The College/Church building in Kenyenya, Kenya, is almost completed. Since December the churches and people of the RCUS have sent in enough funds to finish the building. All praise to God!
The men have been working feverishly since the rains stopped and are doing a very good job. Much of the labor is done by volunteers from the theological college and churches. It is their hope that they can move in and be set up by the time the fall classes start.
They first dug a large pit for the outdoor toilet. The rains filled it with water. Seems like it might be bad, but it is expensive to find and haul water to a building site to be able to mix concrete, mortar, and plaster. What a wonderful Providence. They used the water from the toilet pit for the building project.
Because the ground was so wet, the truck couldn’t get into the property and the bricks had to be unloaded by hand using a “bucket brigade” process to get them to where they had to be.
The windows and doors are being installed. The next projects are to plaster the walls and put in the floor. After that, they will return to building the pit toilets.
Ongoing Needs in Kenya:
Freedom for Girls. This project provides the needs for feminine hygiene. The cost to provide these needs for the ladies and girls has doubled from $6.00 for a year’s supply of sanitary towels and underwear to $12.00 per year per person. This year we were only able to provide about half (45 of 80 needed) of what is needed by the women and young ladies there. Lydia Mwagna, the wife of Rev. Wilfred, is the lady there that oversees the care and distribution of the packets. Without these supplies, ladies use some very unsanitary substances, cannot go from the home to attend church, and most importantly, young ladies miss a week of school every month. This causes them to fall behind and, in most cases, drop out of school.
Orphans. The funds for orphans have also been depleted. We have had to change how funds are distributed. Instead of giving money to the families, the funds are now sent directly to the school so that the children receive an education. Also, clothing is purchased and given to the child.
Bibles. With the expansion of education centers throughout Kenya, the need for Bibles has increased greatly. Converts come not only from people who are unbelievers and have never had a Bible, but many come from Catholicism and Pentecostalism where they are actually discouraged from having a Bible and just listening to what the Priest/Pastor tells them. In addition, the Bibles cannot all be in the same language. Kiswahili is the main language, but there are also other tribal languages which need Bibles. Kenya has over 40 different tribal languages. A person first learns one’s tribal language, then Kiswahili and then English. So English is the third language for the pastors and those who speak English.
