The LIFE Challenge Magazine :Food distribution kibwezi

Kenya

Ministry NewsLetter

Kibwezi Food Distribution Joy unspeakable for Granny

Courting The Runaway girl Restored hope in Kyangiywa village

Hope made alive

Hello everyone, Welcome to a flip through Life ministry Kenya, it’s my great pleasure to thank you for your continued support throughout the years.

This newsletter gives me a platform to reflect on what the Organization has been able to achieve in the past , particularly in relation to Our KEY movements i.e. Student Led Movements; Leader Led Movements & Global Church movements as we endeavor to fulfill the Vision 2020, the focus being “Building Movements Everywhere…”

We Thank God for the major milestones we have experienced as we continue soaring high to impart and impact lives to see a changed and Transformed society, as we become Intentional in what God has called us to be as THE LIFE MINISTRY KENYA .

In recent times we have had the privilege of touching the lives of a number of poverty stricken families through a feeding program in the inner remote area of Kibwezi County, Eastern Province of Kenya with the partnership of Global Aid Network. This noble

Background Kibwezi is a town in Makueni County and is located 194 kilometres from the Kenyan capital that is N airobi. It is found in the Mikuyuni sub-location of Kikumbulyu, in the Kibwezi Division of Makueni District, Eastern Province.

The town is also the headquarters of Kibwezi Division which is one of the 15 administrative divisions in Makueni County, and is estimated to have a population 80,236 of whom 4,695 people are classified as urban dwellers. The predominant religion in the area is Christianity with the Catholic Church and AIC holding sway.

Despite their strategic importance within the geographical location, Kibwezi town and its surrounding villages have not realized strong self-sufficiency systems to sustain their own development. Because of this, strong opposing ideological and cultural forces have built up to the point of starving the region into non-development. By way of combating this, government agencies and professional development organizations have in turn worked to alter Kibwezi’s already strained and tenuous social geography by

gesture was done in November 2016 as LIFE MINISTRY carried out one of its annual missions in the area. It was a great joy and relief to behold on the lives of families who benefited from the provision of food; it brought a sparkle to their faces that expressed hope.

It’s our desire to minister holistically touching all aspects of humankind, Spiritual, Emotional, Psychological and social, believing that wholeness is achieved as we partner together.

By God’s Grace in the last 44 years of our existence we attest this far the Lord has been Ebenezer, I echo the words in Isaiah 45:21 “ I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars,” Isaiah 45:21.

Join me as we embark on this journey to see movements everywhere and Communities of Multiplying Christian disciples.

Arnold Nzova National Team Leader

testing development theories that have overall proven to be inadequately suited to the needs of the local community.

On top of this, famine experienced over the past years have become a cyclical problem througout Makueni District, partly because little has been done to improve water harvesting in the chronically dry region, let alone to develop improved and sustainable use of the area’s rivers. This has let the people to depending more on relief food as rain is infrequent, sometimes delaying for as much as five years. As rivers dry up, the trek to a source of water can stretch to something between 5 and 7 kilometres.

Into this arena, Life Ministry Kenya in partnership with GAIN, saw the need to take the gospel to Kibwezi so as to bless a number of needy

families that were living in abject poverty. The

mission turned out to be a success as we brought needed to relief by addressing their physical needs while also catering to their spiritual hunger. Bringing a gleam of hope to the faces of the residents, below is a documentation of the problems we faced along with the solutions that addressed them, plus a narrative of some of the encounters experienced by the group.

Intial challenges The Kibwezi Mission took place between 15th and 20th of November, 2016 with a team of 18 men and 4 ladies for a total of 22 missionaries.

The journey was rocked with challenges from the beginning, but we saw it through thanks to the protection of the Lord our God. On our day of departure we left Nairobi at 3:00pm, having had to stop along the way to buy foodstuff for the mission. The journey was long and scary as it rained heavily along the way. Adding to the worry were the heavy trucks carrying cargo along Mombasa Road, something that the average motorist worries about on a normal day. With consistent prayer and deep faith, we made it through. However just before reaching the destination at around midnight of the same day, one of our cars got stuck in the mud. It was both frightening and amazing because the area we were visiting had not seen rain for a year, but with our arrival it seemed to now be raining on a daily basis.

Thankfully with the combined effort of the men we were able to get the car out of the mud after 30 minutes of steering and pushing.

