Thursday 8 July 2010

What an awesome God we serve!

As we look back over the past two and a half years since first arriving in Kisumu, it is truly amazing what transformations have taken place. We are particularly talking about the work of To Kenya With Love and specifically the Simon Newberry Schools site, situated in one of the poorest slum areas in Kenya; in Africa. But also what God has been doing in and through us.

This is going to be a testimony blog. (And by the way it's over 6 months since the previous blog!!)We will try to be brief and visual.

We were learning to be patient...waiting 27 years to go to Kenya in obedience to a prophecy, "Go to the poor, needy and imprisoned in Kenya." We went in post-election violence of January 2008. We learnt to trust Him.

In February 2008 the TKWL children were to move into temporary classrooms on a newly purchased site (about 1/2 acre). Here it was planned to build a permanent school for Nursery and Primary aged children, (3-14 years).

Patience again was needed as 5 adults (including us) took 6 weeks to get the TKWL office rooms habitable. This was going to be a building filled with God's presence for many years to come.
Massive patience was needed next. Following some torrential rain the main sewage pipe on our site got blocked and started to overflow, covering the site for 21 days with its waste. Eventually after much prayer the drain was unblocked.

The children arrived on the site in May 2008 and have been there ever since. The Lord has provided a great set of teachers, administration staff, cooks, cleaners and askaris (guards) over the past 2 years. The site is seeing massive changes: new permanent buildings. The Nursery School building are complete and being temporarily used by the 3 Primary classes, the toilet block is finished, a dining area can accommodate 60-70 persons, gardens are transforming what was wasteland into beauty and purpose. An adjacent plot of land is going to see the building of an 8 class Primary School; work starts on this as the money comes in - which we trust the Lord will provide, by the end of 2011.

We are delighted to have mains electricity on site, and a well to provide basic water needs...this needs to be dug much deeper...and it will.

Currently we have 150 children on site; by the end of 2015 there will be a complete Primary School with approximately 320 children in all...from the local slums enjoying the presence of God as they learn to overcome the entrapment of abject poverty.

We return to Kisumu in September we hope for a further 2 years of service. Currently we are with family in Manchester. What a joy! Whilst we've been in UK a Banda hut has been completed!

As we look back over the past two and a half years since first arriving in Kisumu, it is truly amazing what transformations have taken place. We are particularly talking about the work of To Kenya With Love and specifically the Simon Newberry Schools site, situated in one of the poorest slum areas in Kenya; in Africa. But also what God has been doing in and through us.
This is going to be a testimony blog. (And by the way it's over 6 months since the previous blog!!)We will try to be brief and visual.
We were learning to be patient...waiting 27 years to go to Kenya in obedience to a prophecy, "Go to the poor, needy and imprisoned in Kenya." We went in post-election violence of January 2008. We learnt to trust Him.
In February 2008 the TKWL children were to move into temporary classrooms on a newly purchased site (about 1/2 acre). Here it was planned to build a permanent school for Nursery and Primary aged children, (3-14 years).
Patience again was needed as 5 adults (including us) took 6 weeks to get the TKWL office rooms habitable. This was going to be a building filled with God's presence for many years to come.
Massive patience was needed next. Following some torrential rain the main sewage pipe on our site got blocked and started to overflow, covering the site for 21 days with its waste. Eventually after much prayer the drain was unblocked.
The children arrived on the site in May 2008 and have been there ever since.
The Lord has provided a great set of teachers, administration staff, cooks, cleaners and askaris (guards) over the past 2 years. The site is seeing massive changes: new permanent buildings. The Nursery School building are complete and being temporarily used by the 3 Primary classes, the toilet block is finished, a dining area can accommodate 60-70 persons, gardens are transforming what was wasteland into beauty and purpose. An adjacent plot of land is going to see the building of an 8 class Primary School; work starts on this as the money comes in - which we trust the Lord will provide, by the end of 2011.
We are delighted to have mains electricity on site, and a well to provide basic water needs...this needs to be dug much deeper...and it will.
Currently we have 150 children on site; by the end of 2015 there will be a complete Primary School with approximately 320 children in all...from the local slums enjoying the presence of God as they learn to overcome the entrapment of abject poverty.

As we look back over the past two and a half years since first arriving in Kisumu, it is truly amazing what transformations have taken place. We are particularly talking about the work of To Kenya With Love and specifically the Simon Newberry Schools site, situated in one of the poorest slum areas in Kenya; in Africa. But also what God has been doing in and through us.
This is going to be a testimony blog. (And by the way it's over 6 months since the previous blog!!)We will try to be brief and visual.
We were learning to be patient...waiting 27 years to go to Kenya in obedience to a prophecy, "Go to the poor, needy and imprisoned in Kenya." We went in post-election violence of January 2008. We learnt to trust Him.
In February 2008 the TKWL children were to move into temporary classrooms on a newly purchased site (about 1/2 acre). Here it was planned to build a permanent school for Nursery and Primary aged children, (3-14 years).
Patience again was needed as 5 adults (including us) took 6 weeks to get the TKWL office rooms habitable. This was going to be a building filled with God's presence for many years to come.
Massive patience was needed next. Following some torrential rain the main sewage pipe on our site got blocked and started to overflow, covering the site for 21 days with its waste. Eventually after much prayer the drain was unblocked.
The children arrived on the site in May 2008 and have been there ever since.
The Lord has provided a great set of teachers, administration staff, cooks, cleaners and askaris (guards) over the past 2 years. The site is seeing massive changes: new permanent buildings. The Nursery School building are complete and being temporarily used by the 3 Primary classes, the toilet block is finished, a dining area can accommodate 60-70 persons, gardens are transforming what was wasteland into beauty and purpose. An adjacent plot of land is going to see the building of an 8 class Primary School; work starts on this as the money comes in - which we trust the Lord will provide, by the end of 2011.
We are delighted to have mains electricity on site, and a well to provide basic water needs...this needs to be dug much deeper...and it will.
Currently we have 150 children on site; by the end of 2015 there will be a complete Primary School with approximately 320 children in all...from the local slums enjoying the presence of God as they learn to overcome the entrapment of abject poverty.

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