As part of Village Visit 8, Keith O’Dell introduced the idea of “aquaponics” (integrated gardening and fish raising) to two young men of the village, John Ongondo and Samwel Orenda, as one of the Innovation Projects.  These two men have fully seized vision for this innovation and have taken full ownership to move it from and idea to a pilot project.  Following are a testimony received by Keith from John as well as pictures of the first steps they have taken with the Aquaponics Innovation Project:

Hello  Brother
Receive much greetings in the Name of our lord Jesus. It has taken long before I comunicate. I have to apologize for this. How are you fairing on,With me iam doing well in the lord regurdles of the situation that may face me. I know that you realy wanted to know the far we have gone with our reserch on round up chemical.I would like to inform you that,we have not done much with this chemical because we wanted open field which  not planted with any crop.Another thing is about Tilapia tank,I would like to share with you that we have already brought the fingerlings and the programm is on.other wise we realy appreciate for your concept.May God Greatly and Abundantly Bless you.
Much Love,
John

And this is a testimony received by Keith from David Kayando too on the Aquaponics Innovation Project:

Hello Brother Keith,
Greetings to you in Jesus Name. I hope this finds you well and you are settling back home after being in Kager one month ago. God is good to us and we rejoice in seeing his word being fulfilled in the lives of the people in Kager. The innovation projects you introduced in Kager are being implemented and I pray they will brighten the future of the lives of the families here.
I want to note with great interest, the introduction of Aquaponics Tilapia tank for raising fish. This is a new idea with very positive results. It meets the need of the implementor economically, provide food and also improve health as fish is full of proteins. Samwel and John have taken great interest in this. JVP has supported them to obtain the tank, which they have installed, and please see the picture attached, they have filled it with water. God has also brought on their way someone from the neighbouring community who has gone through  a training on how to raise fish in the tanks, and this has been a blessing as they have received much knowlege in doing this which will help them do this better.
They will be going for the fingerlings on Friday this week and I Know from there the journey will begin. Hopefully the next village Visit Team should be able to taste the fish raised from the tank.
Blessings to you brother and I pray you are well. Regards to you family. I will be pleased to know how we can be praying for you.
David.

You always hear the word “life-changing” bandied about when talking about a trip to Africa. Well, that’s because it is!

By Christmas 2010, our second set of letters had been mailed. Once again we were left waiting impatiently for a return set.  In the meantime, Linn Asbury’s (JVP Education Partner) wheels had been turning.  In an off-handed way in one of her emails, she asked if I would be interested in going to Kenya sometime.  I nearly screamed out loud, and immediately let a co-teacher know of this opportunity.  By the end of that week, I had to email Linn and ask her the MAXIMUM number of teachers she could take with her on the visit, so many were interested in going.  By March the wheels were in full motion, and we were fund-raising to get the money to go.

Normally, I am a private person.  I rarely let people see inside my thoughts and feelings.  In one of our pre-trip meetings, I shared this as my biggest worry about the trip.  My goal was to make myself vulnerable to people.  Wow!  What a difference that made! It is amazing how quickly life-long friends are made when you open your heart to them.  Instead of taking pictures of “my trip,” I was taking pictures of my new mothers, sisters, fathers, brothers, sons, and daughters.

I need to thank my new family for helping change my life:

• Thank you, Linn for making this trip happen. Let’s make sure it happens again for another lucky group.
• Thank you, Gladys for letting us throw you an impromptu birthday party to celebrate the birthday for which you don’t know the actual date. Your humble spirit is inspiring.
• Thank you, Hammre for teasing back and forth like a little brother always does. I never did get that lesson on how to collect water like a Kenyan woman.
• Thank you, Caroline for making me that chipati. It was AMAZING! Keep your secondary education your priority even through the struggles of your young life.
• Thank you, George for raising the American flag alongside the Kenyan flag at your school. How unforgettable to be saying our national pledge in Kenya on July 4.
• Thank you, David for checking on Kim and me when we nearly didn’t make it back from the pond by dusk. I have never felt more safe than when I was walking along that rocky path talking to the local people.
• Thank you, Andrew for sharing valuable teaching time with your students. I hope we made a lasting impact. Keep up your amazing attitude and strong desire to teach those precious souls.
• Thank you, Mr. Jasper for teaching me the proper inflections for Kenyan English, and then not laughing (too much) when I actually tried it on the kids. The sacrifices you are making as a teacher are influencing your students greatly.
• Thank you, Carolyne for giving me your recipe for sukumawiki. (My husband actually liked it.) You are one awesome woman! What a strong role model you make for those teenage girls.
• Thank you, Cornel for reminding me of home by acting like one of my U.S. students and making me laugh. I hope your mother doesn’t mind sharing her son with me for a while. You hold a special place in my heart.
• Thank you, Bishop for opening your home and your heart to us mzungus. I especially enjoyed your accordian concert before bed. It reminded me of holidays with my family singing hymns and praising God around the piano.

