Happenings on the Mission Field

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Matthew 7:12

Hello friends,

I want to thank all of you who have given and prayed for Little Linet while she was alive and for her family after her passing. As I mentioned in my last post, the family left for her final resting place on Friday from Nakuru, Kenya to Kisumu, Kenya to the Luo Tribal home land.  It broke my heart to see them leave on their journey and to know that they were leaving with few funds in their pockets.  But God is gracious.  Through the loving prayers of many of you, the family has now completed it's journey and is back home in Nakuru where they will try to carry on without their little girl.

Mama Linet and her husband, are both impoverished and have very little education. To top it off they are living far from their home territory and they live in the slums where there is little opportunity for anyone.  Life is extremely hard in Kenya for people with this background. We pray that the small charcoal business which we helped the mother to start will bear some fruit so that she can help provide for her family. She does have another small child who is younger than Little Linet was.  We know the hardships of children in developing countries where the life expectancy for a child is low.  Little Linet had not yet reached 5 years of age when she died of malaria.

In most poor countries, mortality is highest among young children (below the age of 5), especially infants (below 1 year). Once children reach the fifth birthday, their chances to live a long life improve dramatically.

In general Kenyans do not have a long life expectancy.  If you look on the graph below you will see how much less a Kenyan might live compared to most people in the world, including the Chinese.

My hope is that through my efforts and yours,  someone, or several someones, will have a better chance at a long and better life. That is one of the reasons I have been focussing on medical interventions for children in Kenya.  Though my efforts are modest in comparison to a non-government organization (NGO). I want to do my part to raise awareness of the needs there and the hardships for the people in that country.

I hope you will join me on the journey to raise awareness and to take action to help others who are less blessed than we are.  Your actions, however small or large, have impact and mean something to someone.  One day you will know the fruit of your labours.  How many of you would turn away a starving child who came to your door? It is like that when we hear of and see starving and hurting children who live a world away from us. They are real and they need you. Please consider how you can help. If you truly cannot help, then I understand. But there are many people who still do not go without indulging their every desire for the best and the latest, in technology, clothes, vacations, etc. not only for themselves but for their children. I've been in homes of people who are not very wealthy but yet I stumble over the toys strewn about the entire living area; toys that belong to one child.  I do believe in providing for children but there are only so many toys or possessions that any one human being, including children, can appreciate.

Of course, if you work and want things, that is okay.  After all, that is what most people work for; things that make them happy.  I am only asking that you consider helping a small child or two in Africa if you can.  Moreover, I am challenging you to consider their needs as your own.  I always say, there but for the grace of God, go I.  I could have been one born in Africa without the blessings that God has given me in Canada. It could have happened to any one of you who are reading this in Australia, Canada, United States, or Europe.  Please remember that.  God has been gracious to each one of us.  Let us be gracious in turn, to those whose mothers and grandmothers (and fathers) hearts break over the fact that they cannot provide for their children or grandchildren; simply because of the circumstances into which they were born.

It takes a whole village to raise a child. 

Igbo and Yoruba (Nigeria) Proverb 

Source: World Bank computations based on WDI

In other news of Africa, I am excited to announce that I have added two other children to my family.  I welcome Linunda and Hiness, both of whom are in grade 6 and live in the African country of Zambia.  I am going to help them with school tuition, food and clothing. They go to a Christian School and the are blessed to have good people overseeing the school.  I am happy to welcome them to my family of sponsored boys in Kenya (Peter 8 years old and  John 9 years old) and Ethiopia (Haile 21 years old).

Lindunda is 15 years of age.  The way he holds his mouth in an impish grin, reminds me so much of a young nephew when he was the same age.

This young girl's name is Hiness and she is 12. She is a beautiful young girl with a bright eyed intelligence about her.


  If I can encourage you to sponsor a child and you have some questions about doing so, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact me at any time if I can answer your questions or encourage you to support a child in Africa.  If you would like to know of opportunities for sponsorship in Africa, please click here.

I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday this week. A big 'thank you' to those who host this meme! It's always great to see what others around the world are doing.

Update ~ One More Day with Little Linet

Dear friends,

Thank you to those of you who sent your prayers and your donations for little Linet and her family. Your continued prayers for this family's needs are very much needed. (For the background story read here and here).

