Our Dear Friends and Africa Connect supporters,

Greetings on behalf of the Herring family, the AC team in America, our partners in Kitale, Kenya, and especially on behalf of the 150 precious kids now in our care! How we wish you could see the joy of these precious kids, and hear their prayers for you, the people who have made this miracle possible in their lives! We are thankful, beyond words, for your support in prayer and generous giving.

In the month since our return from our stint in Kenya, we’ve enjoyed a refreshing time with our family (including new grandbabies!) and getting settled back in the Berkshires. As a team, we wrestled with a few rounds of malaria, typhoid, and such, but thankfully all arrived back in good health. The weight of what transpired during those three months is very difficult to describe in one report. If you are on our EMAIL NEWS LIST, you’ve already read some of these things; this is our attempt at an overview.

It has always been Africa Connect’s vision to interact with the African poor in such a way as to encourage self-sufficiency, and to progressively break the mental, spiritual, social, and financial chains of dependency on the West. The personal dignity of each soul inherent in the design of their loving Creator cries out for the ability and opportunity to live and function purposefully, and to provide for oneself and for others within a family and community setting. During this trip, we were privileged to see that vision begin to be “unpacked”, and we are very excited.

1) Short Term Team Arrives Jan 26

The arrival of the team to Kitale began three intense weeks of absorbing, and learning how to serve in, the atmosphere of extreme poverty in Kenya. Each visitor had a unique role.

Sue Choquette, as part of the Africa Connect core team since it’s inception in 2005, finally got to experience the reality of it all! Sue and Cindy Love (she was a blast!), as registered nurses, visited the Piccicci’s In Step Baby Home, then teamed up with Kenyan clinicians to learn about Kenyan medicine. They then hosted three free clinics, two at Graceway Chapel, serving the Tuwani community, the other high on war-ravaged Mt Elgon, the site of an AC relief expedition last year. The impact is best described in the words of our Social Worker, Job Mbako:

“The work that can be remembered by virtually all the residents of Tuwani is social work. It all started when the nurses from America held a community clinic at the premises of Graceway Church.

Many residents of Tuwan came to be treated and for two full days they worked without resting. That became a turning point for many and they started having a different view altogether about the church. They no longer just saw Graceway church as people who preach but people who live what we preach. And this preaching was going out to help those in need…

Then came the week for evangelism. …the Kitale team went out with the AC TEAM. I remember going out with Sue and how she was moved with compassion whenever she saw the sick people promising to give them treatment; and indeed she came the following day loaded with medicine… We traveled to Mt. Elgon at a place called Kipsigon and Sue and Cindy went to treat people in a whole District who didn’t have any medical center because everything had been destroyed in the tribal clashes.”

Caleb Senecal, husband to our daughter EvaJoy, returned to Kitale to serve as short term team leader, and also to investigate the prospect of moving there to work on the ground. It was wonderful to have him there; he was busy loving the kids, reconnecting with friends, getting video footage, and engineering showings of the “Hope” video in Swahili. One showing alone, on a Wednesday night deep in the Tuwani slum, resulted in hundreds of decisions for Christ. And, yes, he does plan to return with his family, as funding is provided and the timing is made clear. Please pray for that end.

Timothy Dipilato had visited Kitale with AC in 2007-08 for 4 months, and this time stayed on with the Herrings through the remainder of the trip. “Timo” is a wise and humble young man, consistently exhibiting God’s love and compassion for the poor, and for anyone he would meet; he was a tremendous help and blessing in so many ways! Timo just seems like a Kenyan native.

Despite the impact the team had on the Kenyan lives, each member would likely agree that their own lives were the ones impacted the most! By far, the most powerful part of this trip for all involved, was going into the homes, loving the people of Tuwani. The following blog about “Rose” is one story that serves as an example. Please read the stories of Ruth, Slyvanus, Hadija, and many more. These people will touch your life, also.

The team is very excited to share their experiences, and have already done some small group presentations. We also picked up some wonderful crafts from Kenya, which we are selling at these presentations to help raise money. If you would like to host one, please call or write us! Soon!

2)  Project Development

Primary School: Over the span of 2009, we must have heard Bob say “we need to double!” hundreds of times. Within the first week of our arrival, we leased a row of mud houses adjacent to the school for $400 per year, a perfect location for the new primary school, now named Graceway Victory Academy. It is exactly the same square footage as the preschool, so we doubled! Parents and guardians from Tuwani had been crying for a primary school, so the young preschoolers wouldn’t have to leave the healthy atmosphere of the Care Centre to go to government schools, which provide neither a feeding program nor a good education. Some of the graduates were not in school because they had no money for the required uniforms or desks, or they had become discouraged from attending school. We already had Grade One, and now, suddenly, there were 15 children in Grade 2! These were the ones that could not go to Pathfinder. They were studying in the back of the chapel, with plastic chairs serving as both seat and desk. We hired a primary teacher and began renovation immediately, which involved:

• filling in the sewage ditch that ran in front and creating a good drainage system;
• tearing down walls to create 4 bigger classrooms, rebuilding and remudding walls;
• repairing the tin roof, adding plastic sheeting to let in light;
• moving windows and doors for better placement, and to let in more light and air;
• cementing the floors, limiting dust and creating a cleaner, healthier environment.

As we walked through Tuwani during those months, we discovered some of our former Neema Students, and also encountered other families in desperate situations with children who were not attending school. By the time we left Kitale, the school was capped for the year with 50 primary students. We plan to add a grade every year, with the future possibility of leasing the other side of the building as we grow, which would again double our space!

School Supplies/Other Development: (In the words of Job) On this trip for the very first time the AC team made 100 chairs and 19 classroom tables for the ECD section. What a great achievement! We also had our school office cemented and now we don’t have to worry about dust ever destroying our computers.

The AC team has also helped us to demolish the old pit latrines and build new ones which are safer for kids…The bore hole was also finished and now water is in plenty, we no longer are afraid of shortages.

The AC team helped us to purchase textbooks costing more than Ksh 50,000 ($650) both for our kids and for the children attending Pathfinder. We have a stock of maize and beans which we bought in bulk which will take us for the next six months from the time it was bought which was a good plan to make us to be safe on the fluctuating prices of grains.

With the help of the Lee Elementary 6^th grade and others, we were able to supply the new students with books, uniforms and backpacks. AC also purchased two manual sewing machines, with a two fold goal; to employ and train poor parents as seamstresses, and to save money by making our own school uniforms.

Community Meetings: Our work with the school children is completely integrated with our vision for the community they live in; each child that enters the school means another family circle affected. In our three Parents Meetings called, each had at least 80% participation, and the level of excitement and interaction was astounding. We joined with our national team to begin visiting every student’s home, building relationships with the parent(s) and gathering information. We also encouraged them to participate in the business, literacy, and Biblical living classes the church is now offering. Tuwani is a massive place, now estimated from the recent census at 200,000; we had to define our priorities to know where to begin. The Team decided to first target the parents of the school children, in order to provide a more solid home life for the child, and stabilization for the community. The response was an overwhelming affirmation, not only of their readiness to participate in change, but their understanding of the motivation behind it. Not in one home were we asked for a handout; only for opportunity to work. In a slum this is rare indeed!

3) Team/Staff Development

Staff Changes: During our 2009 trip, we saw a need to increase oversight measures, and enacted new policies to that end. We enlisted the help of Love Mercy in Kitale for money transfers and reporting, and instituted more church involvement to further accountability. Last fall, we received troubling reports which demanded our investigation on the ground.  After many interviews and personal exploration, a difficult but unified decision was made to fire the Preschool Director, Wycliffe Wekesa, for abuse of his position, and mishandling of funds. Much effort was involved in the legal and relational repercussions; we are very thankful for the Church leadership’s wise and gracious handling of the situation. Efforts and prayers are ongoing seeking restitution and the restoration of Wycliffe and his family, who were also deeply affected. Though such problems are very common to those working in conditions of extreme poverty, we do not take this lightly, and have further solidified our systems of accountability to avoid such problems. If you would like more information on the matter, we encourage you to contact us and we can talk.

Going Forward: Despite this painful setback, we are confident that, in the words of AC’s original partner, Pastor Peter Siakama, “The vision is now unstoppable.” Our national staff is now more mature, balanced, and diversified. With the oversight of Pastor Peter, the leadership of Graceway Chapel and the school staff is strong and unified in their passion to see Tuwani transformed. When we arrived, they were completing 40 days of fasting and prayer to that end. Pastors Apollo, Eric, David, and Job all work full time jobs, yet still find time to sacrificially serve, regularly going into the homes to share the love of Christ and to do what they can to meet the desperate needs they encounter. We are so proud of these men and women, and privileged to be “one family” in heart and vision with them. We consider Graceway our home church away from home. Please keep this body in prayer as they daily face overwhelming obstacles, and consider how you can help. The harvest indeed is white; the people are ready to take responsibility, and to have their lives changed.

