Empowering Lives International

ELI's Work Showcased on National Television

2008-10-13T13:22:00.003+03:00

Earlier this summer, a TV crew came to film the work that ELI does in Kenya and the D.R.Congo. Click here to watch the clips.

DBSP: Bringing More than Economic Hope to Western Kenya

2008-10-13T13:05:00.003+03:00

~ text and photo by Adele Booysen

Sitting under a tree on a blazing Saturday afternoon, I could hardly believe what the men around me were telling me. “Yesterday, on our very last day of the DBSP training, was the first time we talked or even thought about tribes,” Juma suggested. “And it is only because someone specifically asked us what tribes we belong to. Until now, we’ve just thought about our businesses and how to help one another succeed.”

“As a Kalenjin,” 20-some-year old Kenei explained, “I believed I couldn’t succeed in business. Business is not in my blood. In fact, during the first exercise, I did nothing! But then Pastor Titus encouraged me. Charles and Juma also helped me to see that I can be successful in business.”

The three other men laughed. Two of them are Kikuyu, and one, Luhya. Earlier this year, these three tribes were at war. But now, they are working together to encourage one another.

Wendy Ludovici of ELI/DBSP Kenya reminded the students of the same during her closing comments earlier in the day. “This is just the beginning. We have equipped you with skills and confidence . . . ”

This was evident in my conversation with the men under the tree. Eric blew the stereotype of his people not being good at business out of the water!

He discovered a need for milk in Munyaka, a Kikuyu residential area. Earlier this year, Munyaka was one of the hotspots in the tribal warfare. Kalenjins were no longer welcomed there. But Eric discovered that no one was selling milk in the area, and ignored the fact that he was a Kalenjin. “I had something to offer the people of Munyaka!”

By the last day of class, this young businessman had made more money than any of his classmates! In fact, with his newly-acquired business skills, he made more than he usually made in several months combined!

“When positive opportunities like these come our way,” Charles commented, “we forget about tribe.”

Present people with positive opportunities, and they start treating one another with respect and dignity. If it’s indeed that simple, the dynamic business startup project can have far-reaching effects in Kenya and beyond.

7th Graduation of ELI's Sustainable Agriculture & Community Development Program

2008-07-26T21:06:00.001+03:00

Handing over the sheep
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry

Yesterday, to the applause of 500 or so guest, ELI's 7th SACDP class graduated. That brings it to a total of 158 students who have graduated from this program since it started in 2001.

Dr. Victoria Anjiji, professor in horticulture at Moi University, was one of the guests of honor. This petite woman was beaming with pride in the students, reminding them to keep Jesus in the #1 position of their lives, no matter where the journey from here may take them.

"You aren't just graduating for Uashin Gishu District, or for Rift Valley Province, or for Kenya or East Africa. You are graduating to compete with the world!" she pointed out. Baringo District, where she hails from, produces such quality agricultural products that their greatest international competitor is Israel. "Are you ready to compete with the rest of the world? With Christ, you can do it!"

She beamed as she handed out the prizes for best academic and best practical performance to two female students.

The hundreds of guests enjoyed a meal together before making the long journeys home. But the joy in the air was evident. Families were proud of their students' performance, and are ready to see them implement in their own communities what they had learned at Kipkaren.

Click on the photo to see more pictures from the event.

Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with God

2008-07-18T16:27:00.004+03:00

~ by Allison Tjaden | ELI Kipkaren Staff

Jeptum, in blue, worshiping with the children at the Kipkaren Children's Home

It was Monday morning, May 12th, that God reminded me of what He requires of me to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. He did this through an encounter with a new friend, Emily Cheptum.

When I woke up that morning, it was not in my plan for the day to visit Cheptum. Juli had planned to do so and invited me to come along. We had heard about Cheptum through a doctor at a nearby clinic who asked us to follow-up on her case: 17-year old diabetic; untreated to the extent that it has caused her to go blind; unstable home.

Two years ago she completed 5th grade but was unable to continue her education due to her untreated diabetes. The doctor wanted to start her on insulin; however, he was concerned about her home situation: 2nd born of seven children, alcoholic father and mother, mentally challenged and crippled 1st born child, no one to take care of Cheptum. Those were the facts we knew going into the situation though none of us knew exactly what to expect.

As we traveled 20km to the base of the beautiful Kaptebee mountains to reach Cheptum’s home, the beauty of the surroundings were about to collide with the darkness of what we encountered inside the home. We parked the car near the home, got out of the vehicle and did not see anyone around. However, immediately we heard the piercing cries of a young girl. With no one around to welcome us, and cries coming from inside the house, we welcomed ourselves into the home where we found Cheptum.

She was lying by herself on a bed, crying in intense pain from the fire she was feeling from her calves down to the tips of her toes. Though unable to see us or recognize our unfamiliar voices, she showed no fear in allowing us to come inside. We began asking her questions and she quickly answered each one as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

“Where is your mom?”

“Washing clothes at the river.”

“Where is your father?”

“I don’t know. My father drinks and when he comes home drunk, he beats me. In his drunkard state he asks me, ‘Why don’t you just die?’ I answer, just leave me to be with my Jesus.”

About 10 minutes later, Cheptum’s mother, Priscilla, arrived. Slowly more children entered the room along with some neighbors whose curiosity was aroused by our visit. Before asking more questions to gain a better understanding of this desperate situation, Stone (ELI Anti-Alcohol staff member who had joined us) asked if he could pray. He was given permission.

I was sitting on the bed, and not knowing what else to do, I tried to comfort Cheptum (and admittedly myself) with a soothing touch. As I put my hand on her back to massage, I was disturbed to feel every bone—every single rib could be counted. She seemed to be wasting away from a combination of the diabetes that is eating away her body along with the lack of nutrition from no food being present in the home.

Stone came close to Cheptum, put his hand on her head and began to pray in his mother tongue, Nandi. “Kiptayat Jesu,” my Saviour Jesus—the tears fell from my eyes. I did not understand every word he was praying, but could sense that he was powerfully interceding on Cheptum’s behalf, asking Christ to intervene and heal her, to have mercy on her. When he finished praying for her, he walked over to Chebet (Cheptum’s older sister who is mentally and physically handicapped and the mother of a baby boy) and continued to pray for God’s intervention, healing, and mercy.

The tears were flowing down the cheeks of Priscilla, their mom, as well. Justice and mercy. My heart was moved, for lack of better words, by my encounter with Cheptum and her family that day.

On the drive home, we debriefed about our visit and I began to feel anger in my heart. I was angry at the way Satan entangles people and binds them into destructive things like alcohol until fathers and mothers cannot even care for their own children.

I was angry at the way Satan can use people to abuse an innocent young lady like Cheptum’s older sister—a girl who cannot defend or speak for herself.

Jesus said in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He was speaking from Isaiah 61 where it also says, “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted…to comfort all who mourn…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

Let it be so in Cheptum’s life. Even in the life of her mother, Priscilla, her father and her six siblings. As we left her home that afternoon, all I could say to Juli was “Lord, have mercy on them.”

We left Cheptum and her family that day with no answers, only a prayer for God’s justice and mercy, which did not seem like enough. We knew what God required of us—to be moved to act; and so we sought wisdom from Him and from our team.

Two days later, after consulting with ELI Directors, team members, government officials from Cheptum’s location, Cheptum’s family members and neighbors, we agreed to bring her to our center. For the last two months, a team of unbelievably loving individuals have spent their days and nights caring for Cheptum.

Our social worker, Ruth, has learned to give Cheptum injections of insulin in the mornings and evenings. Juli has created a special menu to help regulate Cheptum’s blood sugar levels. Karemi (one of our Home Based Care clients) has diligently spent her days cooking these special foods for Cheptum. Others have stayed up all night comforting Cheptum because of the extreme fiery pain in her legs and feet. Cheptum’s younger sister comes on the weekends to take care of her.
All of these people remind me of the verses in 1 John 3:16-18: “And by this we know love, He laid down His life for us and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. If any of you has this world’s goods and sees your brother in need and turns from him, how does the love of God abide in you? My dear children, let us not love in word or in tongue but in action and in truth.”

It is a simple yet challenging message.

We are continuing to love and care for Cheptum until she is strong enough to go for an eye operation, which God-willing, will allow her to see again. Please pray with us for the following:

Cheptum’s evening sugar levels to stabilize so she can go for an eye operation.
Wisdom for how to empower her family members so she may return home after the operation.
The chains of alcoholism in her mother and father to be broken. Her father recently came to visit her and asked for help with his alcohol problem.
Complete healing, especially the pain in her legs and feet. I believe the heart piercing cries we heard that day when we arrived at Cheptum’s home are the cries that God hears all the time. The cries of His children do not go unnoticed. The cries of His children should not go unnoticed. Let us do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

Thank you for walking this journey with us. May His mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

HIV Testing: Change in Strategy

2008-07-06T22:09:00.004+03:00

For a few years now, ELI's Home-based Care Team (Tumaini na Afya) has been partnering with AMPATH in doing HIV/AIDS campaigns in our region. We host campaigns where people come to compete in running and cycling races, and AMPATH provides the HIV testing kits. Those who are willing to be tested know their status within 5 minutes, and can make changes in their lifestyle, either making sure they do not contract the virus, or making sure they don't spread it.

Last year, AMPATH suggested a change in methodology. Rather than asking clients to come to us to be tested, they'd go to them. (Sounds a lot like Jesus' way of reaching out!) In the safety of their homes, entire families can be tested. Couples can both know their status.

Once again, AMPATH chose to partner with ELI. Not only will we supply some of the VCT councelors, but ELI is responsible for promoting the concept of home-based testing.

ELI staff, praying before heading out to the event

So, yesterday we held a campaign that looked a lot like the ones we used to have. There was an evangelistic crusade the night before. There were football (soccer) play-offs, and on Saturday, winning teams competed for the coveted prize of new uniforms. Cyclists raced their hearts out for a new bicycle. Runners showed up from near and far to compete in the long-distance races for which the Kalenjin pe0ple of our area are famous around the world. (It's not unusual to have men or women in our races who have competed in/won races such as the Boston marathon, or the London or LA marathons!) There's also tug of war, relay races, and, for the first time yesterday, dance contests.

Throughout the day, the Salvation Army Band entertains the crowd, and when they take a break, ELI musicians take over. There's never a moment's silence all day, and the energy runs high! All through the day, clients from ELI's home-based care program share their testimonies over the PA system, telling others what a difference it made knowing their status.

Usually, we'd urge people to be tested at the event, and have had as many as 1,000 people tested on one day. Yesterday, the purpose was to tell people that yes, they should know their status, and yes, we'll come to their homes to test them. This way, in conjunction with AMPATH, we'd be able to test thousands more than we had done to date.

We are excited about the journey ahead and the doors it will open for us to bring Hope to those who are HIV+.

Dr. Mamlin, head of AMPATH, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the second consecutive year for the work he's done through AMPATH in our region. We are honored to work with a group such as his.

ELI Small-business Training

2008-07-05T22:05:00.004+03:00

~ by Dan Perrine, ELI USA Staff, visiting Kenya

Twenty young adults were honored on July 4th as the first graduating class of Empowering Lives International’s Dynamic Business Start-up Project (DBSP) conducted at the Kipkaren River Training and Development Center.

DBSP was developed by Chris Black in South Africa as a way to empower young Africans living in poverty conditions with business development and management skills to start their own businesses and to sustain them for long-term economic benefit. ELI staff member Wendy Ludovici started DBSP training as part of her work in Nairobi.

A unique aspect of DBSP over other micro-enterprise development programs is the emphasis on God’s power in the trainee’s personal lives as well as in their businesses. To date, over 4,000 South Africans have been trained by DBSP certified trainers and now the program has come to the Eldoret area of Kenya through a partnership with ELI.

The 20 students participated in an intensive 30 days of classroom work where half the time was given to the discussion of theory and the other half to actual application in the community. Starting with their own 500 shillings ($8.06), small teams of students developed practical businesses that turned in profits at the end of the 30 days ranging from $33 to $114.

Nothing motivates like success. These young people now have both the skills and the confidence to return to their homes and start small businesses that will empower both their own families and their communities.

A Day at Our Clinic

2008-03-27T21:33:00.004+03:00

~ by Michelle Kiprop
ELI Family Nurse Practitioner

While studying to become a nurse practitioner, I chose to specialize in Family Practice because I figured in this setting I would see just about everything. And boy was I right! I’d love to write about our typical day but I’m not sure we really have one...

I’m the only American at the clinic; the rest of our staff are amazing Kenyans with a boatload of experiences. We have two highly trained RN’s, a Clinical Officer (very similar to a physician’s assistant), a dental technician and a laboratory technician.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays we provide antenatal care and do well child immunizations. We typically have many malaria cases throughout the year. The clinic staff cares for patients from all walks of life and with many different types of problems. We may see a 2-month-old baby and then treat the grandmother who brought her in the same visit. One of my recent weekend clinic adventures was suturing up machete wounds from a domestic dispute.

Our clinic theme is “We treat, God heals”.

One of my favorite aspects of working in the clinic is helping the mama’s deliver babies. Last night was one of those special nights. A little after midnight I got the phone call “She is fully dilated and getting ready to push, you better come now.” William, my husband, got up with me to go to the clinic. We put on our gumboots (rain boots) and tromped through the mud using our flashlights to get to the clinic.

The patient was a 16-year-old I had been following in antenatal clinic. When I walked in the room the mama broke out in a huge smile and thanked me for coming. That moment alone was worth the midnight trek through the mud. If my presence could induce a smile like that at full dilation, the trip was most definitely worthwhile. Bernard, the nurse on call, declared that as I had followed her all the way through, I should be the one to deliver the baby. Thus far I’ve only assisted but haven’t actually taken the lead. Bernard coached me through step by step. I couldn’t have done it without him. And by the way, I still consider myself to have assisted in the delivery. I don’t think we medical professionals should get the credit for delivering the baby when it is the mom who does all the hard work!

Somewhere between 1:30 and 2:00 Karen Jemutai made her grand entrance. It was a difficult delivery with some minor complications. But I’m pleased to announce that both mom and baby are doing great this morning. What a joy it is to watch a new baby take her first breath and scream out her protest as she enters this world. Then those little eyes start blinking and taking it all in. Those first minutes are so precious. Mom and gogo (grandma) thought that I should name the baby. They asked me if I wanted to name her Michelle after myself. I told them that I was honored but I thought the mom should choose. Mama and baby Karen stayed overnight and are getting ready to walk home as I type. That’s right! Just eight hours after delivery mom wraps up the baby and walks her home.

Life in rural Africa is very, very different from life in the US!

Services offered at the Chebaiywo Clinic includes the following:
1. Curative (The treatment of injury or illness of just about any type i.e. from sprained ankles to malaria)
2. Laboratory Services (including HIV testing and counseling)
3. Maternal Health, Infant/Child Health, and Family Planning
4. Basic Dental Services (Usually resulting in tooth extraction)
5. Preventative Services: Sale of Mosquito nets and Water Guard (kills parasites and bacteria from well water to make it safe for drinking)
6. Outreach Services: Mobile Clinic (We literally take the clinic on the road to a remote location)
7. Reproductive Health Training Sessions (focused for local midwives)
8. Pharmaceutical Services
9. Maternity/Deliveries

ELI Staff Update: Jane Kiptoo

2008-03-16T21:28:00.002+03:00

You may know one of our ELI Kenya staff members named Jane Kiptoo. Jane is married to Bernard Kiptoo, who is the nurse in charge at the Chebaiywa clinic (our local health clinic). They have been married for four years and have one daughter, Mercy Jepkemboi.

Jane was raised and went to elementary and high school in the Chebaiywa community. After completing high school, she spent one year taking care of Joshua Rogers, Don and Amy Rogers firstborn son. Joshua loved his "Auntie Jane" as she took great care of him. She then went to Kericho to study for one year to become a nurse aide. After completing the course, she returned to her community of Chebaiywa when the clinic was just beginning.

In October 2001, Jane obtained a job at the Chebaiwya clinic as a nurse aide. She has worked very diligently for 6 years at the clinic doing a variety of jobs and having a variety of responsiblities. In 2006, Jane was able to attend a one month training to become a VCT counselor (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) and is now trained to counsel and test individuals for HIV.

Jane is an excellent counselor, incredible servant, and a loving mother and wife. She is soft spoken, but also loves to share and laugh together with friends. Jane's desire is to see the clinic fully equipped so they can assist all people.

Since the Kenyan government did away with the role of nurse aide in clinics, Jane had a desire to further her studies to become a nurse. Her prayer in 2005 was "that God will open the door for me to complete my nursing school so I will be recognized by the government." Over the last three years, she applied to several nursing schools and continued to have faith in God that He would answer. In September 2007, she was called for an interview at Pentecostal Church of East Africa (PCEA) Tumutumu Hospital School of Nursing (which is near Nairobi, about 6 hours from home). More than 100 people interviewed for 30 positions, and in October, she received a letter saying that she was one of the 30 who were chosen. We are all grateful to God for this answer to her prayer.

During the post-election violence, we were all concerned wondering whether or not she would be able to attend the school as it is located in an area of a different tribe and traveling the roads to get there was unsafe. However, after much prayer and consultation with the school, she and Kiptoo (her husband) felt that things were okay and they traveled to the school on February 18.

The ELI staff and clinic committee gathered at David's house the Friday evening before Jane's departure for a small party to say goodbye to Jane and pray for her. It was a wonderful time of fellowship as we sent Jane off with God's blessings. We would like to share Jane's prayer requests with you and ask you to lift her and her family up in prayer for the following:

1. Safe travels to school (her husband, Kiptoo, is escorting her so also pray for safe travels as he comes back home). (They traveled to and fro without any incidents.)
2. Peace of heart and mind as she begins school while leaving her daughter, Mercy, and her husband back at home.
3. Good friends at school.
4. Commitment and dedication to her studies.

Jane is taking a Diploma course for Kenya Registered Community Health Nurse which will take 3 1/2 years. She will complete the course in July 2011. We will all greatly miss her as she has been such a vital staff member assisting in all areas. She is responsible, dedicated and committed to serving the community. She is also a gifted teacher and has greatly helped me in training our Traditional Birth Attendants. Jane and her family as well as us appreciate your prayer for Jane and her family.

Blessings,
Allison

ELI Anti-Alcohol: New intake at Ilula

2008-03-15T14:57:00.003+03:00

On Thursday, a new group of just 5 men and women moved into the training center at Ilula for rehab. The one-month program starts with "cold turkey" detoxification, followed by the Christian 12-step program. It's an intense time of healing and discipleship, and the men and women need your prayers.

Please also pray for Mark and Francis, our staff members who are leading the program in Ilula, for revelation and wisdom as well as for endurance during this difficult month.

News from Don & Amy

2008-02-08T19:57:00.000+03:00

Tanzania
Our Tanzanian leadership and one of our Kenyan training center teachers recently teamed up to do a survey of over 200 students and farmers that ELI has impacted during the past year. The results were very encouraging and our Kenyan teacher is now preparing to move with his family to serve alongside of our Tanzanian leadership for 2008 as they move forward with more training and outreach programs.

Southern Sudan
Our Sudanese Director recently traveled from Kenya to Southern Sudan with a load of supplies that will enable us to continue to complete the home under construction that will house orphans from the village. They will also be installing a very important fence / barrier near the borehole that was installed last year. This fence will protect the thousands of tree seedlings that will be planted in the months to come. Grazing goats and cows in the area are a great threat to anything green and could completely destroy all of the seedlings within minutes if they are not protected well. The ELI school now has walls and will open again after their normal break that takes place from January through March. Pastors in the area are very enthusiastic about the trainings that ELI has presented to them and relationships with these leaders and other leaders in the area continue to grow. Reech (Sudan Director) is thrilled with the “miracles” he is seeing take place in this village as the school reaches the children with new hope and daily nutrition and as the village and pastors respond and apply the trainings that we have been able to provide.

Support is needed to complete the administration room for the school, floors for the classrooms, the adjacent training center classroom, and a much needed motorcycle ($3,000).

Kenya
Here is a recent update from Don and Amy Rogers (ELI Directors) after their recent visit to Kenya:

Dear friends,

Thank you again for your prayers for the people of Kenya and for our family.
We moved from the Training Center and Children's Home in Ilula to Nairobi a few days before our scheduled return to California (Mid January). We traveled well though our hearts were and still are full of prayers for the nation and specifically for our staff and orphans in Kenya.
I have talked several times over the past few days with many of our leaders and our USA staff. Kipkaren is ok. There is a sense of calm in the village though the roads that go into Eldoret from there have concerning sections where sporadic road blocks make passage uncertain. Our staff and children have remained in the village though a few trips have had to be made to purchase food. All have traveled to and from without harm. Ilula campus is closer to town so the intensity and population is greater but I talked with Samuel today and he said that all are ok but the situation needs prayer.

As for our family - Joshua continues to pray for “Peace for Kenya” every day. He continues in 2nd grade here in Murrieta and our Nathaniel who is younger is back in preschool and seems to be doing fine -adjusting back to life here.
Right now there are important talks taking place in Kenya among the political leaders and we ask that your prayers concentrate on these discussions.

Some of you have asked if this crisis has created additional needs. The answer is yes as the price of food has gone up immensely. Many of you have already responded and we are so grateful as they have already been very helpful in securing the food and security. We know that God will use ELI also in the future as lives will need counseling, ideas, and hope. Any funds that we receive at this time , that are not used during this crisis will be used to help bring healing and restoration to people who have lost much and will need to rebuild physically, emotionally, and Spiritually.

Thank you again for standing with us in this important ministry and during these trying days as we give God our all to serve and empower the needy and lost.

Empowering lives together,

Don and Amy

Join ELI in Prayer

2008-02-05T07:30:00.000+03:00

Ministry family,

We are so grateful for so many who are praying every day for the situation in Kenya. God hears and will answer. It is also good to come together in prayer.

We are inviting all of our staff and friends to join together this Friday – February 8th - wherever you may be (workplace or home) – from 12noon to 1pm for a time of prayer that focuses on Kenya.

Our office staff in Upland will be gathering for prayer from 11-1pm and anyone that can join us during that time is welcome.

Prayer for:

Peace
The current negotiations - that a process/ decision will be put in place that brings peace and restoration to Kenya and its people.
For protection for all of our staff and ministry areas.
For strength and wisdom for our Kenyan leadership.
For all of those affected by the conflict thus far.

