KENYA
2008 UPDATE:
On August 6, 2008 Feeding The Nations partnered with Global Assistance to ship 1 x 40 foot container with 270,864 vita-meals to the Joy Evangelistic Ministry in Nairobi, Kenya. These meals were valued at $46,047 USD.
2007 HADU, KENYA OUTREACH:
On September 16, 2007 Feeding The Nations third church was opened and %202007%20151.jpg)
dedicated this year. Pastor Kakala from Redeemed Gospel Church anointed Pastor Boniface to be pastor of the new Hadu church. It was just a joy!!!
The church is located 60 km from Malindi and 180 km from Mombasa to the north towards Somalia. Malindi was the first place where Portuguese's came year 1497. An Arabic Sultan became a ruler over Malindi and the whole coastal area all the way to Zanzibar which is today southern Tanzania. Most people worked there as slaves.
In 1800 when British came, came also missionaries from several countries to Kenya. Mijikenda people who lived at the coastal area did not receive them though. They took their Bibles and burned them and offered them to their Gods and cursed the missionaries. Missionaries had to leave for their lives. The other tribes received the missionaries, God, the Bible teaching. Today they are Kenya' s successful leaders and leaders at different churches.
It did not go as well with Mijikenda tribes. Most of these people are not educated%202007%20080.jpg)
and live in horrible poverty in the countryside. They are bound by their traditions and even today they give animal and human offerings to their forefather's spirits to get rain and harvest from them. The problem is that in these areas don't get rain in many years. When it finally comes it floods and destroys everything. A strong curse lies over these people. I understood that to build a stronger altar for God by building a permanent church into these villages is the only way to get this curse broken.
I have lived in Mombasa for 14 years and I have never known where these Mijikenda people come from. After we started to work with these tribes in the bushes I have finally understood what is the root to all this misery. The people we have reached live with their traditions but thank God they are ready to turn to the living God and give up witchcraft. Rain is something very holy for these people. We have won their respect because they have seen that in every place where we have built churches in Gede, Makwala, Kilibasi and now Hadu God has answered our prayers and has given us rain. The other fantastic thing is that the huge floods that ruined the coast of Kenya during the last two years have not come to those areas where FTN Churches are. They have got just enough rain and the best harvest in years. God is so good!
%202007%20137.jpg)
Hadu used to be good farming area but because of witchcraft there has been no rain. Also because of brutal Somalian soldiers most of the people have left the area. Now it is a new time for Hadu and the villages which have received Jesus are going to survive. We thank God that people are open for the gospel. After only three weeks we have over 70 adults and 50 children as members in our new Hadu church. Now is time for harvest !
Pia Lind and Kirsi Nyrhinen
Kenya Missionaries
Additional images in the photo gallery
2007 Update:
Cows for Kenya: Livestock Provides an Income for the Future
%202007%20002.jpg)
FTN's support of Kenya has continued, but not just through food distribution. In 2006, FTN gave the Zion Community Clinic cows to help them with their livelihood. Not only does this support give food and nourishment for the present but it is creating an income and hope for their future. The people sell the milk to help support a home-based care where nurses go to the community to find AIDs-sufferers who have been rejected by their families. Those people are taken to a clinic and given food and medicine.
Additional images in the photo gallery
NOVEMBER 2006 UPDATE
Every Village is Important
Additional images in the photo gallery
|
After spending a week in Zambia distributing food and sharing the love of Jesus in many orphanages, hospitals, schools, and clinics, our Feeding The Nations team headed straight for Kenya. On October 28, 2006, we began our trip to Makwala, which is around 150 kilometers from Mombasa. Due to heavy rains the miry road was hardly navigable causing the team's four wheel drive vehicles to become stuck in the mud four times. When we finally arrived representatives from the village greeted us and expressed their jubilation over our work in Makwala. Feeding the Nations initiative to plant a new church in an outcast village along with providing critical food and supplies during the severe dry season was a great blessing to this village. In the midst of this warm reception and elderly man approached the team and solemnly thanked us for everything. This was the man who gave us the piece of land to build the new church. He had been gravely ill for a long time but Jesus healed him. He now carries his Bible everywhere he goes.
Pastor Paul had to walk an hour from his rented room every morning to the new churc While in Makwala we delivered much-needed clothes and vital medicine. On Sunday morning the church was filled with 200 people. After we preached the gospel around 50 people gave their lives to Jesus. Present at this service were five nearby influential village leaders representing 10,000 people. As a result from the leaders attending, the church has received favour and all of their people from the villages are now welcome to attend the services. |
|
APRIL 2006
The Growing Makwala Church
Since opening in February, the church in Makwala continues to touch the region
Additional images in the photo gallery
Pia Lind, the project manager for the FTN initiative to plant a church in Makwala, Kenya, has this amazing update on the status of the area since the church opened:
The church in the unreached area of Makwala that was built by FTN in February 2006 is doing very well. The faithful members are reaching almost 100 adults and 200 children! We can clearly see that there is a new Christian generation growing up among the Giriama tribe in the Kilifi district at the Kenyan coast in a former Muslim dominated domain. An adult and nursery education has been introduced by the local pastor of the church. He has also introduced home cell groups that have brought many people to Christ. Overnight prayer meetings and midweek Bible studies are held at the church apart from the ever-increasing Sunday services.
Pastor Paul had no house to live in so he had to walk from his rented room from a distance of one hour every morning and evening in order to reach his work at the Makwala church. This arrangement became very impractical for him to be effective in his work among the Giriamas so we built a room as an extension of the church building for him to live in. We also bought a bed with a mattress for him to rest on, he previously had no bed.
We thank you for all the support. It has built this church and now a bedroom for the pastor so his ministry may be even more effective.
Update:
Feeding the Nations just completed building a second church. This one is in the village of Kilibasihuge.
APRIL 2006
Hunger Catastrophe
Additional images in the photo gallery
"After no rain for three years, the people were dying from hunger. The team preached the Word of God and 300 souls were saved, and rain fell again!"
Feeding The Nations was there first-hand as we partnered together with Jesus Celebration Center of Mombasa, Kenya, to reach the destitute with new life. Representatives traveled to Makwala, in the Bamba area on the coast of Kenya to begin proceedings to feed the people and to build a new church.
The area had been stricken with drought, and people were dying from hunger. The FTN team saw starving people everywhere. President Kibaki had proclaimed this area a hunger catastrophe. The people happily received the FTN team and gave them an area to start the building of a church. They even heard announced on the radio, "I wish there was someone who could chase away these kayas (witch doctors) in Bamba at the Kenya coast so that the rain can fall again!" When the team arrived in Makwala and preached the Word of God, 300 souls were saved including the village elders, and the rain fell again.
Feeding The Nations provided the funding for the new church building that was opened on the 19th of February 2006, with 320 people attending the first service. The church was named Bethlehem because Jesus Christ has now been born among them! They were able to feed over 327 households. Vaccinations were provided for the children. In Mombasa, milking cows were bought for the Zion Clinic to help the children. An area was given to them to build a shelter for the cows. Many thanks for your labor of love in the Lord to help these precious people!
h plus an hour back every evening. To allow him to be able to spend more time helping his people, Feeding The Nations built an additional room onto the church and purchased a new bed and mattress. Pastor Paul is loved by everyone and seems to have a special anointing for the children. The faithful congregation is reaching 100 adults and 200 children in a former Muslim-dominated area. Overnight prayer meetings and midweek Bible studies are feeding the hungry souls of the people.