Precious Ones

Thank you to my new followers. There have been a number of you lately and I am very blessed by that!

I finally had the chance last week to organize the correspondence and little things I save for sending to my sponsored boys in East Africa.

These little ones, and one not so little one, are precious to me and I enjoy receiving their letters. Though it is hard to believe, I think they also enjoy receiving my letters and the little things I send to them. It lets them know that someone far away cares for them and is praying for them and their families.

My newest sponsored boy is actually now a young man. His name is Haile and he lives north of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. He has a father, mother and 5 siblings.  Haile is 20 years old and will continue to be sponsored until he is 22 years old. He writes to me in in his native language which I think is Amharic.  Someone translates his letters for me to read.  When I send him my letters in English, someone must translate them for him to read.

Haile has a different financial sponsor and I volunteered to be his correspondent sponsor because for whatever reason, his financial sponsor does not write him. I'm blessed to be able to write to this young man and encourage him in the faith.

Haile will soon be on his own and fending for himself in the world but for now he lives with his father and mother and 5 siblings.  He has been asking me to pray about a dam that is going to be built on the Nile. I think the young men along the dam route are hoping that they will be able to find work on the dam.

In this photo you can see Haile's letters in his language. At the top is a photo of the tall young man he is turning out to be. At the bottom is a post card of Canada's animal which I will send to him in a future letter.

Next is John. He lives in one of the slums of Nairobi Kenya with his mother and father and siblings.  John is 8 years old and  has a younger brother.  A baby brother was recently added to the family so there are 3 boys altogether.

John loves numbers.  So among other things, I bought him some number stickers. He will be able to practice counting and mathematical tables.  John is the second child I decided to sponsor with Compassion International Canada. I am his financial sponsor not just his correspondent and I am hoping that I can be a great encouragement to him over the years.

See the organizer. It has several tabs so I am able to keep stickers, letters, writing paper and envelopes and correspondence from Compassion International Canada  organized and easy to find.

The third boy I sponsor is Peter.  Peter lives in a village located north of Nakuru, Kenya. He lived with his father, mother, 3 sisters and 1 brother but sadly his mother died recently and so there are now 5 young children with no mother.  I feel very badly for him and his siblings and pray that all will be well with them. I hope my letters can encourage him and show him motherly love and concern.

Peter also loves numbers and wants to be a pilot.  I bought him some plane stickers.

My letter last week to all the boys included some appropriately themed paper gift bags (I didn't take photos of them). The bags will be a good place for the boys to store their letters, stickers, post cards and other little paper gifts I send.  This might seem like such a small and insignificant thing.  But in a poor village, you will not find these kinds of "extras" in a humble home.  Small incomes have to be spent on top priorities like school and school clothing and food.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about my boys.  I hope to write about them here from time to time, and about the wonderful work of Compassion International.

A letter and drawing from Peter.

If you have ever though of sponsoring a child, I can tell you that Compassion International (CI) is a wonderful organization to consider doing it through.  CI really goes the extra mile to try and make it easy for you to correspond with your child. You can check them out at their website here. There you will also find links to Compassion International offices in many different countries around the globe.

Storms of Life

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.

Louisa  May Alcott, author of Little Women

Northeast facing photo. The clouds today are heavy with the rain to come.

We've had yet another storm. The wind was rattling through my fireplace all evening and into the morning hours. I finally "conked out" at around 4 in the morning so I didn't hear any more after that.

The news said that the winds in Vancouver were 89 miles an hour while on Vancouver Island the winds were up to about 120 miles per hour. Lots of trees were uprooted, roofs of homes were destroyed or damaged as trees fell on them, parks were closed, ferry sailings were cancelled and power went out in many homes.  Many boats parked in marinas up and down the coast were destroyed and schools were damaged. Thankfully it is Spring break right now so schools are not in session.  There was lots of new snow on the mountain highways to the world famous Whistler Village, and going north on the Coquihalla Highway.  Truckers were once again required to put chains on their tires as they reached the highest point.

 I managed to keep my power.  I awoke this morning and was able to make coffee as usual and make breakfast. I was able to dry a load of laundry and access hot water to wash my floors.  Soon a chicken will go into the electric oven.  So you see, I wasn't affected by any of the bad effects of the storm, other than the wind rattling all night. I feel blessed.

