Trustees Annual Report for Life-line Ministries (Ireland) 2022-2023, NIC 101524, dated 24/01/2023
Purposes
The purposes of the charity are to raise funds in Northern Ireland and use all profits to benefit needy people in poor rural areas of Western Kenya through :
(1) provision of education in our nursery and primary schools and financial help to support others in secondary and further education.
(2) relief of poverty by regular financial support to individuals identified at particular risk, such as orphans, widows, the elderly and the chronically sick.
(3) advancement of religion by supporting pastors and leaders in our churches to reach out in to their local communities with the message of the Gospel through evangelism, and to encourage believers with regular church services and fellowships.
(4) outreach to street children in Kitale town through a feeding and ministry programme
The trustees remain Wesley Kerr, Margaret Crawford and Audrey Johnston.
Activities during the year 1April 2022 – 31 March 2023
The charity continues to rely on two main sources of income, namely charity shop sales and monthly sponsorship of particular children by individuals, as well as occasional donations.
We have continued to work with street children in Kitale town, providing them with a cooked meal twice a week and also sharing the gospel with them. In February 2022 we opened a small rescue centre for the youngest and most vulnerable of these children and it now houses nine children. The running cost of the home is about £600 per month and the street children feeding programme costs about £350 per month.
During this financial year a total of £60,509 was sent to our pastors in Kenya. Most is used for regular support as above, to pay teachers in our schools and school fees for those in higher education.
In March 2022 we were shocked by the sudden closure of our charity account with Ulster Bank. The bank would not give an explanation for this closure which made it impossible for us to open an account in any other local bank. We were without banking facilities for 11 months until February 2023 which created great difficulties for us. Many sales were lost in the charity shop as we could no longer accept card
payments without a bank account, and sponsors were inconvenienced by not being able to make monthly direct debit payments to us. The trustees were greatly stressed by this prolonged problem and trusted God to help us keep the charity running. We now have a bank account with Co-operative Bank for which we are thankful and by the end of this financial period everything was running smoothly.
Wesley Kerr spent two long periods in Kenya during the year and had to use his own funds to pay for flights, accommodation, travel etc while he was there because we had no bank card. The sum of money shown as missionary costs of £10,712 was effectively a loan to the charity from Mr Kerr which will be repaid to him in the next financial year.
Despite the charity having to function under such difficult circumstances for most of the financial year we are pleased to report that out of an income of £82,214, £60,509 was sent to Kenya to support the poor and needy and some of the money shown as missionary costs was money spent by Wesley to meet serious needs during his mission trips.
Other specific projects and their costs during the year included :
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April 2022 – fencing of land purchased at Kona £180
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May 2022 – fertilizer for maize crops, £150 at Nzoia and £80 at Kona
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June 2022 – more fertilizer and weeding of maize field, £250 at Nzoia and £80 at Kona, also £60 for more fencing at Kona
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July 2022 – Kona land payment £150
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August 2022- Kona land payment £150, Nzoia land payment £250
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September 2022 – rent for land for 2023 at Nzoia £150
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November – rent for land at Kona for 2023 £75, and building a wall and gate at Maili-saba £1000
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February 2023 – planting a sugar cane crop at Koru £300
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March 2023 – ploughing land at Maili-saba, maize seed and fertilizer £250. Installation of electricity at Kisii £100.
Benefits of the aforementioned activities .
We trust that the benefits of all our activities are obvious. Through providing education at nursery and primary level and paying school or college fees for those academically able to progress beyond the most basic level of education, we are attempting to enable children from very deprived social backgrounds to become employable and thereby able to contribute to the material needs of their families. Education is the only route out of poverty in Kenya and most children are aware of it and keen to learn.
We have many sponsored children and adults who receive monthly support used to buy food or to pay rent for their homes, thereby helping to relieve poverty. Pastors
also receive monthly support but most have to generate some income for themselves as well.
We enable the congregations at Kona, Nzoia and Maili-saba to grow a maize crop which is used to help the poor and needy in the community, as will the crop of sugar cane planted at Koru.
Our churches are making good progress with all congregations growing in number. Sunday services, midweek fellowships and prayer meetings are well attended, an indication that people are aware of the spiritual benefit gained through their Christian faith.
We are confident that all our activities comply with the public benefit requirements as determined by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. We keep in mind our purposes at all times and ensure that all activities contribute fully towards them. We are satisfied that there is no risk of harm to anyone as a result of our work and no private benefit to any person volunteering within the charity, except the personal satisfaction of being involved with such worthwhile work.
We are particularly pleased that we remain able to run our charity with an increasing income each year without the need for any paid staff.
Our charity shop is also a benefit to the less well-off in our own local community who can purchase good second-hand items from us at economical prices.
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Audrey Johnston (secretary)