Project Update

This year has been such a beautiful year, with its challenges, milestones, expansions and its divine provision. I am writing to you before our next trip to Africa to be reunited with our staff and children. I am waiting to hear and see all that the Lord continues to do through our ministry. I have spent time in prayer asking the Lord what he has for each one of us for this upcoming year and for our ministry. I believe this will be a year of Hope. A kind of Hope that comes from our union with Christ and from His word, His voice, and His promises. A kind of Hope that waves like a banner after the hardships of the last few years have left us feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, weak, and uncertain of what the future brings. I believe Hope will be revived and refreshed in each of our hearts. I believe God is positioning us, both as individuals and as a ministry, to receive a new level of Hope divinely connected to our future. As God plans for each of us, we yield our hearts to say yes to whatever He has in store for us.

The Lord has also been speaking to me about something directly connected to Him, … Overflow. When we are connected to Jesus and full of His spirit, we begin to see an Overflow in all areas of our life. This is a year for the people of God to receive and to see an Overflow in our daily lives, our jobs, our families and our intimacy with Christ. I am praying for a new anointing to flow as we see our cups Overflow with more of Jesus. As we fix our eyes on Him, and give him priority in our lives, He moves in profound ways, pouring out in all aspects. For those feeling stuck and in the same place or hardship for years, I pray for an abundance of His presence to overtake you this new year!

We will be documenting some incredible testimonies on our next trip. Our team, staff, mothers and children are praying fervently for each one of our donors and sponsors. I invite you also to pray for them in this upcoming year.

Prayer Requests

I ask that you pray for our children to continue to thrive, grow, learn and mature as individuals and also as followers of Christ.

I ask that you pray for our mothers and staff to be filled with strength, love and compassion as they steward the lives of our precious children.

I ask that you pray for our boots on the ground and leaders in Ghana and Zambia, for vision, passion and discernment, as they plow daily to see God’s kingdom and presence built in Africa!

Lastly, I ask that you pray for me, to continue to steward the vision the Lord has entrusted me with to see lives transformed for the glory of God across the world.

We are praying for each of you, and will have some exciting updates to come for the new year! We look forward to seeing all that the Lord has in store for Project Nyame Nsa in 2023 and thank you each once again for making our work possible through your generosity, kindness, and prayers! We celebrate you, as you celebrate what God has done and continues to do. We are thankful!

With love,
Devon Leondis Cruz

Daily life at the Village of Joy

Two of our precious children Kennedy and Cedric in their new home.

Staff and mothers, we ask you to pray for this new year.

Naomi and Esther during devotional time as a family.

That’s the message of Christmas… and you can see the joy on the faces of these children in the Village of Hope and the Village of Joy! Children who were once lost but are now found!

This Christmas the children in the Village of Hope in Ghana celebrate their 6th Christmas in their homes with family.

While the children in the Village of Joy in Zambia will be celebrating their 1st Christmas in their new homes with their new families! Orphans who until recently had no home, no hope, no joy!

James 1:27 – Religion that our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…

Psalm 41:1 – Oh the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The Lord will save him in time of trouble.

We are so thankful to God and to all of you, our PNN partners, for making this possible. Thank you for your help, support, sponsorship, prayers and commitment to PNN’s children.

Project Nyame Nsa (PNN) is proud to announce the opening of the Village of Joy located in Ndola, Zambia. On July 6, 40 Zambian orphans between the ages of 3-9 were welcomed into their new home! The boys and girls were greeted with loving open arms by PNN Ghanaian and Zambian local staff members. After 3 years of planning, the campus is now alive with the sound of beautiful children’s voices!

PNN’s founder Devon Leondis commented that “PNN continues to be led by the Lord and we are forever thankful to His goodness and provision. Despite the impact of Covid, our team members persevered and worked diligently over the past 15 months to help us launch our ministry in Zambia. Today, 40 children have hope, a mom, a family, a home, food, shelter, medical care and the love of Jesus. Lives will be forever changed”.

Project Nyame Nsa’s Village of Hope in Ghana is proud to announce the opening of our state of the art Informational Technology(IT) and vocational training center. PNN was highly blessed with a donor (who chose to remain anonymous) that facilitated the construction of our latest campus addition. The IT center is equipped with 32 amazing work stations and will serve a primary educational and training resource for the children of Project Nyame Nsa. In addition, the facility also contains 2 vocational training rooms that will welcome young adults from the surrounding areas and help them learn a trade and prepare for a better future. PNN has retained local Ghanaian talented IT training professionals to lead the teaching of the children by using the latest educational software available.