Together in Christ.
Don

ELI Upland Office is located at 422 N Second Avenue, Upland, CA 91785 (Just North of the 10 fwy - off Euclid)

Earthquake in Bukavu and surrounding rural villages

2008-02-04T09:07:00.000+03:00

Two earthquakes (magnitude 6.0 and 5.0) hit the Bukavu area yesterday. Read about it on BBC. Please pray for our staff in Bukavu as well as for the families of the children at our school.

Here is an email from Mudekereza, our Congo Director that came in this morning to Don Rogers (ELI Intl. Director):

Dear friends,

It was 9.30 am when we dropped the children at the church. As we alighted, the earth was shaking like we have never seen before; it was a strong earthquake.

We looked in the air and saw dust covering the sky above our heads; several building walls (including church buildings) were falling down around our church.

My wife, our newborn baby and some of our other children needed to be at home for various reasons. As I entered the church because I was to speak, I saw my nephew coming my way; he was scared. I asked what was going on. He said several building in our area had collapsed. I asked what happened to my wife and the children. He said the building was still all right. I drove back home and found that everyone including the little baby were outside far away from buildings.

Our two-year-old son was highly traumatized. He was just crying. He could not stand the shaking and up to this moment is crying and gets scared at every little noise.

My in-laws live in front of my house, in a school building, a very large and old building. They tried to run out of the building during the earthquake, my sister-in-law was trapped by falling walls and had a serious head wound.

Looking for her, we drove to the main hospitals and realized that many families have been affected by the unusual earthquake. She is in a critical condition.

The victims up to this moment has reached 5 people dead and about 200 wounded. As I am writing this email we have not been allowed to enter our homes, because even now there are buildings shaking. We are advised to spend the night outside which is difficult with little babies.

The government just said that the next 2 days there should be no office opening, or no-one should be near crowded buildings like in the market, because they say there are more aftershocks are to come. In neighboring Rwanda, 23 people are reported dead and more than 200 wounded. We need your prayers that God may be limiting the damages, console the affected families.

Thanks for praying!

Mudekereza

No news

2008-01-28T19:20:00.000+03:00

Due to security issues, we will not be posting updates regarding the situation in Kenya. You may follow the news on Google.

Please pray for peace to be restored, for safety for our staff, children and facilities. And for wisdom for our leaders in dealing with situations that may arise.

Kenya update

2008-01-24T10:43:00.000+03:00

Things are still bad in Kenya. Kofi Annan is in the country for talks, though. Here's more news from Kenya.

I'll be flying to Nairobi on Saturday and look forward to sharing the stories of what I see and experience.

Churches are uniting tomorrow for a day of prayer. Please join them in praying for true peace to come.

Prayer requests from staff in Kenya

2008-01-15T13:34:00.000+03:00

From updates received over the past few days from staff in Kenya, it is evident that the uncertainty and unrest is starting to take a toll on the staff.

Please pray for God to refresh the staff daily as they spend time seeking his face.
Specifically, also pray for our leaders.
Please pray for David Tarus, who is more than just ELI's director. He is a well-respected community leader, and is seeking wisdom in how to lead his community during this crisis.
Pray that God would continue to use David to speak truth into people's hearts.
Pray that the ears of the people in our community would be open to hearing.
Pray that our entire community would love our neighbors no matter which tribe.
Pray for thousands of angels to walk with David wherever he goes.
Pray for wisdom in facing the many challenges that are coming his way.

These are very confusing times, which we know is one of Satan's many tactics. We continue to bring our requests before our faithful God, sometimes not knowing what to pray but trusting that He is fighting for us.

During our Monday morning staff devotion, the following message was shared from 2 Chronicles 20, "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's...Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld." Thank you again for continuing to fight with us for the glory of God to be shone in Kenya. May mercy, peace and love be multiplied unto you and also unto us and our people of Kenya.

On a lighter note: Update from the Davis family in France

2008-01-15T13:30:00.000+03:00

We are well, and thriving in France, but grieved by what we have seen in Kenya, and for our friends who lived in a once peaceful nation that has been torn apart. Our latest updates are that my parents are in Eldoret and are safe. They were away during the worst of the violence, attending a wedding in a remote part of Kenya unaffected by the turmoil in Eldoret. We have also heard that Kipkaren was not spared in the chaos.

We can do nothing but pray. I’m not sure if I would rather sit in France feeling powerless to help, or in Kenya; but we believe in God’s timing, and also believe that true peace comes from God; it seems like humans really fail at it.

So back to France, here we are. We live in an apartment of 3 tiny dorm rooms—two bedrooms and a kitchen. Tovah and Lami share a room and have spent their time playing in the two refrigerator boxes I found for them. Jen and I share a room too :)

The kitchen is filled with French chocolate, cheese, fresh bread, and lots of fruit (plus 500 Kenyan teabags we brought).

Elami goes to garderie during our classes, and seems to enjoy it. Tovah goes to Ecole Maternalle (nursery) and absolutely loves it; she is smiling when we drop her off, and dancing when we pick her up. French does not seem to be a barrier to our girls’ happiness.

We attend classes morning and afternoon, sitting with 8 other beginners wrapping our mouths around words that are spelled like dog but said like “jzwekyirtzh” and the like. So far we can conjugate 4 verbs, say the alphabet, and count to 10 billion (and the decimal places.)

The French are a lovely people (unlike what you hear.) They are polite and generally willing to help. They suffer from having the worst airport in the world, and extremely long lines, and insane prices, and no one cleans up after their dogs; but all in all it is a wonderful place. We are surrounded by parks with plenty of places to play or run, great food and culture, and schedules that work well with a family. In short,we are blessed.

Our current plan is to cram French language for 6 months, to take a short trip to Kenya (and possibly Congo) in July, to spend a few months in the USA, and to be out serving In Bukavu, Congo in November. Please pray for our plans.

Sorry to the many emails I have not replied to—Our computers seem to be intent on waging war against us. This time I had to reinstall Windows Vista (which took five hours and disabled our email.) If anyone would like a phone call from us instead, let us know. We now call with Skype which is very inexpensive.

That's the news—au revoir.

God Bless,
Davis, Jen, Tovah, Elami, and the French

Update and prayer request from Allison in Kipkaren

2008-01-15T12:40:00.000+03:00

Well, it has been quite an interesting start to the new year of 2008. Nothing that any of us imagined or expected. We thank God for allowing us to see a new year, and as our niece prayed last night, "We urge Him to restore peace to our country."

We are sure by now that many of you have heard on the radio, read in the newspaper, or seen on TV the events that have been taking place in Kenya. We have all been in shock by what has happened. We do not know what the media is portraying in the U.S., but can only share with you the facts from what we have seen with our own eyes and experienced in our own lives.

When the unrest in the country began (Saturday, 29th Dec), for one week our electricity went off every evening at 7:00 pm and came on at 8:00 am the following morning. The usual sound of the train passing by on the nearby railway was silent for one week. Even the main roads were silent of vehicles and the many trucks that carry goods along the TransAfrica highway from Mombasa to Uganda and beyond; however, noisy with protestors and crowded with roadblocks.

In a stretch of five miles, a friend said he had to pass about 30 roadblocks, convincing the people who were manning them to let him pass peacefully. Most of us in the community did not travel outside of our village for one week.

Businesses, shops, petrol stations, etc were shut down as a result of the unrest. Some shops and homes were burnt in our nearby "town" of Kipkaren (3 miles from our home) and many of them looted.

I have yet to travel to Kipkaren to see with my own eyes, but David has. The shop where we usually buy bread in Kipkaren was one of the first ones to be burnt down. Throughout the week of hearing stories and listening to the radio, for the most part we felt safe in the village.

David, who is a respected leader in the community, mobilized the internal security in the village and the men were ready at all times to defend their families, homes, and community in case of anything. There were so many rumors being spread that we did not know who or what to believe. Through it all, we continued to trust God for peace and His protection.

Monday, January 7th, was the first time in two weeks that we ventured out of the village and went to Eldoret. Our hearts were heavy with sadness as we drove along the road and saw with our own eyes what we had been hearing on the radio and from people who called on the phone to share of their experiences.

We saw the remnants of many roadblocks and fires that had been started on the roads to block people passing. In the next town from Kipkaren, Turbo (about 10 miles from our home), was the most shocking site. AMPATH, the organization we partner with for treatment of HIV/AIDS, is located in Turbo, thus we travel there frequently. Approximately half of the shops in the town had been burnt and most others had been looted of all their goods and their doors were locked shut. There were only about 3 shops that were open when we drove through. A small town that is normally bustling with people and business was uncharacteristically quiet.

The petrol station, where they know us by name because we always go there to fill our tanks, was also completely burnt. David met the Councilor (government leader) of the Turbo area who shared his uncertainty about the economy of the town now after all the destruction.

Traveling further towards Eldoret, along the way scattered homes and shops were burnt and looted. In one area, about 20 vehicles had been completely charred. We saw some people walking with all their belongings to Eldoret in search of safety and refuge.

Once we arrived to Eldoret town though, it felt the same as the last time we had been in town, which was Christmas Eve. Small traffic jams, people walking along the streets, businesses and shops opened. We went to our normal supermarket and bought our normal groceries. In the market, however, the prices of fruits and vegetables had drastically increased; and the man we usually buy from was not there as he traveled to Nairobi to seek safety.

At the Eldoret police station and the nearby large Cathedral, thousands of people had gathered, carrying what belongings they were able to, now displaced in their own country. Thousands of internally displaced Kenyans in Eldoret had already been transported the previous day by buses and lorries (trucks) under heavy security to a sports stadium in Nakuru (about 120 miles southeast of Eldoret). More are continuing to be transported.

As of today, the reports say that over 600 people have lost their lives, 250,000 people have been displaced from their homes in various parts throughout the country, and property worth millions of dollars has been looted or burnt.

Though the political situation in Kenya is still uncertain, life continues in our village of Chebaiywa. ELI in Kipkaren officially opened the year 2008 with our normal Monday morning staff meeting on 7th January with a time of prayer for our nation and motivation for the year ahead from David. Our Tumaini na Afya team met to chart the way forward for ministry in 2008. This morning, our vehicle was full as our team traveled with many of our clients to the AMPATH clinic in Turbo for vital HIV/AIDS treatment.

Yesterday, 10th January, was the first time in about 10 days that we have been able to connect to the Internet. We appreciate all the emails you have sent sharing your prayers and words of encouragement for our country and our people. We are all shocked and saddened by what is happening and are continually praying for a peaceful solution. I know that for David and I, our family and our community, we have a new and greater understanding of the value of peace in a nation.

We have been praying day and night for God to restore peace to our country of Kenya. There is a spiritual battle taking place in a realm that we cannot see, but we can sure feel. We invite you to fight with us in prayer as we pray for the following:

Peace, love, and unity to cover our land.
The leaders of the two main political parties, Party of National Unity (PNU) and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), to humble themselves, lay down their pride, and agree to talk. The latest report is that the leader of the ODM party is calling for a return to nationwide mass action through street protests since the negotiations failed with President Kufuor of Ghana. The word is that Kofi Annan is coming to lead negotiations. Pray for the success of these talks.
A resolution to the current political dispute that will be just and the best solution for the people of Kenya.
All leaders in the country to be wise with their words and actions and to look to God for guidance.
Peace as the Parliament, which is largely divided, is set to open on Tuesday, 15th January.
The Church of Kenya to stand united—fighting for justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God.
Much needed healing and reconciliation within communities. Only God can break down the divides between tribes.
Safety and provision for the thousands of families who have been displaced from their homes as they seek refuge until the government decides what to do next. Major relief is needed in the forms of food, medications, blankets, etc.
Comfort for those who are grieving over the loss of their loved ones and their livelihoods.
Peaceful and successful opening of schools on 15th January (schools were supposed to open on 7th but the date was postponed due to unrest in the country). Pray for the safety of children as they return to school. In addition, pray for the thousands of displaced children who will not be able to return to school.
Continued safety of our 187 children in the Children's Homes in Kipkaren and Ilula.
Continued safety of our staff who will be traveling to the Training Centres as well as their families.
For those who are HIV+ and displaced, pray that they will be able to continue with their much needed anti-retroviral drugs, that drug resistance will not develop, and that they will be able to get proper nutrition.

Thank you for standing with us and our nation in prayer as we journey through this difficult season. ELI has created an emergency fund to address all of the current needs that have surfaced because of the crisis. If you or anyone you know would like to give towards this fund, they can mail a check to our office (PO Box 67 Upland, CA 91785) and earmark it for the “Kenya Emergency Fund.”

Blessings,
David and Allison

Don and Amy back in the US

2008-01-15T12:34:00.000+03:00

Don Rogers and his family have made it home safely to the US. They arrived in LA on Saturday night after their trip to Kenya. Thank you for your prayers for their safe travels.

Kenya update: Failed talks

2008-01-11T11:47:00.000+03:00

I spoke with Don yesterday. Right now, things still seem very up-in-the-air in Kenya. Things look up, and then something happens again... Like yesterday's mediation talks. The chairman of the African Union, Ghanian President John Kufuor went to Nairobi to meet with both parties. Here's a summary of the results of the mediation talks, from BBC:

The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) said that the talks failed after President Kibaki refused to sign a document agreed by both sides and approved by World Bank Country Director Colin Bruce.

The key points of the document are that they want:

a credible, independent and impartial investigation into the issues arising from the elections
to determine whether a re-run of the elections is necessary
if so, to provide a time-frame for recommendations on the structure of government up until the re-run

But the president's office was quick to disown the document.

"The government had offered dialogue which was to be facilitated by President John Kufuor but Orange Democratic Movement leaders have not been responsive," a statement said.

Mr Kibaki had invited his rival to hold face-to-face talks on Friday but Mr Odinga refused, unless the talks were led by international mediators.

So it seems like things are in a bit of a stale mate mode. Please pray that talks will move forward and resolution be made to solve the crisis.

Here's a good explanation on the discrepancies that led to the fall-out in Kenya.

Update: No Rally

2008-01-09T11:50:00.000+03:00

The latest rally in Nairobi was called off. That's great news. However, things are still very fragile. Kibaki announced his cabinet last night. Read this to see some of the responses. The announcement has lead to fresh outbursts of violence. In a strange twist of events, though, people in Mombasa have started returning goods taken during looting for fear of black magic.

In the meantime, a meeting between Raila and Kibaki doesn't seem eminent.

Please keep praying for ELI leaders for wisdom as they meet today to discuss the impact on our ministry, and how ELI should help those around us. Also keep praying for safety for our staff and our children. Pray that God would bring TRUE peace, that this event will expose tribalism for the evil that it is. And pray for revival to spring forth from the chaos that has engulfed Kenya's people the past 10 days.

Latest news

2008-01-08T22:03:00.000+03:00

Things are slowly returning to normal. However, Kibaki announced his cabinet today, and with having no ODM members in his cabinet, there might be a negative response tomorrow. PLEASE pray that it won't be the case. Other than that, the next big event to pray about is the opening of Parliament on the 15th. Please pray now already that things will go smoothly and that new fights won't break out.

Kenya crisis: How you can help

2008-01-08T14:18:00.000+03:00

We have created an emergency fund during this time. We are trying to raise $10,000 for this fund. These are the needs:

1) The cost of food has gone sky high (e.g. a head of cabbage has gone from 10Ksh to 80Ksh), so we need funds to purchase at the higher rate.
2) Don and Amy just spent approx. $1,300 to buy food at a supermarket in Nairobi and have it flown up by AIM air to the Eldoret strip. They are hoping to do this multiple times. Julius was able to pick up the food and transport it safely to Ilula through the mob roadblocks.
3) At the Ilula training center, we have been caring for approx 200 women and children from the community. We are using the maize that we harvested from the orphanage to feed people from the community and will eventually need to replenish the supply.
4) We have been hiring some men from the community as guards to protect the training center day and night.
5) We have needed to purchase many phone cards for communication with the police and each other.

Those are kind of vague so we don’t have specific amounts, and we don’t know how long it will last. But it is the best that we can do right now.

Click here to access the ELI Online Giving site.

Short update from Kenya

2008-01-07T22:37:00.000+03:00

I got a text message from Michelle in Kipkaren today. It seems like things are slowly returning to normal in Kenya, though there is still a lot of tension in the air.

When Michelle and others were driving to Eldoret today, they were saddened to see the destruction along the way. About half of Turbo—the nearest town on our way to Eldoret (about 7 miles from the center)—had been burned down, including the gas station. I am waiting to hear if the AIDS clinic where we take all the patients in our home-based care program, sustained any damage. I am praying that it was safe. It’s a stone’s throw from the torched gas station.

Please also join us in praying that God would bring beauty out of the ashes and chaos in Kenya!

News from Don and Amy in Kenya!

2008-01-05T12:36:00.000+03:00

We have just today (Friday Jan 4) had the opportunity to get online here in Nairobi. On Wednesday, Don the boys and I left Ilula with very difficult goodbyes to our friends and children there.

We were able to get out of Ilula though it was difficult. MAF chartered a plane and landed at the Ilula airstrip.

Really, the situation is so unbelievable and we cry out to our Lord for His protection and peace in this Nation. Please continue to keep our leaders in your prayers. We will share more when we return. We spent the day yesterday securing food here in Nairobi and Wendy was able to connect with AIM air and we have it flying up to the airstrip this afternoon. We will do our best to get another shipment as needed in the next few days or so.

We are doing ok here in Nairobi and are staying with one of our staff here WENDY until our scheduled flight come about this coming Friday (Jan 11th).

Yesterday we went to one of the larger shops here on the outside of Nairobi and bought about $1,000 worth of food for our Orphans there at Ilula and Kipkaren. All of the shops in Eldoret and even Nairobi center have been closed and even when they open they are flooded with people and are out of supplies. Road blocks have prevented our staff in Eldoret from getting to town freely to buy supplies.

AIM is flying the food we bought (about 700 lbs) up there TODAY and two of the Ilula Home parents are braving the roads to go and pick it up.

Pray for safe travels for them as they drive to the airstrip and back.

There have been some threats to our home in Ilula as many others who feel unsafe in their small grass homes are sleeping on our compound in the Training hall at night. BUT at this moment ALL are well and safe and are carefully rationing the foods they have - not knowing how long this conflict will go on.

Pray for Peace for the children who are struggling to understand this kind of violence and senseless conflict that surrounds them.
Pray for the children home parents who are helping to guard the compound at night.
Pray for safety and wisdom for David Tarus and our other directors – Samuel and Julius as they all provide leadership to the various groups.
Pray for peace.
Pray for pride to be broken in the Government leaders.
Pray for our family as we travel back to the USA Jan 11th.
Pray for the TC graduates who are still scattered around at home that they will be lights to their families and communities.
Pray for some additional funds for relief foods and higher operational costs due to this conflict.

ELI's latest baby

2008-01-02T15:14:00.000+03:00

ELI's headquarters in Upland, CA, just got a new member to the family: Mya Parker was born on January 1st. Her mom, Amy, has been working at the ELI US office for many years, and those who've been to Kenya may know how vital Amy is to the Stateside operation of the ministry in Africa.

Check out Mya's blog and drop the proud parents a note!

PLEASE PRAY FOR KENYA

2008-01-01T13:27:00.000+03:00

This is an exerpt from a message I (Adele) received from Don this morning.

In two hours at 2pm Kenya time, Raila is going to hold a rally in Nairobi and be sworn in as “The peoples President.” The former president who was also running again is Kibaki – who claimed victory yesterday has put the word out that he will have the police force arrest Raila at the rally. With the country split during the election and the debates about Kibaki’s victory taking place through corruption - this 2pm rally and arrest may bring about country wide violence.

According to this article in The Standard, the rally has been postponed to Thursday. Please pray for peace in the country. This article on BBC.com states that "The situation is very bad in the Rift Valley mainly around Eldoret where it appears to be organised killings. One tribe is targeting another one in a fashion that can rightly be described as ethnic cleansing..."

I am in South Africa as I had spent Christmas with my family. I will post updates here and on my blog as/when news becomes available.

Please pray for

peace
safety for our children and staff
God to give our Kenyan directors wisdom during this time as many are turning up at our bases to seek refuge
food supplies to miraculously last!

Teams for January have been cancelled. I've postponed my return to Kenya until things are safe.

Rejoice!

2007-12-18T23:41:00.000+03:00

Mark Tarus (in green), giving Mama Chiri the graduation certificate to present to her husband

Today was truly a day of celebration. One after another, graduating members of the Kenya Anti-Alcohol group walked up and praised God for the transformation in their lives. They then asked family members to come up, and publicly asked forgiveness for how they had acted in the past, or how they had treated them. Many tears rolled. Many hugs were exchanged.

What struck me most about the day was that of the 18 graduates, more than half were women. Until now, ELI has not offered rehab for women due to housing shortages. But since the rehab program has moved to our training center, we could also accommodate ladies. And they came. Many of them were brewers who were also addicted to drinking. Many of them apologized for ruining other people's lives through brewing.

ELI's KAA staff: Mark, Francis, Wilson and Stone. All four men have powerful testimonies of how God delivered them from alcoholism, and have devoted their lives to bringing that Hope to others

What struck me was how many of the graduates--the women, especially--were from our neighborhood, in an area where ELI recently started doing outreach. Realizing how many alcoholics there were (and no churches), ELI started doing Saturday-afternoon rallies at The Rock. Several of the brewers attested today that they simply couldn't make good brew any more since ELI came and prayed there. Praise God!

Each one of the 18 represents many, many stories, and each one truly is a miracle. Two that stand out for me are Jesire and Joseph. I wrote about Joseph (Baba Chiri) on my personal blog earlier this week. Jesire has strong ties to this community: His younger brother (David) is our director. For as long as David can remember, Jesire was a drunkard. Today, his mother stood up and preached, encouraging others to keep praying.

Jesire, asking David forgiveness

For each of the graduates, the true test begins. Today, they returned to their communities. For many, people at home will truly rejoice. But they'll also be watching them closely to see if they'll stumble again. ELI's anti-alcohol program has a success rate of 80%. That's how many of our graduates stay sober. It's a very high percentage, compared to typical rehab programs. The reason? Our graduates are taught that they cannot conquer the disease of alcoholism in their own strength. Jesus Christ is the "higher power" who can help them.

Please join us in praying for each and every one of the men and women to remain strong, and to be able to be a strong witness in their communities to the work God has done.

First-ever ELI Kenya Children's Day, and much more

2007-12-11T11:48:00.000+03:00

Even with the year drawing to a close, things don't seem to be slowing down in Kipkaren.

The past two weeks, we had
- a TBA (midwife) training for 20-some gogos from a nearby community
- a 3-day kids' camp for more than 300 kids from this area
- rehab intake for around 15 men and women from Western Kenya.

