August Youth Conference in Nairobi

Wow is the best word to describe the 2010 "Count Me In" August Youth Conference in Nairobi!

Once again the event was held at the Clarence Matheny Ministry Center and this year there were over 600 youth from all across the nation.

Our group traveled the farthest distance (arriving some 10 hours after leaving Rongo) and if you've never taken public transportation with 30 kids in Kenya, well let me just say that the journey is part of the experience!

We were abundantly blessed during the 5 day event that consisted of daily teaching & breakout sessions and outdoor activities. A major highlight for our kids was when the CML soccer team made it's way to the football (soccer for our American readers) finals. This competition, provided us a chance to shout and cheer for our team and to learn a "God lesson".

Out sized and outnumbered by the other teams, someone said "we look like grasshoppers next to them". They were bigger and better equipped.... and standing next to our smaller kids, most of whom didn't even have shoes, I have to admit even my heart sank for a moment.

It was a great opportunity however to remind ourselves that God doesn't look at outward appearances but instead looks at our heart, our willingness, and our faithfulness. This is something we have been trying to teach our youth and were now getting a chance to apply in real life.

So -we encouraged our players to dedicate themselves and the game to the Lord with the goal of glorifying Him in how they played and to believe that with God all things are possible. We likewise encouraged the cheerleaders to continue cheering no matter how far down the score was and to not loose hope. And so they did. We were down several times but never defeated and went on to overcome the odds and in the end took 2nd place over all!!!

God is Good...all the time!

Odds and Ends.

Is this Discipleship?

What does discipleship look like? In the first picture below our youth help build a home and in the second picture some local children watch The Lion King in our living room Is this discipleship?

Jesus had a couple of things to say about discipleship. He told us to "love one another" as He loved us and that by doing so, the world would know we were His disciples. He also said to "go make disciples of all nations.... teaching them everything He had commanded".

So it seems we are to both "be" disciples and "make" disciples. Relationship is a requirement for both and relationship simply requires love, giving of one's time, honesty, openness and a willingness to teach and be taught. You don't have to be a Pastor, have a degree or be super spiritual.

In the CML Ministry, we have formal discipleship sessions and teachings but we've found that the discipleship with the most impact is done in the midst of day-to-day life. How we live our lives, make decisions, share our resources and chose to spend our time teaches those watching more than words ever will.

Chicken Project and Garden

Our chicken project is growing daily and we have gone from the 2 chickens we started with (Fred & Ginger) to well over 100.

This Project will help feed the youth that visit the CML Center through out the year and is also being used to teach responsibility and basics principals of business and agricultural management. With most eggs in our area imported from some distance away, we have a dream of one day selling eggs on a large scale to help raise money for the ministry and kids in school.

Below, work begins on the new chicken house that we hope to have completed within the next few days.

Our garden is also growing. Weekly the youth weed, water and tend the garden and we are eating the fruit of our hand. We also thank God for a great maize harvest. Maize and sukumawiki are staple foods which we eat daily.

Here you can see the sukuma and a few banana trees and below some of our maize.

A well for CML

Water is an essential of life, and you can imagine how much we use when there are 30 or 50 kids staying with us bathing and washing cloths! Yet our compound has never had a permanent on-site source of water. Up to now we have caught rain water in tanks or gone some distance to a spring for water. All that is about to change.

Recently we started digging a well (by hand) and are excited to report that we've reached water at 35 feet! There is still a need to dig further, cement top and part of the inside and of course get a pump... but we're "well" on our way!

Youth Conference

Sunday night (Aug 3rd) we leave with 30+ kids for Nairobi to attend the 2nd Annual East African Youth Conference. Please pray for us and all the youth attending and also be in prayer for the staff at Clarence Matheny Ministries who host the event and the visiting mission team from Convergence Church in TX, who are facilitating and sponsoring the Conference.

Kennedy

Kennedy is 16 years old and has been battling chronic osteomyelitis since 2006. This re-occurring bone infection has left him with limited use of his left leg, stunted growth and caused him to miss much school. After taking him to Kisii hospital for test and X-ray's we were told that surgery to clean the bone and repair damage to his knee was the only way to save his leg. His mom, a widow, has no financial means to speak of and the cost was way beyond what our budget would allow. Non of this dampened his hope for the future however nor our belief that God could work a miracle.

That faith was rewarded this week when Kennedy was admitted to Nyabondo Rehabilitation Center, where he will receive the much needed surgery on Monday. Three times a year visiting surgeons travel to this remote area (Nyabondo is about 2 hours from us) to volunteer their time and services FREE to those with disabilities that are unable to afford medical treatment.

Lord we thank you for the love you have shown this young man and we thank you for those who serve you and help others through the giving of their time, skills and finances!

Library

The books are stamped and marked and the room is ready. More bookshelves are on the way and soon the unofficial library will become official!

New Granddaughter

And finally, we have to brag about our newest granddaughter, Addison Emilia Sharpe. Born July 30th, we think she is just beautiful! Congratulations Alex and Brittany!

