I started on this letter two weeks ago and the next day I was forced to put it on hold as I started getting sick with flu-like symptoms with a cyclical low grade fever.   At day four of continued symptoms we started to get worried as we had found out only weeks before that I was pregnant!  I consulted with two different doctors and the thing at top of mind was that I had possibly contracted malaria. 

Over the school break as you’ll read below, Andrew and I had traveled to two different malarious areas and in particular, in Kasarani, I had distinctly remembered getting several mosquito bites.  We were taking anti-malarial medications at the time – but they are not a 100% guarantee.  I was tested for malaria and other diseases but results came back negative.  I was told to ‘wait and see’ and that I likely had a viral illness.  The stress and anxiety in our lives started to increase as I felt the longer we waited, the more risk to our tiny developing baby.  Also, front of mind was remembering our miscarriage in January 09 and the dread and fear of losing another child.  The symptoms continued for 8 more days – I was in bed all day completely exhausted, unable to do anything but feeling my body temperature rise in a continued rhythmical pattern and knowing that something was wrong.  Andrew and I started talking about the possibility of packing up early and having to come home for further investigations.  We sent out a call for prayer both here in Kijabe and back home. 

Hannah in her performance

This past Monday, my dear friend Darrylynn who has worked as a missionary for over 15 years in the bush strongly advised me to just go ahead and take the malaria treatment.  She had seen several cases like mine, where people on prophylactics would get the disease and then exhibit low grade symptoms like mine with negative malaria smears. Her advice was that it would be better to rule out malaria then wait and see if my symptoms got worse – malaria is especially harmful and often fatal for baby if it goes undetected. I found out that the night before, on Sunday night,  a group was praying for me, that God would give both Andrew and I clear assurance about what we should do next and that He would bring the right people in our path to guide us.  I believe there was a direct answer to prayer because after talking with Darrylynn, we felt calm and certain that treating for malaria was the right thing to do despite contradicting advice from doctors.

Bea in her special ballet presentation!

Monday I started treatment, Tuesday my symptoms worsened, Wednesday I was still struggling and wondering if we had done the right thing in taking the treatment.  I was so disappointed because Wednesday afternoon I had to cancel my bible study for the RVA housekeepers.  I found out later that the ladies had heard I was sick and were so concerned that they had decided to meet on their own anyways; they met during their lunch hour and prayed for a breakthrough.  There were prayers for me around the globe.

Thursday, I got out of bed and felt different and Andrew and I proceeded down to the hospital for an ultrasound.  I felt a definite peace, that both babe and myself were in the hands of God and that He was in control.  About an hour later we saw our little child – only about the size of a grain of rice and then heard the wonderful rushing sound of our tiny baby’s heartbeat – loud and clear.  We both started to cry. So, five days later, I’m doing fine apart from the occasional rush of morning sickness.  God is good and once again we are so thankful for direct answers to prayers.  We appreciate your continued prayers for the health of our growing baby and that this pregnancy will be smooth from now on.  With our dates, it looks like we will be having our baby the week of Christmas – we couldn’t think of a better gift!

Mothers Day: Tomorrow we will be celebrating Mother’s Day!  I’ve already heard that Hannah and Bea have planned a special breakfast in bed and also been busy making very special homemade cards.  Bea has been secretly using up the last of our scotch tape and tissue paper to make sure that my gift is securely wrapped!  So Sunday morning, I’ll wake up to my to my two excited girls tiptoeing into my room, precariously balancing a tray of special breakfast food made with Daddy’s help to honor and celebrate me – their mommy.    I’m looking forward to being spoilt! 

However, here in Kenya, mother’s day is not widely celebrated, perhaps with the exception of the affluent and westernized community in Nairobi.  Women are definitely the backbone in this society and yet they are the ones who often go unnoticed, are undervalued and in many communities, treated as commodities.  In rural communities, it is the women who are seen carrying the heavy loads – foraging with the children for firewood, fetching and carrying heavy jugs of water, collecting grass to feed their animals – often times with babies tied to their backs.   Elisheba, the woman who works in our home comes from the Kikuyu tribe.  She has told me numerous times that Kikuyu women are known for their strength, tenacity and hard work.  She says, ‘we have a saying that Kikuyu women never get tired, never get sick, never complain, never stop’, she says ‘if we stop, then we don’t survive.’

The ladies who attended the retreat here in our dorm. In total, 24 attended. Notice them holding up bags of pampering products sent for each woman by Ann, one of our friends in Canada.

There is a very high percentage of single mothers here in Kenya – seen even in our small community of Kijabe.  In the ladies bible study which I host, over ½  of the ladies are single moms – some young, some old, working as inside housekeepers in missionary homes in order to sustain their families.  Their salaries must pay for food, rent, school fees and medical costs.  Most of them have several children, don’t have any savings, they live from one paycheck to the next and work hard to survive.  These women count themselves privileged and are so thankful to have secure, good jobs in missionary homes and yet the reality is their lives are difficult.  From this group of 28 women I have personally heard painful stories of very difficult situations which these women have endured; forced marriages, verbal and physical abuse, rape, sickness and AIDS, separation, going without food, being treated as outcasts, not having a voice.  Yet despite all the grim stories and desperate scenarios, the women in my bible study and so may widespread across this country and continent have an undeniable and deep faith in God and they have no one else to depend on and trust in but Him.    So this is a tribute to these women – they are the ones who should really be celebrated and recognized on Mothers Day.

Over this past school break I decided to host a women’s retreat for the ladies in my bible study as an opportunity to serve, pamper and bless them.  It all came about when an advertisement for a much larger retreat was shared with the group hosted by the AIC church.  The only problem with this retreat was the price – each woman would have to pay close to $100 each to attend.

I knew that the women would not attend due to the cost but I asked for a raise of hands – that if money was not a problem, which women would want to attend.  Well, the answer was rather obvious – all of them!  That night at the end of February, I called my Mom and shared the dilemma with her – my heart was heavy that these women would miss out due to lack of funds.  Well, my Mom suggested that I could run a retreat of our own, out of our dorm – after all, we have 20 beds and a large common area which would be perfect and the cost would be a fraction of the other retreat!

My initial reaction was ‘No!’ – life is busy enough here without planning yet another thing, but, when I went to bed that night I couldn’t stop thinking that this could be a very real possibility.  As I looked at the calendar I realized that if we were to do a retreat, it would only be 7 weeks away and I better get serious about it.  There were a few things that needed to happen, the most important being getting permission from the school.  The second thing was getting help to run it.  The next night I fired off an email to a couple of my friends, asking if they might possibly consider coming out here to help me with it.  A few days later my dear friend Helena responded and she and her husband had been considering coming out here and praying about it, they felt this was a confirmation that they were meant to come!  They had come out last year in April too.  I was ecstatic and knew that God was aligning what was needed for this retreat to become a reality.  Later that week I received permission from the school to run the retreat.

True Identity:  So planning started.  Initially I was trying to figure out how to get some sort of video series which could be the teaching portion of the retreat but later realized that God was calling me to task to do the teaching.  Once again, my Mom came to the rescue and brainstormed and researched with me to come up with a topic.  We chose the theme ‘My True Identity’.  One of the things I really wanted to do was make a special gift for each of the women who would be attending and I came up with the idea of making ‘Identity Posters’. At our next bible study I handed each woman a packet of identity verses which I had compiled over the years.  For each letter of the alphabet, there are at least 5 -10 different verses to describe ‘Who we are in Christ’.  The idea is to select a verse for each letter in their first name.  It was amazing to see these ladies pouring through all these verses and excited to pick verses that were meant just for them.  A friend of mine here in Kijabe had a special cutting machine which allowed me cut out the letters of each name on beautiful scrap booking paper.  Over the next few weeks I was able to complete over 30 posters – each one different.  It was such a blessing to read over all the verses that these women had selected for themselves and it also gave me an opportunity to pray individually for each of them as I created the posters.  

Jan and Andrew – our handsome cooks, chai makers and cleaners!

Women’s Retreat: The first week of April, our friends Jan and Helena came from Canada and stayed with us for over a week!  It was another whirlwind week with a packed tight agenda!  We started off by visiting Kasarani which I’ll share more about below.  At the end of their week we worked together to pull of the ladies retreat!  We had so much fun together!  Andrew and Jan were our primary cooks, cleaners and chai (tea) makers. I had promised the ladies that they wouldn’t have to lift a finger at the retreat and that promise was kept! I also put out a call for RVA staff to help out and many of them donated food and supplies.  Helena had brought out donations of beauty supplies and also a very special gift which one of our church friends Ann. She had purchased lovely little cloth embroidered bags and stuffed them full of brand new Avon creams, soaps and other beauty supplies – enough for each lady to have their own.  As each woman arrived to the retreat, they were greeted in their rooms with bouquets of fresh flowers and these goodie bags!  They were so thrilled!  

The retreat was a really special time for all of us.  One of the highlights for the ladies was the spa day which we held on Saturday.  I was able to ask a few of my friends as well as a few women from the community to come in do massages, pedicures and manicures!  Each of the ladies was given a 45 minute time slot where we just pampered them – complete with hot lavender towels, foot, arm and neck massages and pedicures.  Many of the women had never experienced such royal treatment and it was a truly memorable time with lots of laughing and even a few ladies who took naps during their treatment! 

We had three different sessions and during these times there was lively singing, dancing, lots of prayer time and the teaching portion which I led focusing on 15 different women from the Bible – and application questions.  Another highlight was Saturday night when we had a games night.  The big game was a blindfolded bake-off.  The ladies were divided into two teams and each team had to choose the most experienced baker.  That woman was then brought to the front and blind-folded and then asked to make oatmeal cookies from scratch.  The team to win would be the best tasting cookie!  All the ingredients were provided – including a few spoof ingredients.  It was hilarious to watch and we all were just rolling with laughter as we watched these ladies work their magic.  We were actually really impressed in the end – both teams had good tasting cookies – Jan and Andrew were the judges and chose the winner.  I’ll never forget the time that we spent together – it was precious and we all experienced God’s goodness in new ways.  I’m really going to miss these ladies.

Kasarani:  The first weekend that Jan and Helena visited we arranged for a three day visit into Kasarani so that they could see all that has happened there since their visit a year prior.  It was amazing to go in – the feeding centre and adjacent rooms were complete and everything was new and looked so wonderful.  We went in on the Sunday and after a four hour service we, along with members of the church gathered outside of the Door of Hope feeding centre and shared in a time of prayer, celebration and thanksgiving.

Here are pictures of the competed facility! 

Time of prayer and thanksgiving for the grand opening of the Door of Hope feeding centre.

The new kitchen with bright windows, new fuel efficient stoves and plenty of space for food prep and cooking.

Caretakers and additional rooms which will be used for housing orphan youth in correlation with a youth training and empowerment program.

The orphan kids in the feeding program used to eat outside on the ground.

Now they have a place to call their own – built just for them! It’s amazing the transformation in one year! We constructed the centre with expansion in mind – this space can accommodate over 200 children for lunch – currently 74 eat lunch here.

Acres:  While we were in Kasarani we also had the opportunity to go and visit the acres.  Things were growing beautifully and the field was green!  What a stark contrast from one year ago when the place was a dust bowl.  They have already harvested a crop of potatoes which were used as seed to replant and next week they are harvesting the maize which they will dry.  It will then be ground into maize meal which is part of the Kenyan staple diet.  There is also a crop of beans, millet and sorghum.  It will take some time for them to understand and learn just how much produce the farm will yield and in turn, how many children can be fed and sustained through the program. 

Feeding Centre: At the feeding centre itself, we had the opportunity to work with local children to plant flowers and fruit trees around the site.   Pastor Charles and other youth have also started a small garden where they are growing their own spinach, onions and tomatoes.  One of the grannies who had come out in December donated a number of rake heads for the centre and the kids busily worked with us to clean up the garbage outside the centre and smooth the gravel inside – the kids just loved getting involved!  Since these pictures were taken, we have now installed rain gutters and another smaller water tank on the row-houses, built an industrial size sink, cupboards, shelves and storage in the kitchen and two more blackboards in the feeding centre hall. The work is now coming to an end.  Our last project will be to install a small play area for the smaller kids with a swing set and slide.   

Together with Grace and Mama Wiki

Grace:  While we were visiting in Kasarani, I had the opportunity to visit with Grace and Mama Wiki.  Grace has now finished her course in hair and beauty and is working hard to develop and grow her own small beauty saloon which she hopes to call ‘Blessings Beauty’.  We have worked with her on a simple business plan and gave her a kit of basic beauty/hair dressing supplies as well as a sturdy chair and mirror in her home to get things started.  For now she will be offering simple beauty treatments to the local community for fair prices.  We continue to encourage her that developing her small business takes patience and time and suggesting that she supplement her income for now by taking on some other side jobs.  She is enthusiastic and excited about her future.     

Mama Wiki singing in the church

Mama Wiki: Mama Wiki arrived while I was still talking with Grace and so she and Wiki waited outside for me.  As soon as I stepped outside the door, Wiki, who was in her lap, climbed out and started running towards me.  Yes running!  He had this huge smile on his face and his arms were open wide.  I started running towards him with tears in my eyes – he’s now five years old, as tiny as ever – about the size of a two year old – but there is a huge change in his little spirit.  I swooped him up into my arms and twirled him around with such joy.   I didn’t have my camera at the time but I’ll always carry this very special memory in my mind.  Later he sat on my lap and enjoyed noisily sucking on little orange wedges while I spoke with his mom.  She is also a different person. 

She now attends church and we even saw her in the ladies choir singing with a smile on her face!   As Mama Wiki was sitting beside me, I noticed she was wearing a dress just full of holes – exposing her bony shoulders, I looked down at Wiki and up at her and felt determined in my spirit that we have to continue to help her in some way (we have given her bags and bags of food whenever we see her but this a very necessary but not a sustainable solution).  So right now we are working together with the Pastors wife to come up with the best way of helping her – to empower and enable her to earn a sufficient income to care for herself and also feed and educate her three small kids.  I promised her that we would help, but that she too, would have to work hard in order for us to form a partnership.  She said she would be willing to volunteer at the feeding centre to help in the garden or help with cleaning.  After my conversation with her that day, I felt compelled to give her some money to go and buy a new dress as a symbol of a new start and a fresh beginning.   

