| Greetings Brethren,I hope all of you are well, as we patiently await the return of our Lord and Savior, the One in whose loving hands our Heavenly Father, has placed His elect. We often hear about the two great commissions of the church, to preach the Gospel to the world, and to feed the flock of God which is among us. But there is another commission or function that the church has been charged with, it’s found in James 1:27 and it defines what pure religion is all about: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” We here at Kenya Hands of Hope (KHofH) want to thank all of you donors for addressing that important commission of assisting many of these true widows and church orphans.
In the early 1950’s The “World Tomorrow” began broadcasting on Radio Luxembourg in Europe. At that time the Gospel of the Kingdom of God began to take root in E. Africa. It has continued growing ever since, and now it’s believed that there are over 10,000 members in this region keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days. When I first visited Tanzania back in 2005, I met a man by the name of Joash Okinyi, who introduced himself as the eldest elder in all of E. Africa. He stated that he made contact with the Radio church of God after listening to Herbert W Armstrong’s broadcast on Radio Luxemburg. The majority of our brethren living there in E. Africa are poor peasant farmers, and there are many “true” widows and orphans amongst them. We want to thank those of you who have been working together with us, under the leadership of our Lord and Savior. Much has been accomplished, and the afflictions on many of them have been eased significantly over the years.
This picture was taken in 2007. That’s Joash in the middle with the white hair, and on the far right is Evans Ochieng. Evans has also been preaching the Gospel for many many years not only around Kenya and Tanzania, but recently in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, and Uganda, thanks to being funded by Bob Thiel of the Continuing COG. Now, let me update you on Ibu (Brian), as reported in a resent prayer request. Ibu’s leg was injured in a motorbike accident while running an errand for the orphanage, and there was fear of possible amputation. But the proper steps were taken. We requested prayers for him and also began applying some natural herbs to draw out the infection, which was recommended by one of our church sisters living in England. Our prayers were answered and his leg is now properly healing. We thank all of you for your help and we praise our Heavenly Father for His unwavering protection and care. We also want to thank you donors for the quick action that was taken by you in assisting the widows who were literally starving due to lack of food, and also for enabling us to replenish the store room at the Sengera House Orphanage. After the very blessed Feast of Tabernacles, where we assisted just over 1,000 brethren at eight separate Feast sites, our funds were completely exhausted. But thanks to your quick response, we have been able to replenish much of the resources needed and the widows and orphans are once again receiving food and some aid.
As mentioned in our last report, we supplied Kelvin with a sewing machine so he can begin making his daily bread to better care for his 5 young siblings. He is now being trained by a retired tailor who has offered to teach Kelvin the trade.
As you probably know, our goal is to teach each child a trade so they can eventually become self supportive. This is a difficult task to accomplish in these 3rd world countries. But with the help of the Almighty God, all things are possible. Some who were previously under the care of khofh have advanced considerably, like a young boy named David Wanga. We supported him through High School starting back in 2007. David did so well, the Kenya Government paid for his advanced education. Today he is no longer called David Wanga, but Dr. David Wanga. As you know, the children at Sengera House get lots of training in various construction trades including painting, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, masonry and more for the boys. They have become familiar with many tools, including a variety of power tools. And the girls continue to learn various skills also, including acquiring knowledge from the Matron. All the children also keep quite busy in their farming skills, as you can see in the picture below. But the most important lessons taught to All of these children pertain to their Spiritual growth and well being. Without learning about our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, without having a Reverence for God, and keeping His commandments, all else will become worthless.
We built the Ogembo Widow Margaret a detached kitchen a few Month back, now we are plastering the walls, and pouring the concrete floor inside. This mud building will also house some of her children for sleeping. It’s common in Kenya for some members of the household to sleep in the kitchen, which is normally the only structure that contains some little warmth at night. Once again our thanks go out to those of you who have been working together with us and supporting our impoverished brethren, especially the Widows and Orphans. Let us continue to pray for guidance and direction so we can produce good fruits that will glorify our Heavenly Father. Bill Goff |
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