Kenya gets a new Constitution

Less than 12 hours after the polls closed in Wednesday’s referendum in Kenya, provisional results showed supporters of a new constitution headed for a landslide win.

According to results from the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC), the Yes side had 4,141,521 votes (67 per cent) against the No camp's 2,054,946 (33 per cent).

For Kenya as a country, a Yes vote is a form of national redemption. In December 2002, Kenya became the first country in the wider Eastern Africa where an opposition ousted a long-ruling party through a democratic vote.

But the euphoria soon dissipated as the opposition coalition descended into bickering and the same kind of corruption that had discredited the Moi regime. The post-election violence that followed the December 2007 poll, enveloped Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, in a cloud of despair and self-doubt.

With this referendum, the interim election commission organised easily the most efficient and open vote in Africa. And, after being caught asleep on the job last time, this time the security services left nothing to chance.

June/July Update

In- School Missions

As we continue sharing and teaching God’s word to the youth, we regularly visit schools through out the Rongo District. During the month of June & July we conducted In-School Missions to several schools which allowed us to minister to primary and high school students.

Recently we traveled far beyond our usual area and made a first time visit to the school of Ng’enyilel. Located 1 hour past Eldoret, we had a 5 hour bus ride and a 20 minute motorbike ride, to get to this Mixed Boys & Girls School of about 300 students.

Elishah Otewa, one of our ministry volunteers (shown below), was a student teacher at Ng’enyilel last year and coordinated the Mission. Taking time off from teachers college, he accompanied us (not sure we could have found the school without him...lol!) much to the joy of his old students. They were so happy to see him again and were attentive to his message about “Staying the Course of Faith”.

Following a wonderful time of Praise and Worship I then spoke to the students about "Choices"....how Choices are made and their long-term consequences. I encouraged them to ask 4 questions when making a Choice:
1) Who or what am I being faithful to in this situation?
2) Who or what am I following?
3) Where will this choice take me?
4) What will be the consequences?

Below, Vivian and Wycliff share with students.

A blessed time was had by all and although a bit far away...we hope to return again next Term.

Collins Birthday

We had a special “fun” Mission to the home of Collins Odhiambo, a student we Disciple, to help him celebrate his Birthday. Like most youth here, Collins has never had a Birthday party or any recognition of the day he was born. While a B-day party may not seem like a big deal, it is an opportunity to acknowledge the uniqueness of the individual and let them know they are valued. After all, the angels in heaven rejoice each time a person is “born” into the kingdom so God must like parties for His children too!

Since his fathers death some time ago, Collins has cared for his mom & siblings (a big job for a young man trying to finish school) so along with family & friends, we provided a day of fun just for him. He loved it and said he would never forget the day!


4th of July Mission & Celebration

There were no hot dogs or fireworks but plenty of singing, dancing, praise and praying as we joined with the Kakwara Baptist church for a 4th of July outreach Mission. A week of door-to-door evangelism and open-air crusades ended with evening revival services the weekend of the 4th. With 175 people giving their lives to Christ we truly had reason to rejoice and celebrate!

In addition to the Pastors and members of the Kakwara church, there we 2 visiting Pastors from Tanzania.

What a blessing to help host this event, and we are praying that this will become a monthly event with our brothers & sisters from Kakwara.

Thank you to all our Ministry Partners for your continued prayers and support . Your faithfulness help make all these events and more possible!!!!

Blessings,

Denise

April Camp, March Missions and more!

Since our return from the US we have been busy non-stop!

In March and April we conducted In-School Missions, community outreach Missions and participated in two church Missions...plus held the Students Discipleship Camp!

April Discipleship Camp

What do Darwin’s Theory, sanctification, computers and 1 Peter 2:19 have in common? These were just a few of the topics discussed during our recent Discipleship Camp. For seven days we hosted students from 22 different area schools for a week filled with Bible teachings, practical learning, and awesome Praise & Worship!

Much thanks to our US partners for making this the 4^th year that our ministry, The Christian Mission to Learners (CML) has been able to host tri-annual Discipleship Camps. The Camps provide one-on-one evangelism, Discipleship training and fun for rural area youth. Aprils theme, taken from 1 Peter 1:16, was “Be Holy as I am Holy” and focused on helping youth understand their positional holiness in Christ and how through the power of the Holy Spirit they can lead a “holy” life that is pleasing to God.

With increased exposure to Western culture and outside influences through electronic and print media, the youth here are facing new and challenging moral dilemmas. Already dealing with extreme poverty, 60% unemployment, high drop out rates, gender inequality, forced early marriage for girls, and HIV/AIDS... the pressure on teenagers is intense. We thank God however for how we have seen the youth draw closer to Him through discipleship.

Testifying to the power of Christ in their lives, we were especially grateful to have Elishah, Fred, Kassim, Wycliffe and Seth, all participants' of previous Discipleship Camps, attend the April Camp as volunteer teachers. Having graduated High School, these young men have gone on to find gainful employment or to enroll in collage. Most important, they shared with students how their relationship with Christ has helped them find purpose in life and make wise choices.

