Disaster

Dear friends and family,

As you know, many of our dear African brothers and sisters have been suffering greatly. If you recall, the United Nations declared a famine in Kenya in March of this year due to a serious drought. We wanted to help our friends on the coast, the hardest hit area, and you were ever so generous in helping with funds to purchase food.

Nearly three to four months ago, we sent you a message encouraging you to rejoice with us, the rains had begun. After such a long dry period, the people were planting again and looking forward to a bountiful harvest. Little did we know then that the rains would not stop, and would in fact, increase drastically.

The picture you see is the front page headlines from November 24th’s edition of The Standard. It is a disaster. Flooding has caused wide-spread panic, fear and even death across much of East Africa and especially Kenya. I’m not sure you can read it, but the third paragraph reads, “In the Coast Province alone, the victims are estimated at 200,000 – all marooned in ever surging waters.” The UN is again saying that help is urgently needed in Kenya. They are conducting emergency airlifts into regions of the coast because roads are swept and bridges destroyed.

And yes, we have many friends who are affected by the floods. Their homes are being washed away (remember, they are nothing more than dried mud huts) and hopes of a bountiful harvest have been dashed.

At this time, we would simply ask you to pray. This is traditionally the time of the year when we all give thanks for what we have been blessed with. It is a time of joy, good-cheer, and gift-giving – a time to share with family.

Please pause and pray for your African brothers and sisters who continue to suffer. Many will celebrate Christmas with no home. Many will miss the joy of giving and receiving as we know it. Others still will ring in the new year not with shouts of joy, but with tears of pain for lost family members.

Pray.

Holidays 2006

As is tradition with many families, we too enjoy putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving!

And then again, like so many, we take a break for leftover… pizza?

Happy Holidays from the Swifts

Victories

Hello again friends and family, brothers and sisters!

October 22 is a special day for us for two big reasons. On this day in 1997, our second daughter, Autumn Grace, was born. For that reason, it will always be a special day, full of wonderful memories.

The other reason is because on October 22, 1998, we landed in Kenya to begin our lives and ministry in Africa. And oh what an adventure that has been, full of joy and sadness, struggles and accomplishments, victories and defeats.

As of today, our beautiful daughter turns 9 years old (and I'm considering moving deeper into the jungle on account of my beautiful girls!) and we enter our ninth year of ministry in Africa. It’s incredible to think that we have now completed a full eight years and are beginning our ninth. My how time flies. I tend to be nostalgic and sentimental (this is Jaime) and I could write all day long about this land and its wonderful people. Since I was 17 years old, I have dreamed of living and ministering among the African people – that is 20 years ago for those of you who don’t know how old I am! But let me not do that here and now. I want to talk with you some about those victories, victories that you have made possible through your love, kindness, generosity and prayers.

Within months after our arrival, we noticed the tremendous need to minister to young people. On any given Sunday fellowship, there would be 10-12 adults and 30-40 young people and children. And yet, to our amazement, there was no ministry targeting the largest percentage of the population! (We would later realize through research, that 71% of the African continent is under the age of 25!) And so began in 1999, our efforts at youth ministry among the Mijikenda. We called it, Vijana a Masihi or in English, Youth for Christ (we were really creative!).

And I am happy to report to you that Vijana a Masihi is alive and well even today. Here are some excerpts from a report sent to me just a few weeks ago by Fredrick Kaingu in an area known as Kaloleni:
“Once again Vijana a Masihi-Kaloleni had a very successful meeting. It was held at Kizurini Primary School from the 8th-11th of August. It was a nice meeting which lasted for three days. We had a good number of 25 youth in attendance, aged 15 and above. The youth had a nice time and enjoyed lessons focused on spirituality. The next meeting will be from the 5th-8th of December. This time we hope our building to be ready… we are in the process of planning a fundraiser to help with the costs of our seminars.”

