Some of our Kangundo Church and College Family

St. Mark's Evangelical Church with some of the members. The church has about30 members.

St. Mark's Church and some members. Pastor James Mulei in purple suit

Victory Evangelical Church choir. Soon it will be releasing its third album

Rev. Titus Kitolo of Victory Evangelical Church preaching in one of the services.

Victory Evangelical Church during Sunday Service. Shadrack Mutisya in the middle. The church has 200 members and above. It is situated in Katwanyaa location-Kangundo

VICTORY EVANGELICAL CHURCH- KANGUNDO

Ebenezer Evangelical Church with Rev. Samuel Uswii third row right. The church consists of about 150 members

This is Rev. Makosi of Calvary Evangelical Church which has hundred members and above.

Pastor Alphonse Senga of Calvary Evangelical Church preaching during a Church service

Church service in Bethel Evangelical church-Kangundo

This is Bethel Church Building in Kangundo. The Church has more than 150 regular members. It is situated Matetani Location in Kangundo.

Pastor James Mulei giving a helping hand in the tree planting

Planting trees at the new St. Mark's Church Plot. Thanks to Betty and her husband for their generous contribution toward the purchasing of the plot

Our new tractor driver Douglas Kioko(front) and his turnboy Alphonse Mutie(back).The driver was saved during the interview for his new job and he confessed to us that he had problem with drinking. He is now doing fine and since then he has never gone back into drinking. Pray for this new baby in the faith.

The harvest is plenty but the workers are few. May you pray to God of the harvest to send workers in his fields. Lots of love from Fitz

Mechanic students helping in making of Chapati for their closing day party

Games time at the College

These are a few postings of our Kenya Church and College family in the Kangundo area

Motorcycle Diaries Part 1

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?....Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that (even) one of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:12, 14

This week has been one of visiting prospective children and we have travelled far and wide to see them. The rains have pretty much made distance travel on the dirt roads impossible in the van – so we have a new mode of transportation – motorcycle taxis! I often use them in Thailand and Vietnam – but this has been my first experience here in Kenya. And it is definitely the best way to experience this land and people!

The first trip was to a village only about 25 minutes away – we hopped on the bikes and everyone in Kangundo laughed to see the muzungu (white) woman on a motorcycle. We passed a school with several hundred children in the yard – and every single child screamed and laughed and ran to the fence to see such a sight! God certainly has a sense of humor – sending someone like me who hates to be the center of attention to a place like Kenya! Imagine! We arrived at our destination to meet a 4 year old boy whose mother died from AIDS 3 days after his birth. He sat with his wide eyes staring into mine the whole time we were there. It was enough to break my heart into pieces. As we mounted the bikes to leave, the rain started – just a little at first.... My driver asked me if I was afraid of the rain and was so surprised when I told him no. (what do people here think about foreigners?!?) In moments it started pouring and we were soaked to the skin so we stopped and ducked into a tiny little village tea shop. It was crowded with old men sitting and chatting, but we squeezed into the room and sat with them. Daniel began talking to the men in Kikamba about our work. I remember having a very strong sense that we were there for a purpose – and in time that became apparent. One of the men was a schoolteacher and another a pastor – and they were eager to work with us to find the neediest of the needy children in their area. And just imagine, when the conversation died down, the rain stopped!

On the way back the driver even offered to let me drive the bike! (I declined...) As people kept waving at him and laughing to see him driving with me on the back I told him “You are going to be famous after this” and he said, “Yes, I LOOOOVE it!!” It seems I was not the only one with stories to tell that day....Too funny!

