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

Update Letter from Pastor Steve – March, 2011

As usual it’s hard to believe that the month has almost finished. Everyone of us has had a busy month and in general terms it has been very successful. A highlight for the whole of Eburru is the rains that have been long waited for. It has been very dry and the rains are here with us. This is the planting season and everybody is busy planting. At the Camp Brethren land, we are planting potatoes. This is part of the crop that we intend to use in our feeding program in the late months of the second semester. We pray that the rains continue and the crop does well.

Camp Brethren Medical Centre – it has been a very blessed month for the clinic. We thank God for Justus the new prescription nurse who has joined us. His being here full time has seen an increase in the numbers of patients. Also now the clinic has started operation both day and night. The maternity has recorded an increase of children being born due to Justus being here since most deliveries happen at night. We thank God for David’s Hope International’s monetary support that have seen the maternity equipped with the necessary beds and beddings. This has had a great impact for the mothers. So far due to the unique situation of the Eburru community some mothers do not attend clinic during pregnancy and end up in the clinic at the time of delivery when they sense complications. Last month and this month we have seen 8 deliveries and 3 referrals to a major hospital and all of them ended up in surgery. One of the women told George, our other nurse in the clinic, ” I now know why in the past women died unnecessarily while delivering at home.” It is encouraging to know that the clinic has served to save lives. We also thank God for Anjanette Flemming from David’s Hope and the supplies for baby clothing. This has been a great gift for babies born at the health centre.

Camp Brethren Christian School – The school has seen great improvement. All the teachers have been working very hard to train the kids both academically and spiritually through the chapel hour. We want to praise God for Jonathan, the school manager, and the work he is doing to manage most of the school’s activities. In the last few months he has been following the registration of the school with the ministry of Education. We already got the provisional certificate of registration for Camp Brethren Christian School. This is supposed to go for 18 months before the full registration is requested.

Camp Brethren Feeding Program – Thank God for Rachael and the assistant cook who have been faithfully preparing meals for the feeding program. We need to specifically praise God for food that we have been growing in the farms. They have been a great boost for the sustenance of the feeding program. The commodity prices have skyrocketed due to high fuel prices and we have been able to sustain the student’s feedings through the farm produce. As of now, one cow have given birth to a female calf. The cow is producing an average of 10 liters of milk per day. Some of the milk is being used in the feeding program. We are hoping for the best even when economists are warning Kenyans to prepare for a very tough future.

Ongoing projects:

• The kitchen extension project has been completed this month.
• Textbooks for all subjects have been purchased so there are 3 kids per book.
• 3 fuel saving stoves have been built and installed. The bakery oven is also built with a capacity to bake 70 breads.
• Tables and benches together with bunk beds for the Dining hall and the dormitories have been ordered to be built by the Naivasha technical college. The work is underway.
• Drilling of a steam well has began. The construction of a 35 feet diameter reservoir tank is also underway.

Church News – We want to praise God for the Jerusalem church. It is now 3 months old and God has brought many people who are joining and also getting saved. The number has increased to 53 adults and many children. We covet prayers for the growth of this church.

Family news – Mary has been keeping busy in the hospital at Kijabe operating room. She had an amazing month with a bit of relief from much of Eburru duties due to the presence of Justus, the new prescription nurse. Her highlight this month was when she went to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) for a medical conference with her work. She stayed at the Novotel resort which served as a holiday trip as well. Breathtaking! She says and hopes one day to return with the whole family.

God bless,
Steve

15 Dollars Goes a Long Way in Eburru

Now that Jeff is back from Kenya, with new videos and photos from Eburru.

This video shows, at a very high level excatly whats going on in Eburru, a few interviews with the in country ministry directors, Pastor Steve and his brother Jonathan, as well as some clips of the property we are attempting to finance that will be converted into a community care center, with the long term vision of having schools, dorms, medical facilities and more all on 10 acres of land 8000 feet above the Great Rift Valley.  The property needs a ton of work, and this video shows a little of that.  But the best part of the video is the closing shot of about 17 children who David’s Hope International sponsored this past week.  For only 15 dollars these kids have school paid for this year, guarenteeing them clothing, food, and education… for only $15 bucks! Not only that, by being in school these kids are being saved from entering a litnany of horrible situations including a life or prostitution for the girls and being recruited as child soldiers for the boys.

