Maasai Development Project

July 2010 Mission Trip

2010-07-11T11:53:00.001-07:00

Gwen Edwards and I are sitting in the Minneapolis airport waiting for our flight to Amsterdam and on to Nairobi. The next three days after arrival on Monday night will be spent preparing for the mission group who arrive Thursday morning, Thursday night and Friday morning. Friday will be a fun day to acclimate to the time change, a bit of site seeing, a trip to the Giraffe feeding station, ending with a trip to a Maasai village.

Please keep us along with all the mission trip participants in your prayers that we may be a blessing in meeting not just the physical needs but also the spiritual and emotional needs of each person we come in contact with during this trip.

Until next time,

Jan

Constantly Learning

2010-06-03T02:57:00.000-07:00

Constantly Learning

This trip like no other has been a challenge in that I have been house/office bound for all but about 3 days of this trip. If you have been keeping up on our blogs you know that in March on our way home from work in the Mara that our Rear Differential froze up. Our lives were spared when Ogecha our driver thought he heard something in the diesel line and while slowing the vehicle down to check it suddenly the Diff froze. Had we been going the usual 120 clicks through that stretch of road, I most likely would not be writing today.

The first Sabbath after arrival in May, the vibration of our vehicle became so bad that we had a difficult time keeping it on the road. When MDP Administrator, Ogoti Kenani looked under the front end he found that the bracket holding the steering mechanism and the chassis completely broken. Again, this was another miracle on the road.

At first I didn’t mind the inconvenience as I had so much to do in the office, knowing that by the end of the second week I should be back in the field. (Our vehicle is a 1994 PRADO, while it is a well made vehicle, it is aging and not able to keep up with the challenges of the roads we are forced to travel to get to our MDP stations.) However, after the bracket was fixed, there was yet another vibration, this time coming from the gear box. Back to the shop the vehicle went. I have to admit I was beginning to feel a bit irritable; after all, I had planned to get to all the schools in both Kajiado and Narok districts where we sponsor children and spend time in Siana where we are building the Rescue and Education Center. In addition to that I planned to spend Sabbaths on visitations with our MDP workers.

Like I said for the first two weeks I could handle being housebound because of the amount of office work that faced me, this is not uncommon, but now I was beginning to get cabin fever REAL BAD! I hadn’t even been able to go to church. I am learning that there are times that God uses incidences such as this to say, “Slow down, come and rest awhile.” This has been one of those times. Now I had much more time to spend in God’s Word and in study time. I am doing a study called “Breaking Free” and God is teaching me a lot. Suddenly I am no longer housebound, I am God bound, with lots of time for sweet communion with HIM. It’s been a time of self evaluation; reflection on the work God has given us to do with MDP, a time to examine my motives and priorities within the work and in my personal life. He is helping me discover many of the footholds that Satan uses to influence me and take my hold off of Jesus. Wow, is that ever sobering!

Two nights ago, I woke up at 3:00 not able to sleep; tossing and turning, agitated because I was not going to be able to do any of the field work I wanted to accomplish and felt that I needed to do, specifically on this trip. Finally I prayed, “Father, please show me what your plan is and why I have had to spend all my time at the house this trip.” I tossed and turned some more, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins and feeling very stressed. Suddenly, clear as a bell I heard, “You were planning to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons.” (Paraphrased) Specifics began to come to my mind, as I thought about it; I had to admit that it was all correct. As I faced each issue one by one, my heart was lifted to heaven and while seeking God’s forgiveness the stress began subsiding, my heart stopped pounding in my ears and I could feel my whole being relax. Kind of like snuggling into my Father’s arms after being disciplined and letting Him reassure me of His love.

Yesterday, I faced another disappointment, but… I felt so strangely calm (especially for me) and like “OK, if that is the way it has to be, there is a reason, God knows what is best.”

I am now ending my last week before leaving for the states, my vehicle is sitting in the driveway with yet another vibration no one can find a reason for but prevents us from driving normal speeds. Therefore I’m not able to take the trip out to see our children in Siana and get pictures of the building progress. I’m still in the office working, but guess what? I am thanking God for the broken down vehicle that causes all of us at MDP so much frustration and inconvenience. I’m praising Him for the time of rest and communion with Him. I’m thanking Him for His incredible mercy; grace and love that He is show me and how to have complete freedom in Jesus while breaking free from the bondages of Satan.

Does the work still need to be done that I was unable to do this trip? Yes, but I’ve turned it back over to God, knowing that His timing is always perfect. I’ll be back in July and that work will be done somehow. In the end I wouldn’t trade this trip for any other trip because of the lessons that God is lovingly teaching me. Please remember all of us at MDP in your prayers. Maasai Development Project is not run by just one or two people, but it is a growing team! From our 38 Lay Pastors and Literacy Teachers in the field, our 2 District Coordinators, our dedicated Administrator, Driver and Guards, Matron, Cook, Building Contractors and Building Crew in Kenya, to our staff in America: Celeste, Gwen, Elreen, Alexa, Lynette, and Marlin.

This morning I was listening to a song by Selah called “Sweet Jesus”. I had to listen to it a couple of times just to let the words soak into my being. I would like to share that song with you from Utube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdfnEHo7Vk8. If you enjoy that song, you will also like “You Raise Me Up”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2sZuJbxi8Y&a=SpGtX6YUyPI&playnext_from=ML Enjoy and have a blessed day.

I look forward to more adventures with God in July when Marlin and I join Gwen and the other Mission Trip Participants for the Medical/Dental Mission Trip. If you would like to participate in the July or October mission trips, please contact Gwen Edwards at gwenedwardsmdp@gmail.com .

Jan Meharry

Miracle or Coincidence - You Decide - As For Me I Know It was a Miracle!

2010-05-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

It has been over a year now and no one could find the problem with the shimming and shaking of our vehicle, progressively getting worse. This week,it became so bad that it was difficult to keep it on the road, this time with an added noise from the front end.

Last Saturday, when Ogecha and I went out to KMQ, it was so bad that we had to keep the vehicle at a very low speed, at one point almost being rear ended by a large truck not able to slow down quick enough.

Two days later, I was driving to Nairobi for a meeting I was to attend. The shaking was so bad I could hardly hang on to the steering wheel. I noticed several people motioning to keep down the speed. I wondered why they were signaling me. Could it have been God's way to make me aware to keep the speed down?

Later that day,MDP Administrator, Ogoti Kenani, looked under the front end and found that the bracket to the chassis and steering mechanism was broken. How long had we driven the vehicle with the bracket broken? At least since Saturday. Another miracle and evidence of God's mighty power and protective hand over us. We should not have had any steering at all. Evidently it had been cracked, but in the last week had broken completely. What kept us on the road? Who held it together for us? Truly a miracle!

Getting Back to Grass Roots

2010-05-16T05:31:00.000-07:00

Getting Back to Grass Roots

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to reflect back on the early days of ministering out in Maasai in the early 90’s. At that time two days a week were set aside for visitation with the Maasai people. One day was Wednesday, when we would fill the back of my vehicle full of water containers and because of the drought, if we could afford it, dry beans and rice. We would visit in different homes, offering clean drinking water, pray with them and invite them to come to church. The next visiting day was Sabbath. Some mornings would be spent picking up women and children to come to church service. After the service, we would send the women home with containers of fresh clean water. I like to think that not only did they receive the fresh water to quench their thirst but also water of life bringing healing into their lives.

With the growth of Maasai Development Project and the increasing amount of administrative work that has to take place, my “under the tree” time has been greatly decreased. Often times when I’m getting ready to leave on another trip to Kenya, my friend Celeste, will pray for me and ask God to give me that needed “under the tree time”.

Yesterday, God took me back to the roots of MDP. My plans for attending a certain station had to be changed because of the amount of rain making the road/path impassable. Instead we went to KMQ. While they have had some rain, not near as much as in most areas. The plan was to visit Ntorosi church, but as we came near decided to take d detour and visit Oloolera station where Philip Nankoris is working as a lay pastor and Josephine is working as the adult literacy and preschool teacher. Upon arriving at 11:00 we found only Philip in the church. In the distance we could see one lady on her way. Because we had baptismal certificates to hand out at the Ntorosi church, we decided to go back to Ntorosi for divine service and come back to Oloolera for visitations.

Ntorosi is a stationed that was opened by MDP lay pastor and now Kajiado Coordinator, Patrick Muyia in April of 2001. Since that time 4 additional Sabbath Schools have been opened in the area with 130 baptisms. Yesterday morning I was impressed and amazed at the size of the youth group in the church but I also noticed that many people were missing. After handing out the baptismal certificates, the Lord impressed me to speak to the church members about the importance of visitation. To look around and see who was missing in their midst and to ask the question why? Were they discouraged, sick, having difficulties at home, backsliding? Reminding them that God has given each of us the title of Ambassador and the responsibility that comes with that title. We talked about visitations, the power of praying with someone and sharing God’s word. The greatest privilege and opportunity came to pray for Lay Pastor Francis Sosoika and Lay Pastor Patrick Muyia as they take on the challenge of mobilizing and equipping their church members to reach out to those missing members as well as the community. To then pray for those who were newly baptized for God’s Spirit to be poured out upon them as they share what they have learned and are continuing to learn about the love and saving power of Jesus Christ. Finally praying for all church members to be empowered by God’s Holy Spirit to be the Ambassadors that he has appointed them to be.

After the service, I had to say goodbye to the church members as I had promised that I would return to Oloolera for visitations. As I was about to get into the vehicle a few of the youth girls asked if they could accompany me on the visitations in Oloolera. My heart thrilled to have them come with us. When we arrived back at Oloorera, at 1:15, the church service was just about to begin. Again, after the service, the baptismal certificates were handed out with the opportunity to share and pray for Lay Pastor Philip Nankoris, the newly baptized members, those just learning about God and all church members in their role as Ambassadors.

During the time that I was speaking, I knew that the Holy Spirit was speaking to my heart what His plan was and that we needed to get back to our grass roots. How important the one on one touch of the people is and that we must teach by example. My heart was thrilled! In my heart I was saying, “Yes, Lord, that is your method”. It is not enough to preach, it is not enough to tell people truth, but rather it is only effective when by the grace and power of God, we live out by example and touch lives where they are at, regardless of circumstance.

After the service, with the members that were able to stay, we began walking for the nearest boma (family village) to visit. At the boma we were readily welcomed in. The women called all that were within to come meet the visitors. I had the greatest opportunity to give a short sermonette about faith and love. Those who are close to me know how much I love sharing with others about God’s love. I don’t often get that opportunity anymore, but God was taking me back to my roots. To pray over that family did more for me in reminding me what God’s desires of each one of us is, than I’m sure it did for anyone else.

Interestingly enough, the woman of the boma was a sister to a Maasai man that I had been teaching literacy to in 1994 at Maxwell Academy, Saoyio. When Saoyio was married, some of the people at Maxwell were invited, among them, Mama Mitchell. Mama Mitchell is Gwen Edwards, the lady who actually started the work with the Maasai village behind Maxwell and drew me in with her. I was so excited, what a small world, I didn’t even know that was the home where Saoyio came from. I excitedly told her that Mama Mitchell would be coming back to Kenya in July with our next mission group trip. During that time we hoped to pay a visit to the Ntorosi church and invited her to come. She said that she would like that very much.

As we left our newly made friends, one of the ladies that had been visiting that family decided to accompany us to the next boma. Her name was Leah and she just happened to be the wife of the chief of that area. At the next home, Josephine gave the next sermonette and prayer. What a blessing to sit back and listen as she witnessed for God. By the time we got back to the road and found Ogecha with the vehicle waiting for us, it was time to head back to Nairobi.

After encouraging my friends to continue, as a church group and individually, to share and pray with their friends, family and neighbors, I sadly said goodbye. One the way home I was praising God in my heart for taking me back and giving me the “One on one” touch time with those He has asked me to serve.

God showed me that while administrative work is necessary and important, it cannot and must not take away from the “One on one” time of sitting “under the trees”, touching the people where they are at. That was and still is Christ’s most effective way of reaching people for His Kingdom and sharing His love with them, giving “Hope in life, Hope for life eternally”.

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2010-04-05T19:19:00.001-07:00

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Shopping and Departure Day

2010-03-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

Everyone was up early and ready to head into town to try their out their bargaining skills! We parked at Sarit Center (a mall) and from their the group could spread out and shop both at the mall or at the "Blue Shacks" across the street! Most headed for the "shacks" to see what kinda of African treasures they could get!

Everyone was given some cash to spend for purchasing their lunch at the mall - all though some did spend it on curios instead of food - SMILE

After shopping for several hours we headed back out of Nairobi towards the Division again - stopping just briefly at another shopping center so that I could pick up some items for the Mt Kenya group.

Back and the division the group re-packed all the goodies they had bought, we had worship and supper and then headed to the airport. All flew out, except for 9 of us! Our next goal was Pt. Lenana - on Mt Kenya.

This was a great group of people! I enjoyed each of them! I know they were a blessing to those they came to serve - and I KNOW they blessed me!
kim

Monday March 22nd

2010-03-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a fantastic breakfast buffet! There was just about anything anyone would want to eat for breakfast and more! The group packed up, stopped briefly by the pool for a group picture and headed out to the truck for the ride back to the East Central African Division Guesthouses.

Not to far out of the park one of the truck ran out of fuel, but fortunately we were close to Narok and so the the first truck filled up a container with fuel and drove it back to those waiting. It was not long before we were on our way again -

Back and the Division we unpacked the truck and re-sorted and packed ALL the supplies so they would be ready for the next trip in July. It is a long job and not fun! But most were real troopers about it! A special thanks to Amanda, Jill, Lindsay, and Leon for staying up till the job was complete! They were a huge blessing!

Everyone was tired from the trip and ready for bed at the end of the day!
kim

Sunday - March 21

2010-03-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

It rained all night and many woke up to wet mattresses and sleeping bags (some of us had nice toasty dry ones....SMILE) We warmed up by the hot coals from the fire during the night, had worship and then enjoyed a breakfast of fresh fruits, cereal, boiled eggs and hot drinks.

After we packed everything up we headed back through the Mara to Sarova - a fantastic lodge where the hospitality is heavenly! We pulled in just before lunch and were greeted by the staff handing out cool wet wash clothes with eucalyptus oil on them, and a cold glass of fresh passion fruit juice. Everyone was briefed on their room assignments, and what was available at Sarova then headed for lunch and an afternoon of sunbathing, swimming, ping pong, sleep, reading, massages, and hot showers.

There was an optional game drive for those who wanted it at 4pm and the other truck took Marlin Meharry to the airport strip at Keekerok (in the game reserve) Marlin had to head back early to the US to start back to work on Monday.

Supper found everyone rested up and relaxed - as we enjoyed a candlelight meal and headed out to bed (our rooms were ready - with beds turned back and hot water bottles tucked inside to keep our toes toasty warm)

Sleep came quickly for most - Sarova was a well earned treat! There is truly no better hospitality found in Kenya - then at Sarova Mara Lodge!

Good night all!
kim

Sabbath in the Mara

2010-03-22T20:19:00.001-07:00

Clinics are over and everyone gets to sleep in a little on Sabbath morning! The drivers and I are up bright and early though, cause we are heading back to Siana to pick up the academy kids and bring them back for a pancake brunch.

When we get back to camp the adults have all eaten and are sitting under the big Fig tree talking, bird watching and reading. The days already feels different then all the rest of them. It's going to be relaxing and much slower paced!

The academy kids enjoy their hot showers before we pack up the two trucks, then we had a group worship and headed out to a game drive, with a picnic a long the way. We stopped at the Mara River where the wildebeest cross in July and took pictures of huge crocodiles laying on the banks sunning themselves. The Mara is green and the grass is long, so it makes spotting some of the cats a bit harder.

Because the sun is so warm we opted to just go to our campsite for lunch where there is lots of shade. Tonite we are at a new campsite, not the one that the group has been at for the past few days..... tonite we are camping on the edge of the Mara River out in the middle of nowhere! There are not fences, no guards, not people, just us and the animals. From camp we can see two female lions laying around, elephant wonder around the edges of our camp eating and you can hear their stomachs rumbling as they communicate back and forth with each other. Hippos snort in the river next to us - and we feel blessed by nature and all God's creations.

At 5pm we did a short game drive, stopped at the gate to the park which was not far away and everyone went into the bathroom, then on the way back to camp sat by the pride of lions in the area - there were 4 cubs that were full of energy, pouncing on each other and their moms. It was hard to pull away from them.

Back in camp we had worship around the fire as the sun went down, enjoyed fresh fruit and Raman noodles for supper and then some headed to bed while others sat and visited late into the night. The night was quieter than normal - other than an occasional hynea laugh, or a hippos snort. At 2am I got up and put more wood on the fire and a baboon alerted the others that someone was up and moving around. About 3am in started raining and rained the rest of the morning - several had wet sleeping bags by morning time.

It was fun! Most seemed to really enjoy it
kim

Clinic at Siana

2010-03-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Friday morning we got up early ate breakfast and left for Siana with a 2 hour game drive on the way there - we were blessed with a rhino, lions and huge herd of buffalo, plus all the regular grazers.

We set up for clinic and I headed up to check on the kids working at the building site nearby and drop off some more food for them. They looked worn out, but happy and begged me to allow them to stay there one more night. So I agreed and told them we would be stopping by after clinic at Siana to tour the site and check out the work they had been doing.

Clinic went well. We had plenty of patients. Had to send one to hospital because of a possible brain tumor - the childs mom was 17 years old, she was married at 12 years old and this was her second child. Praise the Lord for all of you who have sent in donations to "Charitable Medical Funds" for the mission trips. That money will go to help the child above and another one that we had to send in for emergency surgery in Oliotokitok.

After clinic the group toured the building site before heading back to our campsite for the evening. Tomorrow we pack everything up and head out to the Mara River for the night! Cant wait - all though there seems to be some rain clouds gathering over the Mara.
kim

Clinic in Talek

2010-03-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning we had an optional game drive before clinic. Our first drive out we saw a bunch of lions, tons of elephants and lots of grazers! It was great fun seeing the excitement of the group seeing all the animals in the wild for the first time.

We headed back for breakfast (coffee cake and scrambled eggs) and then we loaded up for clinic in Talek. The academy kids stayed in camp and packed up their things cause they were heading to Siana to spend the night and do some construction at the MDP building site.

After I got the adults all settled in at clinic in Talek, I headed back to load up the academy kids. We got to the site about 11:30am and the kids piled out and went right to work, some shoveling sand, some pouring cement and some smoothing out the cement. The spend the night out on the ground under the stars on mattresses.

Back at clinic the adults were working hard - I got back to them just as they closed up clinic and we loaded them up, took them back to camp to freshen up and head out on a optional game drive. A couple of them came with me up to check on the burned baby that had had surgery on his foot this past Christmas. He was doing great!

Back at camp we loaded everyone up and headed out for another game drive - saw three cheetahs and some more lions, besides lots of other creatures. It was a great day - and once again we sat around the fire for worship and then headed to bed.

God had blessed us once again -
kim

Mt Longonot

2010-03-22T14:34:00.001-07:00

Morning came way to soon for those climbing the mountain - breakfast was inhaled at
5am (muffins, mangos, pineapples, papayas, passion fruit and oranges) and we we about 20 of loaded the truck and headed out in the dark for Mt Longonot. Those who stayed in camp got to sleep in and have breakfast about 8am before taking down camp.

Meanwhile those climbing the mountain arrived at the gate, took their water bottles and headed up the mountain. We were lucky that the weather was good - there was clouds that kept the sunshine for beating down on us, and a nice cool breeze. Norbert was in the lead and I brought up the rear. Everyone made it to the rim and in good time too! About 11:30 am the last of the group made it back down the mountain to the truck and we headed back to meet the rest of the group at the town Suswa. It was a great hike - and most everyone was worn out!

