Posted in General Posts by Kelli Miller on 2/22/2012
We are back in Kenya! Our team has been back about a week. We have spent the past week settling back in, overcoming jetlag, and reuniting with people here.
We jumped right back into going to the camp, and it has been wonderful spending time with people again. While it has been great seeing everyone, we have encountered a fresh wave of need there. People are hungry, have to pay school fees, and are still struggling to find work. A lot of people have begun asking us for things again, asking us to intervene, asking us to give them money.
Some people seem hopeless, looking for somebody to meet their needs.
But a lot of people are trusting the Lord knowing that He is going to come through, even though it may not seem like it right now.
And still others are taking action! Peter exemplifies this. We helped him start a rock quarry business, which you can read about here, and he uses his own income to help his community.
Peter loves the children in the camp. He serves as a father figure to many of them. Yesterday he cooked lunch for our team, and he ensured that he had enough to feed all the children in the camp. He is also concerned about children attending school. He networked and put nine children from Camp Vision and about thirty others from the surrounding camps in a secondary boarding school.
Peter wants to host a Harambe, which is a festival that Kenyans hold to raise money for a particular thing: school fees, medical bills, etc. He has faith that he and his community can gather together and raise enough money to pay these children’s school fees since secondary school is so expensive.
We believe that Peter’s ambition and willingness to help his community will catch on. In gathering his community together around the issue of school fees, he is urging them to take their situation into their own hands and do something about each other’s needs. They are supporting one another instead of relying on us or other outsiders to come in and fix their problems. They are becoming the answer to their own prayers. He is taking action, and we pray that his community will follow his example.
We support Peter, and we are behind him. God has really put discipleship on our hearts. We feel like God’s vision for our team and for this camp is to invest in the few, to focus on the willing. God wants us to disciple individuals and spend time with small groups of people who want to know Jesus more deeply, who want to help others, and who want to lead their community.
And we know that by investing in the willing, these individuals will go and impact other individuals (like Peter is doing) and other groups of people in their own community. They will begin to be the agents of change because Jesus will transform them, and as transformed individuals, they will transform individuals and in turn, they will transform the entire community.
God looks for the willing. And that’s who we are looking for too.
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Posted in General Posts by Kelli Miller on 2/3/2012
Our team is currently in the States doing some practical and spiritual training before heading back to Kenya. After coming back to the US to spend Christmas with our families and support raise, we were originally scheduled to head back to Kenya mid January after a few days of debrief. We decided to extend our stay because our leadership and our team both felt that it would be beneficial to remain in the States for a few more weeks. We will now head back to Kenya on February 12.
We are under new leadership who has helped train us in a lot of areas. Our team has been put under a long-term mobilization department at AIM, which means that they are focused on helping and supporting us with more of a long-term mindset than a short-term one. We have been receiving more training in long-term missions, as well as in team building. We feel healthier, better equipped, and more prepared as a team to embrace this next year in Kenya. We are ready for all that God has for His people in Camp Vision, in Kenya, and for us there.
Please pray with our team as we prepare to head back to Kenya in a little less than two weeks. We are excited to get back there and expectant for all that God has in store for us and for the community we are ministering to there.
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Posted in 5 Areas of Need by Courtney Folwick on 12/23/2011
It is a very special time of year; a time to celebrate Christ's coming to Earth. In addition, we'd like you to celebrate with us the amazing things God has already done in Camp Tumaini, over the past 4 or 5 months.
 We'd like to highlight just a few:
- 10 women are learning to sew at Thread of Hope and earning some money from skirts and purses that they have learned to make.
- 4 businesses have started-up from the micro-loans our supporters have helped provide.
- Every school-aged kid in Camp Tumaini is able to attend school through the bracelets for education that their mothers have made in exchange for school fees.
 - We have had 2 big celebrations, feeding the entire camp.
- We have begun a weekly fellowship where the community gathers to worship, pray and share what God is doing.
- We've laid pipes and have gotten water to Camp Tumaini!!!
This is not the end… there is so much more that we dream for these friends of ours! We are praying that they will have stone homes rather than tents and that every person will be self-sustaining. Thank you so much for the very important role you have played in making these dreams become a reality. (There are days that I literally pinch myself, because I'm so in awe that God has brought me back to this place and He is doing such incredible things). Merry Christmas!