Isn’t this wonderful? I think that what is so exciting to me is that we have done what we first set out to do – replicate ourselves. It really was our goal to “work ourselves out of a job” and as much as I still want to be there with Fredrick, I know he’ll do so much better without me. He’ll carry this ministry far beyond our wildest dreams and reach young people we could never have touched.

I want you to know now, I love Fredrick. This guy has weathered so many struggles and yet remained faithful. (I’m having trouble seeing the computer screen as I write, just thinking about my friend.) His family is not Christian and yet he remains faithful even when they question him. When his father fell some 50-60 feet from a coconut tree (he was “tapping” the tree for the local palm wine brew), Fredrick didn’t ask, “why God”. When his fiancée was insisting on spending literally thousands of dollars on a wedding he knew he couldn’t afford, he wouldn’t borrow and go deep into debt “because it isn’t right Jaime.” Instead, he insisted on a simple, affordable wedding that he could afford. His fiancée left him for that reason. “It was best this way Jaime. I learned her heart wasn’t in the right place.” When all of his chickens died unexpectedly – his sole source of income – he didn’t blame God or come begging for more. When I give him and the youth money to help with whatever, he has proven extremely trustworthy and honest, accounting for every last cent – and doesn’t even take anything for himself despite the fact he lives in a TINY 8x8 mud hut with a leaky roof!

Fredrick Kaingu from Kaloleni. He is the reason we came. Fredrick’s story is most definitely one of our greatest victories. We sponsored him through Bible school, served side-by-side with him for many years, encouraged him through some tough times, and now we feel confident that he is more than able to continue the good work that was started through us. He is my friend, he is my brother and I look forward to many more years of service with Fredrick.

Please remember Fredrick in your prayers. Remember the youth he is working with too. And pray about the future. We cannot leave a dear brother like him alone, we must continue to partner with him and encourage him. I believe God has provided us with an opportunity to do just that through INTERCEDE. We can and will continue to partner with good friends like Fredrick as now he takes the gospel to the Giryama.

Home

Hello to all of our friends and family! We are home!

It is always good to spend some time with family and friends in the US and it was good to see you. This trip was a bit special, so we didn’t get to spend lots of time with everyone, neither did we get to see all of you. But it was a good visit, albeit quick.

Still, it is good to be home. It is good to sleep in our own bed and to unpack our suitcases. Well, almost. Seven of our bags didn't make it. Since last week, we've received only two, so five are still floating around out there somewhere. What's worse, British Airways can't tell us where they are! What kind of security is that??!!

Our girls are happy and haven’t stopped running, playing and riding bicycles since we got out of the taxi! But jet lag was bound to catch up to us all…




We love and appreciate each of you. More soon! (Once we all wake up!)

God's Timing

Hello friends and family! Below is a brief report from our dear friends and co-workers on the coast. Luganje Nyale, Mike Karabu and John Kenga are coordinating the food relief efforts among various Giryama families who are in need. We are so very thankful for their efforts and willingness to assist us and God's people. This is an excerpt from them along with photos of some of the families...

“God’s timing is perfect.” This is one of the many thanksgivings of the few recipients of the food aid from Swift African Ministries. Many of these recipients came from poverty stricken families. One need not ask what these people need, a glance of them will tell you their suffering has been with them for some time. Apart from the rags on their bodies, the small thatched and mud houses will surely tell you more. But babies with wrinkled faces will make you shed tears. The other thing which will come into your mind is how and to what extent you can help because almost everything needed urgent intervention and people ready to stretch a helping hand. This is the actual situation in Kaloleni, Kilifi and Malindi area.

Mama Nyevu Mwanyule is a widow caring for 9 children most of them in Primary School. Her husband died five years ago from AIDS and being HIV positive, she lives a life of being constantly sick. Her second born daughter has a baby. They live by baking local bread to sell at the nearby market for the daily meal. They were very happy to have received this aid and prayed for continuous donation. May God bless you all.