We met up with the rest of the group by the MDP church in Suswa and headed out for the Masai Mara National Reserve. We arrived at Sekenani Gate around 4:30pm and headed straight for Gametrackers campsite. After unloading the truck most headed for the showers and then for a hot supper under the stars. Worship was by the fire and everyone turned in early - anxious for the early morning game drive on Thursday.
kim

Clinic at Olgume

2010-03-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning we headed out to Olgume for our second clinic day. We traveled down the escarpment into the Great Rift Valley, stopping briefly for pictures and a bathroom break, before heading off on a little dirt road to the village of Olgume on the side of Mt Suswa. We set up dental under the tarp of the truck, optical and wound care under trees and pharmacy in the church.

It was a busy day - and most of the academy kids had the opportunity to pull a tooth or two. As clinic neared the end a storm was building around us and you could hear the thunder and smell the rain. We quickley put things away and set up for supper in the church.

Everyone put up their tents before supper - and God blessed us by having the storm move west of us. Some of the academy kids joined in with the Maasai playing soccer and then we all settle down for a burrito and fruit salad supper before heading to bed for the night.

It had been a busy day - and everyone was tired. Tomorrow will be a big day for those climbing Mt Longonot.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers -
kim

Heading back to the ECD Guesthouses - March 15th

2010-03-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today was Howard's 79th birthday! His second time to celebrate in Kenya with us!

Much to the dismay of the group I got them up bright and early (actually it was dark....)They loaded the truck at 5:15am and had breakfast at 5:30am, but 6:15am we were on the road headed back to the Division Guesthouses. They had two options, take one truck and head to Kajiado Rescue Center with me to visit the students there and have a brief tour of the school, or head back with Stephen straight to the guesthouses with a short stop over at the airport to pick up someones luggage that they had forgotten when they landed (wont mention any names - SMILE) The group was almost divided exactly in half.

Stephen's group picked up the suitcase without any problems and made it home in good time. Enjoyed some showers and unloaded the truck. My group had a blast at the Rescue Center. The girls that are sponsored through MDP gave them a tour of the classrooms, kitchen, dorm room, and sang to them! Lots of hugs and smiles were shared before we headed back to the guesthouses at the Division.

It has been a very busy afternoon! Unpacking all the supplies and repacking, sorting, washing water jugs and refilling them and loading up all the kitchen supplies and food! The day seems never ending - it's 1am and I am still baking muffins for breakfast this week for the group! There is an energy that comes when I am working in Kenya..... is is from the heart, and I love it. I feel very passionate about the people here, and am very blessed to be able to do what I do. Thanks for making it possible.
Keep us in your prayers - we head out tomorrow once again bright and early (5:15am we will be loading up) and we will be doing clinic tomorrow in Olgume - in the Great Rift Valley.

kim

Sunday's Clinic - March 14th

2010-03-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Mt Kilimanjaro was beautiful this morning - the sun coming up cast a pinkish glow on it and there was not a cloud in site! Everyone was anxious for the first clinic and seemed to be up and ready to go early! After breakfast we headed out - stopping for some great pictures of the mountain! The entire mountain was clear - and seemed so close to us!

There were a few people already in line when we arrived at Namelok - after prayer with the lay workers we unloaded the truck and set pharmacy, medical, dental and wound care. We were not able to do optical at this clinic but will be able to at the rest of the clinics.

Wound care had their share of cuts and infections, from cuts all the way to the bone between the thumb and pointer finger, to barbed wire shredding a man's shin.

Medical had us taking young boy to hospital who needed immediate care - the kind we could not offer. When clinic was over we drove him and his mom (who is a widow) to the hospital in Oloitokitok.

Dental had plenty of patients and Mat and Zac were able to pull some teeth, and the toy department was kept busy with lots of little kids. Everyone did a great job!

After clinic was over we spent a little while playing with the kids, they love bubbles, playing volley ball, soccer, and just having stickers put on their foreheads! It was a great day - and everyone was tired out when we got home. At supper time Don realized that he had lost his hearing aid and so the drivers and I went back to the clinic site to see if we could find it. I was hoping to be blessed with a night creature on the way there - and had to be satisfied with a great big tarantula crossing the road. We found his hearing aid within minutes of getting back to the clinic - the Lord is good!

Sleep was needed for all! The day was a blessing.
kim

Sabbath March 13, 2010

2010-03-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

We woke up to Mt Kilimanjaro in our back yard! It was beautiful, but the clouds came in fast. We ate breakfast and headed out to Namelok for church service. It was a little over an hour drive, and we stopped along the way to take pictures of the Mt Kili. The little church was packed and we crowded in a sat on little wooden benches. The walls and roof were made of tin with no windows and by the end of church everyone was quite warm.

I took the little children and went under a tree and told stories and sung songs with them while Gwen Edwards did the sermon. After church we greeted everyone and wished them well then headed back to Kibo Slopes cottages for lunch and some R&R for the afternoon.

About 4pm about half us headed up to have a tour of the hospital in Olitokitok. It was amazing to walk through the labor and delivery rooms and see the equipment and the condition the room was in. It was like you had stepped back in time.

Saturday night we sorted meds and repacked them for clinic in Namelok before finally falling into our beds for another good night of sleep.
kim

Friday March 12

2010-03-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

Most of the morning was spent packing up the supplies we needed for the clinic and loading them on the trucks. Just before noon we were done and were able to head out with a short stop for most everyone to exchange dollars into shillings. Then we were on our way.

The roads were great for the most part, and traffic was not too bad as we went through Nairobi and out on the Mombasa Rd. We stopped briefly for a bathroom break about half way and then turned off the main road and headed towards Olitokitok.

The group got all excited as we passed giraffe, zebra and thompson gazelles. It was not long before we saw Mt Kilimanjaro rising up out of no where! The last 15k of the road were under construction so we bumped around in the trucks for about 30 minutes or so before crossing the last boarder patrol before Tanzania - and turning down our little road to Kibo Slopes Cottages - nestled in the trees on the foot hills of Mt Kilimanjaro.

There was just enough time to unload our goodies, shower and head to a hot supper. We opened the Sabbath hours with worship and then headed to our rooms for a good night of sleep.
kim

Group Arrives

2010-03-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

It's Friday morning and the world is still asleep. The group came in last night with almost no difficulties - other than Norbert Schwer missing one suitcase - but it will catch up to us somewhere along the way. It is nothing we can't live without. As soon as we got to the East Central Africa Division everyone unloaded and moved into their guestrooms. Some took showers, others waited in line for the phone, some ate, and some went to bed..... and some did not go to bed until 1:45am! It was so much fun to sit in my guestroom with some of the academy kids and listen to all their stories about the last 24 hrs! I felt like I needed an extra pair of ears - they all talked at once!

Today I will have everyone up and going within the next hour, breakfast will be served, worship and orientation will take place, sack lunches will be packed and we will sort through all the goodies that everyone brought! (I think there are 2,999 beanie babies.... SMILE just kidding - but am not sure if there are any left in the US at this point) We will reload the two trucks and jump on board - heading to Oloitokitok on the foot hills of Mt Kilimanjaro for the weekend. Sabbath we will be visiting a Maasai church in Namelok and then the group can catch up on some R&R Sabbath afternoon, plus there will be an optional visit to the local hospital. Sunday clinic will be at Namelok and then back to Kibo Slopes Cottages (that is where we will be staying for the weekend - if you want to google it you might enjoy reading about it and seeing some pictures)

Monday we will load up REALLY early, did I say REALLY early? Not really - about 5am only and head back to the East Central Africa Division with the options of going on one of the trucks to visit Kajiado Rescue Center, while the other truck goes back directly to the guesthouses.Bobbie Bishop, who is on the trip with us sponsors a young girl through MDP there and will have the opportunity to meet her.

So it might be that once we head out you wont see us on the computers again till Monday evening. This is a great group to have here - full of energy! I can't wait to get them out of bed this morning and watch them experience their first day in Kenya -it will be awesome.

Thanks so much for all your prayers - keep them coming!
kim

March 2010 Medical/Dental Clinic Begins

2010-03-10T19:41:00.001-08:00

Am busy doing last minute preparations for the groups arrival tonite. I am so excited! There are 36 of us and we represent the following places:
Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Arkansas, Oregon, California, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and South Korea. There are 2 Dentists, 5 MD's, 4 RN's, 1 Highschool Teacher, 1 Retired Farmer, 12 Academy Students, 2 Elementary Students, 1 Social Worker, 1 Occupational Therapist, 1 Hospital CEO, 1 Pre-dental Student,and more!

Tomorrow morning we will sort and re-pack all the goodies that everyone is bringing and then we will head out to Oliotokitok on the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The rains have come to Kenya and that land is green. Last March the trip was very dusty -so am hoping the landscape will be a little greener - but not muddy!

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel about - I will update you after the group arrives tonite. Thanks for all you do! We could not do this without each of you!
kim

Proclaimer Radio-Faith Comes by Hearing

2009-12-31T10:29:00.000-08:00

The following is a report written by one of our MDP lay workers, Immanuel Tumpes, serving in Oloitokitok District. He received a Proclaimer Radio when they were donated by my sister, Cherry Goodridge in May. These radio's are both battery and solar operated and have the New Testament in the Maasai language. To find out more how you or your church can get involved in this program go to the following website: FaithComesByHearing.com

Enjoy the report.

Truly Faith Comes By Hearing
by
Immanuel Tumpes

The “Proclaimer” radio has been a great blessing to my people and relatives since I received it. Many of my relatives have enjoyed listening as the Word of God is being read, book to book and verse to verse to all in our own language.

Here is an amazing story of the Proclaimer impact to society. A father in-law of my elder brother is blind. According to available information, his blindness was caused from an eye infection during childhood. Although his wife is a devoted Pentecostal church believer with some of her children, the father is a fulltime drunkard. One of her sons is our church member since earlier this year. Therefore I usually visit the family and discuss the Word of God. Yet the Proclaimer created another huge bridge to the salvation of this family.

One day for visitation I planned to visit the elder with the radio and have a time to listen with him who is a very good listener with very sharp hearing. I first tuned into the epistles of John, which in large content talks about love. He appreciated it very much and we exchanged views about how love should be cherished and practiced by all. The elder urged me to spend more time with him listening. But because other family members were out for duties, I promised him to come another day. I hereby got a new chance and style to talk to him especially about his serious problem. After some months of conversation, he changed greatly and dramatically his habits. Different from the past, he can now spend one to two weeks without getting into drunkenness. When he is not in the situation he comes to me, asking for the Proclaimer.

More amazingly, he now tells everybody that his church is only “Sabato”, although he has never attended. But what I receive with more appreciation is that two others of his sons have been discussing and studying with me the Bible truths. They have accepted the message but their mother, who is a leader of an evangelical church, was pressuring them, causing an obstacle for them to join the church. However, the elder of the family who had been listening to the Proclaimer, supported them in their decision and they now have a right to worship with us. By now the two young men although still students are our church members, ready for baptism. Whenever they are at home they attend all of the church services.

What I have learned is that many people are ready and willing to listen to the Proclaimer rather than to devote time to reading for themselves. Because so many of the Maasai people are not educated and cannot read, the Proclaimer is a wonderful tool for witnessing.

The great challeng is this:

If anything now days happens anywhere in the world, it will be known very quickly all over the planet because International Broad Casting Stations are present throughout and everywhere, even in the most interior areas like Somali land.

The same is true to the Word of God. If the Proclaimer radios can be found in every home, many learned and unlearned will be very blessed by the light of truth and will come to Jesus, “They Way of Life.”

Traveling Home

2009-10-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Monday we begrudgingly packed up and left Sarova after a huge breakfast! Stopping along the way for restroom breaks and a little bit of shopping. After arriving back at the East Central Africa Division Guesthouses, we unpacked the truck. After supper we sorted the left over meds and did inventory, before packing up the supplies for the next trip in March of 2010. By the time we were done sorting and counting, no one wanted to see in medicine again! It had been a long day and everyone was tired and ready for bed.

Tuesday after breakfast we headed into Nairobi for several hours of shopping! Now, let me tell you - I have had lots of groups here, but this group took the cake for their shopping abilities! I am not sure there is anything left in the town of Nairobi for anyone else to buy!

After supper we loaded up the bus and were off to the airport!

It was a great mission trip! Each person made a difference, each person reflected Christ!

Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be a busy day for me - I will finish up the sorting and packing of supplies, run some errands in town, and visit some children that are sponsored through MDP, plus do a food and water delivery to a Maasai family. Thursday evening I will head to the airport and be back in the US on Friday. Am looking forward to seeing my family again!

Please keep the group in your prayers as we all travel over the next couple of days, and ask the Lord what He has in mind for you? He just might want you to join us our our next trip to Kenya in March!

Thanks for keeping up on our adventures on the blog!

kim

Pampering at Sarova

2009-10-27T11:35:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning we packed up early and headed to the Mara Sarova Lodge for a day and night of well deserved R&R! We arrived just before lunch - eager for hot showers and normal bathrooms! The group spent the day swimming, sleeping, shopping, bird watching and getting massages.

Around 4pm Kamunge (our driver) and I took Dr Meharry to the Keekerok airstrip for his flight back to the USA and then re-joined the group at the lodge.

The meals were incredible - a true smorgasbord! After supper we sat around a fire and watched some traditional Maasai dances before heading off to our beds for a good night's sleep!

The group had worked hard, they had stepped out of their comfort zone and given all they had - the time at Sarova was well deserved and much needed!

kim

Sabbath in the Masai Mara National Reserve

2009-10-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

Sabbath morning we all got to sleep in! What a blessing that was. Breakfast was at 8:30am. (Pancakes, mangoes, passion fruit, pineapples, papaya, granola and hot drinks) Then we had worship and put all of our things on the truck for a day of game driving and a night camping on the edge of the Mara River!

The animals were abundant and we were blessed with another leopard and spent sometime sitting next to her with her kill. We then headed out to the Mara River and had a picnic lunch under a tree, before heading to our campsite near Musiara. We stopped at gate just briefly for everyone to use the restrooms (the next 24 hours there would only be bushes to use - no running water, no bathrooms)and then headed to the forest on the edge of the Mara River. From our campsite you could see numerous types of animals. With a herd of close to 70 or more elephants hanging around. After we set up our tents we took Dr Guild to the air strip for his flight back to the USA, then headed back to camp for supper and worship by the fire.

The night sounds were incredible (the snoring was also incredible) The baboons barked out their warnings, while the hyenas laughed, the elephants trumpeted, and the hippos voiced their opinions. The stars and moon lit up the sky - it was a perfect night for camping!

There is nothing like spending the day in God's book of nature! Over all it was a fantastic Sabbath day!

You would have loved it!

kim

Friday - Clinic at Siana and Ground Breaking Ceremony

2009-10-26T21:16:00.001-07:00

As the sun rose we ate breakfast and had worship then loaded up for a few hours of viewing the wildlife on our way to clinic at Siana Primary Boarding School. The sun was warm, and the hot air balloons were rising into the sky.

The lay workers that had translated for us traveled with us today through the park - they had a great time standing up looking out of the top of the truck - they felt like tourists for the morning! SMILE

Clinic started right on time and we had many students that came to be seen. Our first visitor at clinic was a little child that had been hit in the eye with a stone. Blood was streaming down his face like tears. Once the eye was cleaned up we could see that there was no damage to the eyeball itself, just a cut on the edge of the skin by the eye. It was once again a busy day for all areas of the clinic.

At 2:45pm we closed clinic up in order to make it to the special ground breaking ceremony for the new hostel. They bused a group of children from Siana Primary Boarding School over to the ceremony (those that are sponsored through MDP were part of the group). The site looks great, and the fence is fabulous. I am sure Jan or Celeste will share on the blog about the site and the ceremony so won't go into too much detail, other then to say it was a honor to be a part of it and have the mission group participants there to join in. The children from Siana are so very excited about having a place to call home!

After the ceremony we headed back to Game Trackers Campsite - supper was ready, showers were hot, and the fire was lit. We welcomed in the Sabbath hours around the fire with worship and then headed to bed. Our last clinic was done - and all of were ready for the rest that only Sabbath can offer.

Happy Sabbath to all -

kim

Thursdays Clinic in Talek

2009-10-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

At 6:15 am we all were loading the truck for an early morning game drive! The Masai Mara is so very dry - in fact I have never seen it this dry in all of the 18 years that I have lived in Kenya. We bumped along slowly over the roads, stopping to take pictures of all the animals. Before heading back to camp for breakfast we were blessed with several lions laying around and a cheetah eating a gazelle.

After breakfast and worship we left for our day of clinic at Talek. There were people already waiting outside the clinic site when we arrived, so we quickley set up and registration started. It was a busy day for all! The little baby that the March '09 group had treated for burns over most of his body was brought to the clinic. He is looking so good. We had a chance to visit with the family and local clinician after the clinic was over and we decided to step out in faith and send the little baby to Kendu Bay Adventist Hospital to have surgery on his foot, so he will be able to walk again. Several of you have mentioned to me that you would be interested in helping with this surgery - and I thank you for that.

After clinic we headed back to camp to drop off some items and use the restrooms - and then headed back into the park for a late afternoon/evening game drive. The animals were once again amazing - and we were blessed with a leopard!

Around sundown we arrived back in camp and Margaret had supper waiting, there were hot showers and a fire to sit by. As we fell into bed that night the hyneas laughed and the wind blew, while the stars twinkled above.

Wish you could all be here with us!

kim

Wednesday - Trip through Narok

2009-10-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

After breakfast and worship we loaded up the truck and set out for Masai Mara National Reserve, with several stops planned along the way.

First stop was on the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. We stopped at a curio store with a great view of the Rift, and the group had a couple of minutes to shop and use the restrooms.

Second stop was in the town of Narok, a larger town bustling with Maasai, cows, goats, sheep, matatu's (vans that are taxis) and motorcycles. We had an 11:00am appointment at the Narok Hospital - Jim Anderson, one of the mission trip participants had brought a defibrillator donated by Cal-Ore Emergency Flight Service for the hospital. There were hospital administrators, government officials, and community on hand to participate in the donation ceremony. Some of you might remember the little girl that we had seen on our July mission trip that had fallen into the fire and burned her eye. Her father brought her to the hospital in Narok for me to see. She was beautiful! They had done a great job on her eye, and her smile had come back. They are not done with surgery yet though - this next week they are returning to the hospital to have a false eye put in. I cant wait till next March to see the final outcome. This little girl's life has changed - and it is because of each of you - those that give for the mission trips, and those who came and gave what they had to help pay for the hospital bills. Thank you - you have no idea the difference you have made!

Third stop was a short stop at at another curio store - so our driver could get a little break, and the group could spend a few minutes shopping and using the restrooms again.

Fourth stop was at Sekenani Gate - then main entrance to Masai Mara National Reserve. We drove slowly through the park enjoying all the animals.

Fifth and final stop was Game Trackers Campsite on the edge of the Masai Mara National Reserve. We unloaded everything, moved into our little cabins. After supper we relaxed by the fire and ended the day with worship.

God had blessed us all day! But then that should not be a surprise - for He always blesses!

kim

KMQ (Kenya Marble Quarry) Clinics

2009-10-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

On Monday and Tuesday we did clinics in the KMQ area. Plenty of people showed up for both of them and kept us on our toes the entire time! At Tuesdays clinic we had a man show up with a wound on his thumb. The thumb was quite swollen so Dr Guild checked it out and found a small stone in it. Evidently the man works at the quarry. We put the stone in a small clear bag so he could take it to work and show them what we had found inside of his thumb.

It seemed like most patients had back aches, chest pain or bad coughs. We treated a lady that was probably in the final stages of cancer. She had a deep ulcer on her heel that was so deep you could see the bone.

After clinic today we all packed up for the Mara, loaded supplies on the truck and enjoyed a little more relaxed evening for a change. The group surprised me with a wonderful chocolate cake! It was a big surprise and appreciated a lot. My birthday is on Sabbath while in the Mara so I had no clue what was coming, but it sure was a yummy surprise!