The staff of the school has grown to twelve. In addition to Job, the Social Worker and Asst. Administrator, and Rose, the school Secretary, there are now 5 teachers, one sub, 2 cooks, and 2 night watchmen. Important part-time additions to the team are Susan, a parent certified in Adult Education Administration, who teaches free literacy classes, and Agnes, a certified Health Worker, who will oversee student health, coordinate clinics, and help with home visits. Agnes, as a Tuwani single mother and successful business woman, has been active in HIV/AIDS counseling and small business training for widows and single moms, and is helping to establish micro business groups.

Training; This has become a priority, as the team grows, and the community outreach becomes more diversified. They are eager to be trained further in administration and reporting methods, and are progressing well. Rose is now certified to teach computer, and was truly blessed to receive a laptop given by the Lee Elementary students. Job and Rose are undergoing classes in Quickbooks, besides receiving weekly hands-on training from our friend who is a bookkeeping professional.

4)      Needs and Vision

Budget Needs: With the 50% increase in students and staff, we find our budget ever increasing. We constantly search for ways to save money without compromising the care of the children. While the preschool will always be free, as long as God provides, we plan to see the primary school become progressively more self-sufficient. Parents are already volunteering help with their children’s uniform and other costs, as they are able, but fees are not required.

The bulk of our annual support comes while we are on the ground in Kenya, which is necessary because of our presence to oversee the spending decisions being made; however, it falls off when we return, so much so that we struggle even to feed the children and pay the salaries. We have a serious and immediate need for donors that will commit to the monthly operations budget. At the end of each month, we need to send a wire for school operations. Committed giving can help us to be able to plan our support in areas beyond the basic priorities, such as development, emergency relief, and expansion of our outreach to Tuwani. We appreciate your consideration in this matter.

Micro business: There is a dire need at this point to develop a comprehensive plan for micro business. Many of these single moms are coming out of lifestyles of prostitution and need wholesome employment, and many parents and guardians only need training and a small initial investment to be better able to support their families. AC is looking for a donor investment of $1000 to begin this vital step toward greater self sufficiency for individuals, the school, the church, and the community.

Community Centre and Bible School: Together with our Kitale team, we envision opening a Bible school that is accessible to the poor, outreach oriented, and practical. We see a clinic, with testing and counseling; vocational and business classes; a community kitchen; a lighthouse for Tuwani. We see the concrete pillars in the back lot, the faith beginnings of a place where all of these dreams can become reality, and remember that “All things are possible with God.” Please join us in prayer, and in this vision that is changing lives. More information on that will be coming in the next newsletter.

The conclusion? Hear it from the ones who are carrying on the work:

Job Mbako: “Without hypocrisy and undue appraisal we can attest to the fact that what has happened within the span of three and a half months outshines what happened in the past six years…Going out into Tuwani community is a pioneer work…For this and many other reasons we cannot fail to pray for our partners and sponsors abroad knowing that this God who has blessed and lifted many people will do the same for all the willing hearts. We are convinced beyond doubt that He is real because of what is happening in Tuwani.”

Eric Wabomba, Pastor at Graceway Chapel: “The church needs to come out of the limited space it has been occupying and play a more active role in preaching a ‘full gospel’ that is more practical… to come out of [its] slumber and establish institutions of learning, health centres and businesses that are run by God fearing men and women. We need to teach people honesty, hard work, selflessness and accountability in order to have a positive impact on the society… It is high time each one of us asked himself this question: What else can I do besides what I have been doing? Remember to whom much is given, much is expected.

When you give someone fish, you make him your slave. But when you give him a fish pond and a net, you liberate him. We need to establish an all round education centre that can accommodate the poor majority in the society, a centre of learning founded on Godly principles, where we equip people to serve God and the society, especially the less fortunate… I dream of an education centre…that offers both formal and non formal instruction in theology, primary education, computer skills and vocational training…

I believe in hard work and honesty. I also believe that people need a vision before they go out on a mission, that people need your agreement before they listen to your argument about Jesus. People need care and equipment before they can adapt your formula; People need a family before an organization; People need a relationship before they need a ritual; and that People need a compassionate touch before they listen to your compelling teachings… May God give us seeds and ideas that are viable as we sort to enlighten our society and ameliorate them from oppression. Amen.”

 Thanks for Reading!

Bob and LuAnn Herring and the AC Team

Every day that we spend visiting the homes of our preschool kids contains as many potential blogs as there are homes. Each visit has its own singularly important “people story”; but every once in a while, one hits me so hard, it will probably stick with me for the rest of my life. Sylvanus is one of those “people stories.”

Today we decided to go to Matisi, which involved renting a taxi, because of the distance of travel. I cringed at spending the money, but since Timo wasn’t going and Bob was sick, we could all fit in a large taxi. That’s 7 kids and 3 adults, besides the driver; and it was on and off rain all afternoon, anyway-a good day to use a taxi. We had 5 homes to visit, in a large area spanning both sides of the highway the school is on, about 5 miles down the road. I was again shocked at how far some of our kids walk to school. The first two we had to let out to walk home, the road was completely impassable. We’ll try to get back on a drier day.

We drove in a large circle, and got out of the car at a path running between fields. The driver stayed with the other kids while we followed Sylvanus another mile back off the road. There were quite a few jumps over ditches and puddles, through fields, around cows…but it was beautiful. A lot more green than in Tuwani, that’s for sure. But, as I was to find out, there are sad stories everywhere, they just are compacted in a tighter frame in Tuwani – with a lot less green around. As we turned a corner between fields, I saw in the distance a young girl in a red sweater running barefoot. She came up to us, saying, “that’s not his house, that’s the grandparents’ house, and they moved”, then ran back to where she came from. But Sylvanus said “no, that’s my house” and led us over a rickety slab bridge to a broken down mud house that appeared abandoned. As he tried the door, he found it was locked. Job, our social worker, and the teacher with us kept asking him, “Is this your home? Where do you live?” He would just nod, pointing at the house, and look around, then down at the ground, totally bewildered. So were we. I took a picture, as we did at every home, but it was so awkward asking him to smile…

As we started to turn the corner to go back, there was the girl in the red sweater, walking toward us with an old lady. I was getting nervous about leaving the taxi for so long, but Job thought he recognized the woman, and we went toward them. As they talked in Swahili, I noticed the woman’s lack of affection demonstrated toward the child; he hung to the side, hands in his pockets, listening sadly to the conversation. She told Job that the boy was the son of his deceased son’s wife, but from a different father. The mother apparently remarried, and left Sylvanus and his brother with the “grandmother”, who really didn’t want to take care of him. The boy stayed with one of her daughters during the week. She explained that they had to move, they just didn’t think to tell him they moved, and really didn’t feel responsible for him anyway, as he’s not a blood relative. Sylvanus just stood there, his total body language screaming the pain of rejection with every cell. I’ve seen a lot, working in the slum, but there have been few sights more heartbreaking.

I took a picture, urging him to stand next to the woman, and she took him home with her, with instructions from Job to visit him at the school the next day. She obviously had information she was not giving out. We discussed visiting a nearby orphanage we trusted to see if they would take Sylvanus. To assist a family like that financially will only serve the family’s needs; if there is no love or commitment to the child, nothing will change for that child in the situation. Sylvanus needs a rescue.

That day we went to four more homes, and though it was getting late, at none of them was there a parent home. They were all at work, or at the shamba (farm), or who knows. Our students were so disappointed and my heart was so heavy. There were very few adults, just so many kids everywhere, an endless maze of mud roads lined with them shouting “muzungu!” or the typical sing-song “How are you?” Little Augustine’s house was actually home to twelve people; the whole house must have been about 8’x10’.

When I got home, I couldn’t even talk about the day without crying. It’s a really, really good thing to be doing this, finding out what the living situations are for these kids; but it hurts. It’s a good hurt, at least to know I’m not getting too used to it all. And the more we know about their situation, the more capable we are to help them. That’s why we’re here.

The next day the grandfather did come to the school. It turned out he had a stroke, is basically blind, and is partially paralyzed, and the grandmother supports the family. Though the placement of blame may not be so clear, the plight of Sylvanus remains the same; he has no secure home, and he feels no one wants him. He came to school the next day crying.

We visited the “grandparents” home again, to see If they would be willing to sign permission for someone to take in Sylvanus. What an interesting house, what a poor house! There we met four year old Peter, the bedraggled, underfed little brother. The grandfather confirmed what was the obvious; with 6 children to care for, they would welcome someone taking the 2 boys.

