The women and men separated today, each heading out—the men were reminded that they were going out unsupervised. Both teams had an awesome experience in the Lord today being with God’s people.
Bonnie, Debbie & Pam went with Grace to Bellevue Baptist Church where the pastor’s wives of the Keini West Association held a meeting. Ten wives were in attendance (two were unable to attend). For me, it was a wonderful reunion with women I have come to know and love as I spent time teaching and mentoring this group of sisters. Debbie has visited several times with these dear sisters in Christ and was very excited to introduce her friend, Pam, to the group.
After drinking a cup of tea, we sang a song and then went around the room where each woman introduced herself to Pam and shared about her church and family. Anne, wife of Pastor Stephen from Bellevue Baptist, led in the group in a praise song and prayer.
Pam shared a series of Bible passages that were special to her (Psalm 24:1, Lamentations 3:12, and Rev. 3:20) and why. Debbie led a short study on the Kingdom of God being like a mustard seed—Luke 13:18-21. Then I (Bonnie) concluded the study time by teaching from Matthew 5:1-12. Who we are to be – Blessed Living Everyday.
It was an inspirational time for us all. Those who had gone to Mombasa on the graduation trip shared about the experience with us. They are still in awe that such an event happened to them. After this sharing, we prayed and had a traditional Kenyan meal of rice, lentils, cabbage, and greens.
The afternoon was spent visiting homes where Grace, who leads the Women’s Empowerment division of LCI has placed water tanks and guttering systems. Grace and a team of three women volunteers focus on an area of this semi-arid region where many women live in poverty with little or no supply of potable water. Through partnering with Teleios Ministry, Grace & her team look throughout the area accessing the need for gifting the tanks & gutters. Today we also gave gift bags containing rice, wheat & corn flour, cooking oil, sugar, and a loaf of bread. What an emotional, overwhelming afternoon we had visiting these homes and hearing these women’s stories.
Bill, Keith, Floyd, Charles, and Robert headed out to see new farming opportunities on four properties in the Naro Moru area. We were joined by James, an LCI Client and partner.
The first farm is already producing crops (cabbages) and has newly cleared land on the river. Five acres currently produce over 50,000 cabbages. The cabbages were over a foot in diameter and beautiful. The second has a borehole and promises to be a very good farm opportunity. The third has great potential for farming as water resources are developed. The fourth was checked just to see the feasibility of even pursuing a project plan—backburner.
We came away very excited and committed to three of the four farm land opportunities.
We had a great time together as we had a late “snack” since we passed lunchtime at the Lusoi Resort outside of Naro Moru - a few samosas, some beef and lamb, potatoes, and greens. We toured the site as a possible location for future teams and meetings. The day ended as we talked of sustainability and growth for LCI and its support of ministry in the area.