Thank you:  About a week ago I received a letter from one of the orphan boys in the feeding program named Joseph. When we had our VBS at Christmas he volunteered to act out in a skit as Pharaoh during one of the teaching sessions.  I share this letter with you because you have joined and supported us in this integral ministry and you deserve to read this letter of thanks too!   Here are a few excerpts.  ‘The aim of this letter is just to thank you for the great support and concern you have shown in your ministry – especially to the needy and less fortunate.  On behalf of all, I am grateful for the land you bought for us and construction of the Door of Hope centre in Kasarani – this is a great change for us and a step of blessing to us.  Many had already lost hope but through what you have done and taught us, our hopes are restored.’  This is what gives us so much joy – to see that the lives of these kids have been impacted, they feel valued and loved and that they are grasping onto hope for their future. 

Looking Forward:  It’s now just under 3 months before we are finished our term here in Kenya and move back to Canada.  The big question that many of you have asked is what will happen to the acres and the feeding centre and programs when we leave?  We would love to remain involved with how the Door of Hope centre, acres, and programs run, but we have also learnt from experience and wise advice of others, that for this to succeed and to be viable and sustainable, they need to take ownership and continue where we have left off.  We have been able to give them the tools they need to succeed and now we hand it over and trust that the part that God wanted us to be involved in is over. 

The important thing is that Pastor Charles and the AIC church and community take this on to develop the acres and the feeding centre in their own timing and with their own ideas. There is a pastor in training named Nicolas who is a member of the Kasarani AIC church and he is very interested and excited about working alongside Pastor Charles to become involved with the feeding centre, youth empowerment, and development of acres as his primary ministry when he finishes his theology degree next year.  He is married and has two small children and his wife is one of the cooks for the feeding program.  We have befriended this family over the past two years and we’re really impressed with their heart, vision and desire to serve God in their own community.   He is excited about Farming God’s Way, about methods for sustainability, and has lots of great ideas.  We are very enthusiastic about the idea of supporting him in the future as an indigenous missionary and we are spending time talking, praying and brainstorming with him about his future role.  We’ll keep you updated.

Dorm Life:  Two weeks ago, our third and final term of dorm life started up again and we are back in the swing of caring for our 14 boys!  This term the guys are excited about playing rugby and we’ve enjoyed watching a few of their games!  They’ve also begged us that we will let them stay up at night to watch the World Cup soccer matches in South Africa.  They are also busy planning for their end of year banquet where they will be given the opportunity to plan their own event (very exciting).   We have 7 birthdays to celebrate this term so I’ll be baking lots of cakes and we’ll we doing lots of partying.  It was so funny because a few nights ago we gathered the guys up to tell them the good news of our pregnancy.  They were giddy and ecstatic – cheering and smiling and asking us if they could share the news with their parents.  They’ve started compiling lists of boy names which they promise to hand over to us soon! !  We’re planning for a very special dorm goodbye event for the guys, it’s going to be hard to leave.   

The end!.  So this is the end of our 6 pages of news and pictures!  I hope you enjoyed reading these updates on our personal lives as well as the lives of so many others which God has brought into our path.  Thank you for your continued prayers and emails – we love hearing from you too!

LOVE, Andrew, Sue, Hannah, Beatrice and tiny Baby Faber

Over this past year, we have seen how God has powerfully moved, opened doors, broken down barriers and provided the right people and funding to make our joint vision for Kasarani into a beautiful reality.  The words hope, progress, restoration and transformation clearly describe what is happening in this village!  

Just a few days ago over our midterm break, we had the opportunity to go and visit Kasarani and we are spilling over with excitement!  The construction of the ‘Door of Hope’ main feeding centre building is now completed and it is magnificent!  The hall is spacious with high ceilings and bright big windows.  There is room to seat over 200 children so there is lots of room for this feeding program to expand!    Once the walls are plastered and concrete floor is poured the place will be beautiful.  We also have plans to hang blackboards on two of the walls to be used for after school homework assistance or for training seminars.  We will also be hanging up four of the beautiful quilts made by the ladies quilting group back in Canada – the verses inscribed all over these quilts will be a constant reminder of God’s promises to these kids! 

We have also constructed a separate kitchen and storage rooms in the back with a serving window into the feeding centre hall. The kitchen is about triple the size of the tiny smoky space that they currently rent – it has several sky lights and big windows so it will be bright, cheerful and well ventilated.  We are having two fuel efficient brick stoves installed for cooking which should significantly reduce the amount of charcoal that is currently needed for the lunch program.  A local metal-smith in Kasarani has now installed eaves troughs and a water drainage system which will be connected to a 6000L water storage tank.  This water tank will be used to irrigate 2 large vegetable gardens within the feeding centre complex – these vegetables will include onions, spinach, tomatoes and kale.

They have now started construction of a row house with four rooms.   By mid-March we are planning that all the structures, flooring and plastering will be completed and then the windows and doors will be installed.  We are also working with a local boy named John who will design and construct a large fenced in chicken coop at the back of the feeding centre where we plan to house at least 50 ‘layer’ chickens – the sale of eggs will be a consistent source of income for the centre and the feeding centre kids will also benefit from the extra protein.   John will also be responsible for preparing the vegetable gardens, planting fruit trees around the perimeter as well as starting the ‘beautification’ process with flowers, shrubs and passion fruit vines.  

We have been told that several people in the village are starting to ask questions about these new buildings and wondering what it is for.  When they are told it is a place for feeding and training orphan children they are surprised that such a nice place would be built for these kids which are often rejected and seen as a burden.     Here comes the perfect opportunity to share that God clearly instructs us in the Bible to love and care for the orphans and that they are so special and important to Him. The other day, a friend of mine gave me a little stack of encouragement verses that she had written out for me.  One verse particularly jumped out at me from the book of Hosea 2:15.  It says  ‘ I will..transform her Valley of Troubles into a Door of Hope.’  Isn’t that a perfect verse for the Door of Hope feeding centre?  We just see how God is working within this community – full of troubles, depression and despair, and providing a beautiful sanctuary which will be a Door of Hope, empowerment and healing for all the precious children who enter.

Now for the acres!  Talk about a complete transformation!  Wow, it’s hard to believe that just two months ago, the place was like a barren, dusty desert.  After visiting before Christmas, we had left quite discouraged but we prayed hard, and recommitted the 3 acres to Him.   God was faithful because on December 23^rd, the rains finally came.  As a result of months of drought we ended up having to replant parts of the acres and we decided to test other types of drought resistant seeds including peanuts, Kikuyu beans, pumpkins and sorghum.  The only crop we didn’t replant were the potatoes – it was like the seedlings remained dormant in the dusty soil until the rains finally came.  I wish you could come and see with your own eyes how well the farm is doing.  It is a field of green – yes, these truly are the Acres of Hope!

The potatoes are amazing, they are green and flowering!  Potatoes will be a main crop now that we have seen their success.  If you are looking for a good movie to watch, we suggest the movie ‘Faith like Potatoes’ – an inspiring true story based out of South Africa – (we watched this movie just the day after our depressing visit to the acres back in December, and after watching, we were encouraged.)  We will be harvesting the potatoes in the next three weeks – some will be saved to be used in the feeding program and the rest will be sold so that there are funds available to buy seed for the next planting season.

In early January the maize was replanted (some plants survived but few) but it is really interesting because in the place where mulch was already in place, the maize is sturdy, bright green and strong and some plants already have tassels.  In the place where there was little or no mulch, it looks much thinner.  So right there on the farm is the perfect training example of the importance of using FGW methods.  Once again, seeing and comparing is believing!  Justice and Din have also planted close to 100 trees around the perimeter of the acres.  These include a variety of fruit trees.  They are using drip irrigation techniques using plastic bottles to keep the seedlings well watered.  On the weekends, Justice has been working with feeding centre kids to collect more mulch and spread it on the land in preparation for the next planting season.  More and more townsfolk are coming to the acres and excited to see the transformation – there is no other farm (without the use of irrigation) in the area which is comparable to this one! 

I have another verse from Hosea for the acres:  Hosea 6:3  ‘Let us acknowledge the Lord, let us press on to acknowledge Him.  As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.’

The whole purpose of Door of Hope feeding centre and acres is that the current orphan lunch feeding program continue and possibly even expand, but also providing these kids with a safe and nurturing environment whereby they can come after school or on weekends to participate in programs and training such as Farming God’s Way, bible classes, animal husbandry and other life skills.  We hope to draw from expertise in the community to come in and volunteer to teach or support these programs.   These next few years will be an interesting challenge, to see if the program can evolve into a profitable self-sustainable model. 

Door of Hope Youth Training Program:  We are currently working on developing a youth training program to start in January 2011 whereby older orphan youth (starting with 2 boys and 2 girls) are selected through an application process to come and work for the program for one year in exchange for a scholarship for further education.  They would live in the rooms within the feeding centre, and their room and board would be included.  These are to be orphan kids who have graduated from high school but have no further sponsorship for any higher education, or in some circumstances, kids who’ve graduated from Grade 8 who cannot go to high school, again for financial reasons. 

The whole idea behind this youth initiative is to encourage, train and empower.  Orphan youth who do not have the means for further education are just left behind.  They are often marginalized, devalued and rejected while others are able to move on and succeed.  The sobering reality is that this lack of self-worth often leads these kids into a downward spiral effect which just feeds into the ongoing cycle of desperation and poverty. With boys, if they cannot find work, they often become idle with no sense of purpose. This can lead to self destructive addictive behaviors or entering into gangs for a sense of acceptance and self-worth.  Girls often become servants or ‘house-girls’ for wealthier families which commonly leads to mistreatment and abuse.  They are also at higher risk for pregnancy and contracting HIV.  We hope that by offering this program, these high-risk kids can be offered hope and a future.  By working hard, receiving mentorship and Biblical training, and being given opportunities to lead, strategize and problem solve, we trust that they will rise up and make change for themselves and their community.  

This one year program will be rigorous and have a strong emphasis on biblical training and discipleship, leadership training and also learning practical life skills.  These youth will be trained to brainstorm, think out of the box and implement outreach initiatives within the community – such as clean up, tree planting, youth seminars, vacation bible school programs and even sports outreach.

The girls would be responsible for tending to the small scale chicken business as well as food preparation for the daily feeding centre lunch program.  They would also get training in leading Sunday school and facilitating structured after school programs for the younger feeding centre kids.  The boys would be responsible for maintaining the acres and learning about Farming God’s Way, managing a tree nursery and tree planting program in the community.  The girls would also learn the FGW techniques and use them at the feeding centre in the gardens there. 

After one year, if the youth met the program requirements, they would be given sponsorship to an apprenticeship program or a local polytechnic program depending on their interest.  If high school was needed, they would be sponsored to go to the local high school in the community as a day student.  We would like to set up a program whereby these kids would be sponsored through both local and foreign donors. 

Now we are focusing on strategizing and setting the right leadership and accountability structures in place.  Pastor Charles and his wife Beatrice will be involved in directing the overall vision and management of the centre and programs but we are also looking for another couple to live in the feeding centre to lead the project including the youth training program.  They will also need to have farming skills, understanding and interest in youth development and the goal of self-sustainability, business skills and lots of ideas and creativity.  Realistically, this needs to be a paid position – and we fully endorse the idea of funding a Kenyan couple to fill this position as opposed to a foreigner stepping in.  So far we are speaking with two individuals who we know and trust and we are also praying that God will guide us and grant us the discernment to make the right decisions for this project to move forward.  This is all a work in progress and we really value your ongoing prayers.

Dorm Life – We continue to be busy with dorm life and our roles here at RVA.  This past term our school was hit hard with the H1N1 virus and half of our dorm boys ended up in the infirmary!  I was also hit hard and it took me a good three weeks to recover to the point where I could function normally.  Last weekend was the midterm break for second term and now the boys have returned and we continue on for another five weeks until our next long break in April. We are currently planning with the boys their dorm party and we have come up with an idea to have an Ethiopian meal here at the dorm, followed by some outdoor games and a movie.  Most of our guys are involved in basketball this term and every free opportunity they have, they are down on the courts practicing.  Andrew and I enjoy being spectators at their practices and cheering them on – we are still waiting for their first tournament.  I continue to enjoy making weekly dorm treats, birthday cakes and birthday breakfasts.  We also invite two boys per week to come and join us for dinner on Monday nights – this is a great opportunity to spend more one on one time with each of them and catch the ‘real scoop’ of what is going on!  Andrew continues to work on IT related issues in the business office and also recently spent three weeks teaching drivers ed!  I enjoy teaching preschool and leading a bible study here at RVA for the ladies who work in missionary houses.  We are so thankful for Din who is our Kasarani project manager – he meets with us once a week and travels back and forth to Kasarani – managing all the aspects of constructing and completing the feeding centre – he has certainly been a God-send and we are so appreciative of his hard work!

In January we celebrated Hannah’s 7^th birthday which was a knight and princess theme.  All the kids in Grade 2 (10 of them), came dressed up for the festivities.  We had a carnival with different stations where kids could earn candy prizes.  The favorite game was a big scavenger hunt outside in our maize patch!  Beatrice stays occupied with daily ‘play-dates’ with her little friends here at RVA – they spend a great deal of time outside playing in the mud and picking leaves and flowers to make salads!  She also attends preschool here at RVA which I help teach. She will be very happy to go to full-time kindergarten when we return home!  Both girls attend a ballet class once a week with a dance instructor who drives in from Nairobi to teach.  They are busily preparing for their big performance of the Nutcracker!  We have just received good news that when we return to Canada in the fall, that both girls have been accepted to go back to John Knox Christian school. 

Our Future: At this point we have investigated further opportunities for future missionary service here in Kenya, but so far there are no current openings that we feel match up to our skills, needs and interest.  We also realize that we want to be back home – close to friends and family (especially as my dad’s health continues to rapidly decline). We are really excited by Farming God’s Way and the importance of transformational development – especially as we have seen and had direct involvement in what is going on in Kasarani.  We believe God will use what He has started in our lives for whatever His plan is for our future.  As the Door of Hope program evolves and moves forward, we will continue to support and encourage the leadership and initiatives from afar.  We can actually see that it will be a positive thing for our physical presence to diminish so that the local community can rise up and work together to make this a continued success.   We believe that God will use what is happening in Kasarani for bigger purposes that we cannot yet see.  Once we return home we will remain very much committed and involved with this community and hope to come back and visit as we can afford to do so. 

