PROJECT CHRISTMAS JOY~Give A Gift That Will Change A Life

The women & children enjoy Bible & fellowship time.

 



You can see how dark their homes are inside during daylight hours. Imagine how hard it would be to do homework by candle light when it gets dark at 6pm on the equator.

 

The children don’t have enough to eat & they need to be in school consistently each year, each trimester.

 

 

Elderly widowed women sleep on rags.

 

They are thankful for the food they are given.  Many older widowed women have taken in orphaned children they did not give birth to.

 

Clean water is such a blessing!  It’s still hard work, but disease free.  Gasoline is needed to run our generator for our borehole.

 

 

The able bodied women want to  learn to plant & harvest

but they need the tools to garden on their own.

 

 

 They are thankful for the food they are given.

 

 

100% of your donation goes to Kenya!

Donations can be made to

Child Arise Kenya

Widows & Orphans Ministry

827 5 Ave Dr W

Andalusia IL 61232

309-798-2596

dawn@childarisekenya.com

ChildAriseKenya.com

Child Arise Kenya is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt ministry

 

 



 



Progress for Widowed Women!

Progress for Widowed Women!

By Dawn Brown

Some of the women at their midweek Bible study.

It's always amazing to me to see what the Lord will do with the obedience of one!

Elizabeth Mativo and her husband, Pastor Onesimus Mativo, had always been kind to widowed women, even though that goes against the cultural norm in Kenya, where widows are mistreated and looked down on.

When Elizabeth Mativo’s husband died in 2008, she felt so lonely & depressed.  In addition to losing her wonderful, kind, loving, godly husband and lifelong missionary partner, Elizabeth was experiencing all the discriminatory hardships other widowed women experience in Kenya. 

Child Arise widowed women sing praises.

People were telling her that nobody cared about her anymore, that her own family didn’t love her, and some even came to steal her property, all of which are common for widowed women there.

 

As she began to look at the other widowed women around her, she felt the Lord leading her to start a ministry for them; to encourage them from the Bible, to pray together, and to reach out to widowed women who didn’t yet know the Lord in a saving way.   

As a well-educated, widely known and respected missionary with African Inland Church (AIC), she had never heard of any type of grief support group before.

Ladies prepare a meal to share.

When Elizabeth Mativo came to visit us in the United States in 2009-2010, she attended Homewood Evangelical Free Church and participated in different grief ministries there.  She took every informational paper and booklet on grief support she could get her hands on.



Elizabeth Mativo with her Homewood Grief Group friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fast forward to Kenya 2014.  The women of Child Arise Kenya Widows and Orphans Ministry recently participated in a drama competition with OTHER widowed women groups from ALL OVER a wide area of Kenya.  They placed fifth out of thirteen!  Their play was based on Dorcas, in Acts 9.

 

Every year, Elizabeth speaks in Kenya, at the District and Regional level, about Child Arise Kenya Widows and Orphans Ministry.  Using Biblical support, she calls the church to care for widows and explains their needs.  Now, every church Elizabeth knows of, has such a group!  She also says that the attitudes towards widows have improved greatly within the church!

Widowed women take a Bible test to qualify for

recognition after intense advanced study.

Part of our Statement of Purpose says, “Child Arise will endeavor to educate communities on changing their discriminatory attitudes towards widows.”  Through the hard work of Elizabeth Mativo and those who pray and donate, the Lord is doing just that!

 

Elizabeth Mativo was elected this year as Chair Person for all AIC Widow’s Programs in the Machakos region.

Award ceremony for graduates of the advanced Bible studies.

 

 

When you partner prayerfully and financially with Child Arise Kenya Widows and Orphans Ministry, you are participating with THE ONE, in obedience, to “look after widows and orphans in their distress” as HE tells us in James 1:27.

 

Prayer Requests From Missionary Elizabeth Mativo

U Pray for spiritual growth in all the groups.  We continue to testify of the Lords grace and providence all through the year and we thank God for this.

UAs we come to close of the year, let’s pray for the candidates who will be doing their primary school national examinations.

U For the Lords provision and favor as we approach Christmas and the New Year.

UThe Board of Directors in Kenya asks that we thank God for Elizabeth’s health this year!  The Board of Directors in the United States agrees!
 

ULet’s pray for the USA team coming in 2016, that God will prepare them for the funds needed, the medical preparations necessary, for them to adapt to the weather this side and mostly that the Lord will use them to bring glory to His name.

 

*LIKE* and GET NOTIFICATIONS on our facebook page

100% of your donation goes to Kenya!

