In the process of serving the children, a new church has been started.  Masii Christian Chapel is not subsidized by Tumaini, but Tumaini initiated the plan to start a new church. Children in the area around Tumaini attend this church, but it serves the community as well.

Masii Christian Chapel rents Parkcrest Hall on the campus of the Multi-Purpose Community Center.  This site provides meeting space for their Sunday services as well as for other events the church sponsors.  The rental income helps Tumaini with their General Fund expenses.

The collateral benefit of this church assists the Tumaini purpose of providing spiritual support and training for families and children being assisted by Tumaini.  While there are many benefits for a local church to serve the community, the presence and life of that congregation is also providing a way to change the ability of the people there to make a living.

While I was in Masii in advance of the Kilimanjaro Climb, we not only worshipped with the Masii congregation, we had a chance to visit a green house tomato garden located on church property near the MPCC.  The green house was well constructed, and provided a way to control pest infestation, provide consistent drip irrigation, and protection from birds and other local wild life that might want to enjoy the tomato crops.

The benefit of this project is that it provides a way to earn income for the church and the people in the church. Some of the tomatoes are given to needy families, but the crops are also sold to vendors, and to local people.  The income provides for improvements in the growing system, as well as to fund help projects in the church, and salary for those who are hired to care for the plants.

Tumaini did not provide funds for this project.  But the collateral benefit for Tumaini is that the green house benefits the children Tumaini supports, as well as makes it possible for the community to enjoy a new way to help improve their life and conditions.

Tumaini’s presence in the Masii area is changing the quality of life in the entire Machakos region.  The collateral benefits of the mission to help children include agricultural improvements that in turn create new vision for upgrading food crop methods.

Isn’t this the result of God’s own heart to serve under-resourced and vulnerable people? Tumaini International helps people by providing collateral benefits produced by serving  in the name of Jesus.

So where are they now? Well, many have been transformed and made smooth transition to adult life. Some have gone out to become not only responsible Christian men and women, but taken the next step and have begun to bring hope to others who are in similar situations they themselves were just a few years back.

I can tell you several success stories but in this blog, I want to share the journey of one outstanding young man.  Jackson Byuke Mutisya was sponsored by Barbara B. for several years. Today he is a man who wears a contagious smile and has an incredible energy and zeal for life.  Jackson is the quintessential Mr. Optimist. Like many other Tumaini kids, Jackson came to us when his life was falling apart.  His father had died and as the oldest in a family of 5, he was left to fend not only for himself, but also for his mom and siblings. He dropped out of grade school several times for lack of fees and tuition but through a series of God-events, Tumaini got involved and he was eventually able to successfully complete his education.

Today Jackson works as a Constable (Deputy) with the Prisons Department of Kenya and has been able to build a small house. He loves to share his faith in Jesus and that puts him apart with most of his colleagues at work. On February 3^rd this year, he invited me and other Tumaini field staff to visit his home in the Southern tip of Makueni County in Kenya—a three hour drives away from our office. He had also invited a family members and church ministers for a thanksgiving ceremony.  When he stood to speak, he gave a moving tribute to the way God has used his pastor and Tumaini to mold him into the kind of man he has become. He observed that through Tumaini, God had turned his ‘truculent’ life into a ‘transparent’ one. “This”, he added” for someone who had been completely worthless into something that God can use.”

At 29 years now, Jackson is engaged to marry later this year. Also, to extend tumaini (hope) to another family that has been ravaged by AIDS, Jackson is sponsoring three young siblings who lost their mother recently and their father is ailing.  He took us to the elementary school where the three siblings are attending school and said that he would like to channel his sponsorship through Tumaini in the near future.

Jackson is not the only former Tumaini kid giving back. He joins others who do sponsorship– Jackie and Sebastian come to mind.  Others give in terms of counseling their younger Tumaini ’brothers and sisters’, especially during our camps. Some names that come to mind include Judy, Ruth N., Calvin, Ruth M., Michael and others. These changed lives that are now changing others is the reason for Tumaini’s existence…bringing hope where there is no hope!

What a God we serve!

We met at Parkcrest Hall, the main assembly room for the Center on Saturday morning, January 21.The children had come from nearby homes…some needed transportation with the local matatu’s (public mini-bus vehicles), while most simply walked.

