Women and their Plight

This morning I was called by the gate man to tell me of some guests who were directed towards my office.  I asked who they were and I was told some women and children. I stopped what I was doing and headed to there. Reaching the gate and after looking at the women, I knew they were displaced, kicked out of their homes, etc.

I sat down and listened to their plight. The old woman claims her daughter died and left her a baby 3 months old to raise. The other woman said she has 3 children and she fears they will die of starvation. They both gave varied reasons, for their problems.

What a challenge! Poor people, vulnerable, shoe less, no phones, no M-PESA (money transfer service) and illiterate. The kids are not going to school.

We could not sent them away like that.....so we had to give them some food and other essentials as they are most urgently needed.

Would you consider praying for them? I want these kids to go to school.


God bless

Ketapa Tea Visit

Malel visited us today with students from his school in Nakuru. Malel went off to school a few weeks ago and I accompanied him and his elder brother.

It was so sweet to see him in the new uniform and he looked so excited.

We are looking forward to his academic performance coming up, and we are really happy for him that he was able to go to high school.

He was able to meet his mother and brother again and it was really sweet,

The tea visit was great for the students. They visited Ketepa (ketepa.com ) and Kitumbe primary school in the Finlay Tea area (finlays.net).

Otherwise enjoy the pictures.

Death at IDP Camp

Hello friends,

It is disheartening to die at an Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camp. It happened this week to one dear soul and we had to make quick arrangements to go there with food and water for the community that needs help. A kid died of cold, and chest problems since their tents are now torn and it is so far for them to access help.

We had to go and comfort the people with the Word of God too. Mr. Chepkwony who lost his kid said he tried everything to save his child. But where they live it takes a full two hours just to get to a tarmac road.



They people in the IDP Camp really appreciated the little we had to share and they shared it equally. We plan to go there again at the beginning of February. We are sending appeals now for donors to help us and we are sure the Lord will open a way.

Have a great day.

Reforms to Kenya's Constitution

Hello,

We had a meeting on the forthcoming reforms concerning Kenya's constitution. USAID, the American NGO and the Citizen's Assembly (http://citizens-assembly.org/) welcomed us for a discussion which focused on the key contentious issues in the re-drafting of the constitution.

[Following the post-election crisis that occurred after the contested elections in December 2007, the U.S. Government committed to provide a $100-million recovery package that has three main components: peace and reconciliation, support for reform, and restored livelihoods and communities.]

We are now fully focused on the new constitution and we do hope this will become a reality in the coming months. Otherwise we need lots of prayers to make this a possibility.

God bless,

Kibet is Very Excited

Hello friends,

This is just a short praise report to let you know that a little boy named Kibet was able to get some medical help for his leg.

A few weeks ago Kibet was very sick with the problem in the leg. I first showed his photos in a story here . One of God's servants responded and we are so glad she was able to send us some help so he could get medication.

Kibet was very excited, and he could not hide his joy to us as we also brought him sandals to keep his feet dry and clean and a blanket to keep warm.

Please continue to pray for the entire family as they share the few other resources they have
It brings lots of joy to help these families get basic things that some of us take for granted.

[Caption: Brother Thomas checks over the oranges we will take to the children.]

[Caption: The children are enjoying the oranges and the blanket.][Caption: The children say goodbye to us.][Caption: This little girl also needs to see a doctor]

Continue praying for us too as we move one step at a time. A few dollars can be stretched to meet more needs.

Thanks for your continued prayers.
Brother Jonah
Contact me here if you can help

Elizabeth in Pain

She is sick, frail,her leg is not strong anymore, she is not eating enough, and she is in pain. These words describe Elizabeth, our mother who is just about 64 years old. Elizabeth has 9 kids to her name, 6 boys and 3 girls.

I felt so bad today, though I was supposed to encourage her, I was feeling low. Pray for me and her son, Thomas, who loves her so much. We try what we can to make her feel that life is worth living again.

Elizabeth has stage 3 cervical cancer and cancer management in Africa is still a new concept. We have been trying to read books to understand what cervical cancer is all about but it is hard.

We were moved from one hospital to a government one. I guess the nurses & doctors had pity on our meagre finances and Elizabeth has now been admitted in the ward. Pray for her.

Thanks Joyful servant for $100 towards her medical bill. God Bless

Walking to the next hospital. She is in pain.

Sent to the next hospital. (Elizabeth is in the middle).

Elizabeth supporting herself against the tree. Thomas on left.

My Home Church

Hello,

I thought it would be nice to share with you the story of my home church in Chepkurbet, Kenya. The church was started initially by women. Now it is coming of age and men are joining in slowly by slowly.

Our home church has started about six sister churches since inception and we are really proud of that.
Our prayer is to see that we even start more churches within our community so that we can reach more for Christ. Pray with us.

