Bring hope

Sponsorship will provide a safe home to live, education, medical care, and basic necessities. This is a chance to change the future of one young man or woman who can change a family, a community, or a nation. 

Bring life

Many of these vibrant lives have been in the Gather1 Children’s Center for several years.  These are the survivors of the South Sudan civil war of 2013 that uprooted the Gather1 family and brought them to Ethiopia. Many have aged out of the Children’s Program and are living on their own. They are still finishing their secondary education and want to begin a trade or go on to university. 
Your sponsorship will help them while they achieve their educational and occupational goals.

NyanHial 

I was born around 1999 in Nasir, South Sudan. My dad died in a fire and my mother died of sickness. I lived with relatives for a while until I was 14 years old. My older brother came to live at the Children’s Center with Mom Kim and Dad (Gather1 Directors). Soon after, another of my older brothers brought me and my little brother and sister to live at the Children’s Center too. I never went to school before coming to the Children’s Center, so Mom Kim and her daughters tutored me and now I am in 11th grade at our local school in Ethiopia. When I finish high school, I want to do a small coffee business to help support me while I go to university. I want to help Mom and Dad run other orphanages because there are many children who need help. I want to travel with Mom and Dad and pray with people.

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NyaLuak

I am 18 years old. I have one older brother, Youngdow and a younger brother Buay. My father died when I was very young. My older brother sold fruit and candy to help my mom take care of us. She got very sick and also died, so my grandmother cared for us in the refugee camp. When I was 10 years old my grandmother could no longer care for us so she took us to Malakal, South Sudan to be taken care of Momma Kim and Baba Brad (Gather1 Directors).
I began going to school and I wanted to work very hard to get a good education.  I am now studying at a private school so that when I graduate high school,  I can go to a university to study science. I hope to go back to South Sudan and help my people. 

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Kim

I work at the Gather1 Children’s Center as a part time nurse and a security guard.  Right now, I am enrolled in a 3 year nursing program at a local college. I have 1 more year left. When I graduate, I will start working as a full time nurse at the Children’s Center. The kids are such a joy for me. I love to sit and talk with them while I bandage a cut. I also like to play soccer or volleyball with them. I have a wife and 3 children of my own, so I want to be able to care for them well while I continue my education and work. My sponsorship will cover the cost of my schooling.

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Nyaruon

I was born in 1999. I have a 3 year old son named Jeremiah. I am in 12th grade. I go to school during the day and my neighbor or my mom watches my son. When I was younger my mom worked for the Children’s Center as a cook. So I stayed and lived with her there with the other children. They helped me a lot with food, clothes, school, and understanding God. I really want to get a good education so that I can take good care of my son and help him go to school. My dad doesn’t live with us and he doesn’t take care of us at all. So if I can keep going to school, I know I can help my son and my mom by having a good job that can provide for us all. 

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Youngdow

I was born in Gambella, Ethiopia in 1998. My father died in 2006 and my mom died in 2010. My grandmother took care of me and my siblings. I helped pay for food by making candies to sell and going to pick mangoes to sell in nearby villages. It was too hard for my grandmother to care for us so the local church took us to Malakal, South Sudan to live with Mom Kim and Baba Brad (Gather1 Directors) in 2012. My life is so different now. I am in 10th grade and when I finish high school I want to go to a university and become an engineer. I want to help people like I was helped. I want to start a small business making candies to sell again to help me pay for school.

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Panom

I was born around 1997 in Nasir, South Sudan. My dad died in 2009 in a fire and my mom died in 2010 from sickness. I stayed with relatives in Ethiopia. When I was 13 years old my brother put me in a truck with cows and soldiers to find my family in South Sudan. It was a long journey. Soon after, I became very sick and my other brother who cared for me for a while left me alone. Some people from a church found me and brought me to Mama Kim and Baba Brad (Gather1 Directors) in 2012. I was healed from my sickness by prayer! Now I am in 12th grade and will graduate soon. I hope to attend a good university to study engineering. I want to be a missionary engineer in South Sudan. For now, I want to start selling vegetables to help pay for university.

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Ruon

I was born around 2000 in a refugee camp. My dad died from sickness in 2008 and my mom died in 2009. The people from the church took my sisters and I to my auntie, but my auntie could not feed us. My younger sister became sick and died. We had no shoes or clothes or food. The church took me and my older sister to Malakal, South Sudan to Mom Kim and Baba Brad (Gather1 Directors). I had never seen anyone white before. I had severe malaria when I came to them. They took care of me and my sister and I got well. I felt love. My life is so different now. No one could take care of me before, but now I have love, food, education, and clothing. Now I am in 10th grade, and when I finish school I want to be a businessman. I want to make money to help others. Many children here and in South Sudan need help. I want to help them. I think if I had a motorcycle I could transport people to make money so that I could go to university. Or I could run a shop with a refrigerator and freezer to make cold drinks and ice cream. 

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