This is the latest blog post from Nick!

Kenyans can carry just about anything on the back of a bycicle. This guy's got talents I only hope to achieve one day.

John and I got to see Micah and Betsy again! They invited us to a 1010 Project meeting. It was a networking event and allowed me to see a bunch of white people like me and for John to connect with some other Kenyans running orphanages.





Micah also introduced us to Adam, the Executive Director of 10:10 Project who's 26 years old and also to the Kenyan Director, Fred who is involved with three other NGO's here in Kenya. One of the coolest things about the 10:10 Project is that their strategy and methodology for helping struggling organizations is very similar to what Mark and I are doing with AMCC. They're big fans of not just giving money for expendable needs, but rather to start income-generating projects.



It turns out that Fred and John are actually old preachin buddies! They used to live in the same town and preach alongside each other. Fred and Adam invited us back to Fred's house where we talked about how we can partner! This was very exciting stuff. We're hoping to recieve a grant from 10:10 for the chicken project to help with some of the funding in September. Currently the biggest grant that 10:10 has given is around $7,000. For our project, we're going to need about $15,000 overall, so we're hoping and praying that 10:10 can help us with about half the cost. There's no gauruntee though.



John's still hard at work with the avacodo business. Here's a pic of him with his game-face on. The business is getting more and more competitive as the season is comming to a close in about 6 weeks. We're having to go further and further to load the truck. We've reached the Mungiki territory in one direction, which means really bad news. They're like the Organized Kenyan Gang. They charge outsiders fees for any type of work. When people refuse, cars and farms are set on fire and occasionally people are murdered. So we're gonna have to fill our truck elsewhere.
Yesterday was a visiting day for the parents. It was a great time for the kids to get to see their parents or grandparents (those that have them). Most of the guardians brought fruit or greens or soap or some other necessity. It was quite a blessing to get to eat ugali and kales rather than getheri (maize and beans) last night. Even this morning they all got to take chai (tea with milk and sugar) because one parent brought milk. What a treat for the kids. John and Nancy also sat down with each guardian and discussed issues with their children and how they were doing at AMCC and in school.



Unfortunately, ....or fortunately..., one of the older girls told her mom she wouldn't let her leave without her coming along. Rosemary was saying that she didn't like it at AMCC. Her mom, who makes about a dollar a day, will have a hard time supporting Rosemary. Most likely she won't be able to go to school and will have to go for casual labor picking coffee or tea. Her mom asked her to tell the plain truth of what the problem was in from of John and Nancy. But Rosemary wouldn't say anything. Then her mom told her that she knows Rosemary is lieing about something because she wouldn't verbalize the problem in front of John and Nancy. So why would she leave?? I dunno know exactly. What I do know is that other kids have fought and screamed and cried to stay there instead of going back with their parents. My personal opinion is that Rosemary doesn't like being told what to do, i.e. pull water, saying "excuse me" before talking to her superiors, helping to clean her room with the other girls, etc... She is a bit older so maybe she thinks she can have a better life elsewhere. I hope she doesn't become uneducated and/or pregnant! I pray that the Lord would go with her and grow her in Him.



Oh, I almost forgot! The Big News from last time! So there's a lady who lives down the road, Mrs. Wesley, who has recently been widowed. Her late husband would often frequent AMCC on Sundays and teach the kids about the Lord. The Wesley's daughter, Dorithy, lives in London and is very involved with her church there. She's heard much about AMCC and has known
John since she was a child.



She's really pushing to get her church involved and recently a lady has expressed interest in raising $20,000 for AMCC to buy land! I dunno how serious this woman is but I'm praying that the Lord would put it in her heart to do so. Having no land of their own is one of the primary problems that AMCC has currently. So please join with us in praying over this situation!



The last piece of Big News is that Maggie will be here tomorrow! I'm so excited I can't sit still. May the Lord be glorified in our time together here! Please pray that we would remember to seek first the Kingdom of God and that He would use us to encourage one another in our walks with Him. I'm praising God because He has given us this opportunity to serve Him alongside one another. Whoo hoo!
posted by nick at 2:39 am 0 comments