Hope made alive One of our door to door activities took place in a small village known as Kevada, which is famously associated with being a witchcraft stronghold.

The reception we received from the villagers was very cold. As we approached the area from the dusty terrain with the other missionaries, you could sense the unusual quietness, especially considering that kids were on holiday. There was little appearance of life save for a few kids raising an alarm because of the new visitors driving into their village. However, there were some villagers who failed to be impressed by a mere vehicle; they went on their business in the shamba, business as usual.

In our quest to identify a desperate case, we were directed to one home by one of the locals accompanying us by the name Josephine, She gave us a brief history of the lady we were to visit whom we found in the shopping centre searching something for her 2 year old baby, the needy lady went by the name Muthoki, upon meeting her, you could just read it on her face she has been living a life of struggle, her face was sunken, bones protruded from every part of her body, she wore a loose hanging dress that depicted of her situation. Arriving to her small single house built for her by neighbours, made of bricks, gathered around her were 7 small children varying between the ages of 2 to those in teenage hood.

Out of curiosity our team asked concerning the father to the children, the neighbour Josephine who had directed us, shared that the children are of different men and she doesn’t have a husband but men take advantage of her situation and illiteracy, sleep with her and leave her some small amount of money for the day to feed her children as she has no source of income. We entered

Soon after that we finally arrived at the home of Bishop Mbithi,a friend to the ministry. We were received warmly and had a late supper.

After a prayer of thanksgiving we all moved to our respective places of residence: ladies in the bishop’s house, and men at Peter Muli’s place one of the staff member of Life Ministry.

On the mission grounds the next day we came to learn that our first bit of opposition arose from the notion held by a few people that we were ‘the illuminati’ come on a mission to blind them. It was said by the villagers and the local

pastor that a recent group of similar do-gooders had visited the area under the guise of wanting to introduce to residents a quick way of acquiring wealth. However with the help of 21 locals from the village together with the host pastor Maingi of New Life Restoration Centre, we were gradually able to bypass the skeptics and ably identify the families that were in urgent need of food and supplies. The food was thus distributed accordingly through the centres in Kyanginywa, Kevanda, Masaku Ndogo ,Salama, and Kasemeini.

The mission was also met with strong resistance in some cases such as with our first respondent her house which speaks volume of the severity of poverty in her family, the room is dusty, meaning the surface is the soil, no seats only two make shifts of wooden beds not exactly how a normal bed looks like with no mattress save a few tattered pieces of cloths and blankets, the condition was so sad that it grieved our hearts, with situations like that leave you speechless having not achieved as much as you would want to offer and that leaves us with a burden to consider doing much more. Muthoki’s 2 year old son clutches on to his mother eating on a snack that seems to be the only meal for him for the day not knowing what awaits later. We gave Muthoki a box full of rice meal provided by GAIN, with a bag of beans. It was joy unspeakable for her as she fum-

who was an elderly lady in her late 70s. She refused to give us audience and defensively insisted that she was already born again. One of the missioners Jane asked to make a prayer for her or other needs she may have been having, but all that fell on deaf ears she denied us the opportunity and finally we had to leave her compound. The local missionary accompanying us gave us a brief history of the area, that the first missionaries to come there were the Catholics thus the religion has bound and deceived many as even small kids were unwilling to listen to us. On the other hand, teenagers appeared to be more receptive to receiving our gospel.

Most of the homes we went to bluntly resisted us, especially if they were elderly women. One went so far as to say in Swahili “Huku hatutaki maombi” translated to “Here we don’t need prayers”.

Another considerable challenge came with the language barrier. The Kibwezi native language is Kamba and the literacy level of the community is very low. However once more with the help of kind locals,helping in interpretation, the problem was bypassed and communication on a deep level was achieved. bled the words, “Ahsanteni sana na Mungu awabariki”, which translated is, “Thank you so much and God bless you”). We thanked God as hope and brightness lit the face of Muthoki.

When asked about her faith, she said she believes in God, and we preached the gospel of salvation as the local pastor Maingi encouraged her to take her kids to Sunday school as she attends service too. For the gesture of food supply given to her she said she will commit herself to attend church service, we agreed that the Pastor on the ground will be following up with her family and see how she can be assisted more. We bless God for the support for the donation of food given to us to bring and spread the love of God through word and deeds.