Since Little Linet has passed from this life, her body has been at the morgue in Nakuru. Funds sent to her family have been used to pay for her casket ($100) and for morgue fees ($60). The balance of funds has been used to help the family to defray food costs.

As is the custom they have had to host relatives and friends which also includes feeding them over these past six days.  Since Little Linet is from the Luo tribe she will be returned to Luo territory near Kisumu which is also the custom. But first her family will sit with her for one night at their family home near Nakuru.

This past week has been very hard on Little Linet's mother and father. We have tried to be supportive and bring them practical helps like food to help meet the needs of those that have come to show their last respects.

Please pray for this couple.  There are still many unmet needs and they are scheduled to depart for Kisumu with Little Linet's body on Friday.  We are trusting in God with whom all things are possible.

Helping this little one move from this life to the next will be our Valentine's Day gift to her and her family. May God richly bless them and comfort them in this grievous time, and may He give them the joy and the hope that they will one day be reunited with their Little Linet. 

Update ~ Friday, February 15, 2013

Mama Linet and about 20 people left for the long journey to Kisumu. They've had to go by matatu (shared taxis which are the least expensive form of city or inter-city travel). When people in Kenya die they are generally laid to rest in their tribal homeland. Mama Linet and her husband are from the Luo area near Kisumu which is why they are headed there.  See map here.

Once they arrive they will have to build a temporary shelter, feed the mourners and undertake some cultural rites related to the burial. All of this is very costly for such poor people and we ask for your prayers for their every need to be met.

 We have helped them as best before they embarked on the journey.  There is still time to help them if you are moved to do so. We can send the funds by M-Pesa (mobile money transfer). This is an innovative form of transferring money within the country of Kenya, especially to rural places.

The matatu is being loaded for the journey (with Little Linet)  to her final resting place.

(Anyone who wishes to donate may do so by sending a Pay Pal donation to the email on my blog profile). 


Please continue to keep this family in your prayers.

Linet's Final Rest

  . . . to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. 

 Isaiah 61:3

Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle
and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and
my burden is light.

Matthew 11: 28-30

Dear friends,

I mentioned in my last post that Little Linet has passed on to her eternal rest.  Jonah visited Linet's family and learned that on Wednesday they will travel from near Nakuru, Kenya to Kisumu, Kenya in the far west of Kenya to the traditional home land of the Luo Tribe.

Although the distance between Nakuru and Kisumu does not look so far on this map, it is a distance of many hours journey that the family will have to make to lay little Linet to rest.

Mama Linet (in orange). Jonah took her a gift of some food and some funds to help with the travel.

Please keep this family in your prayers as they travel and prepare for the funeral.
God bless.

Gone too Soon

God blesses those people who grieve. They will find comfort.

 Matthew 5:4

My heart is very sad today.

I heard the news that someone I love has died.

The little girl I knew as Little Linet has lost this earthly battle for her life.

I was first introduced to her by my friend Jonah who voluntarily undertook missions in Kenya for many years before recently stopping for a time of transition. He learned about Little Linet while he was going to university.  She was wasting away and unable to eat due to her cleft palate problem.  He took her for medical help and she was eventually able to resume eating and she regained some weight. Then I started trying to help her with her medical issues with the ultimate aim of getting her through cleft palate surgery.  Some of my lovely readers helped me with that. I am very grateful for your help. Rest in the knowledge with me that we tried to make her life and her small family's life a little brighter and to lessen their suffering.

We helped Mama Linet start a charcoal business, helped a bit with food needs and got Little Linet to the doctor twice for different medical treatments and also for a round of testing. She was declared a candidate for cleft palate surgery. That is where our help ended as we did not have enough to carry out the surgery.  I was still trying to save  money for that need.

Linet is gone too soon. Her poor family has one less child to care for but that does not alleviate their sorrow. I mourn for her right now. I mourn for the hugs and kisses she will never again receive from her mom and dad, the laughter and games she will not be able to partake in , the sunsets and sunrises she will never see again and never getting to hold her myself. I mourn for the joy she brought that will never be again.  But life is very difficult in Kenya for those that are very poor. That is one reason we wanted to help her get cleft palate surgery. At least if she had the surgery she would be marriageable and she would not have to fend for herself. There would be someone to help her provide food and she might have children some day of her own. Now all that is not to be.

