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. 

Katie & Kari in Eburru: Kari’s Highlights

I think Katie and I could write a book on all of what God has shown us and how He has grown us through this experience.  Below are just a few short vignettes about the people and ministry happening in the remote, Kenyan village of Eburru:

Church Kenyan Style- The last two Sundays Katie and I have had the blessing to worship with the African Inland Church (AIC ) here in Eburru. Pastor Steve started the church here in 2004 and it has since grown to be the largest church in the areal. Let me tell you, this Kenyan church knows how to praise the Lord in song and dance.  The young men are playing the drums, the children are performing traditional dances, and the older women are banging on the tambourines.  Church service begins at 11am and goes well into the afternoon.  This past Sunday there was a special time for people to come forward with specific needs for the church to pray for.  How awesome it was to hear prayers going up in four different languages- Swahili, English, Kikuyu, and Turkana.   Although our words were varied, our hearts were united in the Holy Spirit.

Teacher Eva- Currently, there are 3 teachers that work here at the Camp Brethren Mission School- Ms. Nancy, Mr. Kago, and Ms. Eva.  I have really enjoyed getting to know Ms. Eva, the lead teacher.  What I love about her is that she ALWAYS has a smile on her face!  This joyful teacher lives in a simple one room “apartment” that is attached to the clinic.  She uses a small coal burner for cooking and heating water for her bucket showers.  At night, she has a paraffin lantern for light and an outdoor “squatty potty” for her bathroom.  Even with such rustic living conditions, Eva radiates the joy of Christ to all around her.   While at the market the other day, I asked Eva if she ever has a down day when she feels sad or lonely.  She explained, “I may have a minute or two when I am sad, but joy quickly returns to me.”  I further inquired    how she maintains such a joyful spirit.  She quickly replied, “ I sing praises to Jesus.”  Our conversation ended with us standing in the “parking lot” of the market singing Eva’s favorite song, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.”

Ministry of David’s Hope International (DHI)- As you probably know, I am here serving alongside Katie Futrell who is part of DHI.   This non-profit organization was formed by a mission team that served in Eburru back in Dec of 2008.  God gave this 16 member team a vision to continue serving this small village and, thus, DHI was founded.  Wow, how God has blessed their ministry!  Through their efforts and funding, in less than 1 ½ years, a school of 90+ children has been founded, a maternity ward to the clinic has been added, and plans for an orphanage have been drawn up.  Through these projects, lives have been saved- physically and spiritually.  I am humbled to have had the opportunity to serve with this organization and am excited to see how God continues to work through them.

We look forward to sharing more stories and pictures with you when we return.  Thank you for making this trip possible through your support, prayers, and encouraging emails.  We truly feel like we have an extended team through you.

For God’s Glory Always
Kari:)

Katie & Kari in Eburru: What’s the big deal about DHI?

Many of you maybe be asking, “what exactly is DHI?” So I thought I would take the time to give a little background information on it.

December 2008 was the first time I visited Eburru along with a team of 14 others.  About a month before we left someone came and talk to us about poverty. She wanted to prepare us for what we might see.  She told us not to be too concerned with the poverty because it was just the way of life here and there is nothing that can be done about it. “Just focus on their Spiritual needs but don’t worry about their physical needs.” In my opinion that is exactly the wrong attitude to have. The Bible is full of verses commanding Christians to give to the poor.  Yes, their spiritual needs are more important but we still need to help them physically as well. In fact I think reaching out to those in extreme need is an amazing way to witness by showing Christ’s love.

Well, that is exactly the vision and mission of David’s Hope International (DHI); “to create lasting solutions for the physical, educational, emotional, and spiritual needs of abandoned children in the poorest communities of the world” Our team decided that we would not be Americans that saw the need and went back home and forgot about it. Instead we started David’s Hope underneath the leadership of fellow team member Jeff Trexel. I remember us all sitting in Jeff’s basement shortly after returning, trying to come up with a name for the new organization. Since then, God has truly blessed it. We have been able to raise funds to send to Pastor Steve for him to buy a water tank, land to grow crops and farm animals for the feeding program, classrooms for the new school and the start of constructing an orphanage. Pastor has also decided to plant another church (this will be his third in Kenya) down at the edge of Morgan since many walk miles and miles to go the church in Eburru.

