November 2023
Dear Friends,
In November, almost 4 years after we started discussions with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) about starting Good News Clubs (GNCs) in western Kenya, with a long delay due to COVID, we saw the first fruits from this initiative. We funded and facilitated a 9-day Evangelizing Children course, which was led by 4 CEF trainers. Twenty teachers attended every day, and each has committed to hosting Christmas Party Clubs and GNCs in their homes, schools, or churches. Walter Likuyani, a member of our Kenyan Project Team and a teacher at Lumino School for Disabled Children, has already started a club at Lumino with 56 children participating.
The teachers expressed heartfelt appreciation for the excellent program CEF has developed to give them the skills necessary to clearly and effectively share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ with children. They are looking forward to the second course, Discipling Children, which is tentatively planned for April. We are also planning with CEF to provide the Evangelizing Children class to another 20 teachers next year, so the number of GNCs can spread across the western region of Kenya where Bible clubs for children are extremely rare.
Mary Kithuure, who has dedicated her life to bringing children into a new and ever-deepening relationship with Jesus Christ, took advantage of her time in Western to conduct 3 Christmas Party Clubs. One party was for the youth who would come to Lumino in the evenings to play. After hearing the message of salvation, 28 youths received the Lord as their Savior. Mary also conducted clubs at Abundant Faith Church and AIC Lumino Church on Sunday. She reported, “What a joy to have a rich harvest,” since 70 children accepted Christ during those parties. Our Kenyan Team will be following up with these young people, helping to plug them into churches and encouraging them to become well-grounded in their faith.
The Bible calls all those who have received Christ as their Lord “saints” (i.e., those who are sanctified in Christ). Not all Christians, however, reflect the image of Christ as beautifully as Roselyne Mwabishi. She has often touched us by her selfless service, and we are grateful to have her as part of our Kenyan Project Team. Her support of the CEF training has been a true blessing. She hosted the 4 CEF trainers in her home for 10 days, rising early to prepare breakfast with her daughters, Immaculate and Sheila; they served their guests, as well as the six boys who Roselyne houses and feeds. After breakfast, she hurried over to the training site and spent the day in the kitchen preparing food for lunch, as well as the morning and afternoon breaks. She then returned home to serve dinner for 13 people, with the help of Immaculate, Sheila, and the boys. She took such good care of the CEF trainers, that Mary said that they did not want to leave to return to Nairobi.
We are excited to be able to send another load of Days for Girls Kits in this year’s shipment. Ginni Richards and I met halfway between our homes for the hand off. These kits are desperately needed, so they will be a huge blessing to the girls who receive them. In November, Dorcas Daughters donated boys’ shorts sewn by its volunteers. Over the years, Dress a Girl has donatedthousands of beautiful sundresses, which Immaculate has loved giving out. She has heard, however, that the boys sometimes feel left out, since the girls get something new made especially for them. Immaculate is very excited to now have something special to give to the boys as well!
After a year of collecting, packing, hauling, and planning, we loaded our fourth 40’ container in November. The Lord gave us a beautiful day and a small army of strong, enthusiastic volunteers. We were blessed to have had our super packers, Bob and Kim Schultz, (who came from the Philadelphia area), and Kyle Soderberg leading the crew of 23 men and women. What a blessing to see these people willing to spend 4 hours on a Saturday morning to load the container, clearing out items from 4 storage units. They were truly “serving the Lord with gladness.” We are always delighted to hear folks say, “Looking forward to the next time.”
The container, which is stuffed with around 80,000 articles, is scheduled to arrive in Mombasa, Kenya, on January 17. Among the precious cargo are 8,000 Bibles, thousands of Bible study books and children’s Sunday school materials, 5,000 Scripture card packets, and 200 framed Scriptures. Of course, it also includes practical and fun things such as clothes, shoes, books, housewares, school supplies, games, toys, and stuffed animals. We are grateful to Mount Vernon and Berea Baptist Churches for donating the majority of the Biblical materials.
As always, we are grateful for each of you who make it possible for us to continue the ministry of Serving in Jesus’ Name by your prayers, financial support, donated items, and help with sorting and packing. Thank you!!!
Blessings,
Kathy Carlin, Executive Director
Serving in Jesus’ Name is a tax-exempt 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and donations are tax-deductible. We are an all-volunteer organization with 100% of all public donations going directly to our service projects. Visit us at servinginjesusname.org/
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