Church of Christ Primary School was taken as a family to be assisted in the food aid. It is handling children from poor families who cannot afford quality education in the public or private primary schools. The Chairman of the school, Mr. Karani Baya (on the right) wishes to provide good education for these families. It has a total number of 120 children, from Kindergarten to class 2 (second grade). The dreams for the Church members are to provide good classrooms with facilities for better education. We do really pray for all those who donated and pray for more donations in aid of these children. God Bless you all.

Jaw Breaker!

This is a shot of Jaime just hours after his fateful collision with a charging rhino! (or something like that!) He’s lucky to have gotten away with nothing more than a broken jaw!

Despite the all the pain, swelling and stitches, Jaime is doing fine today. The doctors in Mombasa actually did a very poor job of diagnosing the injury. Fortunately for us, Jaime asked his dentist to check things out 2 weeks after the injury because his teeth were still not fitting together properly. The dentist recommended a facial surgeon who, after a head CT Scan, saw that the jaw was severely broken in two pieces.

Last Wednesday, the 5th of July, he underwent 6 hours of surgery to put things back in place. Today a week later, he’s doing much better, with minimal swelling and almost no pain. His jaw is and will be, wired shut for two full weeks. (Lord willing, the wires will be removed on the 19th and all will be well.)

Thanks for all your emails and continued prayers!

Memaw

My grandmother died a few days ago. My mom’s mom passed away in East Texas. She just had a birthday a matter of days before her death; she was in her mid-80s. Her funeral is tomorrow (Monday) in Hobbs, NM.

Just hours after I heard, I called my mom and spoke to her for quite some time. She was doing ok, but it never is an easy thing. And for me, it isn’t easy being 10,000 miles away from family at a time like this. I wish I could be there to hug my mom.

Within minutes after calling my mom, I called my granddad (pawpaw is what we call him). He couldn’t even speak to me the first few moments of the call. I could hear clearly through the receiver how tough a time he was having. His wife of 65 years was gone. Can you imagine how incredible it must be to live with someone for 65 years and then in the twinkle of an eye, they’re gone? I can’t. I wish I could be there to hug my pawpaw.

I told them both the same thing though: just think of memaw (that is what we called her. She always called me “Oscar” if I called her grandma!). Think of memaw right now. As difficult as this may be for those of us still here on this planet, she is laughing and running around in heaven, giddy like a young girl again. Yes, she is in heaven, of that I have no doubt. For her, there is no more pain, no more loss of memory (she was suffering from Alzheimer’s), no more sadness. She is just beginning, a new beginning; one that will last forevermore.

I will miss her, but I’m happy to have had lots of good time with her. Before we moved to Africa, I used to relish her incredible sandwiches every Monday (I love Fritos with a crispy lettuce sandwich!). For nearly eight years, I had the privilege to work near memaw and pawpaw and would stop in for lunch every chance I got. Every Monday, I ate lunch with them and if I stayed long enough, I even got a bowl of beans and cornbread for dinner (Mondays were always bean day at memaw’s!). I spoke to her a couple of months ago on the phone. I'm not sure she knew who I was, but I like to think she did.

I could go on and on and on with my memories. I could sit here and type out a long page expressing how deeply she will be missed by me and my family. I could tell you how incredibly difficult it is NOT to be there now with my family to comfort those who are still living. But I would rather think about memaw right now. I’d rather think about how much fun she must be having and the smile that I know is on her face.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.” Memaw, enjoy your crown and I’ll see you again soon.

jaime (oscar)

25 cents for your green grass?

Dear friends, please to continue to pray earnestly for our Mijikenda brothers and sisters.

I spoke to the coordinators of our food relief just today. They were meeting to discuss food distribution in Kilifi District this week. The testimonies they gave me tore at my heart, so much so that I had to share them with you.

