The Kenya team (Tom Menefee, Mitch Laplante, Bonnie, Floyd, Charles, Robert, Grace, and Duncan) had two full, incredible days Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, the team traveled from Thika to Nyeri. We visited Pastor Peter Wanjoi of Nyeri Baptist Church, and Elisabeth, his wife who leads the Nyeri OVC ministry. Peter shared his heart with passion for the families of the Nyeri slums. Elizabeth shared her calling to serve the families through the OVC ministry. Very powerful testimonies of God's work in their lives and in the Nyeri slums. Elizabeth even had prepared a wonder snack of fresh fruits!!! We then made a quick visit to the three water tanks constructed in partnership with Gatarawa Water District, Stephen Kibishi, Chairman. The district was presented with a new laptop.
Thursday was a long day. Lamuria Secondary School is a local high school that has experienced tremendous growth the past two years. LEFTI in partnership with Sunbelt Marketing provided a desperately needed classroom to cut class size from 70 to 40. We met with the Lamuria Secondary School Principle and LSS Community Management Board to discuss and dream about future partnership opportunities. Mitch Laplante, an architect from Kiawah Island, with the help of Charles Mbugua and LSS principal, is preparing a site plan and architectural plans for the school and its future growth. The school was presented with a desperately needed laptop.
Next stops over Wednesday and Thursday was to visit the constructed water tanks, infrastructure and those who were helped by the Sunbelt and Kenny teams in January 2019. Tom was able to see first-hand the amazing work of the Sunbelt team. He had seen the pictures of their work, but he was overwhelmed by the magnitude of what they accomplished serving alongside LEFTI and Gatarawa Water District volunteers.
We visited Pastor Stephen's (Bellevue Baptist Church pastor) mom. She was so excited and hugs and blessings went all around. She even offered for Tom to come back and be her guest and even offered him a calf as a gift (but US customs and Delta might frown on the calf going back with Tom and Mitch).
Then we visited Helen, the very first woman to receive water from the team's work. Our final stop was the final elderly widow (85+) that the Sunbelt team helped with water. She pronounced a blessing upon Tom and the Sunbelt team for making water possible. She had all her water barrels, jugs, and pots filled with water. It was a beautiful sight.
Lunch Thursday was a special treat introducing Tom and Mitch to Eagle Buchery "Five Star" Hotel. We had an incredible meal of goat, spinach, and potatoes cooked in an amazing stew type meal. Served on a large platter and eaten with Chapati and fresh tomato, onion, and pepper mix. We cleaned the platter and enjoyed fresh oranges and bananas for dessert. Charles, Robert, and Floyd are always looking for an opportunity to visit the "Five Star."