North facing photo. The mountains are not visible today. You can see a raindrop hanging from one of the leaves in the foreground.

We've had a lot of storms this winter season. I see them as an analogy for life. We often go through storms in life. It is a natural thing.  Sometimes the storms blow through our lives leaving minimal after effect.  Sometimes they tear through our lives, leaving a lot of damage behind and a need to rebuild.  Some go through more storms than others, but in the end, we all need to learn to navigate them. I navigate them with the tremendous help of my faith in God and my heavenly Father. Even then, if the storm is particularly bad, I need to hang on for dear life. Storms are that way sometimes.

When we weather many storms and we come out unscathed enough times, or we come out the other side, bruised but not broken, we can learn that our trust in God is not in vain.

I hope you are passing safely through any storms coming your way. If you are not, don't forget, there is a Father in Heaven and he cares for you.

 …casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

 1 Peter 5:7

Blessings.

There is a Fountain

Meatless Dinner

This dish was inspired by a dish prepared by fellow blogger and artist extraordinaire, Kelly Clarkson at Umber Dove.

My dish is not as artfully created as it is what I call a "throw together" dish and it hit the spot for me today. I've been wanting to go meatless several times a week/month, or whenever the mood strikes.  This is to help health and my pocketbook.  I've been using more and more varieties of beans which I usually cook from scratch, and also a lot more variety of vegetables and fruits, for some time.  So the meatless meals is a progression in  my changing eating habits.

Kelly's dish inspired me to experiment with adzuki or red beans.  I promptly went out and bought a bag of dried adzuki beans after reading her post. I originally intended to make the rice and bean bowl as per her recipe, but instead today I used the beans in stir fry.  I intend to make Kelly's rice bowl another day.

On the left side of my plate (in the photo) is a stir fry made up of chopped onions and fresh chopped garlic sauteed in a bit of oil.  I added the following spices to taste: curry powder, paprika powder, salt and pepper. I then added sliced green cabbage, sliced carrots, chunks of zucchini and the cooked adzuki beans which I prepared the night before.

Cook the beans and veggies until the vegetables are to your taste. I like my veggies on the crunchy side but I do like my cabbage a little more tender so I cook that for awhile before adding the other veggies.  I added some boiled yams as a side dish. I like them plain with a little salt.

Later, I will have some Greek yogurt and fresh fruit for dessert.  If I get with the program I may even try to bake some dessert squares, called Oatmeal Scotchies. These you can find over at my blogging friend, Katy's blog.  I can probably freeze these to have on hand and to take to an outing I am going to on the weekend.

If you missed the update on Edwin, please click here.

Missions of Hope: Edwin Goes to Nairobi (Update 2)

I am happy to be able to give you Jonah's update on Edwin's treatment for leukemia. You can read it by clicking on the Missions of Hope title.  If you missed the first part of this story, you can catch up by reading the original posts here and here.


Missions of Hope: Edwin Goes to Nairobi (Update 2): Sorry for not updating sooner about Edwin. Since I last wrote about Edwin we have been doing a lot of travels back and forth to Nairobi. ...

If you can help Edwin directly with your finances, please let us know or simply send your gift to kerichojoy[at]gmail[com] via Pay Pal. We need to raise at least another $100 Canadian ($100 US, $95 Australian dollars, 8100 Kenyan Shillings, 77 Euros, 381 New Israel Shekels, 126 Singapore dollars, 64 British pounds) by Saturday, March 10, 2012 for the next trip to Nairobi.

What ever you can contribute will be gratefully received. Anything extra will be used for another trip and treatment costs for Edwin as he continues with the cancer treatment.

Thank you so much!

On My Heart Today (Part 2)

Read Part 1 here.

Besides having to learn about finances the hard way, I am also the type that has to learn how to relinquish control to God.  God has gifted me with the ability to plan and execute my plans so it is often difficult for me to know when to let God do the work. I'm always trying to steer things to a certain conclusion; a conclusion that I feel is a good conclusion!  It is difficult to simply let go and understand that God who is all knowing and who creates perfection can do far better than I can.   I suspect my issues stem from having a lack of security in childhood and having to be financially reliant on myself for so  long. But God in his loving kindness and mercy has often let me have my way. Then when all unfolds, I sometimes have to conclude that my plan was not really so great after all. It is at those times, that have had to humbly say "Okay God, I made a terrible  mess of things.  What is your plan for me?"

