In my garden on our compound, I have corn that is 8 feet tall and a sunflower even taller.  I planted them a few months back and with some water, a little cow dung, and some weeding, they have done very well.  There is a certain satisfaction in growing something from a seed to harvest.  There is also a sense of wonder in the process.  It is a scientific marvel that one small seed can produce a large plant.  To look at a handful of corn seeds one would never guess from appearance alone that such a plant could come from something so small.  It is only because we see this marvel so frequently that it doesn’t astound us each time we witness the process.

Equally marvelous are the many ministries within Kisumu and Kenya that are working to reach out to the poor, the orphans, the widows and all those who need to know of the God who loved them so much that he considered sacrificing himself for them.  We have met many such organizations during our two years here in Kisumu.  We have developed some wonderful friendships and have even tried—as we are able—to assist them in obtaining needed support for their work.  At Agape, we do not consider ourselves the only branch of God’s kingdom at work in Kisumu, Kenya.  There are many who are doing excellent work.   In fact, during our third year we would like to develop a network of ministries all who are working with street children in Kenya. 

Like the spreading acacia tree, the ministries abound in and around Kisumu.  We have come into contact with numerous ones and we learn something new each time.  Just last Thursday at the Rotary meeting, Patty and I listened to Alie Eleveld from the Society for Women and AIDS in Kenya (SWAK) talk about the need for good nutrition and clean water for AIDS victims.  Some of her products are quite remarkable and we even stopped in to purchase some of them this past week to pass along to some of our staff.  One item in particular is a bottle of water purifier.  A one half liter bottle will purify more than 500 liters of water from a stream, lake, river or even the tap.  We plan to give a bottle to each staff member as a gift for being chosen “servant of the month.”  And the cost is only 25shillings (about 35 cents), something every Kenyan can afford.

On Madaraka Day (Freedom Day – June 1) we invited our good friends Jack and Claire from Maseno to be with us.  Jack is the trainer for the CHE (Community Health Evangelism) project just north of Maseno in the rural village of Luanda.  CHE is a community development approach to changing communities through a seamless integration of the Gospel and self-help projects.  CHE transforms communities by allowing the communities to discover their own problems and reach their own solutions.  Many who have visited Agape also visit this project.  Patty and I are completely convinced that the CHE approach is the solution for the economic, social and spiritual development of this continent.  For years Africans have looked to the West with an outstretched hand, looking for aid.  However, when your right hand is begging, neither hand is being productive.  CHE teaches people to accomplish development that is owned by the community, uses locally available materials and allows the community itself to be proud of its accomplishments not a multi-million dollar aid organization. 

For six hours, Jack and Claire sat and chatted with us about the work we both are involved in.  Jack is an extremely humble man.  He seldom, if ever uses the first person pronoun.  And when he leads you through his community, he never walks in front.  You see, Jack leads by allowing others to walk in front, literally and figuratively.  How many spiritual leaders do you know that could be described that way?  In the course of our long conversation with this wonderful couple, we looked for his input on the importance of reintegrating our reforming street boys into their rural home.  This is the ultimate goal of Agape.  We do not want to warehouse street children.  We want them to know their home, have a sense of identity and feel completely comfortable when they are reintegrated into the community from which they came.  

Of course you have heard us speak as well about other ministries in Kisumu.   New Life Babies Home receives HIV positive and abandoned infants and works to have them adopted in Kenya and abroad.  Then there is also TEMAK (Teen Mothers and Children of Kenya) that works with unwed and HIV positive women.  They train women in tailoring, computer skills, craft making and hair weaving.  They are currently working with about 600 women in Kisumu alone. 

Then a few weeks back Patty and I traveled to Rongo, about two hours south of us, to a school in the rural.  A former teacher at Agape had invited us to present a seminar on “Spiritual Armor” based on Ephesians  6:10-20.  We spent two days in the Word and sharing with teachers, church leaders and parents of the school.  Even in rural Kenya the mustard tree is expanding.

Agape is a wonderful ministry.  Patty and I feel very honored to serve here.  However, we are learning that God is at work in Kisumu in many ways. The tree is indeed large and has many branches.   We are only a single branch on this tree.  God has a spreading acacia in Africa.    May He bless us all to be useful in the area he has called us.  For you too are another part of this branch as you read these updates, support the work and pray for the extension of this ministry and work in your local church or ministry.

God bless,

Dan and Patty

Prayer requests

1. Pray for Tom, one of our secondary students who has a bad case of typhoid currently

2. Thanksgiving for the safe return of Tom and Marg Tucker to the farm

3. Pray for a positive decision on the city council for the adjacent land into which we want to expand.

4. Pray for traveling protection for the three teams coming in June, July, August.

5. Thanksgiving for our new house parents: Daniel and Robert, new house-mom Margaret, new cook: Luke, and new guards: Charles and Isaac and one new teacher Nicholas.

6. Blessings on all the other “branches” in and environs.