SPECIAL REPORT
Gospel continues to spread in Kenya, even by some of our students at Sengera House Orphanage. The orphans are not only learning much about the Scriptures, but the older ones are spreading their beliefs at school, and its being well received and bearing fruit.
I received this letter from Nehemiah Sibwoga, (Nehemiah is much evolved at the orphanage assisting Haron the overseer.) He (Nehemiah) is in 2nd year of High School, and boarding at Bombaba Secondary School in Mogonga, Kenya. He writes this:
I thank God for the correspondence course, which I been going with to school; it has brought God glory in school. I share the gospel each time I get a chance in school to preach. Teachers enjoy, and my fellow students enjoy. Two teachers and a group of students requested for Bibles. I don’t know what to do. Some of my fellow students do come to services each Sabbath at the orphanage, and many are willing to come including the two teachers. They say Church of God is the best in teachings they say.”
As for the bibles they requesting, we are addressing that issue, and hope to supplying them soon.
Also received this letter of thanks to you donors from Nehemiah:
Hi to our lovely Donors.
Receive warm greetings from Nehemiah Sibwoga, one of the Sengera Orphanage family orphans which are under Pastor William P Goff. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for the help you have given us. Through you, we are in boarding high schools. Actually, you have enabled us to have access to very many opportunities like decent clothes, good shelter, food and many other things, even medication when we are sick.
Currently we are on our half term; our prayers are for our Lord God to bless you for all you do for us. In life I never expected to be in this good situation as I am now in this safe and conductive environment in our camp, thanks to you and the care of pastor Goff.
Lastly, I pass my gratitude and greetings on to those of you who have been helping us.
Sincerely,
Nehemiah Sibwoga, Sengera Orphanage.a
Another thank you came in. This one from Veroscovia (eldest girl living at Sengera House) She writes:
Greetings to Donors.
Receive warm greetings from veroscovia who is orphan here at Sengera Orphanage. Actually let me start by saying that sometimes back before I came to Sengera Orphanage my life was actually terrible. I didn’t have clothes or food and no medical. Even school was difficult to attend after my parents died. I was in terrible situation.
It reached a time I was very sick and I went many days hungry without eating food and my life was close to death. Then a young man called Haron heard of my situation from our church pastor, and he took me to hospital and later he took me to Sengera Orphanage. Then I learned that Kenya Hands of Hope has rescued my life through you supporters and donors.
Now I’m staying in a good life together with the other kids here, and now we are familiar to each other. Thanks to you donors I’m also in a boarding school, I’m wearing nice clothes, I’m being fed good and healthy, and whenever I’m sick I just go to clinic.
Actually I don’t know how much thanks I can give out because of the great support you have given. You have saved my life. What I can say is that let God bless you and make your lives to stay longer in this Earth. You have been a blessing and a life saver to me and the other orphans here.
Your sincerely kid,
Veroscovia.
One more letter of appreciation and thanks to you donors is from Manley Mochama, Manley and his sister Jemimah came to Sengera House three years ago after their parents both died. Here’s what he writes:
Allow me take this opportunity to thank you Donors for the great support you have given us orphans here at Sengera House. Nobody can stop me to say thanks of the wonderful things that you have done. May our God bless you abundantly and add you years as we are waiting the second coming, when those who are rich in God and trustful, will be going to enjoy honey and milk and living eternal life in the coming Kingdom of God.
Thank you also for last teaching, as many in school (which I share) appreciates. Was about “Truth” and the importance there of. My fellow students (and few teachers) liked the teaching very much, and yearn to hear more. Thanks also for paying our school fees. Thank you for great things you are doing upon us.
Manley Mochama
Now, before I move on, let me tell a story here that every brother and sister in the church of God needs to hear. So let me call this:
An open letter to the Brethren in All Branches of the church of God:
As many of you know, we had a fire seven Months ago at the Sengera Church Orphanage that burnt down the boys living quarters. The fire turned out to be a bit of a blessing, because that structure was a temporary building made of mud, and already showing signs of collapse, needing to be replaced. And, thank God, no one was hurt in the fire, although it was very close.
