Hello Everyone,
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families. We just finished Operation Drumstick with NYSUM in NYC. This included leading homeless outreaches with several short-term mission teams serving around 2,500 turkey dinners.
I (Paul) was in Kenya from October 2nd to November 4th. I started in Namanga, where I followed up on some cabinet building for a church and checked on the progress of the construction of a Life Center (Medical and Vocational). Next, I traveled to Amagoro on the Uganda border, where we have been helping Kiwimbi since 2018. It was good to see all the projects we are a part of continue progressing. For this, we are so grateful!
Naomi stayed in New York City preparing for Operation Drumstick and Christmas Compassion until she joined me in Kenya on October 20th. I was happy to have her with me for the last two weeks of my trip.
After meeting Naomi in Nairobi, we stopped by Eldoret to purchase some items we cannot get in Amagoro. While there, we got to visit with our friend Reuben Kigame. Ruben is a Kenyan-born musician who is known throughout Kenya. He is an author, publisher, university professor, broadcast journalist, apologist, and social activist. I asked him to share his perspective as a Kenyan on our work in Amagoro, Kenya. Here’s what he had to say about our time together:
On Monday, 23rd October 2023, my wife Julie and I drove our missionary friends, Paul and Naomi, to Amagoro, a small village between Bungoma town and the Malaba border, which separates Kenya and Uganda. I had met Paul five years earlier at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York while visiting with a friend of mine, Dr. Rod Rozario, who described Paul as his prayer partner. After that, we met in Kenya three times, once in Nairobi and twice in Eldoret, where they have driven through.
It was really during the meeting we had with Brother Paul before driving them to Amagoro that I deeply connected with Paul’s calling and ministry journey, and I realized that we shared a lot in common with regard to social action ministry in the Church. As he narrated his experience with the homeless in New York and outreach through natural catastrophes in India and Southern Africa, my heart could not ignore the passion for Christ in Paul’s life. We even talked about what they were doing in Amagoro, but I must confess I did not really understand the beauty, depth, and seriousness of Paul and Naomi’s call in Amagoro until Julie and I drove them from Eldoret to their apartment, which they were moving into for the first time.
I did not know what awaited us as we briefly stopped in Bungoma for Paul to pick up a small generator to power the fridge, lights, and phone in Amagoro when the electricity went out, sometimes for days, thus cutting them off communication. I was in school learning afresh how to trust God with so little in an environment of great inconveniences. But Paul and Naomi are not the complaining type or given to wanting the luxuries of Kenya’s urban culture for themselves. They have learned what their namesake in the Bible called “godliness with contentment.”
As we drove, Paul made arrangements with the management of a community library in Amagoro called Kiwimbi, and the team was willing to make time to see us. So, we offloaded the shopping at their apartment and drove straight away towards the Kiwimbi Library. I did not expect what I found! As soon as we landed, we were greeted by an enthusiastic team excited to show us around the community library. They took us from room to room, showing us the different things that take place at the library, and that is when the ministry of Paul and Naomi really hit me. All the furniture – from reading desks to seats, bookshelves, and storage cabinets were either made by Paul or the young men he has been training in carpentry, woodwork and joinery. I remember (as a blind man) touching everything with bated breath. It was well done, indeed, but I particularly marveled at the precision and finishing. Indeed, I was shown furniture that the boys made while Paul was away, a sign that some good mentorship and apprenticeship had taken place.
But that was not all. We were introduced to three tailoring classes for women Naomi had been training and overseeing. Those at the tailoring school were village women who had no livelihood before and girls who had barely finished school. Most of them had dropped out of school because of lack of school fees. Now, they were using sewing machines and providing garments for the community. We were also taken through an art gallery where all kinds of materials were put to use for great works of art, from painting to sculpture to drawing, etc. As soon as the children close school, the library is awash with young and old who are thirsty for knowledge.
I thought we were simply giving a ride. Little did I know the Lord was taking us back to school, His school, to see for ourselves what He was doing through Paul and Naomi, but even more significantly, challenging us in the area of holistic ministry. As Paul and I would earlier reminisce when Jesus was here, He spent quality time with people, teaching but also loving them. I was reminded afresh of our family reading earlier in the year from the book of Exodus about how the Spirit of God came upon Bezalel and Oholiab, who put together the tabernacle of meeting, of the precision God gave to Noah when putting up the ark and how Paul was a maker of tents. How beautiful it is to speak the Good News, but how lovely also to be with the people we minister to and take an interest in their daily lives and needs.
I hope this letter gives you a little insight from a different point of view.
We are indeed thankful for each and every one of you!!
Blessings,
Paul and Naomi
Read more newsletters about the library in Kisumu here.
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