Joy unspeakable for Granny In the sparsely region of Kasiemeni village, in the quietness of the home with no close neighbours lay a house that seemed deserted, but as we veered through the home, sat an old grandma, with the company of three little boys almost age mates between 5 and 6 years, and a youthful man besides. They were all warming themselves in the fireplace after the heavy downpour of rain which was a great miracle in the whole of that area as it hadn’t rained the whole of the year 2016, so that was really something to be thankful to God for. The small family was sharing late lunch which was a mixture of boiled maize and beans; the little boys seemed to have been enjoying themselves and nothing could stop them even in the presence of visitors.

One could only tell they must have not had anything in days.

Pastor Maingi the local pastor of the area had identified the lady as one who was helpless in the context that she had no one to care for her, she had been left with 3 little boys who are orphans to care for, at her age approximately from 80 years, she didn’t have the ability to even fetch water, the boys are the ones assisting her to do so, bearing that they had too go afar off in search of the water a km away. It was such a joy for her when she saw us off load the 2 cartons of rice to her, she rejoiced and expressed her gratitude knowing that for the next few weeks or month she wont worry where the next meal will come from, the burden it carries on her shoulder of the 3 little boys who are under her care. The young man who is her son built her the

Pauline Ndunde is a lady aged 26 years of age, orphaned with two kids to feed, a girl and a boy, the girl who is physically challenged can’t walk, having born in that state. while the other child had visited the grandmother.The girl is aged 3years, the boy 4 years the story of Pauline is as a sad one, her suffering from a disorder, epilepsy with no one in the house with her she’s prone to risks of life but the Lord has been with her. She resides in a village known as Kyangiywa, which is bigger than the other village mentioned earlier.

We met her on the road, in the company of other women, the Pastor told her we were her visitors, and she rushed back to the house, picked her son from the neighbour’s house and directs her to where she stayed All this happens in the midst of heavy downpour but we aren’t stopped buy the rain either. As we get to know Pauline, in her single room depicting of the dire state she leaves in, a lady comes in, she introduces herself as the leader of the nyumba kumi intiative’, introduced by the government in Kenya. She narrates of how they have helped Pauline by building a house for her, in similar cases supporting her. We got to learn that men take advantage of her situation, to prostitute with her, this leaves her helpless. In such incidences she gets little money, or none.

To the fact that she has no source of income.

In that process a no. Of other women joined us curious to know what was happening and they thanked us for having visited Pauline.

Her little baby clings on to her, as she feeds happily on a chapatti one of the team members had carried, as we give Pauline the box of food rice meal two boxes, and a bag of beans, she lights up

house, as the one she was living in just next had fallen off the bricks and the thatched roof had fallen of on one side.

We got to learn the son gets manual work which he contributes to their survival.

We got to share the love of Christ with her and the Pastor encouraged her to attend church so that the kids could also grow in Sunday school. We prayed with the family, as we left, the grandmother expressed her joy and gratitude that God had remembered her.

her face and countenance, the baby holds closely the bag of rice, to her chest, how lovely it was to see the baby responding to the gesture understanding in a way what has happened, that brought such joy to us, as a life was touched. The pastor encouraged her to return back to church as she had stopped

Three grannies’ joy In the village of Kevanda in 3 different homes, we meet 2 grandmothers, in their 80s who had no one to feed them, they lived by themselves, it was joy unspeakable for them and thanked us for the wonderful gesture, we blessed them each with a box of rice meal and beans.

They received with such joy. In the same area the mzee beneficiary John who had volunteered to take us through, took us to another home of a friend of his, he narrated to us that the old man we are going to see, just lies in bed, he doesn’t do anything, but on arrival we noticed the house we really well built unlike others that you could tell even before alerted it’s a poor home, at this time the rains were heavy but we braved through the weather, met with the old man, a grandfather, we blessed him with a few bags of rice meal as he got some little support he receives .Pastor Maingi, prayed with him

though she said she was attending the Catholic Church. Before we left passed through a hardware shop and bought a mattress for her as the one she had was worn out. She received it with gladness. We thank God for the opportunity to be a blessing and to GAIN who made it possible for us to minister wholesomely to the lives of Kibwezi people.

