When our Kenyan Project Manager, Immaculate, saw the condition of the latrines at the Lumino Special Unit for disabled and mentally challenged learners, she moved this need to the top of the Kenyan priorities. Her heart broke when she thought of any child, especially a crippled one, using these deplorable facilities.
Just as the Lord touched Immaculate, He touched the hearts of the Serving in Jesus’ Name Board members when we saw the pictures, for we strive to help others in need, and new latrines was certainly a need. Taking joy in knowing God is pleased with such acts of kindness,[1] we not only funded new latrines at Lumino, but offered to give it a facelift as well.
Lumino is an amazing facility. Kind-hearted people started it in 2004 to provide education for learners with disabilities, including those with mental challenges. The families of these children often locked them in their homes since they feared stigmatization. With the intervention of local leaders, social workers, and church leaders, the parents agree to seek better lives for their children, and thus, Lumino was born.
Lumino School is a place of love and kindness. Although some of the children have lost one or both parents, some are ill, and some must use wheel chairs, joy is what you see on the children’s faces despite their situations. The children are well cared for at Lumino. Church and community members oversee the school’s daily operations ensuring the children receive the needed physical, spiritual, and psychological care.
Since the school depends on the local church and well-wishers in order to run the institution, it has no regular source of funding. Just providing the children with meals is a tremendous task, and improvements to the facilities are simply not in the budget, so we praise the Lord, the Source of every good gift,[2] for providing us with the resources to help provide a better source of water and clean, safe latrines.
Prior to the installation of the two large water tanks by Serving in Jesus’ Name in July of this year, the school got its water from a borehole, which is a distance from the building. Since the children have disabilities, some mentally challenged, their overseers cannot allow them near the borehole. This required the caretakers to carry water to the facility. The water tanks provided much-needed relief from this arduous daily task and was an answer to a long-standing prayer for tanks with water accessible to the children.
The overseers had also been praying for proper toilets for the children, and Serving in Jesus’ Name considers it a blessing to have the resources and project management talent to provide them. Immaculate started the project in October and expects to have four new latrines built by the end of the year. She is also overseeing giving the facility a fresh coat of paint and other much-needed touch-ups.
Ever aware of the needs around her, Immaculate could not ignore the sinking latrines at the Arch Angel facility, so we are grateful to have the resources to provide new latrines for them as well.
We praise the Lord for the work He will do for His kingdom even in the mundane, unglamorous provision of toilets and water. He teaches us to rejoice in Him, always and to give thanks in all things, receiving His incomprehensible peace[3] as we put our faith in Him and serve Him in Jesus’ Name.
[1] Hebrews 13:16 – God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
[2] James 1:17
[3] Philippians 4:6-7
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