Schools Programs Disrupted

Following the skirmishes that have plagued Kenya after the disputed December 2007 Presidential election results, many learning institutions have not resumed sessions. Parents/guardians fear for the security of students on their way to the schools and in the school campus. For the same reasons, many teachers are unable to report back to their work stations after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Due to the current volatile situation in the country, we are not able to conduct our schools ministry programs as scheduled in this first term. We will resume business as usual as soon as the situation reverts to normalcy.

For more updates on the post-election situation in Kenya, I wish to invite you to visit the following online webs:

• The Economist (http://www.economist.com/)
• The Nation Media (http://www.nationmedia.com/)
• CNN (http://www.cnn.com/).
• You can also visit Sister Denise’s website at http://web.mac.com/denisedavenport or her My-space page at www.myspace.com/ddkenya for more updates.

We continue to pray for Peace, Security, Harmony, Justice, Truth, Reverence for the Sanctity of Life and Godly Leadership in our country. We therefore request that you join us by keeping the Kenyan people in your prayers.

Let us all remember that God is Almighty and that He was, He is and will forever be on the Throne. Despite the current circumstances, I believe God Reigns Sovereign and in His divine providence, we rest in this assurance; that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Amen.

December Camp was a Success!

Sister Denise Davenport and Brother William Ochieng travelled from Nairobi to Rongo District early in December to prepare for and help to facilitate our second Students' Camp which was held at Kanga Boys' High School.

A full report on the camp, complete with pictures will be posted once Denise and William return to Nairobi - when they are able to travel safely back to Nairobi.

Sister Joanna Kelley is posting this entry from the US where she will be until June of this year.

The camp was excellent! With 22 students in attendance, including several who had also participated in the camp held in August of 2007.

Two of our returning students, Peter Paiyineetto and Evans Wagoro are excited to assist Brother William during the next months to plan a Weekend Challenge in February and to help prepare for our next Students' Camp to be scheduled during the month of April 2008.

Because of the current unrest in Kenya, students will not be returning to school until at least January 14.

Please pray for the safety of Sister Denise and Brother William as they journey home, and pray also for the situation in Kenya. Please pray that Christ Jesus reigns supreme and that His love and mercy for the people of Kenya pours down. Please pray for the leaders to work out a solution to bring peace again to this beautiful nation.

Second Students' Camp to be held in December!

In August of this year the CML team was blessed to minister to 13 awesome students.

We are anticipating another amazing week of ministry as we prepare for our next students' camp in December.

We plan to return to Kanga Boys' High School, and already have 42 students interested in attending.

The camp will be held from Tuesday 11th of December to Sunday 16th of December, 2007. Our theme will be "Balanced for Life" and the program will include the following topics:

Who is God?, Who is man (Original Creation)?, Spirit/Soul & Body, Who are we in Christ?, Self-Esteem, Peer Pressure, Emotional Issues, Relationships, HIV/AIDS Awareness, Moral Purity, Media, Drug/Substance Abuse, Life Purpose, Academic Excellence, Career Choice & Development, Christian Leadership.

Our anticipated budget for the camp is approximately Kshs 140,000/ which is just over USD$2,000.

We trust the Lord to work through our resources and the excellent team of facilitators to abundantly impact the lives of the young people in attendance. It is only through the transforming power of our Lord Jesus Christ that lives are truly changed.

Following are just some of the comments from the students' who attended our August Camp:

"I am transformed. I am inspired. From here I have a vision in life."
"If all the weeks of my life could be like this week!"
"I have personally gained and experienced Christian growth."
"I was renewed spiritually."
"I've learned the qualities of Christian leadership."

Academic Day at Lockwood Girls' High School

Monica is one of the students in attendance at our August camp held at Kanga Boys’ High School this year. Monica is shown here (she is on the left) with three of her school friends.

Following is an account, written by Brother William, describing his recent visit to her school:

“I attended the Academic Day at Monica’s school, Lockwood Girls’ High School in Nakuru, on the 10th November 2007. This day was particularly for the Form One students since two similar days had been set aside for the Form Three and Form Two students.