Restored hope The last home we visited was in Kyangiywa village, it was a family of 10 children who were orphaned but they lived in different places. As the Pastor shared with us, he knew the family as they came to church just a few. The time he arrived in that village to settle, he found them with no parents that they had passed away in strange circumstances. The elder brother whose name is Mutisya, is not of help at all as he’s bound to alcohol, any money he gets he spends it on local brew to the state that he doesn’t recognise himself, having a wife and 3 small kids, the wife is the one who bears the burden of raising and feeding the family. The young man who is a brother to Mutisya is much sober, 14 years old just completed his primary education his name is James Musyoka, he tells us his family comprise of 6 girls, 4 boys. He has his separate house away from his brother. We handed him the box of rice as he stays alone, and relies help from his other siblings who have already moved out. It was a joy for him, appreciated as the Pastor encouraged him to attend church, we prayed together with the family.

We were able to Reach 10 homes in total distributing the rice meal boxes and beans. We also blessed 3 local individuals with 3 bags of rice meal each

as they had helped us to reach out to the neediest families. On the same note the distribution of food was done as people went to the door to door meetings and crusades, though the reception was the same, the villagers thinking that we are illuminate, we got to learn that a group of people had come into their villages, assuring them they will show them how to get wealthy quickly, thus the word spread from far and wide. In one case a lady received the rice meal in the crusade, the husband was near, he got very angry commanded her to return back the food but it was unfortunate that the lady was in need but because of the husbands threat she returned. One of the pastors, Pastor Fred Abok, spoke to them.

In conclusion, the challenges we faced were the resistance we found among the people and bad attitude irrespective of the help that was being extended to them to a point where the other locals were saying among themselves if it were them received, that was the irony of the whole scenario, in the situation whereby its between a spouse, the wife needs help but the husband is against it due to the toxic belief that has blindened the minds of many, with the notion that devilish people were in the village. We pray that God will change the mindset of the people.

We thank God that the whole exercise was very successful, with the assistance of the three local people, who are known to them helped the team achieve good reception in other different parts in the village. It was put in mind that, incase of another exercise of food distribution, there shall be involvement of the local chief area and publicizing of the distribution so as to have the cooperation of the people in the locality.

We appreciate the support received form Gain, as we were able to touch the lives of many in word and deed, all to the Glory of God.

The Runaway This was the pain of one young girl in her teenage years, Faith Mwikali is her name. We got to meet her in one of the days we went for door to door ministry. She was in the company of a neighbour who didn’t give us his attention but left upon our arrival. The neighbour was an elder man in his 40s, he was busy mending his bicycle which seemed to be very precious to him. The girl gave us audience despite her condition, being physically challenged, as she was on a wheel chair, basking under the sun.

We got to learn that she was born with that condition; the mother died some years back, 7 years, when still at a tender age, and now she lived with her dad and sister who is younger than her. The amazing thing she was eloquent, as she had studied up to standard 8 2years ago but she couldn’t be able to proceed due to lack of finances though she still has a dream to continue her studies in high school.

Her sister had just completed her KCPE with the hopes that she would be able to secure a spot in a high school as their father had no permanent job but tried out on casual labour in different places.

Upon sharing the 4 spiritual laws, Faith accepted Christ as her personal saviour, and we made a prayer for her as we trusted and had faith God will heal and change her situation, we promised to visit her the following day as we did the food distribution.

The following day being on Saturday after we had our morning devotion and breakfast, we set out with our team of four that was specifically assigned for the food distribution, in the company of the local pastor to visit Faiths home first, but to our surprise we met her on the road, as our car stopped we called her but she could not even turn back, pushing herself on the wheelchair speedily which startled us, finding it very strange...our Faith ran away from us but we couldn’t comprehend why she acted that way as previously we had communicated very well without her resisting. As we stood beside the road trying to figure out why one can do that, the Pastor explained to us that the people in that area of Kevanda remains to be a witchcraft stronghold and they believe that people who comes with cars are devils from the illuminati, it was such a paradox as the notion witches are not satanic. The weirdest of it is that there were people mashetani (devils), farming in their shambas but they took not even the slightest notice of us because of the notion devil worshippers have come, thus they would rather stay in their poverty than receive help, as they would close up their homes and when we begin moving out, you see people coming out of their homes, very strange! The whole area their souls, mind have been captured and bound by their belief system which is a piety.

