Jambo! Bwana asse fiwe!
We’ve had an eventful few months at Nakuru 3:16, a time during which we’ve been beset by challenges and presented with wonderful opportunities. It would take volumes to tell all of the stories, but I’ll do my best communicate the essence in a few paragraphs below.
The most disruptive challenge was our separation from one of our two Kenyan partners, PCEA Kiamunyeki. Despite working hard to achieve a unity of purpose and a fair balance of responsibilities over the last two years, we simply felt that the mission of the project was not being adequately supported or carried forward by Kiamunyeki. In short, inadequate financial support and project management was coming from the parish. These issues might have been addressed over time, but when conflicts of interest came to light with key leaders at Kiamunyeki, we felt we needed to act with some urgency. After repeated and unsuccessful efforts to rectify the situation, we decided that the best course of action would be to part ways with Kiamunyeki and join forces with a new partner. While we are disappointed that things did not work out in the long run with Kiamunyeki, we are thankful for their part in starting the project, and wish the parishioners only the very best
Times of change often reveal amazing opportunities. PCEA Nakuru West, another parish in Nakuru, is the “original” ROCK Bridge partner and is the driving force behind some of the most successful projects in the area: a vibrant vocational training center, a high quality health clinic (with maternity ward), and the amazing Tumaini Children’s home. Nakuru West will be our new Kenya-based partner on Nakuru 3:16 and we are very excited about the possibilities this relationship will make possible going forward.
Nakuru West "Suburb" Church
Sammy Kiige is the project manager in charge of the ROCK Bridge projects in Kenya; he’s an amazing man and we are honored to be able to work with him on Nakuru 3:16.
Zablon and Sammy
This new relationship is bearing fruit on a daily basis. For starters, Nakuru West helped us identify, secure, and move to a new facility away from the center of town and away from the temptations of the street life for the girls. The new home is truly a gift from God- it’s a large two story home on 2.5 acres just a few kilometers from the Tumaini campus.
The new Nakuru 3:16 house
Not only does the the house provide a peaceful, productive, and nourishing environment, but the proximity to Tumaini will allow us to take advantage of new education and vocational opportunities. The young children are already going to school at Tumaini, and the older girls (without chidren) are boarding there.
The children at the house heading off to school
N3:16 girls attending boarding school
The kids and families are settling into their new routine- up at 5 AM, chores, breakfast, get the kids off to school… routines that we all can relate to.
Kids making their beds before school
In the midst of this all, we need to welcome the newest addition to the Nakuru 3:16 family: little Hope Wanjiri. Whereas many of the children born to the mothers previously on the street were born in (and into) horrific conditions, Hope was born into a healthy, exciting new world of, well… Hope! Please join us in giving thanks for the blessing of Hope and the future that awaits her.
Hope Wanjiri
This time of change has also been an opportunity to consider all we’ve learned over the past few years and use those lessons to refine the program. We learned a great deal about how to transition the girls and their children off of the street, put them in a structured environment, and help them break their habits. The best of these lessons will form the core of the new program.
So we look forward to 2010 with great excitement. We have come amazingly and blessedly far- 18 months ago, the girls were living in the dump, in the cold sewage, addicted to glue and selling their bodies to survive. Today they are reborn- clean, sober, safe, healthy, and on a path to self-sufficiency. Their children are being educated and, God-willing, will escape the life in the streets that had seemingly been their destiny.
As always, this project is made possible by your generous support. We are actively seeking grants and other funding sources that will enable us to put the project on a more self-sustaining foundation, but for now nearly all of the operational funding comes from donations. Please consider giving to Nakuru 3:16 and continuing to be a part of this process of recovery and new hope.
Thanks from all of us at Nakuru 3:16!
Read excerpts from Regina’s most recent project update here: http://fpcmissions.org/2010/02/22/spring-update-from-regina/