Awakened by "Jikos"

my village is getting awakened again and again by the new jiko's that have changed the way the village is viewing itself. everyone is talking about them [jiko stoves], and the people are very excited.

in the pictures, u can see me comparing the old form of stoves

From Awakened by "Jikos"

we have been using with the newer kind that consume very little firewood.

From Awakened by "Jikos"

i have also spent time talking to the women in the village about the need to change and embrace this newer wood efficient jiko.

From Awakened by "Jikos"

we are planning and hoping that before the start of Christmas, we will have at least ten of these jiko stoves spread all over the community. this dream can be achieved with your help. if you wish to support a jiko stove or two, a breakdown of costs is provided below...also, we would be pleased to send you some photos of the stove(s) you are sponsoring if you will send us your email address.

thanks for your prayer and your support.

God bless.
Pastor Jonah

Project Cost for making, delivering and installing one Jiko Stove:
Jiko (pot) Ksh.600
Cement 850
Bricks (20) = 300
Transport= 1000
Labor = 1000
Total: 3750 Kenyan Shillings or $48.00 US (approx. 6 months ago the cost was $61.00 US). Now is the time to give and make the funds stretch to meet Kenyan needs.

Rain of Blessing

this past sunday [november 16,2008] i can say was a blessing in two ways. we had the message preached and, at the same time, the rain ..rained on us ...just after the first service! [rain in kalenjin culture symbolizes blessings]. my speaking was cut short by the rains and everyone had to run here and there to take shelter.



i later checked and found out that our temporary structure is in dire need of repairs. we need to find another 'tent', so that it can cover us. please pray that we can get this; or even a simple polythene just to cover us when the sermon is going on.

but as u can see, we still had a great time, though walking home was slippery after the service. Enjoy the pics and pray with us.

Jonah

A "Jiko" for your Thoughts

hello,

i am just so excited to announce that we have our first pioneer jikos ready and in use...

this is what we are thinking will be the face of Kenya, Africa in the months and years to come.....
Electricity and gas here in Kenya amount to being used by a small number of people, less than ten percent of the population, why..it is expensive and beyond reach of many....

and this economy wood saving jiko...i hope will dot many homes in the villages both in my community and the rest ..as it is affordable...and it's advantage is that it will save our forests and keep the rain coming.

This indeed makes me so excited today as i see this mama enjoying using it ..it makes ma heart warm...hope it makes yours too.

have a great day

jonah

Note

Project Cost for making, delivering and installing one Jiko Stove:
Jiko (pot) Ksh.600
Cement 850
Bricks (20) = 300
Transport= 1000
Labor = 1000
Total: 3750 Kenyan Shillings or $48.00 US (approx. 6 months ago the cost was $61.00 US). Now is the time to give and make the funds stretch to meet Kenyan needs.

President Elect, Barack Obama

hello friends,

we join you folks in the united states in welcoming your next president to the White House. this was indeed a historic election. America has proven again that it is the home of Democracy.

we, here in kenya, Africa have been following this election carefully. we hold a small attachment to OBama himself, whose father came from KOGELO village here in kenya, though he was raised almost in totality in hawaii, by his gracious and most loving grandmother. personally we owe a lot to this woman, who sacrificed a lot for Obama to get to a good school, etc. she is our Hero, though she went to the Lord a day before the elections.

Kenya has been celebrating...and we surely love Obama. we pray that He will rule America, with humility and prosper its people.

Long Live America,
Jonah

Thoughts on U.S. Elections

hello folks,

i know u are going to vote on Tuesday. here in Kenya we are praying that the best candidates win. we are truly learning a lot from you folks in the way you run your campaigns and we do hope that this will be the best election ever for the United States.

here in Kenya, the newspapers have been awash with pictures of McCain and Obama as though they were fighting for their seats here. some of the newspapers here have even gone an extra mile and endorsed their candidate, though we are over 14 hours away by flight and thousands of miles away. the world has really become a global village.


we are hoping that the elections will be peaceful and that the best candidate wins. the world is waiting; waiting with bated breath, to see who between Obama and McCain will be the new occupant of the House. i mean the White House. Vote wisely and know we are praying for you all.