We continue to pray and trust that God will open the right doors for our further service in His time –either in Kenya or elsewhere.  As we reflect on what we have learned and on what God has done these past 18 months, we are amazed and so thankful that we have had this opportunity to serve Him and see Him move in such powerful ways – we wouldn’t trade these experiences or time for anything.  But for now we’re far from being finished both at RVA and with the ministry in Kasarani – we are here until the end of July.   We really value your ongoing support and prayers.

In His Service and for His Glory,

Andrew, Sue, Hannah and Beatrice Faber  

Merry Christmas from Kijabe, Kenya!  I am sitting in our office on Christmas Eve writing you this letter sipping a steamy cup of Starbucks Christmas coffee – a welcome gift from my Dad.  Good, strong coffee is definitely my kind of therapy and I’m hoping this strong brew will keep me inspired as I sort through my thoughts to write this latest update!

Andrew is busy vacuuming and mopping the house and Bea and Hannah are doing crafts.  Grandma is baking a pumpkin pie and cutting up bread and onions for stuffing and defrosting a 6 kilo turkey which will be the perfect size for our family and the 3 other friends that we are inviting.   Does it look like Christmas?  Yes!  We have our Christmas tree up decorated with all our beautiful African ornaments and twinkle lights. We have our stockings hanging by the chimney and some presents wrapped under the tree.  A couple of weeks ago we went to the mall and there was African Santa all dressed up in his finery – so the girls got to sit on his lap and get a picture!

Last week, Andrew and I made Christmas cookies after being inspired by a Canadian Living magazine article on the best Christmas cookie recipes!    We made chocolate almond cookies which were sandwiched with Lindt 70% bittersweet truffle chocolate filling. We also made ginger spice cookies with maple spice mousse.  Then came the caramel chocolate squares and the girls made sugar cookies with all sorts of lovely colorful sprinkles.  Yesterday we went around to our special friends at RVA and distributed little tissue paper wrapped bundles of assorted gourmet cookies.  We wish we could FedEx you a plate too!    

Grandma also brought out a gingerbread house decorating kit and the girls had lots of fun icing and decorating it with all sorts of bright candies and sprinkles!   We have definitely had our share of festive fun!   The only thing we’re missing is the snow, ice-skating, the smell of a real Christmas tree and of course, the rest of our family!    

The Drought: The drought here in Kenya has once again been on the top of everyone’s mind and thoughts including ours.  The lack of rain has been particularly serious for the pastoralist tribes in Northern Kenya as they have watched their herds die from starvation due to sparse grazing pasture.  Up in the Masai Mara where tourists flock each year to go on safari and spot the Big Five, the Maasai tribe is suffering tremendously.  Their cows are all painfully emaciated and hungry and each day, more and more succumb to starvation.  Carcasses are piled up all over the place and the scavenger birds are feasting.  The government of Kenya recently gave the Maasai herders access into the game reserve and so every night, they drive many thousands of cows into the reserve to get a chance for some nourishment.  The herders have to keep a watchful eye on their disheveled livestock as the lions, cheetah’s and leopards are out in full force – they are fat and well fed.

3 Acres of Hope:

While the ladies were here visiting from Canada, we took them into Kasarani for church and afterwards to the acres of land which we have planted using Farming God’s Way methods.  We were all discouraged by what we saw. The land was DRY and cracked and brown.  There were a few maize plants peeking through the dusty soil but for the most part the land was vacant of vegetation (the planting was done over 6 weeks ago so germination and growth should be in full force by now).  We walked around the acres and sang praise songs and prayed – the ladies, the Pastor and a few others who joined in.  I must admit, as I walked around I sang, I prayed but I had a rather sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that everything would die.  They needed rain desperately, emergently. Maybe it was already too late. 

At the end of our prayer walk, I went to one corner of the property and knelt down and started to pray in the dry dusty soil.  I don’t remember the last time I felt so hopeless, tired and discouraged.  I prayed for the rain clouds to come and pour down on us.  Over us we could see the gathering of heavy storm clouds but the rain never came.

A few days later on Thursday we went back to Kasarani to stay for three days.  For the first two days we taught VBS.  All the stories were about Moses.  The story which struck me most was about Moses having to go and plead with the Pharaoh nine different times before he released the Israelites from their slavery and bondage.  This reminded me that we also must not give up when we bring our requests to God.  We must keep praying and even when we don’t see immediate answers..we must still trust Him and obey.  That afternoon all of a sudden, we heard little raindrops.  A couple of us ran outside and started dancing and jumping up and down in that sprinkle of rain – the VBS kids thought we were nuts!  It was little drops of reassurance from Heaven and soon later it stopped.

That evening I was sitting in Pastor Charles living room and the ladies had already gone to bed when Nicolas and Pastor Charles came in.  We started talking about the feeding centre and the acres and I must admit I didn’t feel very optimistic about the acres succeeding with the current situation of drought.  I think P. Charles and Nicolas were also feeling a bit discouraged about the lack of rain and just watching helplessly as the crops died. 

The next day on Friday we continued on with our second day of VBS.  In the afternoon I was tired and so I took a nap while the others went on to teach the lesson.  As I lay under my mosquito net and closed my eyes, my mind swirling with everything – the feeding centre, the orphans, the desperate community and the acres, all of a sudden I heard rain drops on the tin roof above me.  Little drops at first which soon turned into a deafening roar as the rain pounded down into the village of Kasarani and onto the acres.  The rain lasted for one hour and then stopped.  Even after a torrential rain, the parched earth soaked up every last drop and when I went outside afterwards it was barely noticeable that it had even rained.  But with this rain, I was once again reminded of God’s blessings and His promises and His timing.  I felt He was just saying, Sue, you are not in control of this situation and it is not in your hands, it is in Mine!   

Saturday was the women’s conference and afterwards we packed our things and said our goodbyes.  As we were leaving, we could see enormous rain clouds above us – heavy with rain but there were no substantial rains.  We were praying all the way home in the car that God would have mercy and open the heavens. 

That night around 7pm we were sitting around our dinner table when Andrew’s phone rang.  It was a text message from Winrose saying ‘It’s raining hard’.  We all started to cheer!  A few minutes later another text message, this time from our farm manager named Justice – also confirming the rains.  And again, a few minutes later, a third text message from Nicolas whom I had spoken with a few nights before.  He said, ‘it’s raining hard, everything will be okay, I think the acres will survive’.  YES, God answered our persistent prayers and I have learned that these acres are completely His.  They are meant to glorify Him – if they die, then He has a plan.  If they live, He has a plan.  No matter what, they are His, they are in His hands.

It reminds me of two verses – both from the book of 2 Chronicles in the Bible.  The first says:  2 Chron 20:17 –You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions, stand firm and see the deliverance of the Lord. The second verse is from 2 Chron 7:14 – If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.  Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place’.  Both these verses remind me that all we need to do is to be right with God, to be humble before Him and to repent and pray.  Then, He will heal our land, He will fight the battles on our behalf and He will bring about deliverance and victory.

Our test plot in Kijabe:  Just last week, Andrew and I walked down to our little test plot in our backyard.  The grass was brown and crunched under our feet.  The leaves of the maize plants were dry and cracked and starting to yellow and we both agreed that this garden would likely die.  Again the same feelings of helplessness and discouragement creeped in – just like when we visited the acres.  We were heavy hearted and frustrated – you can use Farming God’s Way principles all you want, but if there is no rain, obviously nothing will grow.   It had not rained in Kijabe for close to 5 weeks and the rain that we did have in November was short, light and infrequent.   . 

Well, our prayers and the prayers of millions have been answered because on Dec 22^nd, in the afternoon, all of a sudden the heavens parted, the sky became dark and the rain fell hard to the ground.  It lasted a few hours and it was so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself talk!  Again yesterday the blessing returned and our ditches and gullies were full of running water.  As I write this, the rain has started once again and you can hear the thunder in the distance.  This year my Christmas ‘wish list’ was directed towards God.  I asked for two things:  For rain and lots of it.  Second, for the 3 Acres of Hope in Kasarani to thrive, and for an abundant harvest.   Well, I’ve received the first part of my gift early and we’ll just have to trust God and wait in faith for the harvest.

Door of Hope Feeding Centre:  The Door of Hope feeding centre is now halfway completed!  Thank you for your prayers regarding the building permit and corrupt officials.  Everything worked out well and the officials didn’t get their pockets padded – however a process that is normally only supposed to take a few hours with a bribe, ended up taking over a week with repeated visits to the district planning office by Pastor Charles and our friend Rev Manyara.  But..it’s done and we are so thankful for their patience, persistence and tenacity to see things done in a way that would glorify God.

The main feeding hall is a beautiful structure and a real sign of God’s goodness!  When the ladies arrived we were excited to be able to show them the roof and partial walls, as well as the completed toilets.  Starting in January, we will continue the completion of the large feeding centre hall including a partitioned area for a kitchen and storage room.  We are hoping to also design and construct a rain collection system with eave troughs and large water barrels and tanks. 

We will then get started on a small two room shelter for a caretaker to live in so that there can be someone on the property to monitor and safe-guard.  We are also planning to build tables and chairs, a bulletin and chalk board and storage cupboards.  There are plans underway for a large garden which the orphans will tend to – to supplement the lunch program by growing their own spinach, tomatoes and onions.  If there are sufficient funds, we will also look into the building of a row house with 4 or 5 small rooms – to be used as emergency orphan shelter.  

Shoe Distribution in Kasarani:  In the afternoon of the second day that we spent in Kasarani, all the kids from the feeding centre gathered together to receive their brand new pair of running shoes.  We distributed about 100 pairs of shoes and left Pastor Charles with over 140 more pairs to hand out to other needy children in the community.  The kids were thrilled with their new pair of shoes which we had bargained for on several different occasions from the local market.  The kids faces were full of smiles as they came up to the front to receive their special gift.  Piles of dirty, broken shoes were left over at the end as children traded in their old shoes for the new!  Thanks again to the kids at John Knox as well as the Mom’s n More ladies who raised the funds to purchase these shoes.

Quilt Distribution:  When the KBG’s (Kenya Bound Grannies) arrived to Kenya, one of the first things we did was to distribute the quilts to two different orphanages.  But before we gave the quilts away, we went up to the football field and the ladies spread all 80 quilts on the bleachers – it looked like one great big patchwork quilt and it was beautiful! 

The first orphanage we went to was called St. Edwins and is about a half hour drive from Kijabe.  This orphanage is home to 21 girls and one little boy and is run by a local Kenyan family.  They don’t receive any funding from the government or NGO – they care for these kids out of their own pockets and he earns money by working as a safari tour guide.  

The kids were delighted to see us and were ready to share a little program with us of songs and dances which they had carefully practiced.  Afterwards, we shared a VBS story with them about baby Moses and they were all so intrigued!  At the very end the ladies distributed the quilts and each child had her name written on the quilt in permanent ink!  Each child was also given a card with a special message written in it – written by the ladies from Knox Presbyterian Church in Oakville. The kids were overwhelmed by their beautiful blankets – they stroked them, rolled themselves up in them, lay them down on the grass to just look at them.

We also had a tour of their dormitory where two girls slept in each bed.  It was clean but very sparse – the children sleeping directly on top of the metal springs without mattresses.  After receiving the quilts, the kids went into their bedrooms and lay the quilts on their beds and it was truly transforming!  The beautiful colors and designs gave such light and beauty to the rooms – it was a blessing to see!

The second orphanage we went to was called House of Hope.  They also housed about 24 children with boys and girls mixed. As before, each child was ecstatic to receive a quilt, card, as well as a beautiful set of flannel pajamas which were made by Jennifer from our church.  Even though most of the ladies who painstakingly made these quilts, never got to see them being distributed, for those of us present, we were touched!  It is one of the most beautiful things in the world to see a child’s face light up!  Each of these 50 or so kids who received a quilt will always carry around God’s promises with them which are clearly written in Swahili on each of the quilt’s borders.  We pray that each child will be surrounded by the physical warmth of a cozy blanket, but also the love of their Heavenly Father. 

Well, there is so much more to share and to say but it’s time for me to say goodbye and get our Christmas Eve dinner prepared.  We’re having cheese fondue and smoked salmon with real cream cheese (another gift from my dad).  Afterwards, the girls will open one of their gifts from under the tree and we’ll likely watch an episode from Little House on the Prairie.  As we reflect on this year – so much has happened, we have seen and experienced so much as shared in our lengthy newsletters.  We truly give thanksgiving to God for providing, for directing and for answering so many of our prayers.  It was a joy and privilege to have the 4 grannies and my mom come to join us and share in our journey and for all of us to experience and share in the joy of giving, sharing and learning together.  There are many things that I haven’t shared in this newsletter but will share when we update you again late January.

As the rain continues to pour down around us here in Kijabe, we are reminded of God’s provision, blessings and promises.  He sent Jesus to this world, thousands of years ago and tomorrow we celebrate His birth.  It is His birth, death and resurrection which gives us the reason and motivation for living and serving Him as we do.  So from our family to yours, we extend a BIG hug.  We are thankful for all your love, your prayers and support.  We couldn’t do this without you!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love in Him,

Andrew, Sue, Hannah and Beatrice Faber

Christmas comes early!  We are almost at the end of our first school term here at RVA in Kijabe.  We have just under two weeks left before our boys return to their parents for a much anticipated 5 week break over Christmas.  This past weekend we hauled out our Christmas tree which we purchased from another missionary, and decorations, and had a decorating party with our boys.   Andrew was busy stringing up twinkle lights and I was busy setting up our Nativity sets and other decorations!  Beatrice asked us yesterday if we could open our presents now!  This Friday we are preparing for this term’s grand finale – our dorm Christmas party. 

The boys have already decided on their party menu – KFC style fried chicken strips and ice-cream sundaes with fudgy sauce and sprinkles – so we’ve already ordered the 6 kilos of chicken breast and 2 gallons of ice cream!  They have made it very clear that I don’t need to waste my time on vegetables of any kind – so chicken and ice-cream it is!  For our dorm party we’re planning on having a talent show and then a gift giving game – so there is lots of fun ahead! For the gift game, each guy has to come up with a gift – new, used or recycled.  Several of them are asking around for ‘donations’ from other staff members, others are making ‘slave for a day coupons’ and others are working on a hand-crafted item.  For the talent show the guys are practicing dance routines, songs and skits.  Andrew is working on a slide show and I am working on the lyrics for a dorm rap to perform!  Even Hannah and Bea are in on the action – Hannah plans to recite verses and sing a song, and Bea will do an improvised interpretive dance of some sort in one of her frilly tutu’s. Yup, this dorm keeps us ‘in the groove’. 

