A Busy Month Unfolding

The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude 

we will embrace for that day.

Charles R. Swindoll

Hello everyone, I hope you've been having a good week so far. 

I've been busy with this and that.

 I have a friend who is applying to university in my city. The process is complicated, labourious and expensive.  I've been helping him get things sorted out. We are very close to the wire (upon the deadline). Please keep him in prayer.

I have another friend who has just moved to a new apartment and needs a few things. I've been checking out my cupboards and the thrift store for some unique items to donate to his kitchen and he has been taking things home little by little. I thank God that he has at last found a place of his own after living in several different unsuitable sharing situations.

Salad tongs from Africa for my friend's kitchen. They just need a bit of oil to" freshen" them up.

I have a mother in care who has multiple needs & every day brings news of something else.  Some needs relate to her care, some  relate to her material needs & some of them relate to the need for medical appointments. It keeps me busy. 

I thank God mom is still here and that small progress is made here and there though there are days I get very exhausted. Sometimes the progress is hard to see but I try to keep hope. 

We are also still waiting for a room at the new care facility. I hope it will be soon.

I met with my Tanzanian friend and a new Italian friend at the start to the weekend. I've spoken with the woman from Italy before but it was my first opportunity to meet her. She wanted to learn about my experiences in East Africa as she planned to travel there but was a little nervous.  Several weeks before meeting her I spoke with her by telephone.  Since then she has made arrangements to travel to both Kenya and Tanzania soon. How exciting for her. I wish I was going too!

I started going for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatments once again; primarily for the pain in my knees. The last time I tried TCM  was about 2 years ago. At that time I didn't experience a lot of relief.  But this time I am not only getting acupuncture but am also taking herbs. After about 5 weeks I am starting to feel relief though it will take months yet before real and lasting change might occur.

The last bit of Moroccan stew I've been enjoying.

 The TCM doctor suggested that I not eat rice, not even brown rice. I'm not sure I agree with that but it doesn't really matter because I eat very little rice of any kind since rice isn't my favourite. I prefer barley to rice. I also eat cous cous, bulgar and quinoa as well as a bit of pasta. 

 I also try to eat beans but now and then get out of the habit because I prefer to soak my own beans rather than buy them in a can. I started back to soaking beans this week and made some Moroccan stew with chick peas (yum!).

Tomorrow I hope to make some navy bean soup. These kind of soups and stews are perfect food for the cooler winter months.

Soaked and cooked beans ready for Navy Bean Soup.

Last but not least I am reading my Bible and some other works. I've just finished a book called "Minding Frankie" by one of my very favourite authors, the late Maeve Binchy.  The book is about Noel, a young alcoholic man who turns his life around to care for Frankie, a baby girl left to him by her deceased mom whom Noel dated briefly.  The book is really about a cast of characters in a small Irish town as most of Mrs. Binchy's books are.  But Noel and Frankie are the core characters around which the other character's lives are intertwined.

Reading Maeve Binchy's books are always like sitting down with a warm comfy blanket and cup of tea in front of a roaring fireplace. I've almost read every single one of her books.

I picked this book up at the thrift store.

Last Friday after meeting my friends, I made a stop at the local library where I checked out 4 books.  I also picked up a couple more books, some novels and one cookbook for experimenting in the kitchen at the thrift (2nd hand shop) store.

I'm afraid I haven't had the  space of mind to do any more crafting since before Christmas. That might happen in February.

With a new year comes new changes. I was saddened to learn that I will no longer be able to sponsor children in Zambia. For whatever reasons the school sponsorship and pen pal program have been stopped and the children are no longer available for sponsorship.  I will be updating the information on my blog page in due time. I still have to update the blog page to introduce my new correspondence child in Ethiopia.

Also, I wanted to mention that Elvis, the young Kenyan man who is doing a diploma in medicine and surgery is expected to graduate in about one year. I'm still trying to get some sponsorship help for him. What remains to be funded is one semester of tuition (close to $500 Canadian) and monthly living costs (room and board & pocket money) until August 2014 (about $100 Canadian), as well as books for a term (about $65 Canadian).
If you can help, please do contact me.

I've put a lot in this post as I'm not posting quite as frequently this month though I am still visiting blogs that I keep up with.  I hope you are all enjoying your New Year so far. 
Enjoy the rest of your week!

Linking up with Our World Tuesday this week.

Crisis near Kisumu

Hello dear friends,

It has been a long time since I've written about Kenya so I hope you will be touched by these photos and brief report.

It has been raining a lot in Kenya and for a rather long time. Different issues have arisen here and there in the country, primarily flooding and destruction. My friend, Jonah has been in Kisumu, north west of where he lives. There is has been volunteering to try and help some of the flood victims. (Click on photos to enlarge).

(All photos belong to the Kenya Missions of Hope)

The workers had to use  boats to reach out to the people in the far flung islands created by the floods.