Please be in prayer for the young people of Kenya and for our next youth event, which will be held in conjunction with Clarence Matheny Ministries from August 9th to 13th. We will be taking 50 students to Nairobi to join with youth from across East Africa for 5 days of ministry. If you would like to sponsor a student for this event please let us know. Cost per student for transportation, food and accommodation is $35.00.

MISSIONS

KENDU BAY: Our May Mission to this beautiful lakeside community gave us an opportunity to make new friends and teach at the New Apostolic Church. An added bonus was visiting the home of CML volunteer and former scholarship recipient, Elisha Otewa.

MACHAKOS: I (Denise) was so excited to join the US “Heart for Him” mission team for this Mission as they lead the Lower Eastern Region Baptist Women’s Conference in Machakos. Kenya! For 3 days we shared God’s word with over 250 women. encouraging them to deepen their love for the Lord, their families and each other. And thanks to the Heart for Him Team, we were also able to give each lady that attended a Bible!

KAKWARA BAPTIST CHURCH:

William took a group of students and church members to join our friends at Kakwara for a Mission ministering the people in the Chemgewadu area.

KITERE PRIMARY SCHOOL:

Along with parents, teachers, students and community stakeholders we celebrated the staff & student body accomplishments during Education Day!

KANGA RALLEY & IN-SCHOOL MISSIONS: As guest speakers at the Kanga Boys weekend evangelism rally, we were able to share a message about “Transformation through Trials” with student’s from several schools and present the Kanga Christian Union with Bible Study materials. Best of all, hundreds of young people came forward during the course of the weekend, giving their lives to Christ and receiving prayer. We also continue doing regular “In-school” missions and have recently visited Ulanda Girls, DeDe Girls and Sigiria High School. In addition, I (Denise) am teaching a weekly Bible Study at St. Cecilia’s Primary School.

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word.””

Psalm 119:9

We're Back!

After a wonderful visit with family & Partners in the US, we have returned home. Thanks to everyone for the many prayers.... our journey was a blessed one indeed!
We have our first Mission to St. Albert's Ulanda Girls High School this coming Saturday, followed by a Leadership Conference in Nairobi the end of March.
April will be a busy month as we get back into full swing with our Discipleship Camp scheduled 4/27/10 through 5/2/10, some outreach Missions, the arrival of the books & Bibles for the CML Library and of course hosting lots of students during the school break!
We look forward to all the Lord has planned for the CML Ministry this year!

Books for the CML Library

The vision of the CML Library is finally becoming a reality! Several hundred books, including 216 Bibles, are currently on their way to Kenya and are expected to arrive some time in March.

The library is just a small part of the CML Resource Center vision, whose goal is to provide a multi-purpose resource facility for students, youth, pastors and the local people in the Kitere community. Until we have sufficient financial means for building the Resource Center, the library will be operated from the Glory Community Church compound (next to our house) in Kitere Village of Rongo District.

The books that were donated are varied in nature; ranging from Christian materials such as Bible Study guides, Discipleship materials and Bibles, to educational textbooks and classical literature .

While English is spoken and read by a considerable percentage of the people, especially the youth, there are no libraries in the community and the school libraries are mere empty halls without books. In addition, most families in this area survive as subsistence farmers and as such cannot afford to buy books. The students and pastors are eager to read and study the Word and we believe these books & Bibles will serve as a great resource to facilitate our Discipleship ministry in this area.

We thank God for all those that donated books and helped make the shipment possible. In addition to the many books he sent last year, Rev. John Maurice Quillen from Talbott again contributed several boxes of Christian books from his private library. Rev. John Thompson from Dandridge, donated 216 Bibles for the Students ministry and Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Fox gave several boxes of literary books. Other donations were received from Rocky Point Baptist Church and Marty & Lana Luttrell. We also thank Rocky Point Baptist Church for helping facilitate the shipping of the books from Tennessee to Texas where they were loaded onto the container.

Most importantly, we thank Ronnie & Debbie Matheny for graciously allowing us to ship the books in their container. The Mathenys are missionaries from Texas and are leaders of the Clarence Matheny Ministries with a Leadership and Conference Facility in Nairobi, Kenya. You may recognize their names from our post last year when we attended a Marriage Conference and Youth Conference at the Clarence Matheny Ministries. Thanks Ronnie & Debbie!

We are also very grateful to David & Janene Waldrop, Missionaries in Kenya from Dandridge, TN for connecting us with the Mathenys. The Waldrops have become such dear friends and are from Denise’s former hometown in Tennessee (how interesting that they met for the 1st time in Nairobi, Kenya!).

To many others that we have not mentioned here, but have contributed in other ways towards the CML Library, we thank you. God certainly uses partnerships in divine connections to get His work accomplished!

We look forward to returning home soon to oversee the building of book shelves and setting up of the Library, and continue to be expectant as God provides for His work.

What is still needed to complete this task:

1. $2,100 to complete the work at the temporary CML Resource Center- partitioning, beds & bedding, chairs, desks, bookshelves and the toilet

2. Help with sorting the books and setting up a Library System. We invite volunteers to come on short-term mission trips to assist.

Your partnership is vital and appreciated. Together, we can make it happen for God’s glory.

Blessings!