The rain continues to fall in Kijabe and as we look down into the Rift Valley below us, there are beautiful signs of new growth.  At RVA, the grass is now green and the flowers are lush and bountiful.  If the rains continue, this part of the country will receive a much needed harvest.  In Kasarani, which is about an hour away from us, the rains are also falling but far less frequently. Many people all over the world are praying for Kasarani rains – please continue!  In this picture which was taken in our backyard, if you look closely, you can see a faint rainbow just above the trees behind Hannah and I – you can also see our green and majestic surroundings!    What happened in April/May/June of this year (which is the long rains), was that the planting season started with heavy rains (like we are having now)  but by the beginning of June and straight into July, the rains stopped altogether and the plants which had started growing, all died from the draught.

Farming God’s Way – Test garden:  We have planted our second test garden of maize in our backyard–this one is about 3 times the size of the one we planted in May.  We have actually planted two different gardens: one larger one using FGW methods and another smaller patch on the end using traditional planting methods.  In this picture you can see our garden with planting holes and layers of mulch on top and the small bare traditional patch on the very end.  This picture was taken at the beginning of October and we were quite anxious because after we planted there was only one good down pour and it was very dry.  About 2 weeks after planting, our friend August Basson came and visited us and saw our garden.  Nothing had yet sprouted but when he dug up the soil, he saw that the maize seeds had already germinated.  He was very concerned because now that the seeds had germinated, they would die unless they received a good dose of water.  He told us that if they didn’t get water in 1-2 days they would all dry out and die and we would have to start again.   Andrew and I were a bit discouraged.  We could easily take out our garden hose and water the garden but we had promised ourselves that we would only depend on the rains. We prayed together that night and I remember praying – ‘God this is your garden, this is meant to glorify you, to be a model to help your people.  If it dies, then those who have seen what we are doing and watched closely, they will just discount these FGW methods.  We need rain.  Please send us the rain’.   

The next day there was no rain.  We stood our ground and didn’t touch it with water.  That second night around 9pm we were sitting in our living room when we heard the glorious sound of raindrops spitting on our metal roof.  Soon the gentle pitter pat sound turned into a torrential downpour.  It was so loud that we couldn’t hear ourselves talk.  The rains pounded the earth that night – all through the night and into the morning.   God had answered our prayers.  The rains have continued on a regular basis since.  I find it interesting that time and time again, God has answered our prayers..but often right at the last minute and usually at the point where we feel like giving up.  It’s like He is saying, ‘Do you really trust me, if you do, don’t worry about timing.  My timing is perfect and I will be glorified’.

 Well our garden has now sprouted healthy green shoots of maize.  We can already see a distinctive difference between the FGW and the traditional garden.  Yesterday I looked out our window and saw that our gardener named Zac had brought 5 other men from the community up to see the test garden.  He explained everything to them in Swahili and they were all very intrigued.  They were all bending over, examining the maize and comparing the traditional and FGW plants.  They were nodding their heads and talking excitedly with one another.  Andrew went out to talk with them and Zac said that they were very interested and wanted to come back again in a few weeks to look again.  The maize from the FGW side is healthy and strong, with bright green sturdy leaves.  The maize from the traditional patch has still sprouted but it is shorter, thinner and a bit yellow.  Both sides have received exactly the same amount of rain and we have never irrigated.  Seeing is certainly believing.  We’ll keep you updated!

In Kasarani, the rain has been less frequent but our farm manager Justice has already planted half an acre of potatoes and two additional acres of maize and beans.  In these pictures you can see the planting holes which have been dug using FGW methods.  This is different from traditional methods where they take a jembe (hoe) and dig up all the earth – turning and flipping it and aerating it.  They also laboriously mix manure throughout the soil. The idea is that if they turn and mix the soil, then the earth is ‘soft and fluffy’ that the roots will grow deeper into the soil. 

 What is really happening is root structures which actually hold the soil firmly together are broken and the soil density starts to disintegrate as the rains wash it away.  Anaerobic bacteria (not needing oxygen) is flipped to the top and exposed to oxygen.  Aerobic bacteria (needing oxygen) from the top is flipped to the bottom – so both die.  Any moisture that is retained in the soil below, is flipped to the top and the water quickly evaporates.  Then comes the scorching sun and without adequate water, the fields become parched and cracked and die.

 In FGW methods, only planting holes are dug and the rest of the soil remains undisturbed.  Manure and fertilizer is dropped into the bottom of each planting hole and then another layer of soil on top of that.  When signs of the rains are evident, then the seeds are planted in the holes, covered with soil and then the top of the soil is covered with organic material to act as mulch.  This mulch which is called ‘God’s Blanket’ is one of the most important pieces of the Farming God’s Way methods because it acts as a sponge to retain moisture. If El Nino comes, it helps keep the earth and seeds below from being washed away by torrential heavy rains and acts as a layer of protection around the seedlings when they are still young and fragile.  In times of draught, it keeps the earth below it cool and offers a level of protection from the scorching rays of the sun. When it rains, it allows the rainwater to absorb into the ground at a steady rate. 

 Justice continues to haul up lorry loads of mulch from Lake Naivasha up to the acres and we are currently in negotiations with local rose farmers with hopes that at least one of them will donate their unwanted organic waste to our cause which would be a significant help.  Covering the 3 acres of land with a thick layer of mulch is no easy task but it is a priority in order for there to be good results.  In the last planting season, it started off with good rains and then the rains stopped altogether.  It was the mulch that saved our garden and as a result we had an incredible harvest while all the farms and gardens around us here in Kijabe and in the valley below died from ‘heat exhaustion’. 

• Please pray – for heavy rains in Kasarani
• Please pray – that more and more villagers will see with their own eyes the recognizable difference between traditional farming and FGW methods.
• Please pray – for an incredible harvest on the 3 acres
• Please pray – for the local rose farm to agree to donate their organic waste for mulch

Feeding Centre:  We have some very encouraging news to share with you about the feeding centre!  God has once again provided us above and beyond what we could imagine as we continue on with preparations to build.  Just as God provided us with our missionary friend August Basson to help with the farming, he has now connected with another fellow missionary named Soren Pederson who is an expert architect and builder.  His mission is to assist local church communities with design and building of feeding centers and church buildings.  He does this at cost for the materials and charges minimal labor costs. 

Initially when he came to talk with us about his work we were a bit hesitant – we didn’t want for this project to be built entirely by an outside source or else the community would have less input themselves.  After talking we found out that he only constructs the roof which he says is the most important part of the structure.  After the roof is raised, the building is actually safe to use as a shelter and then subsequently, the walls are built up and the building completed.

 After discussing with Pastor Charles and community partners we have agreed to get started.  Just last week we spoke with Soren and he has a crew and prefabricated roof ready to deliver in the next 2 weeks!  So on Dec 1^st, he will be bringing a crew to Kasarani and they will construct a heavy duty metal roof and metal posts for the main feeding centre room.  They can do this in just a few days.  We have also asked his fundi’s (builders and craftsmen) to stay an extra week to help build the foundation for the walls and train the local mason how to do things properly.  Pastor Charles will organize for 6-8 strong men from Kasarani to volunteer and help with the raising of the roof. 

After the roofing team leaves, we will continue on with construction by hiring local village stone cutters and masons to build up the walls and partitions.  So in the end, it will be a joint effort – with outside and community expertise working in partnership with each other.   Yesterday some of the village boys were hired to start digging a pit latrine for the feeding centre – they will dig up to 40 feet down.  By the end of next week, a sturdy fence will be constructed so that by the time the lorries come to deliver all the materials needed for the feeding centre, there will be a secure enclosed space to keep them. 

As time goes on, Pastor Charles will also work with the feeding centre kids to prepare a small garden within the feeding centre compound which can be irrigated using dish and hand washing water from the feeding centre.  This garden will be tended by the orphan children and serve as a great training opportunity for them to learn about FGW methods.   At that point we will see what funds we have left to build a small house for a single or couple as property caretakers and will also start discussing a plan with the church for emergency orphan shelter.  Everything needs to happen in carefully strategized steps.

We have to be very careful that orphan care is well thought out – we could easily build 4 or 5 rooms to house about 20 orphans but these orphans would also need to be sustained on an ongoing basis.  The last thing we want to do is create a dependency situation whereby the community then looks to outsiders to care and pay for their orphans.  One of the things we will be investigating is the model of having an older widow from the community care for a group of 6-8 orphans in a house setting and also providing a garden, chickens etc as a means for self-sufficiency and income generation.  This is a huge learning curve for us but we are excited as we see things coming together.  It’s like when we finish the first step, then the necessary things fall into place for us to start the next step and so on. 

• Please pray – for safety during construction of the feeding centre roof.  That the AIC church will rally around this project and will find several volunteers to help.
• Please pray – for the provision of experienced and honest workers to build up the walls, fence, toilets, kitchen and storage room.
• Please pray – that we will get the basic building completed within the budget that God has provided .
• Please pray that the Lord will give us the wisdom and understanding that we need as we continue to investigate a self-sustaining model for orphan care in the Kasarani community.

The KBG (Kenya Bound Grannies):  We are greatly anticipating the visit of my mom and four other ladies from our home church in Oakville.  They call themselves the KBG! They will be arriving on Dec 3^rd and staying for 2 weeks (my mom will be staying on longer).  I have been busy planning their schedule while they are here and we are trying to give them a small taste of day to day life here in Kenya. 

One of the days they will visit two separate orphanages to distribute beautifully crafted quilts and teddy bears.  These ladies are very creative – they have actually turned five of the quilts into fashionable capes which they will be wearing on the airplane to save luggage space!  I was commenting to my mom that they might just start the newest fashion trend!

Another day we will go to the local village market and they will practice their bargaining skills as we purchase large quantities of sturdy second hand shoes which we will be distributing to Kasarani kids as Christmas gifts. They will also be visiting and observing at the local mission hospital, spending time with local ladies bible studies and prayer groups, being hosted for authentic Kenyan cuisine at local homes and the much anticipated highlight – to spend time in Kasarani.  In Kasarani,  we will be spending 3 days and 2 nights working alongside Pastor Charles and Beatrice to run a vacation bible school program for the orphans, spending time learning about FGW methods, prayer walking around the perimeter of the acres and feeding centre, and to top it all off, hosting a women’s conference for local ladies.  This will be an incredibly busy time but we trust that God will be glorified throughout!

Kasarani Ladies Conference:  Pastor Charles’ wife Beatrice is working with other women in the AIC church to invite 125 ladies from the Kasarani community for the ladies conference.  The date of the conference is perfect because it is a national holiday so the ladies who normally work will be off and able to attend.  The theme is ‘Luke’s Ladies’ – where our Canadian visitors and local ladies will be sharing short sermonettes and testimonies based on different women from the book of Luke.  Each woman who attends will receive her own copy of the New Testament.  We will also be sharing in music and drama.  As a treat, we will host a hot lunch with rice, stew, mixed vegetables and chai which will be prepared and cooked by Pastor Charles, Andrew and other community men!  Can you imagine how delighted these women will be having the men serve them!  At the very end, there will be an extended time for prayer ministry and all the women will be presented with a Christmas gift bag of food – rice, flour, cooking fat, tea leaves, sugar and soap.  We are excited about this outreach opportunity and the blessing of being able to learn from, share and serve the women and community of Kasarani.

Shoes for Kasarani Kids:  The lack of shoes is a significant problem for many kids in Kasarani – it breaks our hearts whenever we go to visit that kids are walking barefoot or in the case of the child in the picture – with just one shoe.  We’ve seen kids walking around in shoes where the upper part of the shoe is intact but the entire sole is missing and they are still walking on their bare feet  – but they wear the shoes because it gives them a small sense of pride. 

The cost of a good pair of second hand shoes (about 500Ksh each) or approx $8.00, is more than most single mothers would make in a week.  These women often have several children and struggle to just put basic food on the table so purchasing something as small as a pair of shoes is not even a consideration.

If this was a rural village setting, having kids without shoes would be no big deal – most villages take good care of their property, pick up garbage and have allocated areas for toilets.  In Kasarani, there is very little sense of ownership and pride – for the most part, the village ground is strewn with plastic, metal cans, glass and decomposing waste.  There is animal and human feces just lying in ditches.  People here are migrant flower farm laborers – they rent a room to live, they have no property to call their own and the quality of life is for the most part, dismal.    It’s like the people have just given up hope, given up caring for their environment.  So, that being said, shoes are important to protect these kid’s precious feet from cuts and from the germs and the filth and so that can freely run around and just be kids without worrying where they will step!

Over the past few weeks, we have been pre-purchasing the shoes in small quantities from a local street market – we figured we couldn’t leave all the shoes for the ladies to purchase when they come or else we’d use up a whole day!  Last Saturday we took along 3 boys from our dorm as well as Hannah and Bea.  Together we were able to sort through and purchase 104 used pairs!  When we got back to the dorm we spend the rest of the afternoon sorting through all the shoes and categorizing them according to size.  Several of the boys came down and after looking through them wanted to purchase them off of us because they thought that they were ‘cool’.  We are planning to purchase at least 200 pairs of shoes altogether which will be distributed to kids in the feeding program and other needy kids in the community.

Love in Action:  We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been and is currently involved in fundraising and donating to our various projects here in Kenya.  Time and time again we have been amazed that when we see a need and share it with you, that funds are sent to meet that need – in some cases before the need is even communicated.  We look back and see how in only one year, the Lord has opened doors and finances to purchase 3 acres of land and to farm it, to purchase land for the feeding centre, funds to build the feeding centre and funds to support individuals in the community.   We are thrilled to be witness to this beautiful example of the Body of Christ actively working together – caring for the things which God cares about, reaching out and giving generously.  For those who receive, they are blessed, encouraged, empowered and incredibly thankful.   We are also seeing this community closely observing and taking an active interest in the orphan initiative and Farming God’s Way – visiting the acres to learn the FGW methods and asking lots of questions.  This has been a great door opener for discipleship and pointing people back to God.

We are starting to see the beginnings of a transformational shift from a hands out, ‘I need help’  mentality, to an excitement to get their hands in the dirt with an attitude of ‘I can do this too.’   That’s what we’re here for, that’s the point of all of this.  When people are encouraged and empowered, they shift their posture from one of dependency and discouragement, to one of hope and determination.  So all of that being said, you, yes you, are a part of this too!