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Posted in General Posts by Kelli Miller on 12/8/2011
We have now given out 4 micro-loans and have started 4 small businesses! You can read about Veronicah’s duka here and Peter’s rock quarry here!
Recently, we have helped Lawrence and Jeremiah start their own businesses.
Before his family was displaced, Lawrence worked as a tailor. Unable to continue in this profession, he has done manual labor for the past few years to support his wife and two young children. But his dream has always been to own his own tailoring business.
We loaned Lawrence $700 to start a tailoring business. He purchased a sewing machine, materials, and shares a shop with Jeremiah. He calls his business “Vision Tailoring.” When we told him he would be receiving a loan, his eyes lit up with such joy. He had already been gaining customers and had been making beautiful clothing. He is living his dream and is now able to support his family with a consistent income, working at something he loves to do.
However, please be praying for Lawrence. Last week as he was headed to his shop, he was in a car accident. The matatu (a van that serves as public transport here) that he was riding in flipped several times. Thankfully, he only broke his collar bone and he and his family are doing fine. Please pray for healing and quick recovery as he will be unable to work for the next five weeks.
Jeremiah is a 27-year-old young man who lives in Camp Vision. Jeremiah has been doing casual labor for the past four years, finding work wherever he can. He worked as a barber before the elections, and has dreamt ever since to open his own barbershop.
We loaned Jeremiah $300 to start a business. He named his shop "Zion Kinyozi." He has purchased most of his supplies and has already gotten a lot of business! He is joyful and thankful that God has given him the opportunity to pursue this dream.
God is transforming lives here, and one of the ways He is doing so is through employment. He is giving men and women choice and opportunity, something they haven't had in four years, something so precious and priceless. No amount of money can buy that.
Thank you for caring. Thank you for praying. Thank you for supporting this. We always want to give you a tangible look into what God is doing here and lives He is impacting.
Four lives have already been changed forever, but there are still so many families who are struggling, so many who need opportunity.
In the next blog, I will be giving some specific ways that you can get more involved in what God is doing here. But as always, we welcome your prayers. Pray for our four friends and that God would bless their businesses incredibly, especially over this holiday season as they get started. We know God moves here in incredible ways because you pray. Thank you!
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Posted in General Posts by Kelli Miller on 11/18/2011
We have had a busy couple of weeks!
Our team is reviewing over 30 proposals for small business loans and has helped Veronicah start a successful small business, which we blogged about here.
Since then, we have given out three more loans to Peter, Jeremiah, and Lawrence. I will share about Peter’s loan and will write more about the other two soon.
Matt and Matt recently sat down with Peter and worked through his loan agreement. They have been working with him for a month or so, developing a business plan and creating a network.
We loaned Peter $250 to buy a plot of land in a rock quarry and put 4 men to work cutting out stones. He’ll make enough money to pay back $40/month while bringing in a good income.
This loan will change Peter's life forever.
Before he knew he would receive a loan Matt asked him, “If you were to get a job and make good money, what would you do with it?” He responded with something like this: “I’d help the children, pay for their school, help our community.” Peter doesn’t have any children in the camp. But in his words: “My heart is big. Big like a shamba (a farm).”
We held a celebration luncheon to raise up four leaders in the camp. We surprised the four by inviting them to our favorite restaurant, “Mama Esthers”. She turned an office into a dining room for us so we could have our special day.
It was a great time to announce that we would be moving forward with their business plans. But more importantly, it gave us the opportunity to call out greatness and challenge them in this new role, as well as pray over them.
After the meeting we held a meeting in the camp where we announced the news to everyone. Honestly, it brought mixed emotions and a bit of jealousy. Some people in the camp were upset that we were not giving out all of the loans at one time. We opened and closed the meeting in worship and reminded them to rejoice with those who rejoice.
Then, we feasted! Last Saturday we got everyone together to fellowship and eat. We started preparing the meal at around 9:30am and didn't eat until 4pm! That's what happens when you feed over 120 people! We cooked together, ate together, and celebrated the new businesses starting and what the Lord is doing in the camp!
Thank you for your prayers. We need them and know that God hears them. We appreciate you! Please pray for wisdom as these four develop their businesses. Pray for patience within the camp as they wait for their loans. And pray for wisdom for our team as as we continue following God in what He's up to here!
