Greetings again from cold and windy Kijabe! (Yes we are starting our winter here).   I realize this update comes almost back to back with our other letter but I feel that as things happen here, it is easier to write about it right away while the event is fresh in my mind and then I have less to write about later!  This past weekend we were on midterm break – our 18 boys left for 2 full days (a short but much needed break for them and us)  and so we had the opportunity to visit Kasarani.

 So on Sunday (yesterday) we went to Kasarani  so that we could go to Pastor Charles’ service.    And guess what…you won’t believe it!  The road into Kasarani has been graded and potholes filled with stones so we can now get into the village in 20 minutes instead of 45!  What a huge relief and a blessing that our car won’t get as much wear and tear (we’ve just finished replacing our brake pads and suspension from all the jolting around that we put that car through.  We can’t say how thankful we are to have such a good, reliable truck to get us around.

The church service started at 10 and in typical Kenyan style, it ended at 2pm (good thing we showed up late at 10:30).  There was plenty of singing (over 3 hours worth) followed by an hour long sermon, and by the end the girls were very squirmy and hungry and so were we!

 In our way into Kasarani we stopped in the town of Naivasha to purchase food hampers for four families (enough food for a family of 6 for two weeks) – bulk  quantities of maize meal, baking fat, oil, rice, boxes of UHT milk, tea, beans, salt, Royco (similar to Oxo cubes), biscuits, soap, margarine, bread, jam and sugar.  We also stopped at the local market for cabbages, peas, potatoes, onions and spinach. It is one of our greatest joys in the world bringing in this food to those who are really struggling and each month we get enough money over and beyond our support targets to purchase this food.  So in essence – it is because of you that these desperate families are getting food. God is so Good!!  So we went around to 4 families to distribute in the name and with the love of Jesus and on behalf of all of you who support us around the world.  I had prayed that God would reveal to us who needed the food most and He did!  Below we share the stories of three of the families that we shared this food with and their responses.

Faith:  Our first stop was to young girl named Faith (a very fitting name) who excitedly came up to me after church.  When our friends Jan and Helena were here, Faith had really become attached to Helena.  She is in Grade 8.  As I talked with her I found out that she comes from a family of 6, her eldest brother has a severe mental condition and he sits in the house all day. Her single mom works in the flower farms 6 long days a week and struggles to keep food on the table.  In this picture I am holding Faith’s shoulder, her sick brother is behind us and her younger brother is in the front.

Faith had such a joyful and radiant face and told me about school and home life.  What a precious girl!  I had noticed Faith teaching Sunday school and also keeping a very close eye on uncooperative kids – she is amazing with children – it would be so good to see her get a secondary education and perhaps become a teacher – we will pray that God will provide.  She finished Grade 8 in September and then will be ready for secondary school.

She was overjoyed as we unloaded the bags of food into her tiny little room (one room with two mattresses shared by 7!) – she said that her mom would be so grateful.  Her brother was shocked at seeing the quantity of food.  She told me that they never have money for food at night so the kids go without.  She is the only one who is currently involved in the feeding program so she gets a midday meal every day except Sundays.  There isn’t enough funding in the feeding program for her other siblings to join.

As we were leaving, she gave me a big hug and I told her that God would provide for her education and encouraged her to keep her faith and trust in Him.  So for a mother who earns about $4 a day, she has to provide for a family of seven.  She works 24 days a month so her income would be about $96.00 Cdn per month. To put this in perspective I want to break down what it would cost for this family to live and why they are just barely surviving:

Rent is a set cost: 1000Ksh and this has to be paid or they will be thrown out onto the street.  Already $17 gone and $79 a month remaining.

 Food: For just a bag of maize meal (1kg), some cooking fat, an onion and some greens, it would cost 140Ksh (just over $2 Cdn).  This would be enough for one very small meal of ugali and greens.  No protein, no milk or fruit for the children, just a hunk of corn mash and a small spoon of veggies.  If they were to have bread and margarine for breakfast and some tea with milk then you would add another $1.50.  If you were to add some beans and a couple of eggs then you’d pay another two dollars.  So for this family to eat a substandard two meals a day would be at least $165 a month.  That’s why there are many days in the week that they don’t eat at all.  There is just not enough money for enough food.

That’s not all.  How about giving the kids an education.  Yes there are school fees. Even for primary school you have to purchase a uniform and two pairs of shoes and books which would cost each child at least $100 a year.  For a secondary school the cost is completely prohibitive for this family and would cost something in the area of $500 a year for books, uniforms, school fees and supplies. 

Then there is cost of medical attention which is about 50Ksh to see a doctor (less than a dollar) but there is no money for this.  Faith’s teeth are yellow and rotting and soon her beautiful smile will be scarred with missing teeth.   

When it came time for the offering at church, Faith was right up there, dropping in her coins.  She said her mom is a firm Christian woman and told her always to give because God will always provide.  And yet…they go without food, medical care, proper clothing and there is little hope for continuing education.

This story is told and retold in most families in Kasarani.  The sad thing is that there are many adults (mostly single mom’s whose husbands have died of AIDS)  which don’t even have any work and so there is no dependable income.  That story is next: 

Grace:  Our second stop was to see Grace.  This is a lovely, beautiful woman who Helena and I had met when we last visited Kasarani.  She also has two little children.  She also has HIV.  In this picture Grace is on the left side wearing the suit jacket with her daughter in front.  Her sister and son are in the middle.  Pastor Charles had told us the story of Grace – a few years she was so sick with HIV that she slept all day on a mat in the house, her husband had just died of AIDS and she had a 2 year old and an infant to care for.  Everyday her sister who also lives with her, would lift her up and bring her outside for sunlight and fresh air, she was too weak and sick to even stand up.  She was skin and bones and everyone thought she would die.  Then Charles and Beatrice found out, they took her to a clinic for ARV drugs, they watched her kids, fed her and clothed her.  They shared Christ with her and gave to her out of their own poverty.  In a very short period of time, her health rapidly improved and her viral load of HIV was greatly decreased.  From the day that she could walk, she walked right over to the church and surrendered her life to Jesus.  Pastor Charles said that Grace comes to every service, every meeting, she wants more of God, her heart is on fire for him. 

