Kenya

The new bedding has arrived.

For those not keeping up with our friendships in Kenya over the last 14 years, the people who listen to The God Journey or read my blogs here at Lifestream have given over three million dollars to rescue an impoverished region of Kenya. We started by supporting a new orphanage that took in children after the post-election violence of 2008. Then, we helped save 120,000 people who were part of nomadic tribes in Pokot, ravaged by drought and disease. Through a five-year project, we were able to drill wells, teach them hygiene, and teach them how to develop sustainable community. Now, those villages are able to clothe, feed, and care for themselves, and all of them were touched by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lately, we’ve been helping a small school in Forkland, a drug-riddled and poverty-stricken community. Originally, flooding had destroyed their water source with sewage, and we helped them drill a well. That well hit a huge aquifer with water whose purity is off the charts. Now, it not only provides water for the school but also for the community around it. They bottle the overflow and sell it as an enterprise to pay for the school expenses. Tragically, in a few days, five months ago, three hundred children were abandoned at the school. Our friends responded with love and were able to procure land next to the school, build dormitories on it, and continue to educate all the children. Recently, bedbugs infested their old mattresses and tormented the children. They needed new metal bed frames and new mattresses to end the plague and to keep the children there. As you can see, the bedding has just arrived.

This morning, I received this message of thanks and delight from them:

The children are so glad to receive new bedding and they are now having a good sleep during the night. We are also celebrating good performances in the recently announced National Exam. We thank God for giving them good health and for the provision of their daily needs.

We also thank you and the people there for opening your heart and standing with the kids. We could have lost these wonderful and potential leaders of tomorrow, who will now be able to change this nation and the Forkland community. They were living in such a horrible environment but now they have a great future for this generation. We send our gratitude and thanksgiving to the Almighty God, for using you the people there to transform the entire nation and the communities here in Kenya, You have poured out your love towards our people here.

I believe God may be preparing this young team to change the whole community, and the people will learn what it means to live loved. We are hoping that our work of helping these children is not in vain.

Through our additional grain enterprise profit, we have managed to enroll and take our children to different primary and secondary schools. We thank God for the provisions, and we thank the people there for their support. Despite of many challenges, these children faced before they were rescued, six of them have performed very well, four of them are supposed to join university, and two are supposed to go to college. This is so amazing. 

Yours,

Brother Michael and Thomas

Sara and I have come vertically through Michigan and landed close to Benton Harbor in the southwest. God has seemingly opened a wide door here with lots of connections I tried to get to a few months ago, before our Unforeseen Circumstances. And new doors open every time I check my email. It’s going to be tough to figure out what we can do here and still have time for our larger mission, which is Sara’s continued joy and freedom.

From here, we’re headed to Indianapolis and then on to Columbus, Ohio, next weekend. The conversations we get to have amidst the incredible journey Sara and I get to share have been deeply touching.  Here’s one look at a group we met with a couple of nights ago. Lovely setting, lovely people, moving conversation.

The real reason for this email is to ask for your help. I don’t ask for myself; I never do. But the email below arrived in my inbox yesterday with the picture at the top. I don’t use these things gratuitously. My heart is deeply pained by the incredible need in the northern reaches of Kenya and the failure of that government or the U.N. to be in this region with resources to help. People are dying by the thousands, and the world is mostly unaware.

We do not even try to meet all of the needs there. But when the friend of a friend is watching people die before his eyes, and we can send some money to help preserve life, we try to do what we can.

Here is what they wrote:

Hi brother Wayne and the team over there. Sorry, we are writing to you the sad report for hunger, so that you may pray and see if there is any ability over there to help a little with this situation. We can’t hold our tears for what is taking place in the Northern parts. We have received this report live from our brother Peter who came all the way from Amakuriat, where we drilled our first borehole.

He told us that he could not bear to watch the people who are dying in front of his eyes, and He said that this water we drilled it has become a life-healing tool to save hundreds of lives in that region. But now the hunger has swept almost five villages around Amakuriat, which are in danger of losing lives. Amakuriat is on the border of Turkana and North Pokot.

More than 400 families with over 5000 people are affected, including children, old aged, and breastfeeding moms. The indigenous fruits have been dried out, and other agencies Peter has connected them to cannot help because of Turkana region is very big, with the same situation everywhere.  They are helping those areas, but cannot help here, so he decided to run personally to see if we can connect to you again to see if you can be able to share with the team for urgent help.

We have the need together:
1.    100 bags of maize for $ 4000
2.    40 bags of beans for $ 4800
3.    Transportation and fuel 700$
Total prayer request $ 9,500

Yours,
Brother Thomas and Michael

Simply, we need your help. As always, every dollar you send us gets to the people in Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Just designate “Kenya” in the “Note” of your donation, or email us and let us know your gift is for Kenya. You can also Venmo contributions to @LifestreamMinistries or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your consideration and prayers for the people of Kenya.

Let me offer my thanks and gratitude of our friends in Kenya for the recent rescue of three hundred abandoned children in the community of Forkland. We have supported a school there for over a decade because it provides education for students whose parents cannot afford it. Earlier this year, during a deep drought, hopeless and addicted parents could not provide for their children, and en mass abandoned them at the school.

The believers there were overwhelmed with the need and began to care for them. Over the ensuing months, we raised over $200,000 to feed, clothe, and build dormitories for them on the school property. I received this email last week from Michael, a brother who leads the ministry team and the husband of the school’s founder and director.

Brother Wayne, this mighty God we serve all the time He does things beyond human ideas.  We had no idea, plan or projection for this orphan project. We were really surprised after seeing the flow of 300 children including youth, running to our school. It was a big test as to whether we would chase them away or welcome them. We turned to God and in hope and we gave them each a copy of the Swahili book, Nakupenda, He Loves Me. It was just so encouraging to watch them as they began to believe and trust God.

We have a proverb in our Swahili language, translated into English it says, “That generosity is not a demand.” All God has done over there is to melt the heart of the people brothers and sisters, even here in Kenya, to stretch their cheerful hearts towards these starving, innocent children. We didn’t expect any outcome to cover this need, but only wanted to train these kids to use their knees, stretching their hands to God.

As the book of Psalms said, “I will stretch my eyes to the mountains and sees where my help will come from.”  This is what we did and it has brought the entire community to understand that God is love.

The letter comes directly from the Forkland community itself:

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, you may not know us physically, On behalf of the entire team in the Forkland community, we would like to send our gratitude first to the Almighty God who gave you the burden and provisions towards these orphaned children.

We would like to state that all of your family, friends, and relatives will remember this donation you gave. It has really changed and affected the potential and the destiny of these children generationally, starting from food, clothing, medication, shelter, and education as well as spiritual life. They can now understand and experience life with God, having only heard of him for many years without witnessing any manifestation. The Bible says those who help the needy lends to God. In Kenya, we have millionaires and billionaires, but none who care about the needy. You sacrificed a lot even for raising money for our Kenyan family. You support people you don’t know and have not yet met, but you are doing it by faith.

We want to remind you that one day in this life or life to come, God will not forget this giving with a cheerful heart of love. (Hebrews 6:10)

We continue to trust God with you that he will continue opening doors so that you, too may not lack anything. Let Almighty God provide for you and do extraordinary things.

Receive greetings from the entire family of 300 kids for standing with them.

May the Lord bless you, and we want you to understand that we really appreciate and give thanksgiving to God to bless the work of your hand. On behalf of Forkland community,

Brother Michael

If you want to help with the continuing needs in Kenya, we are still collecting money to send their way. As always, every dollar you send us gets to the people in Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Just designate “Kenya” in the “Note” of your donation, or email us and let us know your gift is for Kenya. You can also Venmo contributions to @LifestreamMinistries or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774

Thank you for your generous hearts toward a people you have never met. I still find that so incredible.

A couple of other notes… 

Our next Jake Colsen book club meeting meets this Saturday, August 20, at 1:00 pm PDT. It will stream live on my Wayne Jacobsen Author page on Facebook, but if you want to be in the Zoom room and part of the discussion, email me so I can send you the link. We are reading Chapter 5, Love with a Hook, which explores how religious-thinking people often put demands and expectations on their understanding of God’s love, making it something other than the love God expresses to us.

And, a reminder about our intimate retreat next weekend in Westcliffe, CO where we have been offered a ranch in the Rockies as a place to invite our friends to come and be with us for the weekend. There’s still some room left since we’re throwing this together at the last minute, but you’ll need to sign up with me if you want to come. The cost is $100 per night per person, which includes meals. We’ll start on Friday night and stay over until Monday. You’re welcome to join us for all that or leave on Sunday if you need to. Anyone who feels so stirred is welcome to join us. Here are more details if you need them.

