Westside Church Seattle

The Full Kenya Report

May 28th, 2008

Posted by: Pastor Richard

Dear Friends:

Valerie and I returned from two weeks in Kenya this last Friday. As we talked on the plane we both felt like we had been gone for a month, because of all the amazing things that happened. Talk about busy! We landed at the Kisumu airport at 9am and were immediately whisked off to speak at two churches in Kakamega. We stayed in a lovely guest house in Kakamega but were so busy that we couldn’t even find the time to take a walk through the grounds. Normally we stay in the home of Simeon and Mary Obayo when we go to Kenya, but were asked to stay in a Guest house this time, because of security concerns. Simeon and his family were brutally robbed at gunpoint last year in their home and the robbers made repeated references to their relationships to mzungu’s (white men).

THE BIG DAY

As you may remember we decided to go to Kenya to attend Simeon Obayo’s installation as the General Overseer for the PEFA Denomination. Simeon e-mailed me and asked if I could be there with him and be the keynote speaker on this important day in his life. I only wish all of you could have been there to see and feel the events of the day. John and Jean and Jeff Kruger were also there, along with a visiting dentist (Jim McFarland). It was a 7 hour service, celebrated in classic African style. No-one can celebrate like Kenyans! The thousand seat auditorium was standing room only and hundreds more were forced to stand outside and pear through the windows all around. Fortunately they decided to take the children out for their own time in another building. What a day! Simeon, Mary, myself and the rest of the dignitaries marched slowly down the Isle toward the platform to thunderous applause, deafening music and the traditional African warbling of the women. Two hours of joyful worship was followed by two and a half hours of speeches in Simeon’s honor. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss one minute of those speeches as person after person stood up to appreciate Simeon and Mary for their love, their hospitality, their humility, and their true witness for the Lord. Many pastors and spiritual leaders rose to share that Simeon and Mary were a mother and father to them in the Lord. Love was flowing like a river. Let me say in passing that I know that Simeon is God’s man to lead this denomination at this time in Kenya. He will be a unifier and an advocate of love and forgiveness. As in many places of the world the devil has stirred up some intense tribal hatred. Simeon is a man who gives no thought to race or tribe, or social status and he constantly speaks of forgiveness and love in Christ. It is very unusual for a non-Kenyan to be invited to speak at this kind of an event and it was such an honor for us to be there. For 30 years now Simeon and I have been closer than brothers. All of his children are like our children and they have grown up to become some of the most dynamic spiritual leaders in Kenya. Please pray for Simeon as he assumes the leadership for more than 3000 congregations, 6 Bible Colleges, 30 Schools and 12 children’s homes in Kenya.

THE LAND DEAL

With the help of our friends, we took $6000 extra with us to purchase a 3 acre parcel of land immediately adjoining the present church compound. There is little unallocated land left within the boundaries of the city and I felt that we should act while the land was still available. You never know what you are going to encounter when you are trying to negotiate for land. I remember being in Kisumu 30 years ago and trying to negotiate with the town clerk for a piece of land on which to build a building. I made 6 or 7 appointments to meet with the town clerk and he stood me up every time. It was only through a chance meeting in a hotel restaurant that we were able to talk. And he only gave us the land, when we found out that he was going to America and we worked it out for Valerie’s parents to pick him up at the airport and host him for a few days. Lo and behold, we found ourselves in a similar situation this time. We were scheduled to meet with the Land Commissioners on Thursday. On Wednesday, Simeon happened the mention to us that the head of the Land Commission, Jacqueline Musalia, had asked him several weeks before if he knew of anyone in America that would be willing to host her and her husband so they could take a trip to America. Simeon didn’t know what to tell her at the time, but when Valerie and I heard it, we immediately knew this was a God thing. It’s all about relationships you know! We asked Simeon to call her up and invite her to come over immediately to talk about it. So, on the day before our meeting about the land, we invited Jacqueline and her husband Jonathan, to come to Seattle and stay with us and visit America. She is a wonderful person and we had instant fellowship with her. As we sat the next day with the full land commission, she delicately guided the meeting to our desired result. The process takes several months, but the land is now secured for the church. Within a week the church will be fencing it off and starting to store some building materials on it to let the community know that the land has been allocated to the church.

