A Bit of Progress

Hi friends,

Last time I wrote about having cataract surgery. It has been 1 week since I had my 2nd eye (left eye) done and I am doing well. The actual surgical procedure was a little more uncomfortable than the 1st eye (right eye) during the procedure but not so bad. After I got home and put some drops in it seemed to be better and I haven't had any issues since then. In about 3 weeks I will return for my last visit to the eye specialist and she will give me a reading prescription. For now I am using the dollar store reading glasses which I had already been using.

I've spent the last week trying to catch up on a whole lot of things: Kenyan missions, laboratory appointments, posting and receiving mail, paying bills, a lot of reading and visiting with a good friend.  I don't get to visit with my friend that often and it is a true delight when I do get to see her.  She is a very busy lady.  She is busy ministering daily to elderly people in care homes of whom have no one to help them.  She just takes the time to help them with their day to day needs, sit and visit with them, pay attention to them, read the word and pray with them.  She will even do special things like give them a pedicure.  They love her so much.  She also takes time to pray for me on a daily basis.   I appreciate my time with her and the love she shows in various ways.

The weather here continues to be in the range of 26 Celsius to 31 Celsius and will continue at least through the early part of the week. There has been very little rain in the past two months and we've had about a tenth of our usual rainfall. The wildfires that started a few months ago to the north are still burning.  Read more here
The entire province is so dry and new fires pop up all over the place including not so far to the east of where I live. Just earlier this week wildfires started in the Province of Manitoba and many people have had to be evacuated.

In my August 4, 2017 post, I wrote about the national elections scheduled for August 8th in Kenya. The elections have come and gone. The incumbent President, Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President, William Ruto were announced the winners. The NASA opposition coalition took the outcome to the Supreme Court of Kenya, arguing that the elections process was not fair and credible, particularly as it came to the transmission of election outcomes results. Last Friday, the Supreme Court rules in favour of the Opposition and ordered that another election be held within 60 days.  Please continue to pray for free and fair elections and a peaceful and clear outcome.

My friend Jonah's mother in Kenya has been struggling for her life.  For quite some time she has been in and out of hospitals, some farther from home, some closer to home.  Advice has been followed, surgeries performed, medicines prescribed, yet there has been no resolution to her health challenges. It has been a stressful time and worrying time for her family and those who care about her. She has been through a lot physically and I believe it is prayers that have sustained her.

After a very long time I am now hopeful that she has the right help. She is currently under the care of a doctor from Louisiana, USA and is doing much better. Inn the last few days her improvements have been dramatic and she is being weaned off of various medications. I do hope and pray that this improvement will be sustained through God's grace but for the foreseeable future she remains in hospital under doctor's care.

Also the young girl with lung problems has been back in hospital with chronic pneumonia. After purchasing medications for her I am hopeful she will be able to return to school.  I pray too that her strength will increase and her health improve daily.  Whenever the Lord enables me to get to Kenya again, I plan to meet the young girl and see what can be done to help her with better nutrition.  She is on my heart because she is so young and totally reliant upon the good wishes of her school for an education and even for all of her day to day needs.
                                      

I started this post with an entirely different subject in mind.  Instead this post primarily about Kenya came out however in the typing of it  had an awful lot of technical problems.  I hope all the typos don't appear in the published version. If they do I will have to correct later. I've never experienced such a problem on blogger before. I hope this is only temporary.

 God bless you and give you all a wonderful week ahead.

A Good Report

 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.

Matthew 10:42 (NIV)

Hello friends,

I hope this post finds you well and in good health. I also hope the weather is agreeable wherever you are. It seems the weather is so unsettling in many places around the world. These days you never know what to expect.

I reported just over a week ago about the abundance of hail we had here in Vancouver. Pictured below is the hail which had accumulated around my newly planted lettuce. Since that day, the lettuce (and other plants) seem to be fine.  However I find the lettuce doesn't grow that fast despite our sunny and very warm weather.  That might just be normal. I haven't grown lettuce for several years and I can't quite remember much about the experience.

The main purpose of today's post is to give you an update about missions work in Kenya.  Many of you have been following the plight of Angel Baby Fidelis pictured in the photo below with her advocate, Joseph Wanjau and the baby's mother.

Joseph has been raising the funds for Angel Baby Fidelis travel to Canada for surgery to remove the growth on her face and brain.  The baby also needs reconstructive surgery.  I am so thrilled to report that through Joseph's efforts and through the support of people near and far, the family is now able to travel to Canada!

