Blog Post: Boys to Men by Kevin Wiley

No, not the motown Philly R&B group from the 90′s. This Boys to Men story is a little different. It has to do with circumcision. In rural areas of Kenya, male circumcision is often a right of passage into manhood and it is not uncommon for males between the ages of 14-18 to have the procedure done. Many young men during this time of being initiated into manhood are vulnerable to gangs and the pressures of some locals that want to indoctrinate them into a morally corrupt way of living. Camp Brethren Ministries (CBM) saw this as a excellent opportunity to share the truth of Jesus Christ and educate these young men on what it biblically means to be a man while also helping them adhere to the culture practice of circumcision.

The Boys to Men program was created a few years back and each December young men from the surrounding area of Naivasha come to CBM to have the procedure done and be educated on some of the challenges they face from a biblical perspective. The young men come for 10 days to CBM where a nurse performs the procedure and then they spend the remainder of their time in recovery. During recovery, men from the ministry spend time with the young men educating them on a variety of topics including choosing friends, peer pressure, drug/alcohol abuse, HIV/Aids, time management, self identity, and youth and development. At the conclusion of the program there is a graduation ceremony and each of the young men receive a certificate. I witnessed the graduation ceremony the year and below are a few pictures from the event. 

Blog Post: Life Enabling Clinic – by Kevin Wiley

The significance of electricity has already made a life changing impact on the services provided at Camp Brethren Medical Clinic. For several years leading up to 2011, the clinic has served the community of Eburru without power. During daylight hours the clinic was open to both children and adults to receive medical attention. However, they were limited in the services they could provide due to a lack of electricity. For example, a serious disease common to this region is Typhoid. Without electricity, the Camp Brethren lab tech is unable to detect Typhoid in a patient’s blood sample because the use of a centrifuge is required. And naturally, the centrifuge requires power to operate it. Another example, what happens when a woman needs to give birth in the maturnity ward after sundown? Without power the woman gives birth by the light of a kerosene lantern. And if there are complications requiring more advanced, power requiring equipment? There is no option at the clinic and the nearest hospital is 45 minutes away.

In 2011, through the financial support of David’s Hope power was brought to the Camp Brethren Medical Clinic for the first time. The clinic now is able to provide a broader range of services to the local community such as Typhoid testing and treatment as detailed above.

 While visiting Eburru in December, I experienced first hand the life-giving services that the clinic’s maternity ward now can provide through the help of electricity. About 3am on December 9^th a woman went into labor at the maternity ward. (You never know what is going on at the clinic while comfortably asleep in the visitors huts 50 yards away) When the baby was born he was not breathing. So they quickly applied an oxygen pump to the child and moved him into the baby-warmer. The warmer is operational thanks to now having electricity. The pump however is still hand operated. For 4 hours the nurse pump oxygen into this newborn’s lungs. And then the child began to breath. Praise Jesus. As nurse Mary exclaimed later that morning, “That baby is a miracle.” 

I visiting with them Friday and according to the nurses, the boy was doing fine as was the mother. Mother, child and his new aunt stayed the night. I saw them again Saturday morning and below are two pictures from our time together. She was planning to leave the maturnity ward saturday and take her son home. They weren’t sure if they were heading home via car or motorbike. Yes, motorbike! Those Eburru women are strong.

January 2012 Praise and Prayer Requests

Please join us in praying for the work in Eburru and in praising God for the mighty ways in which He answers our prayers!

Praises:

• For a solid foundation and continued growth in our child sponsorship program
• Mike S. has volunteered to serve as the new David’s Hope new accountant!
• Over 400 generous donors and sponsors contributed to David’s Hope during 2011, representing both churches and individuals. December’s giving almost doubled the giving from all previous months in 2011.
• 21 people were baptized in Eburru on December 11th
•  Feast Party was held on Christmas Day in Eburru.  All of the Camp Brethren staff were invited and the gospel message was shared! (Staff represents distributors, ground men, teachers, cooks, lab tech, nurses and others)
• Funding was provided to supply each of the 12 orphanage residents with 3 sets of school uniforms
• A new teacher was hired for the new 3rd grade class!

Prayer Requests

• 2012 goal is to increase from twelve to sixteen orphans in orphanage.  This will require additional funding to meet their needs
• Camp Brethren School will go from 2 standard classes to 3 in January and will be able to accomodate 200 students
• A new 3rd grade teacher and a new class of students will join the existing Camp Brethren family in January for the 2012 school year’s start.  Pray for smooth transitions and a successful school year
• Logistics and planning for Pastor Steve’s upcoming trip to the USA in late March/early April
• Opportunities to share the work of Camp Brethren with potential partners in the US
• Funding is needed for new textbooks, electricity for the school & the construction of 5 more classrooms in 2012
• Next David’s Hope Leadership meeting on January 15th
• Bank wire transfers to go through correctly; there have been some technical issues with this lately
• For safe & quick completion of the orphanage parent’s house and teacher’s dorm in January
• For a new orphanage cook for to accept position & alleviate the growing workload on the school cook

Announcing the Child Sponsorship Program

David’s Hope International (DHI) has launched a child sponsorship program where donors can select and sponsor a child from Camp Brethren School in Eburru, Kenya. Camp Brethren School is the education arm of Camp Brethren Ministries, DHI’s sister organization in Kenya. Currently, Camp Brethren School has five classes ranging from preschool to 4th grade and has 170 students enrolled. The students at the school live in the surrounding villages and many walk long distances to receive the high-quality teaching and development offered at Camp Brethren School instead of attending other nearby government run schools. In addition to providing a certified Kenyan primary education, the students at Camp Brethren School receive two nutritious meals a day as well as bible based guidance and spiritual encouragement 5 days a week.

