Church helps orphans in Kenya

Each year, membership of the New Life Anointed Christian Center collects a cargo container’s worth of clothing, books, non-prescription drugs, educational material, computers and new toys, then sends the container to Nairobi, Kenya, and pays the $4,000 freight bill.

They ship the donated goods to the Victory Children’s Home, an orphanage affiliated with the City Victory Church in Nairobi.

Pastor Obonyo of the City Victory Church sees to the welfare of 40 to 60 orphans at the children’s home, said Trina Hines, director of domestic and foreign missions.

“Over there you have orphaned children all the time. Children just wander in off of the street. He never turns anyone down,” Hines said.

“This is our third year, and every year we are determined to fill up a 20-foot container,” said Andrea Roberson, head of Wings of Love, New Life Anointed’s outreach program.

“We have a lot of people donate,” Hines said Sunday at the church on Telegraph Road. “We get a lot of support from members of the community. It’s a community effort. You can’t do it alone.”

“Prince William Interfaith Initiative sent a huge box of AIDS literature,” Hines said. “So it was really a collaborative effort.”

Members of the church worked for days to fill the container, Hines said.

“They’ve been bringing stuff in for about a week,” she said.

The shipping company will be at the church today to pick up the container and take it to a cargo ship, Roberson said. It takes about a month for it to get overseas, she said.

New Life Anointed became affiliated with City Victory Church in Nairobi because Bishop Eugene Reeves of New Life Anointed spent time in Kenya.

“It’s a blessing to us as well as to them. We enjoy doing it,” Roberson said.

While the church, with a membership of 2,000, tends to the needs of children overseas, they have people assigned to tend to local needs as well.

The church runs homeless, HIV awareness, hospital and hospice ministries, and tries to aid the county’s hungry, Hines said

Anyone who needs food or clothing can call the church at (703) 490-7155, Hines said.

“Budget counseling, financial counseling … You don’t have to be a member of our church to get assistance,” Hines said of some of the other services offered at the church.