I got some delightful news from the people we’ve been helping recently in Forkland and Bungoma in Kenya.  I wanted to share it with you. This young man above narrates a brief video below of thanksgiving for the school supplies purchased for the students at Forkland and the 300 youth who were abandoned there a month ago in a time of extreme poverty and need.

Construction has started for this inundation of orphans they were not expecting.  Here’s how Michael described it:

On behalf of the Forkland village rehabilitation center, God heard the strong cry of suffering from these innocent kids who could not help themselves. I believe this big number of children from the entire village has brought great transformation after the quick intervention to answer their prayers. We have worked tirelessly to make sure that the funds we receive from this wonderful family along with prayers to use it wisely. It can directly fit the program as planned.

Although the cost of metal and other items have risen, it has not affected our budget. We handed over the funds to the engineer and the water company and we are not handling the money anymore except for the feeding program, school fees for the children, and other needs (books, pens, uniforms, etc.) We gave the first priority to the children both primary and secondary, and also the teenage mothers under the guidance and counseling of the caretakers.

The engineer has assured within two months the children will have housing. So we thank God so much for this miracle that the Lord has provided to save these children. We are joining the children in prayers and standing with them.

In Bungoma. the children saw the truck enter the compound. They were joyous and sang praises to the Lord through the dust and noise of the drilling (pictured left). They found an abundance of water after penetration through the rock for two days. The company is still working to put everything in order and very soon we shall be harvesting plenty water for the children and for the community. The community also is happy and thanks God for the water.  Every day they do come for a while and see what is taking place wow. This is amazing.

You will be updated on the progress.

They also sent along this video of one of the students expressing his gratitude for their supplies. You may want to turn on closed captioning to help understand him through his rich accent.

Of course, the need won’t end there. So, if any of you want to help with the continuing needs in Kenya, we are still collecting money to send their way. As always, every dollar you send us gets to the people in Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Just designate “Kenya” in the “Note” of your donation, or email us and let us know your gift is for Kenya. You can also Venmo contributions to @LifestreamMinistries or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

I’m on my way to Charlotte this morning for time with God’s people in the area—some have been dear friends for years, and others I’ll be meeting for the first time. I’m so looking forward to this trip. I was going to post a blog about our day-long conversation this coming Saturday about learning to ride the wind of the Spirit as Jesus talked to Nicodemus about in John 3. LINK

I love this new framework that is helping people see more clearly how God deals with them in their own hearts and minds. I love talking about it and am enjoying the process of putting it into a new book I’m writing. Kyle and I will also start covering that framework in a series of occasional podcasts at The God Journey; the first one will air on April 8.

Instead of talking about that, however, I want to share a painful email I read on the way to the airport this morning. It’s another need in Kenya—300 children abandoned or have fled on their own to the Forkland School because their parents can no longer feed them. I’ll let Michael tell you about it below.

But before I do, I found the timing of this interesting. Just yesterday, I was praying with a group of people, and God led us to pray about injustice in the world. We saw it not only in the obvious ways of judicial corruption, the preference our world gives to the wealthy, or the Russian invasion of Ukraine but also in how lack of resources around the world promotes injustice as well. The following letter is a case in point.

Life isn’t fair; suffering often comes to those who are least able to deal with it. The only way I know to compensate for this kind of injustice is through the generosity of those who have more toward those in the world who have less. That’s why I’ve enjoyed what God has asked us to in a small corner of the world. We have been in touch with a group of Kenyans there for more than a decade who have the same heart for my Father that I do, living in a land of great need. Over and over again, many of you have joined us in rescuing orphans or building an economy among tribes whose nomadic way of life was destroyed by a prolonged drought.

Three hundred abandoned children have shown up at the Forkland School. We helped rescue them from contamination in their drinking water and recently purchased land to come into conformity with new laws. Now, they have been overrun with children they can’t care for—

Wayne and Sara, I know you are out taking the message of Christ, and  encouraging the brothers and sisters with the good news. We seek your prayers to see if God can open a group of people who would be willing to help us. We our level best to make sure that we help where necessary but we are overwhelmed and cannot hold our tears tack. Two years of climate change and drought is sweeping through our community. Sometimes we think that northern parts only is where people are startving but now this challenge is affecting our region where 75% of people depend on farming.

I cannot have full food in my plate while my neighbor or an orphan staying next to me who has gone three days without eating. Those who are starvng come and sit at my door with shame at having brought their children because they are dying. This is happening at my home in Bungoma. My wife and I have no way to escape this. Some wells have dried up and might might bring diseases such as typhoid and cholera. The children walk over four kilometers to get water for washing utensils and for bathing in jerrican as you see in the attached picture. So it is our prayer that if God will open the door and have somebody help us to drill and get a hand pump for water.

I want to thank God so much for the Lifestream team for what you did in Forkland for helping this community with water from the Forkland project. You have done much for the Kenyan family and innocent children by investing your life and resources for the people you do not know.  We cannot forget what you did here and that legacy will never be removed in the heart of people and also it will be a reminder in the eyes of God forever. Many lives has been rescued from deaths and calamities. Thousand of people there have been transformed both spiritual, socially and physically all over the northern parts. We are not doing this for our own glory, benefits or pleasure, but we are doing this with the fearless mind of God.  We are like  a drop of ink in the ocean but we are just doing this by the grace of God because we know that in this life we are the stranger we need to put our treasure where moth and rust can not destroy.

When we share this long story we don’t glorify you or anybody else but we just acknowledge for what the Lord has done through all of us to accomplish his will. Jesus knew that it is not by our ability but by the grace which He will give us to help us in the time of need. So, by the grace of God we can love, not by our ability but his. All of your messages have really encouraged us to depend totally on him.

Over 300 children have run from the community; they came groups after groups. Some slept two days without eating; all of these children are between 7 and 16. Many have alcoholic parenst and had dropped out of school because of  fees. Some do forced labor making alcohol in order to be given food, and some girls endured sexual abuse with big men who defiled them, infecting them with HIV and AIDs.

Thomas has acted alongside with community health workers and volunteers to help them with medication and counseling. The big numbers are orphans because there parents died because of HIV and were rejected by there relatives. Many of these children they have only clothes. They don’t have shoes, blanket, mattress or other basic needs. The community elders have said that those children need to remain here for some time, as the church find the solution for them.

We have an urgent need for food, clothing, mattresses, shoes, and medication for 301 children (201 boys and 100 girls) The total need right now is $9,580.

It seems the needs in Kenya are unending, but it hurts my heart to think of 300 children living in fear, alone, without parental support, and starving. If you want to help them, we are collecting some money to send their way. As always, every dollar you send us gets to the people in Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Just designate “Kenya” in the “Note” of your donation, or email us and let us know your gift is for Kenya. You can also Venmo contributions to @LifestreamMinistries or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for helping us help them.

Last month, we were asked to help once again in Kenya with their continued drought, which has worsened this year. In response to their request for $14,000, you gave over $17,000 to help them. They have just returned from distributing the food and supplies to the aged and nursing mothers, which the picture above depicts.

Here’s what they wrote me just a few minutes ago:

Dear brother Wayne,  receive wonderful greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We would like to send our gratitude to the entire team over there for the great love and concern towards our families here. We have completed the distribution in every area we mentioned before.

It was a touching journey.

In northern parts,  we hired the motorcycle to distribute food to the homes of the aged who were unable to come and who had no road which the truck could pass. This food has opened a door for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to go forth and many people received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. We went with a group of volunteers, to help with the work.

Actually, two years ago the climate changed, and it has affected their crops. Almost the entire community is starving due to the drought.  So it is our prayer that the donation of food can continue,  as we believe God will provide for us

Below is the message to the entire team over there who has stood with us:

Thank you for your quick response and for sacrificial support of stretching your hand towards the need of our brothers and sisters who are in hard times.

May the grace of God fill every area of your life. The Bible says that whoever gives to those who were in need lends God. Let God bless you and provide for you in any area of life. We know since the pandemic strike the world, many people all over the world have been affected in other ways. Climate change has also contributed much. You have touched thousands of lives and given hope to the voiceless. Sometimes we feel even shame to ask but because of the grace and love which God has put in your life. You have not counted how many times we have requested the support.