Tomorrow we leave for Narok District where we will stop briefly in the town of Narok to donate a defibrillator to the hospital there (thanks to Cal-Ore) and will also have opportunity to visit the little girl that the mission group in July treated for a burned eye. She has had eye surgery since the July trip so it will be nice to see how she is doing and send the group an update on her.

We wont have internet or electricity till next Monday night - so wont be able to update the blog. Please keep us on your prayers though as we travel and continue to share Christ in Maasailand.

We will update you Monday night next week! Thanks for checking the blog and praying for us!

kim

Clinic in Ilparakuo

2009-10-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

Over Ngong Hills and down into the Great Rift Valley we traveled. The road is like a long winding snake traveling through the dry rocky land. The clouds were still covering Ngong and the mist was thick as we traveled. Today was our first clinic and we were headed for the little village of Ilparakuo near Lake Magadi. Rain had come to the area and the acacia trees were green, although there was no grass below them.

After we arrived and had prayer with the lay workers we set up quickly in two different rooms and we were ready to begin. Medical/Wound Care treated about 170 people yesterday and Dental treated 39. It was a busy day and we had to turn many away at the end.

On the way home we stopped to give out water to those waiting for us by the side of the road (they knew we had extra, so had brought their containers to the road). We got back to the East Central Division Guesthouses just in time for supper! It was a great day - and everyone one seemed to enjoy themselves!

Monday we are heading out to the Kenya Marble Quarry area to do our second clinic. It will be a very busy day! Please ask God to give us the extra strength and health that we need to do what He has asked us to do!

Why not consider now joining us next time?

Appreciate all of you so much!

kim

Sabbath in Kajiado District

2009-10-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

The rain stopped during the night and by morning it appeared that the grass was already turning green again! After breakfast we loaded the truck and headed out to Esukata - passing Ostrich, Giraffe, Zebra and Thompsons Gazelles along the way.

The members of the Esukata church has built a metal structure with cut out windows and little wooden benches. With the members and our group we filled the little church. Every visitors was asked to stand and share who they were and where they were from. Following special music, Marlin Meharry gave the sermon.

Several in our group sponsor children or lay workers and today was a a special day for both Karla McKinven and Jim Anderson! Karla sponsors Samwel Saruni who is being raised by lay pastor Daniel Sinti. It was great watching her a Samwel interact. It was if they were made for each other!

After church we stopped by at the Kajiado Rehab Rescue Center to visit the girls that are sponsored through Maasai Development Project. Jim Anderson and his wife sponsor two girls there, and Jim had the opportunity to visit with them while we were there. It was great to see him hugging them and reminding both of them that they are loved by him and his wife.

From there we went to see Joshua who is about 7 years old and is sponsored by a little boy his age in the US. While there the group had opportunity to go inside the Maasai homes and check them out.

It was a great day, and we all had a fantastic time. It was truly a blessed Sabbath day! Wish you could have all been here with us!

Tomorrow we are off to Magadi for our first clinic day! Keep us in your prayers!

kim

A Perfect Day

2009-10-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

Because of the pouring rain yesterday, we had to postpone our trip out to the old Mzee's boma to deliver food for his family. Unfortunately, our 4-wheel drive is not working and though we have the parts ordered, they've not yet arrived!

Celeste was praying all night that God would keep the rain away from us today so we could go and worship with the mission group out in Esukuta. We woke up to gray sky's but the rain stayed away. We discovered that the rain has still not come as far as Kajiado, so people there are still suffering from the drought.

Marlin gave the sermon today, his topic, letting God fight the battles in our lives. Since he is staying with the mission group and not here at the house, little did he know that God used him to speak to Celeste's and my heart. Just this morning, Celeste and I were talking and praying about that very subject. God showed us so many verses and promises this morning. As usual, Satan is stirring the pot with a certain group trying to disrupt and destroy. We are learning a great lesson on "Waiting on the Lord".

After church we accompanied the mission group to visit the girls at Kajiado Rescue Centre. What fun we had with the girls. Later the girls sang for us. I could have listened to them all day! Before leaving, I had the opportunity to speak with the girls for a few minutes about dreaming, setting goals and the ability to achieve their dreams. The potential in the girls is amazing.

Leaving Kajiado, we traveled to Kisaju to visit the Sumug family, especially Joshua Tenina. He is the little boy who was born in my truck 7 years ago and who's mother died from a ruptured uterus, bleeding out in my truck. She was a good friend of mine, we actually got her to a clinic, where they packed her, but by the time we got her to the hospital and she had surgery, it was too late. I remember giving my blood to help, unfortunately there was not enough blood available to help her. While she was in surgery the song, "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus" came on over the radio. As I looked at the hematoma on my arm from giving my blood in hopes that she would live, I was reminded that only the blood of Jesus gives us life.

As we were driving up to the boma today, I could see some little children running out towards us, I knew one of them was Tenina. I jumped out of the truck and knelt down with my arms open. Tenina came running up to me and threw himself in my arms. My heart melted all over the ground.

Looking around the outside of the boma area, we saw dead cows. In one area alone were about 5 dead cows. They lay in every direction, a constant reminder of the devastation of the drought. The stomachs were slit so that the dogs and vultures would eat them.

After saying good-by to the Sumug family, we left to visit yet another daughter of Nalamai (the mother of Tenina). When we arrived, we found that Damarice was sick so we didn't stay long. What a wonderful day we had fellowshipping and reconnecting with life long friends in Maasailand.

From Kisaju on, Marlin road in our vehicle. It felt kind of strange leaving him off at the Division with the rest of the group and coming on home without him. I won't see him now for a couple of days. Seems funny we are in the same country and yet still apart. I think something is wrong with this picture.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org
Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time.
Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

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Visit to Sheldricks & Giraffe Feeding Center

2009-10-16T08:22:00.001-07:00

Last night the group arrived safely! Praise God.

What a blessing - it rained all night long - we desperately needed the rain! This morning after breakfast we packed our sack lunches and headed out for Sheldricks Elephant Orphanage. They baby elephants ranged in ages from 3 weeks to almost 2 years old. They had more orphans then they had ever had before. It was great to watch them being fed their bottles, to touch there fuzzy trunks, and coarse backs. They played in the mud and pushed each other around. The rain held off just long enough for us to enjoy all the baby elephants - then there was a big down pour. Some ran for the buildings, others of us gathered under bushes until it past then we headed back to the bus and on to the Giraffe Feeding Center. While at there a few in the group were bold enough to put the grain pellet between their lips and let the giraffe take it - aka "Giraffe Kiss!

Some shopped at the little gift stores until I thought they would drop from exhaustion - but it appears that some in this group are serious shoppers! I told them I was going to have to get my big stick out to help them STOP buying things! SMILE

We got back to the East Central Africa Division Guesthouse about 2:30pm. Some headed for the showers and others took a little nap. Then we all spent sometime sorting and repacking supplies for Sundays clinic. Even with all the rain it was a great day. We are all heading to supper now and will open the Sabbath hours with worship.

Tomorrow we will be out at Esukata for church, then will be stopping by the Kajiado Rehab Centre to visit the girls that are sponsored through MDP.

Thank you for your prayers! God is good - as ALWAYS.

Happy Sabbath
kim

Mission Group Arrives Tonight!

2009-10-14T22:15:00.000-07:00

We have a busy day ahead of us - tonite the mission group arrives, I can't wait! They come from California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota! They represent many profession - Dentist, Doctor, Registered Nurses, Paramedic, EMT, Lab Scientist, X-Ray Tech, Auditor, Secretary and me!
Three in the group sponsor children though MDP and two sponsor a lay worker. Jan Meharry's husband - Marlin is joining us on the trip, and I cannot even begin to share with you all that he does for MDP!

Please keep us all in your prayers as we travel and minister to the people of Kenya. We want to reflect Christ in all that we do!

Stayed tuned for all our adventures - thank you to all of you for your prayers and support! None of us could do this without you!

kim

Visit to Meru!

2009-10-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Jan and I headed up to Meru to visit 10 of the secondary girls that are sponsored through Maasai Development Project. We headed out around 5am and drove for a little over 4 hours to the little school out in the middle of nowhere! (The last 25k we bounced up around on a little dirt rode) Meru is in the Eastern Province of Kenya with fantastic views of Mt. Kenya.

The girls were expecting us and we were able to sit down with them and catch up on everything. It had been a long time since we had seen them. They updated their bios, wrote letters to their sponsors and we took pictures of them. Then it was time for the 4 hour drive back home.

It was great seeing them again - they are growing up so very fast. You would be proud of them. I was especially proud of Siapei who seemed to be doing better in school and looked so happy. (Siapei was an 8th grader that gave birth to a little boy that MDP took it - Samwel Saruni who is 2 years old now)

kim

Drought, Dust, Dead Cows and Hunger

2009-10-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

There have been several visitors at the gate today. There are times you dread having visitors because you know that once again there will be another plea for help. Maasai Development Project is set up such that all monies are designated to specific projects. Such as lay worker sponsorships, children's sponsorships, building projects,
food program, education etc. When visitors come to the gate, any help that is not within the designations must come out of my pocket. When the money runs out, I have nothing more to live on. It is so hard to say no when you see pain, hunger or despair in a face. Today was no exception.

I don't usually like to give money because it buys a bit of food today but tomorrow the stomach is hungry again. One of the visitors was a lady that I knew needed help but how could I help her help herself? I had just bought a packet of beans, so decided to give it to her to start a small business. She will cook up the packet of beans and sell them by the cupful. She will then go and buy two packets of beans with the profit and thus start a small business. The first day she will not have a profit for herself, but within a week or two she should be able to have profit enough to help feed her children and continue her business. In Kenya,people buy cooked beans on their way home from work to add to their dinner that night. Thus they don't have to wait for beans to cook before eating, speeding up the cooking process at home. Since she will have no overhead with this first packet of beans she should be able to take all the profit to buy two packets. I will check up on her in a week's time to see if she has been successful. Oh how I pray so.

Think about it, if your family is starving, will you actually use that packet to start a business or will you listen to the cries of your hungry children and feed them instead. If you wait, a business can be started to help sustain your hungry children, but in the meantime can you ignore the cries of your children? This is the decision that this lady will have to make when she gets home. My heart cries for her.

Then an old Mzee came, last time I was here I had given him 3,000/= for his daughter's education out of my pocket. Today he was back needing 5,000/=. In the meantime his wife has died, he is in debt and had sold all his cattle to try to help her. What he didn't sell, died in the drought. Today I gave him 3,000/= more for his daughter's education,
but as I looked at his sunken cheeks and painful eyes while watching him slumped over in the chair, I couldn't bare to see him go away
hungry. I came back to the house gave him a bag of maize meal potatoes, tomatoes, what few beans I had left and a head of cabbage. I gave it to the Maasai guard that works for us and asked him to cook a meal for the Mzee and send the left over food home with him. Before I left them to their meal, I prayed for God's blessing. As I prayed I could feel God's sadness and longing for His dear children.

Walking back to my house I began to cry. Have I ever known true hunger? Has there ever been a time when I can truly say there is no hope? The look of this old Mzee will forever be with me. My heart breaks.

I don't have enough for everyone but at least this one man won't go home hungry today. This is one man of thousands in the same situation here in Kenya. People are dying! They say an elninio (sp) is coming, but when? Even my home is a dust bowl right now. Driving
down the road the other day I saw a dead cow, just left outside of the village. Another man was herding the few cows he had left, one of his cows lying alongside the road, the owner kneeling beside it willing it to live. An overwhelming sense of sadness washed over me as I witnessed the suffering of both man and beast.

Maasai Development Project is joining hands with East Central Division with their food program. Won't you join hands with us as we feed one family at a time? Just $3000 feeds 150 families. Together we can make a difference. Make you tax deductible contribution to Maasai Development Project, PO Box 394, Harvey, ND 58341 or donate through our web site using PayPal.

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Achieving Dreams

2009-10-08T20:11:00.001-07:00

How blessed I am to be part of Maasai Development Project! An episode of the Oprah show has gotten me so excited. It showcased the story of an incredible woman, Tererai, who grew up in a rural village in Zimbabwe. She desperately wanted to go to school, but her father would not let her attend. That didn't stop her! She took her brother's books and taught herself. Finally her father let her attend but only for two years. Tererai was married at the age of eleven and had three children before eighteen. One day twenty years ago, a lady from Heifer International visited her village. Sitting in a circle with the young women of the village, she asked them, "What are your dreams?" Tererai's strong, yet quiet demeanor caught the lady's attention. "What is your dream?" she asked. Tererai knew what she wantedan education! Tererai's mother told her to write her dream down. She wrote down four things: go to America, get a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master's degree and, finally, a PhD. Putting the paper in a tin container, she buried it under a rock in a field where she herded cows. Remarkably, Tererai has achieved her dreams after all. She never forgot the lady who told her, "You can achieve your dreams!" Those five words changed her life.

Another lady from India shared how her husband had accumulated debt and would beat her because of it. Her sister-in-law made fun of her when she had no food to feed her children and her mother-in-law told her husband to take a second wife because she only gave him daughters. She was empowered by a small loan (under $100) to start her own business. She negotiated her first contract for beadwork and has done such beautiful work that she has been busy ever since. She has even paid back her loan, paid off all her husband's debt, hired thirty employees, including her husband, and the entire community borrows money from her. There is no mention of a second wife now! She is educating her three daughters so they will not face what she has.

Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn shared that we "change the course of history by educating girls." It was stated that the greatest moral challenge of our time is to educate girls and empower women to change their lives. MDP has been giving young girls an education, many that have been rescued before an early marriage and some after they've been married, thus changing not only their lives but the lives of their children as well. Adult literacy and income generating projects, sponsored by MDP, have empowered Maasai women to change their lives, and in turn, change their families and communities. Last March, I looked into Sylvia's eyes and tried to imagine how she felt. Her brother had taken some dowry for her to be a child bride, but the chief came and asked MDP to rescue her so she could finish her education. One child, one set of eyes, one story, yet how will just this one make a difference in the world?

The United States government has discovered that areas with the highest concentration of uneducated girls have the greatest growth of terrorists. Each of us has the opportunity to make a difference in this world right now! There are many organizations that are changing lives through educating girls and empowering women, and I am proud to say that Maasai Development Project is just such an organization.

One lady saw an episode of the Oprah show several years ago and sponsored two women from the Congo who had been raped and were in the middle of the civil war. Exchanging letters with them inspired her to put together a run to raise funds to sponsor more women. Finally, she traveled to Congo to see firsthand the impact these letters of support had on the women, even more than the money they received. Last year, she raised enough money for her organization to sponsor 1,000 women. The true impact of this will take years to be realized as those women raise over 5,000 children whose lives will be changed as a result of their mothers' sponsorship.

What can you do? Pray and ask God to show you what He desires of you. Remember that words of encouragement change lives. Share your resources with those in need. You can achieve your dreams. We can change the course of history by educating a girl. I hope that you will choose MDP to be part of how you help empower others.

Sunday

2009-07-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Morning came all too soon - we had scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast before heading to Sarova Mara Lodge for a little pampering! We stopped briefly at Sekanani gate to allow the shopaholics in the group to spend their money - and then headed to the lodge in time for lunch. If you have not been to Sarova you have truly missed out on a wonderful treat! Their hospitality is amazing! They were fully booked and so they put me in the managers three bedroom home! I had a huge bathtub that I quickly filled up with hot water -I think there was more dirt on all of us then there was on the ground!

The group swam, played ping-pong, had massages and slept! They deserved it after working so hard at each clinic. It was Heather's 18th birthday and we celebrated it in royal style at supper time. They had made a cake for her and sang to her several traditional songs! She was totally surprised and it was great fun to be a part of it.

Tomorrow we head back to Maxwell Adventist Academy - we will sort medicines, and repack for the October trip. If you know of anyone who would be interested in donating supplies please put them in contact with me. We are in real need of dental instruments.

God was so good to each of us - and we all were blessed as alway. We saw over a 1000 patients in the little time we were here. Our lives have been changed and renewed once again!

Thank you for praying for us! The group flies out starting early Tuesday morning. Heather and I will head back to the US on Thursday morning. Pray for safe traveling mercies for all of us -

Join us next time - as we reflect Christ once again in Maasailand!

kim

Sabbath

2009-07-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

We decided to get a little extra rest and moved breakfast to 9am (pancakes, syrup and lots of fresh fruit) After breakfast we packed up the truck with all our belongings and head up to the Mara River. On our way we came across a beautiful blacked necked spitting cobra - about 2 meters in length! Once we got up to the river we decided to stop for a picnic lunch. There was a small problem - at our picnic area there was a very large male lion relaxing, so we opted to allow him to stay and we would pick a different tree to eat under.

After lunch we drove up to Musiara Swamp to spend the night in the park in a wooded area along the Mara River. The animals were incredible! From camp we could see a pride of 14 lions. The baboons were in the trees near us, impala and other gazelle grazed near by and hippos and crocs were next to us in the river. The noises of all the animals kept everyone on their toes.

After worship we roasted marshmallows and hotdogs, sang camp songs, spotted animals with our flashlights and headed to bed. About 1 am the lions roaring got quite loud and I was worried the fire had gone out - I knew no one else would venture out to check on things so got my flashlight and crawled out of my warm tent to put some more logs on the fire. The fire was out, but the coals were still hot, so all I had to do was add some more logs to it. Those who needed to go to the bathroom and heard me at the fire opted to crawl out of their tents and use the bushes near the tents to go to the bathroom.

kim

Friday

2009-07-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

Up again early for breakfast and worship then we headed out to Siana Boarding School per a request of one of the head teachers there to check on some of their students. Seeing we had seen everyone in the village the day before we agreed to do Siana for a couple of hours. Not long after starting clinic a lady from a boma not far from the school came and got me to come to their boma and check on a lady that had been in labor for over 24 hours. Norbert and I grabbed some gloves and other items and headed by foot to her home. As we neared you could see the smoke coming out of the small fist size windows and doors - they had a very large fire going in the mud home to keep it warm (it was already very warm outside with the sun shining) Once our eyes adjusted to the darkness we could see her laying on the ground, she appeared to be in her 50's, this was her 6th or 7th child. We used a very dim flashlight that they had and Norbert examined her. The baby was not in the right position and he tried to move it, but was unsuccessful. He explained to them that he would need to do a vaginal examine but they refused - there was nothing else we could do, but tell them unless they got help from a hospital both the mom and the baby could die. Then we headed back to the clinic site to join the rest of the group.

After finishing up clinic we headed back into the park - only to come upon our leopard friend again, more cheetahs and lions. At 4:30 pm we took Norbert and Gordon to the Keekerok Airstrip in the park as they were flying back to the US. We watched them board their plane and then take off, before we headed out for our campsite.

After supper we sat by the fire and brought in the Sabbath by singing for about an hour. The stars would out and they hyenas and lions called - you could feel the peace of the Sabbath day!

kim

Thursday

2009-07-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Clinic was at Kijirijiri today. We left about 6:45am and took a couple of hours game driving on the way to clinic. We saw several cheetah and lions, plus numerous grazing animals. Clinic went well. We saw more little children then I think we have ever seen at a clinic. Jonathan our dentist was kept very busy pulling teeth and I had the opportunity to hold lots of his little victims, sorry I mean patients on my lap - bribing them with all sorts of goodies if they would sit still.

We left about an hour early from clinic because we had seen everyone in the village.On our way back to camp we had the privilege of seeing a beautiful leopard as it walked next to us along the road and then took a few moments to sit on the road and pose for us. There was a huge herd of elephant that hung around us for a little while too.