Mom’s n More Fundraising Breakfast:  One of my dear friends Laura organized a breakfast fundraiser with ladies from a group called Mom’s n More at Knox Presbyterian Church in Oakville.  Mom’s n More has been such a strong support and blessing to us as a family.  Below is an excerpt from an email Laura sent to me soon after the event. 

‘Were you feeling the love on Saturday morning?  Did you get a sense that dozens of women were learning about your ministry and praying for your continued success?  Did you, Andrew and the girls feel as though strong arms were reaching out from many miles away to embrace you and hold you up as you engage in God’s work?

Well, you should have…all of those things happened at the Knox Ladies’ Breakfast.  Oh, and your mom’s presentation?  She knocked it out of the ballpark.  My goodness, your mom certainly has a God-given gift for public speaking. The fabulous news is that we raised $1,500 and every penny will go towards your ministry work in Kenya.  (The ladies at MNM donated all the food and “craft” materials so the entire donation will further your work in Kasarani.) 

John Knox Christmas Shoe Fundraiser:  Our friends Lydia, Yvonne and Edith  have also been busy organizing a fundraiser with  John Knox Christian school where Hannah had attended Senior Kindergarten before we left for Kenya.  They are raising funds to specifically pay for shoes for Kasarani kids.  Below is an excerpt from an email which Lydia sent to me before the event.

‘As you know, many weeks ago your Mom came and talked with the kids about the Kasarani Kids at our assembly.  At that time I introduced the idea of making Christmas ornaments.  On Wednesday we finally got to do this!  Our school is divided into tribes with each tribe having about 20 kids in it from JK- gr.8.  I had chosen 3 different ornaments to make from beads and wire and assigned each tribe to make these certain ornaments, one per kid.  On Wednesday each tribe met in a teacher’s classroom.  We all opened with prayer for the kids in Kasarani and for rain in that region.  Then the kids got to make the ornaments.  It went really smoothly and I heard lots of positive reviews of the event.

On Friday we will have a Christmas tree set up in the foyer with kids talking turns selling the ornaments to the Grandparents on Grandfriends’ Day.  Your Mom is coming back and briefly telling the grandparents about the fundraiser.  When I think about how many people know about the kids in Kasarani and how many potential prayers are being said for these kids, it gives me goose bumps!’

After the event she wrote ‘The grand total raised was almost $1000!  

‘Our Father’s Art’ Quilt-a-thon:   On November 7th, my mom along with over 30 other women joined forces together to host a quilt-a-thon fundraiser for Kasarani.  They started at 9am and finished at 9pm and together in combined pledges, raised close to $10,000.00! In fact for several months now they have been meeting together at the church every Monday morning and piecing together these beautiful works of art. They started with six women meeting and busily sewing and now they have up to 25 women coming and going on any given Monday!  Each quilt is hand pieced and lovingly designed with careful attention given to pleasing colors and vibrant patterns.  Each quilt has a plain centre strip which is decorated with Scripture verses to remind each of the children of God’s promises.    These quilts will all be brought out in December with the KBG ladies and lovingly distributed to over 50 orphans.

So there you have it!  So much is going on here in Africa and also on the other side of the world.  Precious partnerships have been formed as we do what we can to work hand in hand to bless and care for others.    

We continue to appreciate your prayers regarding our house rental – as of November 16^th, we still do not have any serious inquiries and yet all we know is that we are meant to be here – so God will take care of our house in His time and in His way.  We really appreciate our next door neighbors Bruce and Patricia who are also realtors – they have helped us out so much and donated their services to assist us.  The house is now on the real estate market for rent and the listing is http://royallepage.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?PropertyID=8846796

We also really value your prayers for our future as we seek to understand what God wants us to do after our term is up with AIM in August 2010. 

So as we end this month’s update, we leave you with our words of thanksgiving and hugs of appreciation.  We appreciate your emails and hearing about your lives too! We can’t do any of this without your prayers, your partnership and your love!  I look forward to writing our next newsletter – to continue sharing the stories!

Love,   Andrew, Sue, Hannah and Bea

Busy, Busy, Busy:  The past 2 months our lives have been very busy and we continue with a non-stop and at times rather frenetic pace.  Since the end of July we have moved dorms (our third move in one year), I went back to Canada for a 3 week whirlwind visit and as soon as I came back to Kenya, we left as a family for Lesotho to visit and learn from our friends the Basson’s who are involved with Farming God’s Way in a large scale.  Then we drove back to South Africa to visit our friends, the Hollaars which was wonderful!  We arrived back at RVA just one day before staff meetings and the arrival of our 17 dorm boys.  Then we were in a car accident – broadsided by a mini-bus! 

Home with Jesus:  Just the day after our boys had arrived for the new school year, Andrew received a phone call that his Grandma (Oma) had died back in Canada and so he flew home to attend the funeral and be with his family.  I was so thankful that while I was back in Canada I was able to go visit Oma one last time, only a few weeks before she moved on to her heavenly home.  

Dorm Life:  Dorm life is back in full swing.  All our boys are in grade 8 this year.  We have really grown to love them all, and as Beatrice says, ‘they are all MY boys’.  What a privilege to be a part of their lives, a huge learning curve but a true blessing none the less.  Two of our boys from last year have gone on furlough and we had one new boy come this year so we’re now at 17. 

This place is constantly filled with lots of noise, laughter, enthusiasm, soccer balls pounding against the walls and is abuzz all the time with excitement!  I have been busily mixing up large jugs of Kool-Aid (thanks to the generous supply given to us by several supporters!) and those boys are so grateful!  Every week I make dorm snacks and so far the biggest hit is mini-pizzas made on English muffins with lots of melted cheese!  

We are really thankful for the opportunity to disciple these boys and we get 3 nights a week where we all do devotional time together for an hour.  Last year we looked at Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of Christ.  We had an activity where the boys were split into groups and each group was responsible for creating and constructing a piece of the armor from local materials!  We then had an armor ‘fashion show’!  Now all the armor serves as decorations hanging on the walls of our dorm lounge and a constant reminder for all of us to stand firm in the promises of the Lord.  

This year, each guy will get a chance to lead devotions with a topic of his interest and we will be spending time learning about the Holy Spirit and what it means to have a Spirit filled life.  Andrew is also reading them the exciting book by Brother Andrew called ‘God’s Smuggler’.  It’s amazing to see the number of these boys who already know in their hearts that God is calling them onto the mission field and we count it a privilege to walk along side them, mentor them, pray for them and encourage them in their faith.

 Please pray for our BIG family, that God will give Andrew and I wisdom, patience, discernment, and strength to keep going and to provide our little girls and our ‘big’ boys with a home that is safe, a place that is filled with joy, with firm yet loving boundaries and a place to learn, thrive and grow – physically, spiritually and emotionally.

 A garden grows in the desert:  This past July, just a couple of weeks before I went back to Canada, we had Pastor Charles and Beatrice over for a weekend visit.  We really wanted them to get a break from the constant stress which they face on a daily basis as they live and serve in such difficult conditions in Kasarani.  So they came to us for two days and what a special time amidst the chaos!  I clearly remember the first night we spent together, after the kids were safely tucked into bed we sat by a roaring fire and started talking and sharing with one another. 

Pastor Charles was so excited about the 3 acres which is moving ahead with the Farming God’s Way practices to feed the orphans.  He had even started his very own small garden in front of his house in Kasarani.  We had given him enough money to put a fence around the small, hard as rock, dirt patch out front his home.  He had taken his bike down to Lake Naivasha and made several trips loading it down with mulch (one of the most important principles of FGW).  As he made his rather smelly deliveries to his little dirt patch, several of his neighbors and community members looked at him with rather puzzled faces.  What on earth was Pastor up to this time?  Some laughed, others just smiled weakly and still others blatantly told him that he was crazy!

No one had ever planted a garden in the dead dust and clay of Kasarani..this was a total waste of his time!  But..he had persevered and now..his little shamba with cabbages, carrots, maize and beans was starting to sprout and grow.  He uses all his gray waste water from bathing and washing dishes to water the earth.  We were so excited to hear his stories and we laughed alongside him as he recounted how the other villagers had reacted to his gardening endeavors.  That was back in early July.

Just two weeks ago in early September, Pastor Charles harvested his first-fruits from the garden – he told us that he has more vegetables than his own family can possibly eat!  He took the first-fruits to his church on Sunday and offered them to the Lord and then distributed them amongst the widows from within the church.  People from all over the village are stopping by his house to see this ‘miracle garden’.  Even the village chief who is not a Christian is amazed and asking questions.  Another pastor from a different congregation is starting his own FGW garden outside his house.  Pastor believes that as a result of this garden, many will come to Jesus – here is a sustainable way for these villagers to have food during draught and famine.  He is using FGW principles to teach his sermons on Sunday – this is practical Christianity at work.  The Lord is blessing Kasarani and using the faithfulness and tenacity of Charles to reap a tangible harvest.  And that is just his small garden outside his house..we have now started farming the 3 acres!

Farming God’s Way, 3 Acres of Hope:  We are excited to share about the 3 acres of land which we are farming using FGW methods.  We have hired a farm manager named Justice.  He is from Kasarani and formally was a manager for a local flower farm. When it comes to agriculture he is very well educated and he is eager to learn about the new farming methods.  He is also a member of Pastor Charles’ church and he leads the church choir.  Over the month of August, he and our friend Nicolas worked very hard to put up a barbed wire fence around the acres and now the land will be protected from all the Maasai cattle that walk through the fields to graze.  They are also busy building a small shelter and storage area for the farming materials.

The next challenging job for Justice has been to collect mulch to cover the earth.  While the feeding centre boys were out of school for the summer months, he gathered them together and paid them a little bit to help him collect the mulch from Lake Naivasha and surrounding areas.  It is hard work covering 3 acres of land with mulch but they are working on it bit by bit.  Restoring this desert-like land from dry, dusty clay into rich, fertile land will take time, at least a couple of years.  But we are trusting that as we take these steps of faith to use the Farming God’s Way methods, that God will really bless this land.  As we’ve mentioned in previous letters, it is our prayer that this land will someday soon, be used as a training centre run by Kenyan staff for FGW methods – not only to teach the farming methods, but even more importantly to share the truth from the Bible and to disciple and encourage the local people. 

Another really cool thing happened at the same time that the fence was being built.  The lady from which we bought the acres decided to drill a bore-hole to use that water to irrigate her own land which is adjacent to ours.  Initially the bore hole was to be about 2 acres away from our land, but when they went to drill, water could not be found.  Well, God was working because the drilling team eventually came to the very edge of our property (which I believe was the moving of the Spirit to direct them there).  They dug and water shot into the sky – only about 15 feet from the edge of our property!  We are hoping to use some of this water to irrigate vegetables like cabbage, onions, tomatoes and carrots in a quarter acre (this will mean that the kids can have fresh veggies all year round and not depend on the rains).  We will not use the water to irrigate the other 2 1/2 acres – just depend on the Lord.  We are praying that these 3 acres will be a testament of God’s goodness, mercy and His POWER! 

Planting season has now begun as the short rains have started so Justice is busy preparing the land.  They are planting maize and beans and also a smaller patch of vegetables. We have another man named Din who we are hiring to help Justice for a two week period so that the land can be planted in time.  Once the land is planted, we will then depend on the Lord to provide the rain.   Andrew is also planting a new garden outside our home here at RVA and we’ve already used this garden to train several local villagers in the FGW methods. We hold onto these verses:

‘Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him

The days of the blameless are known to the Lord and their inheritance will endure forever

in times of disastor they will not wither in days of famine, they will enjoy plenty..   Psalm 37:7, 18-19

Feeding Centre – God provides miraculous funding:

You might remember that I had written in a previous email that after we had purchased two plots of land to build the feeding centre, Pastor Charles had joined with his church in a fundraising effort to raise money to build the centre and they had collectively raised about $1000.00.   Back in July when we had Charles and Beatrice over to our home, we had started talking about just taking a step of faith and just starting to build with the little money we had.  I must admit I was a little nervous about doing this.  $1000 wouldn’t get very far.  Should we start anyways and just do a little at a time until the centre was built?

Well, we started talking with Pastor Charles about how much it would cost to build a very basic structure for the feeding centre – a large multi-purpose room along with kitchen, storage room and toilets.  After more discussion he estimated it would cost about 700,000Ksh which is approx $12,000 Cdn to build a very basic structure.  All we could do at that point was to bring the whole situation to God in prayer.  If God wanted this building to get started, than God would have to provide.  The money would have to come as a direct answer to prayer or else the building would have to wait.  Full stop.  I must admit, that as I prayed, my faith was the size of a mustard seed.

A few days after we had prayed and left the feeding centre in the hands of God, something amazing happened. It was like the heavens opened in response.  It started off with an email from a family friend asking for our personal bank details and just a few days after we responded back, a sum of money was deposited into our account of exactly $12,000 dollars.  There was no need for the donor to receive a tax receipt.  Is that not amazing?  It gives me shivers all over to realize that God moved in such a powerful way.  God had moved in the hearts of two donors on the other side of the world to give the exact amount that we needed without us mentioning a word.  We have been given a real injection of faith.  We are now in the planning stages for building the feeding centre.  It takes so much time to get things done here and our hopes to have the feeding centre completed by Christmas are likely overly ambitious.  Pastor Charles is discussing and planning the building with local contractors and building designers (the drawing above is one of the design plans for the feeding centre).  As we venture out in faith, God continues to connect the dots.  We trust that all of this will happen in God’s timing and this whole process will bring glory to God.

Quilts for Orphans:  When I went back to Canada for three weeks, I was so thankful for the opportunities to share and spend time with so many people.  One of the biggest blessings was to visit with the Quilts for Orphans group which is organized by my mom along with other ladies from ClearView church in Oakville.  As a result, there is now a group of close to 20 women, all working together in a caring and loving community – women from diverse backgrounds and faiths with one purpose.  To give of their time and creativity – to bless orphans.   This little group faithfully comes together once a week on Mondays – creating the most beautiful quilts.

Not only are they making the cosiest, beautiful works of art, but each quilt also has verses from the Bible of hope and encouragement, written in Swahili on it for the child to whom it is given.  The back of each quilt is covered in the softest and cosiest fleece.  My hope is that for each child who receives a quilt that as they wrap it around their little bodies, that they will sense the love of Jesus wrapping His arms around them.  They will know that they are safe and secure in His love and that even as they struggle in their lives of loss, of poverty and of incredible pain, they will feel and experience God.  Really feel Him and know that He is there.