We thank God for His continued provision as we continue our mission to ” celebrate each child while creating an environment where they can learn and be nurtured so that their full potential is realized. We strive to transform children’s lives by offering hope and instilling values, and a sense of purpose.”

“Father to the fatherless, defender of widows – this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families; He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But He makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”

Psalm 68:5-6

One of the most beautiful parts of being a Christian is being part of the family of God. Once we are adopted into His family, through faith in Jesus, we become a member of His body on the earth. .We are the hands and feet of Christ. This is why the body of Christ is so beautiful! We each have a unique role to play in building the kingdom of God. We cannot do it alone, as each one of us has a specific part.

The word of God is so clear that we are all called to look after the orphans and widows. When we are filled with the Father’s heart towards them, it no longer feels like an obligation, rather it is a privilege. Jesus came to serve. Jesus came as a lowly servant, walking in humility with a massive heart for the poor. When we desire to walk like Jesus and be His hands and feet on the earth we begin to mirror His likeness and His heart. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, He fills us with His love and gives us His heart for the orphans, the lost, and the broken. We are all called to be a part of caring for the least of these.

We believe it is an honor and a privilege to care for the poor, to house the orphan and welcome those society has cast aside.

We want to invite you to pray now let’s ask God to fill our hearts with His heart and to break our hearts for the things that break His

God thank You for compassion that moves, thank You for Your love that knows no end. Jesus thank You that I can trust You with my heart, and even now I ask that You would begin to move within my heart. I ask that You break my heart with the things that break Your heart. I ask You to fill me with Your love and compassion, open my eyes so I may truly see the need of those who are near to me, and of those around the world who need to know Your love. In Jesus name, Amen

Thank you and God bless you,
Devon and the PNN TEAM

“At PNN I learned how to Love”

I would like to take a few moments to celebrate God’s faithfulness to Project Nyame Nsa(PNN) since the dedication 4 years ago. I will never forget the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Village of Hope in Ghana. Today, I rejoice as we continue to cultivate joy in our community by sharing some of the most remarkable moments of change while transforming lives across Africa.

Here is a quote from one of our precious girls, as she reflects back on her journey. She was rescued 4 years ago and brought into our PNN family. She was living in severe poverty, was unable to attend school. and she and her sisters barely had enough food to live on. She arrived into our care severely malnourished in July 2016. Our house moms and staff vividly recall her state and the transformation as we watched her bloom like a precious flower before our eyes. Over time as she was strengthened by nutritious meals, she began to run, attend school, laugh and play like a normal child; simply because of the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.

Over the past four years, this young girl has given her life to Jesus, gotten baptized last Easter in the Atlantic Ocean and shares her faith with others radiating such joy and life! She constantly sings praises’ even when she does her chores, and she is a beautiful picture as her new life demonstrates the transformation of a life when adopted into the family of God. No longer an orphan, rather a daughter who deserves to experience all that life has in store for her, She continues to grow in her relationship with God her eternal Father.

Her statement touched us deeply. In her 4 years at PNN she says more than anything “I have learned how to love”. This was our original vision as we mapped out the children’s village from inception. We prayed that PNN would be more than physical buildings, our team desired to create a legacy of impacting lives through the love of Jesus Christ. Hearing the testimony of this young girl, who was once rejected, abandoned, tossed to the side, labeled an orphan, who has now come into a place where she has encountered first hand the love of God. She is now is able to live a lifestyle of love that has far surpassed our wildest dreams for the children in the Village of Hope.

This is truly a full circle moment for us as we reflect on what God has done over the past four years.

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Acts 20:35

It is clear that we find ourselves in a time that no one could have imagined, but even today our entire PNN staff and children in Ghana are celebrating by sharing songs, verses and testimonies of what Jesus has done in their lives through PNN.

Jesus makes it so clear, that we are called to care for the poor and oppressed, and that the orphan is so dear to the Lord’s heart. So I wanted to THANK EACH OF YOU who have sponsored, prayed, donated, traveled with us to Africa, or have followed this journey from afar.

Know that that we are praying for each of you who has given of your time, heart, resources to support this vision that is touching and transforming lives. We could not do it without you!