The list of thank yous could go on forever. And it does on the nights I can’t get to sleep. I lie awake recalling all the wonderful memories of the days in your village. While time might eventually steal your names from my mind, it will never steal the love from my heart. Thank you for being my friends. Thank you for changing my life.

Mrs. Karon Cheek
Navigators team
Language Arts
Room K119

With four trips to Africa in his passport and having gone on two photo safaris before, Ned Campbell, Lead Global Partner, was looking for something different to do this fall when he will visit Kenya as part of Village Visit #8.

“Africa is such an amazing continent with such a diversity of people and sights, I figure if I am going to travel half way around the world, I might as well start seeing more of Africa than just another safari. On my flight home last year, I met a team of people that had climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.  I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and love to hike, so something sparked in my heart.  But after thinking about it for awhile, I thought it might be wiser to ease into mountain climbing and start with the second highest peak in Africa, Mt. Kenya.

I started doing some research, made contact with a Kenyan guide, and decided that it was time to put my 49-year old body to a new test.  At the same time, we started the planning for the expansion of the Medical Clinic in Kager and it seemed that these two paths were meant to come together.

During Village Visit 6 in October 2010, Housing & Shelter Global Partner, John McKenzie, noticed that much of the new construction being done in Kager was using fire-cured bricks.  Team Indiana Leader, Ned Campbell, had also started doing research on an emerging brick technology being promoted by Makiga Engineering (Nariobi) called Interlocking Soil Stabilized Bricks or “ISSB”. 

These bricks can be made with a soil and cement mix and requre no firing, thereby making them very eco-friendly.  In addition, they have an interlocking design which means they can use far less expensive mortar and be built with great precision.  As with many new ideas researched by the members of Team Indiana and introduced to the villagers, there was a lot of explanation followed up with a lot of excitement as John and Ned met with Joseph N’yangi, Housing & Shelter Champion, and two young men from village.

From that meeting, it was agreed the planning for a new microenterprise to produce and sell these bricks was a venture they wanted to pursue.  So to make this happen, the following things occurred:

• John worked with Joseph to develop a business plan and structure a loan of $1,500 from JVP to the new venture
• The new business was formed and called EcoTech Building Products, recognizing the ecologically-friendly nature of the bricks
• A brick press was purchased from Makiga Engineering and personnel from this company came to Kager and trained Joseph and the three other EcoTech employees
• John and others from Team Indiana helped Joseph a cost model to run the business and a pricing strategy to sell the bricks

The enterprise is now up and running and making about 350 bricks a day.  Joseph had this to share about the impact this is having on the village:

“The Eco Tech Brickmaking enterprise is keeping every eye glued to their product. With every new product in the market, people questions its durability and efficiency. So it is with the ISSB blocks. Doubting Thomases have already given their approval to these new brikcs  as they see how the first home home ibeing built with it is progressing, and some have began asking any opportunity in the same.

EcoTech is making the ISSB blocks right at the building site of the home. This is one advantage which we have now tapped on with this new technology. To avoid block damages on transit, he soil is transported with the Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) to the site and the EcoTech team moves the press to the building site.  They are now producing the blocks right on site as the masons build.

JVP is creating opportunities in Kager which is a wonderful thing as the Kenya government, like other governments, is struggling to cope up with the increase on unemployment.  These men are optimistic that things will improve for them and their families as this business picks up.”

At the recommendation of John McKenzie, I read Ron Hall and Denver Moore’s NYT Bestseller the other day: Same Kind of Different As Me.  And all I can say is it should be required reading for anyone that is involved in cross-cultural work of any type.  It was one of those books that 1) spoke directly to my heart and 2) I couldn’t put down until I was done.   There aren’t many times I am thankful for an airport layover, but I really was thankful for the time I had in the Phoenix terminal that allowed me to finish the book in one day.

