Thursday, April 23, 2009

The Loss of a Bright Kalenjin Light

EMO society chairman, James Kiprop Bett died. See the news story here http://www.emosociety.org/


He died after his car hit buffalo's on the way to Nairobi. He was with his family and I know them personally.

A fundraiser was held this afternoon to cover medical and funeral expenses, and I attended, though we were disturbed a lot by the rain. The burial has been set for this Saturday.

James was born in 1966 and is one of the Kalenjin community's leaders. The Kalenjin is also my tribe and his life has really impacted me in a positive way.


I am thinking of attending his funeral in Eldoret on Saturday.

Please continue to pray for this family and the Kalenjin community as whole, as we come to terms with the loss of a young and great leader.

God bless.
Jonah

Saturday, April 18, 2009

God Gives Good Seeds

From God Gives Good Seeds


Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. Genesis 1:29 (NIV)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Here is a picture of a village farmer who has been a bit late in planting. He has not been able to plant on time, but he is still praying and hopeful that he will be able to plant.
From God Gives Good Seeds

From God Gives Good Seeds

He needs lots of help. He works during the night as a watchman, but all his kids are in high school. This means it takes a lot of money to pay for their high school fees, school uniforms and supplies and he has been defeated in getting enough extra money to plant the farm. He came to me thinking i would be able help. this was very hard for me as I could not help him.

From God Gives Good Seeds


God bless,
Jonah

Words from our Patron: April 20,2009



The contributions of just a few giving servants will make a huge difference to whether this family eats for an entire year. They will plant a few hectares to feed the family so the price of fertilizer and seeds adds up and is too much to be met by their meagre incomes. When the people harvest the corn, some of the corn will be kept for food needs and some will be sold to help buy other necessities. The villagers mostly have land but no assets and no way to borrow due to lack of adequate or consistent income.

Many Hands make light Work. Because it is but little to every one.
[1721 J. Kelly Scottish Proverbs 244]
Just as the Scottish Proverb tells us that many hands make light work, many donors of small gifts can make the burden lighter on everyone. As an example,
if six (6) givers gave @ $20/each that would make $120. If five (5) givers gave @ $25/each it would make a total of $125. Combined with what I have already sent, this farmer and all of his family members would be able to eat next year.
Think about it saints, what will $20 buy you in terms of your own food needs for an entire year and see if this gift would be a good use of your money. Even children and teenagers can afford this kind of gift (apportioned over the year). Parents you could think of making a good teaching lesson for your children on serving others and giving in foreign lands.
If there are more givers, that would be welcome as there more families who could use the assistance. I just don't want people to be discouraged and think that their small gifts do not make a difference because they really do! It is not the amount that counts but the heart of the giver and the number of givers toward the same cause.
Pastor Jonah & Brother Thomas have been overwhelmed this year with the number of needs for planting, for school & related needs and for medical needs. We can help to bear their burdens when it comes to planting, evangelism, medicine, latrines, stoves, clean water, etc. There is also a bank account waiting to be grown to meet the school needs for next term. We need your help.
I know there are many thoughts on giving and many people have their own pet charities. I want to share what I found on one excellent website about giving. This website dealing comprehensively with different questions about giving in a biblical and principled way. It deals with questions about giving for those who are on social assistance, unemployed or in debt. I found the website a useful resource and wanted to share this excerpt with you.
"God teaches us that we do... owe the poor, although not in the way we might think. In God’s economy, serving those in need is serving him, and failing to serve those in need is failing to serve him (Matthew 25:31-46). Romans 13:8 says to owe no debt to others except love, and Jesus teaches that loving others means caring for them in the same way we would want to be loved. How would we want to be cared for if we were poor and needy while others were rich? Clearly, we would want help getting our basic needs met. If this weren’t clear enough, Jesus makes the same point in story form in the parable of the Good Samaritan. In short, providing care for the physically and emotionally wounded; being a parent to an orphan or unwanted child; providing job training and economic empowerment; and providing emergency relief after famine, war, disease and natural disasters are all possible aspects of the Christian’s debt of love. That is what we owe the poor." [source: Generous Giving - Common Excuses ]
CAN WE GIVE A GOOD SEED?
God bless you as you prayerfully consider this need. xoxoxo
Leaders in the churches and women's groups, please think about taking on team projects to raise funds for different aspects of the missions needs in Kenya.
See

10 Practical Ways you Can Help Kericho

[ located in the column to the right of the screen]

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Last Days in Kampala

Hi friends,

Our last days in Kampala, Uganda were wonderful! We really wanted to stay behind as we grew to love the people so much. The Ugandan students were great and we thank God for getting to meet them.

What an awesome challenge it was for us on the day that we went house to house, or shall we say dorm to dorm and to the surrounding schools and the chapel. We loved doing all that and we really want to Praise God for taking such good care of us.

