The hot air balloon was a fun feature of the Children’s Ministry of First United Methodist Church of Winter Park and is a kick-off event promoting their summer Vacation Bible School that runs from July 16-20, 2012.

Children participating in Vacation Bible School, as their service project, are encouraged to contribute their pennies to an outreach mission of the church called Panua-Partners in Hope. This program assists over 400 chronically poor orphans and vulnerable youth in Naivasha, Kenya, to create sustainable businesses to feed their families.

For additional information regarding this exciting summer program contact Kathy Bradshaw at 407 644-2906 ext 223

Contact re event:

Kathy Bradshaw

Cell: 407 619-8651

Office:  407 644-2906 ext 223

 January 6, 2012

(Speaking with Panua team in Naivasha, Kenya via Skype; Left to right: Jensie Gobel, Susie Rush, John King, Mickey Linn, Carol Smith, [not shown] Kim Allen)

Overview:

The meeting began at 8:07 am in the FLC of FUMC. Members present in Navaisha were Paul Matheri, Moses Maina, Florence Muthoni, and Katherine. Participants in Winter Park were John King, Jensie Gobel, Susie Rush, Carol Smith, Mickey Linn, and Kim Allen.

John opened the meeting with prayer.

Reports and Updates from Navaisha:

Some of the children have completed their basic education and would like to further their education. The costs for various classes (computer training for example) can vary widely. Paul and Florence will send us a list of the numbers of children wanting further education and what the cost for those programs will be.

Also, the cost for student fees for children in school have doubled (this includes books, supplies and uniforms) The Navaisha team has used the funds available for school fees to pay this month but will run out of money before the end of the quarter. [Current budget for 45 OVC for 2^nd quarter of year two is $450 US dollars; fees for 12 OVC in secondary school is $1440 US dollars- I am unsure if the increase is for both areas] In addition to the increase for school fees are the legal fees necessary for getting birth certificates for each child entering school. The cost is $2-3 US dollars/child. If they are unable to find records for any of the children, the cost is more for affidavits, etc. which can cost $10-$11 for that. Florence is going to determine which children have records and which will need more involved legal fees.

The budget for last year included 15 OVC for vocation training and start up kits. This year, there are 20 children who need vocational training or start up kits. (Part of this increase is because the 15 students from last year’s program who participated in training are now in need of startup kits) The budget allows $250 per student for either training or start up kits- this would be an increase of $1250 for this quarter.

Florence and Paul reported that the current program and budget allows for monthly training for life skills. (example: Hygiene,  nutrition, reproductive health, child rights)They feel that this is not enough time spent for the groups. They feel that there needs to be more individual training sometimes splitting the group training into boys and girls. The current budget is $135 US dollars for monthly meetings. They are requesting 3 more meetings each quarter for an additional $135. This money is used for transportation, outside teachers, and lunch.

(The increase to the budget for all items discussed above would be a minimum of $1835 US dollars. The additional request will depend on the class costs for post secondary training and whether the increase in school fees for the 12 OVC in secondary school has doubled which would be an additional $2880 US dollars.  There will also be a need for money under child rights, i.e. legal fees to get birth certificates for all school children. Cost for this is TBD)

Florence reported that the children were very excited to receive the Christmas letters from their sponsors. She is currently working with them on their replies. Paul asked if there are other members from FUMC-WP who would want to be prayer partners for the board, specifically, Katherine. Jensie will identify people who wanted to pray for the group and will ask them to partner with Katherine.

Because of the costs to mail the letters (over $100 US dollars), it was suggested that several of the children’s responses be scanned and sent by email and the rest to be delivered by the team that will be coming to Florida in April.

The Winter Park team received the Assessments for the children, however, we did not receive the financial report. Paul said that he would resend it. (note- we are also still waiting for the bank pin so that we can access the bank information)

Trip to General Conference:

Both teams discussed the specific dates that Paul, Moses and Florence would be traveling to the US for the UMC General Conference. It was decided that they would leave Kenya sometime around April 15^th. This would allow them to be here one week before conference and they would return sometime around May 13^th. This would allow them to come back to WP after the conference. Jensie will talk with Bob about the specific dates so that the request for Paul and Moses can be given to the conference to schedule the airline. We will need to know those flights so that we can also schedule Florence to be on the same flights.

Registration:

Susie reported to the teams that with the approval of the WP board at the next meeting, that Panua will be registering to be a 501c(3) which will create a separate identity for Panua. She asked Paul if this would be enough “clout” for Panua to allow it to be recognized as a registered program. Paul said that we need to be at least a CBO (community based organization) for Kenya’s requirements. Susie stated that she tried to get the forms online to look at the involvement to be a CBO, but that the forms were not available online. Paul said that he understood that and would get the forms and begin the process. The cost for being a CBO is minimal and the Navaisha board can do the registration. Susie asked Paul to proceed with that registration and Panua would continue to investigate becoming a NGO (non-government organization) which is a very involved and expensive process.