Tomorrow, we're having the first-ever ELI Kenya Children's Day celebration. All the kids from Ilula will be coming to Kipkaren for the day. I'm told the Ilula boys have been getting up early to go for runs in preparation of the Big Game tomorrow afternoon, a soccer match between the two homes. The Kipkaren kids are equally excited. They were dribbling the ball around the field yesterday afternoon when I stopped by to see how preparations are going.

This afternoon, the bull will arrive. A huge bull has been purchased and will be grilled as a special treat for the kids.

Meanwhile, visitors are starting to arrive in droves for the next big event on Friday: A village wedding. ELI staff member William Kiprop is getting married to Michelle Kerns, ELI's newest missionary. Michelle had been an intern in Kipkaren the past two summers. In January, Michelle will be joining the clinic staff as a family nurse practitioner.

Next week, we'll have the AA graduation, including the baptism of 5 of the graduates. The day after is ELI's annual Christmas celebration, followed by Kipkaren Children's Home Guardian's Day. The next day, Don, Amy and the boys arrive for a 20-day visit.

In the meantime, Kipkaren staff are finding ways to be reaching out to the orphans in our community by having been challenged to "adopt-a-kid" at the orphanage, someone whom community families will visit regularly.

We're also serving a community of internally-displaced people who have settled nearby. These are all people who have fled from Mt. Elgon, where tribal clashes have left many dead. It has been moving to watch families open their homes to those in need as well as donate some of their own clothing and food for those in the "refugee" camp.

We here at ELI Kipkaren wish you and yours the very best as you celebrate the birth of our Savior.

We look forward to the opportunities God will bring our way as the year draws to an end and we prepare for a full 2008!

May God bless you richly. May you experience the presence of Emmanuel during this season.

Adele Booysen
on behalf of ELI Kipkaren

Stories of Empowered Lives: New AA Intake

2007-12-06T22:36:00.000+03:00

~ by Kelsey Sheehy

Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come.” That verse gives hope to those embarking on a new life with God. Knowing that their sins have been forgiven they are able to move forward from past mistakes and start anew according to God’s word. As I sat with several members of the alcohol treatment program, taking in their stories, the hope which comes from a new life in Christ was a common thread.

Overcoming any dependency is a struggle, but a chemical dependency like alcoholism or chewing tobacco is especially difficult. Each of the participants in the program has made a first step by acting on their desire to change their behaviors; but as I listened to each story, they expressed how their decision to follow God was what truly allowed them to change.

. . . . . . . . . . .

Emanuel, 32, began drinking at his grandmother’s home at the age of 16. As a brewer, she would have him taste the alcohol in its different stages or send him to fetch alcohol from other brewers who would also have him take a taste. Little by little, he developed an addiction which affected him physically, financially and emotionally.

While his drinking first started at home, by the age of 22, Emanuel says he was looking for alcohol on his own and drinking with friends. He describes how the alcohol would cause him to argue with people and, feeling ashamed, he would force himself to drink so he would not feel any shame about what he had done. Unemployed, Emanuel would work labor jobs when to make a small amount of money, only 500 or 1000 shillings. But, instead of spending it on clothing or good food, he would buy alcohol.

Eventually, the alcohol began to take a toll on his health, and he describes running “like a mad man.” Unable to sleep, Emanuel said he would run from people he thought were chasing him, only to find out there was no one there. When his concern for his health grew he went to the hospital and was told his drinking was causing his hallucinations. That, he says, is when he decided to get help.

Having tried to quit before without success, Emanuel says he came to ELI after hearing from other men who had success through the program. Since beginning his treatment, he says he has learned how alcohol can affect his health, and that he is not alone in his fight. Talking about the role that Christ has played in his recovery, he said, “I discovered Jesus Christ is a higher power that can help me to come out of these dependencies,” and he has also learned “Through prayer everything is possible.”

When he completes the program, Emanuel said he plans to stay sober by staying away from friends who drink and becoming part of a church. Instead of being shameful of his drunken behavior, he says he can sleep well now and is looking forward to finding a wife and starting a family.
. . . . . . . . . . .

Even though she was not a drinker, alcohol still took its toll on the life of 30-year-old Milka. Ten years ago, she became a brewer in order to try to bring her family out of poverty. Now Milka says, “I have decided, let it be the end of brewing and I received Jesus Christ as my personal savior.”

Milka says brewing was the easiest way she knew of to earn an income. But while she had many clients bringing money in, she never saw any change in her family’s situation. After buying the basics of food, soap and salt, the money was gone. What her brewing did do to her family was give her husband easy access to alcohol, which he would also share with his friends at no charge. As her husband began getting drunk more often, her health began to deteriorate and she would often become ill when brewing.

Since becoming a part of the treatment program, Milka says she has received Christ and now feels relief. Instead of being ill, she says she now has good health and feels peace. She tells how through the program she has learned about forgiveness, both for herself and others, and was also taught about responsibility.

Now, Milka is looking forward to a life without brewing. Along with a group of women, she is planning to provide for her family through horticulture. Instead of worrying of being fined by the police for her brewing, she tells how she wants to do good work for her family and says that joining the church will help her make the transition.

. . . . . . . . . . .

When Frances, 44, began drinking at the age of 18 it was out of curiosity. He saw alcohol as a way to celebrate happy occasions. Eventually though, drinking became an outlet to relieve stress and no longer brought happiness, but rude and violent behavior.

His drunken behavior has left scars on his arms from knife fights and he tells of a time when he broke his employers hand during and argument over a job he was asked to tend to. When he was drinking he said he would his rude behavior would lead to fights and arguments, and if anyone pointed a finger at him he would become angry and bite them.

Fights were not the only consequences of his drinking, his wife and 5 children suffered as well. Frances said his drinking often kept him away from home, and any money he earned was spent on alcohol instead of providing for his family’s needs. When he did return home, he was drunk and said his violent behavior would continue at home.

Frances says he saw how his dependency was harming his family and made attempts to quit, but was not successful. It was after attending another ceremony that he joined the program at ELI. This time it was a harambe, or fundraiser, being held at the clinic. He heard of others speaking of the success they had with the program and said he “felt the spirit of God was driving him here.”

Frances talked about the different between this program and his previous attempts to quit and said the difference is now he is fighting his addiction according to the word of God. Now he no longer has the desire to drink, but instead wants to tell others who are drinking about his experience so he may help them change their behavior. He also plans to use what he has learned to help heal his family and prevent any of his children from taking the same path he has.

Hope for Orphans

2007-12-05T14:12:00.000+03:00

~by Juli McGowan, ELI Staff

I must confess that sitting still for long periods of time is not one of my strengths. This is unfortunate because Kenyans (at least in my village) are extremely good at doing just this. In church services, weddings, burials, or gatherings of any kind, it is not unusual for them to last between four and six hours. Coming together, without being in a hurry, is an integral part of this community. We gather to experience life with our neighbors, family, and friends. We laugh, cry, share stories, eat, etc. It is as if to say, we do not have many material resources to give; but for the day, we are able to give of our time and of ourselves to be fully present to one another. Yesterday, I went to one of these gatherings; and unlike many of my previous experiences, I sat and was engaged in the moment--for several hours.

In 2003, a single mother of six passed away from HIV/AIDS in this community. Her name was Selina. She owned no land and had nothing materially to leave her children. At her burial, her three grown children, along with other family members, did not feel they were able to take on the burden of raising the three younger children--Jane, Shadrach and Caroline. After the ceremony ended, one by one, everyone left; leaving three children to not only grieve the loss of their mother but to have no clue what would be the future of their own lives. David Tarus, director of ELI Kenya, was at the burial. He saw this desperate situation and was moved with compassion. He told these wondering children, “let’s go home.” This reality was the beginning of his vision for a children’s home for orphans. Four years later, there are nearly 200 orphans in ELI Children’s Homes and many others within the community that are under our care. Each have a story of loss and hope interwoven together.

Yesterday, the community gathered to officially open the house of Jane, Shadrach and Caroline. Jane completed high school this past year and is employed within the kitchen at the ELI Children’s Home. Shadrach will be entering his senior year of high school. He has a dream to one day be a pilot. Caroline is entering sixth grade at ELI’s Brook of Faith Academy. We gathered to bless these children who are growing up. It was a day to remember God’s faithfulness. He did not forget to hear their cries. His love has enabled us not to forget either. Their simple home represents so much more than mud and sticks. It is evidence of a future and a hope for three children. We practiced true religion, and I believe it moved the heart of God. We cried many tears, but there was also much thanksgiving and joy within our hearts. It was the first time, since the burial of their mother, that Selina’s six children were reunited. What HIV stole from them was so great. It killed their mother, but it also caused them to scatter from one another in fear. When they needed each other the most, they had failed one another. But on this day, I witnessed a deep forgiveness begin.

Throughout the day, the words of Psalm 40 resounded in my heart: “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. He put a new song in my mouth- Praise for our God.”

Evidences that this world is broken are everywhere. I thank God for the five hours I sat and was reminded that there is nothing that the compassion of Christ cannot restore.

Worn Soles

2007-12-03T21:46:00.000+03:00

~ by Rachel Shumacher, ELI Agriculture Intern

Today (Saturday) I sat under a tarp, brown from dirt and use, with what seemed like millions of holes in it, some big, some small. And light shone through the holes. Light and blue sky. And it struck me that those holes seemed like millions of twinkling stars, and the background of the tarp the deep night sky. Under this sky of tarp and holes I sat behind an old man with splashes of white intertwined throughout the frizzy black strands. The collar of his suit coat was frayed and threadbare at the neckline, a walking stick held loosely in his stiff crumpled strong black hand, the skin on his feet dry and cracked with age and caked with the dust of paths tread. On those feet were falling-apart sandals made of discarded tire fragments. And as he crossed his ankles underneath his white plastic armchair, I saw that the heels of his soles were worn on the outside edges... Just like mine.

Humility (Part 2)

2007-11-28T22:03:00.000+03:00

~ by Rachel Shumacher, Agriculture Intern

There is great humility to be learned in being a "foreigner."

To be a foreigner is to be dependent. You are dependent upon those around you to open their lives and hearts to you, to welcome you into their midst, into their communities, into their circles of friends, into their families. You depend on these people to be bridges of understanding to their culture and traditions. You are dependent upon their willingness to be teachers of their languages and patient as you stumble about in your journey of learning. You depend on them for a great many things like these, and then, as you have started on that path to becoming one with them.

I stress WITH them and not one of them. To be one OF them simply isn't possible. Nor should you seek it, as that would mean losing those things that make you who you are, largely coming from culture, from how you were raised, the education you received, etc. God has made you who you are for a reason and a purpose, and it is not for us to divorce from ourselves that which God has molded and shaped us into being as a result of our own unique backgrounds.

However, it is so sooo important to engage in being ONE WITH THEM. This is being their sister, being their brother, walking in their shoes, eating their food, speaking their language...), you begin to depend on them for other things... Things like love and acceptance... like the extended family that the body of Christ is able to offer, because when it really comes down to it, we're all foreigners.

You depend on these people who you are building relationships with, friendships with, to be your mother to comfort you when you're sick (because your own mom isn't there to make you chicken soup or ginger tea). :) You depend on them to encourage you when you're having a rough day, laugh with you as your joy shared is doubled, and cry with you to bear some of the burden of whatever pain you are going through.

To be dependent is to know humility - a humility that is sweet to taste, full of love, and abounding in grace.

Humility (Part 1)

2007-11-17T21:48:00.000+03:00

~by Rachel Shumacher, ELI Agriculture Intern

The other day I was asked the question: "What is God teaching you here?"

Perhaps I might have responded "What isn't God teaching me here?" (grins) But I didn't. ;) Because he IS teaching me some specific things, one being humility (I'll share more of the others later), which is also completely inexhaustable as far as coming to know it. It's a lifelong learning. So anyway, to the details.

Humility...

The first part of humility I'm learning I expressed to a friend through e-mail, so I'm going to include some of it here, and hopefully clarify it a bit better. (The second part of humility will come the next time I blog.) :)

Perhaps as it goes in many or most traditional cultures (including our own not so long ago), women lack voice. And I'm not talking about the kind of voice that stands up at a podium to demand rights. I'm talking more of being shut out or shut down from sharing thoughts, ideas,
emotions, feelings, wisdom, using the gifts and creativity and intelligence God has blessed them with. With women to women there is freedom. But women and men sharing together on equal footing has yet to come to full life, and most especially (and sadly) in marriage.

Within marriage, in a quiet but firm way, they are oppressed and treated injustly. Someone told me that once a woman enters into marriage she begins to self-destruct. She loses her voice, her ability to make decisions, her freedom to express thoughts and feelings... In
traditional Nandi (the local tribe here) marriages, the men are trained beforehand - a kind of marriage counseling ceremony of sorts for men - and one of the things that they are told is that their wife is their "closest enemy", so build a wall against her and don't be vulnerable or share anything on your heart with her because she may turn against you. How horrible is that! So instead of marriage bringing a man and woman even closer together, it separates them. (Not exactly the picture of marriage we read of between Christ and the Church.)

Where the man will perhaps share all on his heart to his girlfriend or fiance before they're married, afterwards he stops sharing with her and she is not allowed to share her thoughts and
feelings and desires with him. She becomes simply an object of pleasure and a bearer of his children. With intimacy in marriages, women can never approach men or express their love or feelings of attraction to their husband. It's only when their husbands have the desire to be with them. And even if they theoretically can approach their husbands, they don't for fear of being beaten (regardless of whether or not their husband actually would). I'm not saying that that
happens in ALL marriages (there might be the exception here or there), but it's definitely in the greater majority. Women are blocked out physically and emotionally and intellectually.

So now you can perhaps see why it was said that they self-destruct. Even before marriage, women aren't given equal footing with men (intellectually, in leadership, etc). I maybe happen to be an exception here, simply because I'm a mzungu (white person), so I can access conversations that African women can't or are less likely to. And it is in this sense of gender oppression and injustice that I've been learning a lot about humility. And I was thinking... that even though humility is always a good thing... the source of that humility, or what causes the humbling experience can be a pretty aweful thing.

I guess that's not a new concept... arrogance is bad and so the humbling is good (put simply), but before now I'd never thought of humility and the cause of it as being systematic. The "system" is culture. The culture says that "the way it has always been is the way it should
always be". And so you find a culture of injustice and oppression against women (and again, especially in marriage). But it is this system, this culture, that is causing humility in me, because I've taken equality for granted from growing up in it. My hearts rebels against being put in a box with no voice... when I know that a man, ANY man, looks at me and sees first that I'm a woman and so I'm on less footing from the beginning.

Before we've even begun we're on unequal ground. And then, because I have white skin, I land just ahead of my black sisters because they have black skin. I'm somehow special because of a DNA code, a difference in pigment. And so I hurt twice - in hurting for being a woman, and hurting for the injustice against black women because even though I've started off on uneven ground, my ground is higher than theirs. And if you try and share these things with the majority of men of this culture, they don't see the pain that women experience because they are the ones that are benefiting from the system. How brave are the people that work for change even if it means losing some of the status and benefits (even though injustly gained) they possess!

But even if you look at the so-called "benefits" and "status" and such, men have NO idea what they are missing in isolating women and their wives from themselves, chaining them to
tradition because "things are the way they've always been". Where would ALL of us be if that was how we lived?? So, as I wrote my friend: "A burdenshared is a burden halved... A joy shared is a joy doubled..." (something like that). (grins)

So, I'm learning humility - how to be humble - in this culture, while at the same time in my own small ways humbly challenging the powers that be. The humility I'm learning isn't from the source of pride, and it isn't a humbling who's source is something ill inside of me. The source is bigger than me, bigger than women, bigger than men, and really, bigger than culture.
Who is the corruptor of all that God made good? Satan and his "principalities and powers". These are what we are ultimately fighting. And who is the only one that can fight Satan but Jesus Christ. Yet we have been given His power through the shedding of his blood. We have been given his name. And we have been given his Word and the Holy Spirit who gives us his words to speak.

Before I end I want to assert that Nandi (and Kenyan) men aren't evil. (You may laugh, but I'm serious.) I have met so many wonderful Christian men here who sincerely love the Lord and desire to do his will, and I'm friends with ALL of the students, and we all hang out together and joke and laugh and talk together and there's not so much the sense of "you can't participate because you're a woman". I do want to share these things with you, however, SO THAT YOU CAN PRAY. Not only the women need prayer as they deal with their experiences of oppression, but the Nandi (and Kenyan) men need prayer as well - that our Mighty loving God would soften their hardened hearts... that the power of the hand of Jesus Christ would touch their eyes so that they can really see the intense pain and chasms of separation that their cultural norms are placing between them and their women and their wives... that the Holy Spirit would whisper in their ears, giving Christian men a voice to speak out against their culture of injustice
against women and instead uplift them before God, before their families, and before their communities. Christian men NEED to be different from what their world tells them is "right to do".

Christ came to make disciples of both men AND women, and both were found at his feet. He fulfills those attributes in cultures that are godly, and he turns the tables on those that are not. Pray that men will be Christ in their culture. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give them the
vision, the insight, and the courage to break cultural norms and defend the oppressed. Pray that they would see the value of their women, that they would see them as indeed being made - male and female - in the image of GOD. Cast out what ill feelings you may have against them and PRAY for them because they are being greatly deceived by the Deceiver. And pray that the Lord might even send men - foreigners or other Kenyans - who can teach them what they do not know, and that they would have ears to hear and hearts that receive.

Siki berurin mising' ! (Kinandi: Be blessed so much!)

Hope Walks - Fundraiser for ELI Congo

2007-11-16T11:55:00.000+03:00

~ Kierra Higgins, ELI Staff
~ photos (c) Micah Albert | ELI 2007

This past weekend, friends of ELI in the Sacramento area, with the help of some other organizations, put on a huge walk-a-thon for orphans and vulnerable children. The focus of the walk was to provide a way for kids in America to walk for kids in Africa. A lot of the proceeds from this walk were going towards our school in D.R. Congo.

The day was amazing! I think we had about 800 people walk (a mile and a half) and I know that a lot of hearts and eyes were opened. On the back of each walker’s number was a name and profile for one of our kids in Congo. It made it really personal for the people to walk and pray for a specific child as they walked. And after the walk, we had a letter writing station where they could write a letter to that child.

ELI's Micah Albert made a 30-minute video showing the kids and ministry in D.R. Congo and the seats in front of that screen were continually packed.

Micah, his wife Lindsay and an ELI board member's Bible-study group did an amazing job at creating ways for kids to experience what life is like in Africa. They had a tent that showed the difference between the bedroom of an American kid verses a house for a child in Africa. We also had a simulation classroom like the classrooms in Congo so that kids could experience what it might be like to go to school there. My mom even made ugali for them to try!

Among other exhibits, participants got to see an X-Box sitting next to 30 bags of rice and learn that the cost of one X-Box could feed a child in the Congo for 10 years! It was so fun to watch the kids and their parents experience all these stations and really have their eyes and perspectives expanded.

"A bit of life at Kipkaren"

2007-11-13T14:11:00.000+03:00

FULL is a great way to describe life here.

What am I doing and learning?

I'll start with the people. I am #35 of the students here, and one of the oldest as well (most are between the ages of 20 - 23, a couple are mid-20s, and fewer still around 29-30). I spend most of my time with the students and teachers, who have also welcomed me as one of them.

I do morning chores: Twice a week I get up before 5am to help milk the 2 cows and learn more about sustainable dairy farming in Kenya, I water my popo mti - Kiswahili for papaya tree - that I planted last week, and I often help some of the students water and weed their gardens. Our daily breakfast of chai and bread and butter sandwiches is at 7am, and then we have our morning meeting/chapel time which we start off by singing a few songs in Kiswahili acapella (one of my favorites times of day), and then one of the students reads a few verses or a passage of scripture and talks a little about it.

Following our morning meeting we usually have a morning practical - a different one every day. Some of what we've done in the past 2 weeks is shelling, drying, and bagging maize (to be ground into coarse flour for ugali), building a chicken coup, digging a ditch for water pipes (to supply water to the kitchen and garden - especially the garden, as students spend A LOT of time hauling water in buckets and water cans from the river up to their plots), moving young trees to a nursery bed to be transplanted, planting our papaya trees, etc.

After our morning practical we wash up and head to class - the first one starting at 10am, and then 2 more following that, each an hour long. At 1pm we all have lunch together, followed by 2 classes after lunch. When classes finish we have our late afternoon practical which can include continuing the work that we weren't able to finish in the morning, harvesting our produce and preparing it for supper, planting or transplanting crops, building compost piles (3x3x3 meters), learning how to make organic fertilizers, etc.

When we're finished with whatever we're doing, we hang out and talk and joke and maybe chew on sugar cane :) , or wander around, water the gardens, study, or do whatever else needs to get done. The bells for supper calls us around 7pm, and the dining hall is filled with people talking and laughing and smells of ugali and whatever vegetables/legumes have been cooked for the evening meal. We finish the day with evening meeting/chapel, and then either watch an educational movie (like organic farming techniques in Kenya or bee-keeping, historical documentary or one with some kind of spiritual lesson) or study or go to bed.

I have learned SO MUCH in the classes and practicals we've had. I'm filling my notebooks and am looking forward to reading through them and studying them when I return home, and then in the future being able to put into practice the knowledge I've gained here.

What have I learned about Kenyan culture?

You greet people with a FIRM handshake (and I mean FIRM) whenever you meet them. If you are close friends, especially with women, you touch cheeks on the right side of your friends' face and then the left. You might greet them in Kiswahili with HABARI (literally "news" but kind of translates to how are you) or HABARI YAKO ("your news") or HABARI ZENU (how are you all). Or in Kalenjin (the mother language of most of the people here and the surrounding people of this area) you might say CHAM'GE or YAMONE (equivalent to the Kiswahili).

Most people are pretty soft spoken. Everyone loves to sing, and we almost always sing acapella (which I LOVE) with all sorts of beautiful harmonies. Everyone is pretty relaxed, taking their time, however in class the WALIMU (teachers) are teaching the students about good time management and the importance and benefits of diligent and perseverant work.

It's culturally appropriate for women to wear skirts below the knees, although that's very slowly beginning to change as women gain more equality of opportunities (you CAN wear pants or long shorts - below the knees - if you're playing sports and the like).

If you see 2 women or 2 men holding hands it means that they are good friends or like sisters or brothers - this is culturally appropriate. However, you'll never see a man and a woman holding hands.

