Day 10

Jambo from Africa! It’s been a busy and rewarding week here in Kijabe! A week full of God! Saturday, we toured the Kazuri Bead Factory which supports many single mothers. We heavily supported them!! We also visited The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which rescues baby elephants. We then headed over to the Giraffe Center where Stu kissed a giraffe. We had lunch at “Carnivore” where we had a smorgasbord of meat. Details upon request. Sunday, we presented Pastor Manyara and his church with the quilt we made and Gary preached both services without a dry eye in the house. On Monday we started with dirt and yesterday we finished a house! Amazing, unbelievable. The second house has the roof on it and a brand new out house. We put shoes on all of the children at the Primary School in Maingi. All of the donations have been sorted and distributed many of which were hand delivered by team members with hugs and prayers. Another house has been completely painted and new flooring installed. We visited the least of these who have been displaced into a “tent city.” There we met with people in their tents needing prayer. It was a very moving experience. We’ve given away many clothes, shoes, toothbrushes, first aid supplies, school supplies, bibles and food which amounted to literally 1½ tons of luggage. It’s been an emotional week, but God has blessed us with the unconditional love of his children in Africa. There have been many God sightings! The Kenyan people are very loving and kind and always have a smile with much gratitude. They have welcomed us into their homes for meals and bible studies. And Steve has taken on a personal mission, in seeing that an orphaned boy “Kevin” gets the surgery he needs for his leg. Today, after breakfast, we went to Kasarani, one of the poorest in Kenya, and 100 families received cabbage, carrots, onions, rice, corn, beans, sugar, flour, maize, tea, lard, and soap. Then we went to the feeding center, where the children sang to us and we gave them school supplies, candy, chapsticks and a soccer ball. Along our route to and from Kasarani, we enjoyed many baboon, zebra, gazelle, buffalo and camel sightings. We also stopped at a nice little rest stop and enjoyed an ice cream and cold bottle of water! Tomorrow we are at Pastor Muhota’s church where we’ll present the second quilt and an encore sermon by Gary. We will be soon leaving our dorms here at the Morad Guesthouse. We will miss our beautiful sunrises, our little baboon friends who greet us every morning hanging out in the trees, and all who served us here! Not sure when our next opportunity will be to blog again before our return home, but we’ll try. We heard you had a little snow there in Gurnee. Peace and Love to you all….

Less than 21 hours away....

Gracious, Tender and Loving Father,

Thank you for the plan you have put together, for the vision you placed into Carol's heart, and for each member you chose to fulfill your plan. We are honored. We are blessed. We are amazed at your greatness. And we will obey. Thy Kingdom come, Your will be done. Jesus, I invite you to fly with us. To sit amongst us. To speak to each of us, and tell us what is on your heart. Obedience is our priority. Love is our name. Father, calm our anxieties, relieve our stress, and keep us from restlessness. Hold our families, our children we leave behind. Give them peace. Prepare your children in Africa for this amazing plan that you have unfolded over the past few months. They are waiting for us. This plan, this mission IS possible. Your Love will guide us and protect us. We open our hearts for the unknown, for the least of these. Jesus, we desire to know you better, so that we can fully experience the blessings you have waiting for us in Africa.

Heavenly Father, it is with your Grace, your Peace, and your Amazing Love, through your son, Jesus Christ, that we surrender to you. We are yours.

Amen.

12 Days away....

When our Missionaries from Kenya came to visit us 16 months ago, God presented a vision to Carol Wright--the need for shoes in Africa. Today we packed up over 500 pairs of shoes to take to Kenya with us....and 210 Bibles. Thank you God. The Elders of our church came by this morning to pray with us. It is amazing the amount of donations we were able to pack into 50 bags. Yes, 50! Each bag weighing in at 50 pounds! Wish we could have counted the toothbrushes and toothpaste. We took every tube of toothpaste out of their boxes and placed them in plastic bags for better packing. Every band-aid out. Clothing, candy, chapstick, medical supplies, travel size shampoo, soap, kids toys, school supplies, sheets, bibles and shoes. A very special thank you to Collin, working on his Eagle-Scout badge, for getting the donations of 667 boxes of Band-aids and 1,118 sticks of Chapstick.

