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Kwa Marafiki Wetu...May 2002 |
 
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Orphans, Aid and Things:
The
orphans of Karanse:
Sometimes
it is great to have ‘outside’ eyes looking in. I think you will be
touched by our Cheryl’s thought provoking report from when I sent
Cheryl & Margaret to record details of the poorer children in the
area.
The
main village was Karanse with approximately 3000 people, and most are
very poor.
The children are in rags and are very dirty.
We took photos of these children,
but strange as it may seem the
dirt doesn’t show up on the photographs.
Also to my shock, the children are in poor health and
undernourished.
They are very small for their ages.
A six year old is shorter and smaller than my four-year-old grand
daughter.
Thirteen year olds look like ten year olds.
All the children were like that and
I was just astounded by this one fact!!
The
six-year-old children are caring for the babies in the family as the
parents are in the fields; carrying them on their backs all day.
These children eat only 2 meals a day, mainly a porridge like
meal, made from maize meal.
They mostly don’t attend school because they are too poor.
Primary school is cheap by our standards but… they require
uniform and pencils and writing books.
This costs money that they don’t have.
And I am told even if they did, the early years are when they
must shepherd the goats and cows at the age of 8 & 9 onwards.
I know because I have seen children who look a lot younger than
this looking after the animals.
A lot of pressure is put on the pastor of the village to help,
but in most cases they themselves are very poor with almost no wages to
cover themselves.
The
other thing that might not sound too important is this… The children
have no toys to play with.
Just the little things we take as necessary for our children, are
unheard of for these children.
One little boy asked me for a toy truck.
But, of course this would be too hard because, then the other
children would need a toy as well. We photographed and interviewed
almost 100 children who have no parents or only one parent.
One little girl who looked only 3 years old but was of course 6
yrs old came in by herself to ask for help because both her parents
don’t have any employment at all.
She broke my heart – and blessed it at the same time. To
have the responsibility and such boldness for one so young!
People
came from everywhere!
100 or more; I am told they were still coming after we had left
the village! Think about this: 100 orphans per 3000 people and growing.
There are orphans everywhere.
Even those being helped are in desperate need.
The
normal thing is no running water, no electricity, no floor but dirt; if
there is a floor, no floor coverings.
Most sleep on animal skins. People here die of things we stopped
dying of many years ago.
A simple thing like malaria is the biggest killer. Also AIDS is
the next biggest and is killing the young ones around the ages of 18
& 19 years.
Even people who have a job and place to live have very little
money.
I saw one
person cooking pumpkin leaves to eat as an evening
meal.
A
Lutheran pastor asked me why the Pentecostals didn’t look after other
areas besides the spiritual needs. They [the Lutherans] train
occupational therapists and doctors, motor mechanics and social workers.
As well as these professions, these men are trained for ministry,
but used in all areas of the community as well as the church.
Maybe we could learn from them?
The
pastors are doing their best and doing a good job in a hard land.
They need any help they can get and they are more than grateful.
Thankyou Lord and thankyou Mike and Lyndall for a wonderful stay,
an adventure I would like to repeat, God permitting.
Amen.
If
you would like to sponsor a child, we will be posting the children’s
details and photos on the Internet soon. Don and Olivia Stewart from
Queensland [email LOVEINTERNATIONAL@bigpond.com]
will be receiving/coordinating the Australian finances for this project.
Love International has already helped us build the first stages of a
school in the area for these children.
A word from Stanley……
Stanley is the leader of the village evangelism teams.
He has a pastors heart and is a great blessing in watching over the
young men. A special thanks to those who are currently supporting
Stanley……
My name is Stanley, now it is a long time since God called me to serve
him in this E.T.F. Ministry.
In this ministry, we are working in the villages and bush places. I am
very happy for serving God because I do see him in our ministry. God was
helping us for all problems. In those places there are no good water,
food and place for sleeping, so we get many problem for our health,
because there are too much mosquito and bed insects.
Those places which we are going for ministry is very dangerous but we
are supposed to serve God, we are required to take a word of God to that
places because is very difficult for many Evangelists and pastors to go
bush places. One day when we are in the Maasai place they gave us
somewhere to sleep. Maasai is the tribe who lives in the bush places in
our country. One day in the night I went in the house, and I stepped on
a big snake with my one leg! So, I was in fear and I jumped, after I
jumped I landed on it with the other leg! It was very dangerous but God
helped me that day.
We have seen a mighty Hand of God as we are doing the Ministry in the
village areas. In the village areas people are very eager to hear the
word of God. We are very happy to minister to them despite the hardships
we are facing. In our Ministry what we do is to play music during the
Seminar and Crusade and to show film in the night. There are lot of
people who come to film in the night and that has helped many people to
come to Jesus. We are happy with our work, for the joy of the Lord is
our strength!
By Stanley Shangarai.
Thoughts from Ngarenanyuki seminar
Gidori and I had a wonderful time at Ngarenanyuki building the pastors together. We really saw the "lights come on" of why they should work together and trust to see good fruit in the future. [Team from Ausralia coming July 2003 will be going there to build on what we have sown] But here are some unrelated observations……
-
Have you ever heard of a gift destroying
the very thing you want to build? Well we hear of them often here. I
hate to say it but I would say 90% of gifts do that in this land!!
Pastors from the Ngarenanyuki pastors seminar told me that 50 trucks
of maize were sent to their village a few years back- there was a
famine on. Some of the maize did not arrive and sometime after new
houses appeared, flash four-wheel drives were seen in the area-
where did they come from? Thirsty or more trucks of maize had been
sold off on the way and guess where the money went. And did you hear
about the man who wrote a proposal for his group to have a car? He
got the car …… for his own use and it turned out he was a drunk.
Its good to give but be careful how you do it! [The bible says we
reap what we sow- we were told the perpetrators have lost it all and
are far worse off than before.]
-
I was sleeping soundly in the back shed. But Gidori was not so lucky. He had the house to sleep in ….. but every hour the wall clock announced the hour with a screech. He didn't sleep so well and I enjoyed my shed!
-
On the second day of our 3-day seminar I saw a pastor outside the church looking agitated. In fact he looked distraught. He talked a lot and left. While I was teaching I could see just across the way a sad group of people gathered outside a house. Someone died last night, I am told, of AIDS.
But it turns out
this is not his problem. He has a sick member of his church in
hospital. But they have no medicine! And it costs 30,000/- [AUD60]
to send her to Arusha. That is more than those who earn would get in
a month! Poverty can kill. End of the day he came to beg me to take
her to Arusha. She is alive and well now but the hospital said she
would have died of malaria next day if I had not made the trip.
Anyway, Lyndall was happy to have me home that night!
Thanks again for praying with us. We pray the Lord
be with you all as you daily come to know Him more and therefore know
his goodness and blessing in your lives!
Mike and Lyndall