The gift you have given has changed and transformed many lives. This time the situation of drought has affected almost the entire country. In some areas people go 3 to 4 days without eating. I believe this season God will make a way for them to go through. Continue praying for us this season, and the families who didn’t get any of the first shipment. We could use an additional of 235 bags of maize and 40 bags of beans for an additonal $9500.  

Yours,

Michael and Thomas

If you would like to help, you can still contribute to help them get through to July.

As always, every dollar you send us gets to the people in Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Just designate “Kenya” in the “Note” of your donation, or email us and let us know your gift is for Kenya. You can either donate with a credit card there or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

For those of you new to Lifestream, we have been engaged with a group of people in Kenya since Wayne visited them in 2010 in Kitale. In addition to their own needs, they have been helping tribes in North Pokot through a prolonged drought that has destroyed their way of life. We sent nearly $2.5 million worth of relief and development there over the past 11 years with amazing results, not only for the Gospel but also to give hope and a future to hundreds of thousands of people. All that has come from the generous contributions of those whom Lifestream and The God Journey have touched. Your generosity has overwhelmed us on many occasions.

Unfortunately, they are in need once again.

I have just received word from our friends in Kenya that drought conditions have savagely returned to North Pokot and Turkana in Northern Kenya, leading to the death of cattle, crops, and even wildlife. It is devastating. This is the email I receive this week:

Dear Brother Wayne

Thank you for standing with us in prayers. Many crops especially in the Northern regions, were totally affected by the draught, almost three quarters of the counties, people are totally affected.  But the worst counties are Baringo, Marsabit, Turkana, and all North Pokot regions. The cattle are being swept by draught, camels, and goats and also part of Mount Elgon and our neighboring village called Bosinia slum is becoming worse.

You can not hold the tears when you see what is taking place, almost hundreds of thousands are in bad conditions and affected by hunger. Even we have received the call from North Pokot Kase village (where you drilled water). The situation is much worse. Even they have started eating bush roots, which are bitter. We have heard they have sent some people coming on foot to Kitale to see how we can help the elderly, breastfeeding moms, and the children. They are on the way to seek our help.

If God provides we can give them 300 bags of maize and 50 bags of beans,  this we really rescue them for three months, including other areas like Bosinia and Mount Elgon too

Yours,

Brother Michael and Thomas

A recent PBS news report on the current crisis summarizes it this way: “The worst drought in decades is gripping eastern Africa — parching landscapes, killing livestock and creating a humanitarian crisis. Driven by climate change, it’s also leading to civil strife, as shepherding communities battle each other for scarce resources.”

In further conversations with my contacts in Kenya, they have asked if we could provide $14,000 to help those starving. If they can get more, they will also help in Turkana, where God has recently opened door to help others as they spread the Gospel. Sara and I will be giving personally to this, and I want to invite you to join us if you can.

As always, every dollar you send us gets to the people in Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Just designate “Kenya” in the “Note” of your donation, or email us and let us know your gift is for Kenya. You can either donate with a credit card there or mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or, if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

We were given an incredible assignment by the Lord to help rescue 120,000 people from certain starvation in North Pokot. We announced a couple of months ago that we had completed that task, and the four villages were now functioning on their own with the resources we helped them develop. Over these past five years, I have been so grateful for your generosity that allowed us to do that. As we’ve shared in the past, not only have they been helped practically, but the Gospel has also flourished among them. This is due to the generosity of so many of you that have given so freely for their salvation. 

We had hoped now to move on to other things. Lifestream isn’t a missions organization that cultivates regular giving to these kinds of projects. We were acting out of love for people we knew on the other side of the globe who had desperate needs. Your generosity to help as continually overwhelmed us with gratitude, and I’ve never wanted to take advantage of it. However, I’ve been asked again if we could once more stand in the breach for a desperate people. After prayer and consultation with others, we have decided to see what God might provide for two more tribes. 

The Namaru village has 250 families in it, and the Kase village has 180 families with a total of around 2700 people. Like the other tribes we’ve helped, they have been nomadic for centuries. They settled in this area after our project began in Pokot and subsisted off a nearby river. They also responded to the Gospel earlier and have been seeking Jesus for some answer here. When their river dried up, they started walking seven miles to get water from the Ngetut and Compass/Olorwa villages. Already starving, they have returned to beg for food at harvest. These agricultural projects, however, aren’t large enough for these new tribes as well. And, having no resources to battle COVID-19, they are putting the other villages at risk. Without some kind of help, these people may destabilize what we’ve already accomplished in the region. 

They need $11,400 in immediate food and medicine. 

Someone I know, who has been deeply involved in this process, sent a gift yesterday to help us do that and a bit more. Our contacts in Kenya, Michael and Thomas, have asked if we could drill a well in each village so each would have their own water supply. Water is life in Africa. They feel this is essential to completing the work there to free the original tribes to continue their success. I told them I would ask you to see if there are enough resources from my audience to do that. Each well will cost $29,000 each. We already have a considerable sum toward the first one. We are not being asked to commit to a more extended project here as we did in the other villages, though if someone is out there that has it on their heart to do so with these families, please let me know. They would certainly welcome the help, and we would certainly set that up. 

I am asking for your help to raise an additional $40,000 to drill these two wells. I know it seems like this can go on and on as other tribes find out and want help, but we have been assured that these are the last two villages. 

As is our custom, Lifestream does not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Every dollar you send us gets to Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the U.S. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1 • Newbury Park, CA 91320, or phone us at (805) 498-7774. 

Thank you for your prayers about this and whatever you might be free to send to help us help them. 

It’s one of my favorite passages in Acts. Paul and Barnabas return from their first missionary journey and report back to the church in Antioch that, “they had completed the work God gave them to do.”  When does that ever happen? Our religious culture doesn’t think in terms of tasks that can be done and completed, but of creating ministry infrastructures that seek to perpetuate themselves beyond the original task. I remember the elation and sense of achievement I had as a young boy riding my father’s tractor into the barn with the last load of raisins from that year’s harvest. Finally, the crop was in; we are done!

This morning, I had that same feeling reading this long email from Michael and Thomas who have been at the forefront of this project and the conduit for over two million dollars that has flowed through Lifestream in the last thirteen years. So much has been done, so many lives saved, four tribes transformed, so many orphaned children finding their way to self-reliance as adults. And all the while, the gospel was seeding its way into the hearts of people in Kenya who had no idea Jesus existed.

Specifically, the project in Pokot was to rescue 120,000 people whose nomadic lives were being ravaged by a prolonged drought that destroyed their cattle-driven economy and by rampant disease when they settled into villages. At the outset, it was just to relieve their suffering, then it became about development to secure them a better future.  Here is their report as we’re finishing up the process of establishing viable villages with water, food, medicine, education, and business opportunities:

North Pokot Community Transformation Journey

Receive wonderful greetings in Jesus name. On behalf of the Kenyan families, we would like to take this opportunity to thank God for how far and how wide He has brought us in our relationship. It was a divine connection and through this relationship and trust it has borne the fruit of touching the lives of people. Mother Teresa said that what we are doing by touching the lives of people is like a drop of water in the ocean but the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” God sent her to the poor slums of Calcutta and she poured out her life to them with the gift of love. She touched widows , orphans, single mothers and needy families, through that love and through them she touched the world.

We may not be perfect in our daily lives, but God can be shown in our weakness to make us strong. Apostle Paul, had a thorn in his flesh and many times he asked God to remove the thorn. But the Lord told him, “my grace is sufficient to your weakness.” The grace of God helps us in our weakness.

We learned through Authentic Relationships to live in the cycle where relationships grow. Pages 81-85 about lightening the load for others, especially became part and parcel of this message. What we have learned through Lifestream materials, has helped us to change the way of living in African culture and to live in the father’s affections.

We thank God for the team who has stood a long side you in all of that moment , stretching the hand of love ,through our Kenyan families in all circumstance, whether is in ongoing needs or sudden emergencies, they have never ceased to help. We know that we are not the only ones with the need and that even in USA, you have homeless people who deserve the strong hand of help and care. And yet, you have stood with us shoulder to shoulder and hand to hand. We don’t have anything which we can pay you back, just our prayers as a sacrifice sufficient to gift.

It has been a big trust not only to us but also to God that you would send such huge support to pass through our hands to others in need. This gift was  like the time Paul collected an offering from the churches to send it to Jerusalem for those in need. We have been faithful for everything given and have never touched it for ourselves or turned the support away from what it was intended.  We thank God for giving us that concern of handling his resources in the right way.

