Grace Home, Rwanda and Me

Hi everyone,

I am so excited to report to you about what the Lord has been doing over here in East Africa. The Lord has continued to be with us at this time, though I can call this time, a hard time for us as we were attacked in all ways by the evil one. Here is a small report of what has been happening over the past few months.

Grace Home
The ministry at Grace home has been ongoing and we thank God for this opportunity to serve Him there. Grace has been going through some hard times during this past month as she has recently lost her dad. This was really the hardest part of it as the children had to be taken care of by someone else during this time.

Here in Africa, someone will not be burried until all the family members arrive. This was the most significant part for this family as they had to wait for their relatives who live very far apart to arrive. We thank God that they were all able to come to the funeral. We also thank God that Grace's father gave part of the land required for the contruction of the church for the church denomination that I serve with. Hopefully this will be finished soon and the people will be able to go there and worship.

My travels - Rwanda
I was fortunate to travel to Kigali, Rwanda to preach. I was really lifted by the way the country has changed over time and learned to accept the conflict that happened in that part of the world. We saw so many skulls and body bones that were spread everywhere in one of the churches that has been kept as a memorial center. This was really a
touching experience and you need to be the one who can to see it before you can really feel it and tell the story of what happened there. While we were there we were treated to a performance by Rwandan dancers. Here is a photo of the dancers.

My home and kids
The kids are doing great. Some of them are sitting for exams now. Please continue to pray for them. The Lord has continued to be their strength and I love the experience of watching them grow. We do pray that the needs here now can be met in one way or another by God's grace and provision....otherwise enjoy your day!!
and God Bless
Pastor Jonah

Pray for new Corn Crops

Hello to all of you in cyber world.

I am happy that so many of you have continued to view this blog and I am really excited about that!! Thank you too for lifting us up in your prayers. What I do pray for is to hear from you. Let me know what you think about my blog which is dedicated to the children of Africa. Or let us know that you have prayed for us or send me your prayer requests. kericho120@yahoo.com

Right now I am happy to report that we are grateful to the Lord for His provision for the daily food requirements and other daily needs of the orphans.

At the same time, we are planning for the planting season that starts in January. Please pray for the much needed resources (land rental, seed and fertilizer and some small funds to feed the workers) to do the work on the fields.

God Bless and hope to hear from you as the Lord leads. Brother Jonah Kipkorir

Thanksgiving is Upon Us in Canada

Hi readers, in a few days Thanksgiving will be upon us. What are we to be thankful of in Canada? There are so many things: a peaceful country; relatively clean air to breathe; plenty of water to drink, bathe and wash; food to eat, and if you are homeless, places to feed you and help you enjoy Thanksgiving with traditional turkey and dressing...I could go on with my list but I think you get the idea.

Sometimes it is easy to take for granted those things that we have and easier yet to complain when things are not perfect in our eyes. Despite the issues of the day here in our own country and the variety of issues that some of us face, there are so many things I've grown to appreciate and love about Canada: homeless shelters and food banks, the old age pension plan, the assistance for the mentally challenged, the numerous agencies that help care for and support those that need it, and the charitable and compassionate nature of Canadians. I know we can do more for those in need here at home, but life is very rich compared to many other countries, including African nations like Kenya.

At this time of year, I would ask you to consider those in Africa who have no change of clothes; no running water; no indoor toilet; no regular food; no shoes to wear despite the rain; no bedding to lie down on at night and no assurance of an education; no money to see the doctor when sick and no funds for medicines even if you can see the doctor. These are things that most of us here in Canada will never have to experience, let alone experience them on a daily basis. For that, we can be truly thankful. Even with these hardships, my friends in Kenya do not want pity or a hand out, they simply want a hand up, a hand of support as they strive toward building better lives which are self-sustaining and God centered.

As you spend time this weekend reflecting on the ways in which you give thanks, may you take a few moments to consider what you might do to assist those in Africa, and in particular through Kericho, Kenya's Missions of Hope. Much Love xoxox Sister Penny Joy

Bible Studies in Revelation

I trust and hope that all of you are doing great!! This week I spent 3 days studying God's word at the famous Tea Hotel in Kericho, Kenya. I was in the Bible class with senior pastors from the churches here in Kericho and it was exciting to get to interact with them and get to know one another better. I loved getting to know other people who are fighting the good fight. It seems that I was the youngest of the group.

Our teacher, Miles is from Calvary Church in Sonora, California (http://www.ccsonora.com/). He was teaching on the books of John and Revelation. I loved studying about the 7 churches in the Book of Revelation. What I found interesting is that of the 7 churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation, only the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia were not condemned. We need to try as much as we can to reflect on the characteristics of these churches and aspire to be like them. We also learned about the interelationship of these churches and the 7 great parables of Christ in Matthew 13.