Joseph is just waiting for word from the hospital as to when they will be ready to perform the surgery so that travel arrangements can be made.

I ask each of you to continue to pray for this family.  They will be far from home in a foreign land.  They will need to remain in Canada for 4 months for the surgery and recovery process.  I am grateful that they will get to make the trip during Canada's warmer months and not during winter. I only hope they will cope well with the humidity levels in Ontario.

Let us pray they will adapt and that they will have good success in surgery and recovery. Let us also pray for Joseph who is tirelessly working in Kenya to support orphans and to support disabled children and their families through the Hope Foundation for Orphans.

Photo Credit: Joseph Wanjau, Hope Foundation for Orphans ~ L to R, Joseph, Baby Fidelis & her mom

In other news, my good friend Jonah has continued to make his evangelistic outreach and humanitarian visits to the Pokot people of northern Kenya. These people are the Plains Pokot as they live in the dry, infertile plains herding goats, cows, sheep. Often it is too dry to keep the livestock watered and fed properly and the people also go hungry.

It takes a full day of travel to reach these people from home base in Kericho in the Highlands of Kenya. My friend Jonah has a huge heart for the Plains Pokot and has made many missions trips to reach them with the good news of the gospel and with practical food aid.  He does whatever he can and travels with other volunteers from his church about once per month or as funds allow.

You can see the people are very happy to receive their flour.

Some of the local men help to distribute the aid.

Jonah also likes to try and bring treats and fun to the people.

Here you can see them enjoying the succulent watermelon. I can only imagine how good it must taste when you are thirsty in a dry land.

In my last photo you can see the woman having fun blowing bubbles.

Perhaps it is the very first time she has ever experienced the childlike joy of blowing bubbles.

[Photo credits:  All photos of Pokot mission courtesy of Jonah of Missions of Hope, Kenya]

 I can certainly remember how much fun I used to have a child blowing bubbles.

As a grown up I love opportunities to buy bubbles for children just so I can watch them have fun and squeal in delight at such a simple pleasure.

In closing, I want to say that we value your faithful readership and as always we covet your financial and prayer support for the ongoing work to help the Pokot peoples

If you can help donation can be sent
to
kerichojoy[at]gmail[dot]com

via Pay Pal  

Donations to Hope Foundation can be made at their website.

Thank you.

If you have any problems or need any assistance with making your donation let me know and I will try to help you.

In the coming near future  I will let you know about another great initiative from one of my readers who is very keen to help raise funds for ongoing needs in Kenya.

Taking a Break

Hello dear friends,

I hope this day finds you well and in health.

I am stopping in to let you all know that I will be taking a short blogging break. I've got a number of things that will be occupying my time in the next little while and so I need to organize my time a bit better.

I will still be checking email throughout the days ahead so please do not hesitate to contact me if you like.


Until I see you again the blogosphere, I wish all of you a peaceful and healthy time ahead.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in North America.

I want to take a moment to wish all of you mother's a very happy and special day.

If you are a child or grown child and still have a mother I hope you will make a time to let her know how much you appreciate what she has done for you. Not everyone has that opportunity and not every one has a good mom but many are very blessed to have had a good and loving mother. 

I was fortunate to be blessed with a very loving mother.  One who took her responsibilities of love, care, concern and guidance for her family and other people very seriously. I was never unsure about mother's care and protection and she did her very best for all her children and for the children of others. For these blessings, I am very grateful.

She is now in the twilight years of her life and unable to do much.  Even so she still tries to think of others and show them she cares. Mostly though I now take care of her with the help of my youngest brother.  My nephew (my departed sister's son) also cherishes his grandmother as she helped to raise him.  Even though he is very busy he tries to make time to lift her spirits and give her the motivation to keep on living.

Mother's Day seems to be an appropriate time to let you know about Baby Fidelis and her mother who live in Kenya.

Mothers who live and toil in developing countries have it so hard.  This family is of very humble means and the mother finds it difficult to find work to care for her child but she does the best she can.

In Kenya when you have a disabled child, people become very suspicious of you.
Not only do you have to worry about how to take care of your child with limited means and no government support system but you have to contend with whispers, ridicule and accusations for people still think that you have been cursed or involved in witchcraft somehow and that is why your child is born with a disability.