I am grieving today.  But her loving family and Jonah who had the privilege of serving Little Linet and her family as best he could grieve more so.  Jonah got to know the family fairly well while he was a student in their town.  Now he is living back at his home but they called him just very recently and he rushed to Nakuru area where the family lives to see how he might help. Little Linet was very sick. Jonah rushed to her but it was already too late.  Sadly, Little Linet succumbed to the ravages of malaria. There was nothing that could be done to help her after he got there. It is very sad and we will try to do something to help with funeral arrangements and costs.  The burden of funeral needs and costs is a real hardship there in the poor slums and villages as it is anywhere else. That is the least that can be done for them at this difficult time.

Dear Little Linet, now you may rest in peace in the arms of our loving heavenly Father.

I hope one day to meet and share the hugs and laughter we could not share on this earth. 

Gone too soon my dear little angel. 

I will remember you.

(Please pray for Linet's family at this time).

Jonah & the Missions of Hope

I'm linking up with Internet Cafe Devotions today. I hope you will join me.

Hello dear friends,

How are you this fine day? Here where I live the skies have been gray since the weekend and we've been expecting rain. Our first rain for a long time. However the rain did not come and I see the forecast is for increasingly warmer temperatures and more sunshine for the rest of this week. That suits me just fine as I am already missing our Summer though it is now technically Fall/Autumn. The time just seems to pass so fast and where does it go?

Recently, I've seen a theme in the blogs I read; people blogging about time and making the best of the time we have, not wasting it, and being grateful for the ability to just live and grow each day. For life goes in cycles

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Right now it is my time to update you about Jonah and the Missions of Hope, and it is Jonah's time to finalize his thesis and see what next steps God would prepare for his future. Normally Jonah would update you but he is having to conserve money and totally reduce expenses. It costs money to use the internet cafe or to pay for airtime.

 I only have a short report because as I mentioned last time, Jonah was in the middle of his master's thesis and facing a very challenging time financially.  If you are a regular reader of this blog and Jonah's blog, you will know that Jonah never asks for funds for his own personal use. He relies on a faithful donor for his own school needs but recently the financial burden has become too much for the donor.  It is very unfortunate because Jonah is just sooooo close to finishing.

 Jonah's Needs

Jonah has already successfully made it as far as defending his thesis! 

Isn't that a wonderful achievement?!

What needs to be done for Jonah to finish is to go to Uganda (he lives and studies in Kenya through a satellite university) to complete the administrative work for his thesis requirements.

This sounds simple enough but it takes funds he doesn't currently have. He has been working very hard to solicit funds in Kenya to get to Uganda and he is there now but he needs your help to make sure he can complete his task.

If you can help him, please don't delay in sending your donation.  He doesn't have much time to fulfill his requirements.  He also needs to return to Kenya before the end of this month to move from his temporary home where he has been living during his studies.

He needs funds for that too but the main focus is on finalizing the thesis.

Here is a breakdown of the needs for Uganda:

English editor needs : about $50

formatting needs: $30

statistics needs: $50

binding:  $90

travel: $100

lodging: $20

food: $10 per day

miscellaneous: $100

Little Linet's Needs

I cannot forget to update you about Little Linet and I think you will remember that she was to undergo a medical evaluation on August 28, 2012. The evaluation was for the purpose of determining whether she is a candidate for surgery. You might also remember that Little Linet had been having various issues with her mouth causing pain, wounds, odour and inability to eat properly.  The doctors decided to remove some front teeth to help stabilize the situation. 

The real answer to Little Linet's problems is to help Little Linet undergo cleft palate surgery and the first step toward that was an evaluation about whether she is a suitable candidate for cleft palate surgery.

I am so happy to report that Little Linet is indeed a candidate for surgery.

We would like to help her but we need your help to do it.

Can you help this little one? It will take at least $500 for her to have surgery and so I'm starting now to raise the funds. So far, we have raised $60 for the surgery.

The need is really quite easy to be met if we all pull together.

All it takes is 10 people in the whole wide world to give 
$50.00  (Canadian)

Or, 20 people in the whole wide world to give 
$25.00  (Canadian)

Please know that although I do ask for funds on this blog from time to time, there are actually very, very few people who give toward most of the needs we write about .  The exception was little Kigen because one kind hearted singer in Nashville, publicized his need on Facebook.

I don't share this information to whine or complain but only to make it clear what the situation is. I know from time to time you may have questions and though this isn't my ministry as such, I do support it in whatever ways I can and I desire to have others support it too.

