by Patrice’s stepdad), and shipping supplies.

Miraculously those early days of stumbling through the unknowns have grown into a vibrant display, a band of faithful volunteers, return-shoppers at markets, a requested presence in missions conferences, an Etsy store, and $20k in sales for 2021.

I found my passion and purpose in that vendor booth. I could not sell just anything. But I have the incredible luck to showcase vibrant products which tell a beautiful story that I believe in with my whole heart. And I love the human element of a market: crowds of unique characters with personalities as varied as the fabric prints. It helps open my heart to the patchwork of people required to build a solid community.

As if my life managing product sales wasn’t charmed enough, in 2021 I was offered employment with C.A.R.E. as the Sponsorship Coordinator. I am having so much fun getting to know the kids and sponsors more. It is an honor to facilitate communication and relationship internationally! Sponsors are partnering with C.A.R.E. to educate, disciple, and nurture more than 70 kids in Nigeria. I update sponsors on life in Egbe including new pictures, report cards, home life, plans for college, and achievements. I also relay communication from sponsors back to Egbe staff and students.

Other facets of this role include advocating for sponsorship and monitoring financial transactions. After an end-of-year audit, we verified that 99% of child sponsorship donor dollars go directly to care and supplies for the children and their families!! Around every turn, I continue to find the efficacy and integrity of this organization are top tier.

What a thrill ride I’m on. I’d like to go back to tell little Diana she doesn’t need to be afraid; there’s so much to look forward to.

ADVOCATE * INVEST * EMPOWER * SERVE

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