On this day, the parents/guardians of each student had the opportunity to review and discuss the student’s academic performance during the course of the year. I attended as Monica’s guardian and I had the pleasure of meeting, together with Monica, all her twelve subject teachers. It was a whole day’s exercise - exciting and challenging!

During each meeting, the subject teacher introduced himself or herself and went ahead to guide me through Monica’s academic track records. We looked at the continuous assessment tests (CAT’s), her class participation, End-term exams, as well as general discipline. We analyzed the trends, identifying areas where she registered improvements as well as areas of declining performance. Monica was given an opportunity to explain the causes of her performance and also to project target grades for the forthcoming End-term exams. The teacher gave his/her comments and recommendations. As the guardian, I was also given opportunity to comment and ask questions.

Monica was encouraged to put more effort in her class work to improve on the weak grades. She was also cautioned not to relax in the subjects where she registered high performance.

It was an excellent opportunity to receive direct feedback from the class teachers in the presence of the student. Overall, Monica was assessed as a student with high academic potential, active both in class and extracurricular activities, especially drama. She is disciplined and well behaved.

Each Form One student along with her parents/guardians went through the same process. We finished the exercise at 6:30pm and then it was time for the parents/guardians to depart. Most of us were traveling back to Nairobi.”

We at CML are excited about and interested in the academic and personal development of each of the students to whom we minister. We remember them in our prayers even as we are preparing for our next Students’ Camp to be held in December.

October Misson trip to Rongo.

I was in the Rongo area from the 9th to the 22nd of October on a mission trip. I had set out with the objective of visiting the various schools to which we had taken the information about the CML December 2007 Students' Camp, meet with the Christian Union(CU) Patrons and to collect confirmation forms from the students who have committed to attend the camp.

During the first week I visited Kanga High School only since most of the other schools were just returning from Mid-term holidays that week. I contacted the various CU Patrons on phone reminding them to gather the confirmation forms that were ready for my collection the following week. In the second week, I visited 5 schools, met with 6 CU Patrons and collected 17 confirmation forms. The schools I visited are: St. Alberts Ulanda Girls, Pe-Hill Boys, Mariwa Mixed(Boys & Girls), Dede Girls and Kanga Boys.

Of the 17 camp attendance confirmation forms collected so far, only one belongs to a student who attended the August CML Camp. The other 16 confirmations are from new students altogether. Since all the 14 students who attended the August Camp had verbally confirmed their interest to attend the December Camp, we can say that we have a total of 30 students' confirmations for the upcoming December CML Camp. Am yet to collect commitment forms from Dede Girls school, Kanyawanga Boys' School, Manyatta Boys' School, Kanyasrega Mixed School, Pe-Hill Boys' School and others that were not ready by the time I was leaving. I plan to travel back to Rongo in the first week of November to collect the remaining committment forms. Meanwhile, I will be contacting the parents/guardians of the 17 students whose committments we have received, to let them know who we are, our vision, what we do and what we aim to achieve at the December Camp. I will also be informing them that their children have shown interest in attending the camp and then request them to encourage and officially release the students.

Also while in Rongo, I had two missions to two schools: The first one was a CU Leaders handing over Ceremony at Kanga High on Saturday 20th and the other was a Prayer Service for Candidates at Mariwa Mixed School on Sunday 21st. At Kanga High School, I was accompanied by Jared Omondi one of the August Camp attendees (He has has been out of school most of the year, but thank God because he will resume school next year. Sister Tishona had assisted in raising funds towards his Tuition fees for next year). The former CU patron Mr. Sam Owino was the chief guest. I delivered a brief encouragement to the Outgoing leaders, Incoming leaders, all the CU members and to the CU patron/Teachers. We finally prayed together with the students and dedicated the candidates to the Lord with regard to the End year final exams.