The plan of Quilts for Orphans is to make about 80 quilts and then to ship them to Kenya in December.  If you are at all interested in being a part of this special project – whether it be supplying fabric, cutting, piecing, sewing or writing words and verses of blessing or perhaps donating some funds to cover the costs of shipping them to Kenya, whatever you can give, would be valued and appreciated.  Each quilt will be given to an orphan, each child will have his or her name written on the quilt.- something tangible for them to always accompany them wherever they go in their lives.  The quilting ladies are also organizing a ‘quilt-a-thon’ to raise money for this project.  For more information on how you can be involved with this project you can contact my mom Jane Burke at  johnjaneburke@gmail.com

Four Oma’s and a Grandma coming to Kenya:  We are really anticipating a visit from my mom and four other ladies from our home church in Oakville in early December as RVA will be on it’s school break.  They will be coming for two weeks to spend time with us and share in our ministry here.  They will be distributing quilts to the orphans, visiting the local hospital and our friends at Moffat Bible College, encouraging and sharing with local women’s fellowships and spending time in Kasarani.  We will be in Kasarani for three days and they will be billeted into villager’s huts for a truly authentic experience.  While in Kasarani, we will work alongside Pastor Charles and Beatrice to teach a VBS program for the children from the feeding program.  They will also get to learn about the FGW methods, possibly run a shoe distribution and spend time encouraging and spending time with the local women.  We are planning to have a special one day women’s conference for the ladies of Kasarani to come and to fellowship and also share a lunch with us.  At the end of the two weeks we are planning to send them on a chance of a life-time – to go on a two day safari to visit the famous Masai Mara game reserve and experience the majesty of God’s creation in the African wildlife.  Andrew and I are thrilled for this upcoming visit.  It is such an encouragement and blessing to us and we know that as they come, God will use this experience in their lives for His Glory.

Tragedy Strikes:  Back in August, our AIM family was shaken as we lost two precious missionaries who had given their lives in service to the Lord in aviation.  Frank Toews and Ryan Williams were tragically killed as a result of a plane crash in Nairobi with an AIM plane.  Frank was the pilot of the plane and Ryan was an aviation mechanic beside him up at the front.  They both died. I was back home in Canada when I found out the news on a Sunday morning, just before I was to speak at our home church.  I just broke down and wept and wept.  It seemed like an impossibility – for God to allow such a horrific tragedy to people who had given their lives over to Him, to serve Him by serving other missionaries.  Without the aviation ministry, many AIM missionaries as well as missionaries from other organizations would not have the access they needed to go to their mission locations – often in remote and inaccessible locations.  These planes and the pilots who fly them and mechanics and ground crew who service them are a life line to these missionaries. 

God used the Toew’s to answer our prayers:  We also had a very special link to Frank and his wife Tiffany.  They didn’t know that they were used by God to directly answer our prayers.  As we were beginning our journey of questioning whether or not we were to embark into missions, our lives were really shaken as God answered a prayer of faith.  It was during the time of the political unrest in January 2008 that chaos had broken out in Kenya, we were hearing more and more reports of people killing each other in cold blood, the church in Eldoret had been set on fire with mass casualties.  At the same time we had received an email from AIM asking us if we would come to RVA to serve.  I remember telling Andrew to write an email to AIM and to thank them very much for the offer but that we would be staying safe and sound at home.  He said that before we made any decisions we should pray and so he did.  It was such a simple prayer, that if God wanted us to go to Kenya with AIM, He would show us in 24 hours. 

The next day Andrew took our girls to McDonalds and ended up meeting the parents of Frank and Tiffany who had taken their four grandchildren out for breakfast.  After some small chat, Andrew discovered that their son Frank was a pilot with AIM in Nairobi and that the grandparents knew all about RVA and had recently visited RVA!  A few days later I met up with Tiffany for a coffee with my list of questions.  We talked for over two hours and I’ll never forget our meeting.  I had all sorts of questions for her – especially regarding her thoughts about the unrest in Kenya.  She seemed rather unconcerned about the Kenya crisis but mentioned that her husband’s job as a pilot was high risk but they both knew that this was what God had called them to do, no matter the cost.   Now just over a year later, God has brought Frank to Himself, leaving behind Tiffany and the four kids.  The other man Ryan also left behind his wife Dawn and four kids.

Igniting a Passion:  In one of Frank’s blog entries he had written “ How much has following Christ cost us?..For some of us it will mean paying the ultimate price.”  I know that God never lets anything go to waste and we pray and trust that God will use this for His glory in some amazing way.  That the death of these two men will ignite a passion in the hearts of others to desire to serve and follow Jesus in missions, no matter the cost.  Please pray for these hurting families as they grieve and mourn their loss. 

Visit to Lesotho and South Africa:  The last two weeks of August we had gone as a family to Lesotho which is a country in the middle of South Africa.  We were there to see the work of August Basson as he works with the local people and with the support of the local church and government to operate a large scale FGW training site.  He and his wife and other missionaries working alongside them were such an encouragement to us and the time spent getting hands on learning from them and praying with them really deepened our vision and passion for Farming God’s Way. 

The girls were so excited because while in South Africa we were able to visit Hannah’s former kindergarten teacher Bernice Hollaar and her husband Tim – they are also members of our home church in Oakville.  They spent a full day with Mrs Hollaar and Andrew and I went on a much needed date!  We also made a mandatory trip to McDonalds and the girls were thrilled to have a happy meal!  We also spent a day going to a lion rescue sanctuary and getting up really close to big cats!  We also visited the grocery store and loaded up on large blocks of cheese, dried fruit and nuts and cereal to bring back to Kenya!

Back to School:  Andrew and I are currently taking a bible course for first year seminary students on spiritual formation at Moffat Bible College during our lunch break, 3 days a week. What a blessing it is.  Our professor Dr O’Donovan is the father of one of my closest missionary friends here at RVA, and he and his wife have served as a missionaries in Africa for over 40 years.  He has so many stories, so much deep spiritual insight and Andrew and I are so blessed going to his lectures.  He keeps reminding us that our time here on earth in light of eternity is like the blink of an eye.  We are learning about the blessings that come from God when we set our eyes on things above, rather than the things of the earth (Col 3:1). He encourages us to abandon our lives to Christ without conditions and then we will see Him give us the power and strength to do unimaginable things.   He shares about building up our treasures in heaven and making sacrifices for the Glory of the Lord.      

What’s Next?  It’s hard to believe that one full year is over since we embarked on this journey to Kenya and as Andrew and I look back over the past year we have seen the hand of God – how He has directed and guided us – both at RVA and in our local community.  After this second year is finished, we plan on returning home to Canada for at least a year but beyond that we are really seeking God for direction and guidance.  We have seen clearly how God has directed us to Farming God’s Way and also exploring and learning about the principles and practices of transformational development.  It really excites us to see how God has brought us to Kasarani and how people in the village are being blessed.  It almost feels to us that God has just started us on the path that He wants for our lives – we have seen doors opened, miraculous answers to prayer and opportunities to learn and help in sustainable ways.  Please pray for us over this next year, that if God wants us to continue on in the work of full-time missions that He will continue to clearly show us.

Thank you for your prayers, ongoing financial and prayer support and encouraging letters and emails. 

 Love,

Andrew, Sue, Hannah and Beatrice Faber

I want to take this opportunity to share the story of my friend, amazing Grace.  In April of 2009 we met her in the village of Kasarani which is on the edge of lake Naivasha.  Andrew and I have been involved in an orphan ministry there and partnering with the local AIC church to help support and fundraise for a feeding centre and emergency orphan shelter as well as starting a Farming God’s Way farm – so that there can be a model of self-sustainability for this impoverished community. 

When I met Grace she was hanging up some laundry and as I walked by she caught my eye.  There was something about her that really fascinated me – she had a contagious spirit and a warm, loving smile.  So, I walked over to her and introduced myself and we started a conversation.  She expressed a deep love for Jesus and said that He had rescued her from death.  She shared that she wanted her life to be used to glorify Him.  By the end of our short time together she shared that she had HIV and that she was a single mom with two little children.  She was unemployed and did odd jobs wherever there was work – thus the job of doing the washing.  She was struggling every day to put food on the table and to survive.  At the end of our conversation together I prayed for her that God would intervene in a mighty way and that she would be witness to a miracle in her life.  We parted ways but I continued to pray for her.

We try and visit Kasarani as often as our schedule permits and each time we go we load up on food and supplies to bring to families that are in the greatest need.  Well, this past June on a Sunday morning over midterm, we had the opportunity to visit again.  As we were driving there, I felt the Spirit of God really prompting us to get food for specific families and Grace was on the top of my list.  She was in the back of the church and when she saw me she ran up to me and we embraced.  We had a short conversation and then I told her that we had food to deliver to her home.  Immediately her eyes welled up with tears and she was in disbelief as she said she was completely out of money and there was no food in the house.  She had been praying that God would intervene.  She went on to share that her landlord had come knocking and told her that unless she paid the rent that she owed, she and her sister and two children would be forced out in the next few days.  She said that the work had dried up and she had not paid rent for three months.  She said that whatever little money she earned from doing odd jobs was used to feed her children.

As I stood there, in her small, cold, dark, one room shack with holes in the walls, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed.  This young woman had so much against her – extreme poverty, uncertainty, fear for the future.  What could we do to help?  What would be a solution that would be empowering, lasting and sustainable?  I quiet whispered a prayer to God.  I felt the Holy Spirit speaking through me asking her what she was really good at doing – wanting to capitalize on what she can already do.  She shared that she loved hair braiding and anything to do with hair and beauty but she had no training and was therefore not qualified to start a business or earn an income from this line of work.  At that moment the words jumped out of my mouth – all too quickly!  That if she found a good beauty college, we would pay for her education and do whatever we could to give her an opportunity for a better life.  Her face lit up and she was speechless.  The tears started flowing down her face.  

Exactly one week later she called me and shared that she had found a reputable hairdressing and beauty college in Thika and they were currently taking new admissions.  The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.  One week after that she arrived on our doorstep here in Kijabe with one set of clothes and one pair of shoes.  But the surprises and blessings were far from over.

I put an ad in our local Kijabe email newsletter for donations of clothing and bedding and shoes and within one week God had provided every item on the list and more!  After writing about Grace in our last Faber Flash, we had several families donating money – enough to put her through her hair-dressing college for 3 months and pay for other necessities.  God was once again faithful.  Indeed, over and over again He is faithful and His mercy is new every morning.

Well, when Grace entered our guest room, she was in shock!  On the bed was a pile of beautiful clothing, running shoes, dress shoes, bedding, personal supplies, a very warm jacket and even brand new underwear  all donated by various missionaries in Kijabe!  There was even a donation with some beauty supplies! The shoes fit perfectly, the clothing was color coordinated and beautiful.  This to me was an incredible sign of God’s blessing over her.  As she tried on the clothing she was laughing and dancing and so excited.  So was I.  Isn’t God GOOD?!!!

That evening we started talking and she shared a bit more of her life with me which she gave permission for me to share.  She had been married at a young age and soon after her first child was born her husband became progressively weak and sickly and then died of AIDS.  It wasn’t long after that, that another man came into her life and she became pregnant a second time.  As soon as her daughter was born, this man walked away and abandoned her and the two kids.  At this point she started to feel unwell and it wasn’t long before she completely collapsed under the death grip of HIV which was raging through her body. 

Pastor Charles and his wife Beatrice of the AIC church in Kasarani who is our personal friend, was brought to her home – to find her literally dying on a thin mattress on the concrete floor.  She was too weak to walk, there was no food to eat and the house was damp and dirty.  Soon afterwards he brought her to a VCT center for testing and she found out that she indeed was infected with the same virus which had killed her late husband. 

Incredible anxiety and fear welled up within her that both her children would also have the disease.  In her despair she had a plan to commit suicide and also smother her own children if they were indeed positive too.   She told me that if they were infected, she couldn’t bear to watch them suffer and die. She’d rather they all die and end their life of misery, poverty and suffering.  As she shared these words, her voice was trembling.  I couldn’t even consider the thought of what she had just told me, it was dreadful, awful and totally overwhelming to hear such desperation. 

The day she found out the results was a day where God started something new in her.  Her kids were negative, there was no trace of HIV in their blood.  God had done a miracle, had delivered them all.  At the same time she was started in the AIDS program and was given free anti-retroviral drugs which she continues taking now.   She started attending church and totally recommitted her life to Christ – Pastor says that she is one of his most faithful attendees to every service.  Within a few months she was a new woman.  Her hollow eyes and gaunt, weakened body was starting to heal and gain strength.  She and her family were delivered from the terrible claws of sin and death.  Satan’s plan for their utter destruction was thwarted by victory in Christ.

Now, God was continuing on with His special plan for her. 

To prosper her and not to harm her.  To give her a hope and a future.

She shared that when she was done her training, she hoped to go back to Kasarani and start her own beauty business.  She wants to train other woman who are struggling and help them in a similar way in which she has been helped.  She hopes and prays that she can testify to other woman suffering in silence with the killer disease of AIDS.  She said that there are so many woman in Kasarani who are infected but they choose not to get tested, they are hopeless, lost, and powerless.  She wants to be a voice for change and she trusts that God has given her this second chance so that she can impact and care for the lives of others in her community.

Please pray for Grace.  Please pray that as she continues her hairdressing school, that she will excel. Please pray for her continued health as she remains on ARV therapy.  Please pray for her sister Susan who is looking after her two children in Kasarani.  We have provided the food and rent which they will need as Grace is at school over the 9 month period.  Most of all, please pray that the angels of the Lord will protect her from any spiritual attacks from the enemy.  That she will remain focused on the new calling that God has started in her life.

‘Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see’.

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

Visit with Andrew’s parents:

We had Andrew’s parents Hylke and Ada Faber come to at the end of March and into April for a much anticipated visit!  Just like my mom who preceded them, they were loaded down with extra suitcases full of donated school supplies, soccer balls, soccer pumps, hand-knit teddy bears and special things for our family too – our hallway was loaded down with so much wonderful stuff!  Well, after a couple of days to recover from jet-lag, we put them to work right away.  For Andrew’s mom, (Oma), she started off by teaching our local language teacher Boniface how to cut hair and Andrew was volunteered to be the test subject.  Boniface was thrilled to learn a new skill and is confident that after one lesson he can cut anyone’s hair – so if you see Andrew with a lop-sided cut, you’ll know why!! 