In the five years we worked in the Northern parts, God proved faithful. Many times, he protected us from tragedy. I can remember the worst one.  We had to carry 50 volunteers in the truck to construct the school in Kasoyan/Chemnyon and we were following them back with the Land Cruiser you bought a long time ago. As we reached the cliff of the mountain the truck lost the brakes and started running fast. If it had not been for the grace of God, all families would have been lost. Even the driver could not explain what was happened when the truck was stopped by a stone turned upside down.  All people came safe.

Another tragedy God protected us from was when the truck broke down in the middle of the road. We couldn’t go forward or backward and our remained off of the road for three days without eating. Some of our volunteers were stung by scorpions, even reaching a point of death, but the Lord rescued them. Once, Thomas was hijacked and everything he had was stolen. You intervened and paid back all he had lost.  Sometimes, people could see us and try to investigate our to see if we live like rich people, but they found out we eat green vegetables and live like them. Now, they see us as simple people who don’t have anything—because we know whom we serve.

We send our gratitude to the all the families of the world who stretched their hands towards these Kenyan families. As we end up our five years contract, we regret strongly because the coronavirus has prevented your trip in July. We were ready to receive you and take you to see all the projects from Kitale, Bungoma and North Pokot. Some of those in the USA may wonder how you could send so much money to people far away and trust us to handle it with honesty. Even the people here they ask the same question.  This is not possible for man to believe but with God, all things are possible.

I didn’t search for or was guided to Lifestream for material things. I had a passion to lead more than 3 million people under the umbrella of IGEM (International Gospel Equipping Ministry). Among them were bishops, pastors and ministry leaders. Although I was leading this ministry, I felt guilty in my heart and wanted to find the truth. I was praying to God to connect me with the right gospel and the person who could help us understand his ways. After that, I found Lifestream materials and they quenched my thirst over and over.  I started circulating the materials to different groups and requested brother Wayne to send me more teaching and he send to me four books He Loves Me, Naked Church, Authentic Relationships, and So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore. These books transformed my life and I started living differently as well as training small groups. After that, I started travelling East Africa. Like the Samaritan woman, I told everyone that I have found a prophet who has told me the story of my life.

Through all of this, I never asked for any financial help, just to understand more about God. But, one day in 2007, Wayne asked about the situation in Kenya regarding post-election violence. I shared with him the terrible situation here in Kitale, Mount Elgon and many other places. He started sending $100, $200, $500, and so on, to help with the needs and through that relationship we invited him to come and share this truth to the church leaders. Eventually he came to Kitale with his friend, Kent Burgess, and our relationship started to grow.

We traveled many places—Eldoret, Butere, Mount Elgon, Bungoma and lastly we visited my family home where there was no electricity. Our life and connection was about seeking first the kingdom of God and all things would be added. Our relationship with the Lifestream family is now over thirteen years, and we can acknowledge what the Lord has done. It has amazing—starting with the Living Loved Christ Hope Centre and continuing to the gas station, grain enterprise, truck transportation, land cruiser for the mission, Forkland School and bottled water enterprise, and the North Pokot project. All of this has been done in these thirteen years. Many orphaned children have been raised and educated in this Centre. Some are still completing college and university and some have grown up and are working and now self-reliant.

As we wind up the five years in North Pokot, we can stand and say in the words of Psalm 124:1, “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side… the flood would have swallowed us.” We met with our coaches yesterday and it was good. We had a wonderful time of prayer and thanksgiving for what the Lord has done. We also prayed for Lifestream for more grace and abundancy. We thought of 2 Corinthians 9-8, how God “is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” They also spoke against the coronavirus in the US and Europe.

The coaches met with different departments to see the achievements we’ve made and the challenges ahead, which you can see below. But the message the people of Pokot wanted to pass on to you, especially from the old people who were converted to Christianity through this project wanted you to hear this in their own language is that if you could be there personally, they would give you the Pokot seat and the tail. What that means, is that you are not American, but are now part of the Pokot families. The seat means that you have led them to God’s throne. They believe the elder is chosen by God and he is the one who gives the authority, blessings, love and kindness to human beings. The tails means they honor your God who led Lifestream to pray and support them to get water and food. Now they can settle permanently and no longer be nomadic. Also the coaches have sent to your entire team their appreciation measures to prevent the coronavirus from spreading among them.

The Five-Year Project in Pokot:

In two months the four villages will graduate. We thank you and the team for the help of our training in Isiolo. We also thank our trainer Brother Wubshet and his team for the good training and the knowledge we got from them. Through your prayers and support, we have achieved the following in these four villages:

• Health: We have taught villages on the importance of hygiene where they have latrines, utensil rags, and dust pit, cleaning bushes around the houses and to prevent mosquitoes from hatching-hence reducing the spread of Malaria. Really this is amazing and a great transformation that this communities have experienced since the foundation of the world. Also, the hospital has played a big role in saving the lives of people who would die because of diseases and having to go long distances looking for medication.
• Food security:We thank you brother Wayne and your team for helping with food emergency as well as monthly support for the breastfeeding mom and the old aged, we also thank you for the irrigation projects since now the community are able to produce their own food and feed their families. The land has been increased and we shall increase it in the month of June and July as we wind up the program. The committees can oversee the plantation as well as harvest including the distribution of food equally. The irrigation project is very fruitful since now the communities can produce a variety of crops. God has answered their prayers, they always dance and praising God for the provision of food through irrigation project.
• Education:Education has become the important organ this process of transformation. We have trained them in farming, hygiene, business for self-sustainability, and the importance of taking their children to school.
• Water:All four villages have water and fixed irrigation project, we thank you and your team for the great sacrificial to see that the communities get water and food from the irrigation project, the water is clean and suitable for human being as well as the animals, it has change the way of life for the people of North pokot- from nomadic way of life to permanent residence, hence being able to carry out development. The water is abundant, and the committee’s work is to make sure that the water serves all the people. They are able to maintain and protect it even without us and the coaches. This is so encouraging
• Wellness/business finance:Many families have benefited from the soft business loans, and they are now able to feed their families, paying for medication and school fees for their children. We thank you for your financial support and we also thank our coaches and the committees for working closely with the community to make sure that the development is taking place. They will no longer need to depend on donations.

The Challenges That Remain

Each of the four villages you have helped have neighboring villages with great need. Disease is often rampant for lack of hygiene, and they have very little food. You know, the Pokot people believe that they cannot eat while their neighbor is watching them, so sometimes they are forced to share when they already do not have enough for themselves. Some come 10 to 20 kilometers to get water, which they give freely Thankfully our coaches and committees have been able to work with the neighboring villages to help them advocate for the government. Most have a school and hospital now, but they still to learn better hygiene.

I’m sure we’re not completely done; there will no doubt be more opportunities down the road. I am most grateful that we were able to help them solve their own problems without creating dependency on a supply line from us. They can now follow Jesus into their uncertain future and look to him for help.

“Thank you, Jesus, for all you did during this season.  Continue to show yourself strong on behalf of the people of Pokot and our friends in Kitale and Bungoma. Continue to reveal yourself as their strength, their healing, and their provider. Let them taste an increasingly rich relationship with you and your Father so that they might know his love, care and wisdom in whatever comes their way. We bless them in your name and know that you will be merciful with them.”

Can you imagine the changes the world has undergone in the last three weeks. How unthinkable this would have been if someone told you even two months ago that so many of us would be locked up in our homes and when we do venture out it would be with masks and gloves. Our health care workers and first responders risk their lives every day to help others through this tragedy.

I hope you’re finding ways to get through this season. I just heard from Michael, our contact in Kenya, and the virus is drawing near to Pokot. It is already in neighboring Uganda and is causing fear to spread in the region. Here is what Michael wrote a couple of days ago:

Greetings in the most powerful name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are so grateful for the article Why I Don’t Go to Church Anymore. I believe this is the time where this teaching is needed more than any other, and everybody is requesting Swahili and English copies. This evening, we are going to deliver some hard copies to more than 500 leaders who are requesting it. This is amazing.

The North Pokot work is well and they are planting different type of crops and irrigating it all. However, because rumors that the coronavirus is going to sweep all people especially those who are congested like they are, they are afraid. Some have prepared to start fighting it as if it was an animal, armed with traditional spears. Some of the old men who still believe in tradition started preparing rituals. However, our coaches are doing extra work to educate and teach them that sanitizer could help prevent its spread and that they need to put their trust in God.