Little Peter came to school the next Monday, so excited to get his new uniform and lunch!

Continuing to pursue this, we went to see the “aunt”, who lived in Tuwani, and watched Sylvanus sometimes so he could walk to school. It turned out that Bob had already visited her and her husband with Pastor David, because they are school parents! We found them to be rare not only in the fact that both parents are there, but they were better off, having land, and a large garden near the spring. It was a beautiful walk, it didn’t seem we were in Tuwani; by the time we reached the place, we had about 20 kids following, some we knew as our own.

The mama was welcoming, but I noticed right away she was not warm with Sylvanus. As we engaged with her (thank God for Job interpreting in Swahili!), the conversation became increasingly more honest. In short, the boy is there because the husband is distantly related; she didn’t want to take care of him. I guess that is common in Kenya, blood is often a big factor. She had already sent Peter, back to the home in Matisi, which was at least 5 miles for the 4 year old to walk. She reluctantly agreed to let them stay that night, as it was too late to take them home; we had to promise we weren’t trying to trick her into keeping them! I watched Sylvanus’ face drop, and as we left and turned the corner, I glanced back to see him in the doorway, bearing the same face of rejection I had seen outside the house in Bidii. We had to find him a home, not only where he would be fed, but where he would be loved.

We began pursuing the possibility of a particular church family taking him in; it wasn’t that hard. The day after our first visit with Sylvanus, I was telling Job and a couple of the pastors about it, we all became really broken. A bit later Pastor David, who had just taken in Nevin and his sister last year when their father was murdered, shared that he would like to help, but had to ask his wife. They had just borne their first child, a miracle after 14 years of waiting and prayer. His wife had been fighting with malaria the whole pregnancy, hindering his ability to work; their finances were already in trouble. We visited their home twice, and I saw how happy Nevin was there, and how he truly knew them as his parents now. It would be a great home.

We waited, and after returning to America, received this wonderful report: David and Ruth had visited the “family”, and had now taken in the two little boys, Sylvanus and Peter. They needed help with mattresses and clothes, not only for these, but their other two orphans.

This is not a small matter to the Heavenly Father of these two guys; He is jealous over them, He wants to see them loved the way He would. That’s what the Body of Christ is for, to be His hands and feet, expressing His heart until He returns again. This whole episode made me realize that all over again, and also, what this little school means to these kids. Thank God Sylvanus, and so many others, have the stability of the Care Centre, with the nurture of a loving staff – and a church where the members are willing to sacrifice to show His love.

Rose has lived in Tuwani as a single parent for many years. Two of her children attend Neema Care Centre, the free preschool Africa Connect supports. Abandoned by her husband, she struggled to feed and clothe her children, finally resorting to making and selling changa’a (a strong homemade liquor) for a living. Then came the inevitable sexual abuse by her customers, turning into a life of prostitution and more and more babies. The day we met Rose, we were visiting the parents/guardians of our students; among the many impoverished homes we had visited, hers was uniquely overwhelming for me to be in. It was so dark, I couldn’t even see her face for some time. There was one chair to sit on, the lone table was covered with a dirty linen; a torn blanket hid the rest of the room. The smell of alcohol was present, but the reek of oppression and despair was debilitating. For the first time in Tuwani, I felt utterly hopeless to give even consolation, let alone answers. I was so thankful I was not alone, but part of a team – Apollo, the head pastor of Graceway, his wife Rose, our school secretary, and the school social worker, Job, were with me.
I prayed, introduced myself, and began talking about God’s love, and the importance of the family to God. The children in the school are being fed, clothed, educated, and shown the love that God has for them; what good is it, though, if the home does not reflect the same understanding and values? After some time, Apollo and Rose ended up praying with Rose and her daughter, Nancy, to receive Christ. Nancy was suffering from malaria, with no money for meds; she and her two children had been abandoned by her husband, and she was visiting her mother. Outside in the light, we took a picture, and (through Job) gave Nancy some money for malaria medicine. As we walked away, Apollo told me that Rose had around 6 children, was HIV positive, and would be the first mother to be offered small business training and, if she was diligent, funding to begin a business. Frankly, I had doubts as to the reality of a life change.
Agnes, a single mom of Tuwani herself, is now working on staff in the areas of student health care and clinics, social work, and small business for the single moms and widows. On my last day in Tuwani, Agnes and I were attempting to make one last home visit, but were stranded under a roof overhang by a sudden downpour. She spoke to me about Tuwani, her own history, and about Rose. I was thrilled to hear that Rose had been coming to church faithfully, was learning to read and write in the literacy classes, and had, with Agnes’ help, started a new business selling bananas. Other church members had been giving her food and helping out of their own meager resources for some time. No longer was she selling changa’a, nor herself, nor were her children trapped in that lifestyle of degradation. She was receiving HIV/AIDS counseling, and was truly a new woman with hope, on the threshold of a meaningful and productive life.
Rose is just one of these women; there are now several, the forerunners of many more to find real life, even in Tuwani. I remember at the last Parent’s meeting, I said to them, “Many of you can’t leave Tuwani; what I suggest to you is, if you can’t leave Tuwani, be part of changing Tuwani!” I was stunned at the response to that challenge; they clapped and shouted their agreement. They were ready.
There is very little we can do, as Westerners, to change the entire way of life of a place like Tuwani. But if we can be the hands of God to be a catalyst, to bring hope and inspiration and tools and training, we can empower the people who live there as the true agents of change. They alone can sing to their peers, with their own story behind them, “I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”

LuAnn Herring, May 2010

THE BURDEN
BY Eric Wabomba, Asst. Pastor, Graceway Harvest Chapel

Total liberation of our community requires equipment of the soul and the spirit (with proper moral values) as well as the mind (with skills and attitudes that are practicable. An average human mind is bound to be corrupt, wicked and immoral especially when not engaged in the right direction, or idle for that matter. It is so with the learned and illiterate, Christians as well as non-Christians. It is against this backdrop that we have rampant spiritual and moral decay in our nation. We hear of rape, robbery with violence, tribal wars and other social vices, almost daily.
In Kenya especially the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. There are so many illiterate people, amidst so many learned people and helpless ones against the rich few, who are so insecure. The church has existed and preached the gospel using the same old methods, for years on end, yet very little seems to be changing. Handouts, crusades and revival meetings seem to be bearing negligible and meager fruits. In fact, we have been experiencing diminishing returns. The church has cowed down and relegated itself into a corner somewhere for lack of tangible evidence of their faith.
A wake up call:
The church needs to come out of the limited space it has been occupying and play a more active role in preaching a “full gospel” that is more practical. For a long time, the church (especially the evangelical churches) has had a split personality syndrome. We have said that there is the spiritual and the secular, that the spiritual is good but the secular is bad; that man can live by faith without hard work; that the body is not important after all; that people should live today as they prepare to go to heaven. As a result of this, our churches are full of lazy, excited and uninnovative people, who are so heavenly bound but of no earthly good. To me this is escapism and departure from reality.
This myopic approach to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has left the major decisions and opportunities into the hands of the wicked, as the church plays a subordinate and defensive role from the periphery.
The church needs to come out of this slumber and establish institutions of learning, health centres and businesses that are run by Spirit filled and God fearing men and women. We need to teach people honesty, hard work, selflessness and accountability in order to have a positive impact on the society. Otherwise what report are we going to take to heaven? That we were defeated? That we preached the gospel and people refused to get saved? This is defeatism and we need to come out of it. It is high time each one of us asked himself/herself this question: What else can I do besides what I have been doing? Remember to whom much is given, much is expected.
Approach/Methodology
When you give someone fish, you make him your slave. But when you give him a fish pond and a net, you liberate him. We need to establish an all round education centre that can accommodate the poor majority in the society, a centre of learning founded on Godly principles, where we equip people to serve God and the society (especially the less fortunate members of our society). I dream of an education centre under the church umbrella that offers both formal and non formal instruction in theology, primary education, computer skills and vocational training. There is a very wide catchment of unemployed teachers and instructors in Kenya. We can tap from such (especially the born again ones).
I believe in hard work and honesty. I also believe that people need a vision before they go out on a mission, that people need your agreement before they listen to your argument about Jesus. People need care and equipment before they can adapt your formula; People need a family before an organization; People need a relationship before they need a ritual; and that People need a compassionate touch before they listen to your compelling teachings. All things are possible unto them that believe. May God give us seeds and ideas that are viable as we sort to enlighten our society and ameliorate them from the oppression of the devil. Amen.