Before we left that vicinity we made a prayer that

we would not be resisted as we may touch the lives of these people. As we veered through the dusty road to the northern part of the Kevanda village, to another needy home where one of our team members had located, we saw the young girl Faith fading of to another house and in my heart i was determined to reach out to her, as the rest of the team members agreed. As we were waiting for the other beneficiary of the foodstuff as we didn’t find him in the house but met the wife who wasn’t very good to us, when we explained we want to bless the family with food, she said they don’t need and brushed us off, the same incident of the notion, we are devil worshippers, good enough she sent some kids to go call the husband.

In that instance we headed to the house where Faith had entered, we found her outside in the company of the owner of the home who was very welcoming, with a number of young kids in the compound. We exchanged greetings and told the man whose name is Musyoki the reason why we were there, reaching out for Faith, he opened up to tell us that she told him the whole story why she was running away from us, that she couldn’t receive the food since her father was not in neither her sister. Musyoki, who seemed to be well to do, as he mentioned to us that Faith’s father had bought some sukuma wiki (kale) from them, which we found her cutting.

Musyoki was open minded, he gave us an incident of other missioners from our team who had passed

Global Aid Network GAIN is a worldwide humanitarian relief and develby his house the previous day, they had goodies like biscuits from the kids, interestingly one of his friends who was with them asked the kids to throw the biscuits away but him he told his kids to eat for he is not afraid, knew we weren’t devil worshippers as presumed by the other locals.

Thus he accepted the food we had for the family of Faith, he told us they were truly needy and the foods will be a great blessing for them. We asked if Faiths father will cause trouble, he told us, he’s a friend to him, and Faith was no longer afraid and she gladly received the food, a box of rice meal.

Gave them the directions on how to cook and we prayed together. We thanked God for the victory He gave us.

Our other friend whom we were waiting for, the mzee finally came, we had first thought he had changed his mind too as it had been mentioned to him by the person who was Maina that he would come to bless him with food. This man was jovial, he took us to his house, which seemed impassable when heavy rains pour, but still managed to get through, unlike his wife who had ignored us, this man in his early 60s had small kids in his house, John appreciated us with his face lighting with a smile of the box of rice and beans, he later became very helpful as he volunteered to take us round the village identifying the desperate needy homes that needed help. It was a great blessing, as the exercise was very successful.

opment organization dedicated to bringing hope and tangible help to the poor and the suffering.

It’s mission is to demonstrate the love of God, in word and deed, to hurting and needy people around the world through relief and development projects.

MINISTRY PROFILE About Us The LIFE Ministry Kenya is an inter-denominational non-profit Christian Organization (NGO) that has been serving the Kenyan Church since 1973, helping to fulfill the Great Commission of our LORD Jesus Christ among students in high schools and University Campuses, professionals and executives in the market place and mobilizing churches and other partnering organizations.

Vision Building spiritual movements in every county in Kenya and beyond … so that everyone knows someone who truly follows Jesus Christ.

This news letter is periodically published by the LIFE Ministry Kenya Partners Relations Department

Executive Producer : Arnold Nzova Missions Cordinator : Oscar Omiti Food Distribution Maina Mukenga Cordinator : Chief Editor : Jane Kioi Design and layout : Benson Njagi Photography : Benson Njagi

Purpose To help fulfill the Great Commission in Kenya and beyond.

Mission Win, Build and Send Christ-Centered multiplying disciples

The LIFE Ministry Kenya LIFE Ministry Centre (Next to Kilimani Police Station) Jabavu Road, off Rose Avenue

Values Faith Growth Fruitfulness

Tel: +254-020-2723065/27231 53.

Fax: +254-020-2710329 Cell: 0722 202511

Cultural Perspective In addition to sharing the above common purpose, vision, mission and core values as part of the global CCCI (Campus Crusade For Christ International) ministry, we have aligned ourselves with commonly agreed culture changes namely

• Kingdom Perspective

• Shared Leadership

• Value Driven

• Local Ownership

• Learning Environment

P.O Box 62500, City Square 00200-Nairobi Kenya.

www.lmkenya.org Email: info@lmkenya.org, Follow us on social media Face book : Life Ministry Kenya Twitter @lmkenya

“Until EVERYONE knows SOMEONE Who Truly Follows CHRIST.....”

The LIFE Ministry Kenya LIFE Ministry Centre (Next to Kilimani Police Station) Jabavu Road, off Rose Avenue Phone : +254-020-2723065/27231 53, Cell: 0722 202511 Web: www.lmkenya.org Email: info@lmkenya.org, social media Face book : Life Ministry Kenya Twitter @lmkenya