Somewhere to sleep,
Somewhere to eat,
Somewhere to learn,
Somewhere to grow,
Somewhere to be discipled,
Somewhere to be safe,
Somewhere to be loved.
On September 12, 2012, our children and staff moved into The Covering at 26D Spur Road. After two previous homes, we finally found a place that fit our needs. Four apartment-style buildings with enough room to house offices for our staff to work, a kitchen for our cooks to prepare three meals a day, classrooms to help us provide school onsite, an area large enough to serve as our church, a room for our onsite nurse to do wellness checks as well as treat injuries and illness and most importantly, individual apartment-style rooms to house the children we serve. The amenities don't stop there. Outside, there is room for a generator to serve our entire property when needed, our own well that provides clean water, open space for a garden, and a paved space for our kids to run and play outdoors. The entire compound is protected by a concrete security fence that keeps our children safe.
After nearly nine years, The Covering continues to meet our needs, and quite frankly, aside from our own land and dream center, it truly is the best option for us in Freetown. Calling The Covering home for nearly nine years means we have called this location home the longest. It goes above and beyond meeting the basic needs of our children. It allows them to dream of becoming a lawyer or an accountant as they are provided with a top-notch education, they are provided with nutritious meals to help them grow, and they attend a church where they are discipled. Most importantly, The Covering provides them with stability.
This week, we are officially launching the 2021 Matthew 25 Building Campaign. Our goal is to raise $55,000 by August 31st. What does $55,000 cover? It covers our rent at The Covering for one year. It will allow The Raining Season to continue to have a place that we call home. It is a place that allows us to provide safety, education, medical, spiritual, and nutrition twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year.
If 2020 taught us anything at all, we learned just how important our homes are. They provided us with shelter and safety. We worked from home, attended school from home, shared meals with family, and sheltered in place. Now, we have the opportunity to pay it forward and continue to provide shelter for our kids. The Raining Season was able to transition to our lockdown protocols thanks to The Covering. This was not the case for many in Sierra Leone.
The Raining Season is home to ninety-five children. We need to raise $55,000 by August 31st. That’s ninety-five reasons to say YES!
Many blessings,
The Raining Season