Stephen Thethe from an area known as Mihongohi Chenda (the place of nine poles) says that the families in his area are suffering greatly. The church there sponsors a preschool for children from the nearby villages. The preschool recently asked parents to give 20 Kenyan Shillings per week (about 25 American cents) to feed their children while at school. To date, not one single parent has been able to come up with that amount of money.

And if that doesn’t pull at your heart strings enough, Luganje Nyale from Kaloleni area gave an equally disturbing report. He says that the rains have brought some relief. Now that the rains have helped green the grass, many families have begun eating grass to relieve the hunger.

Please continue praying for these people. And if you have an extra few dollars, please consider sending it to help feed a few desperate people on the coast of Kenya.

Food Relief

Many of you have heard about the struggles our brothers and sisters in Kenya have been living with recently. Severe drought and high temperatures throughout much of 2005 and early 2006 caused many problems for the Mijikenda people.

Earlier this year, as we wrote of these struggles in our newsletters, some of you responded, asking how you could help. So we put together a small proposal, asking for $2000 per month to assist with food relief among our Mijikenda friends. We are so very thankful for the abundance God has provided for us, through you and your generosity. Thus far, we have received almost three times the amount we asked for! Thank you!

This is a 6-month commitment, so we hope and pray that the Lord will continue to bless us. We do not want to let up or lose steam as the months come and go. The more money donated, the more hungry families will be assisted. So please, if the Spirit is encouraging you to give, then please contact us on where to send your donation.

In the picture you’ll see Jaime with four of the Mijikenda leaders who will be coordinating the food relief. From left to right is Luganje Nyale from Kaloleni, Mike Karabu from Malindi, Stephen Thethe from Malindi and John Kenga from Kilifi. These men are the ones who will be coordinating, advising and overseeing all distribution of food assistance among various families on the coast. What’s more, they have exempted themselves and their entire families from receiving any assistance, despite the fact that the drought seriously affected them as well.

Please continue to pray for all the Mijikenda people as well as our distribution efforts. The rains have begun, but the harvest is still several months away and many of the people have no seed to plant. Pray too for these men. It is their responsibility to determine the areas of greatest need, identify specific families in those areas, and then distribute food in the best way possible. Pray for wisdom and guidance and for the opportunity to share the gospel with those who may receive assistance, but do not yet know our Savior.

Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!
May God bless you all richly as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.


Hannah and Autumn had an Easter play at school last Thursday. Can you spot them in the crowd of brightly-colored kids?

A note from Duncan

Below is an email that Duncan Ziro sent to us just today (April 8th). He is the young Giryama man that many of you are helping to attend Daystar Christian University. Please pray for him as he begins exams soon and closes out another school year.

Hi dear friends

I trust that you are all full of health, joy and love.

By God’s grace through your support, I am continuing with my studies at Daystar University. I want to inform you that I very much appreciate your prayers and financial support. I pray God to bless you each day of your lives as you minister to the lives of many in the world.

I am about to start my end of semester exams which will end in May 12th. I trust God to lead me to the end of this semester and throughout my study period in Daystar.

God bless you and keep you my dear friends.

With much appreciation
Duncan Ziro Wanje

Update on Duncan Ziro

Our good friend Duncan is doing great this semester at Daystar Christian University. We are thrilled to see him doing so well – the first Giryama we know to have the chance for a university education! It’s all because of people like you – Thatcher, Brandt, Conder, Garner, Talley, Bookout, Lipscomb, the ladies at New Braunfels, and others – that Duncan has this opportunity. Thank you!

Duncan is working on a double major, Bible and Community Development. This semester, he is enrolled in 15 hours. His classes include Romans, Intro to Economics, Modern Africa, History of Christianity and Rural Appropriate Technology. He continues to perform really well too. His GPA for the Fall 2005 semester was 3.45! That’s incredible for anyone, much less a young man who grew up in a mud hut!