Please pray for the rains to stop in Kenya.

The people are praying for help and for the rains to stop.

If you would like to make a contribution to help them, you can send donation of your choice to kerichojoy[at]gmail[dot]com

If you would pray for the people that would be so encouraging also. Thank you so much. Click on the link to join others for Our World Tuesday.

 

Urgent Appeal

Dear Friends,

We have an urgent appeal for a young student, named Jeremiah Lokol who lives on the border between Turkana and Pokot areas; one of the poorest parts of Kenya. I met him in September when I was on a food relief mission to the people in that area.

Turkana people waiting for food relief

Jeremiah

Jeremiah has just been accepted to the top school in the country and this has made my day with this news.  But he needs tuition and school uniform costs in a matter of days (by the end of this month) so I am making an URGENT appeal to everyone.

Sadly, everything that Jeremiah's family had was stolen by their neighbours just around the time the parents were planning to sell some cows and goats to pay for his education. Some of you will know that in this area the people are pastoralists and they suffer from cattle raiding.

Standing with some Turkana women holding their water cans.

As the boy comes from a family of  9, it looks like his dream of attending the school which is located in Kikuyu town near Nairobi, might not become a reality. He might lose the chance of joining this great school and achieving his dream of becoming a pilot after finishing high school.

What we need to do is gather everyone's support to ensure he can go to school. He needs everyone's support to make this possible.

The fees and costs for term one are 24,943 Kenyan shillings ( $304 Canadian, $275 Australian, $292 US, 222 Euros, 187 GBP) There are additional costs of 6695 Kenyan shillings for school uniforms ( $81 Canadian, $74 Australian, $78 US, 60 Euros, 50 GBP and some modest amount for travelling to the school and making sure he has the other clothing and bedding he needs.

I am praying to God for someone to come forward and answer the prayers for this family and this boy.

Please pray with us and help to raise awareness of the Missions of Hope by using the share buttons at the bottom of this post. If you can do more than pray, please donate now at the donate button on the upper right of this website.

If you have any problem with the Pay Pal button you can send the donation to kerichojoy[at]gmail.com Thank you and may God bless you.

Jonah

Shoes, Shoes

Not a day goes by when I don't think about Kenya. My hopes and dreams are for the lives of the men, women and children of Kenya to be improved, even in small ways. I am especially focussed on Chepkurbet, Kenya where I have personal contacts. You never know how touching someone's life, even in a small way, can impact them in a huge way.

Today I leave you with one photo and link to a story which you can read here.

Can you imagine needing shoes? I know that in times past here in Canada even there were many who were too poor to buy shoes. That was long ago and today I have never see anyone going bare foot because they have no shoes.

Shoes. They are such a simple thing to us and one I hope we don't take for granted.

If you would like to know more about how you can help these Kenyan children get shoes, please contact me (kerichoyjoy[at]gmail.com).

Have a wonderful day wherever you may be in the world.

Christmas for IDPs in Kenya

Hi friends, my friend Pastor Jonah and other leaders are visiting the Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) this week in Kenya. They are trying to show love and provide some food to the people before Christmas. They have been doing what they can for the IDPs throughout the year whenever they can. At this time of seasonal cheer and loving others, let us try to keep our hearts open to those in need around the globe. Please read on. I'm sure your heart will be as touched as mine is. Blessings.

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We are going to visit the internally displaced people this week. God willing, we are gathering food from the villages and towns to feed these people who are living in makeshift camps.

These folks are living in deplorable conditions and need our help. We do hope to distribute what we got, and hope the government will come and help them somehow.

These are trying moments for our country, and we do hope to make some changes in their lives.

Please pray for these people. If you can, give to help these people. Otherwise many blessings over the blessed Christmas season. Pastor Jonah

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If you can help at all, please go here

A Mother's Heart

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all [men], especially
unto them who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:10

Dear friends, I have a request for you. The woman you see in the snapshot above is a woman who recently went to my friend's church offices in Kenya. Her son is in medical school and studying in Nairobi. The mother needs urgent help to meet his tuition fees of $1500. 00 US as school term has already begun.

She has exhausted all avenues of possible income generation. She has tried her best to ask people to help her raise money for her son and so far she has been able to raise $300 through a Harambee (fundraiser). But this is not enough. Her son is in 2nd year university (sophomore). She has sold all she has: chickens, cows, goats etc. She has tried her best. She didn't know what else to do so she went to the church asking for help. They could not do much, but gave her a lift to town and Pastor Jonah gave her a little of what he had. Hearts are heavy for her need.

Pastor Jonah is letting some people know of her need to see who might be able to help financially and also in prayer. I am sending directly to my friends but also decided to post it here. If you can help, any amount is accepted and appreciated. Please leave me a comment here if you wish to help this woman. If you know someone who might help, please feel free to send this post to them. God bless you for your help.