The next day we had a looong drive ahead of us – we left at 9 and returned at 4. We were headed to meet children near one of the more remote churches. It was a sunny day and we set out on the dusty road in good spirits. It is exhilarating to ride on the motorcycle – you experience the scenery and the people in a whole different way. But some of the magic started to wear off when we started on the bumpy part of the road. The driver seemed determined to be first in the group and would just plow straight over the potholes to get ahead. This does not make for a very comfortable ride (to say the least). It became a not-so-subtle form of spinal compression! We drove thru mud and small lakes and then had to walk a half an hour through swampy land to find a 12 year old girl and a 6 year old boy whose mother had just died and left 6 kids behind. They lived in the flatlands – a big difference from the endless hills of the Kangundo area. After finishing their interview we were off again – after a half an hour we arrived at the base of Mount Kilomonbogo. We left our drivers behind and began the long trek to a small 6 year old’s home where he lived with his almost-blind grandfather. He was born in Nairobi and his grandfather didn’t even know he existed until his daughter died from AIDS. We met the boy at his school – he had no shoes and his uniform was tattered and torn. At the school we also met another 6 year old boy and 8 year old girl whose mother and father both died of AIDS. Each one was just as ragged and pitiful as the rest.
The school was incredible – as soon as I walked into the schoolyard all the kids came running. Just when I was in danger of being totally mobbed two older boys with switches came and made them back away (and hit them with the stick if they didn’t move fast enough – these were clearly the playground enforcers!) As I walked they followed me – but if I stopped and turned around they stopped too. It was soooo funny – kind of like in the cartoons. Their faces were bright and curious – I wished so much that I could talk to them. I found that they didn’t understand a word of Nepali.... (my first impulse is always to speak Nepali to foreign children) But children everywhere understand smiles – and they love having their pictures taken. Of course there is always the one who has to trample all the rest of the children to make sure he is in every single picture. Some things don’t change no matter which country you are in! It was fun to spend time at the school with them – but I cringed hearing all the coughing and sicknesses and skin diseases that were probably going unnoticed. I was saddened by eye infections and crossed eyes and disabilities that ought not to go without treatment. But this is rural Africa – not even one child was wearing shoes!

After visiting with one more family and hearing one more extremely sad story, we got on the bikes to head home. I was enjoying everything around me as we cut thru the countryside – the bluest of skies filled with giant fluffy white clouds. The lush green plants in contrast to the red Kenyan dirt. Brightly colored birds and flowers of all colors. It was stunning. But as I pondered the other things we had seen that day – the suffering, the bereaved, the sick, and the abjectly poor, the sadness of it all overcame me. Tears streaked across my face as I wondered how we were going to help all of these children. Every one we have seen so far needs to be rescued – but we can only do it one life at a time. The weight of the choosing feels like more than I can bear sometimes and thinking how to tell someone who has been given a shred of hope that you cannot do anything for them at this time after all seems to be the cruelest of acts.

We had been on a 6 hour bouncy motorcycle trip (by the end of the day I was sure I was at least one inch shorter) gone thru drenching rain, gotten stuck in the mud, trekked thru a swamp and climbed up and down the base of a mountain to find these children. It made me think of the story of the lost sheep and the great lengths that God goes to bring one of his little ones home. May God give us wisdom to know which of His sheep He has sent us out after and grace to comfort those we cannot help.

May you have a blessed Easter Resurrection Sunday as we celebrate the new life we have in Christ because HE LIVES!! But don’t just celebrate the Good News this Easter – share it with someone who doesn’t know it – there are lost sheep around you too today.

ready to hit the road again,

diane

Lois Letters #2

GREETINGS TO ALL,

FOR THOSE OF YOU FRIENDS WHO HAVE VISITED IN KENYA, WE HAVE ANOTHER VERY SAD NEWS. MAGGIE, OUR BELOVED KITCHEN WORKER FOR ABOUT TEN YEARS, HAS LOST HER HUSBAND. WEDNESDAY NIGHT IT POURED ALL NIGHT AND EVEN THE JUCTION OF OUR STREET WAS LIKE A RIVER. WAMBUA DID NOT RETURN HOME WED. NIGHT, BUT SHE CAME TO WORK THURS. MORNING THINKING HE WOULD APPEAR THAT DAY. BUT WHEN HE DID NOT APPEAR THE SECOND DAY, SHE CAME CRYING AND SAYING SHE HAD TO LOOK FOR HIM. THEY BEGAN LOOKING FOR HIM AND HE WAS FOUND THIS MORNING IN THE RIVER NEAR THE POLICE STATION. WAMBUA HAD BEEN SAVED AT BETHEL EVANGELICAL CHURCH SO JUST ANOTHER REASON WHY WE ARE SO HAPPY GOD CALLED US TO KENYA.

PLEASE PRAY FOR MAGGIE AND HER 2 CHILDREN, TITUS IN 8TH GRADE, AND LITTLE LOIS WHO IS ONLY THREE. SHE HAS ALREADY BEEN ASKING, “Mom, where is our dad?”