The Tumaini staff led by the Kenya Director, Paul Mutendwa, had organized the children to provide a program for our team. The Kenyan children love to dance to music, and a large group of the older children were led in a routine to a contemporary African Christian song. Such energy was on display! Smaller children were also included in the program.

A lunch was arranged for the team members to eat with their sponsored children, along with the rest of those who came. I represented a sponsor from the Parkcrest Church and had lunch with James, a 15 year old. He had taken time off from his Saturday school schedule to be present.

He was a bright young man with a vision for life. He told me he wanted to use his artistic talent in some way when he finished his school years. He quickly sketched a sample of his ability, a drawing of a soccer player. We enjoyed the Kenyan food that had been prepared: rice, beef stew, cow peas, cole slaw. It was very tasty, and James said he really liked the food, it was his favorite meal.

What I noticed about the children who came was that they wore their best clothes, their smiles, and their polite and good behavior. They looked like they were enjoying the visit, as well as the small gifts we brought with us. They were happy, engaged in life without the artificial environments of an institutional orphanage. Tumaini is providing for a life with unlimited potential.

Tumaini ministries is about helping real children with real needs and with real families. A sponsor can visit Kenya, and personally visit the child they sponsor. Not every children’s helping agency can provide that opportunity.

Your investment in a child at Tumaini is a solid and critical part of allowing children whose lives have been torn apart through the death of their parents to have a fresh start, and to find the life God always intended them to have.

It was a good day in the life of the Tumaini Ministries. Maybe some day you will be able to enjoy a similar day with a child you have sponsored.

By God’s grace 17 of made it to the peak or the roof of Africa! What a sight to behold and see God’s glory in a very refreshing way.  Because of the high altitude (19,340 feet above see level) and the negative degree weather,  I and  my three fellow  participants—- Steve, Diane and Gavin  ( we reached the peak in three successive groups),  only managed to stay at Uhuru Peak for about five minutes.  But even within those 5 minutes, I was able to savor the moment and contemplate on God’s majesty.  I was reminded of David’s magnificent words in Psalm 8:1,9 “O Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set  Your glory above the heavens!…O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

Only by God’s grace we can look back and say, we did it. Thank you to the thousands of you who prayed and gave funds to sponsor any one of us. We did for the kids. We did it for the Kingdom. I know some of you would have wanted to join us but things didn’t work out for you.

Only by God’s grace!

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Tumaini‘s energy is motivated by faith.

I’m not talking about some kind of sectarian doctrine or belief.  It’s about an operational milieu that permeates everything we do.

It was present at the start of this ministry ten years ago.  Dr. Mutunga and his wife Rose were moved to provide assistance to the orphaned children of his brother’s family.  But as they opened their hearts to their relatives, the question began to move in their hearts about the other children living in and near Masii, Kenya.  What about these children?

God was stirring in his heart to believe that more could be accomplished.  It took faith to move forward.

With personal resources deeply committed already, what could the Mutunga’s do?  They decided to trust God to provide the resources, and began Tumaini International Ministries, to provide an organization invite others to share in the need.

Brennan Manning puts what is involved in faith in a brief expression:

Faith + Hope = Trust. (Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust, pg.86)   All three actions are needed to cooperate with God’s directions

Trusting God is a result of a confident hope that God will do as he promised…not vague wishful thinking, but solid confidence that is built by faith—a positive response to a personal experience of God’s love.  Trust in some ways, is an intuitive rather than a logical conclusion.  Trust is based on experience that comes to be considered reliable evidence, and promotes action consistent with that conclusion.

This does not mean that we sit back and wait for God to do something.  Genuine faith takes initiative believing that God will show up to provide what he promised.  As we continue to expand our operations, it is faith that provides the energy to go forward even before we know how God is going to help.   Vision to see what God intends to accomplish in Kenya, is based on confidence in what God’s love intends to do.

We respond to “what” is needed or is next to move forward, and we trust God with the “how” it will take place.

We are in a transitional time for Tumaini as we look forward to the next ten years for Tumaini operations.   Faith does not get satisfied with what has been accomplished. There are more ways Tumaini is in a position to help the children, improve life for the families, and change the dynamics of the communities in which we serve.

Faith has everything to do with how we operate. “We walk by faith, not by sight.”  (2 Corinthians 5:7)  And it’s in that confidence and experience that we expect to see God opening new doors and providing fresh grace to extend his love to the children of Kenya.

