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| October,
2005 |
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| Dear
friends, |
|
Thank
you so much for your ongoing support of Pam and me
and our ministry to children and adults here in Eldoret.
Over the last month the kids have gone back to school
to begin their last term for this year. Most of the
kids have remained physically healthy with the exception
of a smashed finger, a "fat" lip, a huge
boil on one child's rear end, and a case of malaria.
All of which have healed now. We have come to realize
just how miserably poor the public education here really
is. Many of the kids are "doing well" according
to their teachers, but "doing well" here
is not the same as "doing well" back home.
For example, two of our older boys (12 and 13 years
old) cannot read a simple sentence like "The cat
is fat." We remain amazed at the fact that school
teachers are mandated to teach all subjects (except
the subject of Swahili) in English even though most
children do not speak, read or write much English at
all, and many teachers' English is unintelligible.
We have observed that teachers tend to write facts
from text books on the blackboard for the children
to copy. This is pretty much the extent of education
here. As we process all of this, we are now praying
that in the short term we can increase the support
to afford the children a private education, and in
the long term we are believing God will provide the
means to establish a school of our own. Please pray
for these children not to be enslaved to ignorance.
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|
The
kids' barnyard continues to grow. We had Bessie the
milk cow artificially inseminated, so we are hopeful
a calf is on the way and Bessie's life of milk production
will begin in the near future. The children have also
acquired their first rabbit which is supposedly a pregnant
female. You all know how rabbits multiply, so they'll
be eating rabbit before long. We have a team of four
visiting us right now, and they have helped us to construct
a rabbit hutch. |
|
The
kids all got "new" shoes yesterday. They're
not really new, but new to the kids. Hillary does all
the bargaining for such items because the presence
of a white person automatically drives the price up.
We made the mistake of attempting to shop with Hillary
for the shoes, and the vendors wanted to charge Hillary
more than twice the reasonable price just because he
saw the "wazungu" with him. Hillary had to
abandon that effort and go shopping later without us
to get a decent price on shoes. The kids are growing,
and we are so tickled about that. All kids grow, but
some of these guys were really small for their ages
due to malnutrition, and now we are seeing some of
them 'shoot up' so to speak. Praise God for that! |
|
The
ESL ministry in the primary school is ongoing, yet
I continue to struggle with figuring out the best way
to teach these kids. The group of 30+ kids that I have
is comprised of a few overachievers and a whole lot
of kids who really do not have a clue about learning.
And of course, there are more than enough kids who
just want to goof off. Please pray I'll have wisdom
and discernment about teaching them and patience to
continue reaching out to the underachievers. |
|
The
discipleship classes at the church are continuing three
days a week. The attendance and participation is still
good. It is evident that the Lord is really working
in the hearts of a few folks especially. I continue
to encourage and challenge the people to move on from
the elementary teachings about Christ and start eating
solid food (ref. Hebrews 6:1-2). Several people have
expressed their desire to teach others, so we are equipping
them to properly handle the Word of God, and we are
looking forward to seeing more classes, led by Kenyans,
established in the near future. |
|
We
continue to be challenged by the lack of integrity
of so many people. Finding local people whom we can
trust is so difficult. Please pray diligently for us
to establish more relationships with believers who
will understand the importance of telling the truth.
At first, I had a hard time understanding why so many
missionaries "control" everything...not turning
ministries over to local people. Now I see why. Kenyans
will act as though they are trustworthy and once they
are entrusted with money, ministry, etc. their true
colors of corruption emerge. Forgive me for generalizing,
but this problem is so prolific, and it is the root
of so much of the miserable condition of this nation.
Pray for the people to walk in the light of God Word
and presence. |
|
The
team that is with us now have come from Ocala, FL,
and we are having a good time together. We thank the
Lord for the fellowship, and we pray the Lord is impressing
upon each visitor His purpose for their coming and
witnessing this mission field. The children have been
so blessed by their coming. They crave the attention
and love shown to them by our visitors. Kenyan children
do not typically receive the kind of attention we Americans
consider normal and natural to show towards children,
and our kids are definitely responding positively to
the love of Christ shown to them. Hillary says that
most orphanages have the recurring problem of children
leaving the homes to return to life in the streets.
We are so grateful to the Lord that our kids are really
feeling a part of the family and not looking for the "freedom" of
street life. |
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Thanks
again for your prayers and support, we hope to have
a couple of newsletters sent out between now and the
holidays. |
|
| Love, |
|
| Alan |
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