Duncan recently sent us an email. Here are some excerpts from his note:

Hi bro!
I am fine in the Lord and my hope and prayer is that you and your family are fine too. Please pass my greetings to mucheo na anao [your wife and children].

Naenderera na mashomo tototo [I’m doing well with my studies]. I remain with 31 credit hours before I graduate. This is like two semesters.

I want to thank you very much brother for your support and for just being a friend. I also want to thank all brothers and sisters who have committed themselves to see that I do my bachelors. If it were not for such friends God have touched, I would be at Bore [his home village] I don’t know doing what – maybe nikihega mathali [catching mice for food]. God bless you abundantly.

Yes, God bless you all abundantly. What a huge blessing you have been to Duncan’s life and to our own as well.

U.N.: Famine Approaching Kenya

Food Expected To Run Out In 30 To 60 Days
(AP) EL WAK, Kenya The U.N. food agency will soon run out of food needed to feed some 3.5 million Kenyans facing prolonged drought because it has received a fraction of the required funding, officials said Saturday.

The World Food Program has enough cereal to last until April but will run out of other staples by month's end, program spokesman Peter Smerdon said.

The program needs $225 million to buy more than 33,000 tons of food each month until February 2007 but has received only $28 million, he said. "If we don't get any more food aid it will be a catastrophe," Smerdon said. "We are already on the edge because food is running out and we are supposed to be feeding people until February next year."

World Food Program Executive Director James Morris arrived Saturday in El Wak, 420 miles northeast of the capital, Nairobi. Food program officials called the village an example of the effects of prolonged drought in the Horn of Africa, where 11.5 million people need food aid.

Dozens of people have died of hunger in drought-stricken parts of northeastern and eastern Kenya, according to local media. The government has declared the situation a famine and a national disaster, but has not given a death toll.

"We will urgently need more help in the next 10 days because it takes time to buy, ship and distribute food. It is not something you can do overnight," Morris said. "If we get a break in the food pipeline, then malnutrition will go up very seriously."

El Wak resident Mohamed Ibrahim, 55, said that 160 of his 200 camels and 97 of his 100 cattle had died.

"We don't just need food, we need other kinds of help as well," Ibrahim said. "People say we should change the way we live but there are no towns, no businesses, no agriculture that we can do."

Ibrahim Younis, emergency coordinator of a feeding center in El Wak run by a Belgian aid agency, said more children are coming to the group for help.

"The key problem is water because these children are malnourished and a lack of hygiene means they get diarrhea, which pushes them over the edge," he said.

Urgent Prayer Request

“Police shut down KTN and burn The Standard”, so read the headlines of Kenya’s leading paper, The Nation on March 2nd. On Friday the 3rd, The Nation reported that Kenya’s “National Security minister, John Michuki shocked Kenyans yesterday when he arrogantly admitted the Government was responsible for the State-sponsored terror against The Standard Group”.

The Standard is one of Kenya’s leading papers and KTN is probably the largest television station in the nation, both are owned by The Standard Group. The attacks were carried out by hooded police about midnight on Wednesday, March 1st. Supposedly, there was a story that the government did not want to be released to the public, but it is unclear exactly why they reacted in this way. The present administration has come under repeated attacks of severe corruption and abuse recently. It is being said that they wanted to send a clear message that criticism of the government and its corruption will no longer be tolerated.

Whatever the case, we would again ask for your prayers for this nation. Kenya has struggled in so many ways for years now, but there was such a spirit of excitement when this new administration was sworn-in in 2002. The people of this nation (including us) were thrilled and could sense change after more than 20 years of oppression, terrible scandals and rampant corruption. There is a strong sense of desperation and disappointment today, and violent acts such as this do not bode well for the government or the people of this nation. It never is a good thing when the government of any nation uses the police to silence freedom of speech. Please pray for peace and true change in the lives of Kenya’s leaders.

Update on Fredrick

Hello friends and family! After posting our recent update on Fredrick (below), we realized that we forgot to mention anything about specific help for him.