Chai is essential for life, and especially for beginning your day. (Seriously. Some people won't go to work if they don't have chai.)

One of the neatest cultural experiences I've taken part in here is the harambe. A harambe is when people come together and team-up to contribute financially for the need of a member of their community or church. The harambe is held for this person. It's community-oriented, and often also acts as an accountability check for that person. For example, if your community or church hold a harambe for you to help raise money so that you can go to college or further your education, you're expected to come back and bless you community with what you've learned. You give back to the community in other ways what you were given. So our class did exactly that for our friend Temayo, who wants to continue on with her education after she finishes this program.

There are lots of other observations I've made, and some I'm forgetting, but at least I've given you a taste of what I've been experiencing. :)

What has the Lord been teaching me during my time here so far...?

Many things. :) One which stands out the most is God's great faithfulness. It's been a period of about 2 years (while I was teaching in Japan) from when I first decided that international sustainable agricultural was the direction that the Lord was calling me into - and the calling not a quiet one, but more like he was shouting it at the top of his lungs in my heart.

So between then and now I've been learning about WAITING. What is active waiting and what is passive waiting? How could I be active in my waiting and WHY should I be? One morning in Japan, while I was reading my Bible and journaling and praying and contemplating these questions, the Spirit posed me and said, "Rachel. THE WAITING is just as important as THE ARRIVAL of that which you're waiting for. Don't waste a moment, because you will need all the experiences and the things that you are learning during the waiting for that time when you arrive at what you're waiting for. If you're passive in your waiting (and for each person that waiting looks different) you won't be prepared for when you arrive, and you may not arrive at all."

And so, after 2 yrs of actively waiting, I have begun my arrival. :) Here in Kipkaren I have found what my heart has so passionately been seeking, and it's more than I could have ever asked for or imagined. Day by day my joy is being made complete.

~ by Rachel Shumacher
Intern: Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development Program
Kipkaren River Training and Development Center

The Gap

2007-11-06T18:18:00.000+03:00

~ by Juli McGowan, ELI missionary

It wasn't even 7 am yet, but the line of people outside of my house reminded me of the gap between what is and what should be. One man introduced himself and explained he had walked several miles to meet with me. He shared of struggles in his family and his challenge to pay his children's school fees. Another told of a sick person needing treatment who was unable to afford it. The third explained that he needed advice in how to deal with some challenges. As I walked away, I began to pray. Rather than allow the burdens to overwhelm me, I asked God for His perspective. I didn't have the answers or solutions to these problems, but I knew that God was present. So, I asked Him to show me how to live this day, to love with a love that is greater than myself.

Later this morning, I arrived to the training center and began to tabulate the results from our Tumaini na Afya (Hope & Health) AIDS Awareness Campaign that was held on Saturday. It was an amazing day. A couple thousand people attended and just over 800 people learned their HIV status. Although a majority of the people who tested were men, 95% of those who tested positive were young women. This revealing, once again, not that women are more promiscuous than men but simply more vulnerable. Yesterday I visited a young 20 year old widow of two weeks named Emily whose story represents this so clearly. She married her husband only a year ago. He had worked as a truck driver along the trans-African highway. His first wife had died in 2002 leaving behind two children. Emily learned that she was HIV+ several months ago while she was pregnant. Unfortunately, she did not receive treatment and breastfed her baby. As I sat and listened to her share her story, I was deeply saddened. HIV has stolen and destroyed the lives of too many in this young family. Once more, I didn't know how to comfort this grieving lady; but I prayed to the only One who is able to restore hope to the hopeless.

Things are not as they were meant to be. I know this quite well. But I also know that God is with us. These lyrics, written by Tommy Walker, that say "Sweet Jesus come. Sweet Jesus come. Sweet Jesus come to me. Come set my spirit free so I can worship thee. I want to sense your power and love at work in me. Sweet Jesus come" have so often been my prayer. Today Jesus did come and present himself in the form of a hungry man. He came as a father who doesn't know how to provide school fees for his children. He was in the widow who feels alone and in her baby who is struggling to live. He was in the crippled man sitting outside my window repairing our children's shoes. Jesus has come right to where He said He would be. With an open invitation for us to draw near to Him, we enter the gap between what is and what should be.

Home-based What?

2007-10-23T21:17:00.000+03:00

One component of ELI's ministry in Kipkaren is called Tumaini na Afya - Health and Hope. And part of this health ministry is to care for the sick and the suffering in their homes. Whether it's patients suffering from HIV/AIDS-related issues, or families who are living in desperate situations, the home-based care team goes to visit them, encourage, support where they can, pray for them, simply show them, in tangible ways, the love of Christ.

Last week, 50 new caregivers underwent a 5-day training at Kipkaren. Attendees came from as far as Nairobi. During their graduation, Allison encouraged the group by telling the story of the first person she and Juli went to visit: Timon. Our friend Timon has since passed away, but since that visit just three years ago, countless lives have been touched. Others have been trained to do the same.

"Tonight, you receive a certificate," Allison reminded them. "But this is just a piece of paper. It's worthless, really. The way you'll touch lives is by going to visit the sick, the dying, the hurting. It all starts with just one visit..."

ELI Director David Tarus, praying for the students

David, Allison and Juli handing out certificates to new graduates

Students giving each other high 5's after graduating, saying,

"Together, we are defeating AIDS!"

To get a glimpse of some of the work the home-based care does, read some of these entries.

Update on the Baby

2007-10-17T21:30:00.002+03:00

Further to the entry from two days ago, an update from Juli.

Because I had requested your prayers, I wanted to update you on the story I had written on Monday. I received news this afternoon that the baby Allison and I helped to deliver passed away last night at the hospital. I do not know anymore details but ask again for prayer for Karen, the baby's mother, as she grieves the loss of her child.

In this journey, there is joy and sorrow. There are too many harsh realities to try and understand; but tonight, I am asking the Comforter to come and do just that.

With much love, Juli

A Day in the Life of a Village Nurse

2007-10-15T20:04:00.000+03:00

~ by Juli McGowan

In Kipkaren, we so often say that we wake up with a plan for the day, but we must leave space for God to interrupt our plans. Today was no exception. Let me share my story...

This afternoon, a nurse called from our local clinic saying that there was a sick lady who needed to be rushed to a hospital about an hour's drive away. Allison, my dearest friend, and I jumped into the car and picked up a 23-year-old lady named Karen who was 7 months pregnant and having serious complications.

Having just finished the rainy season, our dirt road is not ideal for a lady in labour, to say the least. After driving a few kilometers, Karen said that she felt to push. Allison looked at me and asked me what we should do. I replied that we should go to the nearest home of one of our traditional birth attendants named Mama Presca (TBAs are midwives from our community who ELI partners with to train them in safe delivery practices). I hoped to at least get a birthing kit with supplies to assist in delivering this baby. Unfortunately, Mama Presca was not at home.

I looked behind me to see Karen squatting behind a bush, on the side of the road, delivering a little girl. When I reached her, the baby was on the ground. I was shouting to Allison, "I need gloves. Allison, I need gloves!"

Allison ran to the car to get my bag, and then I put on my gloves and picked up this tiny baby as she began to cry. Next, we needed something to cut the umbilical cord. So once again, Allison ran with all of her might (you should know that Allison hates to run) down the road to a local shop to try and find a sterile razor blade. Though she did not have any money with her, the local shop owner had sympathy on her as he realized she was in an emergency and out of breath.

Upon reaching me, she saw that I had been innovative and used a glove to try and tie the cord. After a lot of effort, especially on Allison's part, we finished the delivery process. I will spare you many other details. We did manage to gather a small crowd in the meantime. Surely, and I mean this sincerely, God was with us.

After about 10 minutes, we climbed back in the car and went the rest of the way to the hospital. The mom and baby have been admitted to the hospital but are stable. Our beautiful little girl weighs 1lb 8oz.

Please be praying for her health and growth and peace for her mother.

Home-based Care Team Retreat

2007-10-13T23:27:00.001+03:00

I (Adele) am back from the forest. After getting up at 5:30 on Thursday to make coffee for the team that was leaving, I got my things together, loaded the car, and took off for the forest with 11 other staff members from our home-based care ministry. This is the team that runs ELI's AIDS ministry, but also cares for anyone in our extended community who needs someone to walk the journey with them. People like the Sifunas, or like Hannah, or Lillian, the mom with the twins.

I'm not part of that team, but I went along to assist with facilitating some of the sessions. The purpose of the weekend was to rest, to reflect, and to plan ahead. And we did all of that, and more. We laughed, got to know each other, we ate good food and shared stories.

Everyone worked hard, like they always do, and came up with even loftier goals for next year. They want to see more people tested for HIV, more people helped. Most of them can find higher-paying jobs in other places, but they choose to stay and serve here because of the immense job satisfaction. And it shows.

We played Jenga our first night, combining it with answering questions about yourself after you jengad. (Jenga is Swahili for build, so here, we use the word as a verb while playing the game.) And if someone toppled the tower, they were showered with any and all questions people may want to ask.

By the time the generator was switched off, we continued the game by candlelight and flashlight.

Same last night. They watched a movie (I went to bed early) and played Scrabble, Chinese solitaire and Uno till way after midnight.

This morning, we did some fun team building activities where I had everyone blindfolded, trying to make a square. It's always fun to do these activities, but what's even more fun is to do the debriefing afterwards. "Who was the leader? Why did others take over? Why did you not listen to that person's advice?" and so on and so forth. Learn through play.

Oh, and yesterday, Juli had us all go out and spend time reflecting on "Thus far, the LORD has helped us," (1 Sam. 7:12). And so, throughout the various events, people shared some of the stories from their stones, and I wrote the names from their stone stories on rocks I had collected from the forest. We brought them back as a reminder of what God has done.

We concluded our time together with a time of affirmation. Though we thought it would take perhaps an hour or two, we spent almost five hours (!) sharing what we appreciated about one another.

By the time I dropped everyone at home tonight and Maru's children ran and threw their arms around their dad, my heart was smiling.

Spending these days together, sharing, laughing, praying, eating, having communion, made us a stronger team. Even though I'm technically not a part of their team.

A week in the life of a missionary

2007-09-21T15:57:00.000+03:00

~ an excerpt from the newsletter for Dan and Jen Davis, ELI missionaries in Kipkaren, Kenya

Last week, during staff devotions, David Tarus, our director, admonished us not to forget that many in our community struggle with heavy physical, emotional and spiritual burdens. The lives of many people directly connected to Empowering Lives have been transformed in many ways – extra income has freed people from living on a knife’s edge financially, family planning means parents have enough time, energy and resources for their children, accountability in a community seeking to follow Jesus’ teachings is beginning to elevate the status of women… But most of these changes have yet to permeate the outside community. Tarus encouraged us to look for ways to reach out to our neighbors, to be missionaries in our neighborhood. He urged us not settle in to our comfortable existence, ignoring the hurting people around us.

As a case in point, he spoke of a woman named Tecla and her family. Tecla has been drinking alcohol for some years now. Her two youngest children are extreme examples of neglect. When a staff member visited three weeks ago she found the children alone, sitting in their own diarrhea. The older of the two, a girl named Jesang, is 3. She cannot walk and talks very little; she has not developed simply because she does not receive the love, care and food she needs.

The younger child is a one year old who I first met when he came to the clinic with a burn last month. His mother had no plans to treat him, but two of her neighbors found the boy as they walked to the market, and took him and his mother to the clinic straight away. He had second degree burns all over his legs and groin, yet he sat without expression as Kiptoo the nurse cleaned and dressed his burns and gave him a penicillin injection. As far as that baby knew, he was hopeless – after awhile, you give up crying if no one answers.

Tarus’ question was, “Why hadn’t his cries been answered by us?”

Fast forward to this week’s staff meeting—Tarus asked what the highlights of people’s weekends had been; many came as a result of people responding to the needs in our community. Several mothers from the Children’s Home had gone to visit Tecla and her family and have made plans to bring her children to play here at the Children’s Home a few days a week. Another group of people had gone to a harambee – a gathering of people in the community to raise funds for something. In this case, it was medical school fees for a young woman from across the river. She made it into medical school, but her mother is a widow (her father died recently at 39 years old). If this woman was not able to raise her fees to enter, she would have lost her place and would not have had a second chance to become a doctor. The community rallied to raise 2/3 of what she needed for her first year. The other 3rd was made up by the end of the day!

Two other teammates (Juli and Adele) and I shared as our highlight, a visit we made to Hannah. She is the woman we have written about who has a massive tumor in her face. The tumor is inoperable and has destroyed the bone in her face. On one of my visits to her, her husband handed me a small packet containing 3 teeth – they had fallen out as the tumor invaded her mouth more each week. Her eyes are being forced out and her nose is stretched so that seeing, talking, swallowing and even breathing are becoming more and more difficult. You can imagine the pain this tumor is causing her. I feel extremely inadequate in this situation. Morphine is a help, but truly all I can do is pray and be with her. Her family is doing an outstanding job of taking care of her. Though she is wasting as her body shuts down and she is too weak to move much in bed, she has not even a hint of a bed sore. Her daughters take time to massage her with Vaseline every day and her skin shines. Her hair is neat and her clothes and sheets are clean. More than this, her spirit is light. When she talks, she is thanking God for the life he has given her, for her children, for her home, for us her visitors! Praise God for the care and love Hannah is receiving from her family in these, her last days, and for the fact that God is enabling her to “finish her race” well.

The last two weeks have been full of other events as well. Last Friday, I went to the graduation of our 8th group of Traditional Birth Attendants. Most mothers in Kenya deliver their babies at home, under the supervision of an experienced woman from the community. Every week for the past 3 months, someone from the clinic has gone on Wednesday afternoon to teach these birth attendants some anatomy and physiology, what to do in obstetrical emergencies, when to refer, how to do prenatal care so you catch potential problems early, etc. Of 48 who started the program, only 23 made it to graduation. It’s an intense study and most of these women have never been to school before. We crammed in a tiny church as rain poured down on the tin roof and more onlookers huddled under umbrellas around the windows to recognize their accomplishment - a once-in-a-lifetime event for these mothers and grandmothers.

On Monday, I accidentally delivered a baby by myself. A mother of 6 came in at around 11am. Her water had broken the morning before and the baby was now in distress. His heart rate was low and there was meconium evident (in other words, the baby had had the poop scared out of him!) After we started an IV, Magan, the other nurse headed out to see other patients, warning that things can move really quickly for a woman who has had several other children. The woman was alone, so she had nobody but me to sit with her through the rest of her difficult, albeit short, labor. Suddenly she was pushing, ignoring my pleas to wait until she was dilated further. I yelled a few desperate, but (I hoped) confident-sounding calls for Magan as a very messy baby boy slipped into my arms. This prompted the mom to start yelling “Daktari!” (doctor!). I was waiting as long as I could to cut the cord since I was quite contaminated by a certain little someone who had been swimming in his meconium for awhile. I was also preoccupied with suctioning him out as soon as his mouth and nose appeared, while also dodging the mother’s hands, who in her state was not happy about this intrusion. Thankfully, Magan arrived just in time to do the honors. Mother and baby were doing well half an hour later when I left to take a shower, and she walked home later that same evening. Hopefully, I will see them again in a couple weeks when he comes for his immunizations and I am firmly in my comfort zone as far as mothers and babies are concerned.

ELI Anti-Alcohol: New intake at Ilula

2007-09-21T12:41:00.001+03:00

One of the men who is now at Ilula for rehabilitation is called Wesley. Wesley comes from Kitale. When he came to us, his arm was in a cast from having fractured it during a drunk spell.

Along with the other men in the program, Wesley survived the first week well, when the participants are weaned from drugs and alcohol cold turkey. No meds. Just prayer.

During the second week of the program, the participants started going through the the twelve steps to freedom. Step 5 is called "Clearing the mess." During the particular session, Wesley confessed that he takes marijuana and still had some at home. He asked if some of the leaders could accompany him on a trip home to go and burn his stash.

When he arrived home with four men from ELI, Wesley's father could hardly believe his eyes. His wife could not control the tears of joy and thanked God continuously as the meeting went on. Wesley removed marijuana from various places where he had hidden it, including under the door mat and under the garbage heap.

Wesley is a new man! He is relaxed during the lessons, and takes the teachings very seriously.

We love seeing how God brings freedom and healing. Though the outward scars (and his cast) are still a reminder of a life he had lived, Wesley has a future ahead of him, walking in the freedom Christ had purchased for him.

ELI Congo

2007-09-20T22:58:00.000+03:00

From Davis and Jen's update after their recent trip to visit ELI Congo:

How do you describe Congo? The city of Bukavu is a perched on several steep hills at the south end of Lake Kivu. Its streets have disintegrated into a moonscape of potholes navigated by small cars smashing their under-carriages, the big SUVs of a dozen aid organizations, and fleets of military vehicles. The UN patrols the streets with truckloads of soldiers from Uruguay, Pakistan, China, and Indonesia, in Land Rovers with machine guns on turrets. The Congolese army is also in full force, rolling through the streets in their own trucks, with soldiers also making their presence known wherever people are gathered. You often see soldiers flying around the streets packed into their jeep-like Belgian army “bombardiers” with guns and Stinger missiles bristling out of the roll-cage.

Despite the constant reminders of war in this land, it was very peaceful. We never heard gunfire, or worried for our safety. The people were very engaging and friendly and we were able to communicate with them in Kiswahili quite effectively. The people are shorter than Kenyans and commonly wear tailored African clothing instead of the 2nd-hand clothing from the West so common in Kenya.

What was striking was the resilience of the people in a country that has seen the most deadly conflict since WWII. Besides the multiple rebel movements since Congo’s colonization and independence, Bukavu was most recently turned into a war zone when it was invaded by rebels in 2004. The city shows the marks of this instability. Besides the unreliability of the infrastructure—roads, electricity, water, etc. many government workers make use of their position to make their living, as their salaries often go unpaid. The result is that you can be asked for bribes every time you make any transaction with the government.

The other result is that businesses seem unwilling to invest significantly in any large scale business, so instead it is carried out by men on the street. We were surprised to buy fuel for the car in half-liter and one-liter water bottles. The price is negotiable. When we did go to a gas station, they did not have fuel. Money is also changed on the street by men with enormous stacks of Congolese Francs—notes so dirty and broken you are sometimes uncertain of the denomination.

The few stores carry shelves of liquors from all over the world to meet the demands of the city’s soldiers but very little variety in food. Milk is only available in dried form in cans, or in packages of long-life milk at a high price. One of the costs of war was the death of 3 million cows, making milk a luxury that is imported from Uganda.

Click here for some photos from the Congo.

Celebrate!

2007-07-24T13:05:00.000+03:00

When the 33 graduates entered the packed hall, singing, you couldn’t help but get goose bumps. These are lives that have been transformed. Young men and women who are ready to go and impact their communities with the skills they had acquired during the past year at Kipkaren.

Click here to see photos of the event.

Our biggest graduating class this far consisted of young men and women who had been selected from hundreds. One of them made a speech, reiterating how they will now go forth, armed with skills and knowledge to do organic farming, but even more, to serve God.

Mrs Kirwa, the guest of honor, announced that the Agricultural Development Council will employ one of the group. “But don’t be discouraged if you are not the one,” she explained. “You go and implement what you have learned. Even I am using some skills I picked up from this center. Here, I learned about compost and worm beds, and in my small garden in Nairobi, I am using what I have learned here in order to grow better vegetables.”

Around 500 guests showed up for the celebration. They didn’t even seem to mind the afternoon downpour. Like the gift of education, the rains, too, are a blessing for which they thank God.

As these young men and women set out to seek employment or to go and work the land of their families, please continue to pray for them to remain strong and to serve God with unfaltering devotion.

Coming up: 6th Graduation of ELI's Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development Program

2007-07-18T18:11:00.000+03:00

Greetings from Kipkaren River Training and Development Centre! There is excitement around the centre this week as we all prepare for the 6th Graduation Ceremony for our Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development students, which will be held this Friday, 20th July. Our students (33 in number--one from Uganda and the others from several different parts of Kenya) began their course work here at the training centre in September 2006, completed their exams in April, and went for a three month internship to put into practice the things they learned in the course. They are now ready to celebrate their successes and be awarded their certificates for completing the programme. We are very proud of them and are looking forward to see how God will use them as lights in their own communities when they return home after graduation or wherever He may take them.

Please pray for our team here in Kipkaren as we work out all the details to make this day a great success.

Asante sana (thank you very much)!
Blessings,
Allison

Love in Action

2007-06-18T20:35:00.000+03:00

In Kipkaren, we often say that we wake up with a plan for the day, but we must leave space for God to interrupt our plans. This morning I traveled to a neighboring town to attend the opening ceremony of an income-generating project for people living with HIV/AIDS. On my way, I stopped by the nearby AIDS clinic and learned of a young woman named Monica who was HIV+.

Monica’s story quickly threw me back into the harsh reality of what it looks like to be poor and to live with AIDS. The 31-year-old mother of two was under treatment for tuberculosis and had woken up critically ill. Without access to a car, or means to take a cab, she was forced to travel on the back of an open truck and then walk to reach the clinic. Her mother supported her weak body, but by the time they arrived at the clinic, Monica was gasping for air. She passed away before she could be treated.

If this were not traumatic enough, Monica’s mother had no way to transport her daughter’s body home to be buried.

As I stood in the examination room with this grieving mother, these words ran through my head: “If any of you has possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in you? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but in action and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18). I chose to listen to the Voice that was calling me to love. With the help of several of my Kenyan friends, we bought a blanket and a mattress and carried Monica’s lifeless body to our car. We drove her home to be buried. We grieved with a family over the loss of their daughter, their sister, and—for two precious children—the loss of their mother. Once again, I was struck today by the cruelty of HIV/AIDS. It seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy life—and not from the infected alone. But I was also reminded of an even greater truth: God is love. He has entrusted us, His children, to extend Him, through compassion, to the oppressed and broken-hearted.

This alone is the hope for this broken world.

(Be sure to read Davis and Jen's entries to learn what happened with the two children orphaned by Monica's death.)

~ Juli McGowan
ELI Family Nurse Practitioner

Life in Kenya

2007-06-17T20:00:00.000+03:00

There are some things about life in Kenya that I know to be true, yet I am still surprised when I am confronted by them. For example, I know that the pace of life is slower, the concept of personal space disappears when riding in a car or sitting in church and the idea of “safety” isn’t the god it is in the U.S., but it’s so easy to forget when you’re used to doing things your way.