It’s the type of book that makes you laugh and cry while you’re reading it, so I know the gal next to me on the plane thought I had some real issues.  But besides it being both humorous and deeply heart-touching, there are some quotes and ideas that are really so relevant to the work of JVP and to my own personal journey as a husband, dad, friend and brother in Christ.

In my mind, the most important theme of the book isnt developed until about 1/2way through the book in which the two authors meet (materially rich white guy, materially poor black guy), get to know each other, and then decide if they are going to become friends.  The dialogue goes like this:

“I heard that white folks go fishin they do somethin called ‘catch and release.’”

Catch and release?  I nodded solemnly, suddenly nervous and curious at the same time.

“That really bothers me,” Denver went on.  “I just can’t figure it out.  ‘Cause when colored folks go fishin, we really proud of what we catch, and we take it and show it off to everybody that’ll look.  Then we eat what we catch…in other words, we use it to sustain us.  So it really bothers me that white folks would go to all that trouble to catch a fish, then when they done caught it, just throw it back in the water.”

He paused again, and the silence between us stretched a full minute.  Then:  “Did you hear what I said?”  I nodded, afraid to speak, afraid to offend.

Denver looked away, searching the blue autumn sky, then looked deep into me again with that drill-bit stare, “So, Mr. Ron, it occurred to me:  If you fishin’ for a friend you just gon’ catch and release, then I ain’t got no desire to be your friend.”

The world seemed to halt in midstride and fall silent around us like one of those freeze-frame scenes on TV.  I could hear my heart pounding and imagined Denver could see it popping my breast pocket up and down.  I returned Denver’s gaze with what I hoped was a receptive expression and hung on.

Suddenly his eyes gentled and he spoke more softly than before:  “But if you is lookin’ for a real friend, then I’ll be one.  Forever.”

And while this book tells the story of a relationship between a white man and a black man in America, it is so relevant to the work of JVP in Africa.  Wow — there in a short paragraph was a great description of what we don’t want the Jubilee Village Project to be: a CATCH AND RELEASE MINISTRY.

We talk often in our Team Indiana meetings that JVP is not about us going on mission trips, doing some good work, feeling good about ourselves, never returning and never doing anything that is really sustaining.  It is about building relationships, investing deeply in a village and the people of the village for a long time, and for bringing about change that sustains the people of Kager.

There are too many vacant buildings and empty hearts left behind in Africa from well-intentioned 1/3 World Christians starting a good work, but not having the vision or perseverance to complete it.

Lord, it’s our prayer for the Jubilee Village Project that you will bring more people into the River that get it…that understand the “pronouncement on friendship more moving or profound than what I’d just heard from the mouth of a vagabond”:

“But if you is lookin for a REAL FRIEND, then I’ll be one.  FOREVER.”

First, there’s an incredibly high level of excitement on both sides of the ocean.  The teachers of these children have all embraced the program wholeheartedly, and
 have also begun teacher-to-teacher cross-cultural communication. This alone would have been worth doing the pen pal program — the FMS teachers are great encouragers who simply cannot help but lift the teachers in Kager who face a difficult lack of resources. Simply knowing that a peer in another country cares about them is a huge benefit for Kager’s teaching staff.

But the kids — for whom we began the pen pal program in the first place — have become a magnificent blessing to us as their life experiences expand.

We know from our Education Champion in Kager, Andrew Aduda, the students in Kager were awestruck at receiving such personal greetings (complete with hand-drawn and colored artwork) from friends in America.  They are enlarging their view of the world while learning from the FMS kids that they have more in common than they would have guessed.

The kids are learning, the students are learning, but Linn Asbury, Education Global Partner, is probably learning the most.  In early December, Linn had an opportunity to address the assembly of FMS pen pal students – all of them! They saw photos of Kager’s schools, the classrooms without roofs, the modest desks shared by three or four kids…and their new friends. They had the opportunity to ask  Linn lots and lots of questions.

Linn shares, “I’ll admit, I was a little concerned they would be too shy to open up; I couldn’t have been more wrong. Questions like, “Do the people use money?”
 ”How far away is the nearest McDonalds and WalMart?”   “Why do the people all have short hair?”  Answering these was easy.  But there were many questions that
 weren’t quite that simple:  ”What is JVP doing to help these people?”   “Do they ever get immunizations?”  ”Why can’t they have good drinking water?”  ”Why do so
 few kids finish school?  Go to college?”  ”Do the people there have malaria? AIDS?”  Questions we adults are asking, yet already being posed by ‘kids’ in middle school.