God knows in advance who will help at any given time.  He knows who the donors will be or whether there will be no donors at all.  He also knows that he gives every single person out there reading this, countless opportunities to do good each day.  What you read here is only a part of the opportunities that God opens for you but they are important.  God does care about these ones In Kenya who most people don't care about at all. If you are a follower of Christ and his love abides in you, would you be touched to help and care for them too?

Sometimes a giver stre-e-e-e-e-tches to help meet a need. 
That is another simple fact. 

Sometimes needs are not met at all because there is no one willing to reach out and touch.  It is as simple as that. 
God knows our hearts.

I just know that if this little girl were in your living room sitting beside you, it would be hard to turn your head and heart from her because she is a real life person, with real needs and she depends on us to help her mother meet her needs. I know many people get uncomfortable with being confronted by the needs of others or they grow weary but the Bible says

Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.
Galatians 6:9

I know we do grow weary from time to time but God encourages us through his word. He tells us not to grow weary and he tells us how we can avoid it.


But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
 Isaiah 40:31

If  today, you are feeling the love of God and the freedom that God gives to be a cheerful giver, please join hands with the Missions of Hope. Please be as generous as you can so Jonah can finish his thesis requirements and so we can make arrangements for Little Linet's surgery that much faster.  Of course, you don't have to be a Christian to be a giver. So if you are not a Christian, you may want to lend a hand to these dear ones anyway.

There are two people in East Africa, waiting for your help.  Will you be one to help answer their needs?



Let me close by saying a prayer that in n this season of your life, whatever your needs are, whatever you are going through and dealing with, may you too find the comfort and blessings you need, and a hand or two to help you on your way.  For when you are are strong again, you can help another on their journey.  I leave you with a song that seems appropriate. It isn't a Christian song as such but it's sentiments are the same.

 

 God richly bless you.

At the bottom of this post, there are buttons you can use to help spread awareness of the Missions of Hope through this post.  It only takes a moment.

Little Linet ~ Update August 2012

The last time I wrote about Little Linet she had recently had her front teeth removed and she was having problems eating. She is now undergoing testing in preparation for cleft palate surgery.

All photo credits:  Jonah of Missions of Hope

Here is little Linet with her mother in their home.

Here Little Linet looks cautiously into the camera. I wonder if she knows what is really in store for her?  Probably not as she is still very young.

This is the environment in which Little Linet and her younger sibling live.   As you can see they are very poor and there is trash all around the neighbourhood because there is no garbage pick up.  There is no way the family could manage to give the little girl surgery without outside help.

Little Linet's next medical test will be on August 28, 2012. Shortly after that, we hope that she will be pronounced a candidate for cleft palate surgery. Then she can be free to run around and play like other children.  Her mother can also be free of the worries about her little girl's future because of the cleft palate disfigurement and the related health issues. Please join us in praying for this little girl and her family.

If you can help Little Linet to get surgery and perhaps give the family some assistance with food needs afterward, I would love to hear from you. We accept donations via Pay Pal. Donations can be sent to kerichojoy[at]gmail[dot]com  No amount is too small.

Please feel free to share this word with your friends or in your church or social circles with a link back to this blog or to Jonah's at Missions of Hope. Thank you so much for your help. 

Update on Fundraising for Little Linet's Surgery

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

This is a quick update to let you know that we still need $80 60 (eighty sixty dollars) Canadian to get the medical evaluation as to whether cleft palate surgery can be performed on Little Linet. See story in my last post (click "Older Post" at bottom of this post if you do not see the story on this page).  We also need $70 (seventy dollars) Canadian for the return travels for 3 people (Little Linet, Mama Linet and Jonah to assist them). Altogether we need $130 dollars  (Canadian) for Little Linet.

I had a couple people contact me about the DONATE feature on Jonah's website which is acting up. This has been a long standing issue for us. Please send your donation via Pay Pal to kerichojoy[at]gmail.com if you have any problems with the DONATE button.

If you are following Edwin's progress for cancer treatment, please know that there is an upcoming trip on August 8th to Nairobi. At that time Edwin will have follow up check up and require more medicine to continue his treatment. If you would like to help Edwin, you can donate in the same way. He will need about $100 (one hundred) Canadian to cover travel, medical treatment and one month's food needs for Edwin and his family.

Thank you so much in advance on behalf of Jonah, Linet and Edwin. Blessings. xx