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Other than the work on Luke's car, we have been able to rest some while we have been in Nairobi. Yesterday we just took it easy, ate out, & did a little shopping. Today we spent the morning @ the Resource Library. Then we went to Rosslyn Garden Nursery (so I could get a few more herbs to add to my herb garden), then lunch & a little shopping @ Village Market. Now we are just relaxing Hampton House.

We want to thank the Lord for allowing our vehicles to run well enough to get the CLAIM to and from the airport and construction site while they were here! The morning after they had all left, Luke's car refused to start. We came to find out that the timing chain broke (evidently when he got back from the last trip to the airport)! Since it broke, it also damaged the valves & some other things. But Luke and Bernard were able to get new parts for all of it, and they finally got it all back together this afternoon late. Bernard will drive that vehicle back to Kisii tomorrow & the rest of us will head home in my van on Saturday.

Hi!  I just lost my first tooth! I pulled it all by myself.

I am 6 years old, and I really like living in Kenya.

More coming soon!

Orphan Project - Day #12

Group #1 of the CLAIM Team flew out @ around 8 AM today, the kids & I drove to Nairobi to be with Luke a few days & to get some rest before heading back to Kisii, & group #2 is on their way to the airport right now. Their flight is scheduled to leave close to 11 PM.

Orphan Project - Day #11

The CLAIM Team headed to Nairobi & Miss Katie, our children & I headed home to Kisii this morning. We made it to Kisii without any trouble. Luke & the Team were broke down on the side of the road for a little while, but they got everything back up & running. They should be getting into Nairobi right about now. Please pray for them & all of their flights tomorrow. What a wonderful group of people! We thank the Lord for allowing us to get to know them & work alongside them for this short time.

Orphan Project - Day #10

Please pray. We have 2 Team members who are very sick today. I just took one of them back to the guesthouse to rest. The church was already full when I left. And there were so many children that I was not able to get a count. But I will be sure to try to post more this afternoon once church is over. Thank you for your prayers!

Our last services today with the Team here @ Sidundo. Not sure of the total count, but I know there were 175 kids! 4 adults were saved also. 1 of them was a young man named Henry. Some of the Team has been witnessing to him since the 1st day, but he said he just wasn't ready. Well today he finally took that step! He is now 1 of our brothers in Christ! It was amazing to see the change in his countenance afterward! Praise the Lord!

The 2 Team members who were sick are feeling much better. I believe everyone is mostly packed & ready for the trip to Nairobi tomorrow. They will be on the road by 7 AM, so please keep them in your prayers over the next few days as they make their way to their homes. The children & I & Miss Katie will head back to Kisii tomorrow too; after we go through the houses & make sure that everything is packed up.

Orphan Project - Day #9

The roofs are on all the buildings! The trees are all planted! The Jesus Film was able to be shown in full tonight to around 368 people! We praise the Lord for His goodness. And we thank you for your prayers. The Team was able to meet the orphans that will be living in the home they built & they were able to take pictures & give out gifts to each of them. What a blessing the CLAIM Team has been to our family & the village if Sidundo!

We are looking forward to a great day of services tomorrow!! Please be in prayer for each person that will be teaching, preaching, or helping out in some way during Sunday school, church, & junior church.

Orphan Project - Day #8

Wow, where has the tome gone? The project is almost complete (just need the metal roofing sheets-please pray that we are able to get them), 400 trees have been planted & watered, VBS went very well (around 160 kids/175 with the adults & workers included), tomorrow we will make a couple of special visits, we will have a time to sit down & get to meet all the orphans, & we will be showing the Jesus Film one more time! A lot has been accomplished, but we are not done yet. Please keep us in your prayers!

Orphan Project - Day #7

We were able to water all of the trees that we planted (that takes a while when they are on the perimeter of a 5 acre plot)! The Girls' dorm is almost finished; I believe they have just a couple of more rows of bricks. The trusses are all finished & ready to go up. Please pray that we are able to get the metal roof sheets tomorrow (the hardware stores are giving us a hard time getting the supply we need).

We had our first night of VBS! Bro. Dan taught on Jonah & the whale, & Miss Stefanie taught about the 3 Hebrew children. We had 106 on our first night (the normal teacher said that we would only have around 60)!! Almost all of them said that they would bring a friend tomorrow night!

Orphan Project - Day #6

I was told that around 70 trees were planted today. The boys' dorm was finished, & the girls' was started. Miss Katie & I spent the day driving to Siaya searching for food supplies & bottled water. So I am sure that I will be surprised by the progress when I go to the site tomorrow! The buildings are going up so fast!

Sorry I forgot to say that the mid-week service went well also. Thank you for your prayers.

Please be in prayer with us about the meetings & work over the next few days. Tomorrow we will begin VBS, & Saturday we will show the Jesus Film again. Please pray that we are able to show the whole thing this time.

Orphan Project - Day #5

We were able to plant 125 more trees, & the boys' dorm is almost finished (just 2 more rows of bricks & then the trusses can go up). Please pray for the Team as a few of them are having some health issues due to the intensity of the equatorial sun, & Bro. Phillip (the Team leader) has a kidney stone.