Perhaps you have asked yourself this question before.  If not, you might want to ask it from time to time.  By rich, I am referring to material wealth.  You are probably asking, “Rich in comparison to whom?” That is a fair question too. Well, I am thinking about the  7 billion people who live on planet earth. I will come back to this question but first a story to give us a context.

Last week, I received information from Kenya about  Jackline. Jackline is a young HIV positive widow, mother of three little children who needed financial assistance.   Jackline lost her husband through AIDS almost a year ago. The oldest child, a girl is only 8 years old. So realistically, these three children will be total orphans in a matter of a few years.

The more I thought about Jackline’s  desperately poor condition, the more  the Lord reminded me about my many material blessings.  I kept asking the question, “How rich are you Stanley?” I couldn’t put off the question for more than a week.  You see, not too long ago, I had taken the test  to find out how rich I was. If you haven’t taken the test, I would encourage you to. You can find it at: www:Globalrichlist.com. In comparison to the world’s7 billion people, I found out that I am very rich!   Again, for whatever worthy, I recommend that you take it and you may be surprised as I was how rich you really are. You probably know that, even in our hard economic times, America still remains the country that 97% of the rest of the world would want to be part of.

As we begin a new year, could it be that God is asking us to think more about  the poor, both from across the street and across the oceans?  Could He be asking us to think about people like Jackline  more that we have in the past? You see Jackline represents that 1 billion people who live under despicable poverty conditions.

In Deuteronomy 15:11, Moses taught the Israelites that, ”There will always be  poor in the land”, a thought that was repeated by Jesus at least  twice in the New Testament (Matthew 26:11 & Mark 14:7).  But he did not stop there. Jesus taught and demonstrated  the ministry of compassion wherever He went. I am so glad that no matter what I might think about my economic status, I am rich and can do more.

So, how rich are you?

This got me thinking about our goals at Tumaini. We have goals that were set at the outset of the ministry to help vulnerable and orphaned children in Kenya. Securing sponsors to provide for one child at a time has been very successful. Over 1000 children are now being assisted and given a chance for the life God always intended for them to have.

As the ministry grew, it became clear that a Community Center to house the administrative operations for the children, as well as provide services such as a medical clinic and a general meeting hall. Two of these buildings are complete and in use now.

A third major building was a dormitory building to provide temporary housing for children attending a conference or other activity, as well as useful in rental to occasional community uses that would need overnight accommodations. The plan would require considerable funding. So as faith in God led, the project was announced and funds sought. So far the first floor of the building awaits completion.About $100,000 is needed to finish the first floor and make it operational until the planned second story can be funded.

Is this goal reasonable? Doable? How can a goal like this be realized?

It will take persistence and patience, courage and creativity. A group of 27 men and women have committed to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro later this month, and in the process, seek donors to support the climbers in raising the $100,000 needed to complete the Dormitory building.

Realizing this goal requires physical conditioning to get ready, and the courage to keep going to the top, a climb topping out at 19,360 feet. I am going to do it, but to tell you the truth…it is a daunting challenge.

But that is the nature of goals that stretch and call for effort beyond what is ordinary. While I am not predicting how I will measure up to the challenge, the cause for which I and others –including our founder and CEO, Dr. Mutunga—have determined to serve, is worth it.

Goals that do not challenge our best probably do not do much good. The goal we are seeking is not easily achieved…but we believe it will be accomplished. We do not want to be like the 10% who give up, or the 70% who just don’t make any goals.

It had been hoped that by 2011, the building’s funding could be secured, and the project completed. That has not happened. But goals are meant to keep us focused on what needs to be accomplished. We are not growing tired of helping the children, and believe that this goal for a functioning dormitory building is worth pursuing.

The climb begins on January 23 and is completed on January 29. As God stirs in your heart to give for this effort, connect with our website and make a donation today.

Our goal is to serve the children. A completed dormitory takes us to a new level of service.

In July this year, a greenhouse was set up through this partnership and within four months, the investment has borne fruit. In November, MCC saw revenue of $277. This amount may not seem huge and it can make a huge difference in that part of the world.

William was excited to share with me how they are spending the revenue. He said in part….
“70% of the expected revenue is to be channeled towards empowering economically challenged members like the mature women, some of whom are new converts and have had to leave their former jobs like pub attendance, prostitution, drug trafficking as well as reach out to the needs of orphans and other needy cases. 10% will go in to missions and outreach. Another 10% will be left as savings while the remaining 10% will contribute to the general Chapel budget.”