At Mariwa Mixed School, I was accompanied by Jared and Pastor Jeremiah Oguttu from Kitere Community Assembly. Pastor Jeremiah and I both had opportunity to share a word of encouragement and pray with the candidates, dedicating them to the Lord on the eve of the Exams commencement. I shared with them a few tips on handling the exams. The Local PEFA Church pastor was hosting the occassion. The school's Board of Governors(BOG) Chairman was the chief guest at Mariwa Mixed School.

I re-visited the idea of involving the local teachers in CML programs in Rongo area with a few teachers. They seem to be pro the idea and some would help with the mobilization process. We agreed to discuss some strategies next time I visit. The CU patron of Owiro Akoko had a very good idea: she suggested we get to connect with the local District Education Office. She thinks once they get to know what we are doing, the local Education Office can help get the teachers officially involved in a way that will meet approval of the schools' administrations. We plan to pursue this strategy.

I also got to meet and fellowship with several students individually. I met Seth Odongo one of the Agust Camp attendees from Kanga High School. The object of our meeting was to get to know more about himself and his family background as an initial assessment to determine the validity of his needs, especially with regard to tuition fees. His case was identified by our facilitators during the August Camp. Our meeting turned into an informal counselling session at the end of which, we joined hands in faith, prayed together and asked God to intervene in his family situation and school fees issue. I discussed his situation with Mr. Kaunda the Principal at Kanga High School and he agreed to facilitate in getting the school to take care of half of Seth's fee balance. Mr. Kaunda asked CML to assist with the remaining half of the fee balance. The total tuition balance for this year is Kshs.17,400 (equivalent of about USD270). From this initial assessment, I did reckon that Seth is genuinely in need with regard to tuition fees. We are yet to meet his parent(s) in the next step of assessment. Meanwhile we trust God for intervention in Seth's situation.

Glory be to God Almighty.

September Mission Week in Rongo

Brother William spent a week in the Rongo area from Sunday the 16th of September to Saturday the 22nd of September. While there, he visited several High schools in the area sharing the December CML Camp information with the schools' administrations, ministering to students in two of the schools and facilitating the presentation of certificates to some of the students who attended the August CML Students' camp. He also got chance to meet two particular students who wanted to share personal testimonies of what has happened in their lives after they came from the August Camp.


He began the week at Kanyawanga Boys' High School on Sunday the 16th September teaching a session on Academic Excellence. As you can see by these photo's the students appreciated the teaching.

The Christian Union Patron at Kanyawanga, Mr. Francis Ojwang, presented student Joel Ogweno with his certificate from CML for participating in the CML students' camp in August of 2007.

Joel says he was busy sharing with a group of fellow students, the things he learned at the camp, when he was told Brother William was looking for him.



This photo shows Ken Ojuok receiving his CML certificate. We are excited to partner with the CU Patrons as we minister in schools.

Brother William is proud to stand with these "leaders among their peers" Joel Ogweno and Ken Ojuok, along with the CU Patron Mr. Francis Ojwang.

Brothers in Christ Ken and Joel proudly display their certificates.

Seth Odongo is proud to receive his certificate from Brother William at his school, Kanga Boys' High School. Seth has testified that after the August Camp, a number of his peers have approached him wanting to acknowledge that there is something different about him. He has shared with them about the last camp and several of them have indicated interest in the December Camp. Seth also confessed that he now believes strongly in answered prayers and has seen God's favour manifest in a special way concerning his tuition fees. He urged us to continue praying for him.

...and Brother William presenting a certificate to Evans Wagoro... Always thoughtful and articulate.

...and to Jared Marwa... He now believes strongly that God answers prayers because He has experienced it. He testifies when he reached home after the August camp, he found God had intervened in a situation at his home church that he had asked some of the CML team to pray with him about. He made a special request to Brother William to allow his elder brother to attend the next camp. He yearns for his brother to experience the transformation he has experienced.

...and to Peter Paiyineetto...Ready to join CML in the near future.

Brother William poses with all four students at their school and the venue for the August Camp, Kanga Boys' High School.

For a complete description of the camp, please read our blog entry entitled "The CML Students' Camp at Kanga High School..."