We were already trying to raise funds to replace that building before the fire, but funds are hard to come by. We do have a number of steady donors that send assistance and support which keeps the orphanage running, and has been helping numerous “true” widows. Thanks to them we have been able to keep all the orphans in school, food on the table for them (although sometimes we still run out, but no one complains) and paying for additional clothes as they become needed. But the need for some of our suffering impoverished brethren continues. Even the boys at Senger House are still sleeping in the cramped cafeteria. We had hoped to have the new dormitory competed before 3rd term which began January 1st. but didn’t have the funds, so the construction came to a halt.
I reached out to a few of the larger churches of God, informing them of the situation here, that we had true church orphans who were in need of help, but they turned a blind eye on our suffering brethren. One leader of large cog organization, after looking at our situation said this: “you are doing a good work helping our impoverished widows and orphans, but (and I’m going to quote him here) “we cannot assist because we like to help our own brethren here in the States before we help anyone abroad.”
Sad to say, he wouldn’t help at all. And I had just heard his update message he gave that Sabbath as he was visiting the area from their church headquarters, concerning how well his organization was doing financially, with literally tens of thousands in the bank.
Meanwhile, I reached out to another man on the board in that same cog organization, thinking that maybe he would help. After showing him the dire situation of our suffering brethren, He also patted me on the back and said (and I’m going to quote him here) “you’re doing a great job helping the impoverished brethren, but preaching the gospel is a business, and in business when you don’t get a return, you pull out. We tried Africa, but got no return, so we don’t deal with them anymore.”
Brethren, I can go on and on about the corporate churches of God, and how they sometimes turn their backs on brethren in need. But how long is it going to take for the members in God’s church to wake up and distinguish who is a true disciple of Jesus Christ, and who is not. There is simplicity in Christ Jesus; He doesn’t make it too difficult for us to recognize true disciples. They can easily be distinguished by whether they have Love, yes, love, one to another. John 13:35
Mean while at that time some of our brethren were affected by the “Mau Eviction” (you can read about it on the Web.) They had property that they purchase in the past and even had deeds for their land. But the land they were on was in the Mau Forest, part of the Great Rift Valley, the largest water shed in all of Kenya, and the Government complained that the settlers were damaging its stability. (You can read up on it and get the details if you want on the Web, just Google “Mau Forest”)
But what I want to focus on is the suffering that our brethren went through as they were forced off their land, running for their lives, carrying whatever they could quickly grab and flee. The ones who were pushing them out were even burning their houses down.
Our brethren fled and took up camp in the woods, and begged us for assistance. And all they were asking for was enough funds to transport them out of the woods and to the city of Narok. They felt they had a chance to survive if they could get to Narok, because they could sleep at night under some of the store fronts in town, or anywhere they could take shelter out of the elements. They only needed $200 to transport them (about 5 families) But we Kenya Hands of Hope (khofh) were out of funds at the time, and it took just over a week to raise them. Sad to say, in the mean time those brethren of ours slept in the woods with no shelter, and it was during wet season with lots of rain. Two of the children died from the elements and were buried right there in the woods, as they continued to wait for help.
All this is well documented. The “Kenya Update” page on our Website goes back for many years. Documenting all that we have been involved in over the years, trying to help cog widows and orphans, and our poor brethren who are really suffering.
And by the way, for anyone who is not aware, supporting our orphans and “true” widows is big obligation of ours. James 1:27 defines pure religion.
We have a hand full of steady donors (around 30) Most of whom are poor themselves, but continue to support the orphans and widows, and have eased their pain and suffering a lot. And, as I often write, we are NOT asking the current donors to give more; they are already giving above and beyond. What we need is a few more to join hands with us. At the moment, we could really use a good boost, because funds are currently depleted.
I reached out to another larger cog organization who has an “outreach department” I informed them of the situation, and how we were hoping for some help from them (if possible) in completing the boy’s dormitory. But it has been over three Months now since first contacting them. They don’t seem to realize how these orphans are suffering.