Oma also spent a lot of time teaching in Hannah’s grade one class and accompanying her on a field trip to a rose farm.  She also taught Bea’s preschool group inside RVA and ventured with Bea out to the local preschool with teacher Blanche for a rather chaotic introduction to Kenyan preschool!   Dad was busy with jobs fixing things around our house as well as repainting the blackboards at the local preschool and constructing brand new swing sets for the children to swing on. Beatrice and the rest of the children are so excited about their new swing-set and it’s been a great motivator to get Bea to school!

Teddy Bears:  Andrew’s parents also went around distributing teddy bears which had been hand-knit by several women from their church and community.  We want to say a HUGE thank you to all the ladies who participated in this project – to bless these little children.  We were able to set up two different times to go to CURE hospital which treats children with deformities, burns and orthopedic injuries.  Each child received their own bear, a toothbrush and a special bag.  It was such a lovely time as children took their new bears and hugged them with such delight!  The Faber’s were also invited to several local schools here in Kijabe to distribute school supplies and soccer balls and they were received with great excitement!  We also took them to Kasarani where they gave out more teddy bears and had the opportunity to see first-hand the work of Pastor Charles.

We also spent time with Oma and Opa at the coast in Mombasa and then sent them off on a 3 day safari to the famous Masai Mara game reserve where they saw more wild animals than we have ever seen here including several prides of lions, cheetah and leopard.  We were certainly spoilt by them and so thankful for their visit.  Thanks again to Community CRC Kitchener Church members including the Friendship Club who donated the soccer pumps.  You have been an incredible blessing!

Uniforms for Akobo, Sudan:  About a week before Andrew’s parents were to leave, we had our friends Jan and Helena Ouwehand come for a much anticipated visit.  We had just over a week to spend with them and so it was jammed full!  The day they arrived (at 6 in the morning) we took them to see Michael Tut Pur, a Sudanese doctor who is working in South Sudan.  We have written about Michael on our website and his desire to help his countrymen in a war-torn, very unstable land.  Before we had left Canada last year, we had embarked on a fundraising project to raise money to purchase uniforms for one of the schools in the town of Akobo where Michael works.  We had raised $6000.00 and the past 8 months have been spent coordinating with Michael on the logistics of sizes, purchasing and delivery of the uniforms.  We were able to purchase over 500 uniforms in a variety of sizes for both boys and girls.  The Ouwehands had also brought along a suitcase of donated medical supplies donated by church members.   Michael and his wife and the rest of the family greeted us warmly and invited us into their home for a delicious Sudanese meal.   They were so thankful for the medical supplies and the uniforms which Michael will take back with him to Sudan. 

Two day Adventure in Kasarani: When we found out that the Ouwehands were coming, we came up with the idea of not just going on a day trip to visit Pastor Charles and the feeding program, but to actually fully immerse ourselves in the village and get a glimpse of what life is really like there.  They enthusiastically agreed and so the planning started!  I had asked to make meals for a group of 30 for breakfast and dinners (thus ensuring that our friends didn’t get sick from unusual food) and so we brought coolers of chicken for the grill, stew and chapattis, fresh fruit, homemade muffins and bagels, vegetables and lots of bottled water.  Pastor Charles had asked a carpenter to make two beds in our honor and we slept in the room that normally would be reserved for emergency shelter for orphans.  These two beds can be converted into a bunk bed and sleep four children.  We also purchased 2 new mattresses and mosquito nets with money donated to Kasarani by a supporter.  The sleeping arrangement was perfect.

The moment that we arrived in Kasarani, we were welcomed with open arms by Charles and Beatrice and surrounded by hoards of children, all wanting to hold our hands and just get some attention.  Wherever we walked we were followed with little ones all linking hands, all hoping to have their hand held by one of us.  Many of the children walked bare-foot, many of them wore threadbare clothing or clothes that were just filthy but they had the biggest smiles on their faces!  There were several little girls probably not older than eight or nine years, carrying tiny babies on their backs and taking on the responsibility of caring for their younger siblings while their moms were working in the flower fields.  We were greeted with countless ‘hellos’ and ‘welcome’ and it felt like we were accepted and right at home.  As we walked around getting a tour of the village we joined the children in singing praise songs in English and Swahili.  The chorus from my favorite praise song goes like this:

 ‘You are so faithful, so faithful, so faithful, You are so faithful, so faithful to me. 

That’s why I praise you Lord in the morning, that’s why I praise you at the noon-time, that’s why I praise you in the evening, your so faithful to me.’

Amidst the incredible poverty, hunger and lack of physical love and basic necessities, these children still can smile and sing and truly trust that God is faithful and they believe this with all their hearts!  Their simple belief in Jesus and trust in Him really challenges Andrew and I to examine our attitudes – especially when we feel exhausted, stressed out or overwhelmed.  To have that same child-like faith in God – for His provision, His protection, His direction and to claim and believe in His promises.  He is faithful – always has been and always will be.  Bwana Asifiwe!

Pastor Charles and his wife Beatrice:  It was such a blessing to see Pastor Charles and his wife Beatrice in action – constantly surrounded by orphan children, tirelessly giving of themselves, caring for these kids and being the loving hands and feet and arms of Jesus.  From dusk until dawn they are constantly in ministry, there is always another need, always another mouth to feed, always children asking for food, or hungry kids just sitting outside their house with the knowledge that it’s a safe place. 

Not only does Charles take responsibility for the feeding program of 74 orphaned and impoverished kids but also preaching and pastoring the local church, caring for the sick and victims of HIV, running bible-studies and mentoring courses for youth, care for widows and of course looking after his own family.  Beatrice is responsible for keeping track of the feeding program and the children, making sure that each child is having his or her basic needs taken care of and being everyone’s mamma.  She wakes up very early every morning to prepare for the day and is the last one to sleep at night.  She also runs bible-studies and one-on-one mentoring with women in the community.  Needy women come to her everyday looking for employment, for food, for advice and for encouragement.  Often I ask myself, how in the world can they continue on like this?

 I believe it is only the grace and empowerment of God that enables this very special couple to do all that they do.  God has called them to an incredibly challenging and difficult ministry and they are sacrificial and obedient servants of Him.  It’s truly humbling when you meet them and I can tell you without a doubt, that our role in supporting and encouraging them has in turn been a very special blessing for us and for others who see them in action first-hand. 

What we did in Kasarani:  Over our two day stay in Kasarani, every minute was spent watching, experiencing and joining in on so many different things.  We got first hand experience helping cook for the feeding program – learning how to cut spinach without a cutting board and a very broken but sharp knife, stirring a massive pot of cornmeal porridge, serving food for the feeding program at meal times and just sharing in the lives of those who are part of this feeding ministry.  We joined an outdoors prayer and fellowship service joined by many in the community and as the wind and sand whipped through our hair and got into our eyes, we were drawn into a time of worshipping Christ in simplicity.  We visited lake Naivaisha which was a short drive away and watched as the fishermen came in with their daily catch – which reminded me of the story of Jesus calling his disciples to be fishers of men.   Pastor Charles selected ten of the best fish which the ladies later cut the fish up whole and then deep-fried it for us for a delicious but rather bony dinner.

Update on Wiki:  We visited Wiki and his family which was so difficult as he continues to lose weight and struggle with worsening health.  I sense that unless there is a miracle, Jesus is going to call this little one into His safe and loving arms very soon.  Both Helena and I had an opportunity to hold little Wiki, his little head so weak and resting on our shoulders, his eyes lifeless.  As we held him we sang Jesus loves me, we prayed, we pleaded with God to deliver him.  Holding a dying child changes a person, it has changed me.  Helena shared that just as our heart aches and loves this little boy, just imagine how much more Jesus loves each one of us and His desire for us to love, obey and follow Him.  I have also been reminded that it was because of meeting Wiki, seven months ago, that God connected us to Pastor Charles and his orphan work in Kasarani.  This precious angel was used by God – he was the spark that ignited a bonfire in all of our hearts and stirred us into partnering with Charles and sharing in his vision.  It is because of this little child that our faith has increased as we’ve seen God provide in miraculous and supernatural ways.  Thank you Wiki.

Soccer match:  While we were in Kasarani there was big news which was spreading like a wild-fire across the village.  There was to be a soccer match between the boys and girls in the feeding program and the church.  The teams had been practicing diligently and the donated uniforms were to be worn for the very first time!  The local flower farmer had agreed to let us use his soccer field which is normally only used by the employees of his farm.  As we arrived there was palpable excitement in the air.  Kids were jumping up and down, singing, laughing and encouraging the players as they stepped onto the field.  Proudly the players ran onto the field – in their brand new soccer uniforms!  What a contrast to the torn dirty clothes that they were used to wearing!  Many of the uniforms were too small and looked like a second skin and many of the boys didn’t have running shoes – some were barefoot, others wore clunky snow boots, and others wore their Sunday shoes – but they didn’t seem to care one bit. 

It’s hard to use words to adequately describe how wonderful this event really was.  It was like for a moment in time, these kids could forget their hardships and just have fun!  After the boys played their game, then the girls were rounded up to play.  The boys stripped off their soggy, sweaty shirts and shorts and passed them onto the girls who enthusiastically put them on.  Our sweet Winrose was right in on the action with an ecstatic smile on her face.  We cheered up a storm and I screamed and whistled for my girl!

After the games were over, Pastor Charles rounded up all the kids into a big group and asked us to share.  Andrew shared how these uniforms were sent to them because God had heard their prayers and if God could answer their prayers for a uniform, then just think how much more He wants to bless us as we come to Him and give our lives for Him! Afterwards we prayed and thanked God for all His provision.

 A few weeks later on Pastor Charles spoke with us and said that the following Sunday after the soccer match, there were several youth that showed up at the church service.  This soccer church was cool, they wanted in.  So not only have these uniforms inspired the current youth in the church, they have also brought in new kids and numbers in the church have grown!  I spoke with my mom the other day and when I come back to Canada I’ll be collecting two more teams worth of uniforms to bring back to Kasarani – these will be just for the girls!

Sharing the story of George Mueller: 

One of the mornings we were asked to share devotions with the feeding program kids.  I told them the story of George Mueller from the 1700’s who cared for thousands of orphan children and was a man of steadfast faith and prayer.  I was telling the story of how George was once a really nasty guy and how God has used a friend of his, who had prayed fervently for him, to lead him to Christ.  Our friend Jan Ouwehand acted out as George and I selected a few of the kids to act as well.

 Well, George (Jan) was in the corner, pretending to be locked up in prison for stealing something and I asked one of the boys to act as George’s friend.  I asked this young orphan boy to act out praying for George that his life would be turned around and that God would use George to glorify Him in a new way.  Well this young boy immediately knelt down and closed his eyes and lifted his arms to God.  Initially I thought he was just acting, but when I looked down again he was praying out loud, eyes shut with real fervency.  This was no act.  He was praying for real for Jan.  After a few minutes he was done, he got up from his knees and looked at Jan with a smile.  That was a moment I’ll never forget – watching a child on fire for Jesus, full of faith, passion and desire and filled with the Holy Spirit.  I know that Jan was blessed. 

Afterwards I shared the story of when there was no food for breakfast and George had asked the orphan children that he was caring for at the time to gather around the table anyways and trust that God would provide.  So they all prayed and trusted in God’s provision.  As they were sitting there, there was a knock on the door – first a baker with a huge basket of fresh buns and secondly a milk man with a crate full of creamy milk.  The kids were listening in awe.  I shared that this same God who answered George’s and the orphan’s prayer so many years ago, also hears their prayers and performs miracles today too – just as it says in Ephesians 3:20.   I shared that God delights in us and He promises to provide more abundantly for us, more than we could ever ask or imagine.  I guess I was preaching to myself too..

Death of a bright light in Kasarani:  Just a week after we had left Kasarani, we received a heart-breaking phone call from Pastor Charles, that one of the boys in the feeding program named Mwangi had suddenly died.  This young man was one of the very first boys that Charles and Beatrice had supported, even before the feeding program was started.  Over the years, under the mentorship and love of Pastor Charles, he had grown in his faith and had become a very strong and faithful leader of the other orphan children.  He was highly esteemed and loved by his the other 73 in the program.  He was in Grade 10.  While we were in Kasarani, Mwangi was not there.  He had been invited to attend a special youth leadership conference and it was shortly after the conference that he fell sick.  He was rushed to the hospital but they misdiagnosed him and treated him for malaria.  After seeing a rapid decline, he was finally diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and he died soon thereafter.  This has been an incredible blow to Charles and Beatrice and the feeding centre family.  It’s so hard to understand why God would allow such a shining light, a leader, a jewel in the community to die so suddenly.  It’s hard understanding God’s purpose through all of this.   Please pray for Charles as the orphans go to him for encouragement and support during this very difficult time – pray that he will be given an extra abundance of energy and strength and peace as he continues on with his work.

Harambe in Kasarani for the Feeding Centre:  As we had mentioned in our prior newsletter, our project to build a feeding centre in Kasarani is a joint partnership with the local church and community. At the end of April, the land had been purchased as a result of your generous support and the church coordinated an effort for a fundraiser (harambe), to raise money for the feeding centre building.   The harambe was well-attended by hundreds from the community as well as church leaders from other communities.  The children from the feeding program sang and danced, there was a special speaker and a lunch afterwards for all involved.  This was a huge effort coordinated by Pastor Charles and Beatrice and they were thrilled with the 83,000Ksh that was raised (approx $1000 US).  People were truly giving out of their poverty, and those who had no money to give agreed to donate their labor and skills to help build the feeding centre. 

A member from the congregation has drawn up plans for the buildings which will include a large multi-purpose hall, kitchen and storage room, 6 rooms for emergency orphan shelter, housing for an in-house pastor to stay in and monitor the facility, and a spacious outside courtyard for playing.  The cost of the buildings, furniture and materials will be approximately $25,000.  Raising the money for this next project seems like a huge mountain but we are working alongside Pastor Charles to write up a fundraising proposal for him to submit to the local flower farmers and other community partners.  Charles recently called to say that the feeding program boys are coming out to the plots of land after school and during their time off to clear the land and they are waiting expectantly for the building to start.  Please pray alongside us as we trust that what God has started He will finish and that nothing is impossible for Him!  I’m reminded that when things seem overwhelming and huge for us, that’s when HE shows us His power to provide.  We trust that very soon we will be able to start building – a safe haven for orphan children to eat, to play, to learn about God, and an emergency shelter for those children who are abandoned – to have a warm bed to sleep.

