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Overview Of Mission Kenya
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As with our mission
programs in other parts of the world, the objective of Understand The
Times in Kenya is to come along side and assist other ministries or
missionaries that are already established in order to assist them in the
call God has upon their lives. Understand The Times
has partnered with Lighthouse Trails for this work In Kenya. Most of the new homes that have been built for
these Christian families in Rongo and Suna, Kenya, solely from the
donations of Understand the Times and Lighthouse Trails readers. This
project, which began just 2 1/2 years ago, truly has been a testimony of
God’s love and faithfulness. There are currently 20 Christian
families being supported now. New houses with metal roofs, plastered and
painted walls, and cook stoves with proper piping and ventilation have
replaced mud huts with grass roofs and cooking done on the ground. And
the children are being taught the Word of God and the ways of the Lord.
We believe some of these children will be used someday in Kenya to
testify of God. The three men there who are directing this program have
a solid understanding of spiritual deception and the times in which we
live, and they pass this understanding on to the widows, children, and
others. As we are not able to
be in Kenya and on the ground year around it is important we have
reliable representatives that we can trust and help distribute the
resources so we are able to provide for needs and specific causes. Pastor
Richard will be our Understand
The Times representative for Kenya. In November 2011
and again in March 2012,
I was able to visit Rongo, Kenya and observe the ministry of Pastor Achilla first hand. The vision
he has to train up pastors in
the truth at a center in the Suna area is unprecedented.
Through a partnership with Lighthouse Trails,
a center is already being built in a remote location in Kenya near the
Tanzania border where pastors can come, be taught and share the truth
with others.
As in in other parts of the world, we will try to help parents, grandparents or others who are already looking after their own and orphaned children but do not have the resources to do so. Because Kenya is so poor, we can make a huge difference with a small amount of funds. Because the homes or shacks that these poor people are living in are in tremendous need of improvement, we will try to make the living conditions better as well as providing food, clothing and school uniforms. We want the children to grow up to be an asset to the community around them as they are provided a Christian education and food to eat. Our program in Kenya will start small, and we will proceed as God provides. At first we will establish as many Bryce Homes as we can with the funds we have and see how the program works out. Rather than having individual sponsorships for each child we will ask supporter to fund the Bryce Homes program in general. We will be reporting the progress of this program often on our Mission Kenya web location. In the long term we have a vision to establish a facility in the Suna area for orphans. For a small amount of money we are to build a facility from bricks made of the local soil. We are also able to buy some land that can be used for agricultural purposes which will give the people in the area work as well as the orphans the ability to produce their own food.
The Road from Dependency to Self-Sufficiency
When God is truly in the lead, one never stands still or in one place. God is almighty and sees what is best and the steps that are required to move on. While the Bryce Homes Program has been a great success, there has been a question or concern that has been consistently at the forefront of my mind. While food has been provided on a monthly basis along with clothes, homes, and latrines to make life easier, there was something missing. The purpose of designing the Bryce Homes Program was never to become a welfare agency by becoming a never-ending pipeline guaranteeing assistance perpetually so that entire families could grow up depending on others instead of helping themselves. Such a system, in the long run, would be harmful and destructive. I pondered. There had to be a better way so that through time a transition could be made from total dependency to self-sufficiency. One of the main purposes and objective of my March 2014 trip to Kenya was to investigate the possibility of adding another dimension to our program. I wondered if any of the widows had ever thought about small businesses they could start that would subsidize the support they were receiving through the Bryce Homes Program. The results were delightful. Every single widow that I interviewed immediately responded to the question. I have many of these responses recorded on video and will later publish the report as a short documentary. What surprised me was the fact that none of the widows had to think about the answer to my question, even though they had not been told beforehand what question I was going to ask. Every single widow already had prayed and dreamed about a time in the future she could set up a small business and not have to rely upon donor support. In fact, many of the women had previous experience with the small business they were desiring to start before their husbands had passed away. The death of their husbands had not only left their children fatherless and without their main source of income but also the widow herself, who had been a secondary bread winner, was no longer able to continue as all her efforts had to be concentrated on helping her children survive. When you see and hear the responses the widows gave me when I told them about the coming Small Business Opportunity Program, you will discover for yourselves why God has been leading us in this direction. For now, I will show a photo of the widow and then briefly describe what kind of small business she wanted to do.
You can partner with Mission Kenya monthly or any amount, anytime by check or by donating online.
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