Here is an email that I recently sent to Pastor Joel and the
leadership of the church and orphanage in Kisii. Please read it and pray along
with us about what we are considering.
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Dear Pastor Joel and leadership,
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus. I have some
significant things to write about and for your consideration and prayer. These
are good things, and we praise God for what he is doing and will do.
As we look ahead for the future years of the orphanage, we
know that it is always in God’s hands and that we can only do what is given for
today. However, I know that we agree when we say that we need to do what we can
to prepare for future years. We need to do what we can now, so that the work of
the orphanage can continue into the future years.
With that in mind, perhaps the time has come when we begin
to think and to pray about beginning the next phase of the work in Kisii.
You know from my last visit that I think that beginning a
hydroponic garden would be beneficial, since it would help in providing
vegetables for the orphanage, besides being a source of learning for the
children. They could be the ones in charge of caring for it and could learn
some important ways of securing food with little space to grow.
I know that there are problems with beginning this, the
source of water being one of the major ones. As we were talking when I was
there, having a tank that could be filled with a water truck, and then using
the water at least three times. It could be used for washing, then for the
garden, and lastly used for flushing the toilets. If we have to pay for the
water, we need to get all of the use out of it that we can.
Of course it would be easier to have a borehole, and that
would be good if the Lord supplied. However, the disadvantage of having easy
water access is that we tend to become wasteful. I think that beginning with a
tank may even be preferable, since it would teach us all about wise water
usage.
Another difficulty with a garden of this type is that it
would require someone who had good knowledge on how to set it up. It also
requires many different types of piping and some pumps, as well as other
things. It would be a huge undertaking to do it in a big scale, but I think it
would be good to begin with a small garden, and in that way we all could learn
how to make it work on a small scale before trying anything extensive.
But a garden is only one idea and one of the needs of the
orphanage. We had also talked about beginning a school, which of course would
require an additional building. I do not know if we have the space for that,
but you can advise. I think when we built the dormitory, it was built strong
enough to provide for a second level, if that need should ever arise. It is a
big expense, but it is something that we should talk about.
The chief mentioned a medical clinic. This is something that
could benefit the entire village but seems to me like it would be too large of
an undertaking for the present. However, you know the situation, including who
we could get to staff it.
There are so many things to consider, and that is why I
would like the leadership to pray and discuss this at length. We do not know
what God will do in the future, but perhaps now is the time to begin to move
ahead in faith.
It is very important that whatever we end up beginning, it
is done in a manner that is sustainable. In my experiences in several countries
of the world, I have seen too many projects that have been begun by well-meaning
people but which had, after a few years, been simply abandoned or brought to ruin.
We cannot allow this to happen. We are handling the Lord’s money given to us by
people of good faith. We are stewards, and it is required of a steward that
they be found trustworthy (1 Corinthians 4:2).
It is a lot to consider in this email, but kindly read
through it slowly as a group and pray about each possibility. Perhaps there are
others that I have not mentioned.
No doubt you are wondering how much money do we have to work
with? The answer is “I don’t know.” It is not a huge amount and would not be
enough to do any of these projects completely, but as we did with the
dormitory, we first bought the bricks. That is all that we had to begin. The
bricks sat in a pile for some months until we had enough money to begin
construction. Then at each step, as God supplied the funds, He allowed us to
complete a very nice dormitory.
It will be the same with this.
God’s blessings to you as you begin to consider these things
with prayer and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Love and Prayers, Pastor Don
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