THE BURDEN
BY Eric Wabomba

Total liberation of our community requires equipment of the soul and the spirit (with proper moral values) as well as the mind (with skills and attitudes that are practicable. An average human mind is bound to be corrupt, wicked and immoral especially when not engaged in the right direction, or idle for that matter. It is so with the learned and illiterate, Christians as well as non-Christians. It is against this backdrop that we have rampant spiritual and moral decay in our nation. We hear of rape, robbery with violence, tribal wars and other social vices, almost daily.
In Kenya especially the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen. There are so many illiterate people, amidst so many learned people and helpless ones against the rich few, who are so insecure. The church has existed and preached the gospel using the same old methods, for years on end, yet very little seems to be changing. Handouts, crusades and revival meetings seem to be bearing negligible and meager fruits. In fact, we have been experiencing diminishing returns. The church has cowed down and relegated itself into a corner somewhere for lack of tangible evidence of their faith.
A wake up call:
The church needs to come out of the limited space it has been occupying and play a more active role in preaching a “full gospel” that is more practical. For a long time, the church (especially the evangelical churches) has had a split personality syndrome. We have said that there is the spiritual and the secular, that the spiritual is good but the secular is bad; that man can live by faith without hard work; that the body is not important after all; that people should live today as they prepare to go to heaven. As a result of this, our churches are full of lazy, excited and uninnovative people, who are so heavenly bound but of no earthly good. To me this is escapism and departure from reality.
This myopic approach to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has left the major decisions and opportunities into the hands of the wicked, as the church plays a subordinate and defensive role from the periphery.
The church needs to come out of this slumber and establish institutions of learning, health centres and businesses that are run by Spirit filled and God fearing men and women. We need to teach people honesty, hard work, selflessness and accountability in order to have a positive impact on the society. Otherwise what report are we going to take to heaven? That we were defeated? That we preached the gospel and people refused to get saved? This is defeatism and we need to come out of it. It is high time each one of us asked himself/herself this question: What else can I do besides what I have been doing? Remember to whom much is given, much is expected.
Approach/Methodology
When you give someone fish, you make him your slave. But when you give him a fish pond and a net, you liberate him. We need to establish an all round education centre that can accommodate the poor majority in the society, a centre of learning founded on Godly principles, where we equip people to serve God and the society (especially the less fortunate members of our society). I dream of an education centre under the church umbrella that offers both formal and non formal instruction in theology, primary education, computer skills and vocational training. There is a very wide catchment of unemployed teachers and instructors in Kenya. We can tap from such (especially the born again ones).
I believe in hard work and honesty. I also believe that people need a vision before they go out on a mission, that people need your agreement before they listen to your argument about Jesus. People need care and equipment before they can adapt your formula; People need a family before an organization; People need a relationship before they need a ritual; and that People need a compassionate touch before they listen to your compelling teachings. All things are possible unto them that believe. May God give us seeds and ideas that are viable as we sort to enlighten our society and ameliorate them from the oppression of the devil. Amen.

Hello, Friends,
I apologize for the scarcity of blogs during this trip. We are very busy these days, trying to use the remaining weeks to the best advantage. We have so much to do! But there are so many wonderful things happening, I have to share some of it, or it will just to be too overwhelming to tell when we get home. Right now I am recuperating from typhoid, forced by that and the rain to spend a day at home, staying in bed with the computer on my lap. I won’t try to be comprehensive, will save that for the quarterly newsletter that also I need to write; instead, I’ll tell you some recent events to catch you up to speed on the progress here.
After about 3 weeks of visiting the homes of the students in the slum, we held our first Community Meeting for the parents. We had been telling them that we realized that everything we are doing for their children in the preschool, and now primary school, would have really limited effect if the home was not a place that complemented that. The whole family needed to be involved.
Tuwani is a huge place, full of prostitution, guns, gambling, rape, theft, disease, desperation and despair, make no mistake about it. Yet in that environment, you will find such a range of attitudes. Some of the mud homes are decorated with plants outside the door, and attempts to make a drop ceiling of sorts, with newspapers hung from strings. The lace on the table or over the chair will be clean, and blankets, though old and threadbare, hung neatly to separate the sleeping area. The floor will be swept, the windows open – in one house, there was even a plastic sheet in the roof, and ivy was growing inside! In fact, it seems the amount of light in the room often reflects the spiritual state of the inhabitants. Some homes will be so dark, your eyes have to adjust from the afternoon sun to be able to see the hostess. The few belongings will be piled in the corners, or on the chairs, the plastic over the windows smeared with mud from many rainstorms. The children’s uniforms will be filthy, their faces and hair unwashed with spots of fungus. There are always exceptions, though; old women with radiant faces, who just plain have no way to make things better, or a young mom who is poorer than most, because she refuses to cave into selling her body to feed her four children. Those are the most heartbreaking, and motivating cases for me. But I them all these people. Bob and Timo would say the same.
So, the 140 students of Neema Care Centre were released Wed. afternoon with instructions to bring their parents. We’ve never seen such screaming enthusiasm, even from them! Before long, the church was full, in total 90 parents came, quite the turnout. This was not just a Parent’s meeting, but a beginning of weekly classes with a focused purpose: to evaluate the different need groups, train in business principles and literacy, to start, with a goal to develop the ones that are serious by starting small businesses, computer and vocational training, and finally referrals to microbusiness and loan companies geared to their situations. However, as Peter addressed the parents, it was made clear that all these offerings would be based on, and saturated with teachings of Biblical life principles. The Word of God, and the Love of God, is what will stabilize them and best create a platform for these skills to be used to the greatest advantage for their families. About 10% of the crowd was men; Peter asked “Where are the men?” One woman answered, “Most of them are dead.” Indeed, many of these women are refugees of tribal conflict, drought, and AIDS. In this area, unemployment is estimated at around 80%; options are few.
I was able to speak to them, grateful for the opportunity to thank them for welcoming us in their homes, and to share something that I was confident would help them; the love that God had for them. I told them I couldn’t understand their situation, because “at the end of the day, I can leave. Many of you can’t leave Tuwani; so I say, why don’t we change Tuwani.” I was shocked at their enthusiastic applause. They are ready. I spoke on John 4, about how Jesus left Jerusalem, the place that was seen as “good”, walking a long distance to go to a forbidden area, to speak to a woman who was rejected and frowned upon. He sought her out, because He saw past her current condition; His eyes saw the woman that would receive the life He offered, turn in simple faith from her life of shame, and become a woman that would forever impact the territory she lived in. When the interpreter invited any who would like to commit to become a Christian to come forward, 9 women and 1 man courageously did so. From my 56 years on this planet, there is nothing more rewarding. Two of the women were Muslim, one of those Elizabeth, a young mom due to have a baby next week, whom I had spent time with just the day before. Her husband being Muslim, she is risking much for this decision, you could see the gravity of it in her eyes. Five of these people came to church Sunday, and the man stood and testified that he had been instantly delivered from alcohol.
Every time we go on home visits, at least one mom or neighbor will make a decision for Christ. Last Friday, March 12, we were in one home in which a single parent named Rose, pregnant with 6 children, seller of chang’a and herself, did so, along with her young daughter. Nancy had recently been forced to return to Tuwani with her two small children when her husband suddenly divorced her. Pastor Apollo and his wife had spoken to them in Swahili; he told me Rose would be one of the first to be offered small business training, and perhaps start-up funds if she remained serious.
The church we partner with, Graceway Harvest Chapel, has really taken up this vision of reaching out to the community, and now consider themselves a Community Center. The 16+ cement pillars throughout the plot stand as a monument to their patient faith that they will have a clinic, vocational training, counseling services and a kitchen for feeding programs. On our arrival in January, they were just finishing a 40 day fast to that end. We are now confident that, though our presence has somehow acted as a catalyst, that the outreach and diversified development programs will continue. It is not just our vision, it is now their own. That was always the intention, and it is truly so exciting, to see it coming to pass! Church services have been incredible, with new people turning to Christ every service.
We envisioned the resources of transformation springing out of the community; we also see this happening. One of the parents, Susan, is certified as an adult education supervisor, and as of the Wednesday meeting, now has 25 enthusiastic literacy students signed up! Another aunt of one of our students, who received Christ last week during a home visit, is trained in HIV aid and counseling, and has offered her services. A pastor in the church, David, is highly experienced in business, and had been hired by a microfinance company to monitor their group loan projects. He has volunteered to take leadership in this. We have challenged the leaders of the church to come up with a comprehensive business plan for adult education, small business empowerment, and ways to develop progressive self-sustainability for the primary school and other projects. They have committed to do this before we leave (April 13); if the plan is suitable to our AC Team at home, we will in turn offer the first $1000 as a foundational investment. The rest will be up to them. That’s trusting the $1000 will come in!
The new primary building is nearing completion, though we are out of funds for that, or anything else for that matter. Two of the rooms are cemented and in use by Grades 1 and 2. We want to use the other two for adult education, and have purchased a manual Singer sewing machine for that purpose, and also to make uniforms for our preschool students. The well is running nicely, but still needs to be piped to the new utility sink and water tower. We have cemented the current office, in order to keep the dust down for the sake of the staff and the new laptop donated by the Lee Elementary students, but hope to convert another area to a larger office. The school secretary, Rose, is soon completing Computer and Quickbooks Training, and will then be certified to teach computer. Much is in process to continually tighten up the accountability and reporting system. We have diversified the staff, and further empowered our accountant at Love Mercy.
As you can see, there is a lot of progress going on, but there is much more to do; the more we can oversee while on the ground in Kenya, the better. We really appreciate the support we have been receiving, and continue to ask for your help if you are able. We now have Paypal on our website at www.africaconnect.org, which is great for emergency funds, but a check in the mail to PO Box 598, Lee, MA 10238, will avoid the finance charges, meaning more of your donation hits the ground. But if you are able to mail something, please send it soon! We only have 3 weeks!
Thank you for reading, and if you are praying, it helps to explain the successes going on here. Please don’t stop. In fact, if you could gather a small group to purposefully pray for AC and for Bob, Timo, and I here, we would so appreciate it. We are pioneering an unusual work, and the challenges, and spiritual battles, are great. We hope for good health for the rest of our time, and for the grace to be able to, once more, leave these people we have grown to love so much.
Blessings!
LuAnn, for Bob and Timo, Africa Connect Team