As the sun went down we had a great supper and sat by the fire for worship. Another great day seeing animals and a fantastic clinic day! God is good!

kim

Wednesday

2009-07-27T10:02:00.001-07:00

We were up bright and early in the morning. Ate breakfast and took down our tents in the dark. We all had one goal in mind - get to the Masai Mara National Park as soon as possible, unpack at camp and head up to the Mara River to see some wildlife. We bounced along the roads at a fairly good speed. We reached camp by late morning and quickly took our things to our bandas (cabins)before jumping back on the truck and heading towards the river.

We were blessed with lions, cheetahs and all the grazing animals you could see, plus crocs and hippos! We stopped by to visit the baby that we had had in clinic in Talek that had been badly burned - and he was doing great! He had healed up well, except for one foot had not done well, and without several surgeries he probably be crippled, but we were glad he was doing as well as he was. We then headed slowly back to camp for a great warm supper and hot showers before falling into bed for the night.

kim

Monday & Tuesday

2009-07-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we traveled into the Great Rift Valley and up over the escarpment through the town of Narok to a little village called Olmusakwa. The lay workers had fenced in the church property (the church is under a few trees - there is no structure, just a couple of benches and a pulpit)

We set up camp and made a fire. The weather was quite cold. After supper and worship we headed up the cow path towards a few of the stores. It was dark and we had little toys that light up in the dark to hand out to any children that might be around. We found a few on the road and gave them each one. It was not long before there were children running everywhere with the glowing toys.

Tuesday we started clinic around 8:30am in an unfinished clinic that was just near to our campsite. We saw hundreds of patients and had to turn hundreds away due to it getting dark in the evening. We sent one baby that was two weeks old to the hospital. She was in serious condition and every now and again would just stop breathing, along with her we sent a young boy who's knee was terribly infected and needed IV antibiotics. Later in the afternoon we had a young girl come in that had had a seizure and fallen into a fire. Her eyeball was burned and her eyelid of course was gone. It was badly infected and the flies were in it. I had some contact numbers and we were able to send her to the Eye Hospital in Kikuyu. We have asked the family to contact us and let us know what the cost will be to have her eye removed and the infection taken care of. If you would like to help with the cost of her surgery please let us know. Several of us on the trip are pitching in to help the family out.
We also brought a wheel chair with us and were able to give it to a young girl (16 years old or so) who had polio and could not walk. It was fun watching them push her away in her new chair.

Each evening it there was a light rain and it was so very cold. We all bundled up and some slept with all their clothes on.

It was a blessing to be there - and the people we visited and served seemed to be so very appreciative. God blessed, as He always does!

kim

Sabbath and Sunday

2009-07-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

We headed out bright and early Sabbath morning after eating warm cinnamons rolls and hash browns, with lots of fresh pineapple, mangoes, passion fruit, sweet melons, oranges, and finger bananas.

A family of six joined us for the over night outing to Mashuru, which was great! They were from Texas and Maryland. The road was dusty and bumpy, but lots of fun for the group as they spotted zebra, giraffe, gazelle and other creatures along the way. We got to Mashuru just as Sabbath School was ending and got to listen to the children singing.

For the church service Dr Gordon Guild spoke, and I told stories to the children outside (as the church was too full to house everyone) They meet in a school and use one of the classrooms to worship in. It would be great for them to be able to put up a church in the area - and we prayed that wish would come true for them someday soon. After the church service was over they had Communion Service which several of us joined in on. It was a wonderful honor to to participate with them. As the Maasai lady knelt with me and prayed for me, and then proceeded to wash my feet and legs I felt so incredibly blessed. I in turn prayed for her and washed her feet and it was an experience I will never forget. What a honor and privilege to be a part of such a special occasion and be in Maasailand to do it.

After lunch we set up our tents and most of headed out for a hike to Lay Pastor Julius Mooke's home. Five of the other lay pastors were there with us as we walked along the dusty cow's path to his home from our campsite. We visited in his home for a while and then it was nearing evening and so we headed back to campsite. After a great supper of sloppy joes and fresh fruit, most sat by the fire and visited while others headed to bed. I joined the young adults still at the fire and told stories of camping with the lions near by.... they are all so excited about camping Saturday night in the Masai Mara National Reserve!

Our driver had forgotten to put in 22 mattresses and we were two short, so he slept in the truck and I slept in my tent on the hard ground. It was not the greatest nights sleep, I can tell you that! But I survived! Most were kept up during the night by the noisy hyenas that cackled and laughed around us all night long.

Sunday morning came all too soon and we were up (everyone bundled in warm clothes). After breakfast we set up for clinic and the people started to arrive. It was a somewhat slow day, but that was good being it was the first day for everyone. Gave them a chance to organize themselves a little better. We had another anthrax case, and a stick injury to an eye (the doc's believe there was still a part of the stick in his eye) and just the other basic medical and dental problems we usually see.

We had brought water for the people in the area and filled up their water container with about 15 twenty liter cans of water for them. Then headed back toward home with our translators - dropping them off in Kajiado on the way. Back at Maxwell Adventist Academy we unpacked and repacked the vehicle for our our week long trip to the Masai Mara area. Our first stop tomorrow will be at Olmusakwa where we will set up camp and do clinic on Tuesday.

We said good-bye to the family of six that joined us - but they are hooked and they promised to join us on a trip in the future! It's time to take a nice hot bath and head to bed. Tomorrow we head toward the Masai Mara - my favorite place on this earth!

Thanks for all your prayers - we feel them daily! Wish you could all be here with us! Miss you all!

kim

Friday Outing

2009-07-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

The group all arrived safely last night and today we are headed out to Sheldricks Elephant Orphanage and the Giraffe Feeding Center. We had a fantastic time at both places. Sheldricks had 21 baby elephants and a very young rhino that was a cheecky as they come! Most of group was brave enough to get a kiss from Daisy the giraffe. (You put the grain pellet between your lips and the Daisy the giraffe will gently take it out with her tongue, most of the time it is a nice clean take, but sometimes it is very sloppy wet one)

The rest of the day we spent re-packing, sleeping, playing basketball and walking around taking in the view at Maxwell Adventist Academy.

For the most part it was a relaxing day and gave the group a chance to get over some of their jet lag.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers!

kim

Medical/Dental Team arrives today!

2009-07-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Today is the day! Am so excited to pick everyone up at the airport!

Yesterday Heather and I went out to Mashuru to check out the clinic site, figure out the best spots to put our tents up, and meet the Chief of Mashuru. We also got to visit with Gracie in her school and that was great fun. After that we headed to Kajiado and visited with all the children there. We gave out their packets in the dining-room and they loved all the little goodies that their sponsors sent. Heather helped the ones that struggled with writing, we blew up balloons, read Primary Treasure stories to them and taught Janet Nkale to be a photographer. She had my camara and we all posed for shots. Before we headed out, Heather did some gymnastic for them (back bends, and handstands) which many of them attempted, much to the amusement of the others.

We stopped by and visited with Lay Pastor Daniel Sinti and family. He and his wife take care of Samwel the little baby that we took in about 2 years ago. In March he had burned his arm, so I wanted to check up on him and see how it was doing. He was great and his arm had healed up wonderfully. From their we went to see Tenina who was out taking care of the cows near his home ( he is probably about 7 years old). He was so excited to see, and came running from over the little hill that he was on with the cows. We visited for awhile and then headed back to Maxwell Adventist Academy.

After a very long evening of sorting meds and re-packing them we headed to bed (around 1:00am) This morning we are up bright and early and ready for a day of shopping, baking, and airport pick ups. It feels a little warmer today, which is great! Yesterday morning I sat on the front steps of the ad building (I can get wireless there) checking emails and I could see my breath even with the sun shining on me.

I wish you could all be here with us. I am so fortunate to be able to come and be a part of this! I just love it!

Monday

2009-07-13T08:50:00.000-07:00

It was good to put our feet on solid ground after what seemed like forty hours of flying time (actually it was just a little over 20 hours this time)! We fell into bed about 12:30am last night and I was up before 6am this morning - not a solid nights sleep at all!

It was quite cold last night and early this morning, but when the sun broke through the clouds it brought some warmth our way. After a somewhat busy day I took my lap top and sat on the stairs outside facing Ngong Hills and the setting sun, it felt good on my face and I realized how good it is to be back home in Kenya. After about 20 minutes of emailing I realized that I was sitting in a nest of little tiny ants.....and I once again was welcomed back to Africa!

Tomorrow Heather and I will head off to the MDP office to pick up all the mission trip supplies that are stored there and then we'll spend the day sorting and packing.

Thank you all for your encouraging emails and prayers, they mean so very much to me.

kim

Adventure begins...

2009-07-11T04:52:00.000-07:00

We are off on yet another medical/dental mission clinic trip. Heather and I will arrive in Kenya on Sunday evening very late (Heather is a senior at Great Lakes Adventist Academy in Michigan)The rest of the group will arrive on Thursday, July 16

There are 13 of us on this trip, coming from Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Ohio and Zambia. All of us wanting to represent one thing - Jesus! We will be visiting Mashuru in Kajiado District - joining in the church service on Sabbath, doing home visits Sabbath afternoon and a clinic on Sunday. Then we will head to Narok District and do a clinic in Olmusakwa before heading down to the Mara for two more clinics in Kijirijiri. While in the Mara area we will be able to stop by and check out the new hostel area and visit with Josh Knowles who has already started the building process.We will also stop by and check up on the baby in Talek that was so badly burned in March when we were there.

Join us on the blog as we step out in faith. Pray that we will represent Christ in the right way, that fear, nervousness, prejudices, and pride will melt away. We are called by Christ and regardless of the circumstance's we will face, this is HIS work and we must be about HIS business. It is not our job to worry about the outcome or our safety, but instead to willing do what HE asks.

kim

Samwel Falls into the Fire

2009-05-30T04:12:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning when I arrived in Kajiado to meet with the Division for the food distribution in KMQ, I was met by MDP Lay Pastor, Daniel Sinti. Daniel and his wife, Florence are foster parents for baby Samwel. whom MDP is sponsoring. Samwel's mother was a class 8 student at the Kajiado Rescue Center when she became pregnant. The baby was placed into the Sinti's home so that Samwel's mother could continue her education.

Daniel told me that Samwel had just fallen into the cooking fire and had burned his arm badly. Transport was arranged to carry baby and mother to the hospital. That evening, arriving back from the food distribution in KMQ, I went to the hospital to visit Samwel where he had been admitted. As I walked into the room, there was also another baby girl about the same age who that morning had fallen into a cooking fire. My heart broke as I saw the pain in the mother's eyes and the children. Florence was instructed to hold Samwel's arm away from his side and straight for 48 hours. What can be more painful than to see your child in pain and know you can't take it away? I spent some time with the two mothers and prayed with them before saying goodbye. I want to express my appreciation to those who contribute into the medical fund for such emergencies as this.

On Thursday, I am happy to say, Samwel was released from hospital. He is still on medication and must be very careful while continuing treatment but other than the scarred arm should have full recovery.

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Maasai Baptism

2009-05-30T03:55:00.000-07:00

This last week seemed to be on fast forward, so am taking a day off today to rest before finishing up in the office tomorrow and flying out tomorrow night.

Last weekend was very eventful and a highlight for me on this trip. Sabbath, 28 Maasai men and women were baptized from the KMQ area at the Kajiado main church. There were supposed to be 30 but two of them missed the transport vehicle. We sent Ogecha back to get them but by then they had already walked home. Word came to us later, that they were so disappointed that they missed the baptism. I guess the lorry we hired to bring them wanted to go somewhere after dropping them so did not want to wait for them. The candidates were well received by the church who provided food for them. This was especially appreciated because most people came with hungry stomachs due to the continued drought in their area. After the baptism we presented each candidate with a Ki-Maasai Bible.

As we were sitting in church that morning, to our surprise, MDP Lay Pastor, Joseph Sampao was called to the front for ordination as church elder. Our workers had kept this as a surprise. What a privilege to witness this event. It was a long day, but one that I would not have missed for anything.

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Hunger

2009-05-21T01:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent some time reading through monthly reports of our MDP Lay Pastors and Literacy Teachers. Each one from a particular area had the same message. Please pray that this drought will be over. In most of Kenya, the rains have come and yet there are still areas where drought is causing havoc. Let me share with you a few of our reports.

"....Nearly 3/4 of the people have migrated to the neighbouring country of Tanzania while others have gone to Kajiado South district. For those who were left back we are praying for all those who have lost their animals" Literacy Teacher, Christine

"I experienced that anything can affect peoples life, even drought. In our area there was a rich man having four hundred cows and then drought became higher and happens that his cows are dying all the time.

One morning the man met 20 cows dead, he wondered so much with many questions on his head and so surprised about it, that he thought the end of the world had come. The man fainted and was admitted for three days in the hospital without eating or drinking.

It was a lesson to me that we need a lot of prayer and to read the Word of God every day. To have strong faith in God and believe God and not our cattle." Literacy Teacher, Jacklyn

"Due to this drought it is affecting our adult classes. People are busy struggling for their animals and also food to eat because now days in most cases many people are fainting because they are too hungry"

"The situation is very difficult according to this month concerning the drought and famine that is affecting our people and animals. In fact most of the people were loosing hope because of this drought and it is becoming a national disaster.....Those who have not moved, it is very difficult to meet them because they are struggling for their food. In fact we are praying a lot so that our Lord may remember us." Lay Pastor Julius Mooke

"Natural calamity is a major problem at my place. Cattle are dead and people are going up and down looking for pasture and water. Most people are hungry" Lay Pastor, Justus Korinan

While the rain fail has delayed,, so many people lost hope and their trust to God. Therefore they began to offer sacrifices to God so that they will receive rain. If at all you tell them that they put their trust in God and not in sacrifices and they will still receive rain, they say, "Us Maasai are loosing some of these things just because we have left our culture and what we were doing before." I looked at them and wondered, where are we heading too?" Literacy Teacher, Nancy

I slept very little last night, I could not stop thinking about these people. We want to teach them about God, teach them to read and receive education. What do they learn from an empty stomach? Is the God we are teaching in theory only or is He a God of action? Did not Jesus first feed the hungry and heal the sick and then touch their hearts with his message of love? When Jesus was asked, "who is my neighbor", what did he say? Whoever is hungry, whoever is homeless, whoever is needy, these are your neighbors.

With this in mind, I am pledging to use the money I brought over to fix the shower in my bedroom and I will use it to feed my hungry brothers and sisters. I would like to challenge each of you to ask God what He wants you to do to help. One person alone cannot do very much but together we can change a community. Please send your tax deductible donation for "Feeding the Hungry", to Maasai Development Project, PO Box 394, Harvey, ND 58341 or make an online payment through this web site. Please pray for me and those who are in the field working to touch lives for Jesus.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time
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Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

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Hungry People

2009-05-19T21:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we were scheduled to visit Masharu to check on a place for the mission trip clinics coming up in July. Also to work on getting custody of little Gracie for MDP lay pastor, Julius Mooke, who has been caring for her.

As we were nearing Mashuru, we found Julius walking along the road, he was out on visitation. He joined us in the vehicle and all was fine until we came to the riverbed that is dried up about 50 yards wide and now just a sand bed. As we ventured out, we got stuck, not just a little stuck, but STUCK. Soon we had about 10+ Maasai men who showed up to help, plus about 4 women. We collected tree branches to put under the tires as they dug the sand away from them. I'm trying to think how to give a word picture, but can't come up with one, you would just have to be there to see it. About 45 minutes later, the vehicle was free and we were on our way again.

One of the men that had come to help was introduced to me as Gracie's father. When she was first rescued 5 years ago, she had been sitting along side the road, starving. Her feet were badly burned and infected from having walked across hot coals. At that time, her grandmother who later died, had full care of Gracie because her parents had deserted her. Imagine my surprise when introduced to her her father,on the day I was there to get legal custody for her.

Even though the family has returned,Gracie is still living and being cared for by the Mooke family. I asked the father what he was wanting to do about Gracie. He said that he was willing to give up all rights to her, the Pastor could keep her. So I wrote up a paper saying such and he signed it, along with Julius Mooke and two witnesses.

We added the father to our bulging vehicle and went to the nursery school where Gracie is now attending. She is a happy little girl in school. After taking pictures of her with her classmates, we left to do other errands in the area. When we were finished the father asked us to please visit his home and have a cup of milk. When we arrived at his home, we met his wife and three more children. The youngest, a four month baby is so malnourished that he looks like a living skeleton. The mother is not mentally stable and unable to care properly for her children. It was difficult to leave them knowing that the baby could possibly die in a short amount of time.

Upon our return to Kajiado, we visited the Child Services Department in regards to Gracie's situation. Next week, they will officially grant 3 years custody to the Mooke family.

Starving People

While the rains have fallen in many areas of Kenya now, there are still areas where the drought continues and people are starving. A few of our stations in the interior area past Kajiado, are included. The cattle and goats have died and people are starving. MDP coordinator, Patrick Muyia, reported that one church family was especially having a difficult time with no food. I went to a shop and purchased a week or two worth of food to send down to this family, a bit frustrated knowing this is just a temporary fix. Such a small drop in such a vast ocean. It was a feeling of almost hopelessness.

As I was finishing my purchases, another lay pastor walked up. I asked him where he was coming from. He informed me that the East Central Division had set up a feeding program and he was just returning after pleading for food distribution in his station area. They asked him to bring a list of starving people from the area with the number of people in each family. They would then see about getting some food to them. We are praying that food will get to this area soon.

My mind is reeling, what can we do? How can we do it? I feel guilty eating a meal, knowing that two hours away, people are starving. Yesterday, the man I bought food for had sent a message to me, "please don't you have any work that I can do for you"?

Often times after years, a person can become a bit hardened to certain situations. On this trip I asked God to let me see through His eyes with a broken heart the adversities that I may have become so used to that I no longer was affected. He has done just that. These are not people somewhere that I hear about on TV, these are my neighbors. I pray that God will help me find a way to add drops of water into the vast ocean, drop by drop by drop until it is full.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time.

Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

____________________________________________________________
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Thought for the Day

2009-05-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

MDP has a "Goat Bank" project in which a she goat is bought for a widow lady. The first offspring of the goat is given back to MDP to pass on to another widow, there after, the widow is able to build up a herd. This enables the widow to provide milk for her children and eventually provide a small income for her as well.

A year ago, a decease went through called Rift Valley Fever, killing many of the livestock and goats. As I visited with the participants of the program many of them had already lost their goat. A plan was made for the remaining goats to receive vaccinations to hopefully save those that were left and not yet affected by the decease.

That day, I went to visit a crippled grandmother, a participant of the goat bank project. At the same boma was another widow with three children, who was also a participant. Upon inquiry, the younger widow told me that her goat had already died and that the goat of the grandmother was affected. The goat was losing function of it's legs and unable to stand. She showed me the goat and indeed it kept falling down, trying to stand up but continually falling. I asked the grandmother if she would like me to pray for her goat, to which she readily agreed. I prayed for the grandmother and that God would save the life of her goat by healing it. After visiting a bit longer, I left.

Last week while in Siana, I asked about the grandmother's goat. I was told that the goat was healed and healthy. Some say that we should not bother God with little things, that He was bigger things to worry about, but God has shown me over and over that nothing is too small for His love and care. Often times He is just waiting for us to ask. There is nothing to small or to big for Him, if anything affects you, it affects Him, so seek, ask and praise Him today.

Have a blessed day!

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time.

Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

____________________________________________________________
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Nyanchwa and Kamagambo

2009-05-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

After spending a short time with our workers in Lamek, we continued on our journey to Kisii to visit some of our sponsored secondary students there. We were soon met with torrential rains, small rivers running along the road. It was about a three hour journey from Lamek to Kisii. We planned to visit Sylvia and Christine in Nyanchwa, Sabbath evening and then after a nights rest continue to Kamagambo to visit Martha before starting our 6 hour trip back to Nairobi. Because of the rains we weren't sure we we could even make it to the school. However, we made it and had a good visit with the girls.

