Pure Christianity

All in a day's work...

Ok, a couple of people have asked me to share the details of what we did today. I find it difficult to do this because we do what we do out of our love for people and a desire to meet their needs, not for any personal glory or gain. Fortunately, we are grateful it is YOUR donations we are spreading, so in that light, I don't mind sharing...

I have on my desk, a detailed note of what we did today... One side has a list of all items bought.

1. bunk bed
2. twin bed
3. medicine
4. rent (1)
5. medicine for 5 people
6. lantern lamp
7. house rent
8. house rent
9. 1st household shopping*
10. 2nd and 3rd households
11. 4th household
12. bought some food from shops in Rhonda
    a. flour 5kg
    b. sugar 1kg
    c. bar soap
    d. eggs
13. bought some charcoal and paraffin for at least 4 households
14. bought clothes and sheets

On the the other side it says, "People Helped." I'm leaving off people's last names for the sake of privacy.**

1. Roselyne-- bought her family a bunk bed
2. Mercy-- bought her a bed, paid her house rent, and bought her a lantern
3. Phab-- paid her house rent
4. Ezina-- bought her family food
5. Charles-- bought him medicines
6. Nelson-- paid his house rent
7. Jane-- bought her medicines
8. Beatrice-- Food for her family
9. Connice (for grandma and mother, hospital visits)
10. Norah-- bought meds and food for her family
11. Susan-- food for her family
12. Violet-- Meds and food for her family
13. Joyce-- medicine and food
14. Benard-- meds

*this means we bought food items and household items like soap, lotions, etc... for them

**all of the above people live in a slum here in Nakuru, and you cannot even begin to imagine their living conditions. If we bought a bed, it's because they are literally sleeping on the floor.

NOTE: we still need some mattresses. If you'd like to help, we need $100 to cover those costs.

~Kate

Quote of the Week

"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."

Muhammad Ali

How To

Just a reminder how you can contribute to what is going on here in Nakuru, Kenya.

Checks can be made out to Kenya Fund and mailed to:

713 West First Street
Beaver Dam, KY 42320
U.S.A.

or you can use Paypal.com and send to back2kenya@yahoo.com

We do as well have a Western Union office and MoneyGram office here in Nakuru. Use my full names; Johnny Lee Brooks.

We are on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/johnnybrooks

www.facebook.com/kate34

Twitter:

www.twitter.com/johnnybrooks

James 1:26-27 Again

Yesterday Kate posted “Lots Going On.” So why do we help these people? It’s a matter of faith and obedience for us. We believe it is the best way to demonstrate the love of God to the world (thus living out our own faith,) and we are obeying what God has asked us to do.

Much quoted on this blog, but I can’t get enough of it apparently:

Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

James 1:26-27 The Message

 

 

Johnny Brooks

Lots going on...

There's been a lot of things going on through A Future and a Hope.

Our HIV support meeting was wonderful. We fed over 110 HIV+ grownups and 100 more children (some HIV+, some not). While at the meeting, we discovered one of the ladies who is part of our HIV support group was very ill. We were able to take her to the hospital for some much needed treatment.

She is on an IV now, and how long she'll be admitted to the hospital is still unknown....

...which leads me to the reason for this article. This very ill 'mamma' has a young daughter about the age of my Makena. Her name is Connie, and she has been caring for her sick mom for quite some time now.

It's difficult for me to imagine Makena bathing me, cooking for me, cleaning house, and managing my affairs! Connie is a very mature young girl, BUT, now that her mom is in the hospital, she is completely alone in her small little shack in the slum.

We've been sending Ben to check on Connie each day, bringing food, and encouragement. Yesterday, Ben cleaned the house for her bc it was smelling badly. We want to pay for her 'lunch meals' at school so we are guaranteed she'll be fed everyday while there. Also, she needs school shoes, and most importantly, she needs her mom.

There have been times in my life when, out of the blue, I felt as if SOMEONE somewhere was praying for me. I believe that Father can comfort her during this tough time so I'm asking all of you to please pray for little Connie. We are doing what we can while she waits for her mom to get better in the hospital.

Grateful to have friends out there who will care,
Kate Brooks

Picture of the Week

Here’s Kate sitting behind a giant pile of stuff that a certain family in New York sent to us here in Nakuru, Kenya.

 

 

 

 

 

Trying on shoes at the shoe store, yes we have an actual shoe store. Thanks to CoreLove in Houston, for helping us to get shoes for our kids. (Thanks again to the kids of Pflugerville Methodist church for helping us buy shoes for the orphans.)

 

New shoes!

Hope?

I’ve got so many things running through my head and heart right now, that I’m finding it hard to nail just one down for a blog post.

Tomorrow I will be at one of our support groups for people living with H.I.V. I’m supposed to be talking to everyone about hope, not sure what I will or can say right now.

Will I talk about the hope of the resurrection? Hope of a cure? Hope in a vaccine? Hope that the world will actually care?

Hope that the poor inflicted with H.I.V. will be treated as brothers and sisters, because Jesus said so. Hope that the world will actually commit to helping those with H.I.V. even when Bono is not looking?

I’m not sure. All I can do, and all that Ben, Ali, Virginia, Kate, Lonnie and Pauline, can do is to keep loving one person at a time. I truly believe we can eradicate poverty and disease by loving and assisting one person at a time.

Johnny Brooks

Quote of the Week

"Love your neighbor as yourself" and that means, in the global village, we're gonna have to start loving a whole lot more people. That's what that means.

~Bono

Busy Day

This morning I was able to pay the last of the school fees for this year, the water bill, and get some much needed maintenance done on the van.

I sent the van off with our mechanic friend, George, about 15 minutes till 9 a.m. My plan was to go and pay the school fees and come back to Cafe Guava and use their internet hotspot to download some updates and podcasts.

First stop was Equity Bank to pay a school fee for a young man we have been sponsoring for a couple of years now. He is top of his class, and graduates this term from high school, or secondary school as it is called here. I made the mistake of standing in the line closest to the wall. Kenyans do not know proper line standing etiquette. They come in, stand for a second in line, then go to fill out the deposit slip, withdrawal slip, or whatever paperwork they need. When they finish, they don’t go to the back of the line, but instead just jump back in wherever they stood for a second. I would have never thought that standing in line properly would be important to me, but after a hundred people jump in front of you, it can be frustrating. O, I forgot to mention that the lines or queues in banks here are longer than amusement park ride lines.

Then it was Family Bank, where I stood in line for another half hour or so. Thankfully no one jumped in front of me. The teller’s printer did have several technical issues, must just not like white people.

Barclay’s Bank was my final bank stop. It was the line from hell. I stood, and stood. Then guess what, I stood some more. I ran a couple of scenarios through my head about how to get to the front of the line, but the hefty looking security guards deterred me.

More than two hours later I was sitting with Ali drinking a soda. The van showed up a couple of minutes later, and I rushed home to help cook lunch.

Moral of this story: Never do business at Equity Bank, Family Bank, or Barclays Bank.

Johnny Brooks

Kenyatta Day

Today is Jomo Kenyatta day here in Kenya, a public holiday. Meaning I can’t go to the bank and pay the last of the school fees for this year, I can’t go pay the electricity bill, and we can’t buy oil for the oil change on the van. Too bad.

Instead we will go out for lunch, all of us. Since there are so many of us, this rarely happens. The kids always enjoy it, and we like blessing them. In fact each and every day that goes by we love them more and more. I feel so blessed to be here taking care of these kids. It’s actually hard to explain.

Johnny Brooks