I, LOIS, MADE A HUGE MISTAKE BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT HOYT WAS TO GO OFF SOME OF HIS OLD MEDICINE WHEN HE STARTED A SECOND NEW ONE. AFTER HIS RAPID DECLINE AND A VISIT BACK TO THE DR. WE LEARNED THAT TAKING HIM OFF THE OTHER MEDICINE COULD HAVE CAUSED HIM TO GO INTO SHOCK, ETC, SO PRAISE GOD WE DID NOT HAVE ANOTHER TRADEGY. NOW HE IS BACK ON ALL MEDS AS HE WAS SUPPOSE TO BE AND AGAIN MAKING SOME PROGRESS, GOD IS SO GOOD.

WE ARE MAKING GOOD PROGRESS (WITH DIANE) ON APPLICATIONS FOR THE FOSTER PROGRAM, BUT ARE IN SERIOUS NEED OF MORE FOSTER HOMES. I BELIEVE THEY ARE THERE, BUT WE JUST NEED TO GET THE WORD OUT. WE ARE VISITING A LOT OF HOMES. IT CONTINUES TO POUR, SO YESTERDAY, DIANE, TO HER DELIGHT, AND THE GUYS WENT OUT ON MOTOR BIKES TO MAKE HOME VISITS. SHE ENJOYED THE RIDE REGARDLESS OF A SHORT DRENCHING, BUT I WAS GLAD THAT I HAD STAYED AT HOME.

GRAVINOS ARE OUT ON BREAK FROM COLLEGE TEACHING. BUT DON’T KNOW IF WE CAN REALLY CALL IT A BREAK. THEY HAVE BEEN HELPING IN THE KITCHEN AND ARE BOTH SCHEDULED FOR BIBLE STUDIES, ESL CLASSES, AND TUTORING AND WORK WITH THE GRACE HOME KIDS. THREE GCH KIDS WILL BE BAPTISED ON EASTER SUNDAY. THEY ARE REALLY GROWING IN THE LORD. ONE OF THE MOTHERS WAS SICK ONE NIGHT LAST WEEK SO MESEMBI PRAYED EARNESTLY THAT NIGHT THAT GOD WOULD HEAL HER. IN THE MORNING WHEN SHE WAS WELL HE TOLD HIS MOM HOW HE WAS GOING TO SCHOOL TO TESTIFY HOW THE LORD HAD HEALED HER. A FEW WEEKS AGO WE WERE VISITING ANOTHER CHURCH AND LITTLE VICTOR STOOD IN FRONT AND SAID VERY LOUDLY, “MY NAME IS VISTOR AND I LOVE JESUS”. PEOPLE WERE TOUCHED TO HEAR A SMALL BOY GIVE SUCH A TESTIMONY INFRONT OF THE CHURCH.

KENYA IS VERY GREEN AND LUSH WITH ALL THE RAIN. WE DO GET A FEW HOURS OF WARN SUNSHINE EVERYDAY TO DRY THE LAUNDRY.

WEDNESDAY MORNING PASTOR CHRIS LAID IN BED NOT WANTING TO GET UP AND GO DO CHAPEL AT THE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL. HE ALMOST CALLED THE PRINCIPAL TO SAY THAT HE COULD NOT MAKE IT, BUT THE LORD REMINDED HIM THAT HE HAD CALLED HIM TO PREACH SO HE SHOULD GET UP AND FUFILL HIS CALLING. HE GOT UP AND WENT TO PREACH TO THE KIDS, AND 2 HIGH SCHOOL BOYS WERE SAVED. PLEASE PRAY THEY WILL CONTINUE TO GROW AS PASTOR CHRIS CONTINUES TO MENTOR THEM. JUST A FEW YEARS AGO PASTOR CHRIS WAS A DRUNKARD. THANKS TO YOUR PRAYERS AN GIVING HE WAS SAVED, WENT THROUGH OUR BIBLE COLLEGE AND IS NOW LEADING OTHERS TO THE LORD.

KEEP PRAYING, KEEP GIVING, KEEP SERVING, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. WE WILL REAP IF WE FAINT NOT.

LOVE,
HOLO