Mission trips to Navaisha:

Due to the length of the meeting, Jensie is going to email the trip dates to Paul and we will discuss the details of those trips at the next meeting.

The next Skype meeting was set for Friday, January 20^th at 8:00am EST.

In the months prior to the mission trip I was having an internal struggle…my discussions with friends and family about going to Naivasha often centered around the experiences I would have and how much I would get out of it.  Many times when I was alone I wondered if I was going on the trip more for the benefits I would receive or more for the benefit of those I would be helping.  Was I doing it for me or for them?  I knew that I was being called to help others and that would certainly happen.  But was the driving force more of a selfish nature?  And as I considered the question I also wondered if the reason even mattered.  Was the fact that I was going to encourage, help and spread the word of God to those in need simply enough?

Proverb 14:31 says “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God”.

Proverb 14:21 says “He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy”

So helping the poor honors God and we will be blessed for doing it.  After a lot of reflection I realized God gifted the poor to to lift up the Body just as he has gifted us to lift up the Body.  God is working through them the same way he is working through us.  I experienced this everytime I reached out to a child and looked into his or her eyes and held his or her hand…I felt the power of the Holy Spirit working through each of us together.  I also experienced it with every embrace and conversation with the pastors there for the conference and the Panua Directors who are making this fantastic program possible.

I belive the blessings we receive are both the direct lessons we learn from the children and the rich experiences we have with the children, the pastors, the Panua Directors, and our FUMCWP team during the entire trip.  So I don’t think determining the main motivator for taking the trip mattered.  The important thing was that the spirit moved me in a way that caused me to act.

I also believe to truly honor God what we need to do with the gifts we receive is take them back with us and share them with others.  And in doing so, hopefully we will inspire others to do the same.

A friend of mine, Jeff Lanier, took his then teenage son on a mission trip with his church several years ago.  He told me what they accomplished and how rewarding and humbling it was.  It was also a tremendous learning experience and growth opportunity that he and his son shared together.  I remember how his stories and pictures moved me and caused me to have a deeper understanding and admiration for who he is.  God, through Jeff, planted a seed in me that grew and helped move me to get out of my comfort zone and take this leap of faith with my wife, Amy, and my step-daughter, Emily.  I hope that sharing my experience with others will lead many more people to take the leap to support Panua, Partners in Hope, in some way and to ultumately participate in a mission trip with FUMCWP or their home church.

I am very grateful for the many gifts God gave me on this trip and for the many new friendships that have drawn me closer to the church, to our friends in Naivasha and to God.

-Jeff-

This is the third time I’ve been involved in formalized training sessions for pastors in Kenya. Most of these deeply committed folks are lay people with little or no formal training.  They have God’s call on
their lives, undergirded by gifts and skills and passion, and are sent out in the name of the United Methodist Church to pastor a church.

In the past I’ve taught classes on The Life and Teaching of Jesus and Wesleyan Theology and have had colleagues with me who have taught classes on An Overview of the Bible, Prayer, United Methodist Organization and Structure.  This time my good friend Jeff Stiggins from the Florida Conference Office of Congregational Excellence and I are teaching from a very practical perspective, Jeff on Characteristics of Healthy Churches and I on Leadership Development.

We’ve been working with forty-five pastors from around Kenya, all of whom were chosen by their district superintendants as among the top pastoral leaders in each district. They have come from as close by as Naivasha, the town we are in, and as far away as near the Ugandan border, about a ten-hour bus ride, for three days of training with Jeff and me.

What an experience it has been!  Working with a deeply committed, passionate, highly gifted group of leaders here in Kenya is an exciting experience to have.  It’s also very humbling.

The pastors are staying and having meals in the same location where our team is staying and eating breakfast and dinner, which means there’s time for interaction and conversation for them and our whole team over meals and in the early morning and evening hours.

Since today is the last day of the training program, last night our team decided to affirm and celebrate with the Kenyan pastors by giving them a standing ovation and them serving them ice cream for dessert.  As much as it may not sound that way to us, serving them ice cream was a big deal, and the delight in their expressions as our team members put a dish in front of each individual was a wonderful  sight to see.  One person said, “The only time I get ice cream is on Christmas and my birthday.”

