Billy Graham Rapid Response Seminar in Kericho

[Photo caption: Pastor Jonah with other seminar attendees]

dear blog readers and supporters,

i hope you all had a blessed Easter season. as for us in kericho, kenya, we are happy that peace is here after a few months of instability.

over the weekend i attended a seminar here in kericho, which was planned by the Billy Graham Rapid Response Initiative. it was very educational especially for those of us who have no seminary training in rapid responses needed when there is a problem such as the magnitude witnessed in our country.

we learned some very important tenets for helping those displaced and trying to counsel them to accept the situations they are in at the moment..without promising a completely better future......we were taught to let those displaced to be calm and then start life from there again...it was a great one day seminar.

have fun

because He lives

Jonah

Sigilai's Story

hello,

i hope u had a great day. today we had a visit to a home, headed by their old father named Sigilai. he is about 80 plus years old. in the early 40's he was working for the British settlers here and was given a big land as a reward for fighting in their army as well as being a good servant to them.

[Photo caption: Sigilai is the one with the "hanging ears"]

prior to the election last year. he was in his farm in Nyahururu. the farm is about 60 acres large. he had over 200 cows and over 300 sheep and goats. he also combined harvesters, tractors, house and many children from his 2 wives. he narrated to us, that he was rich and had never thought of getting help from anyone before. he considered himself that the Lord had given him favor, as he had no problem with food, and he had children as this is seen part of the blessing here. he told us he had gone to the Red Cross ..but his name could not be called several times for him to get what they need there...and so he left for his son's house here in Kericho.

his story was touching. sometimes we would laugh. but at last he said that "All things belong to God who gave us His blessings to use His hands for His work". though he felt sad, we feel that he still needs some counselling and prayers and felt encouraged too that he is coming closer to admitting that he needs God.

we continue to visit the home of many people like Sigilai every now and then to encourage them to depend on God and leave vengeance to Him. I hope u are encouraged by this.

have a great week
Jonah

Simba The Dog

Hello,

i hope u re doing great in the Lord. i have been involved with a lot of work resulting from the post election violence and the displaced people ...over this past few weeks. our focus right now is encouraging people to go back to their homes and start life again.

as i travel, i take a keen interest, not only in the displaced people but the animals as well. the cows, goats and other animals have largely been taken care of because they provide food for the families, but the dogs and cats are not considered as important at this time.

i met a dog by the name of simba (means 'lion' in swahili). he had a big and deep cut on the face. it was the saddest experience i have ever seen and i felt really bad when i got to see this. simba i suppose was trying to protect the family but ended up almost losing his own life. this to me is an experience that most people have not witnessed in the most faithful animals on earth - dogs and cats. (i will post a story soon about one of the cats i've come across, named Caring, and how she saved some young children from a burning house).

as of now simba is getting better with the help of herbs that are being administered by its caretaker. the horrific experience of animals is another bad result of the post-election chaos we had in kenya. but peace is slowly coming back. continue praying for us.

have a great day
and God bless.

Jonah

Counting the Cost

TENT CAMP FOR INTERNALLY DISPLACED KENYANS

hello everyone,

this first picture is of william standing in the place where his house once stood. it was burned with all his possessions. it is very hard for him to understand what happened. keep praying for him as i have been trying to convince him to accept what happened and take it easy. he does not know the Lord now and i am trying to reach him with love thru' this disaster.

i thank u all for all the contributions u made towards this achievement and work. please know you are always in our hearts here in kericho.

this picture is of me standing in front of a another destroyed house.

it has amazed me how much people can do to each other and i hope the world learns soon, to 'love thy neighbor as themselves'. help Kenya heal by praying...as that is the only way ...Jonah

Healing & Reconciliation

hello,

i hope u are doing great and continuing to pray for us. yesterday was a great day, we had prayers, asking God to reconcile us again. all the churches here had to come and we all prayed for this to happen. first with those that we are in faith together, and to those that were displaced.

we had a busy day going to the camps talking to those who are displaced ...and encouraging them to have faith

in God. This is sometimes hard to do. but we do hope that, PEACE will come into their hearts and reconciliation will come again.

the US ambassador joined us later and we were moved with the love the people of the united states and all over the world had for kenya....

have a great day and remember to continue to pray for us, HEALING is slowly coming, and i know it starts with all of us forgiving ourselves and our neighbors and coming to terms with what happened as there is no time to finger point at this stage.

God Bless

Jonah