“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.”
Psalm 82:3

We look towards the future with great hope because of the one who leads us, Jesus. We consider it a great honor and privilege to care for each child. We pray that God’s will over their life would be accomplished and they would touch generations and generations to come!

Would you pray with us today for the future of this project, for our upcoming Zambia project, and for each child that will come into our care, that they would know Jesus, His love for them, and that they would fulfill the calling God has placed on their life?!

Thank you and God bless you,
Devon and the PNN TEAM

It is clear that in this moment, this historic moment, of unrest, chaos and uncertainty, we are in desperate need of peace, unity and healing.

There are so many concerns our nation, and the nations of the world are facing which cause us to feel hopeless and discouraged.

What do we do in times like this?

We only have one option. We must turn wholeheartedly to Jesus, the King of kings, the Prince of Peace , the author and finisher of our faith.

In Jesus our eternity is secure, He is the anchor of hope for our souls. In Him we find the peace, hope and joy we need to carry us through each day.

During this time in quarantine, I find myself drawing closer to Him, spending time in the bible and learning more about His character.

For every word we read is true.God is not a man who can lie. As we spend time in God’s presence, in worship, in His word and in prayer, we grow in our relationship with Him, He is the one who created each one of us to know Him personally.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Romans 15:13

Despite everything that is going on around us, I pray at this moment that we would each draw closer to Jesus, and pray for peace, justice, hope, unity, and health over our nation and nations of our world.

“And His name will be the hope of all the world.”
Matthew 12:21

We may never understand fully what is going on, we have questions but God isn’t afraid of our questions. We can learn to press into
deeper levels of trust in this season of life and exercise our “faith muscles” as we continue to trust Jesus.

What does this mean for PNN projects?

Thank God our staff, our house moms and our children in Ghana are all doing well! I face time with the children several times per week and they send their love. The children are safe and being cared for by our incredibly hard working mothers during this time. We praise God for His continued provision, health and growth.

Our plans for the opening in Zambia will proceed at the appropriate time. God’s plans and His timing are surely not ours but we rest and remain in faith that this vision will surely come to pass.
Until then we ask that you kindly join our team in prayer for each child that will call the future Village of Joy their new home. Pray that Jesus will continue to protect them.

I can rest in Jesus. Everything that He has spoken WILL come to pass because He is faithful.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8

Praying for each of you today,

Love,
Devon

As 2019 comes to end, we begin a new decade 2020, with high hopes, great expectations and thankfulness to Jesus. I am truly grateful for all He has done in 2019, and am anticipating amazing things from Him in 2020!

For the past 3 years our eyes have been on the year “2020” as we set out to open our second Children’s Village in Zambia, Africa in 2020…. I am overwhelmed by the faithfulness of God as we plan the dedication of the village this July! God once again did the impossible!

Each day I fall more in love with Jesus, and I find it easier to say yes to bigger things, harder things, to the things that people tell me are impossible. My yes to Him is what matters. Through the years I see the beauty and fruit of those yes’.

2020 will be a year of another dream coming to fruition, of hope renewed, of more lives rescued . . 2020 will be a milestone year as there would be less orphans in the world simply because God did what He said He would do. God looks for those who are crazy enough to believe that He will do what He says He will do!

So as we continue to pioneer on the beautiful continent of Africa, seeing young hearts get filled with His love, joy and peace, we invite you to join us on this adventure, to pray with us, dream with us, give to help us continue this work. But most importantly we pray that you say ‘yes’ to what He’s put on your heart for 2020.

I never dreamed at 25 I would be launching a second children’s village in Africa with an incredible team around me. My goal isn’t to save the world, my goal in life is simply to follow where He leads and to please Him. My goal is simply to love Him, to know Him and make Him known to others. My goal in life is to do exactly what He asks me to do.

Maybe God isn’t calling you to move to Africa, or start an NGO, but He has a plan and a specific purpose for every believer! Whether you run a business, are figuring out the next steps, are a homemaker, or a student, God has a plan FOR YOU! There is an invitation on the table for YOU from Jesus, and you get to decide if you will say yes!

So from the bottom of my heart I want to thank you all for your support! Let’s continue to dream BIG with God! Let’s continue to believe for a massive move of God to sweep the world and win souls to His kingdom! 2020 is a huge year for the global church, for the lost, and we stand in great faith and expectation that God WILL do what He says HE will DO!

We say to the orphans around the world, LOVE IS ON THE WAY.

JESUS IS ON THE WAY.

Love,
Devon