Where do we begin to tell you about our day?!?!?!? Well, there was the morning meeting with
Edith and Martha who are members of the Trans Kenya Women’s SACCO. Their goal is to empower women
economically. We are discussing with
them whether RUN is a good fit to partner with them and vice versa. Because we had so much to discuss, we had to
schedule a second meeting for this afternoon.
Pastor Isaac had made arrangements for us to meet with the
county governor’s wife and what an education that turned out to be! Rose (the 1st lady) is looking for
ways she can help Kenyans to improve their lives. She is helping some women who created beaded
jewelry to find marketplaces to sell their work. This is the same way we have been trying to
help the Kipsongo “slum women”. Next she
took us on a tour of her home which included a small vegetable farm. Using only ½ acre of property, Rose was able
to grow a wide variety of vegetables in such quantity that she not only feeds
her own family, but she tells her workers to take some home to their
families! Beet root, carrots, onions,
broccoli, lettuce, spinach beans, kale, and things we had never head of were
all growing like crazy on this small piece of land! Rose wants to teach Kenyans how to farm
“smart” instead of just planting maize every year, so we see her as another
God-ordained connection.
Another business meeting for Ellen with the women from the
SACCO, and Dawn got a little freedom to walk through town taking care of some
“housekeeping items”. Do you have any
idea how hard AVACADOS are to find in Kenya this time of year?!?!?!? But if you ask around enough, someone knows
someone who has what you are looking for!
Several opportunities presented themselves to give out “backpack Bibles”
while in town. The woman at the currency
exchange nearly burst into tears (LITERALLY!) when she asked if we were selling
them and we told her we were giving them away.
She was so blessed by this small gift.
Monica, a customer service worker at the bank, told us she had been
thinking about buying one and was so happy to be gifted with one instead.
After the meeting with the SACCO women had wrapped up and we
were getting ready to leave town, Ellen thought something was wrong with her
front motorcycle tire so we went to see Tony, the manager of a Boxer motorcycle
shop in town with whom we have become VERY familiar as we try to figure out
these Indian-made motorcycles! As it
turned out, Ellen’s front tire had been punctured so we had to wait around for
the repair. That whole thing about “God
connections” never gets old! We met one
of the Boxer representatives who told us he was questioned by a security
officer at the restaurant where we had recently parked our motorcycles. Raul told the officer he was curious about
the bikes because he had heard there two “western women” riding the Bajaj
(Boxer) bikes in town. He asked if he
could take our picture with the motorcycles so Ellen and I are expecting to see
our picture on the internet as a Bajaj advertisement some day! The God connection enters when Raul asked
where we ride the bikes. We began to
tell him about RUN and the vision of “lifting people out of spiritual and
economic poverty.” He told us how his
business tries to help the community by doing simple health screenings like
taking blood pressures and that he is looking for other ways to help. Raul told us that 40% of Kenya’s youth
are unemployed. He also said that over
50% of the employment market is made up of people who in one way or another work
in the motorcycle industry: sales,
repair, marketing, etc. He said he would
be willing to have his workers provide training on how to ride the bikes safely
(a DEFINITE NEED here in Kenya!)
and how to repair them. This would
provide young people with a vocational skill which would help them to find jobs
in this industry. Oh my goodness! We told him about RUN’s work with the SACCO
and some of the possibilities for investing and gave him our business
card. He plans to email us for more
information. How AWESOME it would be if
one type of training offered at the community training center was motorcycle
repair! Kenyans helping Kenyans . . . WE
LOVE IT!
What a wonderful day this has been. We have experienced both highs and lows
today, but always under the watchful eye of the Father who loves us and does
not permit one single experience to go without a purpose. We are still amazed and humbled that He would
allow us to play even a small part in this GREAT work of HIS.
Please pray with us and for us about the following upcoming
appointments:
1.
Tomorrow at 1:00PM we will be having another RUN board
meeting. Pray that we cover God’s agenda
and not our own, and that the board will act in unity. There is a difficult issue to be addressed
with regard to a micro-loan which is in default. Pray for God’s wisdom in this.
2.
Pray that we will remain healthy and safe. Sometimes we take these things for granted
until we don’t have them.
3.
Pray for the family of Rosetta. Somehow the family was able to have the body
released so they could proceed with her funeral today, but they still need to
clear 15,000 shillings in expenses (about $180 USD).
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