These two photo's show Elsie Obwanda, one of four girls in attendance at the August Camp, receiving her certificate at her school, St. Albert's Ulanda. Presenting the certificate is the CU Patron.


Here is Linah Obwanda, sister to Elsie, receiving her certificate at Mariwa Girls' School.


















This is Edna Otieno receiving her Certificate at the same school.

Some of the students at Mariwa High School during games/Social time at the school.

Mrs. Oyugi the CU Patron at Manyatta High school presenting the certificate to Joab Omondi at the school.

Brother William also had opportunity to minister to the Girls at Dede Girls High School on Academic Excellence. He highlighted the imprtance of Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom, Motivation and Hard Work and Organization on the part of the students as some of the ingredients for Academic Excellence. He then Emphasized the truth that true Wisdom comes from God.

Staff members in the Counselling & Guidance Department and the Teache in charge of Students' Academic Affairs were in attendance.

Brother William met with an encouraging attitude towards the Vision of CML from all the teachers he met at the vairious schools. In the future, we are planning to strategically share the CML Vision with the supportive local teachers and get them involved as much as possible. We believe this will be strategic in facilitating on-going CML networking with and discipleship of students while on campus.

CML Missions Review Meeting

On Saturday the 8th of September we held a CML Missions Review meeting. Sister Denise Davenport who is one of the key members of CML hosted the meeting at her residence in Baraka Estate in Embakasi, Nairobi. The main agenda was to review the June/July mission in Rongo and the August Students' Camp at Kanga Boys' High School. All those who participated in the two missions. Those in attendance were Lillian Olewe, Nicholas Jumba, Daniel Khisa, Pastor Maurice Omondi, Amani Muhonja, Winie Mweni, Denise Davenport, Joanna Kelley, Nicholus Juma, Johan Boshoff from Jesus Alive Ministries International, and William Ochieng. Tishona Smith made a technical appearance in the meeting through Skype. Several others could not attend because of various commitments. Brother William shared a brief message of encouragement based on the portion of Scripture from Luke 5:1-11. Two points were emphasized through the message; firstly that God is desiring to use us as His instruments of glory. Secondly, that through partnership, we all bring together different giftings and talents that when pooled up together, we corporately achieve optimal results. We had lunch together as we enjoyed one another's fellowship.


Each individual filled in an evaluation form for each mission they participated in. Sister Denise presented a brilliant summary of the students' evaluations of the August camp. Through the review discussions, we highlighted the areas where we did well as well as identified the areas where we did not do well. We all agreed to strive towards excellence. Everybody had time to share about their observations and recommendations. It was a productive process characterized by sincerity and openness. One of the most exciting moment was the evaluation of presentations during the August camp. It started with each participant doing his/her self evaluation, followed by evaluation by other participants. It was amazing how each individual readily and correctly identified their own areas of strength and weaknesses. Each individual was open to others' evaluation. We all depicted a teachable attitude.


Several good recommendations were agreed upon and adopted for future implementation towards efficiency in our ministry. These recommendations include the following: We would plan to have regular CML fellowship meetings to enhance team unity and corporate prayers. Facilitators Trainings to be started in 2008. We plan to have two Students' camps in a year during April, August and December. The December camp would focus on Leadership formation. Radical steps would be taken to facilitate time management during our missions.



The following are some of the photos taken during the meeting:



On the right is William speaking with Tishona through Skype, a video conference software that we use to stay in touch with her. We all got to see and speak to her. Although we conducted the bulk of the meeting without her, we remained together in spirit!



















Above are Sister Winnie and Denise. Winnie is our newest team member - she had her 'debut' at the August camp where she facilitated the session on Self-esteem. Denise participated in both missions.







On the right are Lillian and Amani. Both of them participated in the June/July mission. Amani also facilitate during the August camp.










This is Nicholas Jumba. He was part of the team during the June/July mission and has also participated in missions to schools in Nairobi. He has an awesome dance group called ICED (In Christ Ever Dancers).

















Here are Joanna and Daniel. They both participated in the two missions.



It was a blessed day. We all reiterated the need to have such meetings regularly.