Daystar eNews: Happy Thanksgiving from Daystar! (Nov. 2019)

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends.  We hope you recieved your "Happy Thanksgiving" postcard in the mail this week.  Enjoy learning more from the Thanksgiving stories below!

Blessings,

Walt Avra
Development Manager, Daystar U.S.

P.S. If you haven't recieved a "Happy Thanksgiving" in the mail this week, please make sure we have your updated mailing address.  Please send your address details to my email address at walt@daystarus.org

Stories of Transformation. The Life Changing Opportunity of a Daystar Scholarship.

Thankful: A Security Guard Recieves the Gift of a Daystar Education

Meet Gladys: From Poverty to Hard Work to Scholarship to Servant Leader

Gladys graduated in July with honors as a Daystar scholarship student.  She is grateful to God for the generosity that made her education possible.

Gladys shares her story, “I was raised in a humble background of a family of seven by a single mother after I lost my father in the year 2000. Due to poverty I left home in search of a job to support my siblings in their education and provide for our basic needs. I worked up to the year 2009 trusting God that I would still further my education someday. My dream of going back to school had not been diminished even after spending nine years out of school!

I was then hired as a security guard at Daystar University. Since I had a passion to continue with my studies, I applied for a degree program at Daystar by faith. I was admitted to Daystar in the year 2015. I worked during the night, and during the day went to class. In spite of financial challenges, I never relented. I was struggling to make ends meet and I missed some exams due to lack of school fees. In 2016, I was awarded a Daystar scholarship. With your help I have been able to be in school and do my exams. I have completed my classes without any financial difficulty.

At Daystar, by the grace of God, I was appointed to serve in Daystar Missions Team under Daystar Christian Fellowship (DCF) for two terms which contributed to my spiritual growth. Through my security courses, I was employed under contract to work as the assistant security coordinator at Daystar University, which exposed me to gain experience in my field. My stay at Daystar made me grow both spiritually and professionally.

Through my education, I pledge to help the needy, especially girls who are struggling with life issues by starting an orphanage. Daystar University has been a blessing to me and a tool for God to fulfill His purpose in my life. I can testify that God has shown me His mighty ways through Daystar University. 

“Why I support Daystar?”— Dr. Alan Cureton

From Daystar Friend and Partner, Dr. Alan Cureton, President of University of Northwestern St. Paul during his recent visit to Daystar University for graduation in July of this year.

It's been ten years since I've been here and my oh my the growth that's taking place in Nairobi as well as just the development out here at Athi River. Oh my goodness, just the growth and the overall explosion of activity. It’s just a delight to see that. It's also a privilege for me to be back at Daystar. I just have such a wonderful love for and support of Daystar. I've been connected to Daystar for the past 30 years in the capacity in the U.S. of helping out Daystar fulfill its mission as a Christ-centered institution of higher education, especially as it reaches out to touch the continent of Africa, so, please know it's just a delight for me to be here. 

So thank you. It's just a delight to be here and to celebrate graduation. Graduation is always a wonderful event at Daystar to see what we would call Pomp and Circumstance, the pageantry, the color, the excitement. It is such a wonderful, positive day when you have more than 750 students graduate and then all the family and friends that come and celebrate. It's just a wonderful example of the Kenyan and African cultures and what a privilege it is to be a person that can watch and see what happened. Just the love of the families for what these students have gone through, for what they've accomplished. That's very special. 

Support Daystar University on Giving Tuesday

"We have two days for getting deals - Black Friday and Cyber Monday. On #GivingTuesday we have a day for giving back. Together people are creating a new ritual for our annual calendar. #GivingTuesday is the opening day of that giving season: a reminder of the "reason for the season." Click below to lock in your #GivingTuesday gift now and enter into Thanksgiving week with a heart of thankfulness and generosity.

In the face of governments that are riddled with corruption, the development of servant leaders with integrity is the greatest need in Africa today. 19,000 Daystar graduates are leaders who are doing just that – standing up for truth in a world that seems to offer no hope for a solution.

Daystar University has over 40 years of proven impact in Africa. It offers 35 undergraduate degrees, 16 masters programs and 2 Ph.D programs. With over 5,000 students from more than 30 countries, Daystar University is making a continent-wide impact.