This report is encouraging to me in many levels. Within three short years, the planting of a church in an economically challenged area has accomplished several key things:
1. Souls have been won to the Lord
2. New jobs have been created for the poor through the in-come generating projects
3. The church is fulfilling God’s call in James 1:27—true religion looks after the widows and orphans
4. The church is meeting the physical needs of the elderly who see the church as their only family.

The story of Jesus’ birth is a story of vulnerability and danger. First, Mary and Joseph were out of their normal living spaces, on the road subject to the discomforts and of road trips. Then, just when things were getting pretty comfortable, the family left in the middle of the night for a trek into Egypt to escape the threats of King Herod who in a jealous rage had ordered that children two years of age and under were to be killed.

So they were displaced from their home town and became refugees to a foreign country.

How Mary and Joseph managed to provide food and shelter for their new family is not clear. Perhaps Joseph was able to find work using his skill as a builder and craftsman. In addition, it may be that the gifts of the Magi were used for needed cash to provide basic resources for a time.

Christmas reminds us of the importance of gifts to help the vulnerable and needy. As Jesus’ family received notable gifts…just when they needed them…today we have an opportunity to help vulnerable and orphaned children find hope and a life that God always intended for them. Tumaini exists to help children who are displaced from their normal home life and are at risk for thriving and growing as God intended.

As the year ends, some may be considering making a donation in support of Tumaini ministries. These tax deductible gifts mean so much to the children and their families who may be living on as little as $1 per day.

A drive to raise at least $100,000 for Tumaini ministries is underway with the Mt. Kilimanjaro climb scheduled in mid January. There are 27 climbers– who have all paid their own way to Africa– who are seeking to find donors to support the climb. At this writing we are about half way to the goal.

As God stirs in your heart of give, consider visiting our website, and donate for the Kilimanjaro fund. You can donate in support of one of the climbers, or just make a donation is support of the project.

In so doing, you enter into the need to extend grace and mercy to children who need it the most. It is in the spirit of the first Christmas, and in honor of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, that generous gifts…like the Magi brought that first Christmas…will make a difference in the survival and health of children in Kenya.

On that momentous day, they made the observation that this population milestone was both an achievement and a challenge. Their report continues to state that this 7 billion growth has implications for sustainability, urbanization, access to health services and youth empowerment.”

What I found most thought provoking in the UN report, however, was a bold call to what they have dubbed, 7 Billion Actions aiming to achieve two key objectives:

1. Building global awareness around the opportunities and challenges associated with a world of seven billion people.
2. Inspiring governments, NGOs, private sector, media, academia and individuals to take actions that will have a socially positive impact.

The 7 Billion Actions got me thinking. Wow, the United Nations has a plan. What about me? What about the Church? As Christians, we know we have both the evangelistic mandate clearly spelled out in Matthew 28: 19-20 as well as the compassion mandate spelt out in many bible passages including James 1:27.

In the wake of the 7 billion population, what could God be saying to the Church, particularly the 1 billion people who live under $1.00 a day? How are we to show our compassion in a world whose population is growing faster than the resources, or at least the distribution of the resources?

This is where Tumaini comes in. I think it is not coincidental that the world population turned 7 billion in October, almost to the date when our organization celebrated its 10th year anniversary! Do we need to re-think our approach, widen our scope and aim bigger as the challenges are only growing bigger? Didn’t Moses in Deuteronomy 15:11 say something about the poor always being with us, a reality that Jesus also alluded to twice in Matthew and Mark?

In a way, our work in Tumaini is just beginning. Sorry if you thought we were almost done! No. In fact, if the world’s population tops 8 billion in another 18 years (on March 15h, 2029) as currently projected, the implications are that our work of compassion will need to double.

So, what is Tumaini’s 7 Billion Actions? Or more accurately, what should be our 7 Billion Actions? Well, we know that we are not the United Nations. We do, however, serve a mighty and most amazing God. All you need to do is look back at what He has enabled us to accomplish in 10 short years. We will rely on Him for strength and guidance.

We have new and exciting plans that we will be sharing with you in the coming months and years. We want to reach out to more orphans and lead them to the Lord. Going forward we will be more intentional in poverty mitigation among the poor through a variety of transformational community development activities; and finally, we will continue to plant more New Testament churches. Stay tuned!