 These youngsters want desperately to make a difference in the world, and I’m betting they will find ways to do it.  The pen pal program is getting them on the right
track by opening communication; now we ‘adults’ need to make sure we give them the tools to help them stay on it.”

We hope to facilitate the second round of pen pal letter exchanges in the next few weeks…but 8,000 miles poses some challenges of its own in getting 500 letters
back and forth across one ocean and two continents.

My first reflection is how much the villagers appreciated the fact that I can back a second time.  I never realized how much that would mean to them until I had 3 different interactions with Villagers. 

• I was out on an early morning walk the last day in the village when 3 young school boys passed me on the trail and said “Hi John”. 
• I was walking back from village home visits with a Champion and he looked at me and said “John the villagers really like you and your attitude towards us”. 
• The Head of a school told Brian Burgess and I when we were talking with some workers at the school that “It means a lot to the villagers that we freely walk around the village without escorts because that tells us you consider our village a safe place and that we are family and friends to you”.  He said that they considered us “family and we were always welcome in Kager”. 

These were totally humbling experiences because I knew it was God flowing through me that they saw, not me.  I thank God for blessing me more than I could imagine through those kind words and experiences!

My second reflection was my visit with my friend Plista who I met last year.  We had a wonderful time of sharing what had gone on the last year and how our families were doing.  My wife and daughters had given me gifts to give her.  The picture I sent her in the mail was proudly displayed on the wall of her home.  Plista is a widow who takes care of 8 grandchildren with only the help of one daughter-in-law.  Five of her sons have passed away.  She works in the fields to make money for her family.  She asked me to pray for a grandson who was “sickly” and she was concerned for him.  I asked a Champion if they knew Plista and they said, “Oh yes.  She is a very hard worker and such a sweet lady”.  Plista wanted to show me one thing before I left.  One of kitchen walls had completely collapsed during a storm so she was forced to cook with rain blowing in, etc.  I let her know that JVP would help her to get this re-built.  It reminded me that as Christians, we are charged  to show the love of Jesus to widows and orphans through taking care of them.  I couldn’t have painted a better picture of this opportunity than the one I saw with Plista.

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”

John 7:38

One of the great blessings of being a part of the Jubilee Village Project is knowing that this endeavor is not of man, but has been ordained by God.  One of the great temptations / traps of being in global community transformation work is being deceived to believe that “we are the River” and the “we are the blessing to the village”, when in fact we are just a stream joining the River of God that has been flowing in the hearts and souls and community of Kager village for centuries before us.

Oswald Chambers presents a great teaching about the River and how each of us, through the empowering of the Holy Spirit only, get to be streams of living water to those around us when we follow the course He has set before us.  Here is what Brother Chambers has to say:

“A River touches places of which its source knows nothing, and Jesus says if we have received of His fullness, however small the visible measure of our lives, out of us will flow the Rivers that will bless to the uttermost parts of the earth. We have nothing to do with the outflow – “This is the work of God that ye believe. . . .” God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he is.

A River is victoriously persistent, it overcomes all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, then it comes to an obstacle and for a while it is baulked, but it soon makes a pathway round the obstacle. Or a River will drop out of sight for miles, and presently emerge again broader and grander than ever. You can see God using some lives, but into your life an obstacle has come and you do not seem to be of any use. Keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you round the obstacle or remove it. The River of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never get your eyes on the obstacle or on the difficulty. The obstacle is a matter of indifference to the River which will flow steadily through you if you remember to keep right at the Source. Never allow anything to come between yourself and Jesus Christ, no emotion, or experience; nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.

Think of the healing and far-flung Rivers nursing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up marvellous truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is an indication of the wider power of the River He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has nourished in you mighty torrents of blessing for others.”

Below is a report from David Kayando, Village Lead Champion, on the already felt impact from the JVP Bible distribution outreach program.  Through this program, JVP provided the financial resources to purchase 400 Bibles in the villagers native language (Luo), enough Bibles for every family in the village (total cost = $2400).

This purely makes me cherish what the kind of vision the Lord has given the Jubilee Village Project, and it is only our calling to follow. From my experience and service in the Kingdom, one may have a vision and a desire to serve God in some way. The vision may not be clear right from the beginning, but the burden will continue to increase. The clarity of the vision may not be clear on what structures to use, the pattern, the way and the challenges to expect, but simply obedience to follow God’s call in our lives, becomes the pillar of security as one moves along the path, that otherwise could be unknown.

