EXTREME EVANGELISM The Restoration Community Church (RCC) in Kadawa has a large youth group and large children’s group. Gia Minardi (the young woman who joined us for two weeks) works with the young people of her church in California, often taking them to the streets to ask God to give them opportunities to meet people that He wants to show His personal love. Gia met with the young leaders amongst the RCC youth and several others of the youth group for a day and taught them. She taught them to understand how God wants to use them individually and personally as His ministers, and that they can and do hear God. She trained them in how to go out and have confidence that they will be guided by the Lord to share God’s love. It was something these youngsters had never done – or thought of. The night of the training day, a Friday, was spent in all night prayer. Then the next day, Saturday, was market day and these kids – 8 groups of 4 per group – walked from the church to the market in the afternoon (about 2 ½ miles). The road to the market is full of people coming and going to market, and the market is packed with people. These kids asked the Lord to show them who He wanted to reveal His love to, and then would stop and tell the people how much God and Jesus loves them. As the Holy Spirit directed they would lay hands on sick people and pray for their healing, or pray prophetically for them or their families. They would tell them how God is intensely in love with them and cares for them. Gia walked with them and moved among them and she was “over the moon” at their enthusiasm, willingness and boldness. During those few hours several people accepted Christ as their Saviour. Many were touch by His personal love for them. It was amazing how open the villagers on the road and in the market were to receiving these words of God’s genuine, personal love for them from these kids.
VISITING WIDOWS We have been visiting many widows – some absolutely destitute! We have visited many in previous years, but these last two weeks have taken us into some situations that were beyond what we could have thought or imagined. We also visited one widower who is old and just doesn’t really know how to care for himself. The culture is such that the women do all of the food preparation and cooking – so this man is relatively helpless. He and at one or two of the older widows we visited don’t even have a mat to sleep on. We will be purchasing three mattresses to help. One widow – Lorna, who is 80+ years – appears to have cataracts. Few people in the village – especially the older ones – know when they were born. There is no record kept, and birthdays are not celebrated. Lorna somehow manages to get to market every week - walking!
She prepares sisal, above, (a plant for making rope) by hand, and sells it there. We are talking about pennies here!CAT Scan One older widow – Florence – has recently become paralyzed on one side, and there is much swelling of her limbs on that side. It has been suggested that she have a CAT scan or an MRI in an attempt to diagnose her situation. There is no MRI equipment in Kisumu, but there is a CAT scan machine. We will use money that has been given us to get the scan done within a few days.
EYE CLINICS On Sunday we went to minister at the daughter church in Magwar, some 7 kilometers away. They meet outdoors in a family compound under a makeshift awning. The children all go inside of a house for Sunday school. When we go places like that people want us to pray specifically and individually for them at the end of the meeting. One mother brought her son who can only barely see. To let light into his eyes gives him a lot of pain.
Then on Monday we went back to Magwar to walk and pray on the land there where they will construct a church building (eventually). When we were finished, the man who had donated the land for the church building asked us to come pray for his grandson who has eye problems. This little boy is 9 and has not been able to see properly for several years. He has never gone to school because he can't see properly.
Having prayed for these little boys and for Lorna, the widow, we also want to take what natural action we can. So arrangements are being made to take the three of them into Kisumu to an eye specialist to see what he has to say and if there is anything we can do to help them.
There have been many tears shed the last two weeks. It is pretty hard on us all to see this kind of sickness and poverty. RCC does not sit idly by but is continually involved in helping their people and folks in the community that are not part of the church. The need can be overwhelming! It has been really intense. HARD ON US!! How must it be for the people who are suffering?!
You know, for years all of us have seen this kind of stuff in photos, on TV, etc. It is one thing to see it like that and quite another to be part of it.
We will be keeping in touch again pretty soon.
MANY BLESSINGS!!
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