Jeff says that he saw the real Eburru on this trip.  Now its time for David’s Hope International to get to work and do our part to help!

A little goes a long way in Eburru.

The Beginnings of Hope House, David’s Hope International from AnnieLaurie Walters on Vimeo.

Live From Kenya Part 5 – Solvable Problems

Friends of David’s Hope,

As I try to sum up what I’ve seen, smelled, tasted and touched in the past two weeks here in Eburru, words fall short of describing the desperation of the situation here. The livelihoods of all living in this town and surrounding area are perilous, and if conditions do not improve, death is certain for many. The culprits? Drought, Isolation and Famine.

Those who have read my previous posts know drought and famine are ravaging Eburru, Kenya. It has rained twice here between January and May, a time frame known as the ‘rainy season’, yet yielding little to no rain at all this season. This unusual and unseasonal lack of rain is causing crops to fail – a death wish for a town dependent on agricultural production for life. While the rains have teased us occasionally this month, and the color green has started to crop up in the fields, looks are deceiving. Eburru is just about to enter a harsh three or four month period of no consumable or sellable food while the corn, potato and wheat fields move through their growth cycles, assuming the rains continue. Let pray together that God will bring the rain to Eburru, a dry and weary land where there is no water.

ECOLOGICAL ROOTS OF FAMINE IN EBURRU
It’s no question that the entire world is experiencing the impact of the current global economic crisis, particularly as it related to the cost of food. For Eburru, the current circumstances go much deeper then the global economic crisis, spike in food prices and civil unrest after Kenya’s most recent elections. The complications in Eburru are rooted in its own climate and unique ecological conditions.

You see, Eburru is located near the equator on a dormant volcano, where temperatures regularly climb into triple digits and steam is naturally released up from the ground. Crops need extra water as the sun bakes from above and the steam dries from below, sucking the soil dry and making the crops much more susceptible to drought and failure. You can see how important the rainy season is and how drought can have double the negative impact in conditions like these.

In a typical year with a rainy season, the months of July through September are the driest and food the most scarce. This year as Eburru moves into the dry season, there was no rainy season to build up reservoirs of water. When combined with skyrocketing food prices, the people are entering a catastrophic situation. Not only can they not feed themselves, they have no crops to sell, meaning no income for these agriculturally based families who already live on less than $2.00US a day.

In a town like Eburru, where survival is the goal, when money is scarce priorities change.

To illustrate, I ran into a pack of kids on Friday who were playing outside. I asked why they were not in school and they said Friday was exam day, which means a supplementary fee to pay for the paper exam. Cost: 30 Shillings or about $0.25 US. Well, they didn’t have the money so school wasn’t an option that day. And these are the children actually in school. But when forced to choose between an education and food, you can guess which option the parents choose.

ISOLATION BREEDS DESPERATION
To make matters worse, Eburru is relatively isolated and very difficult to get to. Located high in the mountains at 8,000 feet above sea level, Eburru is accessible only by dirt roads so filled with potholes, dips and dives, that every time Pastor Steve drives to Eburru he has to get his vehicle serviced. “On the road to Eburru, you don’t drive on the right or left side. You drive where there are no potholes,” he says. Obviously, this remote village is not a preferred destination for educated professionals, entrepreneurs, or general service providers. There is no running water, no plumbing, no electricity, no trash removal, and you get the idea. Schools are overcrowded, health care is practically non-existent and civil organization is challenged regularly because teachers, doctors and lawyers just don’t come to this mountainous dust bowl deep in the African bush.