A related issue is that often I've not known exactly what God wants me to do in the longer term. I  pray and ask for guidance and leading in all things, and I keep putting one foot in front of the other in the meantime.  I have learned and am continuing to learn, to have faith and trust in God, each step of the way, and, as the song says "one day at a time".

A young mother lights her new jiko stove.

One of the scriptures that has meant a lot to me over the years is this one:

  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

 Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

His plan for me and for you may include worldly success, and it may not, but whatever it is, it is good, and he will be right there beside us.  Even though we may go through trials and tribulations and not understand it all now, some day we will know, what God meant for us to learn and why we had to go through what we did.  He promises us that "all things work together for good to them that love God, for those who are called according to his purpose." (Rom. 8:28).  When times get rough, as they sometimes do, I often say out loud, "ALL" things work together for good and then I keep reminding myself of that.

Sometimes I've asked myself what is our purpose here on earth? What are we to be doing here on this earth? I've concluded that once we are saved and as we go through the sanctification process we are also to do our part of reaching the lost for Christ.  That part is the simple part in some ways. We all know whether we are doing it or not.
The harder part for most of us is what do we do the rest of the time?
I believe that all we have belongs to God and all that I do should be with thoughts of his Kingdom.  If we keep our mind on these thoughts it becomes so much easier to fill the rest of our time, ministering to the needs of the hurting world, in tangible and practical ways; especially to those that are of the family of God that really need our help. We also can minister to those that are not yet saved. I also believe that ministering to others doesn't require us to give a gospel message before we administer the helps. God gives men and women a free will to accept him or reject him. If we only administer helps after giving a gospel message we create resentment on the part of the receiver. They learn to think of the "game" they must play in order to receive helps. On the other hand, if we simply minister to others because they have a need and because we love them as God loves us, I believe the Holy Spirit draws them and shows them that we are Christians because of our love.


If we love God as he loves us, we will want to do good works because he has called us to do good works. In fact, he has prepared in advance what it is he wants us to do.

  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. ... For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

Ephesians 1: 3, 4, 5, 9,10

If you don't know yet what it is God has called you to do, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Ask God to open doors for you and begin to follow up on those areas where you may feel a special calling or leading.

That is how I came to work with widows and orphans in Africa, now expanded to help others like people in need of medical help and farmers in need of seeds. Until I started working with widows and orphans, I didn't know that God says that pure and undefiled religion is to visit widows and orphans and to care for them in their distress. (James1:27)  Perhaps I had heard the verses before but never really paid attention to them because I didn't have a point of reference.

Ministering to medical needs in rural areas of Kenya.

I believe that God called me to a work with widows and the orphans when I was still a child in Sunday School.  I had actually forgotten about this childhood dream but God did not.  He made a way for it to happen without my planning or thinking about  it.  It has meant all the difference in the world to me.

I can't express in words how grateful I've been to be able to play a  part in God's plan in a hurting world.  I have been blessed to be a blessing and know the meaning of the verse "it is more blessed to give, than to receive" (Acts 20:35).  I truly would want to do so much more but can only do what I am able at any point in time. If and when, God sees fit, I know he can change this in a heart beat but I have to leave all that to him. It isn't in my nature to be patient about such things. I weekly, and sometimes even daily, need to seek his help in being patient.

Helping a woman from the slums start her own business.

If you too feel a call to Africa and are looking for a way to help would you consider joining with me?
I would ask you to consider supporting Missions of Hope.
You can find out more here 

 Or you can write me.

We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Ephesians 2:10

On My Heart Today

I heard a good sermon on Sunday. I won't repeat it all but I was captured by the message because the preacher compared God's Word to a mirror which God he has left for us. He said it isn't a  mirror for God to look into and see himself reflected but that God left his Word so that we can look into it and see ourselves reflected as believers.

Of course, the Word is much more than a mirror. It is God himself

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1 John 1:1

But I like the idea that when I read, and learn from the Word of God, the attributes and characteristics of how God wants me to be, will be reflected back to me. I can then have a yardstick by which to know how my spiritual development is coming along as I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. (Phillipians 3:14).

The pastor also talked about the value of a soul.  He said the value of a thing is known by the price we pay for it. At least that is how westerners tend to value things in our mostly materialistic world.  Looking at human beings and human souls from this perspective, God shows us just how much value he places on us; in that, he was willing to send his only begotten Son to die for us so that we might live. What a thought! What a saviour! Sometimes, when I think these things it just really blows my mind (in a good way).