Parents often hide their children and lock them away out of sight due to the stigma but also sometimes to protect them from others.

Baby Fidelis was born with a defect called large frontal growth (Encephalocele). This is a rare disorder that occurs in about 1 in 5000 births worldwide. If the child has surgery soonest, she has a better chance of recovery and normal development.

As you can see from her photos below this growth is very large and she needs surgery urgently.

She is expected to undergo reconstruction surgery in Canada but first the family advocate in Kenya is trying to raise the funds needed for several of them to travel to Canada and remain and live in Canada while the child undergoes surgery and recovers.

Can you help?

Just think if this was your baby or your grandchild, what would you do to help her?

Her mother is very poor and believe me if she could fly to Canada now on her own means she would gladly do it. 

But she needs our help.

They are SO CLOSE to having the needed funds to undertake the travel.

Baby Fidelis with her mother & family advocate, Joseph Wanjau, Hope Foundation

Time is of the essence and we need to do what we can now, not next week or the week after.

As the growth gets bigger it creates more pressure in the head for this young child.

Thank you for reading and responding.

Painted Sky & A Little Girl

Psalms 78:23

Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven;
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Sky#sthash.cSKl3iRK.dpuf

Psalms 78:23

Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven;
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Sky#sthash.cSKl3iRK.dpuf

 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
    and opened the doors of the heavens;

Psalm 78:23

Psalms 78:23

Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven;
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Sky#sthash.cSKl3iRK.dpuf

 ~~~

 The changing sky never ceases to amaze me. 

Despite all the rain that fell and the gray days we had, I was  awestruck by
the beauty to be found in the sky this week. 

~~~~

On the other side of the world and under the same sky lives a little girl named Fidelis Muthoni.
Carrying her is Joseph Wambau, the young man that is trying to help Fidelis and her mother get to Canada this month for much needed surgery. They need our support because the surgery in Canada is free but they do need to raise travel funds to get from Kenya to Canada and to have living expense money while they are in the country.

I would be grateful if you could spare a few minutes to do what you can to share the information about Baby Fidelis more widely with your own circle of contacts and friends.
You can find all the necessary information at this link

 http://www.snapthatpenny.blogspot.ca/2015/04/saving-angel-fidelis-update.html

The more people who know of the baby's situation, the more people who will be reached that might help baby Fidelis.

If you have limited time but want to make a donation, you can do so through Pay Pal.

Here is a link to the Pay Pal button  http://hopefoundationkenya.org/donate.html
Please mark any donations as "Purpose - Baby Fidelis" so the funds get to the right child.
The Hope Foundation which is based in Nairobi, tries to help many orphans and disabled children.
Identifying the funds for Fidelis makes sure that it is earmarked for her travel and not to the general needs.