Home Visits, March 11

One of the highlights, and maybe the main purpose we are in Kenya this year, are the visits to the homes of the children that attend the Care Centre. Most of the students live in Tuwani, though there are now children travelling from Lessos, Matisi, and Bidii. We wait for the children to be dismissed, around 3pm, the teachers separate a group of children from the same general area, and they show us where their homes are. They are so proud and excited, leading us through their neighborhood. Yesterday we went to visit the homes of the two students that live in Bidii; this day we had to take a taxi, because it was so far, and Bob was feeling pretty sick and weak. As we rode along, passing from crowded houses into fields dotted with tree groves and an occasional group of homes, we couldn’t believe how far we had gone. The kids, Ferdinand and Alvin, had never ridden in a taxi before-and we just drove at least 7 miles! Ferdinand gets a ride on a boda boda with his neighbor sometimes, but 7 year old Alvin walks the 8 miles every day, to and from school! He lives a ways back off the road, in a swampy area that often has their maize crop ruined when the rains get hard. The mom, Jennifer, was so happy to have us visit, as we were leaving she gave us a chicken! A visiting neighbor told us the chickens had just dug up the sorghum they planted, and I made a joke about maybe we should eat the chickens. Then one walked in past my chair, (there were only two chairs in the house) and I commented how nice a chicken it was. Well, that was now our chicken. We brought it home to Abraham at Karibuni, he said he’d cook it up for us before we left for America. We had to promise Timo we’d let him be the one to kill it…Africa does strange things to people.

Today was tougher, but beautiful too. Not uncommon to have that mix here. Tuwani is really huge. As soon as I get a few blocks from the school, I’m totally lost, it’s an endless maze of mud row houses, sewage ditches, run down kiosks, chickens, sheep, cows, and always lots of raggedy, cute kids yelling, “muzungu!” or “How are you?”, which is the only English they know. There’s mamas, selling vegetables, grilling corn, frying chips, or sitting empty-eyed waiting for some better fortune to come their way. Then there’s the drunk men either glaring at you or staggering over to ask for “lunch” money or, on a good day, to tell you “welcome”. The occasional grassy field is littered with plastic bags tied on one end…Job, our social worker, told me he calls them “flying toilets”. There’s no outhouses in those areas.

I remember one house, the smallest darkest home of the week, populated by a sweet young single mom with six children. She is a friend of one of our teachers, Judith, and babysits for her two year old. She is also the mother of Jessica and Derek, two of our new Pathfinder students this year, and wants to learn how to plait hair to make some money. As I left her house and turned the corner, I had to quick jump with one foot over a dead rat, then with the next foot over a sewage ditch, then quick turn through a very small barbed wire-laced iron gate. The people are starting to get used to us being there, but every time we go further out to a new zone, there’s little kids who obviously have never seen a white person before. Some cry, some just stand open mouthed, and some run up to touch your arm real quick and run away…just to say they touched white skin, or see how it feels, I guess.

The moms have been incredibly grateful to have us in their homes. They are usually shocked when we first walk in, moving things around so we have some place to sit. They really seem to get it that we’re not here to hand out money, because not once has a mom asked us for shillings or anything. Except maybe prayer that she could get a job. If there is an extreme emergency, like a young mom with malaria and no money to get medicine, we’ll give it to Job and he tells her it’s from the school emergency fund, which it really is, if there is enough money in the fund. Once they see us reach in our pocket for one person, it’s all over. The line-up would be miles long. We have to trust the same God that we tell them cares about them and wants to help them, and look for an avenue in case we’re to be part of the solution.

One such case is Ruth. Every time her name comes up, tears well up in me, and it’s the same with Bob; she seems the epitome of what this is all about. Ruth is a stick thin elderly grandmother with eyes that go so deep…such joy in those eyes. We had been driving for hours through a tight maze of horrible roads, compounds and fields called Lessos, which starts across the road from our school. Bob was sick, and it would have taken many hours to walk. We came to the last house, belonging to Peter from baby class. We went down an alley with half-shredded linens on the line, into the smallest home we had seen yet. It must have been 6’x8’; there was no blanket hung to separate a space for the bedroom, there was no bedroom – only one thin piece of foam and a couple of folded blankets for her and her 3 grandchildren she was caring for. There was little space to stand, and the only piece of furniture in the whole house was a low table. We saw no stores of maize or oil or soap, no suitcases stuffed with clothes, no shoes. Ruth had been chased off her farm in the hill country during the post election violence of 2008, her husband had been killed by the “other” tribe. Her daughter died, leaving her children with Ruth; she had been raising Peter since he was eight months old. Now, she watched someone else’s animals for a little money every day, trying to feed them all. It was the poorest home we’d been in. We invited her to the Community Meeting next Wed, and prayed for her, returning to the taxi absolutely broken. Peter, our driver, heard us talking about her, and a few days later sent a bag of maize to her house via the school staff, and gave her 100 shillings to be able to grind it. He told us she can’t even pay the 2-300 shillings per month rent for her place, we’re going to help her out. But for a better solution, we called an American friend that works here that night, knowing that his focus is home care for situations just like this grandmother’s. His social worker, Anne, would visit Ruth with our social worker, Job, and do an assessment. One of the children Ruth cares for is a 14 year old girl who had to leave school after 8th grade, and is wandering around idle. If his NGO can help, they will comprehensively help all the children in the home in a long term solution. It’s so great to work with other organizations, to help fill in the endless gaps.

Since then, Ruth has appeared in the school office a couple of times, and we gave her lunch. She received the bowl of mixed maize and beans thankfully, then asked if it could be reheated, as only an African grandmother could. We took her picture in front of the world map; this is the way global transformation will work, one person, one family at a time. Ruth is incredibly important to God, you can see it in her eyes. And if I ever begin to doubt that His love is enough, in every situation, I think of Ruth, and am challenged again to get back to Square One.

4/15/09 

Wow. What a historical day!

After buying our tickets to get to Nairobi on Monday, we headed over to the school to meet with the team doing the distribution today. The team was not the usual one; in the past, Wycliffe had called the parents and the guardians to the school during the holiday months of April, August, and December, to give them beans or maize. The school children’s ability to find food outside of school during that month is really dubious and can put them in extremely unhealthy situations. These distributions assure that the families will have at least some food, and helps them to feel more involved in the school and in the care of the children.

Today, however, was different. Today, the children were going to lead the adults out into the streets of Tuwani, for they knew where all 100 homes were. Besides the practical reasons, it would also serve as a wonderful object lesson for us adults, to follow these little “generals”, as Wycliffe called them. It is a powerful thing, a simple visit to a destitute home in the slum – but to bring along food, a kind word of encouragement, maybe a prayer, and this time, a mosquito net – for some, this is unforgettable. The kids understand what it means.

