Voice of Hope, Kenya, January 2022

We ended our two weeks of ministry work by taking a day to enjoy God’s creation at the Nairobi National Park. It was refreshing and relaxing. We are so grateful to God for His goodness in giving us the privilege of serving our widows and families in Kenya. Visiting with each of these dear friends has richly blessed us. We appreciate the support shown in so many ways from our families and friends. Your encouragement on the blog, your prayers and through financial giving means so much for the Voice of Hope team. Thank you! We are halfway home, waiting on our connecting flight in Frankfurt. Six ladies are excited and eager to be home with our families!   Love from, Sue, Lisa, Lydia, Deb, Janessa and Mary Anne

  It was an early “get up and go” this morning - 4:00 am for an 1.5 hour drive to the Kisumu airport. It was a dark drive, our driver Tom kept a careful watch for dark clothed pedestrians, roaming dogs, possible cattle, pot holes, SPEED bumps, crazy passing vehicles… Thankfully we arrived safely. After dropping us off, Tom continued on with a 9 hour drive with our suitcases to Nairobi while we boarded our flight to Nairobi. Going thru security was a breeze since the airport was virtually empty. After a safe flight, interesting landing, 15 minute wait standing next to the plane on the tarmac, we stopped for a quick brunch at the airport and then off to Shalom, our hotel for the night. After breaking for a bit at the hotel we headed over to Martha’s Shiphra Home to visit. We visited with Martha and her two new charges. Baby Debbie arrived when she was 2 days old, now 9 months old and baby Jeremy arriving at 1 day old, now 4 months old. Both of these little, precious children were delive

Today was once again started with breakfast, Kenyan tea, coffee for Lisa ;), and fellowship around the table. We then headed off for a Pentecostal church service accompanied by Bishop Silas. The 4 hour service was based on 2 Kings 7. His repeating question was “why sit there until you die?” Some quotes we can remember are: *Die trying, because you’re going to die anyways  *Everything we do now has a expiry date  *Before you expire, inspire  *God is unlimited, never limit your God  *Walk with someone and you will be like them After worship, we headed off to meet Bishop Richard and his wife, Everlyn who introduced us to the widows in his community. We have been supporting them with food packs during Covid and they wanted to thank us. We then sang, and read scripture with them. Our day finished off with our final widow visits in the Siaya area. One of the widows, Joyce wanted to gift us with an overload of produce from her property. She was so full of life and generosity.  Of c

Blog, blog, blog…..Everyday one of our team is in charge of writing the blog. Throughout the day the “blogger” of the day makes notes of the days activities and any highlights. In the evening the blog is composed for YOUR  information and entertainment. Janessa uploads our blog, using her expert tech skills  :-) We are thankful she has come along with all her “grannies”! After being serenated by the pack of whiny dogs ALL NIGHT LONG, we rolled out of bed. Maybe roosters are not so bad after all! Since we are still normal and habitual, we started the day with breakfast and coffee. (YAY for Starbuck Vias)  Like everyday, we headed off to hike the red paths of backwoods Kenya. What a joy to visit with our widows and hear of their trust and thankfulness to God. We hear of their blessings and their struggles and spend time in prayer and song. We try to be a true Voice of Hope. It is now Saturday evening. We are looking forward to worshipping our great God with our brothers and sisters

The team transitioned from Kakamega to the Siaya area today with conflicting thoughts. We are sad to say good bye to Aggrey, one of our wonderful field partners, and the lovely house staff who have spoiled us rotten.  We closed the chapter of Kakamega widows on Thursday with a delightful visit with Rebecca, an elderly widow.  Her joy and contentment in the Lord pervaded the atmosphere of the beautiful home.  We walked away with warmed hearts. Our first visit today in the Yogo area, ushered us into the same peaceful and sweet atmosphere as we visited a godly elderly woman named Maria.  She has lost her sight, most of her hearing and mobility, but not her joy and laughter.  Language is a huge barrier, but not too huge to understand the love this widow shares of her love for the Lord.   Yogo school. As we walked onto the Yogo Glory Centre school yard we were welcomed enthusiastically by a big crowd of singing voices sashaying towards us with a small bouquet of flowers for each of us ladie

  Our day started with devotions and then we headed out to visit 3 of our widows. These widows are from the alumni group. They have benefited from your support over the years and are now doing so much better. It is such a great accomplishment and feeling of joy for them that they are now self sufficient. We are continually reminded that these ladies pride themselves on their ability to support themselves and their families but when times are tough your faithful and generous giving is a God send. The common theme through almost of our visits was that when Covid hit - it affected them pretty hard. Food was in short supply as the lock downs happened here. All their children came back home- leaving very little food to feed everyone. I was amazed at the comment that was made frequently of their trust in God and his protection over their families. There didn’t seem to be a great fear of the events that seemed to affect the entire world. All our widows are connected with a spiritual gr

Last night we had a torrential down pour, watering the very thirsty ground. Around 4am, a few of us awoke from what seemed like all creation praising God; all kind of birds and other animals joining the chorus … beautiful to hear! After having a few very busy days, the morning started a bit later with Tom picking us up at 9 am. We had some very lovely widow visits. The faith and trust these women have is such an encouragement. The last few years have come with extra challenges including providing enough food for their families but they still have big smiles and their hope is in God. Our last widow visit was with Elizabeth and her son Issac. We were so happy to see Issac doing so well. Isaac suffered with the effects of schizophrenia and thanks to help from VOH is now doing amazing. We ended our day splitting into 2 groups and joining a widow to make a Kenyan dinner. One group went with Gladys to make chapatis and the second group joined Geraldine to make green grams (a type of l

  Another morning has broken, like a fresh morning…either with a cat fight or a rooster crowing. After a quick breakfast we piled in the van and went to bless Brenda with song, prayer and a small gift. Brenda is definitely looking better than the last time we visited her. Next it was off to Arise and Shine School to visit and play with the students - students aged from 4-6. First we helped to feed them a type of porridge. Then it was off to the classroom where the students welcomed us with a wonderful little presentation. Janessa then shared the Zacchaeus story with them which was followed by us singing the Zacchaeus song. It was exciting to see it was another song they were familiar with. After this we split up where Sue and Janessa went out to play games with them and Lisa, Deb and I making bracelets for all the kids. The idea was for the kids to make the bracelets but the kids were just too young. We stopped for a quick lunch and then split into two groups to visit 4 widows. The w

Today we woke up to the fresh smell of rain, birds praising the Lord and the daily wake up call - the rooster. After eating breakfast and fellowshipping with one another, we headed off to the Museno Secondary School. There we educated both the young ladies and men on puberty, living in the way of the Lord and what taking care of your body looks like. Lisa and Debbie spent time with the boys, specifically teaching them about diseases, parasites, germs. They were enthusiastic about the mentors they had and were excited to answer questions. Aggrey, our field partner, talked to them about sexual health, the importance of abstinence before marriage, and what a godly man looks like, which went well with the hats they received. Sue, Maryanne, Lydia and myself taught the girls. While our group was less enthusiastic than the boys, we were still able to have good conversation around puberty, healthy living and abstinence. After the presentation we gave the girls their pretty hygiene kits, gifted