Thank you so much for your help!

~~~

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.
Check out the link for more awesome skies from around the world.

One Baby's Life - Wordless Wednesday #3

Click
Baby Fidelis
for more words

Joining Wordless Wednesday

SAVING ANGEL FIDELIS - UPDATE

Hi friends,

I first posted about baby Fidelis a few days ago.

You can read the original post by clicking here.

 But I've just learned that she is scheduled for surgery on May 7th if the family can raise the travel funds from Kenya to Canada (Toronto).  Time is of the essence in getting this message out far and wide and raising the needed funds.

A well wisher in USA has opened a Go Fund Me Campaign which you can find here

http://www.gofundme.com/rartwk

Donations can be accepted on the Go Fund Me page or through the Pay Pal page at Hope Foundation For Orphans in Kenya http://hopefoundationkenya.org/donate.html

If you want to help and are able to help, please do not delay.

There is only a short time before the surgery date is here. The family will need a bit of time to determine whether they have the full funds needed and to make all necessary travel arrangements.

Each of you who reads this post can also help to share this message as widely as you can with all your contacts. You can easily share this post by using the "share" buttons at the bottom of this post.

Thank you so much!

Missions Outreach - Christmas in Kenya 2014

Hello friends,

It has been awhile since I wrote of the outreach to the humble villagers in Kenya. You can read more about our plans for Christmas Outreach here.

Photo credits:  All photos in this post belong to Jonah of Missions of Hope, Kenya

The outreach was a modest effort funded by myself and one other blogging friend.  In Kenya, my friends donated their time and energy to helping identify costs, shopping for all the refreshments and food, travelling to the Internally Displaced People's Camp and otherwise making it all happen.

I just want to say that  my friends and I do not do good works while thinking of a reward in Heaven some day (scripture verse in above photo). We do it because we love people and hate to see them suffering.  The scripture teaches that whoever does not love does not know God for God is love  (1 John 4:8). The scripture is also clear that there is a reward some day for those that are God's disciples and do his will as in Matthew 10:42.  When that day comes I certainly won't be turning any reward away if there is indeed one coming. Life in eternity is an awful long time *smile.

I recognize that there are also good people in the world of other faiths and some who have no religious affiliation whatsoever. I applaud you if you are a person who cares for your fellow man, woman and child regardless of the faith issue. Life would be so much better for more people on earth if we all had this view. Now more about the outreach itself and the context within which it was undertaken.

Though our efforts were modest compared to many ministries around the globe, I know for certain that the people we helped would not have received help from any where else.  It was important for me to let them
know that especially at Christmas, someone was remembering them.

Life is very hard in much of Kenya.  Things were already very difficult before the global recession and rise in terrorist attacks.  Both of these events have put the country's economy in a downward tilt and negatively affected the tourist industry which formerly brought in a lot of money to the Kenyan economy.Though there are many, many rich people in Kenya, there are many, many more who not have adequate food, clothing, shelter and medical care.

There are about 46 percent of Kenyans living below the poverty line and there isn't enough work for those who want to work.  Last Fall, I read that university graduates take upwards of 5 years to find work upon graduation. Even then they get meager pay and often have to eke out a living with small businesses they create themselves.  There isn't a robust social security system either though slowly, slowly the government is implementing a few social programs.  These are primarily for young school children to have free education, a real God send and change from several years ago, and for some of the elderly who receive a small pension. The pension program started as a trial about one year ago and I hear is now going to be implemented on a broader basis. These are all starts in the right direction.

The government simply doesn't have the money to broaden it's efforts to include a wide range of social programming.   They are currently trying to improve things on a number of fronts: building better infrastructure, dealing with graft & corruption, including within government, coping with terrorism and the weak economy.  The tourist industry has had a very tough time of things since 2008.  The government is also spending a lot of time trying to better contain the government's budgets in a time of devolution to county governments.  They also appear to be dealing with various land scandals that impact on the security of land tenure for individuals, school and such like.  When citizens and businesses of any country don't have secure land tenure it affects support for their governments and Kenya is no exception.  There are many challenges in trying to move forward

There have also been recent change to the operation of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). There are thousands of NGOs in Kenya and many of those are run by foreigners from all around the globe.   To date most of them seem to have operated without full accountability though certainly not all of them.  For example, lots of them do not keep up their filing of annual statements.  The government has become concerned about some NGOs being a front for terrorist sponsored activities.  As a result the government recently froze the bank accounts of a multitude of NGOs and a time line for rectifying irregularities. I don't know exactly how this all transpired but it seems a large number of  bank accounts have been not only been frozen but seized by the government in it's recent crackdown on non-compliant NGOs.  The ramifications of this action are still too early to assess.

I sincerely hope all these actions will benefit people on the ground and that graft and corruption whoever commits it will ultimately be controlled. In the meantime, there is still much work to be done to help our brothers and sisters in Kenya.