 JVP’s vision to do an holistic ministry, by considering both the physical and spiritul lives of the people, makes it distinctive in its work, and I believe the simple obedience of faith and willingness to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit is vital and a major driving force in any success seen in any sector.

Why do I talk like this?  Because the idea of Bible distribution was not an important project to undertake looking at the magnitude of the poverty index in the community, but the Lord wanted it to be done in good time.  I am so grateful to the Team Indiana Partners for accepting to follow God and allow the will of God to be done in their lives as they remain obedient to walk with God in every step.  During Mummy Linn’s first visit to Kager (Sept 2009), the desire to have a copy of a Luo Bible was shared when she met the women leaders of the village church,   She took this seriously and shared this great burden with the Team Indiana Partners, who moved more quickly than I expected to secure 50 copies of the Bible. These Bibles were then delivered and distributed when Ned, Tony, Doug and John McK visited in the next month.

This simple act of faith exposed the earnest desire of the people of Kager and beyond to begin their frequent visit to Kager Center to ask for a copy of the Bible.  I realized that, as much as many people may look rebellious when it comes to public call to accept Christ or learn from Him in meetings, inside their heart there is a longing and a thirst to know who God is and what He wants mankind to do.  From that first distribution which went to the JOY Kitchens women and Vision Centre (church) women leaders, many people have confronted me with the request to own a copy of God’s word. 

At the end of last year, the Lord increased this into the heart of brother Ned, who shared with me a deep burden to see a Bible placed in every home in Kager during the Easter Holidays in April 2010.  I knew it was the Lord who spoke, and I wanted this to be given some level of importance and urgency.  We have followed God in leading us and by doing so, the Lord has had His will alone be done in the lives of the people of Kager and beyond. 

On the 1st of June, 2010, the Lord gave us His grace as Champions and and as members of the Body of Christ of all Kager village to come together as a family and go out to share God’s Word with the people of Kager.  As is the same in the USA and other countries around the world, Kenya and Kager are also victims of denominational discrimination.  The boundaries created by different denominations is a virus that haunts the Church worldwide, and continues to fringe the freedom of fellowship among the entire body.  This is one thing the Lord would like us to be free from, as much as there could be doctrinal issues that warrants the difference, I pray the Lord should help us realize that we are one family.

 Apart from the Champions, we had four representatives from five Churches in Kager.  Each team that went out consisted member of different churches along with one or two Champions.  I am glad to report that this was a family serving their Father in heaven in unison, with love and with clarity of mind, considering each one as a brother or sister in the Lord. 

We went out and distributed so far 122 Luo Bibles in the village.  The reports from team members indicates the great enthusiasm by which they were received into the homes.  They found chance to pray with the sick, encourage the weak and lead people to Christ.  In my team we went to 21 houses and shared about the saving grace of Christ to those who have not believed, and prayed with sick and on different needs.  One family (see picture) was a man in Kager whom we found sick and on bed, but when he saw us, his face brightened and began to share with us so openly about his quest and earnest esire to come to the Lord.  He said for 12 years he served God faithfully but then he backslided, and since then, he has led a very pathetic life, with nothing good to count on.  He is a very energetic man, a hardworker, but from his own lips, he bares the brand of shame, poor, and defeated which should not the case.  His family is fragmented, and he had no hope in what the fuure has for him. 

Thank God for the opportunity we had to share God’s love with this family.  He called his available children and gave them the chance to make their own decision about Christ, of which three of them accepted the Lord along witheir Father.   Praise God the next surprise was for them was a Bible in their Luo tongue.  We both left the house with the peace of Christ and our ”mission accomplished”.   As the Bible says that heaven is moved when one sinner repents, I believe it was much more moved with four people coming to the Lord.  May the Lord help this man called Joshua Malela and his family to love Christ and learn to grow from Him.  I also ask us all to pray with him, as he has struggles in getting out of smoking both cigarrete and bang, which have become very strong addictions to him, and keeps him in bondage and for his general health.

We continue to receive requests for the Bible beyond the village, and I feel we cannot deny giving anyone God’s Word if we have it. ‘Freely you have received, freely give.”