On Easter Sunday, Peter had surprised the congregation by calling up 30 proven lay leaders and assistant pastors to the front, asking them to please help him to reach Tuwani. He announced that no longer was this Sunday service to be considered church; it was more of a celebration. From now on, church was out in the community, and our experience as a church would be serving the people of Tuwani. He asked them to set aside time for training, and to gather ten people each to begin a cell group in their neighborhood. And the first step would be helping to deliver food to the children’s homes in their area, and beginning relationships through that. They agreed, committed themselves to God, and the revolution began.

Apollo and another pastor, Eric, had come early to join Bradley and Job in sorting all the maize and beans into 200 smaller bags, and combining them in a package with soap and a mosquito net.  About 10 mamas showed up, despite the fact that it was a work day and planting season. With Irene, Pastor Peter, Sammy, Wycliffe and two of our teachers, we now had a good sized team, to be able to hit 100 houses in less than two hours. As a bonus, Boniface and his wife, and Pastor Mark from Mt Elgon, happened to arrive for a visit, and they were promptly handed a bag of beans and maize and became commandeered by the children.

The leaders organized the teams according to the number of student’s houses in the various neighborhoods, and we prayed and sent each team out with cheers. What a joy to see those teams go out! This was a fulfillment of years of dreaming and praying. I remembered having dinner with Daniel Lipparelli early on in the trip, during which he was describing a distribution method that was quick, effective, and didn’t attract much attention. As he described the pre-packaging of the bundles, assigned to prearranged families, and the simultaneous group distribution, I was overwhelmed with the thought, this is what the Church should be doing! This is ideally the job of the Kenyan church, not muzungu organizations! On mentioning it to Peter, he had loved the idea, but said, “We just need someone to show us how to do it.” Now, here we were, the Church, doing the job of the Church. Our team was merely connecting them to the reality of it, and again, to the resource and power of the children.

Peter, Wycliffe, Bob and I were the only team without a child general; we had a special mission. We returned first to Kelvin’s house, to find his mother out, and the neighbor lady caring for him. We went back into his house with him, with all the neighbors hovering near. The neighbor explained to us that Kelvin’s mom was desperately looking for another place to live, as that mud room carried such horrific memories, even etched in the burnt walls. The ex-boyfriend, who had come in the night, piled pillows and mattresses on top of the children, and set them on fire, was still threatening the family. The little brother had died, and they lived in stark fear. Peter told us that the man was a Pokot; this tribe is noted for their revenge, a revenge that will not be appeased until death. Just yesterday, they started a new series of raids in Cherangani, and had killed a policeman and several people.

Kelvin was still in shock, completely unresponsive to our efforts to comfort or converse with him. I took out a blanket that a grandma in America had made, big, soft, and blue, and wrapped it around him, hugging him. I spoke to him about God’s love and His desire for him to be happy and whole again, and that he could think of the blanket as the loving arms of Jesus wrapped around him. Peter was so moved by the child’s obvious trauma, he determined to pursue counseling him, and poured his heart out in prayer for him, for his mind, his healing, his destiny. The neighbor lady promised to cook up the food for him, and we told her we would return to take him back to school with us. He hadn’t been to school during the month he had been out of the hospital.

 
From Kelvin’s house, we went to check out another desperate situation. Wycliffe had received a report from some neighbors, that two preschool aged children had been locked inside a compound, uncared for, for nearly four months. The mother had abandoned them, and the father worked as a watchman by night, and a street hawker by day; he was never there. We were met by Samuel, the young landlord, who led us to a larger plot, surrounded by high tin walls, and unlocked the solid gate. Inside, 3 women were tilling the ground to plant some vegetables, but didn’t live there, they only rented the farming space. Samuel took us to the two little boys, Emmanuel and Junior, about 5 and 3. They were so dirty, covered with skin diseases, and from the telltale thinning hair and bloated bellies and limbs, very malnourished. Beyond that, it was obvious they had virtually no nurturing or socialization whatsoever. Emmanuel didn’t speak, and was very unresponsive. When Bob tried to give him a hug, he screamed, not in fear of a muzungu, but because he didn’t know what Bob was doing to him. I know it sounds hard to believe, but they didn’t know how to smile. As we spent time with them, and especially when we gave them the bags of food, they began to lose some fear and relax a bit – you could see them trying to imitate us smiling, especially for the camera – but they didn’t know how to do it. This is not just my interpretation; Peter and Wycliffe said it, then we had to agree. Kids who can’t smile? Extreme poverty is like the universe out of joint.

When Bob finally bent and picked up Junior, the little guy’s tense fear slowly settled into acceptance. Then he began clinging to him, like he never wanted to be put down. So heartbreaking. Wycliffe started talking to the five year old about school, and in his wonderful animated way began drawing letters and numbers on the ground; we were shocked when Emmanuel began eagerly copying his movements. He was disoriented with malnutrition, but eager to learn. He was the most withdrawn, but after some time, he let Bob pick him up, though still reserved. Then I picked him up, and held him as a mother would. He was so filthy, but this was no time to think about that. He hugged me back. From our first impressions, we would never have believed it.

 

Peter said that if we called the police or social services, they would arrest the father and throw him in jail. Then who would care for the kids? His first impression was that we should take them into the school. We have a limit of 100…but I don’t even see how we can say no. As we were leaving, we gave one of the ladies 200 shillings and asked her to cook them some food; we believe she will. She was one of the people who reported it. She, the two other ladies, and the landlord, Samuel, all said they would go to church Sunday, without us even inviting them.

As we walked back, Peter was so excited, he was like a little kid. He told me that after years of studying evangelism and church growth methods from all these noted ministries, he realized that the answer was so simple, and right in their hand. To go out to the people, to meet their physical needs with love, caused them to see a bit of Jesus, and they will come to know more. He said “I have done so many things, been in so many kinds of ministry, but nothing makes me happier than this! We have found it, not by copying others, but by looking to God for His strategy. And now, after all my talking to the congregation about them being the church, not me, they are finally getting it! They are doing it! This is the way they will grow as leaders!” He also noted that Boniface, Mark, and Eric, pastors that visited from other areas, are now excited, and will begin doing this in their communities also. Really, it’s a spiritual revolution.

So why does it take us so long to see this, when it was exactly what Jesus said, and what Jesus did? Religion is so spirit-numbing, it hinders us from assimilating the most foundational principles. It’s taken a long time to strip away those layers of self-conscious fog, but I believe many of us are entering into the reality of the gospel; and our lives promise to be very exciting because of it. More importantly, other lives can be rescued from this living death! Finally, those who need it and hunger after it most, will see it is attainable for them, too. The ones that God always considered priority, are finally getting to sit at our table with us-and we will be serving them. As Wycliffe said, “I want these children to go out to learn to serve the community. When I am gone, it will be natural for them, for they have grown up serving others.” Only as a child…

As we gathered in the school yard to thank God together, we found Kelvin, now bathed and decked out in his new uniform, backpack, and sandals. But though changed outwardly, his heart is just as damaged. How can he get his childhood back? If we can keep him in the school, he has a chance; at least he’s in the right place for it to begin.

 

We called Wycliffe around 7:00 pm to find he was still at school, giggling on the phone that he couldn’t leave, because so many people kept coming to thank him, and tell them how happy we had all made the community! Peter called it “A day better than any I’ve ever known!”

As reports from the other teams came in, we heard that they experienced the same type of response from the people; respectful, sober promises to come to church.

We’re not only going to need more chairs, we’ll need a much larger building ….but that’s another chapter.

Addendum, 4-28-09:

I am home now in America, recovering from a somewhat traumatic departure from Kenya. With a combination of typhoid, malaria, and pneumonia, the kindness and prayers of the saints literally got me home. As soon as I was able, I had to call Wycliffe, to hear his voice and get the latest report on these kids. It was mixed; on returning to Kelvin’s house, they found not only the house empty, but all the neighbors gone, too. In my mind, I imagine the abuser returned, threatening not only the boy and his mother, but the neighbors who helped her, too. I hope that isn’t true, but I don’t know if we’ll ever see him again.

However, our team there returned to see Emmanuel and Junior with some clothes purchased at my request. They were shocked not only to find the father there with the boys, but the kids looking better already, from the beans and maize we had brought the first visit. The father was so thankful for the hope we had brought to his children, he promised to come to church on Sunday and agreed to let the boys come to the school! As of May first, Emmanuel and Junior will be students of Neema Care Centre! Thank God.

Ingram’s grandmother was moved out of Tuwani by her family, who built her a house on family land. His uncle came to us, asking if he found someone to care for Ingram, if he could stay in the school. He was so happy here, he didn’t want to leave. We agreed, of course; we hope he comes.

Dying on Saturday and Resurrecting on Sunday, 4/12/09

What a sun-filled, glorious morning! The lilies in the yard are appropriately in full bloom!