Farming God’s Way:  We are so excited to announce that we have just received approval for a new project proposal to farm and develop the three acres of land have now been purchased for the feeding centre.  This project includes fencing in the acres to keep out wild-life, paying for a farm manager for one year and sending him to South Africa for training, paying for gardening tools, a donkey and cart for transportation of supplies, seeds, fertilizer and a small storage building. The project funding requirements are $10,000 US and the project is named Farming God’s Way in Kasarani – which is open for donations.   Donations can be sent directly through the AIM Canadian or US offices – either by cheque or credit card.  Information about giving can be found on our website www.faber.to or by emailing us directly.  Tax receipts will be issued to you through AIM.

These acres will be farmed using Farming God’s Way methods (which we’ve written about in previous newsletters) to grow food for the orphans.  Andrew and I currently have a test farm here at RVA growing maize and beans using these methods and we have seen amazing results despite the lack of rain.  We are also planning to go to South Africa over the next school break to visit August Basson and his FGW farm there so that we can receive more training. We believe that God wants to use these 3 little acres to transform many, many lives – little is much when God is in it!   If He can make 5 loaves and 3 fishes feed thousands, then we trust that these 3 acres will have an impact on tens of thousands, on a nation. To learn more about the FGW methods you can visit: www.tebellong.givengain.org and go to the subheading ‘our work’ – this is the website of our friend August Basson in SA with great articles on FGW.

That’s all for now!  I promise!  Thank you for sharing in our lives and journey here.  God has brought us into an incredibly rewarding challenge here as we care for our 18 dorm boys and continue on with the work in Kasarani.  We value your prayers and support.  We can’t do this without you!  Blessings,   Andrew, Sue, Hannah and Beatrice Faber

(our address:  RVA, PO Box 80, Kijabe, Kenya, 00220) (our website:  www.faber.to)

Greetings Everyone!

It seems like such a long time since we sent out our last newsletter in March and so here I am back at the computer – my head filled with so many new things to write and wondering where do I even begin?  It certainly seems that I’m never at a loss for words!  We’ve were so thankful to have Andrew’s parents Hylke and Ada Faber as well as our friends Jan and Helena Ouwehand come to visit in April and share in our journey – to encourage us, love us and see for themselves the reason that we love Kenya so much.

Our family has expanded:  What comes to mind when you read these words:  wrestling matches, clothes flung on the floor, body odour, capture the flag in the dark without shoes,  catching lizards, shooting birds with sling-shots,  filthy socks, burping and gas contests, meat-loving (especially bacon and steak), high-pitched screaming, laughing, rugby, mud tracks on the carpet, lighting aerosol deodorant.  The list could go on and on and we’ll certainly add to it as time goes on!  We think it would be a good idea to invest in a company selling room freshener – could someone kindly send us some febrezze?  Well, these words describe our new family.  Yes, that’s right!  The newest and most exciting news in our family is that we are now parents to 21 kids!  Yes 21!!  You might be asking how in the world could this be?  Well, starting this term (we’ve now been at it for one week and have survived!) we are dorm parents to 18, yes, take a deep breath, 18,  7^th grade boys, plus of course our girls Hannah and Beatrice and Winrose (update on her later).

It is amazing how God provided a way for us to be dorm parents which I want to briefly share.  In the very beginning when we were looking at coming to RVA, one of things we really wanted to do was to be involved with dorm parenting.  When I (Sue) was in grade 8, I had gone to a missionary boarding school in Penang, Malaysia and it had been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  I still remember Uncle Don and Aunt Maryanne who were my dorm parents and all my dorm sisters.  I remember all the craziness and the pranks – specifically putting baby powder on our dorm parent’s ceiling fan in their bedroom (literally plastering their room with a fragrant white cloud).  I remember one of my dorm sisters walking into our bathroom and finding a black cobra wrapped up and having a snooze in our shower cubicle.  I remember watching America’s funniest home videos which had been taped and sent over by a caring grandparent.  Or, even better, getting to watch MacGyver on Saturday nights. I remembered a community of care, of love and of acceptance.  This was a place where after 5 years of struggle I finally felt loved, accepted and really happy.  Dalat School made a lasting difference in my life and I had always hoped that one day, I could make a similar impact in the lives of other missionary kids. 

When we applied to RVA, they were mostly in need of a nurse and IT person and so the opportunity for dorm parents seemed to be closed.  However, this past term, the dorm parents for the grade 7 boys had to leave unexpectedly and when we found out about this we started praying that if it was God’s will, that we could step in.  It was amazing how God intervened, providing a replacement nurse named Gloria to take over my job as a nurse in student health.  So a week before school started up again, we received confirmation that we were able to move to Twiga dorm.  Twiga means giraffe in Swahili.  Thank goodness that our friends Jan and Helena from Canada were here with us because for 2 days they helped us move everything from our old house in the infirmary to our new house here at the dorm.  Boxes and bags and furniture and everything!  God knew the rather overwhelming task at hand and provided the help we needed.  So in a matter of just 4 days we moved, unpacked, and had a crash course in the basics of dorm-parenting – trust me, we are still learning as we go!  I am so thankful to a few individuals from RVA who came alongside us, praying, helping and encouraging us each step along the way.

These boys come from diverse backgrounds – from across the continent of Africa.  We hope in subsequent newsletters to feature stories of some of the boys – where they come from, their perspectives on what it means to be a missionary kid and to live in Africa.  Unfortunately due to confidentiality concerns we cannot share pictures of the boys but we’ll do our best to paint pictures for you through words and stories! 

Our first big taste of grade 7 boys’ mischievousness happened this past Sunday.  We were all at church outside in Kijabe and had subsequently locked up the dorm.  Well, the boys returned back to the dorm before us and didn’t have the key to get in.  So, instead of waiting an extra few minutes for us to arrive they decided to take matters into their own hands.  Within seconds, one of the smaller boys had slipped through the iron gate, run into the dorm and taken the key for the emergency exit window which is right above another boy’s bed.  A few of the smaller boys proceeded to climb into the bedroom via this window and proceeded to track pools of mud throughout the bedroom.  This was followed by a  mopping of another boys bed with a dirty mop and the grand finale was that the emergency glass was broken ‘accidentally’ and another key was taken to open up the front door.  All of this transpired in a matter of 5 minutes!  So yes, things around here are exciting! 

I’ve been busy cooking up a storm and in the last week I’ve made pans of cinnamon rolls, banana bread,  gallons of Kool-aid and hot chocolate, banana fritters and samosas.  We also are having four different boys each week come and plan, buy groceries, cook, eat and then clean up afterwards.  This is an opportunity for us to share a dinner meal with them so that we can get to know them better and the best part is that they get to choose the menu. A way to a boy’s heart is through his stomach and the more food the better!  I’ve also learned that it’s not so much quality as it is quantity!  If any of you would be able to send us extra packets of Kool-aid through the mail, they’d really appreciate it – they just love Kool-aid!  Our address again is Rift Valley Academy, PO Box 80, Kijabe, Kenya 00220.  I’d also love your recipes for yummy snacks and treats – enough to serve 18 very hungry growing boys!

There is still so much more to share which I’ll do in my next email very soon!  But a few quick headlines:  Beatrice turned 4 years on April 19^th and was so excited that Oma and Opa were there to celebrate!  Winrose received a beautiful new affirmation quilt from ClearView ladies.  Pastor Charles had the community harambe (fundraiser) for the feeding centre in Kasarani with good results.   We spent two amazing nights in Kasarani with our friends and enjoyed the big community soccer game with the donated uniforms.  But for now, I’ve got to go and get ready to tuck 18 boys into bed for the night, say prayers and give out hugs.

 P.S. I am coming home to Canada on July 21^st and leaving August 10^th for a brief visit to see my dad and mom.  Andrew and the girls will be staying behind and manning the fort here.  If you’d like me to come and share with a fellowship group, church group or for me to get together for a cup of tea with you please let me know so I can plan my time!  Also I definitely need to go to a Chinese restaurant and Swiss Chalet!

Lots of Love and Hugs to all of you!  Sue, Andrew, Hannah and Beatrice Faber

Dear Friends, Habari Yako from

These past two months have been very busy for us and we have more updates and stories to share with you as God continues to work in a mighty way in our midst.  We spent 3 weeks in mid-January and early February attending a new missionary orientation session called ABO (Africa Based Orientation).  We lived in a dormitory at a Bible college called Scott Theological Seminary about a two hour drive away from where we currently live.  Everyday there were sessions on a variety of things – from organizational information, safety in Africa, to African culture, world-view and traditions, African religions and spiritual warfare. 

It was wonderful to meet other new missionaries – many of whom had just arrived in Kenya days earlier.  In a way I am thankful that we attended this orientation six months into our stay here or else I think I would have been overwhelmed.  Hannah and Beatrice were involved in their own school setting and had lots of fun learning all about Africa, making wonderful crafts like an African drum, gourd shaker, homemade toy cars out of junk, beaded bracelets and so much more.  At the very end they had a little market place where all the kids laid out all their crafts to sell to the adults.  What fun!  We also had several opportunities to join the seminary students with their ministries and we ran Sunday schools, went to hospitals and visited local families.  While we were at ABO I purchased some lovely vibrant African cloth and had dresses and skirts made for the girls and I.  As time goes on, we look like we actually fit in here!

EXCITING UPDATE: Feeding Centre Land Purchase! 

We are so excited to share that we handed over a cheque for just over $7500.00 Canadian for the purchase of two plots of land in the village of Kasarani!  THANKYOU! What an incredible answer to prayer and a result of our family and friends and even people we have never met before catching on to the vision of Pastor Charles and his desire for the orphaned and needy children in his community.  At the end of April, the community of Kasarani and surrounding churches will also be having a harambe (fundraiser) to raise funds for the building materials and construction of the feeding centre.  This is a joint partnership and a true example of how the body of Christ works together even when they are oceans apart!  This simple brick building will house a new kitchen, a central dining room with tables and chairs, toilets and rooms with emergency shelter for homeless orphans.  This facility will also be usable space for after-school drop-in programs, community development seminars and possibly even a program for baby-care of mothers who work on the nearby flower farms.  Last week Pastor Charles and other church members all gathered together to pray and give thanks for these plots of land and testify to the goodness and faithfulness of God!  Their faith, vision and tenacity combined with your generosity and interest has birthed a beautiful opportunity for more children to be reached, nurtured and loved.

Acres for Agriculture:  We had shared in our last newsletter about the second phase of the Kasarani project – the purchase of acres of farmland for the purpose of growing maize, beans and other vegetables to provide home-grown food for the feeding program.  This is what sustainability is all about – so that if outside funding were to suddenly dry up that the children could still be fed and the feeding program could continue to thrive.  Shortly after we had thought of this idea of purchasing acres of land and spent time together in prayer, Pastor Charles was in contact with a lady in his congregation who had land to sell – about a 25 minute walk from the feeding centre location in Kasarani.  We have received funding for 2 acres and we are still raising funds for a third.

Farming God’s Way:  While we were at ABO we were so thankful to meet one of the presenters there who is with AIM from South Africa.  His name is August Basson and his ministry is focused on sustainable agriculture – Farming God’s Way (FGW).   He also has two boys at RVA.  We were intrigued by what he had to say, that if farmers and local villagers were to follow the simple farming techniques, that their yield could dramatically increase.  Currently in East Africa the average yield for maize = 1.2 tons per hectare (2.2 acres).  Using the sustainable agriculture technique the yield would be around 6 tons per hectare but could potentially go as high as 8. That is at least a 600% increase in food production!  So you can imagine what we were thinking and how excited we are!! 

If we could learn and then teach FGW techniques to the local pastor and individuals involved in the feeding program in Kasarani, then the acres of land that are purchased could be farmed in such a way to feed all the children currently in the program and possibly even sell an overabundance to the community.  And, even more, local villagers could also adopt these techniques to plant on the small patches of land outside their homes and have food for themselves and their families.  In Africa, food means life and it is a daily struggle to have enough.  Could these simple farming techniques feed and transform an entire community? 

A few days after we returned from ABO, Mr Basson came over to stay with us here at RVA and he took Andrew to one of the model FGW shamba’s (farms) nearby.  As they drove to this location the signs of draught were despairing – crops withering and dying because of the lack of rain, corn drooping and brown.  In fact much of rural Kenya is currently experiencing significant draught and over 10 million people are directly affected by this lack of food and even starvation.  And then they came to this shamba.  It was like the Garden of Eden in comparison to everything else around.  As you can see in the picture with Pastor Charles and Beatrice, the corn was sky high – over 10 feet in some places and thriving.  There is no irrigation for this shamba, only the use of FGW techniques and natural rainwater.

Can you believe that an IT guy and a nurse who never gardened in their lives are now absolutely ecstatic about farming and the amazing possibilities of using these techniques for feeding orphans and community transformation!  We have started our own FGW shamba behind our house here at RVA and employed a student at Moffat Bible College who is also being mentored by Pastor Charles to come and prepare the small patch land.  In a few weeks it is anticipated that the long rains will come and we pray that the crops will thrive.  This will certainly be a small-scale learning ground for us and for others locally to prepare us for whatever God has in store for us next.

The miraculous story of Winrose:   In closing we want to share about a sweet girl named Winrose (17 years) who we have now ‘adopted’ into our family. She is an orphan-both her parents have died.  Her father had died first and then her mother.  Before her mother died she had remarried a step dad who now had custody of Winrose.  She was beaten and terribly abused by her step-dad and hated by her step mom to the point of them not feeding her, calling her derogatory names and at one point the step dad beat her so badly that she was hospitalized for one week, and at one point he even said that he would kill her.  We met her in Kasarani about a month ago just after Pastor Charles and his wife had rescued her.   It is an amazing story of God’s mercy, protection and restoration and an absolute miracle because she is now attending Kijabe Girl’s School – a private girls boarding school close to where we live.  If you want to read about God’s amazing intervention and direct answer to prayer please see our blog titled ‘A Big Sister for Hannah and Bea’. (click here)

Thank you for following us in our journey as we serve the Lord here in Africa.  It is only because of His grace and POWER that we are able to work and thrive here at RVA as we support and care for the children of missionaries who are serving throughout Africa and at the same time reach out, learn from and partner with our African friends.  We truly value your prayers and support. 

P.S.  We are currently taking biweekly Kiswahili lessons – so hopefully our language abilities and communication will improve soon!

Blessings to you and your families!

Love,    Andrew, Sue, Hannah and Beatrice Faber