30 years ago in Germany at BODENSEEHOF Bible college, these three clowns met! God is now using them to serve with the Love For Kenya ministry! Praise God!
Thank you for all the donations!
Randy Darling roasting Real Kenyan coffee beans. I'm not sure if we will ever get Randy to leave Kenya now! He's having way too much fun with his passion and hobby!
Hello, friends of Love for Kenya! We received another big set of photos from the Plymouth Covenant Church mission team that's serving in Kenya from January 3-15, 2017. These photos are from yesterday, January 11. We don't have much written detail as far as how the team spent their day yesterday, but based on the photos we received, it appears the team ministered to children at the school and Shangilia Orphanage! Enjoy the photos. We will continue to share updates as we receive them from the team.
Kindergarten children playing!
Little Brian playing hide and seek.
Randy and Sally who his family sponsors through Love For Kenya.
Dennis playing with kids at the public school.
Yesterday, the Plymouth Covenant Church team on mission with Love For Kenya ran a medical clinic, continued construction on outhouses for the widows, and spent time with the children at Shangilia Orphanage. It looks like it was a very BUSY and EXCITING day for the team!
This is Lonika's outhouse BEFORE, which will be torn down.
Lonika's NEW outhouse!
Lonika's NEW outhouse and bathing area. Almost finished!
Randy & Lonika.
Randy with widow, Agness, who is also getting a new outhouse this week!
Agness' outhouse is almost complete. She is SO excited!
Agness next to her new outhouse and bathing area. All the neighbors have been coming over wondering what is going on. They are amazed that a widow would be helped. It's all because of Jesus Christ!
Medical clinic for the community. 50 people came to seek medical attention today from the village. Amanda did an amazing job treating those in need.
The amazing Amanda treating patients at the medical clinic.
Randy praying for patients at the medical clinic.
Bob "Baboo" playing soccer with the boys.
Yesterday, the Plymouth Covenant Church team on mission with Love for Kenya spent time ministering at the school, and began construction on outhouses for the widows!
One of the widows, Lonika, who we are building an outhouse for. Huge impact in the community as the widows are outcasts in Kenya.
Randy Stensgard helping build Lonika's outhouse.
Dennis and Randy Darling building the another widow's outhouse.
Dave helping with our Kenyan friends to build a brick outhouse
Randy Darling having the kids flock to him and singing songs
Denis loving on the kids at the school, the kids love him!
Ministry at the public school. Conor brought his drone to take pictures and video of the school. The kids loved it!
It was another great day in Kenya!
1. Conor is feeling better.
2. Great church service at Oasis of Joy church. Bob and Randy Darling shared their story of how Jesus has changed their lives. Randy Stensgard preached.
3. Spent time with the children at the orphanage today.
4. Getting ready for construction on the outhouses for the widows homes tomorrow, and medical clinic for the community which will start on Tuesday.
Meet Lonika, one of the widows served by Love for Kenya. The team from Plymouth Covenant Church will be building outhouses for 5 different widows while they're on mission in Kenya. Some of the widows' outhouses are unsafe; some widows do not have an outhouse and just go in the weeds. Widows are considered outcasts of society in Kenya, so this project will meet real, felt needs. Please pray for Lonika and the other 4 widows who will be blessed by new/upgraded outhouses this week. Construction BEGAN today. We will continue to share updates as we receive them from the team.
It is great to be back in Kenya, Africa, and at Shangilia! I have hugged everyone here. No one was left out. Even the African widows from age 38 to 99 love to be loved on. One special time for me was quoting John 3:16 in my Swahili and they actually cheered for God (Mungu) as I finished. I also shed a few tears….OK a lot of tears as I got to renew my love and friendship with the children I have been playing with and sponsoring. Thank you for your prayers as I am healthy and recharged in the ministry here.
Asante Sana, Randy Darling
My heart is twice broken!
First my heart is broken by the pain of broken families, abandon children, the poverty and squalor. It can feel nearly overwhelming. Our first day we visited the Kibera slum, where one million people live in one square mile. There is nearly no electricity and no plumbing. The stench hits you like a wall. From there we came to the Shangilia Children’s home. While the conditions are MUCH better it is still hard to know that these beautiful children have been abandon by those who should care for them most. The next day we met with the widows, who in Kenyan culture are nearly outcasts from society. Why should it be that these women who have already experienced the pain of losing a husband now in addition to caring for their family have to take on the financial burden of providing for themselves and their family? And on top of this to be cast out from your society…it is not fair, it is not right. My heart is broken.
