Dear Friends and family,
Greetings! We are excited to share what God has been doing in our lives over the last few months. Most of the month of September was spent in NYC. We were able to help Bible College students with urban ministry and continuing to invest in people that are forgotten. One of the people we have been investing in is a woman named Raquel. One day Naomi took her tuna and crackers, socks, and some sunglasses. Raquel was panhandling on the crowded sidewalk and when Naomi arrived she shouted with excitement for everyone to hear, “Hey this is my Mom! She came to visit me!”
This summer I had started a Bible study at Starbucks in Union Square. At the beginning it was just my friend Al, but a couple weeks later Michael joined us. In September, Nizar also joined us. I have not seen him since but it’s not every day that I get to share John 2, about Jesus the perfect Passover lamb, with a Palestinian Muslim.
On September 27th, Naomi and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary in JFK Airport. We were flying out of New York bound for Kenya. Our purpose was to go help an organization called Kiwimbi. Kiwimbi is a Swahili word which means wave in, something akin to the impact of dropping a small stone in a pond. It is an organization started by local Kenyans that provides a library, as well as tailoring, carpentry and school programs. Their purpose is to empower Kenyans so they can provide for their families. When they cannot provide the children become vulnerable.
After two sequential eight hour flights and we landed and spent the night in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. The next day we took a one hour flight to Kisumu, a city on Lake Victoria in Western Kenya. From there it was a further three hour car ride north to our final destination of Amagoro on the Uganda border. We arrived on Saturday, September 29th in the pouring rain, and in the dark as they had lost all electrical power. We did eventually get a generator to add some light to our new surroundings. We were immediately welcomed by Daniel and Janet, two of the Kiwimbi staff, who made us feel very much at home.
The next day, after church we meet the Kiwimbi staff, all of whom are Kenyans, at the library. They give us a quick tour of their programs. Our first stop was to the carpentry program. There it became evident as to why I was invited to visit. The few tools they had were broken or had been repaired numerous times. When we flew into Kisumu the day before, we asked our driver to take us to look for woodworking tools, I wanted to get an Idea of what was available. On Monday, we went to a larger town about an hour away to look for tools, but the selection was very limited there as well. On Tuesday, we made the made the three hour trip back to Kisumu to purchase tools and supplies. Our trip to Kenya was intended to be a survey trip, but once we got there the great need caused us to be very busy six days of the week. I bought new tools for the program, taught them how to use and take care of them. I was also able to teach them some new woodworking skills.
Continuing on our Sunday tour, we visited the tailoring program. This program has been operating for some time and is sustainable. Some of the girls walk 6km each way daily to participate in this program. This area of Kenya is not very developed and many people just have enough to survive. The women learning to sew is an added income for the families. Naomi was asked to teach them to quilt since they have a need for warm blankets.
The climate is hot during the day but cool in the mornings and evenings. It is so cool that the people wear stocking caps and winter coats. Naomi taught them to piece the quilt top, but was not sure what to use for batting. Then while we were back in Kisumu, looking for the woodworking equipment/tools she found cotton batting. They did not want to sell it by the meter so we bought the whole roll. Looks like they will have plenty of batting to make more quilts. Naomi was able to teach them how to finish the quilt and now the team has a new skill to make blankets for themselves or to sell and provide for their families.
I am grateful for my amazing wife. She is willing to go to difficult places, and when she is there she quickly helps to meet any need. On our second day in Amagoro she jumped on the back of a motorcycle taxi (to the amazement of the locals) and took off in search for fabric. I didn’t see her for a couple of hours.
We had some unexpected experiences along the way, both pleasant and unpleasant. The best one was when we arrived at Kisumu our driver picked us up at the airport and took us to see Lake Victoria before our ride to Amogora. Standing on the side of this huge lake, a lake so big that it has a tide, we were told that for 20 US dollars we could take a boat ride to see hippos in the shallows. We got into an old wooden boat with “Captain George.” As we head out in search for the beast, we were told that the “river horse” (hippo) kills more people in Africa than any other animal. Captain George also informed us that, just a few days prior, a Nile croc had killed a woman “right over there.” We found a pod of hippos and watched them for a while. No harm came from the hippos or the crocs, just an amazing unplanned experience on Lake Victoria.
One unpleasant experience was the day I took a matatu (taxi van) to get supplies. These are old vans that would be in a salvage yard in the US. I got in the back seat of the already crowded van and thought the taxi was full. I was mistaken. They continued to pack more people in. In the backseat we have to alternate leaning forward and leaning backward because our legs and hips fit but our shoulders won’t. The metaphorical expression of being packed in like sardines seemed an appropriate description of the situation, especially due to the fact that someone was or had transported fish in the van and the smell of dead seafood was greater than the exhaust or body odor. It was only a one hour trip, and in spite of discomfort it was an experience worth having.
Another unexpected experience was the opportunity for us to share about life in the US with thirty students in the English access program sponsored by the US Embassy. They are all very curious about life in America and desired to go there one day.
We left Kenya after spending two weeks with these wonderful people. We are praying about returning in January to spend more time teaching our new friends.
November and December we are back in NYC to invest in the forgotten, continuing to build relationships with the homeless, help the NOMI Network with setting up there Holiday Markets and partner with NYSUM for their Thanksgiving and Christmas outreach.
As we look toward next year we are waiting on God’s timing and provision to go back to Africa. We also desire to visit India once again. The project that we went there for last year is not moving forward at this time, but we do desire to visit the dear people.
Thanks to those who are so faithful to pray for us and those who contribute financially. We could not do this on our own.
For HIS work,
Paul and Naomi
Read more newsletters about our work caring for the homeless in NYC here.
Read more newsletters about the Amagoro Carpentry Program here.
Read more newsletters about the Amagoro Tailoring Program here.
BLIP 