As I am writing this, David, our namesake, is sitting next me so I can help him with some homework. He is 15 and in third grade and weighs about half of what a child his age should because his grown was significantly stunted when he was very young due to malnourishment. We hope to place him in the orphanage once it is open so that we can monitor his progress. However, we still need help in funding it. Please consider giving by going to www.davidshope.org/give.

Katie & Kari in Eburru: Historical Day in Kenya

Since we first arrived in Kenya we kept hearing  talk from the radio, TV news, taxi drivers, and street advertisements about the referendum for a new constitution. We saw people wearing red (those for against the  new constitution) and many others wearing green (those for it). Supposedly, President Obama gave motivation to the politicians in Kenya that there needed to be a change and unity in their country.

Well, today is Election Day and they are voting on that new constitution. As we drove into a town this morning we saw extremely long lines of Kenyans waiting to vote. Many that we have talked to say they are in the “Yes” camp and polls are predicting  that about 80% are for it. Many of the changes have to do with the rights of women and children; including the right to free education and better healthcare for expecting mothers. Currently the mortality rate for infants is very high and they hope this is one step towards improving those statistics.  However, the last time there was a big election (2007) there were major riots between tribes. Many are still adamantly against it. A large number of those in the “No” camp are landowners as some tribes could potentially lose land.

The US has currently put out a travel warning telling Americans not to travel to Kenya until this is over so please pray that it will end peacefully this time around. For more information on this international news please visit: http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/08/04/kenya.election

Editors Note: The constitution referendum vote occured on Wednesday, August 4th.  The “green” or “yes” supporters were declared victories on Thursday, August 5th.  To read more, click here.

Katie & Kari in Eburru: Vignettes of our Time

Dear Prayer Team and Supporters!

Wow, I cannot believe that I have been in Africa for over a month. God has and continues to bless our time here. I feel like I am becoming quite the native. . .I am becoming “fluent” in my one word Swahili vocabulary, I can walk to and from the school by myself without getting lost, and I begin and end each day with my Kenyan chai tea:-) Look out- this mzungu is becoming quite African in her ways:-)

Katie and I are now in Eburru, Kenya serving with David’s Hope International. Below are a few vignettes of our time here in the past week.

1) “Jack & Jill of ALL Trades”- Pastor Steve and his wife Mary are the inspiration behind the church, clinic, feeding program, and school here in Eburru. They work tirelessly serving in whatever capacities are needed. For example, in addition to his responsibilities as a pastor, husband, and father, Pastor Steve can be found hauling construction material to and fro, hosting mission teams, providing transportation for hospital visits, playing keyboard at church, and a myriad of other tasks. Mary works long hours as the head nurse at the mission hospital in Kijabe where they live during the week. On the weekends, she serves at the clinic and church in Eburru and always is the “hostess with the mostess” for visitors. I thought I had a lot of energy until I saw Mary in action:-) What self-sacrificing servants of the Lord this couple is!

2) Eburru “Retreat”- Eburru is a remote village tucked away in the north central part of Kenya. If you look up Eburru in the encyclopedia, it will actually describe it as being in the African bush. Although this isolated place lacks in the modern conveniences of electricity and running water, it overflows with natural beauty and the friendliness of the people. Each night we lay our heads down beneath the black African sky illuminated by the shining stars and we wake up to the sounds of chirping birds, gobbling turkeys, and a cocka-doodling rooster. The perfect alarm clock- God’s creation!!:)

3) Faith of Children- The children of Eburru have captured my heart. Before the school and the feeding program which is sponsored by David’s Hope International was here, many of the children would go for days without food- let alone any nutritious food. As a result, these young ones are quite small for their age. For example, little Mary is 7 years old, but she is the size of my 3 year old niece, Abby. Although these precious ones may be small in stature, but they are big in heart.

My favorite part of the school day is break time when we have chapel hour. My heart melts seeing the smiles and the joy of the children as they praise God. This week the students learned Psalms 23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd. I have all that I need.” Wow, these little ones may not know where their next meal is coming from, yet they are confident knowing that their Heavenly Father will provide all that they need! The great faith of children- a lesson we can all learn from.