This was illustrated during my second week in Kipkaren, when I asked to catch a ride to the market with the ELI vehicle. No problem! The truck would be leaving at about 9am, they said, and there was plenty of room for me. I scurried around that morning getting the girls and myself ready for what would be our first time without each other since we’d arrived in Kenya.

I checked in at the office at 9:07-ish and Cosmos, the driver, said we just had to wait for Betty and we’d go. I hopped into the car, put my seatbelt on and waited. One hour, 2 more goodbyes to the girls, and 10 passengers-in-a-cab-meant-for-5 later, I was laughing at myself for thinking I’d be wearing (or needing) a seatbelt.

Another part of life here that always startles me, though it’s a common enough occurrence, is when people ask for money. Sometimes this request is demanded belligerently by drunk young men on the side of the road – “Mzungu, give me 10 shillings!” This type of solicitation is ignorable. Sometimes it comes from glassy-eyed street kids in Eldoret, high from whiffing glue, hungry for so much more than bread. More often, though, the requests come from earnest strangers who know that if you don’t ask, you definitely won’t receive.

One day when Lillian, Elami and I walked into Kipkaren town, a woman asked Lillian in Swahili if it was OK to ask me for her daughter’s school fees. Lillian said no, but the woman asked anyway. I said, "Welcome to my home and we can talk more about a good way for us to help," but she never came.

Recently, Elami, Tovah and I were playing outside our compound, when a very pregnant woman came by. We exchanged the usual greetings and then she asked for Bishop Tarus. “Bishop” is our director here and his name gets passed around for miles as someone who can help people. He often talks to us at staff meetings about the fact that ELI helps people in ways that are empowering, but that many people still just want a handout. From the time he wakes up in the morning till late at night, he talks with people who have traveled from far to ask him for money or jobs. It’s exhausting for him, but he still tries – and urges us staff – to treat these people with compassion and to at least be ready to listen.

“Bishop is in America right now,” I told the woman.

She asked “Where do you live?” Ugh! Dreading where this conversation was going, I pointed down the road a short piece – just there.

“Tuende,” she said – let’s go.

My mind shouted “NO!” and raced with lame excuses. The familiar feeling of extreme discomfort over money issues reared its ugly head. Empowerment is tricky. It’s a distant notion when a young mom, pregnant, without obvious resources is telling you she’s hungry and she wants to come to your house. But a handout is not helpful in the long run either.

I hesitated, but God said “Relax – just start with a cup of tea.” A cup of tea I can do, so I said “Karibu, tuende.” Welcome, let’s go.

Over our cup of tea, I learned that this young woman has two other small children at home and that she had indeed planned to ask Bishop for money. We talked about family planning and child spacing – a little too late, I’m afraid. Then I struggled in Swahili through a story from 2 Kings 4. A widow cried out to Elisha for help – her family was in debt and a creditor was coming to take her two sons as slaves if she couldn’t pay. Elisha asked two questions – "How can I help?" And "What do you have in your house?" The woman said she had nothing, except for a little olive oil. Elisha asked her to go and gather as many jars as she could, then to go back to her house and pour oil from her jar into all the jars. When there were no more jars, there was no more oil to pour. She sold the oil and paid off her debts and had more for her and her sons to live off of.

This story is the ultimate model for empowerment. What if she had thought, “Whatever! That’s too much work”? And what if she had gone to ask someone else for help? Maybe she would have gotten some money, but probably not enough to get her out of her trouble completely, and almost certainly not enough to sustain her and her sons. What if Elisha had simply given her money because he didn’t want the discomfort of saying no? She would have missed an opportunity to grow in faith and confidence.

The woman in my living room needed such an opportunity. The trick for us is finding ways for people to bring the jars, so to speak. Coincidentally, an acquaintance of mine had arranged to come later the same afternoon to talk about options for her children’s school fees. Davis and I had talked over possibilities ahead of time – a micro loan? Or could we sponsor her for an ELI empowerment training weekend Ilula to learn about bread ovens and small business management? Maybe I could buy some of the crafts this woman makes…

There are ways for people to bring their jars; ways to chip away at poverty one story at a time. These ways take time and require effort and faith - on both sides of the equation.

So, after a cup of chai and a chat, I gave the woman a few bananas to take home, from my children to hers. She left with a broad grin and promised to come to the clinic for prenatal care. I escorted her up our path, wondering what I had accomplished. Was that an effective interaction? Had I done the right thing? Was it the right mix of being open and willing, but not giving a handout?

Like I said, empowerment is tricky. But people like the Marus prove that these things are attainable. The Marus are not wealthy, lofty people, unable to identify with those touched by poverty. They are an average Kenyan family, themselves empowered to break free from unemployment and poverty, who are turning around and empowering others.

Yesterday, I told Emily Maru how blessed I was that she and Mr. Maru had been so willing to open their homes. I wish you all could meet the Marus. Kelvine and Ivine have not just found a secure roof over their heads–the Marus will love them thoroughly and unconditionally.

There’s no easy way to wrap up this message, like there’s no easy way to wrap up each request for help. We’re all just people. We need your prayers that we’ll be willing to listen and ready with wise answers that have the right mix of “How can I help?” and “What do you have in your house?”

Jen Davis
ELI Maternal/Child Health Nurse

The Other Side of Empowerment

2007-06-17T19:41:00.000+03:00

Last Tuesday Juli, an ELI staff member who heads up the HIV/AIDS home-based care program was on her way to an event when she stopped at our cooperating AIDS clinic. Upon arrival, Juli learned that a young woman had also just arrived, and died soon thereafter. The woman was accompanied by her elderly mother, who had neither the support nor the resources to face burying her now dead daughter. (Read more of this story here.)

Seeing the need, Juli and two of our Kenyan staff dropped their plans for the day and drove the body home to a remote area 30 kilometers away. Once there, they learned more of the story—that the woman had been the wage earner for the entire family, and a single mother leaving behind two children. God moved the hearts of these two Kenyan men, who realized their own wealth in contrast to the 9 people living under a leaking thatch-roofed, single room home, and decided they must do something.

This was truly empowerment. It was not done with foreign sponsorship, or because it was some organization’s duty. This was done because two men who understand the call of Jesus to love others saw a need, and chose to meet it. Maru, a driver for ELI, and the head of a family himself, volunteered to take the children into his home. This has not been done here before, but since there was a need and a solution, ELI proceeded with the screening and case study that is done to ensure we have followed the best process in transitioning orphans, and yesterday a blue Toyota brought the two orphans to their new home.

They were greeted by a gathering of singing children and teachers who sang for them, greeted them, and prayed for them upon their arrival. All their possessions fit in a plastic bag, but the smiles on their faces filled the sky.

Today I taught both of them in class. Kelvine, the elder brother in math and science, and Ivine, the sister in PE. It reminded me that this is why I’m here: to participate in giving hope to those who did not have it. I sometimes forget that 100 of my students are AIDS orphans—in the same place just one year ago, but now healthy, thriving kids with families and futures.

Pray for the same for Kelvine and Ivine, and also for their new family, the Marus. Praise God too, for the work he is doing through empowered Kenyans.

~ D. Davis
ELI Teacher

Get a Goat

2007-06-15T07:30:00.000+03:00

In a village region in Eastern D.R. Congo, three hours south of the country's second largest city of Bukavu, is an area called Chihonga. This 60-square-mile area contains 11 villages that roughly 22,000 people call home. Suffering from the wake of Interahamwe rebels fleeing the ’94 Rwandan genocide as well as from the Congo’s own instability and war, family life in Chihonga has been hit hard.

During the last 15 years of conflict, this area has been wrecked by rebels moving into the village raping women, killing families, and stealing crops and livestock. A culture that is completely dependent on cows and livestock has been completely stripped of its most important asset, and the landscape in the beautiful hilly region is almost completely void of any livestock. It is an eerie sight to behold.

ELI Congo moved into this area in 2005 with a micro-loan project that included co-op training groups which focused on gaining new skills in sustainable agriculture and replenishing the soil of much-needed nutrients. With the absence of life stock manure combined with already-low yield staple foods such as cassava, Chihonga residence have not even been able to eat once a day on a regular basis.

In November 2006, Mirhima M’Muyahula, a 25-year-old widow with four children, was one of the 105 recipients of the goat-loan program. Using her new goat combined with the training she received, she used a zero-grazing unit for the goat, bringing the food to the goat. This does not only fatten up the goat, but it also enables her to collect the manure and use it for her crops. Mirhima is, “…thankful for the training [she] received and [for] the goat.” Before she only had enough beans to feed her children maybe once a day, and now, only seven months later, she “has more beans than she knows what to do with.”

How will she repay the loan? By giving back the first baby of the goat. If she gets six more goats, she will be able to purchase a cow benefiting even more and having the opportunity to sell milk in the market.

Not even one year into the loan program, these 105 recipients lives have been changed through something as simple as a single goat. The true joy on Mirhima’s face is undeniable; she can now feel confident in her family’s future and her means to support them.

Text and photo by Micah Albert

Rebuilding a Life in War-torn Congo

2007-06-15T07:08:00.000+03:00

On November 1, 2006, Angeline Balungwe was a recipient of the ELI Congo micro-loan in Chihonga, D.R. Congo, a remote village in the South Kivu province in Eastern Congo. Angeline a 30 year-old widow. Her husband was killed in the war in 2002, and she has been farming the local cassava root, the staple food in this region, to feed her and her five children.

Because of the war, rebel activity has taken out livestock of any kind, leaving people no manure to put back vital nutrients into the soil. The result is an extremely low yield crop, producing tubers the size of ones thumb, leaving the families like Angeline’s with very little food. Ten roots from the local cassava produces one kilo of cassava flour, and one kilo will produce two loaves of cassava bread, enough to feed three people for one day.

Formerly: Ten roots = 1 kg flour = 2 loaves of bread
Now: One root = 1 kg flour = 2 loaves of bread

ELI has introduced a new Nigerian-hybrid cassava that produces roots that are one kilo each, with up to six of these roots per plant. It starts producing these in less than nine months - less than half the time of the local version.

Only eight months after planting, Angeline has now begun to harvest her first cassava roots. After pulling up her very first plant from the ground, she could hardly believe her eyes. With the roots from one plant, she exclaimed, she could feed her family twice a day and would have enough left over at the end of the day. And with this harvest, she will have up to 10 cassava seedlings to replant the next year, sell them in the community or give them away to friends and family.

The idea is spreading through out this 100-square-kilometer region of 11 villages, and people are on their way to rebuilding a life in this war-torn part of the nation.

Text and photo by Micah Albert

What are your fears related to HIV?

2007-06-12T13:00:00.001+03:00

What are your fears related to HIV?

This is the question asked to open a three-day training on what it means to be a caregiver. After an hour of people sharing their responses, the room grows quiet. The realities of HIV, the fears surrounding it are realized.

Then a second question is posed: Is there hope? Once again, silence fills the room. It is a sobering moment; but I have seen it again and again, with fears identified, they lose their power. Space for hope to rise is given. Now, we can begin the training.

This week, 23 trainees have traveled from their homes, from various churches in surrounding villages. These individuals may not know the horrifying statistic that says in Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 25 million people are infected with the virus that causes AIDS. But they know their neighbor who keeps being diagnosed with malaria but never recovers. They have attended the burial of their brother and then their sister-in-law. They now have four more children to feed. To these, HIV is not a statistic. It is a nightmare.

Over the past two and a half years, ELI’s Tumaini na Afya (Hope & Health), have trained nearly 300 people the art of caregiving by increasing their knowledge surrounding HIV, proper nutrition, the importance of HIV testing, how to connect the sick with testing and then treatment. For all who are willing, the opportunity for them to learn their HIV status is provided. The last day of the course has been termed “Loving Day” provides the trainees practical experience. They go with members of our team to visit clients within our community. They go to encourage, to assist. They practice what they have learned with the goal that they will take this to their communities.

As I was teaching this morning, I was convinced again: There is hope. There is hope, because there is a God who has not, who cannot, forget his children. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we are called to be His hands, His feet. The need is great. The opportunities are limitless.

~ Juli McGowan
ELI Family Nurse Practitioner

News from the Congo

2007-06-02T11:43:00.000+03:00

We received this message from Terry in the Congo:

"It has been a great day in Bukavu, Congo. We spent 7 hours visiting the ELI school. It is located in the heart of a slum. During the war in 2000, the slum was essentially in the crossfire of the conflict. People were killed and children had nowhere to run. Today, the ELI school sits like a beacon on the hillside. The community believes it was 'dropped from heaven' as one mother told us today.

"When we arrived, we were greeted by 350 singing children. They danced for us, read poems of thanks, enacted a drama written by the students to express what life was like before and after the school was created. We spent over an hour listening to the teachers, encouraging them, and
sharing together. We then visited the 6 classrooms (grade 1-6) with children ranging from 5 to 15. A typical classroom had 4 children per bench with 45-55 students per grade. They are served 1 meal each day...for many it is their only meal of the day. The feeding program was created because children would start crying after being in school for a few hours due to hunger pains. Upon completion of grade 6, the students take a national test and for the last 3 years have had a 100% passing rate. Amazing.

"At 1:30, the children leave the school and the 2nd shift comes in . . . they call them the Orientation Classes. Normally a child would continue with school but we do not have the classrooms or teachers to offer a secondary school. This limits the students' future . . . they cannot go on to a university. But the 2-year orientation program prepares them to attend a future vocational school where they learn sewing, mechanics, agriculture, etc. At the end of the program, one very sharp young boy asked what was next for him. He wanted to become a doctor . . . others wanted to be journalists, nurses, pastors, teachers. It was difficult to say that right now, we have nothing more to offer. We walked away desperately wanting to find a way to bring these kids to reality.

"On Saturday, Lindsey, Terry, and Estelle will be traveling by boat from Goma to Bukavu. They will be accompanied by an immigration officer to help minimize the bribes and expedite their journey. Micah, Kierra, Ron and Julius will be travelling to Chihonga, a remote village 2 hours away. ELI has a 'goat loan/giving' project which is transforming the region. More on this another time. Please pray for safe journeys. This land is not easy; the wars have done damage and caused suffering beyond belief."

Please pray . . .

for continued safety for the team
that God will use this time to bless to Congolese as well as to speak to the hearts of each person on the team
that God will continue to show ELI how we can minister to the Congolese, to bring hope, and to establish his Kingdom in their midst

Pray for Rain

2007-05-29T22:10:00.000+03:00

Experts from a message from the Davis family, who joined ELI Kipkaren earlier this year. We've had some rain on and off, but not as much as we need. This rainy season proves to be awfully dry. Here's what Davis wrote...

"It is rainy season in Kenya, and in Kipkaren, a farming community, rain is a serious thing. Rain means food. The rows of maize growing in every field are next year’s meals—they are this society’s future. Cultural perceptions of food are so connected with availability. In America we never wonder if we will eat, instead we decide what we will eat, or where. It’s a different mentality—one where those in small towns get teased for only having 3 or 4 fast food joints to choose from. We go to one supermarket over another because “its produce is fresher” or they “have a better selection of seafood.”

Here in Kenya, which is a fertile country with one of Africa’s higher standards of living, people know exactly where their food is coming from—their gardens. So rain and drought are deeply meaningful things. People watch the skies as each day the sun passes over their maize without rain, leaving their crops a little drier. When it does rain it brings smiles—never nursery rhymes wishing it would go away.

Yesterday, my 5th grade class read a story in their text book about drought. In the story, the residents of Nyasini foolishly celebrate the end of the rains which tragically disappear for 12 months, leaving the people destitute and dying. My students understand the connection between rain and life. When they wrote their assignments, it was interesting to see how many spoke of the necessary intervention of God to end drought or said that rain was God’s blessing.

“We are not ignorant” prayed the director of the orphanage at a recent meeting. “We know how rain comes.” He is a well-spoken, well-educated man whom the children call grandfather. “We know rain is from you, God!” His college education does not keep him from pleading to God that the five acres of maize he has planted to feed the orphans will produce.

With his hands up and sweat beading on his forehead he calls on God to feed his children. In the staff meeting the foster parents sound their own opinion without bashfulness. They have done everything they can—plowing, planting, weeding; now it is up to God to water if he chooses.

Some of them have little education, while others are academic, understanding the CNN meteorologist’s explanations of barometric pressure, of winds, ocean currents, or global weather patterns. But those things seem empty. Weather is not simply scientific explanation or probability.

In the West we easily accept the odds like the “75% chance of rain today” as if the weather is simply rolling of the atmospheric dice. While our neighbors may resign themselves to the number shown on dice (today’s weather) they would never believe that the dice roll themselves.

I realize not everyone who reads our newsletters believes in God, but this mentality is a challenge to the believer or the atheist—it’s a challenge to accept how little we control in the world, and that we must blindly accept the odds, or give credit to something superior than ourselves.

So it is without spiritual skepticism or academic assurance that the people of Kipkaren, ourselves included, young and old, scholar and ignorant, humbly approach God, asking him to rain.

As the dark clouds roll past us again today without a drop released, we ask you also to consider those things in your life that you might enjoy without pondering their greater purpose. Africa reminds us how out of control life truly is, and how much we rely on the grace of God.

Thank you again for your support, prayers, and emails. You are our rain."

Rehab Graduation: New Beginnings

2007-05-07T11:35:00.000+03:00

On Saturday, May 5th, a group of 13 recovered alcoholics graduated from the Kenya Anti-Alcohol program. To celebrate their sobriety and welcome them back into their communities, extended family members and groups from various churches gathered in Ilula.

The 200 or more guests sat patiently as one after another man stood up and shared a bit of his story. Many invited their families forward. "Step 9 of the 12 steps," explained Kefa, "is to make amends. Will my family please come forward? I would like to ask their forgiveness for all I had done."

As his mother and a group of church elders stepped forward, Kefa told the audience that he had put his mother in great misery. "I had sold everything in her house. I ruined her life. Ma, will you forgive me? Will you allow me to start over?" The young man broke into tears, though crying is considered very unmanly in his culture. One could tell that he truly was remorseful. There was hardly a dry eye in the audience as his mother held him tight. He thanked God for healing him of "the disease of alcohol."

In response to her son's testimony, Kefa's mom, Helen, encouraged the audience to keep praying for other alcoholics in their families. "There were times when I thought God had gone to lunch, or that he is sleeping, but finally, he answered my prayer. My son is back."

Others followed, some being uncomfortable hugging family and friends, others holding family members tight.

Ben from Moi's Bridge explained how he expected to be admitted to a prison-like facility, and was surprised to find that they had the freedom to choose every day if they'll stay and abide by the rules, or leave. "I had wasted 1 million schillings (US$14,000) on alcohol!" he confessed. "My mom even turned to witchcraft to help. It didn't work..." He thanked his uncle for intervening on his behalf and bringing him to the rehab center. His father shared how he has known others who have gone through this same program. "I can see great changes in these people," his father said with tears in his eyes. "Now, let the Bible be your light on the road forward."

Malakwen, an old man who used to be a traditional circumsiser in his community told everyone that he came to know Christ at the center. "You are young," he told his cohorts. "Make good choices. You still have your life before you."

College professor Patrick Kitela reminded his cohorts that there are two ways: one leads to destruction, one to Life. "The quickest way to destruction," he said, "is to let alcohol take your life." He explained that even though he has a master's degree in engineering, he has made poor choices. "Please pray for us to be able to withstand temptation," he asked the audience.

Julius from Ziwa proudly stood by his son, explaining that he will be a good father. His wife had left him with their son, tired of her husband's drinking habits.

Another Julius explained that he was the only one in their family who was not saved, and the only one who was an alcoholic. "But since April 14, I am walking with God."

He told how he started drinking as a high school student, using the school fees his parents gave him to buy alcohol and later also drugs. He finally dropped out of school.

Tenai's wife expressed her gratitude that her husband will return to her and their son. "Before, my husband didn't always come home at night... I know he'll be faithful now."

This was ELI's final graduating class from the Kenya Anti-Alcohol facility. A new ministry was launched this weekend, called "ELI Anti-Alcohol Ministry" (or ELI AA). Through ELI AA, we will continue to reach out to the poor, while KAA will focus on those in the community who can afford to pay for rehab. Pastor Rono will remain with KAA while the rest of the staff are remaining with ELI AA.

Please pray for both of these groups as we continue to reach out to alcoholics in Kenya.

Davis' Take on the Time in Sudan

2007-04-30T18:33:00.000+03:00

Thank you for your prayers—I am safely back from Sudan, and one week later I am working on my fourth draft of this letter…. But how to explain Sudan?

I stood on top of the wreckage of a MIG 23 fighter jet that had been shot down during Sudan’s decades-long civil war. As I surveyed the craft now mutilated as if the object of continual vengeance of every Sudanese boy who walks by, I couldn’t help marveling at the tremendous human effort that went into this machine. I don’t know the details, but I can assume that hundreds of engineers, scientists, and researchers, plus millions of dollars went into building a machine that was designed to kill. Tremendous cost and human effort went into a machine used to shoot Dinka tribesmen, women and children, to drop bombs on villages, hospitals and schools…

During our time in Sudan we heard a lot of stories. Everyone has their own war story from a 22 year conflict that began in 1983 when the Arab-controlled government of Sudan imposed Muslim Sharia Law on the African, Christian South. When the regional southern government was dissolved, several rebel groups began fighting for an independent Sudan. The result was a war of modern weapons being used against African villagers. Elizabeth tells her story of walking with three friends when they decided to rest. Elizabeth decided to leave them briefly to see her uncle. Minutes later Antinov bombers arrived, and while she hid in a hole, her friends died on the open Bor plains. Abraham is a “Lost Boy” who ran from the bombs in the middle of the night. He told of his journey on foot, at night, to Ethiopia hundreds of miles away, only to be attacked in the refugee camp by armored vehicles and driven back into the Sudanese conflict.

So it is into this country that ELI is trying to bring empowerment. We chartered a small plane to bring us in, that was forced to land on an unintended airstrip due to bad weather. No matter, we were warmly welcomed anyway, by people who were not expecting us, and whom we had never met. Shortly after they gave us tea and prepared places for us to sleep, Stephen Reech, the Sudanese ELI director arrived with a flatbed truck to take us “home.” We said our goodbye’s to our new friends, and then spent the next couple hours bumping along a dirt road past innumerable homesteads of returning refugees. Their houses are grass thatched with short 3 foot mud walls. Also in the compound is a luak, a giant grass house made to shelter their cows, the main livelihood of the Dinka Tribe.