Once again, I am aware of how privileged I am to serve in ministry in the name of Jesus Christ, and specifically to be serving at First UMC, Winter Park, and I am deeply grateful. FUMCWP is indeed “on the move to make a difference through Jesus Christ” in tangible and remarkable ways and it’s an exciting thing to be a part of.  Even though most of you who are reading this are not here, as part of FUMCWP you’re a part of this ministry as well.  Thank you for your prayers and other forms of support.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Grace and Peace,

Bob

On Friday we had an opportunity to visit the first of the six orphan groups that make up Partners in Hope.   Meeting the youth we have been praying for over the last few months in person has been a powerful experience.

Mary was orphaned at the age of 15 and left to care for her three siblings.  She now lives with her grandmother, brother, and her baby.  Living in the city without any land to plant crops, food is scarce.  Mary took on some extra jobs to care for the family, including working at a hair salon, where she learned hairdressing.  When she was selected to enter Partners in Hope, she was given a start up kit to open her own hair salon.  The program also gave her three chickens to supplement the family’s diet.

Mary saved her money from the hair salon until she had enough to buy 3 higher-grade chickens.  She now has 150 chickens and a contract to butcher and sell them to the local grocery store.  She employs her brother to help take care of the chickens as well as to work in the hair salon at a separate barber’s chair.

Partners in Hope has allowed Mary to embrace her entrepreneurial spirit and break the cycle of poverty.  She now has hope for her future.

I had a mountain top experience today.  I’ve always wondered what that would mean, and if I would ever have one or if I would know it if it happened.

We went out today to visit groups that are being supported through Panua PIH.  We met the heads of households and heard their stories and visited some of them at their homes or places of work.  One of the boys that was included was Francis.  Maybe you saw his picture on one of the cards that were available at church and were praying for him.  That was the start of the climb up the mountain.

The McKenna’s (Jeff, Amy, and daughter Emily) brought along his card and showed it to him.  They explained how they and others in our church had been praying for him in this program.  He was stunned that people on the other side of the globe that he would never know were praying for him.  We quickly explained to the group that they all were included with their own cards and people had been praying for them as well.  It was overwhelming to see the faces as it sunk in.

We then went to see a house that was being built to house Francis and his two younger brothers.  He has been living with his grandmother and she is no longer able to care for him, and it is not acceptable in the culture here for him to remain living with her.  He is one of the group that was deemed worthy to continue with his schooling and so it was decided he needed a place to live to give him the stability needed to excel in school and provide for his brothers.

We drove up into the hills till the road ended and then climbed another 100 ft up the hillside all the while hearing a woman singing as loud as anyone I’ve ever heard without a microphone.  The grandmother was singing Swahili praise songs and as each one of us reached her point in the path she hugged us, how to say this….violently!  She was so over joyed that we were there.

The Bishop of East Africa was with us and after we looked at the house some speeches were made and it came to be her turn.  What was translated was that she says two weeks ago she saw angels of God coming to bring the building supplies and that today she saw God on her mountain.  She says we are like Abraham leaving his familiar land and going where God told him to go.  She says that she will see us again in Heaven and we can rejoice with her again that her grandson was so blessed.  Looking back over towards Naviasha with rain coming down in the distance it truly was a mountain top experience and I think she may be someone who I will see in Heaven……

Since landing on Naivasha soil I have felt God’s powerful presence. He was here before us, He will be with us on our visit and He will be here after we are long gone. We didn’t bring Him with us, He was always here, we just came to do what He called us to do, and he prepared the way. What an amazing, loving, BIG God we have. Why do we make Him so small in our daily lives?

All the faces I see, the hands I hold, shake, high five…. all the hugs, smiles, songs, conversations and laughs we share remind me that in Christ we are one person…. one body, all hungry and in need, just of different things. While worshiping with the Pastors here for a Leadership Conference led by Dr. Bob (they came from Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda), we sang…

“Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry;
While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by.”

Voices raised together, I could not help but to replace the “me” with “us”….
“Do not pass us by.”

We were an us, and together as we sang our songs in our own native tongue, I could feel His Holy Spirit filling the room. No, He will never pass us by. His presence is with us always, no matter what soil we find our feet on.

We have met children who are heads of households that are working hard to provide for their brothers, sisters and other family members, each with their own stories. They are devoted, driven, thankful and faithful. Their smiles, thanks and successes have made the hard work that Panua has done all worthwhile.

Blessed beyond words, humbled by what I have seen, filled with joy at all the new friendships I have made, and amazed by our FUMCWP team. So many things to share about the movement of Gods’ spirit within each of us and all our friends here in Kenya.

God is good, and is smiling His face upon us here in Naivasha. Thanks for all the prayers. Until we are home, know you are loved!

(Next blog is about the house blessing at Francis new home we were able to be a part of….)