At the end of the service Grace found me.  She gave me a hug and as I hugged her I could feel that her chest was full of congestion.  She has been sick for two weeks but had no money for the clinic.  I told her that we had brought food and she started to cry saying they had run out of food that very day and she wasn’t going to be feeding her children until she earned more money.  I asked her how she earns money and she told me that she braids hair (takes about 2-3 hours) and she gets 100Ksh. She only has a few customers a week.  On top of this, she told me that her landlord told her that unless she paid her rent of 500/month – she would be evicted in the next few days.  She back owes 4 months rent but she told me that she can’t afford to pay rent and provide food, so she spends whatever she earns on food for the children.  They can still survive on the streets but they can’t survive without food.  She literally has nothing…nothing apart from a small mattress in a single room and a little charcoal fire to cook when there is food.  But..that is physically she has nothing. 

Spiritually she has everything.  She is deeply in love with Jesus, she has Christ written all over her, the most beautiful and peaceful face, incredible joy and a desire it serve him with everything.   After listening to Grace I felt deeply moved by God to do something there and then and told her that we would pay for her to go to hairdressing school so she could get official training and start her own little business.  I shared with her that then she could train other women in the community who are struggling. Perhaps in the future, she could start her own hair salon and she could share about God with each customer.  She just started to cry and cry and I was deeply moved – about $1000 worth of training and set-up/supplies could mean she could support her kids, she could afford to go to the clinic, they could have food to eat, she could train others free of charge and she would have a platform to share what God has done for her with each of her customers.  As we were leaving, I gave her 4000 Ksh to pay off her landlord, cover her clinic costs and for transportation to Naivasha to look for a good hairdressing school.  Hopefully within the next few weeks she can start.   I trust God will provide as He has already done and continues to do. 

Mama Wiki:  Our third visit was to Mama and Sho-Sho (grandma) Wiki.  They have now moved to an even smaller room (they share a room with others).  Wiki was lying on a thin dirty mattress on the mud floor, too weak to even lift his head.  His clothes were filthy and his pants were soiled and wet.  His mom is also looking worse and is very malnourished herself.  As I brought the bags of food and vegetables and boxes of milk into the apartment, mama’s face lit up – she didn’t know what to say, once again her food had run out. 

I started to pray for her and for Wiki there and then.  That her heart would be surrendered to Jesus and that Wiki would live.  Over these past weeks I have been so afraid that he would die but I felt God prompting me to pray for this precious child in faith.  So I prayed life, I prayed that his little life would do big things for Jesus.  I held little Wiki (he came very happily into my arms and lay his little head on my chest) and I prayed that the Spirit of God would breathe healing to his bones and that Jesus would heal him.    Please continue to pray for this little boy and that God will do a miracle. 

The next time I see Mama Wiki I’m going to see if she knows how to bead.  She comes from the Samburu tribe which is similar to the Maasai which are expert beaders.  If I can provide beads for her than she could make different beaded ornaments, bracelets, necklaces etc and I could purchase those from her to bring back to Canada, maybe help her start a small beading business.  This would be a small way for her to become self-sufficient and to bring her out of this desperate poverty.  Please pray with me about this.  I have no experience with micro-enterprise but there’s no better time to start.  This picture of a Maasai woman represents the intricate beadwork that Maasai and Samburu women create.

Our last bags of food were delivered to Charles and Beatrice, for them to use and distribute to those in need.  Charles was so encouraged as he has started constructing a high mesh fence, to enclose his house and soon he will start his own shamba with sukuma wiki (similar to kale), spinach and cabbages.  Once again, money given to us for our work here in Kenya, has been used so that this Pastor can have his own enclosed garden and experiment with the Farming God’s Way techniques.

So that was our day.  We drove home exhausted but excited, knowing that God’s hand is all over this village and that He is going to show His goodness and power to raise up leaders in the weakest, poorest and most unassuming villagers.  Today He showed us three incredible persevering individuals.  They have challenged us to give more and not to hold back, to share, to reach out and to take risks.  This is what really drives us and excites us.  We don’t know how many days we have on this earth but we want each one to count, to impact the life of others, to turn all the glory to God.

On Sunday in church, the pastor shared some verses from Psalm 37 – a reminder to keep trusting in Him!

Trust in the Lord and do good, Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness

Delight yourself in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart

Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noon-day

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him

There are so many ways that we can support the village of Kasarani – from supporting the building of the feeding centre for the orphans, to supporting the acres and the sustainable farming methods, to helping individuals by giving them a boost of financial assistance or even a micro-loan to start up their own small business, to helping pay for the education of a child so that he or she can have a chance for a better future.  So we trust and wait patiently and as we all walk according to His will – in different parts of the world – He will use us in mighty ways and will give us what we need.  There is much to be done, one step at a time, trusting in God that as we give of ourselves and our lives, we will guide us, strengthen us and bless us!

We can’t do it without you, so thanks again for your love, your prayers and your support.

Blessings,          Sue, Andrew, Hannah and Bea