My Confession, Repentance and Request...

My Confession…

When I wasn’t a missionary and still living comfortably in America, I got really good at condemning missionaries for their (seemingly) constant requests for money. I wondered… why aren’t these people like Amy Carmichael or other missionaries who really trusted God! After a few years in Kenya, the only thing I continue to wonder is… are there any limits to my ignorance?

My Repentance…

Now that I live in Kenya and trying to be a missionary, I'm actually amazed at missionaries’ restraint in requesting help. I am also amazed at just how stupid one can become through judging other folks… at least until he walks a few miles in their shoes. Amy did let people know her needs and so did most all other great missionaries of the Faith.

Well, anyway I felt the need to publicly repent for my presumptuous and false conclusions… so here it is for all to see. May God and missionaries everywhere please forgive this penitent man.

Yet, what motivates missionaries (including us) to ask for your support, you might ask? Let me share a few of our experiences.

When you go from living in one of the most prosperous nations in the world, to a nation where you most people don’t earn all day  what we spend at Starbucks each morning… it’s both shocking and humiliating. Not saying there’s anything wrong with purchasing a good cup of coffee in the morning.

And… I still very much believe that God provides where He guides miraculously. Recently, our heavenly Father miraculously put seven thousand shillings (about seventy five dollars) in our water account last week and we still have no idea where that money came from! We were struggling to pay our bills so when we asked the water company how much we needed to pay they told us we owed them nothing and that we were paid up for months ahead!

Yet, reality confirms that more times than not, resources don’t miraculously appear but rather come from the hearts of our Father’s children. Either way … miraculously or through the love of the brethren it’s all from Him and does the same thing … takes care of the desperate needs.

In the face of seeing such overwhelming needs and while observing how so little can accomplish so much… it becomes difficult, if not impossible…   not to ask for help. Especially, when you know that the people you’re asking already desire to invest in God’s work.

My Request…

Right about now, you’re starting to think… all this is probably leading up to a request for money… and you would be correct. Here’s the situation and our request.

We are desperately trying to establish a primary school that will be a beacon of Light in the slums of Ponda Mali. In so doing we are presently trying to move our students to a bigger and safer location and help them with their tuition fees (see the LEARN  program).

The eighty or so students attending StoneHouse Academy have little room to play outside and no real fence to keep them safe from drunkards… or worse. We learned two weeks ago that a man, living next door to the school, was arrested for child abuse.

There is an abundance of inebriated men wandering around this area. This poor soul we found across the street from our new school plot last week. I had to check to see if he was still breathing. Sometimes... they're not.

Two days ago this one passed out just outside our school.

 On top of that, the children’s classrooms are too small and their little bathroom is a disaster. We have almost spent every cent we have getting the new plot ready but we are running out of time… and money.

We are working as hard as we did when we built the church gathering place for StoneHouse Fellowship Nakuru. And we are doing everything we possibly can do ourselves, like straightening bent nails and using used materials to build with and looking for voluntary help.

The new plot has already changed greatly and the community is beginning to notice. We were recently told about a local Matatoo (taxi driver) who was passing by the new school ground and stopped the van to tell his passengers to look out at our new plot. He said… “Look! They are making our whole neighborhood better…. And they are not even spending a lot of money!” One of our friends happened to be in the Matatoo and later related the story to us.

A young mother of four, living in one of the huts attached to our property has begun to have hope again when we told her that we would try and help her and her children out of their dire circumstances.

A young man called Wawareu who was working for us, ran off with one of our tools. We went and found his brother and told him we really liked the young man and would forgive him and let him continue to work if he returned in the morning with the tool. He did so and has now been with us for over a week. The Light and Love of Christ has already begun to shine into the darkness.

I am including some ‘before and after’ pictures so you can see the new plot’s physical progress. Please consider how you can become involved. 

Before

 After

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After

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Before

After

Remember these little guys (our students, many of which are orphans) are not only getting a Christ filled education by loving Christ filled teachers; they are also getting two hot meals a day. Our sincere thanks to those presently doing all they can to help us reach our goal. Please keep us in your prayers.

Mungu Awa Bariki Sana.  (May God bless you much)…

 Dave, Cynthia and the StoneHouse Family.