It was a great time of study in God's word and I count it a great joy that I could sit under this great teacher and learn from him. I really admired his grasp of the word of God though I was not able to spend much one on one time with him. I was also delighted and blessed to be able to to stay at the tourist hotel...for a while!!, I loved it so much since it is very hard to stay in such a place as it is expensive for us here in Kenya. That is my update for now. God bless and we covet your prayers. Brother Jonah

Ministry Support Needs

Hi everyone: I hope you have all had time to review our video "Images of Kericho, Kenya: Missions of Hope" as it will give you a view into the area where I serve and some of the people I am serving. If you haven't looked yet, please scroll down to the last post in this blog and view the video. Or you can do a "youtube" search under my name "Jonah Kipkorir" and it will bring up the video images. Today I want to share with you the intermediate and long term needs of the Missions of Hope, so you can pray for us and also consider whether you are able to help in any of these areas of need. May God richly bless you as you seek his leading! Because He Lives, Pastor Jonah

IMMEDIATE NEEDS:

• URGENT: Rent & plant 4 hectares of land for corn growth, harvest, storage, sale and use $360./yr for 1 hectare. Total Annual Need: $1440
• URGENT: Plant interim crops (cabbages, potatoes) after corn harvest. Total Annual Need: $600 (some funds received to plant potatoes)
• URGENT: Pastoral support - $100 min. - $200./mo. Total Annual Need: $1200-$2400.
• URGENT: Monthly support $50/ per child to cover cost of school fees and supplies, medicine and clothes. Annual cost $600/ per child. Total Annual Need: $24,000 (40 children @ $600)
• Clean water - Hand Dug Well and Pump Well (cost varies)
• Cows - Total Need: $900 for 1 cow. Total One-Time Need: $3600 for 4 Grade cows (for milk production)
• Motorcycle - More reliable than a bicycle for travelling the muddy hills and roads of the area. Total One-Time Need: $3500
• Pit Latrines - $60 each for 35 houses of orphan caretakers. Total One-Time Need: $2100
• URGENT: Vacation Bible School - December 2007 Total Quarterly Need $500.

LONG TERM NEEDS:

• Grace House Construction (Kericho, Kenya) - $25,000-30,000
• Land purchase (Kericho, Kenya) - $20,000 for 1 hectare - $80,000 for 4 hectares
• School Construction (Kericho, Kenya) - $25,000-30,000

Work on the Farm

Hi, today (Saturday) was my day to work on the farm. We were planting potatoes for the orphans project on our rented land. We thank God for the people and the orphans who came to help us to do the planting.

Thomas who is working with me, organized the food so that we could all eat together. This was a great time of bonding for all of us, and I really loved it. I thank God for the opportunity to do something each weekend that helps in one way or another, the orphans that we have in my community.

We have also received an invitation from another village to go and help out!! Please pray that this dream will come thru' as we are trying as much as we can to duplicate what we are doing here in Kericho, in the other villages. We also feel good that some people are seeing something good happening through our group.

I also had time to visit with some of the kids in the neighborhood. They are great kids as you can see in the photo. Have a great weekend and know am praying for all of you, my co-workers in Christ. God Bless, your co-labourer, Jonah

What We've Been Doing

This past Saturday, I visited the orphans houses. The Missions of Hope wants to repair the homes of the orphans. In this particular home, we wanted to repair the house and give it a new look. The house is headed by an orphan who is not even able to buy food for the household let alone to build and repair the house. So on this day, a number of other orphans were able to come along and help in rebuilding the house. First we had to look for water and mud to do this!! It was hard , but I thank God that we were able to accomplish this work, with God's help. The ladies did some of the finishing tasks, but the boys and the youth had to do the hard work of bringing the water to the house and mixing the water and the soil.

We do plan to start the digging of pit latrines for the orphan homes as we realize this is also a big need. We hope that by the end of next month, we would have dug at least 5 pit latrines for the different homes. Altogether, we are hoping by the end of the year to do this project for the 30 plus homes of the orphans. To dig one pit latrine, it costs about $60...to dig about 30 feet. Please pray about this with us as we need to wait in prayer for these funds.
Because He lives
Jonah

Images of Kericho, Kenya: Missions of Hope

This is a video montage of images of the Missions of Hope that my team and I are bringing to the orphans and needy children of Kericho, Kenya. May you be touched by these images and get a good view of what we are trying to do through our outreaches.

Coming Soon: Video of Kericho's Children

Right now I am working on a slideshow of the Kericho children and some of the people involved in caring for them and include a few photos of our crops. It will be set to music and will replace the current flickr slideshow link on the blog. Stay tuned as it will be ready soon! God bless you.

Bringing Missions of Hope

Hello to all of you in cyber world. I am pleased to begin my new blog to share with you my journey to bring Missions of Hope to the orphans in Kenya. My journey starts at home in Kericho Village, but extends much further to include outreaches to the Pokot peoples of Northern Kenya.

As we go along, I will be telling you about the Missions of Hope. The vision, the needs, challenges and successes. The missions include caring for about 40 orphans in the rural area of Kericho and that means all their daily support for food, shelter, clothing and education, as well as love and spiritual support.

Some of the places and names I will write about may be very new to you. But as you come on a journey with me, I hope you will grow to love and care for the people and the places as much as I do.

More than that, I hope you will join with me in these Missions of Hope and consider lending a hand through prayer and financial support. Please contact me at kericho120@yahoo.com for more information and/or to provide support to these Missions of Hope.

I've posted a map of Africa on this blog so you can

situate Kenya. You will find Kericho on the western

side of Kenya near Lake Victoria at

http://www.theinterpretersfriend.com/indj/cty/kenya.html