Update from the Huffmans & Mattaw Children’s Village

RECEIVED January 02, 2009 3:39 AM

We still continue to have our home felloship on Sundays which is still about 15 adults and anywhere from 20-30 children.  This month we had a visitor from San Angelo, Jim Farmer.  He went all around Kenya but did house to house ministry with our house dad Isaac.  They reached many people during this time.  Maybe around 25-30.  There was a lot of restoration and salvations.

Also our house dad and mom continue to reach out into the surrounding village and minister to people.  A lot of drunk people are coming to the Lord.  There was a mother that died a few weeks ago and we were able to go and rescue her baby.  There were also three other children that we’ll take into house #2 when it opens.  Our social worker is going into the village and finding the most desperate cases for house #2 now.

we now have a borehole!  praise the Lord!  we also finished house #2 and a strip of bathrooms.  we’ve had a lot of car problems this month and are now looking to trade it in for a newer one.  our next fund raising for the project will be for a school house.  now that we’ll be adding more children, our two school huts that are one room, wont be enough.  But God is so faithful to bring the funding as we need it!

what were our major acomplishments this month?  getting our borehole dug.  having christmas with our children.  getting house two finished.  getting house #1 finishing touches with construction finished.  many salvations in our area.

our vehicle had a lot of problems.  i cant say the exact problem because I dont remember the language.  Bud was talking about it but something about having to weld a hole back in the block on the engine.

we are now in Texas and will return the end of February.  We will have a team lead by the Dempsey’s during the first week of March.  We hope to welcome children into house #2 with them. 

please pray for the project to run well while we are away.  a lot of our children and house mom has malaria.  many of them keep getting so pray that would stop!  also for our time here in Texas.  We have a lot of places to visit so we ask that the Lord would make it a restful time and a good time of reuniting with our supporters.

thanks so much fbc keller family!  we are so greatful for your support and prayers!

the huffmans (http://huffmansinkenya.blogspot.com/)

August Update from the Harmons

August 4…Family and Friends…Good Monday morning from Limuru, Kenya.

Nope, I’m not at work…as this is the final day of our week-long vacation.  Ooh, it’s been quite refreshing to step away from work for some days and take a breather.  Kari, Gizmo, and I enjoyed a trip to the coast (Malindi, Kenya) where we stayed in an IMB guest house…just a 10 minute walk to the beach.  Kari has written some great entries and posted a fun photo album on our blog…so, check it out when you get an opportunity:  www.ronkarigizmo.typepad.com <http://www.ronkarigizmo.typepad.com/>  ; kariandron ; swahili .
 
The past few weeks/months here at Brackenhurst have been full.  Of course we continue to adjust to, and invest ourselves in, life and ministries, but we also had some special excursions.  First, at the end of June, Kari and I took the weekend to travel to Lewa Conservancy for my first marathon.  Many of you know that I trained for my first marathon last year, but due to a schedule conflict, I was unable to run the Nairobi marathon last October.  Then from February to June this year I trained once again…and finally entered my first marathon which took place on June 28th, running through an animal reserve.
How did I do? Well, after finishing 25 miles of a 26.2 mile race, my body gave up and I had to quit.  So sad!  I’ve written several entries and posted pictures regarding the race.  Currently, I am training for the Nairobi marathon for October…and of course plan to return to Lewa next year to finish what I started!

 
From July 14th to the 18th, we attended the annual meeting of our mission section, which included about 200 IMB missionaries who live in Kenya, Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, the Congo, and Burundi. There were volunteers from 3 different churches in the US who came to preach, teach, lead the youth/children, worship…basically just to minister to all of us.  It was blessing to have the fellowship…and understand every last word of the sermon…instead of trying to translate from Swahili!
 