The ELI compound has three projects right now, all at various points of construction. First, is an agricultural training center (incomplete) being built to empower people through growing food. This is a difficult task as the Sudanese have not enjoyed enough stability to cultivate for over 20 years. Second, is a home for orphans (one building has walls and roof, not finished). The third is an elementary school—which was my primary interest, and my reason for coming. It is nothing but a roof so far, but it is well-attended by over 120 kids in grade 1-4. Obviously, in a country without infrastructure, education is only recently available, so there are very few children in the upper grades. On the day we counted we found 80 in 1st grade, 26 in 2nd, 12 in 3rd, and 5 in 4th. There are 100 more students enrolled but not present, as they are off caring for the cattle. The students sit in the dirt under the roof of their wall-less school learning numbers, letters, and reading off of the blackboard.

In these conditions I was amazed by the dedication of the teachers—4 high school graduates who all completed their studies in refugee camps outside of Sudan. I spent time talking with them, providing some teacher training, and also teaching in the school. The thermometer read over 120 F when I completed teaching a lesson on factors to 4th grade by dividing piles of rocks in the sand. I was amazed by their desire for education.

I visited 2 other schools during my time in Sudan, and found the conditions the same: unfinished, unfurnished schools, packed to capacity. One school had 70 1st graders in a classroom, and another 70 outside under a tree. The day before I left I was able to go into Bor town with Kiptoo, a Kenyan nurse (Jen’s supervisor at the clinic) where we bought 10 boards—the first furniture for this school.

I could go on and on about Sudan. Maybe if I ever get around to updating my blog I’ll tell about the 2 snakes we killed, the quart of fresh-from-the-cow unpasteurized milk I drank, of swimming with the herds boys in a water hole full of dung and littered with animal carcasses, or of visiting a man in the hospital with an AK-47 bullet wound to the head.

But Sudan was not about adventure, it was about people. I had great hope when I saw my 4th graders performing well on their math using gravel. I felt hopeless in the Bor hospital looking at toddlers whose arms were thinner than 2 of my fingers, whose legs were thinner than 3 of my fingers, but whose eyes were as big as my own daughter’s. I loved the life and energy of the machine-gun-toting men who wanted me to photograph them with their weapons and their tall, long-horned cattle, but I was sad to know that their guns also testify that peace has not come to Sudan as the Darfur genocide rages.

Sudan was incredibly different, yet when I worshiped in a packed church in a foreign language I felt right at home.

It has made me think about some things differently: What’s more valuable: a MIG 23 fighter jet or a 4th grade education? So as ELI explores its goals in Sudan, please pray for God’s wisdom. Please also pray (or act) about the bloodshed that goes on in Darfur.

I will quit there. Thanks again for your prayers. Jen and the girls did fine while I was gone too.

God Bless,
Davis

AIDS campaign - Thanks for praying!

2007-04-03T13:58:00.000+03:00

Thanks so much for your prayers for last Friday's AIDS campaign! We had a wonderful campaign full of many successes including the following:

No rain! Lots of sunshine (with no trees to hide under resulting in red faces, necks, and arms for us two white people--Juli and I)!
Tons of people--between 6,000 - 7,000
Lots of entertainment from many different groups ranging from school children to grandmothers, all singing songs about HIV/AIDS
Exciting games including two bicycle races and a challenging football (soccer match) which ended in penalty kicks
Collaboration among several organizations working in the area including: ELI, AMPATH, Ministry of Health, Deliverance Church, and the host organization, Agriculture Development Corporation
Important messages of hope passed to the crowd from HIV+ individuals, government officials, chiefs, senator of the area, and all organizations involved in the day
Testing, testing, testing!!! We had 20 VCT counselors set up in 3 tents who worked very hard all day long in the hot sun. At the end of the day, 748 individuals faced their fears and took courage to be tested and know their HIV status--419 men, 262 women, and 67 unknown (meaning we did not get the exact data of the 67 individuals). 3.5% of those tested were found to be HIV+ and were referred to the nearest AMPATH clinic for further counseling and treatment
We have already started planning for our next big campaign, which will be held on Friday, April 20 in the village on Natwana. Thanks for joining us in the fight against HIV/AIDS...replacing fear with hope!

Blessings,
Allison and the entire Tumaini na Afya Team

Empowered Lives: Paul Sigilai

2007-03-25T01:09:00.000+03:00

Paul Sigilai was born in 1961 into a polygamist family. Sigilai’s dad rarely had time for the children. While in elementary school, Paul lived with his mother. However, by the time he went to high school in 1978, he moved in with his father and an angry stepmother.

Paul was seeking encouragement and companionship, and he found it in a group of friends. Sadly, these friends also introduced him to cigarettes and alcohol. By the time he completed high school in 1980, Paul was an alcoholic. He got a job as a technician with Kenya Telecommunication Company and stayed with this company for 10 years. But the stress of his alcohol addiction made it unbearable for him to continue his job. He chose to retire.

Barely thirty years old, Sigilai started squandering his retirement money, mostly on alcohol. In 2003, his wife kicked him out. A year later, he returned to her, promising to change. The change was always short-lived. Paul couldn’t stay sober for more than 2 months until he’d succumb to alcohol once again. After his son prayed for him and begged his father to quit drinking, Sigilai was able to stay sober for 6 months. But once again, he was overcome by his addiction.

Paul hit rock bottom, and wanted to take his life. God brought a friend named Samson across Paul’s path. Samson had just recently graduated from ELI’s Drug and Alcohol Rehab Program, and he convinced his friend that he would find the tools to do the same if he’d check into rehab.

If you’d ask Sigilai what’s different this time around, he’d tell you that he’s no longer trying to win the battle on his own. God is by his side. Sigilai quotes John 14:6 as his life verse. Since he know knows Jesus, he has faith that Jesus will continue to lead him in truth and in life. And that includes a day-to-day victory over his alcohol addiction.

Paul is looking forward to seeing his son over Easter break so they can celebrate together how God had answered the boy’s prayers.

Please join us for the AIDS campaign

2007-03-21T21:09:00.000+03:00

I know you cannot physically be present at this week's HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. However, through your prayers, you can join in what God's going to be doing in people's lives.

Here's what Allison shared from Kipkaren, Kenya:

This week, we've been extremely busy preparing for a large HIV/AIDS campaign that will be held in Kitale on Friday. This campaign is a bit different than our others as we have partnered with a big company in Kenya called the Agriculture Development Corporation (ADC). The Managing Director of ADC, Kirwa, is our neighbor in Kipkaren (though he resides in Nairobi). When Kirwa heard about what we were doing in the area of AIDS Awareness, he wanted his company to be a part of it. In the area where we are conducting this campaign, ADC has 12 large farms with over 10,000 employees. This is an exciting opportunity for our team to venture into a different sector of society--the working world.

We are expecting about 5,000 people to attend and are preparing to test 1,000 people for HIV. As always, there will be bicycle races for men and women and a football (soccer) game as well as our favorite band from Nairobi, "Kijiji," to draw and entertain the crowd for the day. Please keep our team in your prayers on that day.

We will be traveling in a caravan of four vehicles at 5am Friday morning as the place is about a two hour drive from Kipkaren. Please also pray for safety on the roads. We are expecting great things and give you an update next week of how things went!

Work hard. Play hard.

2007-03-15T17:11:00.000+03:00

Last Saturday, the Kipkaren staff held the first-ever ELI Kipkaren Cup at the Brook of Faith field. (That's ELI's new elementary school in Kipkaren.) Training Center staff challenged Brook of Faith/Children's Home staff to a football (soccer) match.

The Training Center staff kicked dust in the eyes of the Children's Home and School staff, beating them with 3 goals to 1.

Says Allison, "It was such a fun afternoon though we noticed the next day the wazee (old people) were limping. They are obviously not as young as they used to be. Thanks goes to Arap Rop for organizing this match. There will be more in the future."

Photos from Kenya

2007-03-13T21:50:00.000+03:00

Photographer couple Michael and Emi Heddens recently visited Kenya. They posted some of the photos of their trip on their blog.

They write of their time in Kenya, "This doesn’t even begin to do justice to the things we saw and the people we met while in Africa this past month, but we’ve had so many people ask, we thought we’d give a sneak peek into out trip."

Be sure to check it out!

Julius Kemboi: A Road to Freedom

2006-09-16T23:26:00.000+03:00

Currently, we have 16 men enrolled in our drug and rehab program. We only have sleeping space for 10, and when 26 showed up during the newest intake, we sadly had to show some away. However, six refused to leave, insisting that they will sleep in tents, or outside. But they wanted to be free from the grip of alcohol.

Following is the story of one such man: Julius Kemboi. Julius was born handicapped. His family could not afford to buy him a wheelchair, and no-one could take him to school or take him around school, so he never had a chance to be educated. As a young boy, he convinced a friend, however, to teach him to read.

Julius felt trapped, not being able to stand or walk, and as a teenager, found an escape in alcohol. Later in life, he met a woman and got married. Once he had a wheelchair, Julius would go out to drink. Returning home drunk, his chair would get stuck in the mud. Upon reaching home, he would take out his frustrations on his wife by beating and abusing her. She took their four children and left him for about a year, returning recently because she had mercy on him.

Soon after her return, their pastor encouraged Julius to join the alcohol rehabilitation program. At the center, my eyes were opened, Julius explains. I met men who were physically well, but like me, were addicted to alcohol. Some had had good jobs which they had lost to alcohol. Some were policemen, bankers, or government officials. It dawned on me that alcoholism has no prejudice. It affects even the rich.

Since having been at the rehab center, Julius discovered that God loves him and had given him skills to use in life: repairing shoes, fixing bicycles, and even do poultry farming. Someone once gave me KES20,000 (about $300) to start a poultry farm. I blew the money on alcohol!"

After completing this program, Julius wants to return to his family and be a responsible husband and father. I want my family to be able to rely on me once again. I want my wife to be happy, and I want to provide for my childrens education. I pray for Gods forgiveness and his assistance. And I thank God for this place of refuge during this process of recovery."

New Intake at Kenya Anti-Alcohol

2006-09-04T20:30:00.002+03:00

This morning, 14 men registered for the newest intake at our Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Center. The first few days at the center is very hard as the detox phase of this recovery and discipleship program is to wean them off drugs and alcohol cold turkey. The next three days and nights are especially critical.

Please pray for Philip Rono and his staff as they walk this road of victory with these 14 men.

An Evening of Worship

2006-09-04T00:47:00.000+03:00

Patrick, worshiping
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

On Thursday night, a visiting team from Christian Assembly led a night of worship and celebration with the children from the Kipkaren Children's Home. The next day, they hosted an HIV/AIDS-awareness campaign, where more than 3,000 people attended the event.

For pictures of both events, click on Patrick's photo.

Celebration!

2006-08-10T23:12:00.000+03:00

Alcohol rehab center attendees
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

On Sunday, we had a big celebration at our Kenya Anti-Alcohol Drug and Rehabilitation Center. The nine men currently in the program have completed half of their 3-months at the center. Relatives attended the celebration, and both the men and their families were able to share testimonies of how drugs and alcohol had ruined their lives, and how they are now free!

Please continue to pray for Pastor Philip Rono and his team as they continue to guide these men into the next steps of victory!

Traditional-birth-attendant training

2006-07-25T22:10:00.000+03:00

Traditional-birth-attendant training
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

For the past 2 days, 62 ladies from the Kipkaren area have been gathering for further training as traditional birth attendants. Here, Lindsay Albert of the Bayside team is explaining various danger signs to be looking out for after the birth.

Presenting trainings such as these is just one of the ways in which ELI is making a difference in the lives of the villagers. Midwife skills are typically just passed on orally, and by offering free, formal trainings, we are able to have a positive effect on the health of the villagers.

ELI's ministry to former sex-trade workers

2006-07-02T22:19:00.000+03:00

“If you had asked me, I would have given you living water… And the water I give takes away thirst altogether.” John 4:10,14. Jesus spoke these words to a Samaritan woman over 2000 years ago, and His offer still stands for all thirsty people today. Five present day “Samaritan” women found this living water at our training center this past week, and I am excited to tell you the story.
At an AIDS campaign that we put on a few months ago, the ELI staff met some women who were working as prostitutes. One of them grabbed our director’s arm and said, “OK, I’ve been tested. I know that I have HIV, and I don’t want to spread it anymore, but I don’t have any other way to feed my children. I don’t know what else to do. You have to help me.” Thus began a relationship with six very special ladies. It started in some local bars. We wanted to start where they felt comfortable. Slowly, they began to share their stories with us, and our hearts broke. As trust developed, the meetings moved from the bars to our training center, where the women have been coming every Wednesday for a time of devotion, prayer, and business development skills.

For the first time ever, these women have been encouraged to dream of a new life. We are helping them dream of new possibilities for feeding their children, and hope is sprouting. After a three-day training here, each woman came up with her own business proposal, and we are now praying and working through the endless barriers and logistics of them.

But even more important than business skills, these “Samaritan Women” as we call them, are feeling the love of Christ for the first time. They are hearing the Gospel and are finding dignity, acceptance, and value once again.

I think that initially, the women continued to come to our center each week simply because they were intrigued by our care. “Why are these people so committed to helping us?” “What is this love that I experience every time I’m around them?” “Why do they want to be friends with us when everyone else in society as rejected and labeled us?”

Slowly, they have learned that the answer is simply Jesus. Jesus loves them, sees them, knows their past, understands their pain, and wants to offer them living water. What a blessing to walk this journey with them the past two months!

I have seen their tears of joy as we visited them in their homes (homes that no one else in the community would ever be caught dead visiting). I have loved sharing the Bible with them and watching them learn who God truly is. I rejoiced that day that shyly admitted that they didn’t have Bibles, but would like to own one so that they might continue to read about God on their own. And, my heart has danced as I watched new hope shine in their eyes as they began to believe that another life is possible! But nothing in this journey compares to last Saturday.

The day began as we welcomed five of the six ladies to our training center in the morning for a day of special fun. (The sixth one was unable to join us that day.) After singing and a devotion about the time that Jesus washed His disciples feet, we proceeded to wash the feet of each woman. I think that everyone in the room was near tears. The women kept saying, “No one has ever done anything like this for us before.” Each woman then get a foot massage and pedicure, along with one-on-one counseling and prayer, and business advice for their new proposals. AND, each woman heard the gospel message.

At this point, they didn’t even need an invitation- all of them asked US if they could give their lives to God. All five women found the living water that day, and heaven and earth rejoiced. At the end of the day, I presented a Bible to each lady with verses already highlighted throughout. They kissed the Bibles and hugged me tightly. Each woman knew that she now had a mighty weapon to take with her as she entered the battle at home again. With their new swords in hand, the women bid us farewell and promised that they would see us in church the next day.

And sure enough, they came! They walked the 4 miles to church and greeted us excitedly as they arrived. What joy to sit with them in church (in the very front row!) and watch them raise their hands and worship their new-found Savior with all their hearts. And what joy to meet with them this past Wednesday for our weekly meeting. This time during the devotion time, EVERYONE shared. Each woman shared a scripture that had touched her during the past five days. Though the days had been rough for many, and the battle raged strong at home, each woman had stayed strong and was finding strength and hope in God’s word.

One said, “When I arrived at church on Sunday, I felt God’s Holy Spirit fill me, and as soon as I got home, I just started reading. I didn’t want to waste anytime.” Another said, “I’ve been so happy the past five days because I never had a sword before. I have been in a battle, but never had a sword to fight with. Now I do!”

The battle ahead is still a big one. The obstacles in the way of these new business proposals are many. It’s hard not to lose hope that they will ever be a reality. But I know that God did not lead them through the sea to let them die in the wilderness. Yes, the giants in the way of entering the promised land are huge, but our God is greater. And we trust that he will lead us into that promised land, providing manna for today until we reach there.

I often think, “Lord, we are still so far from getting these businesses started, so what are these women going to eat today?” But He reminds me again and again that He is the God who provided water from a rock, and manna in the wilderness to care for the children of Israel, and He will do the same for these women today.

Please pray for us as we journey through this wilderness, seeking entrance to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. Pray for ideas from above, and for miraculous doors to open. We need a miracle. We need the walls of Jericho to come tumbling down. And the women need strength for today. They need food for their children today. They need protection from the attacks of the enemy today.

Thank you for your prayers!

Kierra Higgins
ELI Upland Staff, currently serving in at the Kipkaren Training Center

Kipkaren Kids' Camp

2006-07-01T23:35:00.000+03:00

Edna
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

This morning, I went to our base at Kipkaren to take pictures of a children's ministry event. More than 300 kids showed up for day camp where they played some games with a visiting team from Nuevo, California, but mostly spent time singing, praying and memorizing Bible verses.

The kids are so cute. Whenever someone introduces themselves, they start with "Bwana asifiwe," which means "Praise the Lord." Usually, the response is a simple, "Amen." However, these kids respond with a boisterous "Amen-Hallelujah-Amen!"

There were 300 children present, and by the time we left, more children were still arriving...

There is so little entertainment in rural Kenya that any program usually attracts large crowds. What amazes me is that some of the children would walk for an hour or more just to attend a program such as this! Even little 3-year-olds would walk this far!

Edna does a wonderful job working with the kids. A week ago, she ran a big Sunday-school teacher training seminar in our region, too.

Other things that went on at ELI this weekend: Tomorrow, our Anti-Alcohol ministry (alcohol rehab center) is taking in a new group of men and women for their 3-month training. The son of a member of parliament is one of the guys who is part of this intake, so today, his family had a big send-off for him. I was invited to go and take photos at the event, however, I had committed to the kids' camp first. Please pray for Pastor Rono and his team, especially over the next 3 days. They wean the participants of drugs and alcohol cold turkey, so the first few days are especially tough!

There was also a soccer tournament near Kipkaren, the first round of play-offs that will lead to finals during an AIDS campaign later this month.

There's much happening, especially at this time of year. Please continue to pray for our staff in Kenya as well as the staff in Tanzania, Sudan, the Congo, AND the staff in the US without whom we cannot be doing our work...

Thank you for being a part of what God is doing around the world through ELI's ministry.

To think about

2006-05-31T10:27:00.000+03:00

A ministry that thinks a lot like ELI does is ECHO. Says their director, Dr. Michael Price: "It is a bottomless pit to send only medical assistance to treat diseases cause by poor nutrition, yet do nothing about unproductive farms."

Kau La Amani Training

2006-05-21T23:11:00.000+03:00

Kau La Amani Training
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Last week, we had 51 evangelists from the Kau La Amani Training Center at Ilula for an intensive training session. All 51 are determined to have groups from their individual churches return for our "church empowerment" training.

One person commented that he believed the church (in Kenya) could offer much to their communities if they implemented what they learned at our training center!

Their training included talks about bio-intensive agriculture and small business ideas.

Sudan Stories

2006-05-15T18:14:00.000+03:00

For a behind-the-scenes look at our journey to Sudan, please visit Adele's blog

Home Safely

2006-05-10T03:29:00.000+03:00

Ready?
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Praise God we're home safely! I'll write in more detail tomorrow, but here are some highlights of our journey:

Seeing God answer our prayers to heal Abiye. On Thursday, this young lady had NO pulse, NO blood pressure, and her extremities were like ice. The medical staff gave each other one of those looks that speak more than you'd like to hear. One said, "There's nothing more we can do for her. Let's just make sure she's comfortable..." We went and prayed for God to save her so her cattle camp (see below) can know GOD! Today, she walked. She'll be going home tomorrow!

Spending several hours in a cattle camp. The Sudanese did NOT want us to spend the night since it would've been too dangerous, but we were able to stay from the time the cows came home till almost 11pm, observing life... The camp we visited has about 10,000 cows and 600 people. Some of the people have tarps set up as tents. (I'll post photos tomorrow.) One tarp becomes home to FORTY people when it rains! When it's not raining, the children sleep in the cow ash (ash from cow dung having been burned). They even brush their teeth with the cow ash!

Watching the Dinka worship God!

None of the team got sick. There were fewer mosquitoes than we were told due to the rains being late, but we had a lot of flies (including humongous tsetse flies--ouch!) The ELI staff worked like crazy to complete a little shower room and outhouse, so we didn't have to dig holes... They brought some water from the community wells so we could take simple bucket showers at the end of the day to clean up. It was VERY, VERY hot (the thermometer we had couldn't read above 120F, and it read 120 on several days).

It rained only two days, yesterday being the worst. I'll tell more about that later. We ate rice and beans most meals. There was also sheep and goat.

The medical team saw more than 1,000 patients, mostly for worm and malaria treatment. There were two cases of cholera. Many came to have teeth extracted.

The 2 pastors on the team were able to do a seminar for pastors and community leaders which was well received. I was able to record teachings and preaching as well as worship songs.

Click on the photo to see some pictures from the journey. I'll be uploading more tomorrow.

Adele

Sudan Hands On - Hearts In!

2006-05-06T09:44:00.000+03:00

Adele Booysen called from Sudan on the Satellite phone Friday May 5th in the afternoon to let us know some of the ministry the team has already been involved in since their safe arrival on Wednesday. The team immediately settled into their tents and grass hut homes and interacted with the ELS leaders and community Wednesday. Thursday the medical team set up a mobile clinic and was able to see 200 people. On Friday when she called they had already seen 150 by lunch time.
One of the people was a 15 year old young girl that they saw in the morning who was so weak from typhoid and cholera that they did not think she would make it past noon. The treatment and prayers they gave provided some strength to her and so far she is still alive. Praise God.
They have not had any heavy rains so far and the mosquitoes are certainly present but not as troublesome as anticipated.
The team will continue their mobile medical clinic today (Friday) and as they move into the weekend, the two pastors that are on the team will minister in the local churches and meet with Sudanese Christian leaders to encourage them and dialogue with them about how Empowering Lives Sudan can best help them and their churches to heal, mature, and grow.
Empowering Lives Sudan - Empowering the needy spiritually, physically and economically.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Sudan - SAFE ARRIVAL!

2006-05-04T19:46:00.000+03:00

Good news!
The ELI team arrived safely to Padak, Sudan and were met by EL Sudan Director Steven Reech at the dirt landing strip. It had rained the day before but the dirt landing strip was dry enough for a safe arrival.

They called me (Don R) on the satellite phone in the afternoon and let me know that they were able to get out to the village of Kolmarek where the property of SL Sudan is located just fine. Steven told me "I did not have any vehicle to transport them from Padak (a 15 mile distance) God then did a miracle and touched the hearts of a local road construction organization. They gave all of us transportation. God is good!"

The ladies will be bunking in a grass hut where there is some solar power near a clean water well.