 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 

1 John 3:1 (KJV)

Children being ministered to in evangelistic outreach in a village in Kenya. Photo credit: Jonah, MOH

I accepted Christ at around the age of ten. I do not remember the exact date and time.  I didn't have anyone suggest I make a note of when it was I made the decision.  It was just a natural progression in my spiritual development.  My family were not church goers and I was one of the first Christians in my extended family who were mostly staunch Catholics.  They were Catholics but there was no real spiritual understanding and lifestyle to go along with it, save for a very, very few people.  People like my mother's mother, who died when my mother was just a toddler.  My own mother rejected Catholicism because she felt her mother died because of it (that's another story). For my Catholic friends and readers, please do not be offended. I am not bashing Catholicism here but only relating my family story.

Mom says that I always believed in God and spoke of God as if it was a natural thing and that I always wanted to go to church.  She did try to send me to church at a younger age but for various reasons I never did go that consistently.  Mostly due to lack of a ride.  But when I was around 9 I started going on a regular basis because someone came several times a week to take me to Sunday School, evening service and mid-week service, as well as for special services at holidays.   I can still remember how moved I would be by the Holy Spirit in those early days. How real God was to me as a child,and how close I felt his presence on so many occasions.

Like I said, I cannot say exactly when I accepted Christ as my personal saviour.  For the longest time I said the sinner's prayer, again and again when I felt I did something "bad".  I did not know exactly how this Christianity thing worked.  No one thought to explain it to me either. I didn't know that after you accept Christ and you find yourself sinning, you should ask for God's forgiveness and he will forgive you for Christianity is a process of growing and learning, with God's help, to become the person that God intends you to be.  I was about 10 years old when I formally accepted Jesus into my heart for the first time, and Sunday School and Bible Camp  helped to enrich my Christian understanding and development.

Pokot children. Photo credit: Jonah, MOH

I was from a poor family and it was difficult for me to learn proper views about money or should I say societal norms about money because different cultures view money in different ways. In my culture, we were taught that you always help out your family when you have more than they do. What is yours, is theirs, and so in turn, when you need help, perhaps someone will help you too.  In olden days, this teaching was excellent and did work until there was too much of  a cultural breakdown.  In a time of cultural breakdown, there will always be those without money.  Consequently, if you are one with a bit of money, you will always be on the giving side and it is highly unlikely that takers will end up giving to a giver when they are used to taking from her.  This can cause imbalance and lead to other issues.

As  I grew up, got an education and a good job I found out that I was also a spender. I often spent more money than I should have due to long working hours and the need for conveniences, like eating out. I also spent on recreation to get a break from my "thinking jobs" which often left me depleted because of long hours.  I was more of a book worm than an activity person so I liked to spend on little luxuries like books and magazines, coffees at nice shops, little extras at the grocery store, comfortable (usually means leather and expensive) shoes for work, gifts and vacations. Of course, I also had to help family and extended family as well as those that I felt God put in my path.  There was never much else left over.

Having and spending money was important to me because I no longer felt deprived. I spent it easily and the thoughts of savings, retirement and housing when they came to me were put aside due to lack of time and the idea that these were still a long way off.  It was well into my earning life before I finally committed to a registered retirement savings plan and ultimately purchased a condominium. With my new responsibilities I had to be more circumspect in how I spent money and who I gave it to.  Early into this process it also meant I had to deal with unmet cultural expectations of me, but I continued to do my best.  When early retirement came, I was so glad I had made steps toward a little more financial security.  But  had to become even more circumspect and take on new and different strategies for spending far less money. It took me several years to try and organize everything so I wasn't "bleeding" money.  I had to do a lot of scrimping and pruning so that I could continue meeting my bills, cultural and family expectations, and giving to God.

One thing that I thank God for during these challenging years, is for his help in holding lightly the things in the world which would try to distract me from doing what he wants.  God tells us that we are not to love the things of the world. I believe he tells us that because if we love the things of the world, we will find it difficult to fully commit or give to God's world, or God's kingdom. 

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1 John 2: 15,16 (KJV)

Now knowing this verse to be true, doesn't make it any easier for me to deal with money challenges, but it does give me a guide post by which I am to live my life.

To be continued