The Lord bless,

David 

Education Global Partner, “Mummy Linn” Asbury, recently returned from her two week visit in Kager and she reports with a big smile that village transformation is readily apparent.  A new Village Greenhouse has sprung up in a formerly vacant field, FAITH (Food Always In The Home) Gardens are being planted, electricity is glowing in the largest village church and community center, and children are attending a secondary school right in the village, (as opposed to five miles away).  Lives are being transformed as JOY Kitchens women’s groups are expanding, new Microenterprise initiatives are begun and hope is restored.  Best of all, God is showing His hand as the River of His love and grace continues to flow through the lives of everyone associated with JVP.  Linn’s personal testimony is below:

“I’ve never been a particularly sentimental type, but as I start to write about my two weeks in Kager during Village Visit #5, I find the tears creeping up and my breath getting shallow.  It’s the kind of thing mere humans could never devise – ‘growing’ a new family 8000 miles from my blood relatives, and at warp speed of under eight months.  Understanding God’s purpose in this (the super-speedy relationships) and seeing His hand in the way JVP is making a difference in Kager is downright blatant…in the most wonderful, reaffirming way. All I know for sure is that somewhere in the past few months, most of my Kager family has begun calling me “Mummy Linn” and it’s a name I’m proud to be growing into.

Until this visit, I’d only been in Kager for one life-changing day last fall.  The relationships begun in that few hours grew deep and fast, leading to my being invited to return to Kager to speak at their Women’s Conference. Through the help of an anonymous benefactor, I was able to make the trip knowing that speaking at the conference would be a small part of my ‘mission.’   As it turned out, the conference itself morphed into a full-scale village revival every single night – and I had the opportunity to teach a multitude of lessons both to the women during the day and the villagers at night.  Speaking (through an interpreter) where it seemed every person was on the edge of their seat listening to me was a huge encouragement.  It’s most definitely not my skillful presentation style, but their sincere eagerness to hear the Word of God delivered in a highly relational way. They were hungry, though not for food. Many couldn’t read, yet understood, with a yearning desire to hear God’s will for their lives.  There is almost no money and very few possessions in Kager, yet the one thing they do have is one we Americans often find so difficult to attain:  Joy.  And that brings me right back to one of the great blessings in Kager:  the women of Joy Kitchen.

In the eight months between visits to Kager, the 16 women of the JOY Kitchens group has lost one member to a tragic death and added another 16 new members.  The structure of JOY Kitchens groups is a core group of 8 women who study the Bible together, put a small amount of communal savings away at each meeting, and support one another in all aspects of challenging village life.  These women are the backbone of Kager, with heavy responsibilities in frequently impossible situations.  They are the ones whose eyes light up when discussions about microenterprise opportunities are mentioned; they have initiative, energy, determination and one another. It’s no coincidence that the microenterprise initiatives currently being funded through JVP are being operated by women who belong to JOY Kitchens groups.  Each core group of 8 is expected to reach out to the other women in the community and help develop new JOY Kitchen groups, multiplying the benefits within the village. They are evangelists, pure and simple. The ‘hard goods’ involved in becoming a JOY Kitchens woman (fireless basket cooker, upesi stove, water purifier, solar lantern, smokehood/chimney, home canning) are all good things – but by far the most valuable aspect of becoming part of a JOY Kitchens women’s group is the empowerment gained when women collaborate.  And it’s even so much better because the collaboration has at its’ center a growing relationship with Christ!

Beyond the Women’s Conference, I was privileged to tour Kager’s three primary schools and the recently-opened (February God Kado Secondary School.  While it broke my heart to learn the realities of four kids sharing one book, lack of latrines (not to mention water), and a long list of horrendous impediments to education, I was still encouraged to see how many solutions are in the works through JVP.  Planting gardens at schools (to feed the kids) is beginning to be a reality; four balls (doesn’t sound like a big deal, does it?) are at the secondary school now so kids can exercise and learn healthy competition during lunch; there’s a hope that the school ‘kitchen’ floor (actually just a tin shed with a three-rock stove) will be covered in concrete to cut down the dirt.  And the parents are organizing to conduct fund drives within the village which helps ensure that education will be sustainable long after JVP moves onward.  Before long (if the fund drives are successful), there may even be electricity in the schools, a huge step forward in Kager.

Each JVP Champion in Kager (with a Global Partner counterpart here in Indy) has his/her own set of challenges and they are not insignificant!  I listened to each of the Champions discuss not only problems, but potential solutions.  The common thread which weaves back and forth across these 8000 miles is the hope we all have in Christ. This is the hope which transforms — really transforms — people and villages.  God’s will is being played out in ‘loving color’ through a group of Jubilee Village Project Champions, Partners and Supporters.  It’s a privilege to witness this transformation as one of the (distant) elders of the village of Kager.”

Mummy Linn