G.L.A.P.

Meet Joseph...his company is called GLAP...strange name! It is an acronym for God Lord Almighty Provides...I like that! He offers many services, some of which we can certainly utilize with our clients.

On this day, he is conducting a training for our staff - and this is also an 'introduction' of sorts for us to decide if he will be a 'fit' for BDS and our clients. The main focus here is on entrepreneurship (thank God for spell check!)

The information was quite helpful and insightful. If you look closely you MIGHT be able to read some of his points! He also offers many investment services and also help with small business record-keeping.










And here is Paul, being very helpful as Joseph was being 'generous' with the paper...











Overall, we agreed that Joseph could be helpful to our clients. Even Jane (my co-worker) got very excited as she is also a 'client' planning to start a business. After the training, Jane is now reconsidering her plans to begin raising chickens!

Please pray for Amani...

She boarded an airplane for the first time in her life today! Why was she willing to step past her fears and fly even though she was so scared? A mission...to travel to a small country in Southeast Asia called East Timor.

She and 6 other missioners from Nairobi flew to Singapore today, meeting up with another team, and then on to East Timor.

The teams will work together to survey the land, establish strategic partnerships, do evangelism and assess the viability of future missions.

Amani has an amazing 'missionary heart' and I am privileged to be a part of this mission with her since I am helping to support her to make this trip!

Client Profiles

Jane and I spent the day meeting with several of her clients, from the group called Baraka Tele (abundant blessings) located in the community called Huruma. Here is Jane (in the pink) with just a few of the members. Left to right are: David, a friend, Charles and Lucy (the Chairlady of the group)...we are working to collect profile information for each of our clients. We plan to post photos and bio information on the Missions of Hope website so that interested people can 'sponsor' business owners...
...David Musembi owns this 'hotel' which is what we know as a cafe. He is here chopping tomatoes to prepare for the day's customers...
...and Jane collecting his bio information. I created a form with the help of Jane and Virginia to make the task easier...
...Ben Rogers sells clothes on the side of the road...I actually bought a top from him!
...Jane collecting information from Ben...
...and here Jane is working with Charles to get his information, since his place of business doesn't have a table!
...here is Charles in a small store for his charcoal...Jane says the last time she visited Charles, he had maybe half this much - he is already seeing a positive impact of the loans he has received.
...our next stop was a visit to Boniface Wambua, a green grocer. He spent a few minutes arranging his produce so that his shop would be more presentable for the photograph. Jane collected his information at the group meeting scheduled for the next day...
Mercy Wairimu owns the building where her home is and rents the other units...here she is in her home...the light in the room is from a skylight formed from a piece of fiberglass fitted over an opening cut into the tin roof. It was pretty amazing when it began to rain and we could hear the raindrops on the roof! And the best part was that it stopped before we stepped foot outside!
Lucy Nyambura, the chairlady, proudly poses in front of her firewood shop...
...Jane had to squeeze in, which left no room for Lucy!
Mary Njeri inside her shop - there was barely enough room for me to step inside to snap this photo...
...and her shop is called Mama Wangui...that's her...she is the mama of Wangui, her daughter, so one of the ways she is known is by the name of Mama Wangui...in fact it is so common to call a woman by the name of her first-born that often people do not even know the 'other name'!
Jacinta Wairimu also sells firewood...
...and Patrick Kanyagia is a Tailor...
...and it seems that he does his work with no power! except the power of his feet - the last time I saw a machine like this one I was many years ago, at my grandmother's house and the machine was down in the basement - no longer in use! (I later found out that he thought I was fascinated with his shoes!)
I had such a great day with Jane, visiting our clients...seeing the pride in their eyes as they shared with me what they are doing. I gained a new appreciation for the wonderful work we are doing as we help our clients expand their businesses to improve their lives and the lives of their children.

I have always believed that if you give a person a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach a person to fish you feed him for a lifetime. We are teaching them to fish!

You must be born again...

"How do I get to heaven?" she asked her youth pastor, Fred. "You must be born again!" he answered...she ran to her mama and saying "I must be born again, quick I must enter your womb so I can be born again!" Frustrated, mama sent her back to Fred...
This back and forth exchange continued with answers of "you must be a new creation" (she wanted a whole new wardrobe!), "we live not by bread alone, but by every Word of doctrine" (she began to eat the pages of the Bible), "you must live by faith and not by sight" (she covered her eyes and tried to walk), "you must die and be resurrected in Christ" (she grabbed a scarf, tied it around her neck and said "see you in heaven mama!")
...completely frustrated, mama confronted Fred and found out that in order to go to heaven we must accept Christ into our hearts as our Lord and Savior....
...so he prayed over both of them to receive salvation! This was the perfect preparation for our sermon on Spiritual Formation. Rev. Nyaga took us back to the foundations of salvation.
The congregation was blessed by a performance of the High School dance group called A.G.E. (Almighty God Enables)...WOW is all I can say...
...throughout the performance words to the song were on the screen and heard through the speakers...
..."Be still and know that I am God"....
..."I am nothing without God"...

I am always blessed on Sunday mornings at my church, but somehow this morning was even more moving than usual...to God be the Glory!

Yummmmm!

I love that little yellow slip that shows up in my PO Box saying I have a package! And this one was particularly special...I rushed home to unpack my box and here are the contents...notice what is front and center? Yup...a one pound box of See's candy...not just any box, but the only kind I really like (in fact cannot refuse!)...Nuts and Chewys! My thoughtful friend, Kim, did not forget her annual purchase on my behalf! (it's what she gets me every year for my birthday...) Thanks Kimmy! only - where's my Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream cake??

Here is the box at the end of the first day - which was Tuesday (it is now Thursday and
the box is EMPTY!)

...but lest you think I consumed the whole box all by myself (which I am abundantly capable of doing by the way!) I actually took the box to work on Wednesday to treat my co-workers to the best candy on earth...here is Henry enjoying his second or third piece...everyone got at least one and they all loved it!
There is, however, a limit to my generosity...I brought the box home last night and actually rationed my consumption...so that it actually lasted for two whole days! (plus a half if you count Tuesday evening)

So - it is unanimous...not one of us can refuse a piece of Sees nut & chewy...(hint hint!)