God Bless
Jonah

Kids' Outreach

hello friends,

this past week was my greatest week.
i have been interacting one on one with the kids in the community and trying to teach/reach them about Christ.
most schools could not allow kids to go to school for three days or so as the rest of the kids were sitting for national examinations so when i was visiting in the community and
handing flyers to the kids about Christ, i felt in some way that the kids were learning something.

personally i was converted to Christianity through the same strategy. i feel so touched when i can get to meet kids who are ready to accept Christ at such a young age. please continue to pray for abigael and debra (those in the pics) as they grow in Christ.

because He lives,
Jonah

School Uniforms in Kenya!

[Photo caption: Bro. & Sister shop with 4 orphans]

we want to thank God for providing some uniforms for these kids who so much need these clothes. many of them had been praying and waiting for a time when they can be able to have some new clothes and go to school. i am really happy that with the help of the leaders that we have, these kids were at long last able to have the clothes they so much needed.

there are still alot of needs..here, but as the Lord leads we will be able to get the needs of all these kids met.

just a little background on this ..we had to pick the kids up and travel with them over to a small city where these clothes are sold. the kids were very excited though the weather was a bit cold that day. this picture is of 4 of the kids who went shopping but the list of orphans who received clothing from this donation is longer: caroline c., gladys c., vienna c., victor c., evaline c., kipkoech k., underson k. and ebigael c.

otherwise receive the greetings of this small group, which is a part of the bigger group of orphans that we work with here in Kenya.

have a great day and God Bless

Because He lives
Jonah

Note: Many of these orphans are not related but the letter in their last names represents the time of day they were born. That is how the people are named in Kalenjin country. Like my last name Kipkorir, means I was born in the morning.

Building the Church

[Photo Caption: Temporary Church Shelter]

this past two weeks has been great.
we have been trying to roof the church and we still lack a few iron sheets to complete the building...we need about 70 iron sheets (each cost about $12. US) @ a total cost of $840 U.S. pray that we can get this so that we can complete the church as we have been trying for years to finish it..

we also had a small destruction from wind, on the side of wall of the church, since it had not been covered as we could not afford it at the time. we were informed by the builders to see that we finished roofing as quickly as possible to avoid other damages to the existing structure.

please pray with us for this need to be met.
otherwise have a great day.

Slideshow of Damage to the New Church


Pastor Jonah

School Visits Underway

i have been very busy going to schools and meeting high school students. they just got back to their schools for their last semester. we have 3 semesters here in our schools.

the third; this semester is going to be be filled with lots of work for students. this will determine whether the students will move to the next class or they have to repeat the same class in some cases. this is also the semester where those students who did not take their work seriously decide instantly to be very serious students.

i have started hitherto to visit this schools. i have about 20 schools to visit this semester pray that all goes well. at the same time, we thank our government for allowing us to visit these schools. i have read that in other countries...it is not allowed for for one to visit schools....for religious purposes.

otherwise have a great day
because He Lives,
Pastor Jonah

Travels: Kenya, Uganda

For the last two weeks i have been traveling a lot. i was first in a meeting in nazarine university for university students ...and we had an exciting camp there. u can get more info from this link http://www.anu.ac.ke/africaablaze/

i had also a camp meeting in kericho, kenya for kids and teachers and i was involved a lot with this group here. we were about 100 of us there.

i was also fortunate to travel to kampala, uganda for a conference on evangelism....many leaders from around the world attended......about 400 attended...we were about 20 from kenya and on the picture is a group from kenya and my former classmates from college that we met together in this rare occassion...most of them are working with unreached people groups in Kenya...pliz pray for them...Bill Thomas was one of our teachers...and lucky i found his website...though i was looking for the luis palau ministry that supported our stay there....(i got to know them in these travels).

here is Dr. Bill's website and description of this meeting http://www.bill-thomas.org/sept2008.html

have a great day and God Bless
Jonah

p.s thank God that i was able to go this meetings though ...i was told of this meetings last minute and the cost involve in the travels... when i got the invite, God worked miraculously ....all credit goes to Him