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Posted in 5 Areas of Need by Kelli Miller on 11/3/2011
When our team came back to Kenya in July, there still was no water in the camp. Women and children would walk 3 kilometers carrying jugs of water. These jugs of water are used for everything… drinking, cooking, cleaning, laundry, occasional bathing…
 
The Polish Embassy dug a borehole and installed a pump in the Jikaze IDP camp about 2 kilometers away from Camp Vision. The water was so hot (140 degrees Fahrenheit) that the first pump they installed melted. Months later (and a few headaches with customs), a new $20,000 pump was installed that could handle the heat. On October 5th, we went to the water pump dedication in the Jikaze camp and rejoiced with them as the water filled the holding tanks. This meant that not only did the Jikaze camp have water, but they would now be able to channel water to Camp Vision and other camps through connected piping!
 
Our team helped get pipes, and members from the community put them in the ground to connect a tank in Camp Vision to the water source.
 
Now, nearly 4 years later… Camp Vision has WATER!!!!
We rejoice and praise God for providing! We never cease to be amazed by His provision. We realize that on our own there is no way we would have been able to get water to Camp Vision in a year and a half… God began this process long before we got here and used us as a final step to make it happen!
There is WATER in Camp Vision!!!
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Posted in General Posts by Kelli Miller on 10/21/2011
Our team met with the adults in the camp a few weeks ago and presented the opportunity for micro business loans. We told them that anyone and everyone in Camp Vision could submit a business proposal of ideas of small businesses they would like to start.
Since that meeting, we have reviewed over 30 business proposals. These proposals are ideas for businesses like chicken farming, tailoring, a barber shop, running a small store, etc.
Veronicah is the first woman in the camp to receive a loan. She and her husband have five children. Her husband works in Eldoret, which is about a 5-hour drive from the camp, to make some income to bring back to their family every few weeks. Raising them alone most of the time, she is having difficulty paying the fees to send all of her children to school.
Her story is just one example of a life that God has changed. She shared with us her dream of opening a little duka (store) in the camp to sell fruits, vegetables, and household items. She only needed about $15 to start her business. We gave her a loan, and within weeks, she has already made back the money we loaned her, plus some profit! We pray that God will continue to bless her business so that she will have a consistent income, be able to feed her children and send them to school, and be able to start saving money for the future!
We can’t wait to see what God continues to do in and through Veronicah as she encourages others. As God meets people’s physical needs in the camp, they see his provision in a tangible way and are more and more open to what He wants to do in their lives and in their community.
People in this community are dreaming again. They see that they now have an opportunity to overcome the obstacles that have kept them in poverty and kept them from pursuing ideas and dreams. And this is an exciting thing to walk alongside of them in and see the passion in their eyes and in their voices return. We can’t wait to see what God continues to do as we approve more loans and people are able to work and enjoy the fruit of their labor again!
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Posted in General Posts by Kelli Miller on 10/7/2011
Last week, Habitat for Humanity came to the main IDP camp to celebrate National Habitat for Humanity Day. A little background: Habitat has been building houses in the main Maai Mahiu IDP camp for over two years. It was a particularly special day, because Habitat was celebrating a milestone and dedicating their 500,000th house! That’s half a million houses internationally! And that 500,000th house was built in the main Maai Mahiu IDP Camp, next door to the camp we are serving!
Habitat made a ceremony out of it, setting up big tents, bringing people in leadership, and even had some musical performances! We got to see the ribbon cutting and the dedication of the house.
It was a day of celebration in the main camp. Habitat has resettled over 200 families in three-roomed stone houses, and they are going to finish building houses for the families still remaining in tents. So this is good news for them!
Why is this good news for Camp Vision, the camp we are working alongside?
After they finish building these houses, we are praying that they will begin building in Camp Vision! We are in ongoing conversation with leadership at Habitat in Nairobi. We have been talking to them about Camp Vision and giving them documents, and information about the families in the camp. We are moving forward, preparing the way for Habitat so that this can happen!
We met one of the directors before the celebration began, and we asked him about Habitat’s plans after they finish building in the main camp. Without us prompting him or him knowing what we are doing there, he pointed and told us that he thought that they would begin building in Camp Tumaini (Camp Vision)! Needless to say, we were super excited to hear that!
Please keep praying with us that God would open doors and continue to spur the hearts of directors and employees of Habitat to build next in Camp Vision. Please pray that they keep receiving funding in order to finish in the main camp by Christmas. Please pray that we keep moving forward in this process and that things will go smoothly.