Sylvia has only been at Nyanchwa for about two weeks. In February when in Siana, the chief had come to us and asked that we assist him in rescuing Sylvia from a forced marriage. Having completed grade 8 in November, her brother informed her that she must now be married and had even accepted dowry for her. Long story short, one of our lay workers accompanied the chief with our driver to her home and picked her up and put her in a protected home as her brother was very angry that he might lose the dowry. Because first term was ending in three weeks and not starting again until May, arrangements were made with one of our lay workers, Wilson Kinyeke to tutor Sylvia everyday to prepare her to start grade 9 second term.

The girls were excited to meet see us and we had a wonderful visit with them. Christine already being at Nyanchwa a full term, starting her second was right at home and so happy to be there. She was taking Sylvia under her wing, helping her to adjust. It has been a bit of a hardship financially transferring these girls to a private boarding school for secondary, but as they shared with us with excitement we knew that no sacrifice is to great. They are living with hope!

Thank you to the sponsor of Christine, you are making a difference in her life now and for eternity.

We will be having to raise the sponsorship fees for the secondary students as it costs approximately $1,050 per year for school fees, books, uniforms, school and personal supplies for the year.

Sylvia is still needing a sponsor. If you are willing to help Sylvia, or partially sponsor her, you can find her picture and short bio on the sponsorship web page. Please contact us at 701-324-2699 for more information.

Sunday morning we were in the vehicle once again, heading this time to to Kamagambo to visit Martha Ngoshosh. Martha scored very high in her government exam last year as she completed her 8th grade year. Already at Kamagambo she is number one in her class. Her goal is to be a Doctor. We told her when she finishes we would like to see her open a clinic in Siana. She smiled, her eyes lit up as she said that she would love to do just that. She had fun showing us her dorm room. She is in a newly built dormitory with only 4 girls to a room. Arrangements had been made for one of the girls to move to another room so that when Florence arrived today actually, that she would room with Martha. Martha shared how excited she was to have Florence come, now they would be two Maasai girls and she wouldn't feel so alone and homesick for her "MDP family" in Siana.

Remember these girls in your prayers. They face many challenges but are enthusiastic and grateful for the opportunities that you sponsors have given them in life.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time.

Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

Lamek

2009-05-18T02:54:00.000-07:00

Early Saturday morning after visiting with Florence at her home, we headed for Lamek a new station that has recently been established. We were told that three of our MDP lay pastors were going to start a series of evangelistic meetings that night. We wanted to spend time with their small group, worshiping, encouraging and praying for God's Holy Spirit to enable them for the challenges ahead of them and also for the hearts of those attending the meetings. We had not realized just how far and interior Lamek was and appreciated even more the efforts of our Lay Pastors.

David Kirampa, stationed at Lamek, shared a heart breaking story with us. There is a young Maasai man that has given his heart to God. He was waiting with anticipation for the meetings because he wanted to show publicly his decision by baptism. However, his father became enraged at him to such an extend that the boy had to run away for protection. He went to Narok town, about a three hour drive away to hide from his father, but sent a message that he would return for the baptism. However, his father found out where he was and had the police arrest him and throw him in jail. Somehow, he was able to get someone to pay his bail and he is out yet still in hiding. Can you imagine being threatened and beaten by your father and having to run for your life in order to serve God? Please pray for this young man as he continues to courageously step out in faith to follow God.

I wanted to visit with him yesterday on our way back through Narok, but as he is in hiding, James did not know where he was. However, he is going to arrange for us to meet at workers meeting a week from next Friday. I look forward to meeting this young man, listening to his story, encouraging and praying with him.

David Kirampa is one of our new MDP lay pastors and is needing a sponsor. Sponsorship is $120 per month.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time.

Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

The Siana Rescue & Education Center

2009-05-18T02:25:00.000-07:00

In February/March of this year, I shared how the community had revoked the land originally given out to Maasai Development Project for the purpose of building a Rescue Hostel and other income generating projects. (See previous blog entry) When the new plot was allocated, the first impression was a bit disappointing. However, I had a peace about the plot knowing that God would not take something away without a purpose and plan, which He made clear on this trip. Last Tuesday, I received a phone call from the head teacher at Siana Primary School. He said that he had good news and that the surveyors were to come that day so that by the time we arrived at Siana on Thursday, the land would already be demarcated. I was excited, knowing that one of the biggest hurtles had just been met. A meeting was set up with the MDP Director and Administrator, the community and the builder, Josh Knowles for Friday morning.

When everyone was together, the community committee walked the property lines,discussing how the land would be developed. Originally the plan was to build the hostel, learning center, bakery, posho mill, and church. When the plans were presented to the community in February, they were excited about the posho mill, leaving the impression that we would have the only posho mill in the area. However, on this trip we were informed that there was already a posho mill but they wanted MDP to build one to shut down the one already established shop. As you can imagine, we were disappointed in the news, we certainly were not going to build something that would cause someone else to lose their business. Thus while walking the property we discussed the best way to develop the land and provide an income generating activity for the hostel. It was suggested that we do gardening, one, we could use it for feeding our children and two the surrounding community, tent camps and lodges depended on vegetables coming from either Narok or Nairobi and would benefit from a local fresh produce source. The market would be much more lucrative than if we were to have a posho mill.

First we had to find out where the water source was going to come from and how much there would be. After walking the 15 acre property line, the committee took us on a hike to the surrounding hills to find the water source. Long story short, you can imagine our excitement when we realized that water was already being piped in not far from us so that we could pipe into the already existing water line. The only thing we would have to do is get permission from the community which the committee assured us they could have within the week. In the previous plot, it would have been much more difficult to get water much less have enough for gardening.

Time was spent again with the community people that had come explaining the objectives of Maasai Development Project, the development plans and how the community would be involved. Previously I had requested that the community be responsible for 25% of the project, so reminded them of their commitment to the project as well. Josh then met with the people to share with them how they could contribute to the building project. It is with enthusiasm that we are anticipating the beginning of the long awaited project.

After the meeting we went back to the room where the children stay during holiday. It is too small for the group that we now have. We will be sitting down and determining the most critical cases of those most at risk if some can go home or to extended family members during school holidays, (One month holidays, three times a year). Some of the children will have to find other places to stay until the hostel is finished. When we told the some of the children that we are just about ready to start the building, they became so excited, their faces visibly lit up at the news.

We will be meeting with Josh next week in Nairobi, who is putting together a master plan of the 15 acre development. The plan will be posted on our web site when it is complete. Already you can find the plans for the hostel on the home page of the web site with the cost estimates. We are needing $20,000 to complete the hostel.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time.

Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

Tithing Cows

2009-05-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

When we arrived at Siana Thursday evening, James Nanka told us about a Maasai man who after study of the Bible was convicted that he should tithe his cows. We were invited to his home to witness the counting of his cows and the setting apart for tithing. This experience is a first for me in Maasailand and I was most anxious to meet this man and his family. We arrived early in the morning before the cows were taken out for pasture. In the homestead there were four families living together. Normally all the cows from the four families are pastured together, but they were waiting for this young man (Amos) to count his cattle. Besides Amos and his wife, Sophie, there were 3 herdsmen to help with the process. First they had to separate out their cows from the combined herd and put them in a corral. Standing in the middle of the herd, we witnessed first hand what a challenge this alone was. Once the cows had been put in the corral, the counting began. The cows were let back out of the corral. They posted our MDP lay pastor, James Nanka at the entrance with a long stick and as they went through the gate he counted 1 - 10, the 10th marked for tithing. There were a total of 37 cows in Amos's herd.

God did a really awesome thing during this process which did not miss the attention of one person from that family. In the counting there was one calf that came through first, 10 cows later was a female cow, 10 cows after that was a bull. What is the odds of the mother and her calf being two of the three chosen from the herd? That is exactly what happened. Remember that James had no idea which calf belonged to which mother, he was only counting and marking every 10th cow. The family was amazed by this, saying that if the mother and calf had to be separated at that time, it would have been very difficult, but with them being together, it would be much easier to sell them without separation.

Amos then gave his testimony. He had become a Christian and had been studying his Bible. He was convicted that God wanted him to tithe. However, in the Maasai culture, you don't sell your cows, above all you don't give them away. Cows are your wealth and even in times of drought the cows will not be sold, the owner will stay with his cattle even until the last one dies. It is not unheard of to hear that a man has committed suicide after his last cow dies during a drought. Amos said he struggled in his mind over this issue for a long time and resisted the conviction in his heart. However, over the last several months, he lost one cow to a wild animal and another one hurt it's leg and died. Again, Amos struggled with his conviction and told his wife that he felt God could not bless his cows unless he was willing to tithe them. Thus, he called James Nanka and asked him to please help him tithe his cows. His story touched me and I asked if I might pray with and for his wife and family. Many people think Amos is crazy, but I can tell you that he is crazy about his God. I believe that God is going to bless Amos and Sophie for their act of faith as a witness to the surrounding villages. This story is not over, I believe it is going to continue for years to come.

While at Amos's homestead, I noticed a lady sitting by the side of her hut, I asked Sophie who she was. She said it was a widow with four children that her father in-law had taken into his home and was caring for. In fact one of the herdsmen was her son and had recently married a 14 year old girl. The lady had cut her knee with a machete and unable to do anything. She had received medical treatment and the leg was healing. However, this gave us another opportunity to pray with her for healing. What impressed me so that day was how many opportunities there were for us to pray with individuals and point them to Jesus.

RESCUED GIRL

While talking to Sophie, she shared with me that the widow's son who had just married the 14 year old standing not far from us and had made an agreement with his wife's father that instead of paying dowry with cows, he would pay dowry with his 12 year old sister (daughter to the widow) as another wife for someone in that family. The agreement was made, with soon coming plans for the circumcision (female genital mutilation) of the girl and then the marriage. I had been interacting with the children and taking pictures, but as I was told this story I looked again at this young girl, it struck me just what a child she was. I was sickened. Turning to Sophie I asked her, "how do you feel about this"? She said, "Come with me". When we had some privacy, she said this is bad and we don't want it to happen, but my husband cannot go against his father. We agreed that when the date of the circumcision was set that she would send a message to James Nanka who in turn would inform the Child Services Department. They would then come and rescue the girl and MDP would find a sponsor for her. I pray that this young girl child will be rescued in time.

At this same Boma was a 9 year old girl, she was very vivacious. I asked her why she wasn't in school, I was told because she didn't have a uniform. She could go for free to the government school but there was no money for the uniform. The uniform was KSH 350/= or approximately $4.50. Our next stop was the nearby shopping center and the tailor to have a uniform made for her. This week she should be in school.

These were two children out of hundreds who will never receive an education unless they are helped. They will be forced to under go FGM and be married at young ages, as early as 12 years old. We may not be able to help every child, but one by one, one at a time, you and Maasai Development Project will make a difference for these precious children. Won't you "Partner" with us to save a child?

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give: Hope for Life - Hope in Life, one girl, one woman at a time.

Your support helps save young girls from under going the horrific FGM and forced early marriage. When you save a child, you save a village.

Mara Trip

2009-05-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've blogged, but last Sunday - Wednesday was office work and nothing really to report. Finished up the Quarterly Reports and Summaries.

On Tuesday, Liz Stapf, a volunteer from Portland, OR, came to help set up procedures in preparation for registering the Rescue Hostel in Siana, setting up files, making and printing forms, etc. Let me introduce you to Liz, she is a tiny petite but mighty young lady. She had been managing an orphanage in Zimbabwe, a job in a collapsed economy and country filled with violence, inflation and many other trials. Listening to her stories, it is evident that she has left her heart there with plans to return and start her own orphanage in the near future. To see a video that she has put together, go to www.waytocare.org . Although selfishly, I keep hoping she will also lose her heart to Kenya, to help with the management of the Rescue Hostel when it is finished.

Early,Thursday, Liz, myself, Ogoti and Ogecha left for Narok. Upon arrival, we met with James Nanka, Narok District Coordinator for breakfast and to discuss business. After our meeting, we went to the police station to register James with a Certificate of Conduct, qualifying him to take care of the rescued children. Then a trip to the Child Services Department to get advice on registering, and the steps we need to follow in building the Rescue Hostel. With other errands in between, we finished our business with shopping for one of our girls that we are transferring to Kamagambo SDA Boarding school in Kisii. It was late in the afternoon by the time we were ready to leave Narok town to travel another 2 1/2 hours to Siana. On arrival Liz and I were too tired to eat dinner but when straight to our room and collapsed into bed.

Two of our girls had been attending a government school in Narok town. Some unfortunate issues arose involving a man inciting the girls while attending the school, escalating during the holiday break,inciting the other children in MDP care. The two girls attending the government school, through their actions and choices forced us to release them from the care of MDP. Florence, one of the girls was devastated at the consequences and realized that suddenly her "friends" that were encouraging the inciting were no longer there for her. Her parents decided to marry her off if she wasn't going to attend school. Florence went into a depression, refusing to eat. She went to lay pastor, James Nanka's house begging him to forgive her and take her back under the protection and sponsorship of MDP. Assuring her that she was forgiven but explaining how her choices had forced the decision that had been made, she went home in tears. Nanka's heart was breaking, he went inside his house and began praying. Not long after, Florence's brother came to Nanka, telling him to please reconsider, that he was worried about Florence that she might try to commit suicide.

James Nanka, went immediately to visit Florence to talk and pray with her. She told him unless she knew she was forgiven she would not eat. She wrote a letter asking for forgiveness, when I read the letter on Thursday, tears came to my eyes as in the end, she wrote, "I am signing this letter with my tears". James called her and told her we had purchased her books and she should be ready to leave for school Monday morning. At the news, she shouted, "I've been saved!". This last Sabbath morning we went to visit Florence in her home. On our arrival, she ran out gave me a hug, pulled me aside, asking me to please forgive her. I told her forgiveness was never in question, that we loved her. Today, she will once again be in school continuing her education.

I wish that the outcome for Mary had been the same, but she has decided another road to travel, which breaks my heart, but I will continue praying for her, that God will intervene on her behalf.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org

Help Give, Hope for Life - Hope in Life

May 9, 2009

2009-05-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

We were scheduled to visit Kora Station, one that I have not been to as of yet, for Sabbath services. After picking up Patrick, MDP Kajiado Coordinator, Ogoti, Ogecha and I headed down into the heat of the Rift Valley towards Magadi. Unfortunately, Patrick was used to traveling to the Kora station via another route. Thus we became lost in the bush with no road. We made a quick decision that since we were so close to Oldonoyoki station that we retrace our tracks and worship with our workers at that station.

Much to my surprise, the lay pastor and literacy teacher for this area had persevered and mobilized the community to built a tin structure for the church. It is not complete, it is dust and dirt floor, no windows and no doors, but it was shade from the sun. The no windows provided a breeze that swept through that was refreshing.

I took a picture of the grass structure they had been meeting in because there is no way I could describe it adequately. I will try to get a picture posted soon. It was so small that lay pastor, Joseph Risianoi had to bend over to stand up in it. They were surprised to see us and we were happy to see the evidence of their hard work. As we drove up literacy teacher Daniel Nkatito was teaching a class for the children and youth inside the grass structure. Inside the church structure, was lay pastor, Joseph Risianoi teaching a class for adults. It was our privilege to present Bibles in Ki-Maasai to those who had been recently baptized and also to those present who were in the current literacy program. Bibles were left for those that were not attending the church services.

The MDP workers with mischievous smiles on their faces,surprised Ogoti Kenani, MDP Administrator, announcing that he would sing a special song. Ogoti,was totally taken by surprise, but being a good sport, got up choosing a song in Ki-Kisii and had the MDP workers sing it along with him in Ki-Maasai. The people loved it.

Someone in the area had just lost a child, so they were mobilizing the people to go visit the family and take up a collection to buy some food for the family. This area has been heavily hit by drought and food and water is scarce in this remote area. My heart went out to each person there sacrificing for their neighbors. It is always encouraging to make surprise visits to MDP stations and see the fruits of the MDP workers. These young men are making a difference in their community.

I would like to encourage you to partner with us in a wonderful opportunity to support MDP workers. Workers that as yet do not have sponsors are shown on our web site. If you cannot fully sponsor a lay worker, you are welcome to partially sponsor what you are able. By sponsoring one of these workers, you will be making a difference not only for individuals but whole communities.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org
Help Give, Hope for Life - Hope in Life

May 6 -8

2009-05-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was scheduled for sleeping, unpacking and settling in. However, a wonderful feeling came over me as I woke up at 8:15 am and realized that I had slept all night and not lay awake from 3 am to 6 am as expected. By mid afternoon I was ready to hit the office and start scheduling the rest of the week.

Thursday morning I met with with our MDP Administrator and scheduled appointments for the next three weeks. The rest of the day was back to bookwork in the office.

Friday morning I left for Kajiado to meet with Jacinta Loki, Director of the Rescue Center where MDP sponsors over 40 children. I also met Liz Stumpf, a volunteer who will be helping us at MDP while also volunteering at the Rescue Center to learn more about the Maasai culture and plight of the girl child. By the time our meeting was over, my head was swimming with information. MDP is preparing to build our first MDP Rescue Hostel, and Jacinta was sharing with me all that we would have to do to be compliant with the government. With compliance books in hand with the realization of the work ahead of me on this trip, I was ready for a change of pace.

We got in the vehicle and headed to Bissel. There is a young lady that MDP has been sponsoring for 9 years. She was in Form 1 (9th grade), when she found herself pregnant. Of course she was forced to drop out of school. She was 16 years old and the young man was 21. Jacinta who is a mighty force when it comes to protecting "her" girls wanted to see that the young man was arrested for being with a minor, but first she had to wait until the girl and baby was taken care of. The baby is now 3 months old and if we could find a safe home for the baby, Jacinta felt it was time to send the young girl back to school. We stopped briefly to pick up the chief, who to my great surprise was a former employee of MDP. We had a wonderful time catching up while proceeding to the home where the young girl was staying with her father and grandmother, both of them drunkards. I wanted to cry when I saw how she had been living. This area is known for making home brew and all but one or two people that came around while we were there were drunk or had been drinking. This was not a healthy environment for mother or baby.

We wanted to send the girl back to school, but looking around we wondered what we could do for the baby. We discussed several different options when we were introduced to the girls step grandmother, who does not drink and showed a genuine concern for the girl and baby. The others were encouraging us to just take the baby, but we know that the best thing for the baby if possible is to remain with family if possible. It came out that the son of the step grandmother had offered to supply the grandmother with formula and food for the baby, if the girl could go back to school.

I asked the young girl, "Do you want to go back to school"? "Yes, very much", she said. "How much"? I asked her. "Hundred percent", she replied. "And what about the boys that see what a beautiful young lady you are"? "I will tell them, NO". She said firmly.

The chief called the family together and gave a talk, then Jacinta talked very frankly with the family and with the girl that she is being given a second chance, but should she mess up again, that will be the end of her education. Plans were made to purchase some formula for the baby so within a week the baby can be weaned from his mother and she back to school. My heart broke as I witnessed the love of this young lady for her baby and yet the determination to go back to school and continue her education. Before leaving I prayed for the young girl, the baby and grandmother, that God's Spirit would be upon them. With hugs and good-bys, we left.

Jacinta let the chief know that as soon as the young girl is back to school she expects for the young man to be arrested. The chief has assured us that when the young man shows back up (he ran away when he heard we were there)he will pay the consequences for his actions. Jacinta wants to get a message out to young men forcing themselves on younger girls that they will be prosecuted.

Our dream is to someday set up an alternative school whereby unwed mothers can stay with their children while continuing their education. We have the property, we just need the support and backing to make that dream a reality. This is not an isolated case, but rather one of too many.