Eburru’s challenges don’t end with location. The town is sandwiched between Masai tribal lands southeast stretching down to the Masai Mara safari game parks and huge East African flower plantations roughly to the north. The colorful Masai warriors are one of Kenya’s most enduring tourist symbols and thus protected when the going gets tough. The flower farms around Lake Naivasha, while hardly paying a large wage to its workers; do employ tens of thousands of people, powering a decent economy. Eburru, stuck in the middle, might as well be located on Mars. No one knows, recognizes or cares about the situation unfolding in Eburru. The town is abandoned, as are its inhabitants, left with little hope for survival. If something doesn’t change in Eburru over the next few months, men, women and children will die. Not sure I can say this any clearer.

DEATH BY MALNUTRITION AND FAMINE

Seeing this situation unfold before my eyes is indescribable. Children are stick thin, bloated with malnutrition, and their brains are deteriorating. And “these are the ones you can actually see because they can still move around,” said Pastor Steve’s wife, Mary, a medical professional. Ironically, one of the final stages of death by malnutrition is loss of appetite. I’m told you just stop functioning and give up, lying on the ground, blank stare, until death and burial.

Making the situation even more real, I found out the other day David’s (of David’s Hope) 8-year old sister died in 2004 of severe malnutrition. When Pastor Steve and Mary learned of the situation, they rushed the young girl to the hospital in Kijabe, but it was too late. The other day I walked by her gravestone next to the family mud hut, phew. Remember my blog post about David a few days ago? I believe he was not far from the withdrawal stage of malnutrition when we fed him last week. David and his 12-year old cousin, Mary, are now set up for a daily meal at Pastor Steve’s preschool facility and medical clinic.

CREATING A SELF-SUSTAINABLE MINISTRY
As I try to process all that’s happening around me I can’t help but ask God: “So what next?” Go home back and cry? Not an option. Live full-time in Kenya? Nope, they don’t need me here. They need prayer, resources and sharp business assistance.

The next step for David’s Hope is clear. After spending the last two weeks with Pastor Steve and his colleagues, we know exactly what’s needed to turn things around in Eburru and its time to mobilize the troops. With your help, we will power the growth of Pastor Steve’s ministry in a self-sustainable way.

Pastor Steve has a big (yet realistic) vision to create an economic engine that finances a drastic expansion of his ministry serving the physical, spiritual and emotional needs of orphaned and destitute children. The plan will build upon his current ministry, which includes two churches, medical clinic, maternity ward, preschool, pastoral training program and feeding program.

The epicenter of his plan is the 10-acre Morgan House property. After two years of uncertainty, the title of this abandoned British farm house was officially transferred to his Pastor Steve’s name in May. Now his vision calls for a business, orphanage, preschool, school (K-8), vocational training and feeding program on the grounds of Morgan House. Pastor Steve’s plan has been in motion (and obviously blessed) for about six years now. It just needs a big boost. The timing could not be more right as Eburru fights for survival.

I’ll be writing a lot more about the business side of Pastor Steve’s ministry this week. Really exciting stuff. Stay tuned.

Thanks for reading.

Who is Pastor Steve?

Crossing paths with Kenyan Pastor Steve Njenga was the highlight for many on our team – not just because his roaring lion sweater was quite possibly the coolest article of clothing ever worn by man. What drew us to Pastor Steve and his multi-talented wife, Mary, were the mighty ways in which God is using them as they live a life of ultimate sacrifice. Forsaking all personal comforts, Pastor Steve and Mary devote their time, energy and resources in service to the impoverished living in (and around) Eburru, Kenya, a tiny mountainous town overlooking Africa’s historic Rift Valley.

Pastor Steve’s story is much like many of our own. While he was living life doing good things, he did not understand the full power of the gospel until seeing it lived out in the lives of Christians around him. After obeying a new calling on his life and graduating from seminary, Pastor Steve started a church in Eburru and cast an audacious vision so large that had no chance of fulfillment unless the hand of God was firmly behind it. Since then, the ministry has opened a medical clinic and maternity ward, a second church, pastoral training program, feeding initiative and daycare facility. Next on the list is the Morgan House, an orphanage for needy children.

We’re excited to see where God leads this ministry next.