THE FUTURE FOR THE CHURCH

Over the last 20 years we, and other friends from other countries, have worked together with the church to help them get to where they are. The have a nice church facility and a bible school (housed in roughly built buildings) on the property. The bible school has three different programs, a four year accredited course, a two year course, and morning classes for those who just want to learn from the Scriptures. The future plan is to move the bible school to the new property and to expand the facilities to include a number of other, non-traditional programs to help change the culture and condition of Kenya. We are dreaming of two or three buildings: a classroom complex, an office complex and a student housing complex (with kitchen, dining/conference hall and restrooms). This housing complex will also house visiting missions teams in the future. Included will be a communications center, computer lab, micro-finance assistance office, a labor hall, a food bank, and an extension of our Nairobi Aids Relief program for Western Kenya. By the way! If God should speak to anyone reading this letter about investing financially in this project, please say yes! Call me and we can talk personally about it if you like. I believe that a lot of lives will be changed through this investment.

MIWANI FARM – TRAINING A NATION

During our visit we found the time to visit the Miwani farm three times. It was great that John and Jean and Jeff were all there during this time, along with Wolfgang and Heidi. They are such great friends! There is nothing that gives me more pleasure than to bring Kenyans to visit the farm. A year and a half ago we introduced our friends: Dr. George Matimbai, Osborn Obayo, Simon Barasa, Nancy Odwaro, and Dina Ocholla to the farm. Each of these leaders has developed a love relationship with Miwani, especially Dr. George Matimabai, who has now brought the entire staff of the Shikusa Boys Detention Center and Farm to visit the farm and see how it is done. Dr. George has made Miwani a regular stopping point on his way to Kisumu and Nairobi and he thinks Jeff Kruger is the greatest (as do we all). When a Kenyan tours the goat pens, the dairy, the orphan homes with bio-gas units, the herb gardens, the cultivated acreage, the mission house, the student dormitories and the office complex they are like a child in Disneyland for the first time. Every Kenyan is familiar with farming and animal husbandry, but at Miwani they see possibilities they have never dreamed of. AN AMAZING RELATIONAL CONNECTION: Following our meeting with the land commission in Kakamega, we went for lunch across the street from the church with Dr. George. As we sat there, Dr. George went to a table across the way and brought over a lovely woman and introduced us to her. Her name was Evelyn and she was the wife of The Honorable Kaya Manyala, one of the Members of Parliament in Kenya (like a U.S. Congressman). We chatted briefly and as we began to talk about Miwani Farm, she told us of her interest in Dairy farming, she then called a young man over who was sitting at her table. He was the Administrative Aid to the Member of Parliament (MP). He seemed a little detached until we mentioned “The Goat Project” at Miwani. At this point he lit up like a light bulb. “I love goats”, he said. “I have done extensive research on raising highbred goats and I am trying to interest the Parliament in investing money in training people to raise goats.” We had the following morning free so we offered to take him and Evelyn Manyala to see the farm. By this time he was so enthused that he wanted us to meet the Member of Parliament personally. [Co-incidentally, Valerie told me, before we left Seattle, that God had spoken to her that we were going to meet a high ranking government official on this trip and I must confess dismissed it as a wild notion]. Within a few hours we were sitting in a resort cabana “fellowshipping” with a member of the Kenya Parliament. We were supposed to have half an hour, but we really connected and spent an hour and a half talking about the problems in Kenya. He had just been given his new assignment in the government as “The Minister for Women and Children” in Kenya. The next day we took Ken (the MP’s aid) and Evelyn (his wife) down to Miwani for the grand tour. Both of them were very excited and eager to work together with us for future Satellite farms to educate Kenyans in modern farming techniques.