Other updates: Last week, the Polish embassy followed through and had the water pump installed in Jicaze, a nearby camp. Logistics are being worked out in order for water to be pumped to the other camps. Please keep praying that the details of this process get worked out soon so that Camp Vision will have their own water source!
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Posted in General Posts by Jimmy McCarty on 9/26/2011
In the early months of 2010 God brought me to one of the most amazing places on earth. It’s hills were green, the people smiled like I’d never seen before, and the best part was they loved from all that they could love with. I was rocked.
I will never forget sitting on the side of the mountain overlooking the Internally Displaced People camps and hearing God say that He was choosing me to go. When I heard the word go, I immediately knew that although this wasn’t the textbook life, or even the life that I wanted to choose I had to lay myself down in obedience to a God that has never given up on me.
I continued the journey with a three other teammates and in October of 2010 we moved to Gainesville, GA to be under the leadership of Adventures in Missions. It was here that we prepared, prayed, and joined together to fight on behalf of the forgotten people in Kenya. Our team grew from four, to five, to six, and then to seven people. God was surely in this.
For 9 months (Oct ‘10–July ‘11) my heart grew more and more for the people, for the women, for the children that every day lived through the worst conditions. I would be overwhelmed daily by how God continued to remind me that He didn’t need me but He wanted to use me.
So, use me He did. You see God had every right to snap His fingers and make everything in the camps be good and perfect. But instead He likes to choose His sons and daughters to share His love on His behalf, that’s where the Kenya Initiative came in, where I came in. So, love and activate I did and I believe the Lord used me to help birth this vision. He asked me to fight for His people in Kenya and He gave me dreams and inspirations that were of His heart that are taking place in the camps today.
But then God had different plans, my trip was postponed to Kenya when the rest of the team launched in July. It was in these past three months that God has released me from this ministry and made it clear that my time and work is done in regards to the Kenya Initiative team.
The team has gone forward but I fully believe that God has used me just how He wanted to do so according to His purposes. I hold on to the promise that “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Today I am full of peace, my spirit has gone forth into Kenya and I just have to keep loving and carry on to the next big plans God has for me to jump into for His Kingdom.
Sometimes I look back and I wonder what the last year of my life was for because the outcome didn’t turn out just how I foresaw it to be. Then I remember all the life lessons, growing up, and spiritual maturity that took place in my life in this time. I remember all the people that I’ve met in the process that I was able to encourage and challenge.
When I look back I realize that everything has happened just how God wanted it to be from the very beginning. His Kingdom come. His will be done. On EARTH as it is in HEAVEN.
Thank you to everyone who has been apart of what God is doing in Kenya either prayerfully or financially. You have made permanent change in the nation of Kenya by your generosity. You have also made change in my own personal life. I have witnessed all of your willingness to join God where He is at work and am extremely humbled by God’s outpour of faithfulness through it. Thank you so much. You’ve changed me forever and I’d love for you to continue to be apart of my journey. Please consider following what God’s up to in my life at liz-martin.tumblr.com.
Love, Love.
Liz Martin
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Posted in 5 Areas of Need by Courtney Folwick on 9/21/2011
God is moving here in Kenya! Here is an update on each of the five areas and the specific progress in each.
Our paperwork has finally gone through and we are now the owners of a Pajero, which we have already used to aid in our ministry.
This vehicle not only saves us from a 2 hour walk each way to the IDP camp, but it also has allowed us to transport pipes, which will bring water to the camp. We are still waiting on the Polish Embassy to install the pump in the main camp, but the pipe work is ready.
We have been gathering information and documentation in hopes to have Habitat for Humanity partner with us in getting land and homes for these families.
Several of the women in the camp have joined a sewing project called Thread of Hope, which teaches them sewing skills and employs them to make skirts. This is a wonderful way for them to be able to provide for their children. We are in conversation about partnering to start an adjunct business with them.
In regards to the biomass charcoal project, we have collected sawdust and progress is being made toward making a working press.
The local church has been collecting funds to build a community center in the camps that would serve the purposes we also envisioned. They have purchased land, built a fence around it, and have finished the toilets.
Throughout this whole process, we have been intentionally building relationships with the men, women and children in the camp.
Some days it seems things are moving slowly, or “pole pole” as they say here. On those days it is good to take a look at the bigger picture and see the ways in which God is moving and things are progressing. We are depending on God to keep providing and would appreciate your continued prayers in each of these areas!
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