Finishing strong with our Abundant God

7/9 – Kenya’s weather and climate. Due to the location on the equator, there really are only two seasons. Now we are in the winter season, meaning the days are in the 60/70’s and at night it goes down to the 50’s usually paired with thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. Power outages are very normal and can last from 30 minutes up to 10 hrs. While preparing dinner, I had chicken in the oven and the power went out, so I had to finish cooking on the gas cooktop. Of course, once I finished cooking and serving the food, the power came back.

7/10 – We had communicated with pastor, Captain Simon, that on Friday we would show the Jesus film to the children at the Salvation Army church. He told us there would be approx. 40-50 children. Dorcas, our housekeeper, told us that we probably should expect 250-300 kids since a gathering where movies would be shown was very rare in this area.  We went shopping in Kakamega for chips and juice for approx. 300 kids since we certainly didn’t want to be short. Shopping for that amount of chips and juice boxes became a challenge since stores don’t have large inventory on these items. After going to two stores, small potato chips packages were not an option, so we ended up with small packets of cookies and a variety of different juice boxes. We certainly drew some attention from other shoppers when they looked in our shopping cart. When we arrived back at the house, the power had been out since 10 AM, so we unloaded everything into a dark home. Power came back on later that night.

7/11- The day started with power being out at noon. Without power it would be hard to show the film. We loaded the car and left for the church in hope that the power would return by 5:30pm. It did not. We arranged to return the next day for the movie. Once we were back home, of course 10 minutes later, the power was restored!

7/12 – We prayed that the power would be on for the movie showing. It was, Praise God! We showed the Jesus movie to 180 kids. Due to the church roof being metal and the heavy rain at times, it was difficult to hear the audio as we only had a small speaker. Despite the challenges we ran into, the kids enjoyed it.

7/13 – Church service this time was at a remote church in the farmlands. The muddy roads are a challenge to drive on, they have plenty of deep tracks and holes due to the heavy rains. Thank God for our 4-wheel drive car. The Salvation Army visited this church since it is an upcoming church in the area, and they want to support the church community by helping to raise funds to finish the building. After church service, they held an offering where the church box went around multiple times giving an opportunity for people to empty their pockets. Ray and I agreed that that strategy would never work in the US. Since we were guests, they weren’t sure how to approach us but, in the end, we did contribute as the Lord instructed us, and the total amount raised ended up being sufficient to continue the building.

7/16 – We went into Kakamega to see what we might find by way of speakers and microphone for the church. We went into three electronic stores all within a block of each other. The last one had speakers large enough for the church.  The shopkeeper showed us what he had, and Ray called and reconfirmed with Captain Simon what was needed.  While Ray was on the phone, I was chatting with the shopkeeper.  He asked how long we’d been in Kenya and why we there. 

I told him that Jesus asked us to come and help and be a conduit to his people. So, we came and do what God leads us to do. God led us to the church, and we were helping to get the sound system they needed. Ray returned and the conversation about price began. The shopkeeper said he was a Christian and once he knew out intentions and what we were doing, he gave us a better price. We were able to purchase two speakers, two cordless microphones with receiver and two cords that run to the speakers. Praise God!

We took these items to the church that same day. They were received with much appreciation and thanksgiving to God for His abundant provision. Matthew 7:7 Ask, Seek and Knock comes to mind. God is good, all the time!

7/20 – We were in the church for the last service we were to attend before leaving back to Nairobi and then to the USA.  We had the opportunity to share in the dedication of the speakers and microphones.

7/21 & 7/22 – We visited the fifteen schools that planted the kitchen gardens.  This was a project from last year’s visit, the planting started in February 2025. What we found was a wide variety of outcomes. Some understood the concept and performed well, some did not understand what was required for success and did not do well.  The children in one school formed a club with a chairman, secretary, and treasurer and made some profits from their sales. They are exploring using other vegetables such as beans with this method. All the schools were battling insects that hindered their growth. Schools had to deal with vandalism and neighboring animals coming on the property destroying the crops. We are evaluating each school what steps to take so all of them can be successful despite their challenges.

In the afternoon we visited the Bukura Agricultural College. One of the instructors showed us unusual ways to protect the crops from insects by using organic methods. One way to protect is planting spring onions, coriander, and garlic along with the known method of using ash on the soil.

7/23 – We traveled back to Nairobi and leave Sunday for the USA.