What troubles me is that they posted their financial report again for another year. And from what I see of it they pulled in about $20,000,000 (Yes 20 Million) in tithes and offerings. (So much funds, that I think they made $300,000 in interest and other investments. You can see it for yourself, its public notice. Link is at:
https://7th-day.info/church-of-god-news/
And please don’t misunderstand me here, I’m not condemning anyone in their organization, It’s not my job to do that, that’s our Heavenly Father and Elder Brother’s department, we all will have to answer to Them at Christ’s return. But I am obligated to inform you about all of this, especially with so much suffering going on amongst our Brethren, and so many true brethren in need of some help.
The Apostle John questioned how the love of God can possible be dwelling in a person who has this world’s good, and sees his brother in need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion. 1John 3:17
After being turned down by them last Month, I asked if they could give anything, any amount at all would help, but they never replied. We are still hoping they will reconsider.
And these are children here that we are trying to help. Orphans who are members of God’s church. We paid no attention to which cog they attended with their family before their parents died. That made no difference to us. All that separating into hundreds of splinter groups is all manmade nonsense. Don’t let men lead you astray. Man has divided the church into hundreds of separate groups, But in God’s eyes there are only two groups out there. Yes, two, the wise and the foolish, the sheep and the goats. And at Christ’s return, He will be inspecting the flock. Sheep will be entering into His Kingdom, BUT Goats will not be allowed in. Matthew 25:31-46.
So Brethren, please continue to pray for our impoverished brethren, especially the widows and orphans. And please try to pass this request on to others. There are true brethren out there in all the splinters, those with compassionate hearts. And I’m sure would definitely help, IF they were made aware of the need. The problem is getting through the door of the hierarchical church organizations to inform them, because the hierarchy opposes us. They are not for us, they are against us. In Apostle John’s time there was only one “Diotrephes” out there shunning the brethren, and wanting the preeminence, BUT today there are Many in God’s church wanting the preeminence, and to be on top. They don’t seem to realize that our Lord and Savior is Alive and Well, and quite capable of heading His church. Let us pray for them to wake up and repent, before it’s too late.
In other news, the chicken project we have started is bearing more fruit. As you probably know from some previous Updates, we have funded some of the church widows to start raising chickens for their livelihood. The project is going on well. It has improved their health, and even the droppings from the birds are helping their gardens. They are now selling and eating eggs. The flock also continues to grow.
We are also keeping our eyes on the current plague of “Desert Locusts” that are devastating large areas in quite a few countries right now.
Currently hundreds of millions of locust are swarming in E. Africa with unprecedented size and destructive potential. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, four E. African countries are currently being plagued by these locusts. Also Pakistan & India are being plagued by them.(The report goes on to say) The Desert Locust, the most devastating of all locust species, are eating up crops in areas already susceptible to food and water shortages. There swarms have been measured to be of unprecedented size, some 50 miles long by 25 miles wide. (One swarm stopped just short of one of our brethrens property.)
Jenifer Laerke of the UN humanitarian office in Geneva, says that even one small swarm of these insects can consume enough food for 35,000 people in a single day. What we are witnessing in east Africa and across much of the Middle East right now is hard to believe. 360 billion locusts are eating everything in sight, and UN officials are warning that this plague of “Biblical proportions” could get many times worse over the next several months.
It is our Heavenly Father that will provide for us IF we seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness. But we still have to do our part. Like Paul says, if one doesn’t work, he shouldn’t eat. In another place it says to observe the ants. With the plague of Locust just few hour drive away from our camp, it would probably be a good idea to stock up on a little extras food at this time. But currently we are out of funds. We also need to complete the boys dormitory so they can move out of the cafeteria, and into the house, where they will have room to study, and also a place to keep their clothes.
I also have something very sad to report on. As mentioned in the past updates, some of Nehemiah’s school mates have been attending Sabbath Services with us for some time now. They live to far away to walk, so have to travel on Motorbike, which is extremely dangerous. On Sabbath morning one of the bikes had an accident on the way. One boy died, and the other in critical condition. Please pray for him, and for their families. And most of all let us pray Thy Kingdom Come, because this world is really suffering, and in need of our Father’s Kingdom.
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| Friday Night Bible Study at the Orphanage. |
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