I am not certain of the current number of orphans that are
in the Log Church of Kenya orphanage. In the last list that I had of the names,
there are 21 total, but a couple or perhaps a few more have been added since
then. The children are split almost evenly between girls and boys.
In one of my blog posts that I wrote when I made a trip to
visit the church and orphanage, I spoke of the sleeping room that the girl
orphans had. This was (and still is) a small room in the pastor’s family
already small house. It is a mud house, made in waddle and daub construction.
The girls have a room that is about 10 feet by 12 feet (as near as I could
estimate), leaving the pastor’s family of four a private room of only about 10
by 8.
When I asked Joel the greatest need that they had beyond food
and clothing for the orphans, he said that the girls needed an adequate sleeping place of
their own. As it is now, they have one bunk bed, onto which as many crowd to
sleep as will fit, and the rest sleep on a cloth spread over a dirt floor.
Actually, when God unexpectedly supplied some funding for
the orphanage, a need that the people considered even greater than a sleeping
room became evident at that time. That need was being able to send the orphans
to school. That is where the money went. We are very thankful that the children
are now in school, at least of the present. When the next payments are due, we
will trust the Lord for that time.
But then another gift came to us, and we decided to begin
planning a sleeping room for the girls. The cost of a mud building with a tin
roof, four windows and a door ended up being about $1600. This would be very
adequate for a time, but the fact is that mud houses do not last long. The
climate there is not arid, and despite continual maintenance, these types of
buildings are not expected to last many years.
Pastor Joel and the other pastors want to build so that the
construction will last for many years—“Even after we are dead,” as Joel put it.
So we have decided to begin plans for a brick building. This
is the common construction of the area since wood is rather scarce. The
estimates that we have received to make a brick building is close to $15,000.
It is almost ten times the cost.
It is a work of faith for all of us. I told Joel that I am
not actively trying to raise support for the church and orphanage, and that I
myself have given all that I can until I butcher my three steers next fall. I
also am assuming that part of the money I get for the meat that I sell I will
use to again make a trip there.
I have told them that there are no monthly pledges and I am
not trying to convince anyone to do this. We must depend only upon the
blessings of God, and if we become lazy in our work, certainly the blessing of
God will also cease. I believe that they understand all of this.
Nevertheless, with the money that we were given, the men
purchased 5,500 bricks. It is the first step.
*************************
If you have been reading my blog posts, you know that in my
sermons in the Log Church (this one in Wisconsin), I have currently been doing
a series of studies on the life of Moses and the day-by-day existence of the
Israelites in the wilderness.
This study has been very instructive for me as I try to
avoid some of the attitudes that the people of that day demonstrated. However,
for this next Sunday, I am preparing a message on a life of one of the men of
that time who has much to teach us. It is great to have a positive example in
the midst of all that negativity.
And at the Log Church of Kisii, Kenya, we seek to move ahead
in faith.
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