KISUMU...a very special place. After praying for over 6months for the people here, I finally have placed my feet on the soil of Kisumu. The air is friendly and pace more relaxed than the metropolis of Nairobi.
Bordering Lake Vitoria (third largest lake in the world) home of the "Lake People"and active port delivers fresh Tilapia by the truck load. Just a few kilometers north is Kitale, "bread basket" of Kenya where most fruits and vegetables are grown. In spite of the natural resources here, the death rate is staggering. The killer is AIDS. Pray that God would open eyes to change destructive tribal customs in Kisumu.
OBAMA...WELCOME OBAMA
Arriving in Kisumu we stopped for petro. Attendants at the station extended welcome handshakes with a unique welcome, "Obama, welcome Obama!" Our Kenyan escort explained that Americans are welcomed in Kenya as a reflection of Kenya's hero, OBAMA.
Many leaders in Kisumu, birthplace of Obama's father, home of Obama's grandmother, validate that Obama's success in America gives hope to the poorest of the poor. Photos are widely circulated of 10yr old Obama working a roadside booth helping his grandmother sell vegetables. "If Obama can overcome this poverty, I can too." Pray that God would use this enthusiasm to open hearts to depend on Him for strength to overcome spiritual poverty in Kisumu.
JUne 8
GOING NEAR ORPHANS IN KISUMU
Our friends Benson and Hellen Okundi are passionate about empowering people in poverty. They both come from very poor villages. Hellen worked hard on the family farm. Tribal customs passed down for many generations limited Hellen to hard labor while her brothers were given an education. She endured harsh treatment and was severely devalued as a woman. Hellen overcame with the help of her faith and great determination. Benson had two pair of pants and one pair of shoes until he was 10 years old. Today they are white collar Kenyans who choose to give back. Hellen visits her homeland often to empower women with life skills. Benson provides for his parents and desires to help orphans in his homeland, Kisumu. He has invited Go Near Ministry to join him. We will visit his village and stay overnight with his family this week. Pray that God would allow YOU to Go Near orphans in Kisumu...the place where AIDS victims are highest in Kenya and teen led homes are highest in the world.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
KISUMU
Monday, June 9, 2008
UZIMATELE poems
Written by two girls who are living in the Uzimatele Home. Pastor George and Jackie his wife, have taken them into their family to raise with others who have no family to care for them. Here is what they wrote for your to read.
thank you my dear visitors
you brought me up well
your cared for me
your work is so good
you bathed me daily
you give me food daily
i never missed a school day
your work is so good
what about school fees
you paid the money well
i never missed a school day
your work is so good
how smart i look
wearing smart, clean clothes
my shoes well polished
your work is so good
thank you
LOVYNE (12)
i hate to see a slim mother
i hate to see a slim father
who is not dieting or cutting on weight
but is a result of what they could have avoided
i hate to see a child without a mother
i hate to see a child without a father
whose parents did not die from a fatal road accident
but is a result of what they could have avoided
i hate to see a grandmother with a baby on her back
i hate to see her washing napkins and school uniforms
yet she is not Sarah of the bible
but is a result of what her children could have avoided
AIDS we cannot run from it
we cannot hide from it
it is right here with us
not to stay as one may say
for you and i
can do somehting
and if we don't
history will judge us
we have to stop this moral erosions
that have so much effected on this generations
we have to change our habits
faithfulness and justice will save us from this monster
AIDS
asante sana
EMPOWERING WIDOWS
Eight widows remain in the Tunamai church located in the Gituamba slums of Nairobi KENYA. Many others have died of AIDS. With little food, open sewage trenches, sheet metal proped to make a one room tent home these ladies had little to hope for. Until Pastor George came. He moved his family to live nearby and started the Tunamai Church in the slums. Today eight widows have been loved well and led to a new relationship with Jesus Christ. Their circmstances remain desperate, BUT GOD has given them hope. Pastor George is starting a new training program to help these ladies learn to make clothes to sell.
IF WE DON'T GO WHO WILL...THE MUSLIMS
Tunamai Church is committed to give a pre-school education to young children living in the Gituama slums in Nairobi, Kenya. Their building is made of rusty sheet metal over dirt floors. They have no school desks, black board or text books. Teachers Ann and Paul teach from large posters attached to the walls. Their challenge is intensified by a new neighbor moving into the slums. The Muslim church building is made of stone brightly painted with tile floors and glass windows. The Muslims placed this attractive building next door, just 25 yards away. Which building would you choose to attend church and school?
LIFE ABUNDANCE (Uzima Tele)
George and Jackie just took in another boy. Elija makes the family a size 13 (not shoe size, 11 children + 2 parents). Elija doesn't know how blessed he is to have both mother and father in his new home. Few men are found caring for orphans in Kenya. George is a big man, 6'5, with a big smile who has big dreams for his children at UZIMATELE. They will complete education, receive vocational training and have the support of a loving mother AND father....for life.
A CURE FOR AIDS
Pastor George started a church in the slums of Nairobi. He has buried many AIDS victims. He tells me those who die first are those who lose hope. Judy was left with one son, widowed at 33yrs old. Barely surviving, she lives in the slums of Tunamai and attends the church started by Pasor George at Uzimatele. She is determined to make something of her life...for Jesus sake. Amazingly industrious, she started a recyling project...in the slums. Teenagers gather plastics and sell them in the city. Judy dreams of completing training for social work. With conviction, she shares with confidence that her people can overcome the AIDS pandemic...with education. She will devote her life to teaching prevention to teens first...if only she can afford the training. One widow's success will give hope to others suffering from AIDS.
DICKSON WITH BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL CHANGES LIVES
Habaraki is 10yr old girl at the Buckner day school in the Nairobi slums of Krakocho. She is a beautiful girl in pig tails running and playing with friends at her school. Her parents were Muslim. They died of AIDS a few years ago. Her grandparents were Muslim, living in the slums.
God used our friend Dickson, a Kenyan who works for Buckner International to share the gospel...in deed. When he came to offer schooling and hot meals, her grandparents were overwhelmed with gratitude. Today, her grandparents are Christ followers. You and I can help Dickson rescue children...like Habaraki who remain in the slums. Just $15/mo. for each child will insure that the 250 children in the Buckner day school are fed and educated.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Update from Kenya
On my way now to meet Pastor Karithi, Karura Chapel (our church in Kenya) to hear his vision for orphan care ministry.
Lewis