On our last day in Kampala we were involved in shopping and taking a group photo and then we headed back home to Kericho, Kenya. The last picture I took was while we were in Jinga, crossing the longest river in the world, the great Nile River.


Shopping - Uganda Mission Part 3
Kenyan Youth Group Photo - Uganda Mission Part 3
The Great Nile River - Uganda Mission Part 3

As I write now, I am rested and thanking God for our time in Uganda.

Have a great day and may God bless you

Jonah

Monday, April 13, 2009

Mission to Uganda Continues

Hello,

I just wanted to update you on our second last day here in Kampala, Uganda. We had church services in the morning and later we travelled with our host Pastor to the botanical gardens for some relaxation and swimming.

We had lots of fun as the over 300 students got to mix and mingle and learn from one another.

Our journey and mission here ends today as we head home by bus and expect to arrive around 3:00 a.m. after a long journey on a bumpy road.

We covet your prayers for a safe journey home and appreciate your prayers for the missions trip thus far.

I pray you all had a blessed Resurrection Sunday.




God bless you!
Pastor Jonah

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Cross - Cultural Mission to Uganda

Hello,

The youth group from Kericho began its cross-cultural outreach to Kampala Univeristy on April 9, 2009. Our travel to the Kenyan - Ugandan border took 10 hours and we took many photos along the way.

We have been very busy with various outreaches to the students in large group session. Today was our third day in Uganda and it has been very fruitful. We visited dorms and houses of the Kampala University students. Then we went to a high school not far from where we are staying.

We want to praise God for his goodness by allowing us to visit and evangelize there. The students of Newcastle High School were receptive to our sharing the gospel and we praise God for that!

Enjoy the slide show of our travels, our prayer preparation, break times and evangelism. God bless!



Jonah

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Fun with our Leaders

Hello,

I had a great fun day today. Some of our leaders were here. See them in the picture below in traditional dress.

From Fun with Our Leaders
We had lots of fun seeing them in this kind of attire that we wore about 50 years ago. Sometimes I am surprised how quickly we have changed and learned new things. I guess God is our sight, as our tribe was quickly able to pick up and accept what the missionaries were teaching us.

I will be heading to Uganda tomorrow to lead some of the youth to visit various sites and to evangelize. I was not planning on this trip but the person who was to accompany the youth has not been to Uganda before. He is paying part of my fare. Look for more pictures in the coming days.

Here is a photo slideshow of a cultural event, held in late March and featuring Masai dancers & other Kenyan dancers.



God bless and have a great day!

Jonah

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Planting & Teaching In Kericho

Hello,

We are working very hard to see that the farmers get what they need at this time. Right now we are seeing lots of needs inside and outside of the community but we are glad the rains are here.




Vacation Bible School (VBS) is about to start and we distributed seeds and fertilizer to help a few people farm their farms. We are really thinking we need to expand this farming project as we did not expect to see so many who had not farmed this planting season.



I will add more pictures later this week. Otherwise have a great day and God bless.



Jonah

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Lots of Rain!!

From Lots of Rain



Hello,

It is raining lots here! We
are so excited as we know that the crops will grow and become strong in the coming months.

We are blessed with Rains - From Lots of Rain


Our
worry though is that some farmers were not able to buy enough seeds and fertilizer for this season. Please pray that all will be well and done. I am praising God for what the Lord has blessed us with this week.

Fertilzer & Seed - From Planting 2009


Otherwise have a great time and continue to pray with us.

Tea Fields on Horison - From Lots of Rain



God Bless

Jonah

Monday, March 30, 2009

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.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Week in Ministry

Hello,

I wanted to share my week, last week, in pictures with you. These are in addition to what was posted in the blog post Visiting Day. Early in the week, we distributed some seeds and fertilizers to people who could not plant this year because of one reason or the other. Some of the families are looking after orphans and some are not, but the needs are more than the people can bear so we had to do something to help them.

Little boy holds tight to the donated seeds. From Last Week


Mama & family accept seeds for planting. From Last Week


I also shared an especially exciting day with a church I started way back in 1997. Initially, it started as a Sunday School and I am so glad to see that it has grown to become a big church! What a blessing.

Wearing some of the medals. From Last Week


Lastly, we celebrated the wins of medals by our college athletes by having Holy Communion. Imagine. These students won in every sport in which they participated, volleyball, athletics, archery. You name the sport; they won a medal! The only games in which they did not win, were longs tennis and scrabble. These were games in which they didn't compete.

Holy Communion From Last Week

In short, that was my week. Praise God with us for the glorious week!


Jonah

***If you can help with seed planting & harvest; buying food for the widows or the school needs, please email us at (contact information in side bar at right).