Anyway, this is just a short note to say ‘hello’.  Both Kari and I have gotten very behind in our correspondence.  Such is life, huh?  And though we have not responded to many of your awesome emails, know that we love and appreciate you tremendously…and hopefully will write to you soon!  J

Blessings..rkg 

Update from Kimberly and Bud Huffman in Kenya

Hey everyone,

Its been awhile since we’ve updated.  We’re unable to get onto our blog to update so here’s one…

Please pray for me, I have malaria for the second time in two weeks.  I got it in Nairobi, came to Kitale and got rid of it with medicine then about four days later it shows up again but twice as bad.  I went this morning to the dr. and he gave me different medication that should clear it up in three days.  He thinks it just didn’t go away the first time. 

Here’s some exciting news.  Not sure if you all know about Watoto ministry in Uganda.  They are a huge ministry in the main city of Uganda, Kampala.  They have over 2,000 children in their program and have been around for about 15 years.  They sent some key leaders from their organization last year to meet with us and help mentor us.  They’ve been a key model for us in the Mattaw Children’s Village.  We use the term “why reinvent the wheel” quite often.  Their policies and procedures really helped me out as well.  We basically are doing the same thing as them except they use widows or single moms in a house of 8 children whereas we’re hiring house parents for 8-12 kids in a house.  There is a group from Watoto coming next Friday to interview us and video the progress of the Mattaw Children’s Village!  This is really exciting for us.  They’ll be using this to show at their big conference in September. 

Yesterday we started painting inside the first house.  Almost everything is completed except painting, putting glass in the windows, and moving in furniture.  The first house parents to move in is Isaac and Vivian Rono.  They come from Lemoru where I lived the first year and a half in Kenya.  Isaac was actually one of the cooks at the orphanage i worked in.  We’ve already identified about 6 children that we’ll move in soon.  Also please be praying for a social worker for us.  We were using a social worker from a ministry here in town but was just informed a few days ago that their social worker is completly booked up with work.  Its not the greatest timing to be finding a social worker at this point but we’re trusting God to bring a godly trustworthy person.  There’s a man running a street kid program not far from our project that has really been a great help to us.  I though he put it well with the position of a social worker in saying they’re the “gate  keeper” of the place.  Its so true, they’re the ones we rely on to find the true desperate cases.  You find in a lot of cases, social workers putting in their relatives or picking from a certain tribe. 

There’s a team coming in two weeks.  Most of them are from McAllen but a few from Keller.  We’re excited for them to come.  There will be about 18 total.  They’ll be doing a lot of the ground work out in the village of the children’s home.  They’ll be doing door to door visiting, sunday morning service, family workshops, children vbs, and hopefully the container with the playground will be here.

More to come…

Created for this,

Kimberly

http://huffmansinkenya.blogspot.com

Update from Clint Kelly

Clint sends his greetings from the Miskito Coast! Due to his inability to access a computer or internet, we (his parents) are attempting to piece together his life. There are many gaps as we have such limited time speaking with him, but we know he covets your prayers.

When Clint was home for Christmas, he left town four times during that short month visiting friends, relatives and supporters. He is always full of surprises! One morning, he came downstairs announcing that he was flying to Phoenix that day to purchase a school bus at a bus auction. We were both amazed since we had never had an experience at an auction; however he had done his research and had been given pricing guidelines from Palmer Ministries.

He left late (as would not surprise anyone who knows Clint) and arrived in Phoenix, rented a car, and searched for a hotel near the auction. That involved a late night phone call home to help him with an internet search for a cheap hotel.

The next morning, sure enough, he purchased a bus for about ½ the amount authorized. Before the day ended, he had managed to find cash to pay the taxes, get the registration and licensing arranged, and headed for home just before rush hour. Purchasing a sleeping bag at Wal*Mart, he announced the next morning that he had forgotten how cold it got in the desert at night! No matter how concerned parents get, God is at work in this young man’s life.

For more information about what God is doing in Nicaragua and Honduras, read the entire newsletter.

Clint Kelly May 2008 Update