Ron and Ronda were there to show us how to do everything. Doug and Deb were there to keep us all organized. And Carol and Jerry, still dealing with a death in their family, walked in with smiles and ready to work. It was an exhausting day. But, praising God and his Vision. We will not only see His vision; we will be His vision. Preparing our hearts, minds and souls for the unknown. Anxious, excited, worried.... so many thoughts going through our minds in this moment. Please keep us all in your prayers. Packed and ready to go.....in 12 days. Peace and Love..............†

25 Days away....

As we come into the New Year, we are getting closer to that day! God has been so gracious to us. He has provided in every way needed for the MissionPossible team to serve Him and to serve in all the ways He had pre-determined. We will be doing great work in the name of Jesus!

Doug and Deb Gillaspie of Beach Park have partnered with us on our journey to Kenya. They have served with our Leaders Ron and Ronda Addison (Pekin, IL) serveral times in Kenya and have developed a list of projects to be completed during our stay.

Listed below are the projects. Some of them, we are providing the funds for the work to be done by the locals. But, most of this list will be "hands-on" by everyone on our team. Kasarani is the poorest of poor; to have the funds to feed the entire village for two weeks is a true blessing. We are all excited about that!

Our gratitude to all who made donations, financial and donated items, is beyond measure. Your prayers and support have been humbling to us all. From our hearts, we thank you so very much.

Our Projects:

Helping the Poor to Change Today:
Feed 130 hungry families in the Village of Kasarani
Feed displaced families in the Maimahu tent city
Feed 16 needy families in the Kijabe region
Build two new homes for needy familes
Build shelves to organize current supplies for orphans
Paint the interior of a national ministry worker's home

Training Leaders to Shape Tomorrow
Kijabe Practical Training Center
- Build the Foundation for the new Vocational Training Center

Moffat Bible College
- Install ceilings in married student housing
- New public toilets
- Office Shelving
- Rehab the Chapel at Moffat Bible College
- Security fencing

God is Awesome- and he is listening...

Ministries in Kijabe, Kenya in East Africa

Paul and Leah Manyara: Bible Moffat College
Rev. and Mrs. Paul Manyara are national missionary partners, serving with Independent Gospel Missions since August, 2007.

Rev. Manyara is the Principal of Moffat Bible College, a post-secondary level Bible College in the community of Kijabe, Kenya in East Africa. This school has permanent registration with the Kenyan government and offers one and two year Certificates, a three year Diploma, and a one year Higher Diploma. Moffat students are training for further academic pursuits as well as for diverse ministries such as writers, prison chaplains, counselors, Christian school teachers, local church pastors or foreign missionaries. The college also trains all students in the area of HIV/AIDS Education.

Leah Manyara works with orphans and the poorest communities. She oversees three feeding centers, founded through Moffat Bible College, that provide one meal a day/six days per week to orphans within fifty miles of Kijabe. She also supervises training/feeding programs for widows in various churches. She is involved with teaching and assisting wives of Moffat students and coordinating women's fellowships and studies.

Simon and Margaret Muhota: World Missions Far Corners
Rev. Muhota's ministry is three dimensional strategy. Radio Evangelism: Reaching millions with the gospel of Christ through Bible teaching, music and other programs in more than ten languages. Discipleship training: Ministering to more than 50 churches in bible study, training seminars, prayer revivals and accountability. Vocational Training: The Vocational school trains young people who cannot go to college in brick making, furniture making, basic computer skills, sewing, and welding.

Margaret, his wife, runs a health clinic where she teaches women family health care and child evangelism. She also teaches HIV and AIDS awareness.

Ron and Ronda Addison: Little Lambs
Little Lambs is a community based orphan care program. It is a daycare program to help some of the nearly 2 million Kenyan children orphaned by AIDS as well as the poorest of the poor. Missionaries and nationals work together to provide a place for these children to receive consistent, loving Christian care. The daycare settings are in private homes as well as churches and buildings constructed specifically for Little Lambs.

Children are provided with one meal a day plus a snack. They are taught basic reading, writing and math by skilled teachers. Appropriate age-level information and education on AIDS is given. They are provided with school uniforms and supplies, clothing, shoes and medical care when funds are available. They are in a safe, loving environment where they are free to play, sign, and be children. Most importantly, they learn about God's love for them through bible teaching and the love shown to them by staff. Currently, there are three centers totaling 101 children.

Ron and Ronda Addison are U.S. Project Coordinators for Little Lambs, serving under AIM (Africa Inland Mission) for 11 years. Four of those years they lived in Kenya serving at AIM's International services, located at Wilson Airport.