The men will be setting up the tent under the ELI iron sheet covered structure that is still under construction.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Sudan: The Next Journey

2006-05-02T13:13:00.001+03:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Many greetings to all of you! It is amazing to think that it is already May. Last month (April), our theme among the Empowering Lives Staff in Kipkaren, Kenya was "Victory and Celebration," and we were sure blessed to witness many victories for which we praised and thanked God. This month's theme is "Love in Action." We are beginning the month with putting God's love into action in the country of Sudan. We begin the journey tomorrow (May 3rd) from Kenya to Southern Sudan with a dynamic team of nine (five Kenyans, three Americans, and one South African).

We will be partnering with Stephen Reech, director of Empowering Lives Sudan. In September 2005, Stephen returned to Sudan after many years as a refugee in Kenya to his original home in the village of Kolmarek to begin a ministry of empowerment to his people, the Dinka. In February 2006, a team (including ELI Staff Juli McGowan and Don Rogers) went on a scouting trip and returned with stories which opened all of our eyes here in Kenya and broke our hearts. The idea of taking a medical and pastors team began to come into view. As soon as the idea was mentioned, God quickly began opening the doors, and on May 3rd (tomorrow) we are headed to Kolmarek in Southern Sudan until 9th May.

I am so excited to be a part of this team. It is going to be an adventure of discovering unknowns. Some of our team members have never even flown on a airplane before! We are all excited for this opportunity to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of the people of Southern Sudan. We are also excited to go with our notebooks and pens and listening ears to learn all we can about the Dinka tribe and the challenges they are currently facing. I will have a lot more information to share when I return as this is a new journey for all of us. Please keep our team in your prayers during this next week. If the satellite system works, we will be sending updates during our trip to this same blog address.
Also, if you would like to learn more about ELI Sudan's Director, Stephen Reech, please visit the following site, http://empoweringlives.blogspot.com/2006/02/steven-reech.html.
Thank you very much for your prayers and support!
Blessings,

Allison "Chebaibai" Tjaden
ELI - Health Ministry

Note: The team consists of five medical workers: Juli McGowan -ELI, Bernard Kiptoo -ELI, Julius Kemboi -ELI, Rachel Ototo -Turbo Clinic and Mark Lochte -Hillside Community Church), two pastors: David Tarus -ELI, Peter Maru -ELI, one primary health care trainer: Allison Tjaden -ELI, and one journalist:Adele Booysen -ELI.
The medical team will be conducting mobile clinics. David and Peter will conduct pastoral training sessions, Allison will do teaching on primary health care. Adele will be collecting stories on the new ELI School, Orphan care, Training Center construction, and Reforestation Project.
Kolmarek is in Southern Sudan, (far from Darfur - the region that's been in the news more recently for the ongoing genocide.) In fact, there are no usable roads between Southern Sudan and Darfur.
The team will be sending updates whenever possible, and those will be posted on this site.

Bringing Hope

2006-04-29T12:26:00.000+03:00

There is hope
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Incredible! What an amazing day I had at our recent Empowering Lives Aids Awareness Campaign.

When I arrived the 10 k race had finished and a crowd was gathered around the soccer field of the primary school we had borrowed for the day. Immediately I met the headmaster (Principal) of the school and he was thrilled to have ELI host such an event at this school and community.

The soccer game brought loud cheers as the local teams competed for the winners title. This was another of our strategies to gather a large crowd and rally people to know the devastating effects of AIDS, to get tested ("Know your status"), and to hear of the hope that is available for all through Jesus.

For three days, we held a music worship concert every evening with preaching where we shared the love of Christ and many made a decision to follow Christ.

During the three-day event, a total of 404 people were tested for HIV. Fourteen were positive. (These fourteen will now be receiving free treatment at the AMPATH clinic in Turbo.)

God knows how many lives were touched by the worship and testimonies. Over four thousand people attended one or more of the meetings.

God is good. This is another way that we are helping to reduce the future population of orphans. In the ELI Ilula Children's Home, over 75% of the children are orphaned because of AIDS. This campaign and the many other programs and campaigns we host each year are a vital part of our overall strategy to share the Gospel and change the futures of people and children for the better. Being tested and even just being given the opportunity to be tested is a powerful way to reach people and have them examine their lives, their lifestyles, and their eternal destinies.

Thank you again for your support and prayers.

Serving together,
Don

There is Hope

2006-04-29T00:23:00.000+03:00

There is hope
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Celebrate!

2006-03-29T09:12:00.000+03:00

Celebrate!
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Yesterday, ELI celebrated with a group of ladies who used to brew potent alcohol for a living until ELI offered them a way out by making paper.

The ladies worked hard and a group of 37 decided in the end to pool their money and build rental units.

With the help of ELI friends, two of the three houses were officially opened yesterday.

Click on the photo to see more of the celebration.

Celebrate!

2006-03-25T00:19:00.000+03:00

Celebrate!
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Update from Tanzania

2006-03-19T22:21:00.000+03:00

I just received the following text message from Don in Tanzania:

"Good, long day. One hundred and ten came forward for prayer at our afternoon meeting. Over 300 now watching the Jesus film! Powerful day for ministry. Bricks for classroom now half way."

Please continue to pray for the men who are in Tanzania, for continued health, energy and protection.

Empowering Women of Kenya, Africa

2006-03-17T22:23:00.000+03:00

Today, the women from Victory Highway went to fellowship with the ladies of a nearby village called Plateau. This entire village has been transformed by God through the ministry of Empowering Lives.

Here's the story, as told by Don Rogers.

GOD'S PROVIDENCE
While living in the village here in Kenya, my wife Amy and I were buying some supplies at a store in the closest major town called Eldoret. While walking towards the entrance, I was walking by two wazungu (white) women when I heard one of them say, "midwife training..." We were just arranging for such a training ourselves in another village, so I stopped and asked them about the training they referred to. They told me that the teacher was inside, so I waited there for her to come. Her name is Mary, and she is the wife of a village chief in Plateau, Kenya.

After talking about the midwife training, Mary told me that she and her husband have been praying for some way to combat the terrible alcoholism that has a hold on the men and women of their village. We (ELI-Kenya) had established an anti-alcohol program the year before, so after sharing with her we agreed that as soon as possible our national leader (Pastor Philip Rono) would visit their village and share the program with the chief.

FIRST MEETING IN PLATEAU
Within a few weeks, Pastor Rono visited Plateau. He thought he was going to talk with the Chief (which he did), but the chief had also invited most of the people from the village - including many of the women who were brewing alcohol and selling it for a source of income. The brew is called Changaa which means "Kill me quick!"

Changaa is actually a powerful and dangerous brew that the women make using fermented corn. Many of the women hate the alcohol and the effects of it, but they have so few sources of income that they feel they have no options in order to be able to buy food and pay school fees for their children.

Pastor Rono shared from his heart and shared his faith in Christ as well. Jesus is the higher power, he shared, and told them that there were steps that they could take to change their lives and come out from the disease of alcohol.

There was an immediate response, and within four months there were over a hundred people meeting regularly in small accountability groups - all becoming sober - taking it one day at a time - and learning about the love of Christ through the program. Within a year, over three hundred people were in the program and we were seeing regular conversions take place as we use the scriptures along with the 12 steps and we recognize Jesus is the higher power.

BAHASHA (ENVELOPE) WOMEN'S GROUP - 37 DETERMINED LADIES
Among the women who were brewing were many who desired to leave alcohol and to stop brewing and selling. However, they couldn't do this unless they had an alternate source of income. This is where ELI came in again. We offered them a short-term opportunity to work making and packaging hand-made paper which ELI would export to the USA and make available for a donation.

Thirty-seven of the women organized themselves and made paper for about a year and a half. This income was helpful but they (along with ELI ) desired that they have their own independent business. During the course of the paper program, ELI had encouraged the women to establish their own savings program which many of them did.

After much discussion and planning, the 37 women of the BAHASHA WOMEN'S GROUP each received a grant to help them establish their own business. But rather than invest their money independently, these women decided that they could do far more together than they could individually. They pooled ALL of their savings as well as the grant money from ELI and purchased property close to the city but not far from their village of Plateau. They set off to build their own rental units (three rooms) on a quarter acre.

Fencing and construction began immediately and enthusiasm was high. Soon, however, the cost of construction and living caught up with their savings and their financial resources were depleted. For a year and a half, the women continued to struggle but they have not been able to get ahead due to the high level of poverty and high costs of food and school fees.

Though the construction had stopped they have never given up hope.

Recently, I was in the USA and made a visit to ELI supporters and friends. Among the many reports of ministry progress, I shared with one couple about the needs and hopes of this women's group. This couple contacted me within a day and encouraged me to find others who would match a $1,000 gift that they would be willing to invest towards helping the women's group continue their dream of having the rental units completed.

God is good! After several months of sharing, I was encouraged by several individuals who contributed, and the first couple kept their commitment as well.

CONSTRUCTION IS UNDERWAY
The construction is now continuing and the women of Plateau could not be more thrilled.

Next week, a women's church team from upstate NY will be working side by side with these women - painting, landscaping, sewing curtains and more. By the end of March one or more of these rental rooms will be completely finished and the ladies will then become landlords and income earners.

This is what empowering lives is all about: sharing Gods love in Word and in action! As this project continues there is no question in the minds of this dynamic women's group in Kenya - it is God who supplies according to His great power and blessing.

A special thank you goes to those of you who have participated in supporting this effort and other ministries of Empowering Lives International. If you would like to be a part of helping the women add to their rental structure or another similar project of ELI please contact Empowering Lives.

Together we can make a world of difference - one life at a time!

Sudan: Looking Back (and Looking Ahead)

2006-03-05T22:24:00.000+03:00

Refugee kid, Sudan
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Yesterday, Don showed photos from Sudan to our children at Ilula. Many committed to pray for their neighbors. They cheered time and again when they realized how God is using ELI in Kolmorek, Sudan.

Juli wrote the following piece about her visit to our neighbors to the north:

The Story Continues...
“Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously. And plead the cause of the poor & the needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9).

These are the words that resonate in my mind &amp; my heart as I consider my journey to Southern Sudan. Over the past 11⁄2 years, through the vision & life of my friend, a Sudanese refugee named Stephen Reech, God has allowed my eyes to be opened and my heart to be softened towards the brokenness within the land of Sudan.

A Time to Return, A Time to Rebuild...
As I traveled along dirt paths through the desolate countryside of Sudan, I wondered what the place was like before the war. I also considered what it will be like after the masses return from their time in exile. There is a generation of children and adolescents who have lived their entire lives as refugees.

As a ministry, ELI’s vision is to empower the poor and oppressed that they may be able to know, worship, &amp; serve God without hindrance. As the Sudanese return to their homeland, remnants of the war remain, and the Sudanese vulnerably fight to survive: physically, emotionally, & spiritually. After much prayer and consideration, it has been more than evident to the leadership of ELI that God is expanding the ministry and leading us to be a part of bringing His hope into the rebuilding &amp; development of Southern Sudan.

On Sunday, our team had the privilege to attend one of the churches that Stephen had helped start before the war. As I listened to the Sudanese sing their songs of worship, I did not hear the sounds of celebration that I am accustomed to hearing in Kenya.

Although I could not understand the words they were saying, I deeply felt the cry of a people who were intensely and desperately, from the depths of their lives, calling out to God. As I was confronted with the beauty & the brokenness of this people, I was moved with compassion.

In a country where the governmental infrastructure is, at best, weak, there are many challenges to be faced. Within the area of health, resources are scarce and disease is rampant. There are major public health crises because of the mass number of returnees living in overpopulated camps as they await relocation.

Refugees are returning from Ethiopia, Uganda, &amp; Kenya as well as areas of hiding throughout Southern Sudan. Cholera and yellow fever outbreaks as well as severe malnutrition amongst children are prevalent throughout the area. I visited several cattle camps where children are raised outdoors amongst thousands of cows. The children survive only off of the milk of their cattle. The eyes & faces of the children were covered with dirt and flies.

One of the major health problems throughout Southern Sudan is blindness caused by an easily preventable bacterial infection known as Trachoma. Throughout my time in Sudan, it was clear there is an abundant for the implementation of health programs, both preventative and curative.

In May, I am planning to return to Sudan with a team of healthcare workers from Kenya. As I have shared about the experiences I had in Sudan with my co-workers in Kenya, they have expressed the desire to go and share their knowledge and services with the people of Sudan. It is exciting to see those who have been empowered in Kenya desiring to be a part of empowering people in other parts of the world. In order for this trip &amp; ministry to be possible, we need to raise nearly $10,000.

If God would lead you to join us financially in ministering to the sick in Sudan, please make your check to ELI & note that it is for “Health in Sudan”. In advance, I thank you for your partnership.

Praying for Peace...
As I have left Sudan and returned to my home in Kenya, there are many images and experiences that fill my mind. I cannot forget the 18-month old, severely malnourished, baby that sat naked on my lap as I visited a refugee camp. Although his life has started with so many odds against him, he is a part of the generation that is the future of the new Sudan.

I will also remember the words of Abraham, a 26 year old, who found God in the midst of exile. He explained, “I had lost my family when I left Sudan, and I kept asking myself: ‘who is my guide?’ When I was sick and did not have medicine, I asked myself: ‘who is my healer?’” Surely it was God.

And I still hear the fervor in the voices of the Sudanese as they chanted, “Exile is over. Exile is over. Exile is over.”

In a way that I’ve never understood to pray before, I pray that the Lord will make His face to shine upon Sudan. There is much forgiveness needed for healing to take place. Oh, I pray for peace.

The Heart of Worship

2006-02-24T22:26:00.000+03:00

Worship
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

Worship in a rural African church is often one of the purest worship experiences. People come pouring their hearts out to the One they worship and expecting God to move.

Click on the photo to see a few more of the photos from Sudan.

Steven Reech

2006-02-24T22:25:00.000+03:00

Steven Reech
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

I am Stephen Reech, and I am from the Dinka tribe. I was born in 1964 in Kolmarek village, near the town of Bor in Southern Sudan. My father, who was the chief of our village, had several wives.

My great-grandfather was named Akuak. He is remembered to this day by the Abordit community because of his bravery during the colonial period. When the Turks and Arabs tried to arrest the Africans and sell them into slavery, Akuak resisted and defended his people. The merchants were so annoyed by the chief’s stand that they murdered him in the nearby Biong forest. Again the Arabs attempted to take the Africans to be slaves, but the spirit of resistance had been planted by Akuak, and they did not succeed.

Out of respect for Akuak’s great service, the community carried his body to bury him within his compound. Because Akuak had given his life to save the Abordit people, the community compensated his family with cows and erected a shrine at his gravesite. The shrine was a place of worship and prayer. Each year, the Dinka would visit Akuak’s shrine to offer the first harvest to be used by Akuak’s children and any first-born sons in the lineage of Akuak. The descendents of Akuak, in return, sacrificed a white cow each year to ask for rain and success for the community.

And so it was that when I was growing up, my family believed Akuak’s spirit was alive, and he was concerned with our welfare. We invited his spirit during the ceremony of slaughtering the white cow. It was believed that Akuak’s spirit could speak through an honest person whose ways were upright before the gods and would assure them of rain, peace and a good harvest.

In 1979, while in primary school, I put my faith in Christ and abandoned the worship of the spirits and other gods. I believed Jesus Christ—not Akuak—to be my Redeemer. At first, my family—who were viewed representatives of the redeemer Akuak—did not realize the seriousness of my new belief, nor the implications it would have on our family.

I attended church with my cousin, Daniel Reech, for five years without any challenges from our extended family. In 1984, I heard the call from God to serve him as a pastor, but I tried to avoid this because I feared the elderly would not take me seriously. I was after all, a young man, and everyone knew that my family was deeply rooted in idolatry. But there was a gentle voice telling me not to fear for He would be with me—I only needed to be faithful and obedient.

This was the beginning of a new chapter in my life: a life of rejection, faith, perseverance, and success.

My cousin Daniel and I decided to start preaching the Good News to our family members first. The message we carried was that God was the provider of rain, peace and good harvests. We preached that prosperity did not come from straining to please the spirit of Akuak, but rather, they should trust in God through Jesus Christ who died and was resurrected to redeem the world.

This message was rejected by many of our family members and the community at large. They opposed our teachings and claimed that our going against the spirit of Akuak would bring disaster to our family as well as to the whole community. They resolved that we should be excommunicated so that the community could evade destruction from the spirits and gods. Even our friends and relatives deserted us.

This opposition and rejection drew us closer to God in prayer and worship.

Our families thought that we were mad and others said we had bad luck and needed to be cleansed. We denied all these claims and told them boldly that the problem was that they did not understand the Word of God. In an attempt to stop us from preaching the Good News, which they termed as heresy, the elders reported to the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) commander that, by preaching a new religion and a new redeemer called Jesus, we were a danger to the peace of the society. They requested the military leaders to enroll us in the military to remove us from the village and to so that we could die in the war.

I praise God that the SPLA—as a military movement in opposition to the imposing of Islamic beliefs to the people of Southern Sudan—preferred Christian beliefs and disagreed with the elders. The community leaders kept insisting that we join the military because we were young and a nuisance to the society.

Eventually, Daniel and I were drafted into the SPLA. Because of illness, I was released but Daniel went to military training camp. The elders did not accept this and convinced one military captain to beat me so that I would change my mind and rejoin the military. I was beaten almost to the point of death; and when I was set free, I was bleeding and urinating blood. People thought that I would die, but I was up in two weeks’ time. God had healed me.

The healing I received from God made me preach the Gospel more courageously without any fear or doubt that God was with me. I knew this was His mission. This is a time I witnessed many people coming to Christ. People said, “If Stephen did not die, for sure his God is able.”

A small church started, and when we prayed for the sick, God did miracles to heal them. In fact, the son of my uncle who was in charge of the Akuak shrine, became very sick. After trying in vain to treat him through praying to their gods for healing, my aunt brought the young boy to the church. I led the church in a prayer of faith and instructed the mother to take the child home to rest because God had healed him. The next day, my aunt reported that there was great improvement in the health of my nephew John.

John was given a new name, John Mathung. The word mathung means “the grave” because the people believed he escaped the grave. After witnessing the power of God, several of my relatives including my brothers and their wives were saved. John’s healing made his parents and many others to believe in Jesus. John’s parents burned the idols erected within their home but spared the Akuak shrine because it belonged to the community. They moved the site of the shrine to another place.

Sadly, not all my brothers turned to Christ after this incident. My older brothers feared the wrath of the community if they, as leaders of the priesthood family, refused to worship Akuak and other gods.

My mother, too, was not yet a believer, but one day she was sick and when I went to her house to see how to help, God impressed on me to pray only after the idols in the house had been destroyed. Immediately I started burning the idols which had been erected in the house and the compound. Then I prayed for my mother, and the next morning she was well and made a decision to follow Christ.

As a result of my mother’s healing and faith decision, two of my stepmothers, two of my aunts and two of my sisters came to faith in Christ within the next month.

By 1990, I had destroyed many idols in our extended family, but the Akuak shrine remained. One night, God revealed to me that the Akuak shrine was the stronghold for idolatry in our community. Upon realizing this, I set the shrine on fire that night. When the people awoke the next morning and discovered that the shrine was in ashes, they assembled at the site. I anticipated that I would be killed, but praise God the women only brought food to appease Akuak’s spirit, and the men decided to go to the commissioner to report the incident. I was arrested and locked up in Kolmarek jail for one week until the case would be heard.

At the hearing, the commissioner and other senior officials of the SPLA were present. The worshipers of Akuak came with objects signifying their beliefs, and the Christians came with flags bearing the cross. The Christians sang songs in praise of Jesus while the other group sang songs in praise of Akuak as well as to the other gods.

When the community leaders explained their accusations against me, God gave me the wisdom to defend my actions. I argued that, since the land where Akuak’s shrine was erected belonged to my family and my uncle who was in charge as the last born son of my grandfather had been saved, it was wise to destroy the shrine. I said that if anyone wanted to erect the shrine it should be in their own land.

The commissioner and his panel ruled in my favor saying that it was against the policies of the SPLA to force an individual or family to worship or to have a shrine that is contrary to their beliefs. The commissioner advised the leaders to erect the shrine within the same location, and I was instructed not to interfere. I was advised to build a church 100 meters away from the shrine.

The leaders agreed to rebuild the shrine and insisted that I pay a cow to be sacrificed, but the panel passed that the community leaders would have to give their own cow for the sacrifice. The Christians were not to be forced to participate. After being released, I went back to Kolmarek and served as the pastor of 3 churches within our village.

This was not the end of the war between the community leaders and myself. They insisted that I join the military and leave them in peace to worship their gods.

In October of 1990, the leaders succeeded to convince one military commander to take me to the military camp. It was very unfortunate, because I had been married to my wife Elizabeth for only one month. When I was taken to the military camp, my wife moved to Torit which is approximately 20 miles away from the military camp in which I was staying. At the military camp, the leader learned that I was forced to join the military in order to stop me from preaching the Gospel. Because the leader believed in Christ Jesus, he set me free.

Upon being released from the military camp, I traveled to Torit to see my wife. From there, I traveled to Bor to assess the situation before taking my wife back to Kolmarek. When I arrived in Bor, the Arabs and other SPLA opponents had attacked the region. They had killed thousands of civilians, looted property, stolen cows and burned the houses. I quickly ran back to safety in Torit and remained there 2 more days until the SPLA had driven back the Arabs.

In 1991, I worked as the pastor in charge of the Bor Pentecostal Churches. Since the Arabs had destroyed all of the property and food, famine struck and many people lost their lives. In search of safety and food, thousands traveled to Uganda, Kenya, and Ethiopia. To save our lives, my wife and I lived along the the Nile River for a period of 8 months. We ate fish to survive.

In December of 1992, we traveled by foot for one-and-a-half months to the border of Uganda. Along the way, we ate leaves and wild fruits. In Uganda, we lived in the Koboko refugee camp. Within the camp, I preached and worked as the chairman of the Dinka community.

While in the camp, due to disease, we lost two sons. In 1995, my wife and I moved to Kenya. My wife lived in the Kakuma refugee camp while I attended Bible School. At Kakuma refugee camp, I mobilized Sudanese Christians to fellowship together which grew to be the Sudan Pentecostal Church.

Our son Mayen was born in Kakuma. He was very sick; and if it were not for God, we would have lost him, too. When I see Mayen playing with his sister Mercy, it reminds me what a good God we serve. Elizabeth, my wife, stayed in Kakuma for 2 years and was blessed to receive a scholarship to study tailoring near the Bible school I was attending. We faced many challenges, but God provided for our needs. We were able to complete our studies.