The coaches especially those who trained in the health department, have told them about the importance of social distance, cleanliness even among the community, and washing hands regularly by using soap. But they don’t have soap. Every household needs two soap dispensers and a container of fresh water to wash hands.  This is the report we have got from our supervisor. These things are highly needed now. Anything God can provide through you in these areas will help greatly. As soon as God provides the item Thomas and I will  go there and help the situation.

This issue have affected countrywide, it has also affected feeding because people has been minimized movement, for working and many families are starving. Our country has tried our level best to use all resources that they may be having but still the need is overwhelmed, but we trust God for everything. We understand what is happening around the globe especially USA and the burden which you have worldwide.

We are already seeing in the U.S. how the toll of this virus is worse for those who are most vulnerable. Those with many resources have options and those with little do not. We sent $20,000 to Kenya to help them in this crisis, but it will take more.  If you have some extra to help them, please send it along.  As always, every dollar you send us gets to Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320, or phone us at (805) 498-7774. All contributions are tax-deductible for those in the U.S.

If you’re stretched in this season, please pray for them as you do for your own needs. This is a tough time for so many people and yet we can also put our trust in God who is faithful and a certain refuge in uncertain times.

Thank you for your concern and your prayers.

I am so amazed by the number of people who hold the Kenyans in their hearts. I am often asked for updates and am sure I probably don’t provide enough.  Last time I wrote toward the end of December, the people of Pokot had been through some devastating floods, destroying the villages, their crops, and their storehouses of food.  You responded with money enough to help feed them and restore the damage to their farms.

I’ve received some updates this week from our friends caring for their neighbors in Pokot.  The storm was devastating, but they have begun to rebuild. You can see the devastation of their homes on the left. On the right below you can see the crops beginning to grow again as they have rebuilt the irrigation systems, thanks to your generosity.

Here’s what they wrote:

We would like to thank you so much, actually the help was a great rescue to the community. And since the plumber and his team who are fixing and replacing the destroyed pipes and other things, they will continue till next week. The damage was so big. But we thank God for your quick intervention. The environmental department has contacted us so that they can teach the community how they can protect from the destruction in future. This includes making terraces around the farm and planting trees to prevent soil erosion and avoid future damage.

The committees, through our coaches, called us to thank you and the team for the support of the irrigation program. This program has had a great impact on their food security in that region. The irrigation has been fixed and is now working but the community is out of food. Even those working on farm don’t have the energy to do that job.

We have estimated that to sustain these three village with food will take536 bags of maize, 90 bags of beans, and Transportation, which will cost $23,600.

 

I am sorry to come back to you so soon for this need, but it seems we are the only ones in the world that stand between them and starvation. I thought the money we sent in December would be enough, but they hadn’t planned on the three additional months.  If you would like to help with this need you follow the links below, and if you know others who might be touched by this need, please pass this information along. You have always responded so generously and I am grateful.

As always, every dollar you send us gets to Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your concern and your prayers. And, if you are in a place to help, please give generous

Your response over the last ten days has been overwhelming. You have no idea how many lives you saved and how many families in North Pokot that you have blessed.  So many of you came alongside these dear people who were ravaged by floods in the north of Kenya that we were able to send over $45,000 to help with immediate food and bedding supplies last week.  Thank you so much for responding so quickly and with such overwhelming generosity. Sara and I have been overwhelmed with joy at your response.

This morning, I heard back from our friends from Kitale who took the supplies your funds bought and delivered them in North Pokot. They were able to take food into North Pokot over the past weekend to bring relief to the people there and sent pictures of what your generous contributions were able to accomplish.

Hi Brother Wayne,

Greetings in the most powerful name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we thank you and all the team who stood with us for the emergency which by the flood, we have just returned this evening after a long journey. We did get stuck on the road, but God is faithful we managed to reach safety. Glory to the Lord!

Otherwise, the community appreciated so much for the support and thank God for the provision of food, blankets, mattresses, and other essential things.

It looks like the rains have subsided and they are now preparing to rebuild their lives. I will get back to you when we know better what it will cost to rebuild the agricultural projects and the storehouses for their food. We will also be expanding the warehouse at the Forkland School water project since the demand is outrunning their facility we built there last spring.

So, we can still use your help. As always, every dollar you send us gets to Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. Just designate “Kenya” in the “Note” of your donation, or email us and let us know your gift is for Kenya.  You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your concern and your prayers. Rejoice with us! God has provided out of your generosity.

I wrote last week about the horrific crisis unfolding in West Pokot where we have been helping tribal groups of people recover from a sustained drought that completely changed their economy. For five years we have been investing over $1.5 million dollars to help them with food, water, medical, and educational needs as well as help jump-start a sustainable economy. Over the past week torrential floods, the first ever in that region, have wiped out their villages and destroyed much of the progress that they made. Over 65 people have died. You can view a BBC report on the crisis here.

In response to my blog last week we received about $5,000 over this past weekend to help with that relief.  Today, I received an update for their immediate needs just to care for the families involved, that our friends have been helping:

Today we have received the report from our coaches regarding the affected villages. They also added another one—Ngetut Village—to the list of casualties.  That’s three villages including Olorwo/Compass and Chemyon/Kasoyan. About 630 households with their families have lost everything. They are so desperate with no blankets, mattresses or food.

The local government, NGOs and other bodies are working tirelessly to see that people are getting food and other necessities in other places, but they have not reached these villages with any help.  We request for emergency to help the situation as soon as God provides.

We do not yet know about the damage to our agricultural projects. Our coaches have not yet gotten to the site to see how it was damaged. As soon as the rain stop, we shall go and find out with our coaches.

Here is our immediate need:

• Food supplies (maize, beans, salt, sugar) –  $34,390
• Bedding – $4560
• Transportation to Pokot – $2300
• Reconstruction of latrines $3300

Total emergency Request – $44,550. 

Please pray for these people and if you can give anything to help give them this week, please send it as soon as you can.  Keep in mind that the people asking us for this money already live in poverty themselves, but they are asking for money to help fellow Kenyans who are in far worse shape than they are. We want to try to send them $44,550 in the next day or two if you can help. And please keep in mind, this is only for immediate relief. We will also need funds to rebuild the agricultural projects that were destroyed. I’m grateful to so many of you who responded last week. Thank you. We do need some more to meet our $44,550 goal.

If you know of others who might be touched by this need, please pass this information along.

As always, every dollar you send us gets to Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your concern and your prayers. And, if you are in a place to help, please give generously.

EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!

You know I don’t hype things here, especially when it has to do with money. But there is a crisis unfolding in Kenya, right where we have been working with several tribal groups. I realize we’re past Giving Tuesday, or whatever crazy ploy was being used this week, but I have an emergency need. I was just informed about a horrific crisis unfolding where we have been investing so much to help abandoned tribal groups in West Pokot.  I’ll spare you the pictures I received of dead people, including children trapped in the mud. They are horrific.

The devastation in this part of Kenya is tragically ironic. We got involved because of a prolonged drought that destroyed the cattle of these nomadic tribes in the West Pokot region of Kenya.  Now, they are experiencing the first flooding ever in that region, and it has killed 65 people and ruined some of the agricultural enterprises we had started. Their food stores are gone, as are many of the outhouses they constructed for hygiene reasons.

Here is a BBC report on the crisis.  I received the following message from our contact in Kenya:

Right now we are experiencing a flood in Kenya, almost every part and the most affected place are West Pokot, North Pokot, Baringo, Ukambani , Kitale, and many other places. We thank our coaches for the ongoing latrine construction since it has really helped in preventing diseases like Diarrhea, Typhoid and Cholera.  Although over 30 toilets have been swept out, we are praying for them not to be contracted with diseases.   The local government is taking limited measures in some places to prevent these diseases. Historically, this is the first time this area has ever experienced flooding.

The Kompass/Olorwo, irrigation has been swept, all the pipes and plantation –this is very sad and all the villagers have been advised by the coaches to move the upper side as they see the situation calm down. Also, Chemnyon/Kasoyan irrigation has been affected too. Our coaches are waiting for the flooding to stop so that they can go and see what we can do.

According to the coaches, all the food that it was on the farm and in the storehouse was swept away by the flood, so they are in danger of hunger. Fifty people died in Central Pokot 50 people due to floods and landslides. You can pray for us since the situation worsens day after day.

In the Forkland community, they experience flood but they are not so bad, since they have clean water for drinking, we thank you very much for the support of spring’s water borehole.

Please pray for these people. They have lost so much, including children they love. We will have to rebuild some of the agricultural projects as well and will need to provide relief food and supplies as soon as our team can get in and assess the damage.  If you have extra giving to do by year’s end, please consider these dear people.