Jan Meharry
Founder/Executive Director
Maasai Development Project - www.4mdp.org
Help Give, Hope for Life - Hope in Life

blog

2009-04-15T17:26:00.001-07:00

Feb 25 - 26, 2009

After we had finished handing out Christmas packets, we loaded up and headed for the lodge to spend the night. But, just as we were leaving, they loaded the generator that had been used to power the sound system so Cheri could speak, into the vehicle. It was to be delivered Ololaimutia a couple of miles down the bumpy dirt road. Driving in to Ololaimutia we noticed it was market day, with the market teeming with Maasai engaged in business, creating a blur of activity and incredible colors. Jan and I were explaining to Cheri, how we had stopped at a similar market and gone shopping once, making at least my husband, wonder if I was to ever return. Unloading the generator, we were off to the lodge, for food, a shower, and some rest.

The next morning as we pulled up to the gate of Masai Mara game park, we noticed there were more guards with guns around than usual and a pen full of cows, (we had never seen that before). As we waited for Jan to negotiate our entrance into the park, another truck of uniformed and heavily armed guards roared through the gate parking near the entrance. Cheri, Lynette, and I were busy talking, so we noticed them, but did not give them a second thought. Finally, we were off to Siana Primary school again, for Cheri to tell her story to community Maasai women.

As we got to the school, you could feel the tension in the air and there was a buzz of news. The day before the Mara guards had rounded up 10.000 Maasai cows in Masia Mara game park (it is illegal for them graze there). This of course, angered the Maasai. There had been rioting, in Ololaimutia by the market which resulted in Mara guards firing their guns in the air, and several people had to be hospitalized with injuries. Now we knew why, as we thought back on it, the people had not displayed their normal friendliness. The faces usually full of wonder, curiosity, and even shy smiles had been rigid, cold, and irate.

Everywhere, were Maasai with machetes strapped to their sides that were clearly visible. It was a little intimidating, but God was getting ready to use these cows, that had been grazing illegally, in a powerful way. It is so amazing how He works. So often we do not even notice it, and yet He is stretching out His mighty right arm on behalf of His people. You see, MDP needed to finalize the land, that the community had donated, for the building of the hostel, bakery, and perhaps a learning center. But, the day before the counselor, chiefs, and other important people were refusing to come meet with us. No matter what our coordinator, James Nanka did, they were not going to cooperate. So God took matters in His hand. They all had to be at Oloamutiaa to deal with the uprising as a consequence of the rounded up cows and thus had no excuse not to meet with us. After the conflicts were settled we did meet with them. That is how God used cows to further His work. How amazing He is! Cheri kept repeating the whole trip, "It is so amazing, I just love how God used cows to get His work done!"

As we were learning of the uproar, one by one, women shyly appeared in their bright colored attire, to hear

Cheri share her testimony. Going into the class room we pulled the bench desks, into a circle. As Cheri told her story of abuse, you could see the ladies eyes, facial expressions, and even body language chance, indicating they could identify with her pain. As she shared how Jesus had taken her life of drug addiction, abuse, and pain turning it into one that through His Holy Spirit facilitates healing in others, their eyes lit up with hope. Cheri stood under a tree, after the meeting was over, the women crowded around asking for prayer. One precious lady accepted Jesus as her personal Saviour! What joy there was not only in Maasailand, but also in the courts of heaven!

February 23 -25, 2009

2009-03-01T02:46:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to touch down in Kenya, my second home! Jan and Lynette were there to pick up Cheri Peters and myself.

After a good nights sleep and repacking, we headed off to Narok where we would spend the night and then on to Siana. I was dreading the three hour drive over the horrid roads -- broken tarmac, dusty ruts -- bumping until black and blue everywhere. But, surprise, they have improved the roads -- at least a bit. Cheri was amazed as we traveled down from Nairobi into the great Rift Valley. Stopping in Suswa, we connected with Julius, an MDP lay pastor stationed there. He climbed in the vehicle and off we went to see his church. A group out of Great Britian had begun building the church. It is a beautiful block building overlooking the vast plain with the mountains in the distance. Unfortunately before the windows, doors, and cement floor could be installed the man heading the group was killed in a car accident and now all is at a stand still. For only $750 US the cement floor can be poured. What a blessing that would be for the worshipers as now they must walk on large chunks of stone and balast, balancing the few homemade benches as they worship.

Continuing on, we arrived at Narok, unloaded our luggage just as the large rain drops pelted down and a storm hit.

The next morning we were off to Siana Primary School, again the dusty bumpy roads were traveled for several hours. Arriving we discovered they were gathering the necessary generator, speakers, and amplifier so that Cheri Peters could speak to the students. After much waiting on our part, and preparation from them, it was time for her to speak. The students enjoyed her story, but the women teachers were moved the most as she spoke. Coming to her afterwards they asked many questions and requested prayer, with one of them accepting Christ and making a strong commitment to Him. They could certainly identify with her, as manyof them had experienced abuse in their lives. What miracles transpired before our very eyes as Cheri prayed for them and the Holy Spirit filled their hearts.

MDP sponsors 9 girls and 1 boy at Siana Primary School. Gathering the children together we gave them, one by one, adorable Christmas packets. They received bright colored shirts with the MDP logo on the front, matching their favorite color of each child. Each child also received a pen with MDP's name and address on it, as well as a colorful journal. What smiles spread over the faces and how the eyes sparkled as they received their packets. We received the names of 8 more children that are in desperate need of sponsors. If you are interested, please check out the sponsorship page on our web site.

February 2009 Kenya Trip

2009-02-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning, I left 20 foot drifts of snow at my house in North Dakota with freezing temperatures and began my trip to Kenya. I arrived Tuesday night and fell into bed only to lay awake because of the time difference, the next day the clock read 1:00 pm when my eyes finally opened.

Kenya is in the midst of a drought with no rain since October. The water tanks at our house are empty so we are now having to purchase water. At home in states I take water for granted, here I learn to appreciate it and conserve!

Wednesday night, it was back to the airport to pick up Lynette Cook, my sister. Thursday was spent getting the house cleaned and in order.

Today was back to Nairobi taking care of the financial arrangements for the Mission Trip group coming in March with Kim DeWitt.

We had planned to visit the Esokuta station tomorrow but because Lynette has been unwell, we will stay and rest tomorrow.

Saturday - November 1

2008-11-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

Marlin and I hoped to visit Nairobi Central Church and friends this morning, but I woke up about 3:00 in the morning sick. Malaria and a hacking cough. Marlin left for the chemist to get malaria medication as we are leaving tomorrow and hopefully the medication will have already started to take effect by the time we leave. There were just too many days with lack of sleep and irregular meals, constantly on the go or working in the office.

This afternoon we were happy to have Jackie Kenani come visit us with her four children. I haven't seen them for several years, so this was a great surprise. I only wish I had felt better.

I am going to log off for the final time and go to bed. Tomorrow will be spent working in the office finishing last minute bookwork. MDP has been needing to find a accountant to help with our books here in Kenya so that I can spend more time in the field. Jackie has agreed to return tomorrow to discuss the possibility of her taking over this job. YES.

Tomorrow evening will find us (hopefully) at the airport on our way home. This trip has been blessed and successful and now we can't wait to get home to our families.

Thanks for sharing this trip with me through the blog. Until Next Time.

Jan

Friday - October 31

2008-11-01T08:19:00.000-07:00

Early Friday morning found us once again heading for Kajiado town for our Kajiado District workers meeting. We knew we would be facing some challenges, having to confront the gossip and rumours being spread to discredit our district coordinator so left with many prayers.

When we arrived, the District Adult Education Officer for the government was giving a talk to our workers in regard to the literacy program in that district. He offered a lot of support and has agreed to hold a training session for all of our workers, free of charge. Another blessing.

God is so awesome how He chooses to answer prayers. I had prayed that God's Spirit would speak the right words for dealing with the issue of the coordinator and put it to rest once and for all. Suffice it to say, God answered our prayers in a great way. Issues were dealth with and put to rest. Through it all, there remained a sweet spirit that only God could have provided. Unfortunately we had to let one of the workers go, due to his actions but even that turned into a good ending without harsh feeling but with a cooperative and repentant spirit.

It always takes an hour or more to get out the door as one by one workers want a private word, but by 4:30 we were finally on our way home. Marlin has been here a week already and we have yet to spend time alone to talk and enjoy each other's company. So, at the end of the meeting I let the workers know I am now off duty and the time now belongs to my husband. Back at the house, we said goodby to our guest, Anne as she caught a ride back to Nairobi to stay with friends until she leaves for the states on Tuesday.

Thursday - October 30

2008-11-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

An early breakfast and departure put us back in Narok town in time for our Narok District workers meeting. The next two hours were spent listening to each worker share their success and challenges in their places of duty. These dedicated workers always give me courage as I listen to them. The greatest challenge is the need for more workers and with that come the need for more sponsors. We have decided to step out in faith and hire 3 new workers for Narok District.

After the meeting we left for a town 20 Kilometers away to meet with the Ministry of Health Officer for the Narok district. We needed to get permission for the medical mission group coming back to Kenya to serve the Maasai people in March, July and October of 2009. (For more information go to our website under "Mission Trips") Traveling back to Narok we stopped to visit students at the Maasai Girls Secondary School and Poly Technic where 3 girls are going sponsored. By 4:00 we were ready to head back to Nairobi, another three hour trip.

Wednesday - October 29

2008-11-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Morning came too soon, but with it were sounds of monkeys, rock hyrax and many different species of birds that make complete the tent camp living experience in the game reserve of Maasai Mara.

After an hour drive, by 10:00 we were back in Siana for my first meeting with our coordinator, followed by a meeting with the current and former county councilor. When Josh arrived to discuss the building project, we quickly closed our meeting. Already in that short amount of time I was able to utilize some of the advice of Eric that I had learned the day before. After walking the land, discussions with the elders, councilors and community leaders, preliminary agreements were made. Waiting for that meeting to close, the ladies participating in the goat bank project waited for their meeting. The ladies shared with me of a disease affecting sheep and goats in their area. Already 3 babies and one adult goat has died, making it impossible for another turnover as previously planned in February of 2009. The government is stepping in with free vaccinations so plans were made for all the participants to have their goats vaccinated. In February we will purchase more goats to replace the ones that have died. After a prayer for God's healing hand and blessing upon the goats, we proceeded to our next meeting.

We traveled back to one of the participants home that had been unable to come due to being crippled from polio as a young girl. She is now an old Cocoo (grandmother). In September, the mission trip led by Kim DeWitt delivered a pair of crutches to her, hoping that it would help her walk. However, she reported that she would have to return them as she didn't have the strength to use them. We talked about getting her a wheelchair that she can pedel with her arms, she was appreciative. We requested to see her goat she was given in May. Already the disease PPR has affected her goat and no longer stand. We had a prayer for the goat and said goodby.

When all the meetings were finished, we were sunburned, hungry and tired. It was about 3:30 so we decided to take time for a quick game drive before heading back to camp. It was truly a blessed day from beginning to end. For in the end Marlin saw his first leopard in 19 years in Kenya, and Anne had seen all of the "Big Five" except the rino and much more. God is Good.

Tuesday - October 28

2008-11-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

At 2:00 AM, the electricity went out. I woke up fretting as I had not turned on the hot water heater the night before to insure that we would have hot water for showers. Nor had I packed my suitcase for our trip to the Mara. With the fan off it was instantly hot and the security lights off, it was very dark. I began praying, "Lord whenever you choose to turn the electricity back on I will be grateful but you also know our schedule, so before 4:00 would be appreciated". I then laid there unable to go back to sleep, my body screaming for rest and my mind unable to turn off for the rest. At 3:30 the electricity came back on so I got up to turn the hot water heater on only to find that our shower room was flooded. After a hectic morning we were on the road by 6:00. Already traffic was not good but at least it kept moving slowly. We had to stop at Ogoti's office to pick up the payroll money that I would need in Narok on Thursday and then on to the hotel for breakfast. We made it.

We only had a few minutes to actually talk to Eric as he was busy preparing to leave that morning with his group to tour their projects. Those few minutes were mighty as I asked questions and he shared about his organization and how it is financed. You can't imagine how much I learned in those few minutes. It was so timely as I was on my way out to Siana in the Mara to meet with the builder and the County Councilor regarding the Hosetel for the MDP sponsored rescued girls. Eric has agreed to coach me through the building project. Making it a combined MDP/Community project to become sustainable and one day turn over to the community. My spirits were soaring at the end of that meeting.

Marlin, Anne and I said goodby to Bubbles and headed to the Union Office for more meetings and to pick up our driver, Ogecha. By noon we were on our way or so we thought, when we were forced to stop for vehicle repairs again in two days. Finally we were on our way, picking up our Narok Districk coordinator in Narok town and traveling another 2 hours to Siana. After dropping him off at his home, we found a place to stay and collapsed into bed.

Monday - October 27

2008-11-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

At 3:00 Bubbles was scheduled to give a presentation at the Kajiado Education & Rehabilitation Center where MDP sponsors over 40 rescued or at risk girls. Upon arrival Bubbles hurriedly changed into her gown with the children waiting in anticipation. As she walked outside and across the yard, even the teachers were in awe. If only you could have heard the children ooh and ahh when she walked in. She immediately had their attention. She told the story of her book followed by a demonstration of good brushing habits by dressing two of the students into teeth costumes and using a giant tooth brush. The children loved "Toothena" and after distributing toothbrushes to the students went outside for pictures. She looked like the pied piper with all the children following her, wanting to hold her hand and holding up their toothbrushes.

We had an appointment to meet Eric Rajah, Founder and Director of "A Better World" that evening at 6:00 but due to a heavy traffic jam we unfortunately missed our appointment. After dinner in town we dropped Bubbles off at a hotel where she was meeting up with the rest of the group coming in that night with "A Better World". We made arrangements to meet at the hotel the following morning for breakfast with Eric and left for Ongata Rongai. When we reached home we realized it would be a very short night as we would have to get up at 4:00 and leave by 6:00 to reach Nairobi before the traffic jam. I'm really tired!

Sunday - October 26

2008-11-01T01:54:00.000-07:00

Imagine my surprise when I opened my email to find many friends from my "Facebook" wishing me a happy birthday. The most precious was a letter from my son, Richard. I just have to say the greatest honor on earth is to be considered one of your childrens best friends.

Today was another full day. Anne got ready to accompany a medical team to Kisaju for a day of clinics. I just have to add that Kisaju is where the work in Maasailand began back in 1991. Before leaving for the states in December of 1995, Marlin and I had put together a medical/dental team to give free service to the Maasai in the Kajiado district. How thrilling it is to find a medical team from our churches in Nairobi continuing the monthly health service. When we dropped Anne off to catch her ride, one of the Pastors introduced himself to me. He said, "You probably don't remember me, but I am one of the youth that went with you from Nairobi Central Church for the 10 day evantelistic meetings in Kisaju in 1994." Imagine my surprise as he continued, "That experience had such an impact on me that I went on to become a pastor and now continue to work in Maasailand, in particular, Kisaju."

That was one of those moments in life when you say, "Thank you, Lord for the opportunity to serve you and make a difference in someone's life." We don't always see the fruits of our work, but today God allowed me that great privilege. A moment I will cherish forever. That was my birthday present from my Heavenly Father.

Marlin, Bubbles and I were going to visit a good friend of ours in Maasailand. Our friend is 80 plus years, but looks to be only 60 with 8 wives and over 80 children. This man is amazing. He has taught his children from early age to work. Over the years the children have built a stone wall around their property, dug out of the rock by hand a 35 foot deep water catchment by 50 plus feet across. We try to visit whenever Marlin is in Kenya as they have become good friends of ours. Two of his sons work for us as guards. We had a wonderful day, visiting our friends. The highlight was when we met with the 8 wives to look at all of their beadwork they were making. What fun helping Bubbles choose gifts for friends and family, trying on some of the ornamments and bargaining. When we left all were happy.

By now it was almost 4:00 and we still had one more stop to do in Kisaju, delivering shoes and socks to Joshua, from his sponsor, another little boy from states, Kyle. When Joshua saw me, he came running into my arms, his little heart pounding from the distance he had run. (Joshua was born in my vehicle 7 years ago this month. Unfortunately his mother's uterus ruptured and inspite of surgery, she did not live.) We had such fun helping him try on his shoes and then write a thank you letter to Kyle. He was so excited.

We stopped at the church to pick up Annie and imagine my surprise as I was ushered in to "Happy Birthday" and cake. I cried, it has been several years since my birthday was celebrated and I was touched.

To finish off the day, when we got home, Anne made a mexian dinner and to my surprise out came another birthday cake and another round of "Happy Birthday".

An awesome day!

Saturday - October 25

2008-11-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

Today is my daughter, Tanya's birthday. Happy 25th, Tanya, on the 25th. Just 25 years ago today I was........................

Early in the morning, Ogecha, Ogoti, Anne, Bubbles, Marlin and I headed out to Enterosi to worship with our churchmembers. It is here that we were to continue our investigation on the allegations against our coordinator. After services, the children 15 years and younger were invited back in to receive toothbrushes and a short talk on dental health by Bubbles, followed by Anne who taught some basic natrual health remedies for some of the common health challenges in that area.

While they were having fun with the children and women of the village, Ogoti and I had the task of continuing the investigation. Again, we prayed that morning, God would make the truth stand out beyond a shadow of doubt. Within a couple of hours, God had made it very clear the innocense of our coordinator and the motives of the accusers.

Saying goodby to our brothers and sisters in Enterosi, we continued on to Kajiado. With joy we shared with the coordinator our findings, encouraging him to return to Enterosi as soon as possible to carry on his work. After prayer together, we parted, with a peace and joy in our hearts that God had revealed all beyond a shadow of doubt in answer to our prayers.

Friday - October 24

2008-11-01T01:10:00.000-07:00

Today was full and fun. The morning began early with an appointment at the Union Office with Woman's Ministry Director, Jerusha Muga, to discuss the sponsorship program MDP has at the Kajiado SDA Rehabilitation and Education Center. During our discussion she asked if MDP would be willing to explore the idea of developing a program for the protection of battered women in Kenya. We have the perfect piece of property that could be used for building a shelter. This is a project we will be praying about and discussing at our next board meeting. Your input would be most valued.

From the Union we set out for "Feed the Children", a home for abandoned and disabled children. Our good friend, Bubbles Clark, had arrived two days earlier to give dental health presentations to 700 plus children and spend time giving lots of TLC. Bubbles is a Dental Consultant who wrote a book (with more in progress) for children on dental health. As a result of her first book, "Toothena, the Tooth Fairy", she has become "Toothena" to all the children who come for her book signing and readings around the U.S. and Canada. Now of course in Kenya as well. She has recently developed the "Tooth Fairy Children's Foundation".

Imagine the children's delight as she entered the room dressed in a pink gown, tiara, and wand, including wings. The children thought she was an angel come to visit them. We joined her in helping to put children down for their naps. I have to admit it was hard to pull myself away from the children.

Bubbles joined us as we left to go back to Ongata Rongai where our home is. Later that evening we got back in the vehicle, this time going to the airport to pick up Marlin, who was flying in for my last week here. A full but rewarding day.

Thursday - October 23

2008-11-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

As those of you know who are administrators, conflict management is often a part of the job, whether we like it or not. A few days ago I met with one of our workers, who made some very serious allegations against our project coordinator in Kajiado District. In the meantime, I began receiving phone calls from previous MDP workers, they too were making insinuations against the coordinator. Oh, for the wisdom of Solomon. Today we began our investigation, after spending hours in prayer asking that God would reveal the truth beyond a shadow of doubt.

The afternoon was spent with our coordinator. As I began listening and putting things in prospective, I began looking for a common denominator from each of the accusers: 1. They were all from the same home area. 2. They had either been fired for dishonesty or sneaking away from their station of duty without notifying the coordinator and turning in false reports. 3. They quit because they did not want to be accountable.

Our Administrator and I left to go back to Nairobi, with convictions of our coordinators innocense but knew that we had to continue the investigation so there could be no question. We will continue our investigation in a couple of days.