After yesterday, one of the darker days of the trip for me emotionally, this was indeed feeling like resurrection. I spent Saturday morning with Wycliffe and Apollo, in Equity bank, setting up new accounts – a two and a half hour  process. While there, that suspicious airy-headed feeling returned…I had malaria again (or so I thought)! While they were in line, I wandered around Transmatt, probably looking like I was on glue. After checking out the “Kenyan” clothing made in China, I decided I’d do better at the second hand market. I can get great stuff there, American and European, dirt cheap. And I could use a sweater; it’s getting cold here!

We went from the bank to the coffeehouse, where I inquired again about getting more seed for Mt Elgon, then headed to Maji Tech (Ryan’s drilling business office) to meet Maina, and solidify the specifics of our new transfer system. He arrived on his piki piki, but the office was locked, so we met on a bench under a tree, with my laptop and enough documents on his flash drive to see what he needed from me. As we were talking, Bob pulled up on the back of Enoch’s piki piki, backwards hat with flower sticking out, Holmes Brothers blaring on the ipod player. He’s having a lot of fun here. Despite Bob, and my spacey brain, we finished up quickly, and our two NEK trustees seemed happy.

We went from there to Dr. Michuki’s clinic, where I got a full scale blood test, for the works; it turned out, I had typhoid, not malaria (or in addition to malaria), and I found myself eating an order of greasy “chips” so I could take the meds right away. Dr. Michuki is amazing, but too stimulating for me, especially when he gets together with Bob. These foreign diseases are indeed foreign, meaning hard to explain in American terms. You not only feel weak and dizzy, but like you’re in another world, though able to concentrate on a fixed project if you have to. It’s really up and down; you have energy for two hours, then crash; there is very little tolerance for intense conversation or noise, and it affects you emotionally with an illogical depression, insecurity and loneliness. I just wanted to go home, but decided to go to town and buy the blankets for the refugee camp in case it worked out we could go Monday. Tomorrow and Monday, the stores would be closed. The Asian shopkeeper was so nice and Taxi Peter was gracious to put the big bundles in the back seat. Then Bob walked to the coffeehouse where Theresa stored them for us. Everyone has been so helpful.

But by the time I got home I was really out of it and wanted to cry for no reason. After a nap and dinner, I focused on spreadsheets, then Caleb called, telling us about the big Easter Dinner they were having “in our honor.” It was the first time I really wanted to go home. Easter Dinner is my favorite of the year. Jediah gurgled and laughed in the phone, and that was just about all I could handle. Besides all that, I was so afraid I wouldn’t get to church in the morning for Easter Sunday; I had missed the last Sunday because of the last bout of whatever it was. I sent five text messages out, and asked Bob to pray with me for a while. One of the things Bob prayed for was for God to raise up a leadership team. The pastors and Wycliffe couldn’t do this job alone. We had witnessed the fields white and ready; now was the prayer for laborers. Despite myself, we had a great time of prayer and I fell asleep peacefully.

This morning, I woke up plenty early, full of energy, and full of joy! I felt completely well, and put on my Mama Africa dress and got ready for church. When I walked outside, everything looked so beautiful; I looked down, and right in front of our house, a bunch of lilies had bloomed! Across the world, in opposite seasons, lilies were blooming in America too to celebrate Easter!

Church was just beyond words. It’s been packed out now every Sunday. Unlike America, Easter is a four day holiday, and not really a Sunday service where people show up even if they don’t normally go to church. It’s special, but not ritualistic, from what I’ve seen. The people that treat it as something special do so because of their belief, not tradition.

I don’t know how to describe the worship without sounding trite. It went from normal upbeat to waves of the presence of God sweeping over us. Suddenly I had to sit down, and found myself weeping over burdens of my heart I rarely weep over, bringing them before God in such a personal way. Then I noticed people weeping aloud all over the church, not in a showy or overdone way; true, bottom of the heart weeping. After a while, it just subsided, and a peace came over the congregation. Peter got up, spoke comforting words, and then the joy came in. He spoke of how in the midst of suffering and troubles, only a Resurrected Christ who shares His own life with us, can give joy; and what victory we have in the midst of it all. I have never seen such joy erupt; true childlike joy! We videotaped the congregation, and it’s impossible to describe. If you weren’t there, you’d think maybe it was a Pentecostal type whooping it up, but we know this church, their strong foundation in the Word, and their unusual restraint in misuse of the gifts and emotion. I looked over to the kid’s section and there were Cecelia, Rhema, and Jenelle, leaping and spinning in absolute abandon! Some of the older women grabbed flags and began dancing up and down the aisles, and our girls joined them. It was so amazing! Then Peter led us in calling souls to come in from the east, Lessos; from the south, Kitale, the west, ? and the north, Tuwani. Bob grabbed his red handkerchief and waved it with abandon.

Suddenly, it subsided, and everyone sat down, and quietly gave the offering. Then Peter asked Bob to share something as a father to the children, saying “you may think he’s kinda funny, but you need to listen to him; you may find God speaking to you through his heart.” He did indeed, share from God’s heart, about God’s plan to redeem fallen man, from the foundations of the Earth, with a Lamb. We will forever, glorified with Him in Heaven, remember His love and His sacrifice, always able to see the nail holes in His hands and His feet.

Peter’s message was astounding. You need to read the notes to believe the kind of stand he is making. At the end, he called up about 30 people, with proven maturity in the church, most of whom weren’t pastors or preachers by traditional definition. He asked them to make themselves available to be the change-makers of Tuwani. In his message, he had stressed that this building, this gathering, was not the church; church happened when people went back out into the community. This was only a celebration, a place to be rebuilt to go back out. You may hear that in America, but it’s just about unheard of here, really revolutionary. He told them he and the other pastors couldn’t fulfill this vision to reach Tuwani, that he needed their help. He knew their lives, had watched them, and believed they were qualified and capable in Christ. He was asking them to sacrifice their time, step out in faith, and set themselves to reach 10 people in their area, and start a cell group. He said preachers can preach for years, and never change the community; it’s up to the people God raises up. That is also very revolutionary. He was practically pleading with them to help him. I’ve never seen him do anything like that before. As they went forward, it started raining really hard – no one could leave if they wanted to. They all seemed very broken.

He told us later, this group is meeting at 7:00 Sunday mornings for training, and he will be ending services an hour earlier, at 12:30. As Bob and I watched him anoint with oil (bought at Transmatt, he said, not worth 10,000ksh like some claim) and pray over each couple and mama, the sense of history being made, of vision being fulfilled, was overwhelming. Bob went up front to take pictures, then to pray with them. I realized toward the end, that Peter was supposed to announce the distribution on Wednesday, and went up with Bob at the end of the line, to be able to subtly remind Peter to mention it. When Peter got to us, he smiled, and said, “and these are our cell leaders in America.” He anointed our hands as servants, held them and prayed over us. It was really beautiful, unexpected.

Then I reminded him of the Distribution, and he stopped everyone from leaving the front, saying “Now, as a sign of your commitment to this, we need you to show up Wednesday morning to help distribute some food and things to the people of Tuwani.” Some people are very capable and need to exercise their ministry, but because they don’t have a traditional position, they often accept hanging back. He stressed their preaching could be through prayer, lifestyle, and love, or preaching verbally; but they would start focusing in prayer for specific people in their area. Among them were Wycliffe and Susan, Apollo and his wife, Sammy, Job, and some of the older mamas we had come to love and respect so much. This was the leadership team we had prayed for, already going into action! And their first assignment would be following the preschool children, into their home areas of Tuwani, to bring the gospel with love in action! Wow.

This was the best going away present we could get – the theoretical, spiritual unity of the church and the school that we had been speaking of, working toward, and experiencing, was going into action…and we get to see it before we leave! And be part of it! It’s so perfect, the way God did it. Well, of course, if He did it; it’s PERFECT! We are not the ones to carry out the vision; the church is the one to do that. We are sent here to express it, clarify it, and cause people to connect around it. It’s like everything in our mission statement coming to pass, but we didn’t do it!

We went from there to the coffeehouse, where we had a wonderful fellowship with Jeff and Carla, Ryan, Todd, Irene, and some other friends. We were so full of joy. We met the head of Love Mercy from America, Noel Alexander. We’re having dinner with him and Ryan tomorrow night at their compound, and will probably hear him preach tomorrow morning at prayer. Then Geoffrey and Helen Ochana came in and joined us; it was so great to connect them with Ryan, because they’ve needed help getting bore holes in Turkana for years (ever since they came to our house in 2006, and before!) and he invited them to see him in his office. Then they met and talked with Jeff and Carla, and we had an amazing time together. We’ve asked the Jeff and Carla and other friends from these ministries to come to Graceway next Sunday, to be part of sending us out, back to America. I really think they’re going to come! That’s a miracle. Peter wants to turn the whole service over to us and to our dedication as missionaries to America. Bob wants to ask them and Ryan, whoever can come, to speak to the Graceway congregation, too. We want to introduce them to the people who share our heart and vision, and those who will be helping.