Now my heart breaks again as I get to know these people. Instead of finding despair and hopelessness there is JOY, HOPE, LOVE, GENEROSITY. How can this be explained? There is only one answer. It can sound like the pat Sunday school answer “Jesus," but it is really true. Only our Lord can take this much pain, this much loss, this much suffering and from it bring this much JOY.
When I asked Pastor Timothy in Kibera what the goal of his ministry is or what it is that he is trying to accomplish he did not say I would like to feed these children, he did not say I would like to educate these children, he did not say he wanted to eliminate the poverty, he said without hesitation that it is his life’s work to bring people to Jesus! I am weeping as I type this. Did you read it? Read it again! His life’s work it to bring people to Jesus! Only Jesus can meet needs and hurts this deep.
The night we arrived at Shangilia the children danced and sang, they greeted us and hugged us. They had so much respect and love. My heart again broke with joy.
Seeing the widows as they came together forming a sisterhood, showing kindness, gentleness and love for one another. When they sang and danced; there can be no place closer to heaven on earth than that. Again my heart broke with joy.
Everyone I have met that was a part of the ministry of Love for Kenya was FULL of joy. It beams out of their faces. We are brothers and sisters even though we live on different continents. My heart breaks with joy. I know that this is not the last time we will meet, my Kenyan family and me. Whether, if the Lord grants, I am able to come back to Kenya or if not when we meet in the sweet by and by I will get to see my brothers and sisters again.
Are any of you wondering if there truly is joy in the Lord? I challenge you, exhort you, I beg you come to Kenya and have your heart twice broken as well.
Dave Gust
Feeling Blessed, honored, and amazed to be in Kenya at Shangilia Orphanage. Amanda and I are settled into our new hut home for the next week and thankful to be part of this amazing Love for Kenya Team. There have been two amazing God connections. First, with the widows who came on Friday to the Orphanage. We talked with them, gave hugs, and worked on a bracelet project together, then we danced (they taught us how to dance with God’s Energy). The kids are in need of lots of hugs and we are so happy to provide those. We are staying active with the kids and we had an awesome soccer game which was chance to get to know boys more. Most amazing moments have been kids just coming to sit with us and want to be held. We are telling them Jesus loves them. Pastor Francis and whole staff here are amazing. Thanks for the prayers and support. Love to All!
Bob
Jambo from Africa,
We are into our second day at Shangilia Orphanage. We started the day going into the village and visiting four widows’ houses. These are the houses we are going to work on this next week, repairing their roofs and building new choo or toilets. I have enjoyed spending time with the children. I have been surprised how young they are at the orphanage. I am excited to serve with Bob.
Amanda
We arrived in Kenya last night. Today is our first full day in Kenya. We will be in Nairobi and will be going to see Pastor Timothy in the Kibera Slum (the world's largest slum in the smallest area, 1 million people in 1 square mile). We will be ministering at Timothy's school for the day to over 500 kids in an area smaller than a gym.
Tonight (Thursday), we fly to our Love For Kenya partner, Shangilia Orphanage, where we will spend the next 8 days. Thank you for your prayers!
Plymouth Covenant Church Mission Team
Tomorrow, an amazing team of 9 from Plymouth Covenant Church will travel to Kenya, Africa, to the ministry of Love for Kenya!
God has amazing things in store for us. We have 5 main objectives on this trip:
1. Listening Prayer: We want to hear God’s voice and allow him to guide us on this trip.
2. Share our faith: Our desire is to share the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ with everyone we come in contact with.
3. Build meaningful relationships: Our desire is to build deep relationships with our Kenyan friends at Love For Kenya ministry and the surrounding community.
4. Meeting felt needs: We will be asking Jesus to give us wisdom as we meet very specific needs in peoples lives and the ministry of Love For Kenya.
5. Debrief and respond: Each day, our team will debrief and have an opportunity to talk about what God is doing in and through us, and respond to what we feel God is calling us to do.
We are in store for an adventure of a lifetime!
Please pray for the team of 9, including Randy Stensgard, Bob Paschke, Amanda Paschke, Randy Darling, Matt Mallas, Dave Gust, Conor Olstad, Dennis Huberty and Abigail Huberty.
We will be sharing regular updates from the team while they are in Kenya, so be sure to stay tuned here on the Love For Kenya blog!
May God bless everyone impacted by this mission trip, including the team of 9 from Plymouth Covenant Church, the children and staff at Shangilia Children's Home, the widows and their families, and members of the surrounding community.
Jambo! I'm Timothy Mulehi, the pastor of Calvary Evangelistic Church and School in the Kibera area of Nairobi. Kibera is the largest slum in Africa and houses more than one million people in roughly one square mile. In the midst of Kibera’s bleak and discouraging backdrop, my mission is to provide the message of God’s love and hope to the people of Kibera.