We met with the ECD Treasurer, Philip Philipson to discuss the challenges of the work in Maasailand. What a blessing it is to have the support of our church brethern as we continue to go forward with the work

Tuesday - October 21

2008-10-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

OK, so the rains have really hit Kenya. The good news is that our water tanks are filling up so we have plenty of water in the house now. But the bad news is the road going out to the tarmac, about 6 Kilometers is very muddy. I am not complaining because they have actually been working on the road and it is much better than it used to be, but there are still a few areas that can be a bit treacherous during the rains.

Today I had an appointment in Nairobi so was dressed up in my suit and heels, it was still raining when I got in the vehicle. I was a bit concerned but not too much because after all, I'm a pretty good driver and I am driving a 4 wheel drive. U-huh! That is all well and good until a lorry comes down the middle of the road and refuses to give way in the least way, at which point guess who went sliding down into the mud? I was stuck. I looked down at my white pin-striped suit jacket and my heels and wondered what I was going to do. So I honked the horn for the men in the lorrie to come help me. Which they did not, but their retribution came as a minute later they too were in the ditch. However, a man pushing his motorcycle that had been behind me came up and offered to help, followed by a handful of small school boys on their way home for lunch. I have to give those boys credit, they really tried. Forward and backward I went, but nothing. Slowly more men began to appear. I must have looked pretty pathetic because they would reassure me, "Don't worry madam, we will get you free." Within about 20 - 30 minutes they had me free. Not one of them asked for any money for thanks. They just waved and wished me well as I shook their hands in gratitude. I was so thankful.

My appointment did not happen, but an unexpected God appointment happened instead. I was just leaving the compound of the Union Offices when my phone began to ring. It was Anne, a nurse who is a self supporting missionary who came to work in Maasailand and help start a clinic. She wanted to meet me and Mr. Kenani, our administrator, so we retraced our steps and met with her. She is at a crossroads with her work and wondering which direction to go. She is going to go home to raise funds for a mobile clinic in Maasailand, to do medical clinics and health and Aids education. However, she was not sure which direction to go, whether to try to team up with an established organization, such as MDP, start her own NGO, or just what. So we began talking. She had been staying with a family in Nairobi, but I invited her to come stay at the MDP house in Ongata Rongai so that we could talk more. Twenty-fours later we are still talking. We are both praying to see which direction God is leading. Anne will be accompanying us to Narok next week and visit some of our stations. Anne will soon be leaving for the states to meet with her sponsors to write a proposal for our MDP board to consider. Please pray for both Anne and MDP as we continue to explore the wonderful opportunity of working together. MDP has been wanting to get a health and education program established, I can't wait to see where God is leading. Stay tuned.

Saturday - October 18, 2008

2008-10-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been on the blog the last couple of days simply because I didn't think everyone would want to hear about the hours of office work I have been putting in. However, yesterday afternoon I took time off and had lunch with a friend of mine who owns a restaurant in town. On my way home I stopped off at the dog pound to look for a guard dog, only to find that all dogs are under quarantine because of some disease. Our dog Simba, died in September and we are needing to replace her, so we will wait and keep looking.

The rains have finally arrived. As I am writing this, the thunder is booming and there is a vehicle just outside my window on the other side of the hedge stuck in the mud, so there is a lot of activity and noise. About an hour after I got home this afternoon it started pouring buckets of rain. It has been so dry here, this is a real blessing. On Thursday, our water tanks were so low, that we emptied them out of all water to clean. We were going to purchase some water for our tanks, but God is so good, He brought rain that very night. Now with the rains today, we should have plenty of water once again.

I was so thankful to get home before the rains started in Rongai where our house/office is located. This morning we set out for church at a place in Maasailand called Emarti. It was so dry! Everything was brown and dusty. We met with worshipers meeting out in the open and as we were ending services we could see the rain off in the distance. Suddenly as we were driving away, the rains arrived and there was water everywhere, I have to hand it to Ogecha, our driver, for getting us through without getting stuck. (For those of you who know me and can't believe that I am using a driver, yes it is true. I have to admit it was difficult for me to hand the driving over to someone else. I like to drive and feel a bit out of control and very vulnerable when I'm not in the driver's seat, but believe it or not, I am learning to use the travel time as a time to relax and leave the driving to someone else.)

At Emarti, I found that our Lay Pastor, Philip Muzuri is meeting with a lot of challenges. For the past two years he has been struggeling with the community to raise funds to build an iron sheet structure for their church. Land was given to them and finally after two years they had purchased all the needed materials. When it was time to start building a man from the community came and said you cannot build your church there, if you do I will tear it down. He claimed that he had control of the land there. In the meantime another man came and insisted that they build the church anyway. Philip told him, no, our business is not to cause conflict. First we will negociate like Christians and make peace with our enemies and then when it is resolved we will build the church. The other young man began to cause problems and inciting some of the community coming to the church. At this time, Philip is standing strong, with only a handful of people left, but as I listened to him preach about the love of God my heart really went out to this man for his strong efforts.

When the services were over, we held a special prayer session for Lay Pastor Philip. Our MDP Coordinator, Patrick Muyia, Solomon Lenana and myself surrounded Philip with the church members also around, we asked him what he felt he needed prayer specifically for. He named the following:

That the conflict will be negociated and we will have our church built
That God gives me more of His Holy Spirit to do the work he has called me to do
That the sickness that is affecting so many people in this area will go away
The the conflicts caused by the man inciting the people will be taken away and the people will come back to church

What a beautiful prayer session we had. Please pray for Philip, he has a very big challenge ahead of him. Afterwards we talked about what we could do to encourage the community. Philip mentioned that already he has a few ladies that he has organized to do visitation. Because of the drought that they have been having (that is until today) people are starving. The ladies take packets of Unga flour and leave with the people and pray with them. Philip wants to lift Jesus up in his area. He wants to meet the basic needs of the people and encourage them in giving their hearts to Jesus. I thought that I would find a very discouraged young man when I went to visit Philips Sabbath School today but in fact I found a very enthusiastic young man who is not discouraged but sees challenges that with God's help will be overcome. Please remember Philip in your prayers and our other lay workers in the field. They are all meeting many challenges of people and other organizations that would like to destroy the work of Maasai Development Project but through the grace of God these dedicated workers are moving ahead, determined to preach the Word of God.

Wednesday - October 15, 2008

2008-10-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

N E W S F L A S H ! ! ! It's finally here, internet in the MDP office. No more traveling 45 minutes to the free internet coffee house trying to get work done during the allotted time for the free internet usage. No more sitting for long hours at the Cyber Cafe frustrated with slow and sometimes broken keyboards. You have no idea what a blessing this is. I feel like a very blessed woman.

Last Friday I spent two hours until my battery went dead on my computer trying to send an important e-mail. In frustration I closed my computer and walked out. As I was sharing with a friend of mine who was in a shop next door, one of her other friends heard me saying I wanted to try to get a certain brand modem for my computer. She told me not to do that because she had bought that modem and it was so slow she would happily give it away to anyone who would take it. She shared some information about another brand and recommended I check it out. On Monday morning after getting up early to get to the coffee house to try to get all my work done before the allotted time was up only to have the internet turned off at a crucial time in my work, I decided, it was time! So I went on into town and purchased a modem for my computer. This literally saves me hours of time sitting in traffic and being frustrated not being able to complete my work before the time is up. Did I mention how excited I am?

Tuesday I spent in the office working and then ran errands to see about getting some work done on the vehicle.

Today, I woke up with a full day's work in the office. Our administrator was coming over to work and we had a lot we hoped to accomplish. Just as I went into the office and turned the computers on, the electricity went out. There is only so much you can do without electricity. Isn't it something how dependent we have become on electricity, electronic equipment etc.? Long story short the electricity didn't come on until about 3:00 this afternoon. So I jumped in to get as much done as I could. It's getting late now and I need to close up, but I did want to share a bit of exciting news with you.

We had a meeting today with Josh, a young man we are working with to build the Siana Girls Rescue Hostel. He is going to draw up plans this week and give a detailed cost list for the project. We will be sharing that with you, our donors. When you hear that we need $100,000 to build the Hostel, you may feel overwhelmed with the cost and wonder what difference your small donation could make. However, most people can afford to donate 6 kgs of nails for $14 or money for a window etc. If everyone were to choose one item to donate, it wouldn't take long before the building project was paid for. With this in mind as soon as we get the list finished, I will be publishing it on the web site. We are stepping out in faith on this and I feel confident that you will want to have a part in completing this project. One person cannot do it alone, but together we can have a home for our rescued girls within a few short months. Thank you in advance for your tax deductable donations.

I'm off to get some rest now so I can get up early and start over in the office again. Hopefully the electricity will remain on all day. I hope to see the beginning of the endf for the paper work by tommorow evening. Just one more thing, isn't God just so awesome? Remember, you are His favorite child in the world.

Sunday – October 12, 2008

2008-10-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Be careful what you pray for. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I was supposed to go to Esokata for a harambe today from 1:00 – 3:00. It is about an hour and a half drive because of the torn up roads right now and I wasn’t too excited about going. Before leaving I was trying to squeeze in a couple hours of work in the office. I am a bit overwhelmed with the paper work right now so was thinking to myself that I wished I hadn’t promised to go to the harambe. As it turned out I got there and there was no harambe today. Daniel had just said that to get me out there. Soooo……we visited and talked about the church building they are planning. I took a look at there cost estimates and refigured them with the new prices. I will put it on the web site when I get home. Prices here in Kenya have shot up through the roof. We had prayer together and are confident that God is going to provide the necessary funding for the building. Before we could finish shop talk, the ladies of the village came in with a hot meal, (my first since arriving in Kenya). That in itself was worth the drive out. On the way home I was thinking about the long drive and the work in the office and suddenly the thought came to me “didn’t you pray for under the tree time?” I giggled and shared with my driver, Ogecha how I had been praying that God would provide reconnecting time with the people in the village and for sure the last two days have been total answers to prayer. I guess the office work will always be there and can wait another day.

Sabbath – October 11, 2008

2008-10-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

As can usually be expected plans changed at the last minute. Friday evening I received word that if possible I should make a surprise visit to one of our branch Sabbath Schools. I should explain that there is a faction of people in Maasailand trying to destroy the work of MDP, inciting the MDP workers and trying to lure as many away as possible under the guise of joining another NGO that will push out MDP and take over Maasailand. Unfortunately as of late we have lost several previously good and dedicated workers. All Friday night my heart was breaking, needing some definite encouragement from God that we are to continue to go forward or pull out if we are fighting a losing battle. The thought came to me, "All I need is a Gideon's army". I prayed, "Lord please show me Gideon's army. I also prayed for a chance to spend time getting back in touch with the people, a chance to sit under the tree so to speak.

Sabbath morning I awoke and felt that I should go out to speak to one of our guards, the uncle to one of our workers that has decided to go his own way. He has been such a successful young man, that his decision was especially painful to me. As I sat under the tree in the front yard and shared with our guard my concerns, he mentioned that the people at Kisaju (the first church to be established in Maasailand in 1994/95) had felt deserted when we turned that area over to the Central Kenya Conference in January of this year. Suddenly I knew that I must go to Kisaju today and speak to the church there. I invited the Mzee to go with me and off we went. I was a bit fearful , not knowing how I would be received as the faction group had moved in after MDP turned the area back over to the conference. However when we arrived, instead of any of the people fighting MDP, I met Solomon Lenana. Solomon was the first lay pastor in Maasailand who worked along beside me in Kisaju back in the early 90’s and when my husband and I left we continued to support him to continue the work there along with another young Maasai man, Isaac. We had not been working together for about three years and had lost contact. He has started another ministry in Maasailand teaching AIDS awareness amongst other things. Long story short we had a wonderful reunion. God opened the door for me to speak with the congregation after the service which was totally a God thing and reunited us once again. Then the clincher for me, I got to spend most of the afternoon visiting my women friends in different bomas (homesteads) throughout the Kisaju area. It was like old times again. Solomon went visiting with me and rode back with us to Rongai, we had a wonderful time catching up and encouraging one another.

As I drove into my driveway at dusk, I praised God for the wonderful Sabbath day, the encouragement He gave me through reconnecting with my sisters in Maasailand, the opportunity to pray together, sit together in their huts, basking in renewed sisterhood. While it is true, Satan is still roaring like a lion to destroy and stop the work, God reached down in the midst of it and gave me one giant hug from heaven with words of encouragement to keep on going on, evil is soon coming to an end. Now is the time to remain faithful.

Oh, one more note, while in Kisaju I was introduced to a young lady who was just a little girl when we started work in Maasailand, she was one of the first children in the school that Solomon and Isaac started in 1996. She is now in Form Two (Class 10). Due to the fact that she has two brothers also in high school and more coming up behind her, her mother is concerned that her husband will force her to stop school and get married. We need to find a sponsor for her to keep her in school. Please if you are willing to sponsor Lillian, just $40 per month will insure her schooling to continue. Please e-mail me at jameharry@juno.com or send a tax deductable check earmarked for Lillian Supeyo's, sponsorship. Thank you and God bless.

Friday – October 10, 2008

2008-10-14T15:51:00.000-07:00

People often ask me, "Just what is it you actually do while you are in Kenya?" More often than not, it is not glamorous or exciting, but rather making sure the wheel s continue to turn. Hopefully by keeping this blog you will understand a bit more of what I actually do while here. For instance, today, I plan to start on four months worth of bookkeeping and accounting that has been awaiting my arrival to complete; so that by the time I leave we will be caught up on all of our quarterly financial reports. MDP is audited yearly and reports must be turned in to the Bureau of NGO's and also the Kenya Revenue (IRS in states) in order to keep up our NGO status.

I always look forward to the weekends when I can be out visiting our Sabbath schools and lay workers. Tomorrow I will most likely go to visit the Esokata branch Sabbath school. It has been a couple of years since I have actually worshiped with them there. If I lived in Kenya full time, I would have to go to a different station every week in order to reach each station within the year. So when my time is limited to approximately 12 weeks it takes me much longer to visit each station. It is always exciting though to see the growth in the time I've been away.

Esokata church

2008-10-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

By the time I landed in Nairobi, I had come down with a head cold. So today I have slept, drank water, unpacked and cleaned the office so it is ready for me to start work. Pray that I feel better quickly.

I will be going to a Harambe (fundraiser) for the building of the Esokata church on Sunday. I just spoke to MDP lay pastor, Daniel Sinti who is organizing the fundraiser and he told me that Central Kenya Conference is donating 37 iron sheets for the roof and the timber needed for the building. Originally they were going to build a temporary iron sheet structure but have decided to step out in faith and build a permanent structure so they can host the Maasai campmeetings for this conference. They need to raise KSH 1,000,000/= or $15,000. If you are willing to help with this church, please e-mail me at janmeharry@juno.com or send your tax deductable donation to Maasai Development Project, PO Box 294, Harvey, ND 58341 and earmark it for the Esokata church. I will keep you updated on the progress.

Kenya Trip - October 2008

2008-10-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

October 6, 2008 - I'm sitting at the Minneapolis airport getting ready to leave on my October Kenya trip. I wasn't sure if I would be leaving or not so many things happened this past week to make me wonder if I should cancel or postpone my trip. As Celeste and I were talking on the phone this morning I realized that whenever God has plans it seems like Satan tries to do what he can to stop them. So I am excited to go and see the blessings and the progress that God has planned for this trip. Please keep me in your prayers and I'll keep in touch. Jan

Masai Mara Clinics

2008-09-08T23:17:00.001-07:00

Wow! What a great time we had!
We headed about bright and early around 6:30am, but got stuck in heavy traffic until we got out of the surrounding cities. We traveled up into the highlands a little bit before dropping down into the Great Rift Valley. Down in the valley we stopped briefly to say hi to Grace (one of our students) and Pastor Munturi. Then back on the road again and up out of the valley. Just past Narok we stopped to eat our sack lunches and use the bathrooms then we were on the road again. Around 4pm we arrived at the park entrance and headed slowly to our campsite. Everyone settled in to their little cottages before supper and then some sat by the fire before heading to bed.

For the next four days we drove slowly back and forth to clinics at Siana Primary School. God blessed us with every animal you could imagine - lion (more then we can count)cheetah, buffalo,hynea elephant,giraffe, rhino, leopard, serval cat, porcupine and all the grazers you could imagine. It got to the point that we didn't even slow down for lion anymore cause it seemed like they were everywhere.

One night right by camp some small children were herding their cattle and goats near the parks edge - when they came upon a herd of elephant with small ones. There was a lot of trumpeting, bushes trampled, and kids calling for help. (The Maasai doing a yipping sound when they are in trouble and the Maasai men in our campsite responded immediately to their cries for help) There were several stories of what happened - some told us that a couple of cows were killed by the elephants and the children ran away to safety, but the cows and goats were out in the park still, others told us that all were safe - so who knows for sure.

Sabbath we traveled out to see the hippos and crocs in the Mara River and crossed on to the Tanzanian side called the Serengetti National Park. We ate lunch by the river and hoped to see the wildebeest crossing. The herd on the edge was small and so there was not a push to cross. They did venture down to the edge, drank for awhile - one stepped into come, but turned back. Something scared them and they all rushed back to the higher land.

Clinics were slow, there were not a lot people like last time. We had Martha, Gladys, Letuya, Esther help us with clinic, plus a couple of other students that are sponsored. That was alot of fun and they seemed to enjoy themselves.

On one day we had 5 Moran Warriors come to clinic. They were all dressed up with their spears in hand. That was really cool.

Well we are getting ready to head into town for a little shopping so will finish up date you on the rest of our time in the Mara later.

kim

Ensonorua

2008-08-31T12:57:00.001-07:00

This morning we went down, down, DOWN into the Great Rift Valley towards Magadi. It was a very warm and sunny day and the farther down in the valley we went the warmer and dryer it got. They are having a drought here right now and the grass and shrubs are brown and crunchy and in a lot of areas there is nothing but dust and rocks. Our clinic went well in Ensonorua, we did not have alot of people show up and actually were able to head back to the Division Guesthouse a couple hours early. The people appreciated what we did and our lay workers did a great job helping us out.

On the way home we stopped under a big tree and ate lunch with some goats... they were so thirsty that I shared my little bottle of water with all 21 of them. We gave the people nearby our large containers of water.

Once we got back to the Division office we packed all of our things up for the trip to the Mara - and even got to put it all on the overland vehicle so we are ready to head out bright and early tomorrow.

Breakfast on Monday is at 5:30 am and the hope is to be on the road by 6 am. We will be heading to the Maasai Mara National Reserve to do 4 more clinics. There is no electricity where we will be so I wont be able to put anything on the blog until Sept 8th.

Once again thanks for keeping us in your prayers and please continue to pray for us as we travel about 5-7 hours tomorrow.

kim

Sabbath

2008-08-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

Another grand day! Today we went over Ngong Hills and down into the Great Rift Valley to visit a little Maasai Church and do clinics village by village. The ladies ay church did several special musics and the children did some as well. I was so surprised to see two of our lay pastors there - they were on their way from campmeeting up on the hill to our clinic tomorrow near Magadi. We did a quick clinic after church and then headed to our first little village.

There must have been 50 children at the first group of homes. We treated a old lady and they had a 40 year old man that was very sick and could not even come outside. It was tough on the doctors to leave him there without being able to help him. He was VERY sick and they were not sure if it was TB or AIDS. One of the doctors is going to pay for him to be taken to a clinic nearby and be tested to see if it is something that can be treated.

Today we were told of a 11 year old Maasai girl that had been circumcised 4 days ago that bled to death. The family did not take her to hospital because they new that they would be taken to jail. The police found out and have exhumed the body and taken pictures etc. It is such a sad thing. It is a great reminder of what we are here for and the importance of the work that needs to be done in this area of the world.

We gave out medicines, toys, sugar and brought jugs of water to those who had to walk miles for it. It was a a great day with lots of blessings packed into it.

We got home a little earlier then planned so had some down time and actually got a hot shower. After worship we went over the plans for tomorrow - we are expecting quite a number of people at the clinic. Everyone headed back to their rooms to email and download pictures before heading to bed. A lot of them are worn out and in need of a good nights sleep. Seems like several of the group woke up at 3am this morning and struggled getting back to sleep. I suggested doing the clinics at that time of night, but they opted not too.