He is Risen, Indeed!

March 31, 09

What an awesome day! I don’t think I’ve seen the kids more excited than they were today, and we’ve seen some pretty great times with them…handing out candy and soccer balls, art day, new uniforms, new shoes…this was definitely among the best!

The School Director wasn’t there, so the teachers, Gladys, Judith, and Gertrude, helped us figure out how to do this. We brought the dresses out from the storage room and started making piles by sizes, in comparison. As we pulled each brightly colored dress out, the teachers were amazed at how beautiful they were, oohing, aahing, and giggling with excitement. When they saw the dolls, they couldn’t believe it!

Unfortunately, the 20 something dolls we meant to keep in storage from the end of ’07, were handed out when Caleb and EvaJoy were compelled to leave the country in the midst of the post-election violence. I suppose in the uncertainty of it all, Wycliffe wanted to make sure some children were enjoying them. I didn’t know that when we first arrived, so I had given the five Pathfinder girls one each as a special blessing on our first visit to see them. That said, we were short about 18 dolls; Gladys, the head teacher, decided that we would give them to the younger students, as the older girls were growing out of that stage more. We made sure the older girls knew we would have a special present for them for their graduation! They were very gracious. However, because of the mix-up, not all of the dolls matched the smaller dresses that fit the kids; and it took a while to get the teachers to understand that, as much as we could, we needed to match dolls to dresses. We did the best we could, in the midst of some very excited little girls.

They put the dresses on over their new uniforms, (backwards at first!), and to see the joy on their faces, that would have been plenty to make not only their day, but their month, at least! Peter came and joined in for a while. He said that new uniforms and shoes were an incredible blessing for these kids…but to have a special dress, not even for school, was beyond these girls’ imagination! It made them feel like the little princesses they are. When they all had their dresses on, the bag of dolls was brought in, and an exuberant chant started and grew, overflowing with surprise and joy –“Do-LLY! Do-LLY! Do-LLY! That was one of the most awesome moments of this whole trip.

As the little girls spilled out into the play-yard, clutching their new little friends, we moved to the boys all gathered in another classroom. With the distribution money, we were able to buy backpacks for all the boys, good raincoats for the upcoming rainy season, and a soccer outfit! Wycliffe picked out bright red cotton t-shirts, and dark blue shorts, matching their school uniform and new sports socks they received last week. They were so excited, they couldn’t get their clothes off fast enough! It was so cute, seeing them beaming in their new duds! We had given out the backpacks the week before, with the uniforms, so they could take their old clothes home in their new packs…they literally never took them off their backs. It was so funny. I actually wonder if they sleep with them.

They sang and ran in place for videos, then charged out into the play-yard to try them out in action. Wycliffe has a desire to teach these little ones soccer, to form the youngest soccer team around, and take them into the community to entertain and draw attention, so he can speak to the crowd about unity and healing of the tribes in Jesus. The kids in Neema Care Centre represent many different tribes, and children can be the best teachers.

We hung around for the afternoon, watching the little girls hug their dollies, some using their sweaters as lessos to tie them to their backs, like real African mamas! So cute! They wouldn’t even put them down to eat!

It is such a blessing, a gift from God to be able to bring such joy to these little ones…but we are only the deliverers. The one God will truly bless is the sweet woman, back home in the Berkshires, who labored in love for weeks, designing and sewing all these clothes. And then sending money specifically for the children to get something special, outside the normal school budget, and outside anything they could dream they could have. She even sent the money with us to pay the extra baggage and shipping charges!

God Bless, you, dear saint!

Bob and LuAnn Herring

As we made our way back to the school, Wycliffe took us on a short by-pass so we could see Kaloleni primary school from a bit of a distance. He pointed out one of the mud classrooms that had lost its tin roofing in a recent burst of wind. The teacher had panicked, and in turn the children rushed to get out, as the walls could easily crumble on them; in the ensuing pandemonium, two or three kids were badly trampled, and Wycliffe had been called to take them to the hospital.

We passed a group of five young men, I think they were some of the guys that Bob had played pool with. He stopped and asked if he could tell them a silly story, and they accepted. Wycliffe interpreted, but I could tell at least two of them understood the English very well. Bob’s silly story was a dream he had, that out of this place, Tuwani, would come some of the greatest leaders of the world – people like you, and you, and you, and you. He said that Jesus had said the little kids, the least, were the most important to Him, so He was going to make sure they were taken care of. He touched some of the kids surrounding him, talking sweetly like Jesus would. But now, Bob said, my voice is going to change, and I’m going to talk to the men…we’re going to talk man to man, is that OK?  They returned his gaze, eye to eye, and said, “it’s OK.” He challenged them to be the ones that chose to be real men; to protect the children, to marry and love their wives the way Jesus loved the church, to work, even if it was just small jobs that slowly grew into bigger jobs. He said God didn’t need a lot of men; if one in ten would decide, it would be enough – and challenged them to believe that they could be the ones that could stand in the gap, and change this place. They could choose to believe that God would be standing with them, no matter what anyone else thought, no matter what they thought of themselves. They responded with a change in their faces, right before our eyes. It was like meat to them, visibly giving them backbone. Then Bob asked if Wycliffe could pray for them, they said yes. He prayed that they would indeed be raised into mighty men, leaders in the community; he declared that God had arranged this meeting, this new friendship, as a Divine Connection, and from now on we would be friends, and that God would use this as the foundation of change in this place. I can’t even describe the openness, the appreciation, the change in these guys. They just need a Dad. These are the ones we are supposed to fear? We have no fear walking here.

As we neared the school, a full grown man, probably in his thirties, red-eyed, with a cup of chang’aa in his hand, blocked the way in front of Bob. In clear English, he said, “Talk to me.” The Swahili equivalent is “Sema”, meaning, speak, tell me what is on your mind. He was not just looking for the normal “nzuri” from Bob.

Inches away from his face, the guy said, “Do you think I should not be drinking this, that I should throw it away?” Bob looked right back at him and said, with a calm smile, “Why don’t you ask God? If God tells you that you shouldn’t be drinking it, then throw it away. If God tells you its OK, then don’t.” Then the guy says, “I think God wants me to change.”

“Do you believe God can change you?” Bob responded. “Yes.”  “He can if you are willing to let Him change you.” “I am ready.”

Then Bob asked Wycliffe to pray with him, in the middle of the street, with a couple of his drinking buddies standing right there, staring open-mouthed. One came up to us in the middle of it, saying, “He may be ready, but I am not, don’t try to talk to me.”

I also did some preaching in the street that day, talking about how we have no power against the evil outside, or inside, us. Only Jesus paid the penalty for it all, so He has the authority to deal with it. We look to Him, cry out to Him, and He will change us. It turned out his name was also Wycliffe, of all things. He told us he would be in church on Sunday; we all had the gut feeling we were talking to one of the guys who would be influential in leading others to change. One of our group commented, “It’s guys like that, that really change completely, from within, and bring change to the whole community.”

As we headed back to the school, we were all marveling that, on a day in which we had witnessed the utter depths of injustice, death, suffering, and pain in this place, on a day we should have been even more overwhelmed and discouraged, we were experiencing more hope, more certainty than ever that this place could indeed be changed. That hope was also matched by a certainty that it could never be by our efforts, though it will take a lot of effort from many – but by the love, the forgiveness, the compassion of God, and the power of His mercy through the cross. How can anyone rise from this despair except through a changed heart? How can we overcome our own despair to help others without that assurance?

We are winners, but only through mercy.

Addendum, 4-8-09 –

This morning around 4 AM my phone beeped, telling me I had a text message waiting. It was Wycliffe, informing us that he had just found out that Pauline, Ingram’s mom, had died on Friday, the day after we had visited her. Her ex-husband, a Muslim, had buried her the next day, on Saturday, as is their religious custom.

I told Bob, and he wept in the blanket for Ingram. But we couldn’t help but marvel that God had brought us to her home on the last day of her life, to usher Pauline out of this world with a prayer, and a message of Christian hope according to her new-found faith. What a sobering, and awesome privilege. I am quietly excited at the thought of seeing her, whole and fulfilled, feasting at the KUBWA table. Unfortunately, Ingram will join his other two brothers in his grandmother’s house, with no natural means of support or income. But I’m sure she is still joyful, and confident in her God.

LuAnn Herring

Kitale, Kenya