Not only will we need emergency relief funds, but we also paid recently to get the body of one of the security guards of the orphanage released from the hospital after a sudden illness and death. Hospitals will not release the body until the bill is paid. Also, the water enterprise needs to increase its warehouse space to be able to distribute as much water as they can produce.  So, the need is tremendous, both short term and long term. If you can help us here, I will be incredibly grateful, as will they.

As always, every dollar you send us gets to Kenya, and all contributions are tax-deductible in the US. We do not take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you for your concern and your prayers. And, if you can help in the current crisis, please give generously.

Before I get to some great news from Kenya, I want to catch you up on a few things around here.  Last week I was asked to appear with Vince Coakley on his Charlotte-based radio show and discuss the crisis of confidence people are having with the clergy.  You can listen to that here.

Additionally, Sara and I will be taking some vacation over the next couple of weeks, spending some time at Shaver Lake with my dad and later my daughter’s family. We are looking forward to the break and will return to the office here on August 20. If you can keep the emails to a minimum during this time, that would be great.

And while we’re gone, I’ll continue posting the email exchange I’ve had with Alan that I began in the post, In the Shadow of Death. I’ve done three parts already and probably have ten more to go as we talked about hope for healing, faith, reality, grief, and mortality in the throes of metastasized breast cancer. There’s a lot in this exchange that we rarely talk about. I also pre-recorded some fascinating podcasts for you throughout August at TheGodJourney.com.

Now on to Kenya. Many of you followed our saga in Kenya this winter after floodwaters polluted the water system for a school we have helped support in an impoverished area near Bungoma. Their sewage had comingled with their water supply, and the children were all getting sick, as were other residents in the area who also use that water. If they didn’t drill a new well, the government was going to close the school.

Many of you stepped up and gave over $30,000 to drill a new well. Amazingly, it hit an aquifer deep underground that had hit some of the purest water in Kenya and at such a huge pressure that it would not only serve the school but could be given away to the community around them. When the government tested the water, they said it was some of the purest in all of Kenya and encouraged them to bottle and sell it. The need for bottled water is vast in that region.

So, you stepped up again with another $42,000 to build a water-bottling enterprise, whose profits will help provide for the school and other projects in Kenya that we have been supporting. They just had their inspection for the new water plant, and this is what they sent me yesterday:

On behalf of the Forkland community and also IGEM ministry at large, we would like to send our gratitude for you and the entire team for the great and awesome support towards this project.

In addition to the school, this water is serving more than 16,000 consumers and the number will still increase. This is amazing. Typhoid and Diarrhea have been reduced by a large margin in this region. People are asking, especially mainstream churches who are surrounding this community, whether anything good come from Forkland? But the answer is yes; Jesus is able. We don’t have anything which this community can offer to you but just prayers.

About our bottled mineral water, we now have full confidence towards our target. Our premises have already been approved by Ministry of Health, Water Services Board, National Environmental Department, Ministry of Housing  and Rural Development, and Kenya Bureau of Standards.

We were surprised to hear that our water, Springs Garden Mineral Water, is pure and recommended to the World Health Organization.  We have been receiving congratulations  from the different departments. Everything is working out great and we have many customers—hence more orders. Wow!

Here are some pictures they sent along:

This new enterprise came as such a surprise and will be a future source of revenue for them in years to come. What an unanticipated blessing in the long saga of our connection to these dear people. Your compassion for them and your godly generosity toward them continues to amaze me, and I suspect delights the Father.

Your help is appreciated more than you know. All contributions are tax-deductible in the US. And, as always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya. We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

If you are following our continuing saga of helping people in a specific region of Kenya, you know that we had to drill a new well a few months ago or see a school closed down that was helping orphans and children living with drug-addicted parents in a place called Forkland. A flood last December polluted their former well with their sewage and was no longer usable. This school has been run by a woman after the tribal violence as the only hope to break the poverty and bondage of children in this area and make a generational shift in a place of great need.

The new well went 340 feet deep and hit an aquifer of pure mineral water that is under intense pressure. Not only is it enough water for the school and the surrounding community who also use that water, but health officials also recommended bottling it for sale since the water is of the highest quality anywhere in Kenya. This is an answer to prayer in so many ways. For every need we’ve sought to help in Kenya, we have also started an enterprise they can utilize, not only to hire people who need jobs but also to fund ongoing needs. The orphanage/school we started is supported by a petrol station we built. Other needs in the Kitale area are being funded by a grain distribution company we launched there. This bottling plant will help provide for Forkland school as well as outreaches into that community. The overflow will also be helpful in future needs in North Pokot.

July 2020 will complete our five-year project to make the tribes of North Pokot that we’ve been serving, sustainable without outside help. We have drilled wells, started irrigation projects, opened schools, helped with health care, and funded microloans to help create new businesses. By all indications, they should be able to use their creativity and industry to care for themselves beyond that.

This bottling plant is the next step in securing an income stream for Forkland School, help with the impoverishment of the surrounding community, and the overflow will be able to help new people groups in Pokot.  But for that, we need an additional $42,000 to start the enterprise. This includes empty bottles to get the enterprise going, as well as training for five months and a conduit for distribution. If you can help us fund this project in whole or in part, I would be incredibly grateful.

Also, this month, we need an additional $18,000 to feed a new tribe that came two months ago to try to find some resource. Their women and children were dying, and no other aid was available to them. They sought help from the tribes we are assisting in North Pokot. We gave them food two months ago, and they need two months more to get them to harvest time. So, in addition to the $10,000 we send every month, we need an additional $60,000 this month.

Your help is appreciated more than you know. All contributions are tax-deductible in the US. And, as always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya. We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

My last blog offered my thanks for the incredible outpouring of support for people in Pokot. After I posted it, I got this new information from them. The map above will help you understand some of the details here. The drought and starvation are going on across the entire top of Kenya from Wajir to West Pokot. Our efforts are in the northern area of West Pokot, and the people we work with from Global Hope are based in Isiolo to the east.

This is from Michael Wafula, who is the President of IGEM (International Gospel Equipping Ministry), and the overseer of our efforts in Kenya. This is his report.

We were the only pioneers in this place when we started going to Pokot twenty-five years ago. Then, the people were nomadic as they had been for thousands of years, moving one place to another searching for food and green pasture with a lot of suffering due to disease and starvation.

Historically there is little water in this region, many using urine from cows, milk, and blood from animals for drinking. They depended on the River Suam, which is almost 5 days walk. People came with their cattle from different parts all over the region. On the way, some of the animals would die, and even when they reached the river, it often took three days to get their animals a drink due to congestion. Because of this hardship, the Moran (youths) would raid their neighbors in the Turkana, Karamojong, and Bariongo regions to steal their cattle. Security was nonexistent, and it was considered a danger zone. There was no communication, no roads or anything else so the government could not be involved. These people lived on their own life, believing in their god of the mountain.

We want to give God all Glory, Honor, and praise. He is a loving Father who covers the multitudes of our sin. When I compare the provision which God has provided for more than seven years of touching the lives of this people and transforming the villages and the community, I know this is the fulfillment of Isaiah 43:18-21 for them:

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.

Now, we are seeing the tremendous wonders of God in this place. Roads are being constructed, and pathways in the bush created. We are now able to interact with people who were not able to communicate with this. This is the mighty work of the Lord.

Due to the wells you helped us drill, water is available and the mastered seeds you helped us give out, are growing new crops. For the first time in their history, they are learning to do agriculture, to produce their own food. Though there might not be enough to feed everybody yet, no one is dying in those villages where we are currently working. No cattle will die for lack of water. The people no longer need to migrate.

I saw these people are reaching their Canaan, and the days are coming where food and water will not be the problem. This is a rescue, and it is but for a short moment. This is a horrible year all over the area. Millions of people are starving countrywide, even in Kitale where we live. It is planting season now, but nobody has planted because there is no rain. Those who planted last month have watched their crops wither. This lack of rain extends all over East and Central Africa to lack rain. It has never happened before, so pray with us. We don’t know what is taking place and what could happen tomorrow.

We thank God for our president and the government of Kenya who have tried their level best to donate relief and water to the affected people but remember the need here is overwhelming. More than were counties were affected. UN, Red Cross, churches, and individuals have been forced to be involved in helping the situation where they can. We have tried to ask those organizations for help, but their answer is for us to do what you can to help since they have nothing to spare.