These pictures show my very small efforts toward doing just that. I want to acknowledge and thank all those of my readers who have contributed both financially and through prayer support to helping Kenyans.  Your  contributions are not in vain.

In 2014, we had a multi-pronged approach to Christmas outreach.  We wanted to feed or have a small party for as many orphans, villagers, and Internally Displaced Peoples as we could.  Despite our modest means we were able to do just that.

Friends, one thing I want you to notice is that there are very few, if any smiles on the faces of these people.  Instead what you see are faced lined with hardship.  It pains me to see people with such hardship.  Life is just that difficult in many places in Kenya. Even when you have an outreach, people take it very seriously lest they miss out on their one chance to get something to eat or drink. I am not being dramatic here folks, I am simply stating the facts of life if you are a poor person in Kenya.  One thing that saddened me very greatly and in fact distressed me when I've travelled to Kenya is the blatant disparity between those that work in NGOs that serve the poor and the poor themselves when there are so  many poor who have nothing to eat.  But that is another matter for another day.

Restaurant Meals

Some of the people who are getting the restaurant meal are homeless or orphans. My friends organized those they thought needed a blessing.  You can see a mother and several children as well as some orphans.

One might ask why give a restaurant meal to such people. I say "why not?" People deserve to be treated now and then to things they may never otherwise experience.  Christmas is a special time of year when  most of us get to share a meal with loved ones. If you are homeless or an orphan you can't even share a meal with loved ones in a family home.

Village Church Party

We also had a food distribution at a one of the village churches I had the pleasure of attending when I was in Kenya. My friends wanted to host a bit of  party with biscuits and sodas.  Just a simple affair to contain the costs.  Though they tried hard to keep the plans quiet until the day of the party some other local churches got wind of it.  Many more people came out than anticipated.  My friends did not have the heart to turn them away; especially the children.

Initially sodas were provided because this is a rare treat for people in the village.  It quickly became apparent that a new strategy had to be employed in order to contain the budget and sodas were replaced with juices. My friends also rightly assessed that it was too difficult to keep track of all the soda bottles with so many people in attendance.  Soda bottles all have to be recovered and returned to the vendor.  With such a crowd of people, it was too difficult to make sure the bottles could be recovered.

You can see all the empty crates where food and drink were stored before distribution.

 Distribution to Internally Displaced Peoples

Every year my friends like to help a small group of largely forgotten internally displaced peoples (IDPs).  This year they especially wanted to provide sanitary napkins to the women.  Environmentally friendly napkins or reusable ones were not an option because of the lack of washing facilities where the IDPs live.

We were able to provide a very small amount of refreshment and dried foods like flour to make chapati, in  addition to providing sanitary napkins At other times of the year, whenever we can, we try to do a special food run to these people but it is difficult to do unless we get extra donations because there are a few hundred people at the camp. They need food all year round as they have lost everything: homes, jobs, land, etc. when they had to flee for their safety during the post -election violence in 2007. Many are still displaced and waiting for compensation or relocation.

 

We didn't have quite enough funds to provide sanitary pads for the women for a 3 month period. My friends did very well to purchase wholesale supplies and thus and were able to stretch the funds.

Women can you imagine not having any sanitary pads when you need them each month? 

Can you imagine not having water to bath when you need it?

That is just the daily reality of so many people in Kenya. Not just in IDP camps but also in villages all across the nation.

That concludes Christmas outreach for another year. 

If any of you wish to have more information or want to donate to future endeavours then please do not hesitate to be in touch. 

Blessings!

On the Home Stretch to Christmas

Hello friends,

It is the final week before Christmas and I am enjoying the lead up to the big day.

I finished wrapping the small gifts I bought some time ago and will be dropping them off before Christmas to different friends. I have also decided to try and finish the lap quilt for my nephew and larger quilt for mom that I was going to gift last Christmas! These have just been sitting in the corner all year and waiting for me to add the finishing touches. I have so little to do on the lap quilt but the larger quilt requires a bit more work.

Lap quilt

Mom's quilt-in-progress

I have also just finished making two half slips for my mom. She hasn't been wearing slips for years but with the advancing age I think she feels it would be another layer to keep her warm.  When I went to purchase fabric to make the slips  they didn't have the usual colours (white and ivory) so I purchased a teal-ish green and a navy coloured fabric. These will be fine for her needs as they tend to be the colours in some of her dresses and skirts. I am also going to see if I can make a fuzzy vest for her. It is made out of slightly slinky fabric but it is a nice burgundy colour which she likes.


Earlier I asked her whether she needed any sweaters and she said a blue or green sweater would be a welcome addition to her wardrobe. I couldn't believe when I managed to find a blue sweater. It is rather a long one, probably longer than she needs but I think she will still like it because of the colour and because it is a little heavier than the sweaters I've been buying her lately. I gather from talking to her that the staff haven't been putting on the long sleeved tops and long pants I bought to try and keep mom warm. Just last week, one of the nicer staff "found" a lot of the newer clothing items I'd purchased and mom told me she didn't know she had. She does get a little forgetful now and then.

