This past week the children and I visited two orphanages. We traveled just outside of Bomet to Umoja Children’s Home where twenty five children live with Joseph Chepkwony and his family. The girls and Jackson played soccer, jumped rope and colored with the younger kids. We taught them the song “Our God is So Big, So Strong and So Mighty” and shared the story of Hannah. We encouraged the kids to be like Hannah and carry their struggles to God- the One who can answer their hearts deepest desires.
I met with Joseph to assess the needs of the orphanage and see how we can help while we are in Kenya. He has had success raising laying hens that not only provide eggs for the orphans at the home but provide a small profit when he sells the excess (he sells to the missionaries at Tenwek so we have been eating Umoja eggs!). Joseph shared with me that he really needs more chickens to make more of a profit for the orphanage. His location is very close to Bomet and he could easily sell more eggs if he had them. I discussed the possibility of us helping him to purchase more chickens and with his present coops he could accommodate quite a few more.
One of the missionaries at Tenwek decided to go in with me and we have given Joseph enough money to purchase 200 more chickens, now he will have over 300 chickens to feed his orphans and make some profit for the home.
On Saturday we traveled for over an hour quite a distance over some very bumpy roads to reach Bosto Children’s Home which sits atop an unbelievable mountainside perch. Below us we could see a thick forest line at the bottom of the mountain which was the edge of the Maun Forest.
I had not originally planned on visiting Bosto but when I heard of the dedication of the pastor and his wife who run the home and the great needs they have I decided I would try and visit them. Within days God provided us with transporation to take us there on a Saturday morning.
Isaac Mutai and his wife, Emme, take care of 40 of the neediest orphans in the area. While they have many needs, Isaac shared how recently the greatest need has just been feeding the children. The land is rocky and sloped and he cannot grow anything on it, so all their food must be bought or donated to them. He does not have a cow for milk and has only 15 chickens which barely provide any eggs for the childrenl. His present coop is small and a falling down. A local man has promised to donate a good milk cow to the orphanage but the fencing is not adequate for livestock.
While the missionary kids and the girls played with children, I sat and spoke with Isaac about how we could help him feed his children. We came up with a simple plan like fencing some of his land so he could keep a milk cow and save the 1600 KSH a month he spends on milk (which doesn’t pay for much milk weekly). Isaac desperately also needs more chickens and new coops. More chickens would provide eggs a couple of times a week for the kids and he can sell the eggs for a profit. The money they save will pay for the feed for the chickens. Isaac provided me with a detailed list of the cost for the fencing and the coops. He expressed how he had been praying and asking the Lord for these specific needs. I knew at that moment why I had travelled to Bosto that day. I left Isaac with the money to construct the fence and new chicken coops, once those projects are done I committed to buy the orphanage 100 chickens.
All the money I took to Bosto and to Umoja Children’s Home was raised by JLIFE at Lakewood Church this spring, I just had the awesome privilege of delivering the money for the projects. I shared with Isaac that morning how the money was from children in America who are young leaders in our church who love Jesus and wanted to help other kids all the way across the world in Africa. We prayed together and thanked God that he had crossed our paths. When he prayed He thanked God for you, JLIFE, and so do I! I will post photos of what God allowed you and me to be a part of at these two orphanages as soon as I can. ~Jennifer
