Dear Friends –
Jambo from Kenya! Pastor Steve Njenga, his wife Mary and their adorable 5-year old son Lucas (Kenny is away at school for the next week) send their appreciation and love from afar. I am beyond blessed to spend serious quality time with the family – especially Pastor Steve. We’ve traveled around the countryside for hours on end the last few days taking care of business and talking about life, family and ministry. God is so much working through him, and I believe without a doubt if we can simply build up Pastor Steve’s ministry through encouragement and finances then we are doing God’s will for David’s Hope and the kids. Steve’s vision is big, sensible and essential. He is committed, genuine, smart, and trustworthy — such a big-hearted man with incredible singular focus on simply helping people and spreading the gospel. Mary is his perfect partner.
Unfortunately, I am having a tough time finding my voice right now. It is incredibly overwhelming, not in a ‘look at the poor kids and give them a sweet’ kind of way, rather it is just different this time compared to our Global Impact team trip in December. I’m seeing life — real, unfiltered and uncensored in a way that is tough to experience traveling in a large group on a short-term mission trip. I am seeing inside Pastor Steve’s soul and the struggles he faces every day. I am seeing the reality of Eburru, a town that since we left hardly six months ago has been ravaged by drought and famine. Before last month (when it was too late), it had rained twice since January. For a town 100 percent dependent on agricultural practices for its food supply, rain twice in five months is a death sentence. In the simplest terms possible: no rain = no crops = no food. Older people are dying of hunger and the destitute and orphaned children are suffering many from brain damage and stunted growth due to severe malnutrition. I am not going to name names, but our team knows some of them. Mary summed things up pretty well, saying, “Jeff, you are going to see the real Eburru this time around.”
God is doing incredible things here. Looking forward to doing a better job of putting words behind thought in the next few days. Please keep us in your prayers.
Sincerely, Jeff
