Hello again! Here is more information about the Widows Farm Project!
But first, we want to tell you about Paul the Pastor! Whereas Hesbone is Senior pastor of the ministry in Kadawa and the surrounding area, he has under him three pastors; one of whom is Paul. He is a fine young man in his thirties; he has a wife, Eunice and two daughters, Bianca and Angela. Last week we found out that Pastor Paul has cancer of the mouth. We don't know how long he has had it, but it is extremely serious and aggressive. When we left there at the beginning of November there was no indication of it.
He is in great pain and has been admitted to the hospital in Kisumu. The plan is to give him chemotherapy. He must have a blood transfusion prior to being able to have the chemo. Dr. Amos, a godly doctor, who is a life-long friend of Hesbone, is the primary physician at the District Hospital and can monitor Paul closely. The costs will be APPROXIMATELY $8.50 (£5.25) per day. This is not including the cost of drugs, which, so far have cost ABOUT $92 (£56.50). These are totally prohibitive amounts for these people. We don't know where they are getting the money; however, there is no way they have money to keep paying for his treatment. At the moment, the total cost of the plan of management is approaching $900 (£552). We keep saying "approximately" and "about" because the price of the Kenya Shilling (KES), the dollar and the pound, fluctuate hour-by-hour. Additionally - these can only be estimates made by the doctors.
We are letting you know the situation and if you feel or believe that you are to help, that will be a really good thing. We just want to do something to help them and believe that by letting people know about it we may be able to contribute.
ABOVE ALL- please pray for this young man, his family, Hesbone and Violet and Doctor Amos. We can't begin to describe the conditions in the hospitals in Kenya. You can't imagine, in your wildest thoughts, what they are like. Unless, of course, you have been there and done that!
We will see that the money gets to them quickly. If we get some pledges of money to be sent we can tap into our savings and transfer the money almost instantly. If you want to go through DOVE-Lebanon so that you will get a tax-deductible receipt, that is fine. Just let us know. Either contact us by e-mail at: johnandmartys@aol.com, or phone us at: 386-788-8633 (land line) or 386-316-1594 (mobile).
UPDATE ON THE WIDOWS FARM PROJECT!
Now - about the land. It has been cleared of the brush. The two great ant hills are being worked on. Now, we aren't quite sure what that means, but we do know that one of the first things to be done is to break into the ant hill and locate the queen of the colony. Once she has been removed the ants will scatter - abandoning the hill. Then the rest is relatively simple. But remember - these hills are about 8 feet tall.
GREAT NEWS! We found out today that the first acre will be plowed on Friday (DEC 18) Yaaay! A second plowing will take place in January or February and planting in March.
We have asked for estimates for the cost of the fence. That is next on the list along with hiring a caretaker/overseer/watchman (and building a house for him and his family).
We bought the land with retirement money (doesn't everyone want to retire to a village in Kenya?) You can't take it with you and it is an investment in The Kingdom of God!! We have challenged the villagers to invest in the farm. We have told them that we have done our part with the money and they can do their part with their time.
Fortunately Hesbone knows something about farming as he has been doing it on the church property for a couple of years. So he will know what kind of hybrid seed to buy for the maize and beans, and will know about the fertilizer, and when to plow and all of that stuff. John's talking about digging a well or piping water down from the church well. Oh my!
More news later!
John & Marty
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