Bottom line, he would really like to replace the chickens he lost. The project cost us about $500 initially, but that included 100 chicks, several bags of food (enough to sustain the chicks for a while), vaccines and other miscellaneous things. A gift of $50 would probably help him buy 15-20 chickens. If you would like to help him start again, please leave us a message here on our site, or send us an email.

Thank you and God bless!

Fredrick Kaingu

This is a good friend of ours named Fredrick Kaingu. Fredrick lives out in the Kaloleni area and has been very faithful and hard working since the day we met him.

We helped sponsor Fredrick several years ago as he went to Bible school. In fact, we sponsored two young men at the same time, the other one was Duncan Ziro who you probably know quite well.

Now Fredrick is back on the coast and has been invaluable in helping us minister to the young people the last couple of years. Just this last year, he decided to move onto the church’s 3 ½-acre plot in order to help us maintain it and expand our ministry in the area. We appreciate his willingness to move away from home and help us in reaching out to the youth.

As a “thank you”, we helped him buy 100 chickens a few months ago, in order to start a poultry farm. Disaster hit last month when the chickens got sick and all but 10 of them died. He’s still living there on the church plot, continuing to meet regularly with the youth, but struggling to make ends meet. We had hoped that this poultry farm would allow him the opportunity to support himself while continuing to reach out to the hundreds of young people in the area who do not yet know Jesus. Now we’re looking for what more we can do to help him as he continues to serve God faithfully.

Please pray for Fredrick and the struggles he’s having right now. Pray also for our other Giryama brothers and sisters who are struggling. There is a serious shortage of water and thousands of people are in the same situation. There has been no rain for close to a year now, so there’s a serious shortage of food too. Please pray for relief, especially in the form of rain. Pray that God will send rain soon to help people like Fredrick and the thousands of others who are struggling to live and survive in such harsh conditions.

Happy New Year!

We hope all of you had a good holiday with family and friends. We pray that your Christmas and New Year were wonderful, full of true peace and joy. We thought we’d give you a bit of an update on the Swift’s holiday in Africa.

We’re doing ok and enjoyed a little time off at home. Jaime went to the coast on the 7th of December and returned on the 11th. He went with a Christian group here in Nairobi that wanted to do some food relief among the Giryama in Kilifi District (see our recent report on the “Poorest of the Poor” in Kenya). It was a really good trip and a good time to grow relationships with new friends while renewing old relationships among the Giryama. It was a struggle at times, just seeing again the incredible need among the Giryama and how much work is still needed to minister to them physically and spiritually. He pulled some 16-17 hour days and came back with a terrible chest cold, but he’s all better now.

Ginger is recuperating fine from her surgery on the 23rd of December. The doctor found some cysts on her cervix and was concerned. After a bit of anxiety and a few tests, we’re thankful to report that the cysts were benign. Still, she needed to have them removed and we thought the holidays would be a good time to rest. She’s pretty much back to normal now, but still suffering from pain and cramping. Thanks for all your prayers regarding Ginger and her health.

The girls had a wonderful time at home and enjoyed their break from school. Hannah has struggled some with a cold the last couple of weeks, and despite our best attempts at making her rest, it developed into pneumonia. The doctor said that she would be ok resting at home and taking antibiotics. It’s a tough job keeping her still while her sisters are out playing with their new Christmas toys!

Christmas was good for all of us. It is hot and dry as usual at this time of year so it doesn’t feel much like a traditional Christmas. And add to that the fact that we’ve had a lot of problems with water. We went for a full 7 days without water, had it for 2, then none again for another 6! Stop and think a minute about living with only 2 days of water for over two weeks! It’s not fun! Needless to say, everything is a little dirty and stinky and we’re hoping we’ll get some water soon. Pray for rain!

Blessings to all of you throughout this new year. We love you and appreciate so much your financial and prayerful support.