Jonah

Visiting the Maasai

[Caption: Maasai greeting me (far left) with a blanket]

Hello,

My trip to the Maasai 'country', in Kenya was great. We had lots of interactions with the people there and we loved it! It took us over 5 hours to travel to Narok in Maasai land and we had to work hard to see that what we wanted to achieve there was completed during our visit.

[Caption: Little boy in front of me at the garden]

[Caption: Young shepard boy. What a wonderful smile.]

Maasai country is a vast land and the people are hungry for the Word of God. We are trying to use all the means that we can: friends, colleagues, classmates and friends we have there in Maasai country, to reach out to the people with the Word of God. Please continue praying for this work and outreach to the Maasai people. Enjoy the rest of the photos.

Pastor Jonah

Motorbikes in Kenya

Africa is now getting the largest number of three wheelers, tuktuks, and motorbikes than any other continent with the exception of Asia. Kenya is not left behind.

In my recent travels to Nairobi and Kisumu, I have witnessed hundreds of motorbikes all over the cities. People really like them since they are fast and efficient. The danger though is that they carry loads of passengers beyond capacity thus endangering the lives of many.

[Caption: Motorbike taxi in use.]

The Indian makes of Bajaj, and TV's motorbikes are now the favorite motorbikes due to their low cost ($1000) and they take little gas. The models from China are Focin, Sach, Piaggio.

We feel this trend toward motorbikes is progress and taxi's of all kinds are welcome here.

[Caption: A long line of motor bike taxis.]

Have a great day and enjoy the pictures.

Touring Kericho

Hello,

I had a great visit on Friday with a team from Kabarak University (www.kabarak.ac.ke). They were here on a fact finding mission of different companies in Kericho, Kenya.

From Touring Kericho

From Touring Kericho

It was lots of fun showing them things, touring and learning together. One of the places we visited was James Finlay Tea (www.finlays.net) There were tea and flowers at the same company.

From Touring Kericho

From Touring Kericho

We also visited a tea packaging company (www.ketepa.com) Later, we had tea at the Kericho Tea Hotel. It was the best tea ever, for all of us!

From Touring Kericho

I invite you to visit Kericho someday. I know you will love it! Please enjoy the rest of the photos.





Jonah


P.S. I was happy when my friend invited me to be their photographer so that I could enjoy the tours too.

Urgent Prayer Requests

this is just a short to let u know that Kenya is experiencing the worst famine disaster in years. food and maize (corn) in particular has not been harvested in so many places due to drought and the violence that came early last year.

staple food prices have increased over 100% in the last 6 months alone, and most incomes have remain the same or even reduced due to economic recession. the government was not able to give economic bailout as expected during this time due to its weak economy.

my city and other towns have become very dusty as it had not rained for so long.
please pray for the following:

please pray for the following
- For the rain to come
- Food to be available
- The prices of food to come down
- The economic recession globally to boom again.
- For the grace to go thru' this very hard period as there so many people waiting on someone to help.

i have to end here. Please pray. Pray.
God Bless
Jonah
p.s
i have attached daily local news articles with this info
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/515792/-/u1ag48/-/index.html
http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144004275&cid=

Sh37bn plea to save victims of famine

By MUCHEMI WACHIRAPosted Friday, January 16 2009 at 17:36

In Summary

• Post-election chaos, drought and global economy blamed for national food crisis

The massive task facing the Government as it tries to save 10 million Kenyans from starvation was laid bare on Friday when President Kibaki declared the food shortage a national emergency.

Related Stories

• Kenya seeks Sh32bn food aid
• Famine-hit area receives aid
• Leaders in strategy to end famine
• 700 bags of bad maize destroyed

standard newspaper

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1144004275&cid=4

Kibaki declares famine a disaster

Updated 3 hr(s) 41 min(s) ago

By Isaac Ongiri

President Kibaki has declared the current food shortage a national disaster and sent a passionate appeal for international help.

And the US, China, Japan and 27 EU countries through the France Ambassador Elisabeth Barbier promised to respond to the distress call. However, they told Kibaki reports of irregularities in the maize sector must be handled.

The President said the country urgently needed Sh37 billion to boost food security before the next harvest in September.

More than 10 million people need relief food.

The Cat That Did

hello everyone,

this a great (short) story......a story of a mother cat who saved her young ones from a burning house. i promised to blog this story when i blogged about Simba the dog some time ago.

the kittens were about 3 weeks old when they were rescued from a burning house by their mother.....the kittens sustained some injuries in the fire.

in the pic below you can see that one of them has two ears that do not respond normally......i was trying to get good focus on those ears in my camera...
i guess when these ones grow up they will appreciate their mother for saving their lives.....

I am grateful to the one who lives in us,

have a great day!

God bless
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