Mom's new sweater

The new phone

Lately mom has been having problems with her phone. My brother is visiting her for a few days right now.  In his investigations he found talcum powder that seems to have been knocked over and unfortunately got in between the key pad buttons and in the base of the phone. I'm glad he found the problem so he can buy another phone set and set it up before he leaves. Phone problems really upset  my mom's sense of well-bring. This is understandable since the phone is her connection to the outside world, including her children.



My nephew called today with exciting news. He has just finished his last exam and is now working in the laboratory with "his rats". He has been accepted to one of the top universities in eastern Canada. He is still waiting to hear back from the other 5 or so universities to which he has applied for his graduate studies, including where he is studying now. Wherever he decides to go (hopefully in the city where I live), he will be there for about 7 years so he wants to make the right decision and is planning a trip to the east to check out the universities before making a final decision.

He will also be coming with me sans girlfriend this year to visit his grandmother. So I am looking forward to that since we seldom spend time together given how busy he is with studies, work and a girlfriend.  I have rented a 2 bedroom suite with full kitchen so that my family members all have a place to stay since none of us live in mom's city. We will all have a chance to get caught up with one another and have the comforts of home at the same time. Now I just need to get my grocery list together and take some extra posts and pans on the journey.

My heart is also in Kenya right now with the poor villagers that need so much. With the help of my friend, Jonah we had a food distribution and party at one village church. Though he tried to keep it quiet, word got out to surrounding churches and many others attended for the party. A special thank you to one of my blog followers who helped make the party possible ( I won't say names as he probably wants to keep it private but he knows who he is). I will be posting photos as soon as I get them. In the meantime, plans are underway to do a food distribution to the orphans at Grace House where Grace and the 20 or so orphans she cares for need food and other things. The other place we will do a small food distribution is at one of the smaller Internally Displaced People's camps. In the end I did not have enough funds to also purchase the much needed sanitary napkins for the women and girls of the camp. Read here for more information.

If any of you wish to help with these two food distributions please contact me.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday.

Blessings of the season to each and every one of  you.

Keeping Busy

It was such a gorgeous, mostly clear day today.  I couldn't help but take a lot of photos. 

This beautiful day comes after a week of coastal storms that wreacked a lot of havoc along the Pacific Coast. California was hardest hit but we saw some damage in British Columbia where I live.

The sky was clear to the north of me.

There was light cloud and a contrail above.

What a beautiful, blue sky!

Can you spot the small plane (photo below) between the tall ornamental grass (see the top)?

It's been a comfortable week or tidying and organizing the things I will take when I visit my mom for Christmas.

I have also been reading some good books.

I just finished, The King's Curse, an engaging novel about King Henry the 8th and his inability to sire a legitimate male heir to his throne.

This well researched biography of  the Romanov sisters, the 4 daughters of the last Tzar of Russia, is another book I am just finishing.  The book is actually the story of the entire royal family and not just the 4 daughters. It is a good read if you want to understand something of Russian history.

Paris in Love is a lighter read I am half way through.  The book, is written by Eloise James, New York Times best selling author and a Professor of Shakespeare.   After discovering she has cancer, Eloise and her husband sell their home, pack up the children and move to Paris.  The book is not a story per se but is written from the tidbits she posted on Facebook and Twitter while living  in Paris.

I also picked up Nomad at the library on Saturday. It is a book written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali who fled her restrictive life in Africa for Holland after being promised in marriage to an older, man in Canada. The book is about the author's ideas about how to truly integrate Muslims into the West in a manner which will help avoid tensions and problems with an ever growing Muslim population. Needless to say her books are provocative and her efforts to speak up against Islam have placed her life in danger. She made a documentary with a young man who was later killed for working with her. I am just getting started on this book and think it would be a valuable read for most of my blog readers.

Last but not least, I am reading  Naked Spirituality by Brian McLaren.  I had never heard of this man who is a leader in the Emergent Church movement until a friend in Kenya met him (in fact, I know next to nothing about the Emergent Church).  Now I am introducing myself to his writings. This is not a new book by the author and I am just at the part where he is searching for a deeper meaning in his walk with God. I'm sure it will be a good book as I sense this man thinks of the deeper issues of spirituality and that is mostly always a good thing.

I wrote here of plans to bring Christmas cheer to many poor Kenyans. My friend Jonah in Kenya was to start the Christmas food distributions to villagers on Sunday. I am excited and hope to share pictures later.

There is still time for you to be a part of Christmas food gift distributions to the orphans at Grace's House and to the Internally Displaced People.  If you would like to help with a monetary contribution you can contact me at the address on my profile page. Thanks!

I am late for Skywatch this week but
 contributing anyway.

Have a wonderful week!