With a $30/month donation, each sponsored child will receive a Christian education, a school uniform and shoes, school supplies, medical check-ups and two nutritious meals every day. Your contribution and support will help a child overcome extreme poverty and give them hope for a better life.

To learn more about sponsoring a child, please email Sponsorship@davidshope.org. To sponsor a child, please click here.

Scott Sweat’s Blog: Back from Kenya!

one of the classrooms, taking a quick break

Hello David’s Hope Friends! I’ve just arrived back in America after an amazing trip to Kenya! What has been accomplished by David’s Hope in just two years is almost mind-boggling. There is a school where there was no school. There is a church where there was no church. There is an orphanage where there was no orphanage. A small community ministry now has electricity and water where there had been none before. These things have taken a lot of generosity, hard work, and, most of all, God’s grace. Thank you all for your help and prayers in this effort. It has made a huge difference in the lives of so many people that I’ve met with this week.

I learned so much and grew to appreciate even more the sacrifices Pastor Steve, Mary and their team make each day. I was able to spend over a week really walking in their shoes and learning first-hand about their vision for the ministries there. We are blessed to have partners in Kenya who are so selflessly committed to the work there. God is really blessing the church and its ministries. The new church is thriving, and I was priviledged to have fellowship with the church members all week. The school, orphanage, clinic, and church have all grown so much more than Steve and Mary ever hoped, dreamed or imagined. But with that expansion comes great responsibilty. I arrived in Kenya with a to-do list and I’m coming home with an even bigger to-do list. I am excited about how David’s Hope can help provide more avenues to share God’s love and hope with more people. I hope you will come hear about what I learned and how we can help this Sunday afternoon (June 19th, 2pm, 312 Wesmond Dr., Alexandria).

me and students from the school

Have a glorious day!
Scott

Update Letter from Pastor Steve – May, 2011

Over the last month, things have been turning around and inflation has been biting hard to the lives of most Kenyans. The prices of fuel and food have gone high and this have not left out the Camp Brethren projects going on. However, ours is a faith endeavor and God has been blessing all the work going on.

Camp Brethren Christian School – Things are continuing to brighten up with God’s providence experienced by the day. In the month of March we were able to purchase text books that were enough to cater for 3 kids per book. Mega praises this month because generous donors through Davids Hope International have added to the donation and more textbooks have been purchased so each kid has their own book for all subjects. We would like also to thank God for 198 chairs that have been purchased for all the classes. The school kitchen has additional 2 small jikos that has been installed this month.

The school has also benefited from the furniture equipment for the Dining hall. The project of tables and benches (for the dining hall) and bunk beds (for the orphanage dorms) have been completed and delivered to the school’s Dining hall and dorms by the Naivasha technical college. We thank God that the children can now enjoy their meals at the comfort of these benches and tables.

Camp Brethren Feeding Program – The feeding program has continued to thrive with the kids getting a balanced diet in their meals each day. The milk and eggs from the Camp Brethren cows and chickens, respectfully, have added a lot of value to this program. We still have crops growing on the farm and are hopeful that we will get a harvest that will help us continue feeding. Our prayer is that God may continue sending the rains so the farms will not dry up. So far so good and the rainfall have been adequate.

The future of the activities in the school will depend on the availability of water that is scarce in this volcanic village. There is no possibility of drilling a borehole here. When you drill what you get is hot steam vents that when condensed produce water that is widely used here for all needs of water. We have been working on a project of drilling steam wells that will serve as a supplement to rain water at the school. As of now, 5 wells have been drilled and cased and the construction of condensation mechanisms is underway. Pray that this will go on well, noting that we have to pipe the water a distance of 4.1 kilometers. The big praise is that this water will flow 24 hours / 7 days a week. That means a lot of blessing for the school. The reservoir tank is also under construction where this water will be stored.

Camp Brethren Medical Centre – We want to thank God for the medical clinic. The lighting project has been completed and both the clinic and the camp site have electricity. We are now able to keep our vaccines in the facility – a thing that has improved the immunization process. A baby warmer which is used for resustating and warming newborn babies has been purchased for the maternity ward. It has two oxygen flometers; however it needs an oxygen tank which is a prayer need. The night consultations have been made easy especially now that the clinic is covered for 24 hours due to the presence of our full time prescription nurse. This installation of electricity comes with some other prayer needs that include upgrading the lab with more efficient and faster electrical gadgets like centrifuge and Microscope etc. Finally, we want to give praises for the successful satellite clinics that are now running in four different locations.

Although, this month has not gone without challenges, the word of God has been ringing bells of encouragement in our hearts. As one unknown author wrote, “Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessing”. All we can say is that God has done it and is promising to do amazingly great things for his children. “I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all they work, and talk of thy doings.” (Psalm 77:11,12)

In His service,
Steve

Frontline GI 2010 Team Video

In November, 2010, 14 Frontline attendees went on a Global Impact trip to Kenya.  This video gives a good view of their experiences in country, partnering with David’s Hope & Camp Brethren Ministries.

(Click the four arrow button in the bottom right corner to view in full-screen mode)