Our work here is just a compassionate heart to the community. We didn’t know that other tribe would hear and come to interrupt what we have already planned. The reason I have stayed in the area is because of the pain we were feeling, and we just wanted to cook for them and share the gospel of Christ, helping them feel happy even if they are hungry.

Your help along with the team has saved the lives of many people.

This is what the money you’ve sent us has done for a forgotten people. I hope you sense God’s joy at your being part of this work of grace and salvation that he is doing. Over two million dollars to date have been spent on behalf of these people in Pokot, and other needs further south in the Kitale region to help with widows and orphans.

Obviously, we have not heard the last of this need, and the food we provided will only last for two months. We continue to send more every month than we receive in contributions. Your help is appreciated more than you know. All contributions are tax-deductible in the US. And, as always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya. We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Last week I asked you to help my friends in Kenya. You responded. So many of you, in so many ways. Gifts large and small have all but covered their need. I am so grateful for your generosity that has overflowed in thanksgiving to God. The food has been purchased and distributed, and the people have returned to their homeland. While they were giving out the food, however, another tribe came in. They, too, had traveled far hoping to find some subsistence for their people. We were able to provide enough for them as well.

Unfortunately, that only covers the next couple of months. After that, we’ll have to see what else God does.  Please pray with us for this need and for God to show himself strong on their behalf. We are constantly encouraging them to put their hope in him, not us. For the next fifteen months, we will continue to send $10,000 per month to help the five original tribes reach sustainability with water, food, education, hygiene, and micro-finance small business start-ups. We seem to be on a good pace for that to happen.

Some ask if we get that much in donations every month.  We do not. God has asked us to do this so we trust God beyond the Kenyan donation through book sales, or extra from my travel. He has always proved sufficient.  Since January 2008, we have sent $2.023 million to the people of Kenya. Isn’t that crazy? About a third of that has come through one family from Texas, the rest from Lifestream and your generosity. That has rescued over 100,000 people from starvation, helped them shape a new economy, and opened their lives to the Gospel. It is an amazing story of need and generosity, what James called the essence of true faith.

If there ever was a time you wanted to genuinely help poor people, without anyone else siphoning off money for administrative fees or other costs, this is it. All contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  And as always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya.  We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

I’m in SF at the moment, on my way home from a beautiful weekend in Morgantown, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh, PA, but I couldn’t wait to share with you an amazing joy among our friends in Kenya, and some new people in Pokot, hungry for food and for God. This is an emergency need, and if you could help us, we would be most grateful.

A few weeks ago, I wrote here about Forkland School, in a poor section of Bungoma, Kenya. It not only educates children who would have no other opportunity, but it also helps care for the impoverished community around it. We support that school at $1000 per month.

I asked you for help because their water system had been contaminated in a recent flood with their sewage system. The children were getting sick, and the health department closed the school. It also affected the nearby community who also use that well.  Because of your generosity, we were able to send them $30,000 to drill a new well. They just completed it and here’s what they wrote:

On behalf of Forkland community and school, God has brought a great transformation. People are now getting clean water, and this water has become a very big blessings to the entire region. People can walk in from a far distance and draw water. The Kenya Bureau of Standard has recommended that this water in future be used to produce mineral water, because the company drilled deep and found pure water at 340 feet deep.   The flow is very high and can produce 10,000 liters per hour. This is the great blessing. May our Father in heaven be glorified for this. We send our gratitude to those who stood with us in giving their resources to help this community and the school. Since the community started drinking clean water there is no more complaints of typhoid and other diseases. Our children are safe.

We rejoice, too. Everything we do in Kenya, we look to make self-sustaining instead of breeding further dependency. The people there are creative and energetic, wanting to be part of the solution to their own needs; they just lack the resources to do so. We haven’t known how the school could become self-sustaining since it is an outreach to that community. Now they are going to be able to bottle this water and sell it as some of the purest water in Kenya, sanctioned by the government and it will provide resources not only for Forkland School but also for other needs in the area.

As soon as that need was met, however, another need has emerged in North Pokot.  I’ll let them tell you about it.

Right now in Kenya, some of the region like Turkana, extreme North Pokot, and other area are suffering from drought and hunger, pray for us since many of the families are starving. Thank you for what you have send each month, but the problem we are seeing here has gotten worse. While we were there distributing food, a lot of people came from a far village. Every place, people were waiting for the food in bad condition.

We decided to serve those who are totally affected especially the old aged, but people came in multitude where we could not able to control and we had to leave brother Michael and the team there to calm the remaining people who did not get the food. The committee as requested if it is possible to get 350 bags of maize and 100 bags of beans to serve them for a while since they have to walk a long distance, and they speak in their language ” that God is full of mercy and compassion” to them. Some they have taken about three days and even a week just drinking water and boiling the roots to have something in their stomachs.

In this area, the World Food Programme and some NGOs have not yet reached them. They are just now heading to Baringo and Turkana. If possible, they can get food and return to their home to feed their children who are starving. The cost of food is ksh 1,812,500 Kenya shillings (about $18,000 U.S.) We are praying for God’s provision. The need here is too much and you have done a lot till we feel sorry to inform you.

Brother Michael is still in North Pokot and it seems the need there is overwhelming since yesterday he talked in the night that the villagers are in dilemma of what to do.  According to him and the committee, the situation is growing worse since the villagers told them that they can’t go without anything to feed their children.

It is maddening to me that the rest of the world, including the Kenyan government, are ignoring the needs of these people. But people are dying today because they do not have any food. This is a different group of people from those we’ve already been helping in North Pokot. For whatever reason, God has allowed this need to fall on us, and we cannot turn away.

The only place for these people to find food right now is from the generosity of people who listen to The God Journey and read these pages at Lifestream. Generosity is sometimes the only possibility to make up for inequity in a broken and self-centered world. I am asking those of you with any extra resource to help us, please. If you can and this need tugs at your heart, please help them. I have no idea yet if we’re going to initiate a new project here and support these villages further. I am hoping the UN or some other NGO will come along at some point. But as long as we have resources here, we are not going to let children or their parents die of hunger on the other side of the world.

If there ever was a time you wanted to genuinely help poor people, without anyone else siphoning off money for administrative fees or other costs, this is it. All contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  And as always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya.  We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Donation Page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you on behalf of the people of Pokot for your gifts and prayers on their behalf.

And it may be the most significant thing I do in my lifetime. Our outreach to brothers and sisters in Kenya and through them to the tribal people of Pokot, is the strangest connection God has invited me into. This is nothing I sought out or tried to accomplish. God brought it into my life gently, but persistently, over time. He knew that somehow I could help him connect people with the great need on the other side of the world to people here with the resources to help out.

Over a hundred thousand tribal people there were dying of malnutrition and disease, without any aid from the United Nations, their own government, or nonprofit organizations. This is a remote region with no one to help. Their nomadic life had been destroyed by a prolonged drought that killed their cattle-driven economy. The Kenyans we already knew in Kitale were heartbroken when they discovered them and asked if we could share some resources through them. Let that sink in. A group of people we were already helping because of their poverty were wanting to reach out to others they who were even in more need. It’s just nuts. We are not a missionary organization, yet in recent years more than 80% of our budget has gone to help these dear people in Kitale and Pokot.

To my utter amazement and delight, people from my podcast at The God Journey and my blog here, responded with generosity and continue to do so over such a prolonged period of time. We’ve been helping in the Kitale area now for over ten years with an orphanage, primary school fees, college tuition, and medical needs. In addition, we started two enterprises—a petrol station and a grain distribution business—to help them employ people and use the profits so they wouldn’t grow dependent on us. That has worked out incredibly well.

Three years ago they discovered the people in Pokot, and over that time we’ve been able to help relieve their sufferings through food, water, medical assistance and education. Two and a half years ago we began a development plan to help them develop their own resources. We have coaches in the area teaching them how to provide for their own needs of food and water, and about hygiene, which has put an end to 90% of their medical needs. We’ve also helped them start their own businesses to generate income. We drilled six wells and over the past year built five agricultural projects around those wells so that in addition to having clean water for themselves, they can also use it to water their animals and to grow their own crops.

It wasn’t just money that helped us here; God also arranged for me to meet people at just the right time—two people who had doctorates in East African development three months after we found out about the people in Pokot, a man working in Thailand who introduced me to the people at Global Hope who were in a neighboring county already doing the work we needed to start doing, a family whom God led to put aside some money for a “great need” coming their way who has given nearly half of the money we have used, an education official from Uganda who could confirm the need in Pokot with government officials in Nairobi when he was skeptical of what we were being told, a lady from Australia to confirm the hearts of those who had contacted us from Kenya, and so many smaller connections that came just as they were needed.