THE NAIROBI HIV/AIDS PROJECT

Just over a year ago we began to support and work with Osborn Obayo and his ministry in the slums around Nairobi. Nairobi has 5 major slums and there are more than 2 million people living in the most deplorable conditions I’ve ever seen. Osborn and his team are going into the slums find and to minister to the sick, many of whom are infected with and dying of AIDS. Believe it or not, most people with AIDS do not want to be tested because of the fear the rejection by the community. The DANSO Aids Project, encourages people to be tested, they even take them to be tested, and then, if they are found to be with AIDS they take them to the places where medication is available free of charge. Following this they teach them how to eat while taking the medication. This is imperative because the medication can be fatal without proper food. Every person then attends one of the DANSO small groups for encouragement and support for the long term. Almost all of them receive Christ and are getting well. In the last year through our small support in micro-financing, 6 new businesses have been started by the members of DANSO to help people support themselves and their families.

A BANQUET FOR GOD’S WORKERS

We asked Osborn to set up a banquet at a nice hotel restaurant so that we could get to know and appreciate and honor the key workers in this project. It was a wonderful and moving time as we heard more stories of God’s amazing grace in the lives of these people. All of these people wanted us to convey their sincere appreciation for your support of the work they are doing in the slums. Thank You!

THE DAGORETTI PRIMARY SCHOOL

On our way out of Kenya we visited the Dagoretti Primary School. Four years ago Osborn and two of his friends started this Christian school in the Dagoretti slum for poor children who were not in school. The land for the school was personally donated by the Director and Administrator, Mr. Muscort Musiega. This man is a wonderful godly man who genuinely cares about the kids. They now have a current enrollment of 600 kids, from kindergarten to 6th grade. This is as many as they can possibly serve right now. The tuition is only $40 per year, but only 100 students are able to pay any or all of it. 200 of these kids are orphans, and 50 of them have AIDS. The school has taken responsibility to keep these kids medicated and keep them living normal lives. There are 13 Christian teachers who are working in the school who are working for a fraction of a normal teacher’s salary. They are truly missionaries in their world. Each day the school feeds lunch to 200 students who live in absolute poverty and do not even have a banana to bring to school. The Director spends much of his time foraging for food, literally begging for the rice, beans, corn and bananas to feed these kids one meal a day. Valerie and I sat on the playfield and 600 kids gathered around us to honor us as their guests and benefactors. They sang songs, recited poetry, and danced for us and thanked us again and again for our help. We were moved to tears by it all, and I have to admit I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed because I didn’t even know about this school and I had no idea we had been helping them. It was on our agenda to visit the school a year ago, but we just couldn’t find the time. Osborn receives money from us each month and he has been using $50 a month to buy food for the lunch program. During our meeting with the teachers and staff of the school, I pledged our full support for the work they are doing. This school is now our school. I hope that many of you will help me to help these people. We would like to dig a well on the grounds (they have to bring their water by bucket from 1000 feet away, we would like to build a new latrine on the property (the current one is beyond description, and we would like to supply the school with at least $100 a month to buy rice, beans and corn. There is also no electricity but I believe I can prevail upon our new friend (The Member of Parliament) to have power brought in, if we can supply the fixtures. There are many thousands of kids who cannot attend school in the slums, and the vision is to start similar schools in the other slums around Nairobi. This year 50 of these kids will sit for their national exams and move on to Secondary Schools and were it not for the efforts of this committed band of Christians, they would simply be scavenging in the slums and trying to survive.

THANK YOU SO MUCH

Valerie and I want to thank you for your prayers. A special thanks to those who are partnering with us financially in our ever expanding work in Kenya. We are continuing to ask God to give us the wisdom to know how to invest resources wisely in people and projects that will have a long term impact on this nation. We have established a fund to support the ongoing work in Kenya. If you would like to contribute at any time to any of the needs I’ve mentioned, please visit our Give page to make your gift online.

In the years ahead we hope to be traveling to Kenya more often, and it would be great to have many of you join us to see for yourself how God is working. Let me know if you have any interest and we’ll begin to look for the perfect time and opportunity.

Yours in Christ’s love,

Richard and Valerie