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.