So it's time to sign off till tomorrow evening. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. God is blessing in amazing ways.

kim

August 29th, Friday

2008-08-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

Today was incredible day - a real blessing!

After a brief (actually it was too long) orientation (done by me - SMILE) We unpacked all the suitcases and trunks we had brought and sorted, and sorted, and sorted. Then we jumped in the bus and headed to Sheldricks Elephant Orphanage. It was great fun watching the baby elephants be feed from gigantic bottles! They trumpeted and pushed each other around like little kids. We had a chance to touch them and blow kisses in the trunks. We even got to see a Rhino come out of the forest- which was a real treat for everyone.

From there we headed to the giraffe feeding center where the more adventuresome feed the giraffe grain pellets by putting the pellet between their lips and letting the giraffe kiss them to get it! (You just get a little saliva on your chin - and it wont kill you)It was great fun.

Around 2:30 pm we drove out to Kajiado Rescue Center to have a tour of the center and most importantly to allow Jim Anderson to meet and visit with Nancy and Ann(Jim and his wife have been sponsoring the two girls for a couple of years) It was a moving moment for him - and for several of the rest of us. Tears welled up in our eyes as they all three stood embracing each other in a nice big daddy hug! It was quite an emotional moment. The girls showed us through their dorm, the classrooms, the kitchen and the posho mill. We even called Jim's wife and let the girls talk to her for a little while.

Then we left for Lay Pastor Daniel Sinti's home which was just up the road. Baby Samwel is now living with them - and we thought we would pop in and say hi. We had picked Daniel up by the roadside as we were heading out to Kajiado. He was coming from Campmeeting in another area. Near his home and church the road got a bit rough in a couple of spots - and then we had a big problem.... the driver took us through a dry river bed that was too steep. The back of the bus caught the embankment and we were stuck, not just stuck, but STUCK!

Out of no where people started appearing with shovels, crow bars and all sorts of things. We had to jack up both tires and put rocks under the wheels before we could finally get out. We walked over to Daniel's church - which is just a bunch of very rustic benches made from tree trunks and placed under some trees. We had a great time visiting and taking pictures of Daniel at the pulpit - then we jumped in the bus and headed for home. Got back just after sunset. Enjoyed a great supper and Jim had worship for us.

We are dirty and tired and most have showered and fallen into bed. So guess its time for me to say goodnight and happy Sabbath from the heart of Africa.

kim

Thursday - August 28th

2008-08-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day - finalizing on plans, baking and shopping. Around noon I headed out with Ogoti Kenani, our Kenyan administrator to join the Kajiado District Lay Workers Meeting already in progress. After I greeted everyone I walked over to the school to see if there were any of our girls there (they are on holiday) but all were gone. The school compound seemed very quiet and lonely without all their voices and laughter filling it.

Back at the Lay Workers Meeting - I took pictures of some of our newer lay workers, updated a couple of their bios and waited while they wrote thank you letters. This time I did something a little different though - I asked ALL of them to write thank you letters to their sponsors - even though many of them do not have sponsors. They were surprised and said, "but we don't have sponsors". I shared with them that I have faith that God has already found them a sponsor and that when the time is right He will send that sponsor to us - we need to have faith, and so we are showing our faith by already thanking that sponsor.Big smiles came over their faces and they began to thank their new sponsors.

Ogoti Kenani gave out items that we had brought from the Union office for them including radios from Adventist World Radio and a few Swahili Bibles. Then we headed home.

I finished up the last minute items in each of the rooms of those coming tonite for the mission trip- turned their hot water on, folded back there sheets and headed to the airport on to pick them all up. Everyone came in on time if not a little early which was great. We had a full bus with all the luggage, and no one had any problems coming through customs. Praise God - thank you for your prayers.

So the day is over, everyone is here, everyone is safe - and we are heading to bed to ready ourselves for tomorrow adventures.
Keep us in your prayers.

kim

Wednesday Aug 27th

2008-08-27T11:15:00.001-07:00

Was up bright and early - early enough to catch Hillary Clinton's speech! OK, that's enough political talk for the day....

I ate breakfast and headed out for a very busy day. Here and there Ogetcha and I went. We stopped in at Sarova to pay for our lodging for one night in the Mara - that was the most exciting part of the day! Let me go back a bit here and catch you all up -

Jim Anderson and his wife sponsor two girls here in Kenya for MDP. Jim is a RN and works for Cal-Ore Life Flight which is a ground and air ambulance service. They serve the Northern California and Southern Oregon communities with advanced life support ambulances. The ground units are full paramedic ambulances and the 5 air ambulances are staffed with RN's. They service any hospital in the 7 western States to transport critical patients to higher levels of care and special needs. Jim is a RN and is coming on this mission trip.w\When Cal-Ore found out they offered him a External Defibrillator with an EKG monitor! It's worth about $6000! We were thrilled needless to say - and have decided to donate it to Mara Sarova which is a hotel (lodge) in the Maasai Mara National Reserve. They have on staff there a clinician that will be able to use it for those at the hotel if needed and the surrounding communities.

Anyhow to make a long story short the head office of Sarova spent sometime today visiting with me and are VERY excited about the donation. Apparently they are going all out with publicity and have invited the Park Warden, the Chief from the local area,and several Maasai from the community to come for the presentation which will be Tuesday Sept 2 at 9am. I told them we might be a little late if on the way there we come across Cheetahs making a kill, but they said they would understand if that happened.

I am hoping that James Nanka, the Narok District Lay Coordinator for MDP can be there and Ogoti Kenani our Kenyan Administrator. The publicity for MDP is great - but more important by far is the fact that because of the generosity of Cal-Ore Life Flight we are able to be a part of making a difference in a very needy community, and that lives will be saved because someone cared enough to give of their resources.

A special thank you goes out from MDP to Cal-Ore Life Flight and to Jim Anderson and his family! You have made a huge difference - and I don't ever think you will understand just how big of a difference you made.

You know it - God is good all the time!

kim

Arrival In Kenya - Aug 26th

2008-08-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

I can honestly say that was probably one of the longest trips (well at least in my mind) to Kenya that I have ever taken! The first flight was all night and I just could not sleep - the plane was full and I had the big screen right in front of me. It was like day light even with my eyes closed. I tried to wear my hoodie backwards, but it was just too hot having it over my face. The second flight seemed to go on and on - I spent most of my time looking out the window - as we went over the alps, then the little coastal towns of Italy and the islands in the Mediterranean. From there on out it got pretty dull as we crossed the Sahara Desert. We landed just as the sun was setting - and let me tell you the sunset was beautiful. Golden yellows mixed with orange and pink. It was a gift from God.

They stopped me in customs and asked about my luggage, but as soon as I shared with them that I was here helping with a medical/dental clinic they waved me on through. Ogetcha was waiting for me which I was thankful for.

A nice hot shower awaited me and I was ready for a good night of sleep. Thank you all for your prayers for a safe trip! Glad to be here safe and sound!

kim

May 15

2008-05-16T04:46:00.000-07:00

What a day we had! It actually started out the night before with some excitement.... Jan was sitting on the small couch in her bedroom, when a bat flew in the open window and landed right by her shoulder on the couch, hitting her slightly. Needless to say she removed herself from the couch and the room very quickly. I was able to throw a sheet over it and safely release it outside where it could once again swoop through the air catching bugs. Thursday morning we had a visitor - a 4'2" spitting cobra came down the driveway. The guards and garden boy was were running through the yard with sticks. I ran after them shouting "don't kill it" while Jan stood on the chair in the office shouting "kill it, kill it". I managed to rescue it, but it had been injured. We put it in the bathroom trash can with a lid and set it out in the shade until I had time to release it where humans are not around. But the injuries ended up being too much and we had the garden boy bury it this morning. We headed over to our meeting at the conference! What a blessing. We met from 2pm - 6:30pm and God moved in such a mighty, mighty way! It was thrilling.
God is blessing in so many ways!

Our truck is in really bad shape and we are having to rent a 4 wheel drive to go to Narok District today. We are not sure where the money will come from to cover the cost of fixing the truck, plus renting one to get down there, but we know that God will provide. Please keep us in your prayers.
Life is always exciting here!
kim

May 14

2008-05-14T02:58:00.000-07:00

Jan and I are in town picking up somethings, we are using Ogoti Kenani's car which is a blessing! Hopefully our truck will be ready this evening. This morning early we got a call from the president of the East Central Division of SDA's and we will be meeting with the officers of the ECD, CKC, SKC and UA tomorrow at 2pm. Please lift us up in prayer that God will bless in a marvelous way. Then on Friday we will have worship with the entire ECD staff and families. Our lay workers will all be present for the worship and will be doing a couple of special musics. Following the worship we will have a lay workers meeting and then head to Narok and the Mara to meet with the children at Siana Primary School. I can't wait. There is no place I would rather be then in the Mara.... well climbing Mt Kenya or Kilimanjaro might be good.... or catching a few snakes might be fun too, but guess I will have to settle for the open Savannah dotted with giraffe, buffalo and zebra, lions grunting in the night and the occasional laugh of the hyena... and just maybe some more beans and chapatis.
kim

May 12 & 13

2008-05-14T02:45:00.000-07:00

Monday we had to take the truck in to Maxwell Adventist Academy to have the mechanic re-do parts of the engine that had just been done 2 weeks earlier in town. That was a bit discouraging, but hopefully now we have a good mechanic that will keep us running until the Lord brings a vehicle that will be safer and more reliable. He has a plan and we are just waiting on Him to take care of it. We were able to work in the office most of the day.

Tuesday we caught a ride with the Academy Driver into Nairobi and were able to do a little shopping and get on email. That was nice to be able to catch up on things and hear from you guys and our families back in the US. We stopped by to check with the mechanic on the truck and hopefully it will be ready on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

James the garden boy has been digging up a termite mound in search of the queen... if you remove the queen then the termites will move away. Anyhow I was dismayed to find that while we were in town they had found a small brown house snake and killed it. Brown House Snakes are harmless and make great pets. Jan and I differ greatly on our opinions of snakes, sometimes I don't think there is hope for her, but maybe if I keep working on her she might change her mind and think that the only good snake is a dead snake!

kim

May 9 - 11

2008-05-14T02:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Jan worked in the office and I headed out to a Maasai home to pick up a couple of children and take them to school. We picked up Carolyn Sumug,Beatrice, Mary and Tracy Sumug, plus visited with Tenina - it was a busy morning.

Friday we headed down to Olitokitok area to visit the churches down there and the lay pastors. We ate supper in Vincent Luvembe's home and had chapatis and beans that were very yummy! Then drove about 45 minutes to our place of lodging for the night. It was called Kibo Slopes Cottages - we were on the foot hills of Mount Kilimanjaro -which is the largest free standing mountain in the entire world! As the sun came up and peaked over the horizon early in the morning the mountain looked incredible! I love mountain climbing - and for any of you that have climbed mountains you know that a "mountain bug" bites you .... (of course it is not an actual bug - but rather something inside of you draws you back and it is like the mountain calls your name) I heard the mountain calling my name....

Sabbath we headed out to Samuel Solio and Leonard Shuaka's church church. Vincent Luvembe came with us and Patrick Muyia was with us too. The church was
about a hours drive on a very rough road... in fact most of you would probably have not considered it a road, but rather a cow path that had washed out in several sections! The church was small, made from cut timbers placed roughly together. The benches were narrow, without backs and the roof did not meet in the middle, allowing the sun to pour through onto those sitting on the center aisles. Sabbath school was out in the grass, some sat on a bench, while others sat in the grass. Vincent preached the sermon - and did a great job! We ate lunch in Samuels home just down the road - we had beans and chapatis. Then we headed home - which took us about 7 hours on a very bumpy, dusty road - along the way we saw zebra, wildebeest, ostrich and giraffes grazing, and the sky was sooooo soooo blue! It was a blessed Sabbath.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you ladies who sponsor our Maasai Children! It is a wonderful day here, about 78 degrees, the sun is shining and the rain has brought green to the grass and tress once again. We will be in Nairobi area for the next couple of days.
God is good as always! I just want to thank each of you for all that you are doing - you are changing lives and making a difference, in not just one life, but MANY!
kim

May 7th Wednesday

2008-05-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning we headed out early to Kajiado to visit with the girls that attend secondary schools. They had been on a short break and were home in Kajiado. We were able to visit with Jacinta the headmistress for a little while before updating bios, taking pictures and visiting with the following girls - Carolyne Seliena, Esther Sirintai, Doris Osoi, Josphine N, Leah Antony, Alice Naini. We spent a few minutes sharing with them the importance of staying away from the young men and not getting pregnant! Hopefully they listened well!

May 5 & 6

2008-05-13T02:03:00.000-07:00

Our journey to Kenya began in the afternoon on May 5th. After 8 hour flights over the ocean Jan and I met up in Amsterdam where we had a short layover before boarding the 8hr Kenya Airways flight that would take us over the Alps, Italy, Egypt and on down over Sudan and into Nairobi. We arrived about 7:20pm and were able to quickly go through immigration, customs and head for home. Jan's feet had swelled up during the flight - she could not even put on her shoes when we landed and had to wear the airline sockies through the airport! By 10pm we were safe at home and ready for bed.

Monthly Sponsorship $ Amounts

2008-03-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of letting all of our sponsors know that the cost for a full month of sponsorship for Lay Pastors, Literacy Teachers and children have changed. We dont want anyone to feel pressure at all to change the amount they are paying, all we want to do is allow those who are currently sponsoring to have first opportunity to pay the full amount if they would like too. If they choose not to then we will just look for a "partial" sponsor to fill in for the extra.
There are many out there who would like to sponsor, but dont have enough to be a full sponsor - so this is actually a great opportunity to get more involved.
For full sponsorship for a Lay Pastor or Literacy Teacher it is $100 per month, for a child in elementary school or below full sponsorship is $35 per month, and for those in Technical School it is $50 per month.

We appreciate those who are sponsoring, they are making a huge difference! If you know of someone who would like to be a part of helping to give others opportunity and change lives - please dont hesitate to get them in contact with MDP -

Kim

Day 2 in Dallas

2008-02-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

What a great day! God really blessed us with lots of great people stopping buy to visit! There seems to be a lot of interest in mission trips which is great. We even had a visitor at the booth who is a Kenyan Pastor in Delaware..... his father is the Ministerial Director at the Central Kenya Conference Office!

Celeste found a Taco Bell near by so we will be heading there after sundown Saturday night! (She went out to eat supper nearby and ordered her food, then decided to go up to the counter to get some dessert,before she had even eaten half of her food - while she was up getting her dessert, the waitress came and threw her food away... needless to say dessert was on the house, and Celeste will have to go to bed tonite with a empty stomach- bummer, I could offer her a peanut butter sandwich I suppose)

Thanks for all the prayers - God is at work!

Kim

NAD Youth Summit - Dallas

2008-02-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone! Celeste and I are down in Dallas and I just want everyone to know that Texas is not as warm and sunny as everyone told me! It is COLD down here :)

Celested and I arrived Wednesday evening and both of us were missing a suitcase. She got her's around midnight last night and mine arrived this afternoon. Mine was full of MDP things for the booth, plus my prized peanutbutter and jam for sandwiches. I was getting tired of eating two pieces of bread without the filling! LOL

They have our booth in a great spot where we are able to see alot of people and there is alot of traffic going by us (as in people traffic) We have made some great contacts and were invited to come back in August for a "Ministries Convention"

Keep MDP in your prayers - God is leading as always!

Kim

Oct 30/31 & Nov 1 - Tues, Wed, Thur

2007-11-02T08:48:00.000-07:00

It was time to settle down and get paper work caught up, make phones calls, visit the Central Kenya Conference Office and Eastern Central African Division office.

We were blessed Thursday with a heavy rain that has already begun to refresh the ground! What a blessing it was!

Jan's husband flew out Thursday night - I am really gonna miss him when it comes to breakfast time on Friday morning - he spoiled Jan and I with his excellent cooking skills!

Kim

Oct 29th Monday

2007-11-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today we were in Kisii country! It is fertile land and the farms make the rolling hills look like a patchwork quilt that spreads as far as the eye can see. We spent the day renewing friendship from years gone by.

God is so good! His care and love for each of us is so very incrediable!!
Kim

Oct 28, Sunday

2007-11-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning we were back in Narok township and had our workers meeting at the SDA church right in town. We took sometime out from the regular meeting to have special prayer for Mrs Nanka and Mrs Shapashina who take in the girls from Siana Springs Primary during breaks and are taking care of baby Sammy. It would be great if you could add them to your prayer list too - they have a huge responsiblity, both of them have 5 small children of their own, plus baby Sammy, plus 16 girls during break!

Workers meeting went well - I was able to spend time getting to know each Lay Pastor/Teacher. After the meeting was over we headed out to an Awards Ceremony for our Lit. Teachers. For the SECOND year in a row MDP workers were given the trophy for the best Literacy Teaching Program from the government. Of the 130 Maasai that sat for the test in Narok Distric - 67 of them were from the MDP classes and all 67 of the passed the test! The government workers who came to present the award shared publically the importance of Evangelism and Literacy - how they must go hand in hand!

We are so proud of the MDP workers! From their we headed down to Kisii for the night.
Kim

Oct 27th Sabbath

2007-11-01T06:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Sabbath! There is not place greater on earth to be on the Sabbath then in the Mara! After eating breakfast in camp we drove up to Siana Springs Primary School to join in the Sabbath School Class. We sat on little benches and chairs without backs. When the adult class was over the children joined us for the church service - and we were packed in like sardines! There were over 100 children worshiping with us! Pastor Moses gave the sermon and did an excellent job.

After church we headed over to the school because they were having a special day of prayer for the 8th grade students who are about to take their exams. Different groups did special musics, and talked. The SDA children came in and sang a beautiful song. (Jan's eyes filled with tears as she counted how many children had become Adventist's - when MDP first moved into the area there was none - and now there was close to 100!) What a blessing it was!

After lunch we stopped by to visit with Pastor James Nanka,and say goodbye to baby Sammy. On our way out of the town we checked out the 15 acres that has been donated to us to build a rescue center (hostel type building)for girls at risk. We are hoping to put a bakery and/or posho mill there too in order to generate an income!

If you would like to help fund the Rescue Center please let us know! There is a HUGE need for it! Pray about it and see what God lays on your heart!
Kim

Oct. 26th, Friday

2007-11-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

We were up bright and early and headed down over the escarpment into the Great Rift Valley heading down to Narok District to spend the weekend with the lay pastors/teachers and take baby Sammy to his new home. The roads were extremely rough and as we climbed the other side of the escarpment we found that the night before it had rained and the road had turned into mud. A bus and a couple of trucks had gotten stuck thus totally blocking the road. For two hours we sat in the traffic jam, and finally they brought in a tracter and bulldozer and built us a new road! (Only in Kenya - SMILE)

We stopped briefly in the town of Narok, filled up at the Petrol station, grabbed a couple of samosa's to eat and headed on. This was gonna be a ALL day trip!!
By late afternoon we had reached our distination.

We stopped in at Pastor James Nanka's home and Pastor Moses' home. It was time to give baby Sammy over to his new care taker.....words cannot describe how my heart felt! I knew I was doing the right thing, but in just those few days my heart had bonded to his. I wanted to take him in my arms and bring him home to the US with me -but I knew I must give him up. He would be in a good home with a caring lady, and family that will teach him about the love of Jesus!

As I lay in my tent that night my eyes filled with tears and my heart ached - I believe God gave me a small glimpse of the love that He has for us. How his heart aches when we are away from Him, how He yearns to hold us close and keep us safe.

I will be praying for baby Sammy daily - and I know he will grow up someday to be a great Maasai Warrior for Jesus! Baby Sammy changed my life!