Yes, I’ve had to make a lot of decisions in concert with others and at times this has taken far more energy and time than I felt I had to give, but mostly it seemed I’ve just watched God knit something together so much bigger than any of us could have accomplished. The way he arranged for people and support at just the right time has his fingerprints all over this. We have helped feed the hungry, including widows and orphans, rescued the sick and dying, and provided an opportunity for the Gospel to spread among a forgotten group of people.

Our plan is for the people of Pokot to be self-sustainable after five years and it looks like we’re on that track. Can you imagine? This happened because of people like you who heard about this need and responded with open hearts and have continued to do so over multiple years. I sit here amazed at what Father is doing to let love be practical in reaching out to a people who were dying of malnutrition and disease. All told, we have given over 1.5 million dollars to assist in all these efforts, and the people there have spent it shrewdly and accountably to maximize its reach to as many people as possible.

The pictures above show the tremendous success they’ve had in their first year of harvest. They work hard to grow the food and then share it among the others, especially the most needy. They are also now expanding the acreage of each of the agricultural projects to grow even more food. In addition, the generosity from so many of you has opened up a wide door for the Gospel as they have responded to the message of a Father’s love and learning to follow him.  Here’s a recent email I got thanking us for our efforts there:

The work in North Pokot has given us hope and this is what we are praying for. The people in these regions are seeing live miracle, this is so amazing. God has granted them what they prayed for some years back.

In this portions of land under irrigation it has been divided into different crops and some crops they use small water and it is drought resistance like cassava, sweet potatoes, millet and sorghum, and some maize, this will help exchange of crops time to time as the community will not depend for one crop, this is why as we continue expanding the land for more production, food donation would be reducing hence allow for development.

In every week the committee gives the food from the farm produce to the families according to the numbers. This has helped some of the families to something to eat at least every day.

Here is a picture of the people in Pokot giving thanks.  Your love has flowed over in Thanksgiving to God, not just from them, but from me as well. I am completely amazed at what God has accomplished to rescue these people and give them life.

The needs here are ongoing as is our support for them. If you’d like to join us, you can direct it through Lifestream as contributions are tax-deductible in the U.S. As always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya. We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. If you would like to be part of this to support these brothers and sisters and see the gospel grow in this part of Africa, please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1 • Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

The last few weeks have been crazy and I’ve not had much time to update this page. And it looks like that might continue for awhile. I’m just back from nearly two weeks in New York, and after a day at home, a quick trip to Orange County, CA to share about He Loves Me with high school students who study the book throughout their junior year. What a great, and I’ll admit, challenging time!  This week I’ve been asked back to tape my third episode of A Christian and a Muslim Walk Into a Studio with my friends Bob and Emad in Bakersfield.

Then, next week an old and dear friend comes to town to get my help on his Civil War era novel about two kids coming of age, that has fascinated me for the past three years.  (I can’t wait until you can read it!)  And if you would like to meet Bob and Ellen Stamps, we’re having an open get-together at our home in Thousand Oaks, CA on Saturday May 26.  Write me for details if you have an interest in joining us. Then, I’m off to Virginia and Raleigh, NC in early June. After that I’m looking at trips to Maine, and perhaps western Canada.

Yes, I know it all looks out of control, but this seems to be where grace has led me. Unfortunately it doesn’t leave a lot of time for writing. But that’s OK. I’m enjoying the conversations I’m in every day and the life I see growing in others. When I see God write his unfolding story in a life, that is far more fun than doing my own. I love writing, but I love how he writes most of all.

The purpose of this blog, however, is to update you on our work in North Pokot. It still amazes me every time I tell the tale, and people seem to ask me about it almost everywhere I go. Who would have thought that God would ask us to help 120,000 tribal people in North Pokot build a sustainable economy when their nomadic way of life was destroyed by a five-year drought when no one else would?  Who knew that we had so many people so willing to give freely to help them discover a new way of living? There are no other NGOs (non-government charities) in the area and very little government help, though that is growing. Who would have thought that my audience from my writing and podcasting could have such a profound impact on a small corner of the world. I am overwhelmingly grateful for all those who have helped.

We are now in the beginning of our third year of a five-year (Lord willing) process to help these tribes deal with their most basic needs:  water, food, education, wellness, and micro-finance. Our coaches have helped the people of Pokot to seek alternatives for their own needs and then combine 50% of their sweat equity with resource from us.  The hope is that at the end of this process they will have enough sustainable resource to take care of their own needs. We are making tremendous progress and have just now committed to our fourth and final agricultural project. Now each of the four tribes will be able to use water from the wells we drilled not only for themselves and their livestock, but also to grow their own vegetables.  The other three projects are producing amazing crops to feed the people. (See picture above.)

The fourth is in Kalmeri village. When they heard the others were growing their own food, they wanted to as well. A rumor had come to them that if they acquired solar panels from the county government, Lifestream would build a farm for them, too. That’s not really how it works, but they went en masse to the county government to request solar panels for their village.  After some deliberations the county gave them the solar array they needed. We had hoped to space these projects out over the course of a year, but we have almost been doing one per month at a cost of $34,000 each in addition to the regular money we send each month to help these tribes make their transition.

This is even more amazing when you realize that not too many years ago these tribes were at war with each other over land and cattle, each trying to scratch out their own existence. They often fought and stole each other’s cattle.  The reports we get back now are just amazing, of building a new life, cooperating with each other, and finding the light of the Gospel to guide them.  How awesome is that?

And to watch these children in the farm makes it all worthwhile.

If there ever was a time you wanted to genuinely help poor people, without anyone else siphoning off money for administrative fees or other benefits, this is it. All contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  And as always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya.  We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you again on behalf of the people of Pokot for your gifts and prayers on their behalf.

Most of us don’t even think about where our next meal will come from. We could probably live for a week or more just by the things we have stored in our homes. It’s hard for us to even imagine the trauma of scarcity, of watching those we love suffer from lack of food and malnutrition. Thus, it is hard for us to appreciate the joy that comes in learning how to raise your own food and having the resources to do it.

The above picture is the first fruits of the harvest in Ngetut village—sweet potatoes they grew themselves. Below you’ll see pictures of the joy of the villagers as they are installing the newest agricultural project in our third village. We helped drill these wells three years ago and with solar panels, a tank and some plumbing, they are able to expand the use of those wells so that in addition to having water for drinking and cooking, they are now able to water their livestock, and to irrigate vegetables.  This is the first time they are able to grow their own food and it has even caught the attention of the government.

Due to the generosity of people who listen to The God Journey and those who read these pages, we are seeing that joy spread across Pokot.  They are giving glory to the God they are just getting to know and to trust for their provision. The work in Pocket is nothing short of a miracle. God connected a forgotten people who were starving to death with many of you who have been touched by their plight and have helped us send the money there to help them build a sustainable life with a combination of resources from us and sweat equity from them.

I’m so grateful for what God is doing there, but it hasn’t been without challenges. The government was supposed to take over the costs of the clinic there last summer, but due to the instability of the government and contested elections that was pushed out. The staff did not arrive until February and we’ve had to supply an additional year of medicine. They are hopefully going to take it over by the end of June. Fortunately God continues to provide enough for us to take part in these special projects as well as continue to contribute $10,000 per month there to jump start their economy. We are two years into a five-year commitment here and are grateful for the results we are seeing.  .

Our coaches in Pokot have told us that these farming operations are essential to these tribes becoming self-sustaining and not reliant on outside resource. So as we commit another $33,000 to build a third irrigation project, your gifts and prayers will be welcomed again. In each of these projects the people do the work while we provide the resource. There is still much to be done.  If there ever was a time you wanted to genuinely help poor people, without anyone else siphoning off money for administrative fees or other benefit, this is it. All contributions are tax-deductible in the US.  And as always, every dollar you send goes to the need in Kenya.  We do not (nor do they) take out any administrative or money transfer fees. Please see our Sharing With the World page at Lifestream. You can either donate with a credit card there, or you can mail a check to Lifestream Ministries • 1560 Newbury Rd Ste 1  •  Newbury Park, CA 91320. Or if you prefer, we can take your donation over the phone at (805) 498-7774.

Thank you on behalf of the people of Pokot for your gifts and prayers on their behalf. Here are some additional pictures:

Additional pictures:

The third farming operation

Water for the people

The water tank and newly completed trough for their cattle