Orphan Project - Day #4

We planted about 50 more trees. The kitchen/dining hall is ready for it's roof tomorrow. All of the bricks, gravel, sand, & cement have been delivered. The wood for the trusses of the 2 dorms & all of the metal roofing sheets will be delivered tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will be having a ladies' meeting @ the church where we are building the orphanage. Please pray as I teach these ladies what God has laid on my heart. I can't wait to see what God has in store. It is still hard to believe that He allowed me to lead 22 young people to Him yesterday!! He is so good!

Wednesday will be mid-week service. Thursday & Friday will be a mini VBS time, Saturday we have plans to meet with all of the children who will be benefitting from this orphan home. We also wanted to let the CLAIM Team to be able to meet the children whom they will be helping. Please pray for these meetings & for all of the building that will continue being done throughout all these things.

Orphan Project - Day #3

Where do I even begin? God is so good! The church has been praying fir 200 in attendance for their 1st service in their new building & on their own property. The day started with people coming slowly by slowly, because of all the rain. But by the time preaching started, there were over 290 in attendance!! The building was completely full, and all of the children had to meet outside. We had 18 adults & 22 children (10-14 year olds) come forward for salvation!! Praise the Lord! The devil has been fighting us all week, but it is all worth when. God gives us an amazing victory with all these precious souls!

Update & Prayer Request

I know that it has taken a while for you to hear from me about any updates on the orphan ministry.

The monthly visitation in the homes of 23 orphans and the food assistance are continuing as well as give food to other 3 churches for their needy orphan children.  To explain in case of misunderstanding, the children who have finalized their documentation to prove in every way by birth certificates and death certificates of both parents are those 23 are visited in their homes.  Other names and partial information of children are nearly 150.  These children are being help now as we bring the food to the church and then the local church divides it among them.  These children are receiving about half of what the 23 are getting.  Part of the problem of getting the information from the guardians of the children is coming from the local governmental offices because many times they ask for bribes to do little things like writing these letters.  I will probably need to visit these offices myself to see how I can expedite the process, when I can get to those areas to visit them, mostly the hindrances are time and rains that block some of the road ways.

We are building the first orphanage and I have attached the plans for its compound for you to see.  A group of 11 with CLAIM at BIMI is coming under the leadership of missionary Philip Smith next Wednesday to be with us for ten days in order to help us build the basic structures.  Each of the buildings are 15 ft. by 30 ft.  Please pray for their trip as they will leave the states and Canada on Tuesday the 14th and leave Nairobi on the 26th of this month.  The site is five hours from our home in Kisii so we have booked an entire guest house and my family also will be staying there for those days as well.  Tonya will be doing the cooking for the team and helping the ladies who come to plant trees and other things.

The orphanage compound size of the drawing is about 130 ft. by 150 ft. and it is inside a 5 acre plot that we have ben given by the local community for the church and any project that we can do to assist people in the community.  The land is where they use to have their local bull-fighting and wrestling with bulls and other sports activities.  It is all open land and not owned by any individual.  The church has just finished building a building next to the road and they are planning their first meeting in the church on the 18th of this month.  We are inviting community leaders to come to the service and many from the surrounding areas to attend this special occasion.  The church was started as a Bible Study in 2009 and then we opened it as a church with the first baptism in March of 2010.  We fenced the property in May of this year and the orphanage compound is in the back of the property behind the church.  When we finish the basic structures then we will fence the orphanage part by itself for better security for the children.

I was there yesterday and we put up markers for where the buildings would be and they are beginning today to dig the foundation so that it will be ready for the team to build when they arrive on the site on Thursday next week.  We are praying that the foundations, walls and roofing will all be done in this short time.  Please pray that rain will not be a hindrance to getting these things finished.

This orphanage will hold up to 40 children at capacity so the expenses are increased because of the availability of land and the need in this area.  We already have names of 26 children who will be able to benefit from this project.  Please pray that all of the beds, tables and chairs, kitchen utensils, caretakers, a good water supply, and other things will be able to be put into place by January of 2012 so that we can open the doors to these children.

Also please pray for wisdom in choosing the right caretakers for these children, and the monthly financial support to care for them.

Thank you for your continued support for this project.

After finishing what we can do here we will be looking at the town of Kuresoi with Glory Bible Baptist Church to see how we can get started with that project there.  The land is in good condition and there are 15 orphans who we are visiting monthly.  The number may raise to 20 once we open the doors, but the area is a hot place for political violence that we saw in 2008 where many of these children's parents died. The government is beefing up the security in the area so that it does not happen again.  Elections will take place again next year.  Please pray that God will give us direction on the way forward.

Please forgive us for the laxity in communication with you.  Due to a tight schedule, low internet access, and electricity outages, we have not been able to keep everything up to date on our website about the orphan ministry and the children.

May God bless you and as you pray for these children in Kenya.

Wilson O.

Hi, my name is Wilson O., and I am 4 years old (born in 2007 - exact date unknown).

Both my father and mother have died, but exact dates I do not remember and their death certificates were lost in a fire during the election violence came to our village in 2007.

I am in Nursery school, and I have 2 brothers (Anthony and Esborn). And we live on a farm with my Grandfather. We attend Glory Bible Baptist Church and our pastor is Pastor Gesanda.

Thank you for praying for my family and I.

Sincerely,
Wilson O.