One Child at a Time

My friend Charles put me on to this film. After seeing the trailer I remember hearing about this story on CNN news. It touched me then and it touches me now. I think you will agree.

If you haven't already considered child sponsorship please do. Compassion International is one organization I can recommend.  If you can't make a multi-year committment, please consider a donation to Missions of Hope which also does a lot of good in Kenyan villages to help children and their families.  Blessings to you and yours.

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