It is a sin to despise one’s neighbor,
but blessed is the one who is kind to the needy. Psalm 14:21
Saved By God’s Grace has set up a Benevolence fund which goes to help, on a case by case basis, the poor and needy who come to the attention of Caring for Kenya’s Kids (C4KK). There is much need not only in the area where C4KK is located but also around the country. We are working with trusted people who are being the hands and feet of Jesus to the widows and orphans. Saved By God’s Grace is looking for monthly donors for this Benevolence fund in order for us to continue the work God is leading us into. Here are a couple of examples of what this fund has done thus far:
This family came to our attention through our children at C4KK. They were sharing their lunches with Winnie because she had no food with which to take her medication. Once we found out about the situation we instructed the matron to make up another complete lunch for Winnie to have at school. Then we had our social worker assess the situation at her home and found the father, Winnie and her brother Daniel all sleeping on the floor. The father, Walter, is a casual laborer due to his illness which keeps him from being able to work on a consistent basis. Many times there is no food in the home and Winnie must fetch firewood and water each day after school, taking several hours, which affects her ability to study for school (she is in Class 8 and this is a big year for her). Through the benevolence fund C4KK was able to supply 2 beds with mattresses, sheets, blankets, school uniforms, underwear and much more. C4KK is also assisting in getting the home hooked up to the local water source so Winnie will no longer need to fetch water but simply turn on a tap at their home and we have bought a gas cooker which means no more fire wood gathering.
Here’s Winnie on her new bed! When we visited them the following day we asked how everyone slept….Walter-“very comfortable”, Daniel and Winnie-“it was nice!”
We also purchased a gas burner for cooking. Now Winnie no longer has to fetch firewood, saving her time. Plus the gas cooking is cleaner than the smoke from the firewood.
Praise God Walter was able to purchase his plot of land in 2000 so they have a permanent residence. Here is their two room home with the outdoor kitchen to the left.
This is where Walter sleeps while Winnie and Daniel would take their existing mattress (foam which was about 1/4″ thick) and move it to the sitting room to sleep.
This is the sitting room where the children sleep…now on their new bed!
Chuck with Winnie and Daniel
Chuck with Walter. Walter told us he never expected anything like this so it must surely be from God!
This next family was discovered by a friend in the Luanda (sorry if I spelled that incorrectly) area. Mom had a terrible jigger infestation (The jigger, Tunga penetrans, also known as chigoe flea, is a parasitic arthropod found in tropical and subtropical areas. It lives in soil and sand but feeds on warm-blooded hosts, including humans. The breeding female flea burrows head first into the host’s exposed skin — often the feet, although any part of the body can be affected. The tip of the flea’s abdomen remains exposed to enable it to breathe and defaecate while feeding on the host’s blood. Several dozen eggs develop during the following two weeks. They can cause intense irritation (tungiasis), secondary infections, toe deformation and nail loss. The eggs fall to the ground when ready to hatch, whereupon the flea dies.) in her hands and feet but she received medical attention. Plus the children/family received school uniforms, beds, food and more.
Here’s a happy face on her new bed and mattress!
Mom receives medical attention for her feet and hands from friends.
Receiving saving grace because of our Lord, Jesus Christ and seeing His love in action.
The children are fitted for new school uniforms…their old ones were torn and they had no underwear so they were continually holding their uniform closed in back and separating themselves from the rest of the children.
They are now interacting with their classmates and have requested another small item to help them feel even more “normal”…a backpack! Request granted by the grace of God 🙂
Mom is extremely happy for the provision from strangers (now friends) who are showing her Christ’s love is a tangible thing.
This next family was found in the bush by another friend, he posted:
“In this lonely bush is where a mother and four of her five children used to live in until five days ago when we eventually got them a house. Still, they had no mattress, blankets etc and only had a sack to sleep on, but today we bought them 3 mattresses, 3 blankets, 3 sheets, stove, food, etc“.
They are now in a one-room rental with the rent paid for a year with no fear of having to sleep in the bush. The youngest child, Angel, is only 12 days old and is very sick. Our friends have agreed to take the baby into their home to care for her while she and the mother get healthy.
This is how the squeezed onto the sack at night, in the bush, to sleep. Now they have mattresses to sleep on with blankets and a triple decker bed will be arriving soon for them to be off the floor.
Here’s a happy mom surrounded by God’s love, warm blankets and food. She told our friend she contemplated ending the baby’s life several times because she had no hope of feeding her (mom isn’t eating enough to produce milk so the baby is starving). The little they had to eat was collected by the children from the garbage.
These are just a few examples of what has been happening here through C4KK. The main theme we are hearing from these families is they had little to no hope of ever coming out of their desperate situations until a stranger found them and was “kind to the needy”. Our blessing from all this? Just look at the smiles and the look of hope on their faces! They are seeing and feeling the love of Christ from strangers.
We had donors kick start the fund with $1,000 from one-time donations and we have two people who have pledged a total of $30 on monthly basis. We would ask you to prayerfully consider being “kind to the needy” by becoming a monthly donor to this benevolence fund. This will allow us to reach out to more orphans and widows and show them the love of Christ through meeting some of their physical needs. Simply go to our donation page and click on “Donate Now”. There you can do whatever you are moved to do; one time donation or monthly repeating donation. Write in the comment box “Benevolence” and you are supporting the actions you are seeing above.
Thank you and have a blessed day!