In 2000, we had planned to return to Sudan, but God blessed us with a farm in the government forest where my family was able to live and farm for 1 year. The harvest provided enough food to last for 2 years. In 2003, I joined the African Inland Church Missionary College. The community development course was of utmost interest to me. Within it, I learned ways to break the cycles of poverty in our churches and communities back in Sudan. I had a vision to initiate programs to train people on spiritual and physical matters to break cycles of poverty amongst pastors, believers, and the community. To accomplish this vision, I registered the Upper Nile Christian Development Organization with the aim of training our communities with new skills of farming, new technologies and with spiritual development to encourage those coming back to Sudan to move beyond the past and to start a new life of love and forgiveness between Christians and Muslims.

My community development teacher, Samuel Teimuge, introduced me to Empowering Lives International, a missions organization that already had the same vision as mine. We agreed to partner together as Empowering Lives Sudan to better the lives of the people of Sudan in this period of peace.

After 13 years of exile, in January of 2005, the peace treaty was being signed; and I returned home to Sudan to visit. I was very sad and broken when I witnessed the suffering of my people. The children are naked, hungry and many are sick. I traveled with a Kenyan named Micah, and he was shocked by the sights he was seeing. After 3 months, with the partnership of Empowering Lives, I returned to Sudan to start the rebuilding process. I built two small huts and fenced seven acres that will be used to build the training center and a demonstration farm. In addition, I planted 24 mango trees on the farm and raised a nursery bed to be able to plant indigenous trees. In the future, it is my prayer and plan to build a mission clinic at the site where the Akuak shrine once was situated.

Safely Home

2006-02-23T22:26:00.000+03:00

As I'm writing this update, the last two members of the Sudan team are landing at LAX airport. I cannot help but wonder what is going through their minds as they adjust to life in the US. Los Angeles is 9,000 miles (or 14,500 km) away from Bor, Sudan. Yet the guys (and Juli) need only close their eyes and they'd be right back in Kolmarek Village, Southern Sudan...

This was evident at lunch after the team landed in Eldoret. Steven Fitch and Kevin Robertson headed on to Nairobi to catch their flight to LA, but Jim Mann and Tom Hamic had one more day to visit our Kipkaren site for business. Over lunch, the team related stories of getting lost among the cows at the cattle camp, of the beauty and simplicity of the Dinka culture, of the people of Kolmarek's faith in the God who has stood by them through years of trials.

I will be asking individuals to relate first hand what they had experienced, and I'll upload stories as they come in. Tomorrow, I'll post the testimony of Steven Reech, ELI's director in Sudan.

Due to technical difficulties, I'll post only a few photos (taken by Steven Fitch). As and when more become available, I will post them on this site, also.

In the meantime, thank you for your prayers. Thank you, too, for continuing to pray for the Dinka people in Southern Sudan.

"This has been a very significant trip for each one of the team"

2006-02-19T22:28:00.000+03:00

Before I pass on the latest news from Don, I need to explain one thing about the cattle camps I mentioned yesterday. If you're like me, you may have thought, "Surely, the kids leave the cattle when they go to eat, right?" I visited with Amy Rogers about this today, and she explained that the Dinka people, like East Africa's Maasai, live off the blood and milk of cows. So the children who live among the cows and tend to them drink only milk and cow's blood to survive!

One Australian university's Web site explains that, "Still today, the Dinka lifestyle centers on their cattle: the people's roles within the groups, their belief system and the rituals they practice, all reflect this. Cattle give milk (butter and ghee), urine is used in washing, to dye hair and in tanning hides. Dung fuel fires from which ash is used to keep the cattle clean and free from blood-sucking ticks, to decorate the Dinka themselves (body art), and as a paste to clean teeth." (Italics mine.)

Keeping all of this in mind and understanding how incredibly significant a role cattle plays in their culture, I can better understand the impact it had when a woman declared that she would sell her cow if it meant that her child would get an education. This comment was made during a meeting after church this morning. Jim preached at this church Steven Reech had founded several years ago. It was a powerful service and an amazing time of worship (in Dinka). Many of the songs testified to how God has seen these people through many trials.

Several pastors as well as at least 50 community members got together after church to talk about their needs. (This, you may know, is typical of how ELI works. Rather than come into a community and dictate what we think should be done, we enter into dialogue to determine the needs as expressed by the community, and after prayerful consideration of how we see God leading us, we work with the community to address these needs.) One of many needs that was discussed was the need to expand the school.

All the meetings they have had in Sudan have been outdoors. This evening, as it grew dark and the sky was covered in stars, the team gathered around Steven Reech and prayed for him and the work that lies ahead.

Tomorrow, discussions will continue after a journey to Bor and the White Nile.

The team is doing well, but as you know by now, "It's just really, really hot." They've been trying to rest at the hottest time of the day, but the facility where they are staying consists of only tents. No cold showers. No air conditioning, let alone a fan... Despite the heat and the difficult circumstances, each one of the team members have expressed to Don that this has been a "very significant trip" for each and every one of them.

As they prepare to wrap up their time, please pray that they will be able to discern what God would have them do as a result of what they had experienced and seen.

A Christian Web site specifically mentions these prayer points for the Dinka people:

Pray that the lost and suffering Dinka will be reached with the compassion of Christ.
Pray for Christian workers who will go and work among the Dinka. Pray for clear Biblical teaching for all Dinka, especially those who are in training as Christian leaders and evangelists.
Pray that Dinka Christians will be willing to lead other Sudanese to Christ.
Pray that the Bible, which has been translated into the Dinka language, will be readily available to the Dinka.

"Today, we entered into another world!"

2006-02-18T22:29:00.000+03:00

This morning, the team was taken to a site about half an hour's drive from ELI's training center to visit two different cattle camps. "As we got closer, you could see a white line," Don explained. "And the closer we got, the bigger our eyes got."

At one site, there were 2,000 long-horn cows tied up closely and staked to the ground. (To the Dinka people, cows are very important.) "For every two cows, there was one child or one teenager. They literally live among the cows," he went on. "When it rains, they put up cowhide shelters. To keep warm, they make little piles of cow maneur which they burn. The younger kids have no clothing, and their dark skins are covered in while dust from the fires. They even sleep among the cattle to keep the cows safe."

Don talked of speaking to one of the leaders. This guy has 400 cows, and when things got bad in Sudan, he took his cows and walked for two months toward Uganda, where things were safer. Now that there's peace in Sudan, he once again walked for two months to get back to Southern Sudan. This man has been living among his cows for 20 years. (That's just a year short of how long the war in Sudan lasted.)

"My God is the Father of Jesus," he told the team. "I trust Jesus as my Savior." He cannot read or write, nor can any others at the cattle camp. Except for one guy. This one guy can read, and every Sunday, he reads to the others from the Bible.

When they asked if the children knew any songs, they pulled up a cowhide drum and a stick and started singing a praise song that said "Jesus is the tree, we are the branches, and someday we'll be together in heaven."

"This was a very moving experience," Don said. "I kept thinking how we can do ministry among these people."

In the afternoon, Steve Fitch did a seminar on planting the guava, mango and papaya seeds he had brought. The Sudanese team are planning on starting work on this project immediately. They'll be planting the seeds in plastic tubes, and by the time the rain comes in April, they will be ready to replant the seedlings.

Samuel (Teimuge), Don and Steven Reech had a long meeting about ELI's plans while the rest of the team brainstormed ministry ideas.

On Sunday, they will be in church from 7:30 to 10. "This is because it gets too hot after 10," Don explained. "Plus, by 10 o'clock people have to go and milk their cows."

After church, they will be meeting with pastors to talk about spiritual development and challenges. They will also try and visit a Christian clinic and hope to continue discussing future plans.

On Monday, they will head to Bor, which is by the Nile River to finalize plans and discussions. On Tuesday, they fly home.

Don assured me that everyone on the team is doing well, and that no-one is sick. They tried resting for an hour this afternoon, but it was too hot. It cools down to comfortable temperatures in the evenings.

They have decided to continue staying at the NGO where they slept the first night since there is no water at ELI's site yet, and staying at the NGO means they're closer to a place where they can eat.

Please continue to pray:

for clarity regarding future steps
for continued health and safety
for the children and teenagers the team met today
for each of the children that attend the ELI school
for God to speak to and through the team at tomorrow's meetings

In case you were wondering: I had mentioned yesterday that our school goes only up to third grade. Agewise, though, the students include kids well into their teens, even in first grade. Due to the war, they simply hadn't had a chance to go to school until now.

"We had a very, very good day"

2006-02-17T22:29:00.000+03:00

"We had a very, very good day," Don said almost immediately when he called tonight. One could hear in his voice that he was tired, physically and possibly emotionally as well. The team had experienced some very moving events today. They had visited ELI Sudan's school where the 160 children (the numbers rise by the day!) were being fed kideri. Twice a week, the children are given this meal of rice, potatoes and beans. "For many children, these meals are the most nutricious food they get all week! I wish we could feed them every day, but right now, two weekly meals is all we can afford. The children are covered with dust and look hungry. They're skinny and many are sick-looking... It was a very moving experience."

The children meet in some abandoned classrooms across the road from ELI's property. There are no desks, no chairs, and only two of the five classes have a small chalk board. "The staff had built little rows of seats for the kids from mud." Right now, we employ five teachers:
two first-grade classes
one second-grade class
one third-grade class

The kids don't have uniforms (public schools in Africa require uniforms), but they're very grateful for school.

Other than visiting the school, the team rode for 20 minutes on the back of a pick-up to go to various meetings. They did home visits and met with the village chief who expressed his appreciation for what ELI is doing. "We welcome ELI completely," he told the team.

They also had three to four hours of discussion on what can be done down the road to help the people of Sudan. Daily, more and more refugees are returning from the area, but the cost of living is very high, and most people have little or no money. A bag of maize sells for 1,000 Kenyan schillings ($13) across the border. In Sudan, the price is trippled.

Tomorrow, they will train Steven Reech (ELI's country director in Sudan), Zacharia Maluk (headmaster of the school) and Abraham Kon (a Sudanese man who spent two months last year doing agricultural training at ELI Kenya) on how to plant and care for the seeds Steve Fitch had brought. The Sudanese leaders are very keen on planting the mango, papaya and guava seeds and to see the trees bearing fruit!

"One of our greatest needs right now," Don explained, "is water. We'll want to dig a well soon.

Please pray:

for continued health and energy
for discernment on what God would have them do
for their visit on Saturday to the cattle camps where children are living among the cows
for their visit on Sunday to a local church, and their meeting with pastors after church. Pray that they will know how to encourage and bless the believers and their pastors
for clarity on how ELI can partner with churches to plant spiritual seeds and see those come to bear fruit...

Thank you for praying!

ELI Team Sudan

2006-02-16T22:32:00.000+03:00

DSC03070
Originally uploaded by Boyznberry.

After a hearty breakfast, the team left for Sudan this morning. Don called when they landed at the border to refuel and clear customs, but they weren't going to be able to call again today. The flight from there was just another 90 minutes.

Tonight, they're staying at an NGO guesthouse of sorts, but no meals are served there. Starting tomorrow, they'll most likely be staying in a tent.

Please continue to pray for
- safety
- clarity in what God is asking them to do
- team unity
- good health
- an overwhelming love for the Sudanese

You can click on the photo to see one more photo of them at the airport.

I'll post updates if/whenever I hear from them.

"It's very, very dry."

2006-02-16T22:31:00.000+03:00

Don just called. He says that they had a good but long day. "It was amazing flying over an hour over pure desert. No trees. No vegetation. The guy who cooked our meal tonight says that there isn't anyone growing any vegetables within 80 miles from where we are!"

Many of the refugees are returning to Sudan, but the situation is still rather hopeless. "They import EVERYTHING from Kenya. Food. Hardware supplies to rebuild homes. And everything's much more expensive here. A bag of cement that would sell for $8 in Kenya is more than $20 here. There are some cows, but people keep them for dowries. They're selling at about $400 each. And there are goats. Goat meat is the only thing they don't have to import. But people have no money! They cannot buy goods."

Tonight, the team had dinner at a construction site where USAID and the World Food Program is building a road to the north. As Don was relaying news to me, he could hear drums in the distance of some or other celebration.

When Don talked to Steven (ELI's guy in Sudan) about a week ago about the school we started, there were about 60 children. Today, there are 140! The school is at the site where ELI has about 50 acres of land, and the team will be visiting tomorrow. They'll also be talking about reforestation and meet with a Christian mission that runs a clinic in the area. "This far, we've been hearing mostly about the physical climate. Tomorrow, we'll find out more about the spiritual climate." They'll continue to meet mostly with nationals to determine the needs.

Around them are charred fields, dry grass, dirt and dust. "There's a lot of dry, dry grass. People are burning the grass because it's too tall, and so when rains come in April and May, new grass will germinate. Most people live along the road in grass thatch houses, because they cannot afford materials to build anything more."

It's very, very dry. The only water source are wells, and these are few and far between. People line up to draw water, and they often spend the night by the well, waiting for their turn. They area about 14 miles from the White Nile river.

Insofar as the team goes, Tom and Jim are tired (they're still getting over jet lag, having just arrived in East Africa a day ago!) Kevin's finding it very hot. But everyone's doing well.

"It's an exhilarating experience," said Don. "It's very different from Kenya!"

Please keep praying for the team!

Preparing to Head to Sudan

2006-02-14T22:33:00.000+03:00

This week, ELI staff members Don Rogers, Samuel Teimuge and Juli McGowan are leaving for Sudan. With them are some American guests--Tom Hamick, Jim Mann, Steve Fitch and Kevin Robinson. The purpose of their journey is to visit ELI's newest site in Africa, in Southern Sudan. The site is near Bor. You can look it up on the CIA's World Factbook.

Other insightful Web sites on Sudan are the Wikipedia site as well as the BBC site.

Juli was pointing out that many of the children there have seen nothing but war for the past 21 years. And Don, Samuel and I were considering the other day how one can encourage pastors who, too, have seen nothing but difficulties for decades.

Some information from the CIA Factbook:
Military regimes favoring Islamic-oriented governments have dominated national politics since independence from the UK in 1956. Sudan was embroiled in two prolonged civil wars during most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in northern economic, political, and social domination of largely non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. The first civil war ended in 1972, but broke out again in 1983. The second war and famine-related effects resulted in more than 4 million people displaced and, according to rebel estimates, more than 2 million deaths over a period of two decades.

Peace talks gained momentum in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords; a final Naivasha peace treaty of January 2005 granted the southern rebels autonomy for six years, after which a referendum for independence is scheduled to be held. A separate conflict that broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003 has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and nearly 2 million displaced; as of late 2005, peacekeeping troops were struggling to stabilize the situation.

Sudan also has faced large refugee influxes from neighboring countries, primarily Ethiopia and Chad, and armed conflict, poor transport infrastructure, and lack of government support have chronically obstructed the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations.

About the Team
The team will leave for Sudan by charter plane on Thursday morning, Kenya time. Steve and Kevin arrived in Kenya yesterday and in Eldoret this morning. Don and Samuel met them this morning, and they spent the day at our Kipkaren Training Center. This evening, the men and Juli were welcomed to our Ilula Training Center by our children.

Tomorrow, I will write more about each person's role on the team.

ELI Expands its Ministry into Sudan

2006-02-13T22:33:00.000+03:00

Late in 2005, ELI expanded its ministry to Southern Sudan. From our ministry website, here's why and how:

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27: 13 and 14

These are powerful words written by David during times of war and turmoil. They breathe hope and forecast a future of goodness when we wait, take heart, and move with a peace and courage that He provides to His people.

War has become a way of life for the people of Southern Sudan. Many have been wandering from one place to another for years – looking for a place of peace and longing to come home. The signing of the transitional constitution has opened up a new chapter in the life of Sudan and Christian nationals are holding prayer meetings of praise in refugee camps, Kenya, and wherever they may be found. Many are now making plans to go “home.”

God has opened up and confirmed opportunities for ELI to move as well. With God’s help and your prayers and support we are launching our work and ministry in Southern Sudan. We have seen the hand of God connecting pieces and people in miraculous ways and believe that this opportunity to enter and minister in the Bor region is crucial to the children, orphans, and people God is leading us to serve and empower. Various religious groups are very eager to evangelize all of Southern Sudan and are moving money in that direction to build schools, Mosques, and food programs in order to capture the attention and affections of the people. In January of 2005, a peace agreement was signed that put in motion a six year political transition period. This time is pivotal for the nation as various groups work diligently to move the hearts and minds of the people in their direction. Pray for and partner with us as we follow God’s lead to reach the lost and empower the poor during this crucial time of transition.

We already have much to thank God for and even more to pray about. There are several strategic developments that God is leading us to accomplish.

1. We will address the challenge of health, hunger, and poverty.
21 years of war in Sudan has left this area with few resources and fewer effective Christian leaders. People are cultivating their land using sticks because hoes and other farming implements are so scarce. Ideas or inspiration for lifting lives out of the poverty that is choking the physical and spiritual lives of the people have faded with time and could soon die completely. Empowering Lives Sudan will this year respond to the urgent need for spiritual and physical empowerment. Songs and words of hope are returning slowly but words must be demonstrated in action for people to again trust that the future can be different than the past.

The abject poverty and lack of food or sound agricultural practices are some of the reasons we will be initiating our efforts in Southern Sudan by establishing a Christian demonstration farm and Training Center. Ideas for primary health care (AIDS prevention), business, agriculture, and animal raising can make all the difference for the people yet to acquire such skills.

We aim to bring some of the best, appropriate ideas and technologies to the rural areas in order to bring food security and economic progress to the lives of suffering Christians and villagers in the country. There will be some need for relief efforts in the area but our main aim will be to move people towards self sustainability and food security.

One religious leader, Rev. Janda, wrote in the Sudan Mirror that within a few days of their return to the Sudan, it will be inevitable for the people to rely on handouts: “We must take deliberate steps to wean ourselves away from the slavery of food hand outs. That is not going to be easy, but it must be done. Each family must impose some discipline to stay clear of the tendency to live perpetually on relief food.”

Moving people’s hands, hearts, and minds to effective methods of sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry is possible. Our success and experience in other African countries as well as the Sudan leadership we have been working with for over a year now has confirmed that we are on the right track, moving in the right direction to empower the needy.

2. We will participate in God’s care for the environment.
Addressing the environmental needs of the area is a priority. Establishing a reforestation movement to provide for the cooking and construction needs is vital as more Sudanese return home and the population increases. Appropriate trees for providing food, fuel, and building materials will be the first seedlings in the tree nursery; ready for planting when the anticipated rainy season begins January 2006.

3. We will address the Spiritual needs of the people.
Woven into all sessions, whether dealing with agriculture or spiritual trainings, will be the message of Christ and His desires and dreams for our lives and futures. This Training Center will become the hub for our evangelistic efforts, training Christians in spiritual growth and economic/farming endeavors. The center will host church leadership training sessions and Skills-For-Life Seminars for church members and others in the surrounding villages who seek to grow spiritually and gain ideas to break the cycle of poverty.

We pray that our sound relationships with the local leaders, churches, and officials will lead to a multiplication of healthy churches, Christian leaders, and outreach ministries. The center will emphasize the Gospel message and integrate spiritual encouragement and discipleship with ideas to help break the cycle of poverty. We have targeted to have our first Christian leadership trainings take place as soon as November 2005.

4. We will work to rise up and empower national leadership.
It is amazing to see the Sudanese leadership being brought to us for this ministry movement into the Sudan. The lead director is a Sudanese who comes from a family line of village chiefs. His older step brother is the chief of the area where ELS will locate and where his family has enthusiastically welcomed him. The village where our efforts will be based is located in Southern Sudan near Bor, on the Upper Nile River.

Empowering Lives Sudan is now registered with the government and is positioned to begin carrying out our ministry objectives as soon as funding is available. A Sudanese Christian learned of the ministry of Empowering Lives Sudan and has donated 50 acres of land for cause. In June of 2005 we fenced a portion of the land and constructed the first structure for phase one. Construction of the necessary buildings for the demonstration farm will continue through 2005.

5. We will build hope for orphans and vulnerable children.
As our staff surveyed the possibilities for ministry early this year the needs of thousands of vulnerable children cried out for attention and resolution. Children live by the hundreds in “cattle camps” where they survive in a parentless environment by drinking the milk and or blood from grazing cows. These children, many whom are orphans, move from one day to the next with only the day’s survival in mind. They have no hope for education of any kind and no role models other than older siblings, many of whom were abducted by soldier groups, given guns, and forced into a battle they still do not understand. There is no parental supervision or love. There is never adequate food. Even the children who are not in the cattle camps live without adequate nutrition, drink contaminated water, and, because the schools were closed or destroyed over the past 21 years, have had no opportunity to learn.

One candle makes the darkness flee. Though we may not be able to change the whole world, we can change the whole world for one child… and then another! That is our aim in establishing a Christian School by January 2006. The school will be established primarily with the orphan in mind but will also educate other vulnerable children that are within walking distance from the surrounding village. We aim to share God’s love, educate, feed, and train these children in all of the Skills for Life ideas available at the neighboring ELS Training Center. The children who come from the village will be encouraged to establish the same vegetable gardens at their homes. Relationships with the parents and community will be encouraged through the children as we promote ideas for water purification, nutrition, sanitation, and spiritual growth.

Phase Two will begin by adding a boarding facility and staff to the school, providing love, hope, and an education for the many orphans in the area. Some will come from cattle camps or homes where the child is unloved or slowly dying due to negligence. If funding is available, the construction of the school will begin in October of 2005. The Christian Primary School will be placed next to the demonstration farm and will be our strong arm for caring for orphans in the school as well as establishing a support program for hundreds of other children and/or guardians of orphans in the region. Future plans will include a Teachers Training College and Secondary School.

6. We will invite and involve people from across the world to invest in this important mission.
We care deeply about the spiritual growth and expansion of the Christian Church in Southern Sudan. The abject poverty that surrounds the people, including Christians, maintains a chokehold on their ability to meet the daily necessities of the family, and limits the ability to support the pastor or church outreach programs. God desires that we speak about His love for the world and to show that love in action (1 John 3:16-18). Hosea 4:6 says “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” People in the Bor (Kolmarek) area are perishing yet there is great hope and opportunity!

These are exciting, in fact pivotal days. We are dedicated to working diligently alongside the people as soon as possible in order to achieve measurable results that will impact the greatest number. We invite your prayers, personal and church involvement, and investments in this country and ministry as we seek to empower the lives of the lost and needy for the glory of God and the building of His Kingdom.

Together we can make a world of difference!