I pray that these stories encourage you about what the Lord is doing here in Africa and also encourages you in your walk with the Lord. As the children of Eburru exhibit with confidence, we serve a God who is a Provider:-)

A Humbled Teacher,

Kari:-)

Katie & Kari in Eburru: Solomon

I mentioned before about he feeding program at the school but I wanted to share a very touching story about a little boy named Solomon.

Back in December DHI sent a small short term missions team to serve in Eburru.  Monty, a girl on the team, was able to bring a large supply of Nutty  Butta, a peanut base nutritional supplement. It is packed full of protein and there is research being done on its effects on malnourished children.  When the team arrived their attention was brought to Solomon, an extremely malnourished four year old boy.  Mary told me that his mother came to her in the clinic and told her that they were just waiting for the child to die. She had given up on hope that there was anything that could be done at this point.  Mary and the team started giving the child the supplement and enrolled him in the school immediately so he could have the advantage of the feeding program. At first Solomon did not have the energy to even smile. He would sit and watch the other children play. He came to school wearing layers but when those layers were taken off it was apparent the child was skin and bones.

Well, Solomon is in the class I have been working with and the teacher told me he is now top of the class!!! I actually took a wonderful video of him working the classroom but of course the African internet connection will not let me upload it so you will have to wait until I return. Mary says that the child would most certainly be dead by now if it were not for the team that came with the supplies or the feeding program.  Solomon now runs and laughs during recess and he loves going to school.

Katie & Kari in Eburru: School Days

“We have had many teams visit Eburru but your team that started David’s Hope International was the only one that caught the vision.”

These last three days working at the  school have been so good. It is hard to believe that it only started 6 months ago. Currently, the school has three teachers and three full classrooms but every day people come wanting to know if we have room for their child. They like our school better than the other primary school in the area because they can tell quality education is being offered. Not only that but they are being taught the word of God daily.  The pastor and teachers want the children that are the most destitute  to be the ones that are accepted into the school….the children that would never have a chance of education otherwise because they would not be able to afford it (education is not free in Kenya). One of the best things about the school is its feeding programing. Many of the students that go to the school were extremely malnourished before but because they get a cup of porridge in the morning and a bowl of beans, vegetables, and grains for lunch many of these children are now at a healthy weight. In fact, most Kenyan schools would be on break for the next three weeks but the David’s Hope School has decided to stay open because if the school is closed, the children do not get to eat.  Because of the funds raised through David’s Hope the school now has a garden and three goats (two are already pregnant ) in order to have self-sustainability as these will provide vegetables, fruit, grains, and milk for the feeding program. In fact some one already asked if they could buy the offspring of the goats which will also help bring financial sustainability.

Pastor Steve says that Kari and I will be “pioneers” since we are the first American teachers to visit the school. In addition to helping the teachers and leading chapel hour, the pastor also wants us to develop a “training guide” on how the school runs so that other education teams that come to work in the school will have an idea before hand of what is being taught.

Katie & Kari in Eburru: Eburru Needs You

Our trio is now a duet. Becca is flying back home today and Kari and I arrived in Eburru last night. It is so nice to be back. So much has been done here since I left 18 months ago. We stopped by the David’s Hope school on our way to camp yesterday and it brought tears to my eyes. Since 15 Americans decided to start David’s Hope International and we have had so many gracious donators, 93 students now are getting an education for the first time and that is just the beginning of the good work that is being done here.

We had a nice long talk with Pastor Steve last night and this is what he had to say: “It is so hard for you to paint a picture of what the situation is here for the Americans. They are still living in the comfortable homes and you are here. They don’t know that many of us have gone without food today.” Several times a week the pastor and his wife Mary will drive 55 km (but it is a 2 ½ hour drive due to the horrible road conditions) to the remote village up in the mountains of Northern Kenya so that they can work at the clinic and school they started here. Mary is a nurse and works in a hospital during the week and here at the clinic in Eburru on the weekends. Although she would sometimes like a day off she knows that there are children waiting to be fed, taught, and treated here.

Luke 12:48  tells us “From everyone who has give much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” As Americans we have been blessed and given much. How are you using what God has given you?

He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses. – Proverbs 28:27