Donations can be made to

Child Arise Kenya

Widows & Orphans Ministry

827 5 Ave Dr W, Andalusia IL 61232

309-798-2596

dawn@ChildAriseKenya.com

ChildAriseKenya.com

Child Arise Kenya is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt ministry

 

Nzioka Is Top Student!

Nzioka Is Top Student!

By Dawn Brown

I remember meeting Nzioka Musembi during our visit to one of the primary schools in Mbooni.  I saw the scars on his face and could tell they ran under his school uniform too.  A school administrator and a teacher had brought him to us and began speaking words I couldn’t understand.  My mind wandered, trying to imagine what this child had experienced in his young life.  I knew I could never even begin to understand. 

I wondered how he felt about being paraded in front of us.  Were we the first white people he’d ever seen?   Were we bizarre looking to him?  So many other children were watching.  Were they his friends?  Did they treat him well or was he ridiculed?  What kinds of emotional hardships has he faced?



Teacher, Nzioka, Joseph Onesimus (our team leader), Administrator~

Our team being introduced to Nzioka.
 

They told us he was very intelligent, had much potential, but was in and out of school because his widowed mother didn’t have the funds to keep him and his sister in school consistently.

 

I handed him a piece of paper and asked him to write his name.  How would he feel when I asked him to hold his name up while we took his picture?  Had he ever had his picture taken before?  Had he ever seen a camera?  Would he feel like a celebrity or would it be demeaning?

That was the system I was using to keep track of the names and faces after we returned home.  I knew from other short term mission trips, that memories fade, even when you think they won’t.


“Oh God,” I quickly and silently prayed, “May we do more good for this boy than harm.”

 

We had spent the morning in meetings with administrators & teachers, learning how their educational system works compared to ours, and what type of needs they have. 

 

Elizabeth Mativo told us it was significant that the educators brought Nzioka to our attention over all the other children in the school.  She had not been fully aware of the financial need and she was not aware of Nzioka’s strong possibility of above average achievement. 

 

It was shortly after our trip and more investigating and interviewing, that Elizabeth added Nzioka to the list of orphaned children that Child Arise is trying to keep in school consistently.  Praise God and thanks to you donors, she has been able to do that!

Elizabeth & Nzioka in his new shirt given by Child Arise donations & sent by sea container.

  

In Kenya, not every child can attend high school.  A difficult national test is given and only those who pass are allowed to enter.  The passing children are told which high school to report to, based on their performance on the exams. 

 

Early this year, the announcement came that Nzioka was number one in the entire district of Mbooni!  Mbooni district is huge!  He reported to the top notch, Nakuru National High School.  It’s a great distance from his home, so he doesn’t often get back to see his mother, sister and grandmother.  So far he is doing very well in high school.  At this time, he hopes to become a doctor someday and longs to help others.

 

Nzioka's mother and Nzioka at the feeding program and Bible lesson.

 

Traditionally, when a woman marries, she becomes part of the husband’s family and moves to his family area.  After the death of Nzioka’s father, the husband’s relatives started to abuse his mother.  Eventually, she moved her children back to her widowed mother’s home to escape the situation.  Nzioka has been raised by his mother and grandmother for years.

 

A common practice for men, his mother now works in a faraway city, trying to sell biscuits and candy in the streets, to people riding the Matatus (mini buses or trucks that transport people). 

Nzioka's mother.

 

There’s never enough to meet the most basic needs of her children, her mother and herself.  In the past, she and her mother have found work as land laborers, or fetching water for businesses or any other manual jobs they can get.  They work very hard, but earn little.

 

Nzioka's sister and mother on the left.

 

When Nzioka was a little boy, he fell into a cooking pot of hot broth and was badly burned.  The scars remain on his face and body.  I wonder what kinds of scars are hidden on the hearts of Nzioka and the other orphaned children of Child Arise. 

 When you donate to Child Arise Kenya Widows and Orphans Ministry, you are helping kids like Nzioka to have HOPE for the future.  God is using YOU to make a difference.  THANK YOU!

Prayer Requests From Missionary Elizabeth Mativo

U The children are on trimester school break.  Pray that the extra time with those in the feeding  program will be spiritually fruitful for all.

UPraise for the growing acceptance of widowed women within the church.

UPray for funds for a tanker truck to carry the water from our borehole to schools, businesses & homes.  There are people who need it, but it’s too far.  We have plenty of water, but no way to get it to them.

*LIKE* and GET NOTIFICATIONS

on our facebook page 

 

 

 

 

100% of your donation goes to Kenya!

Donations can be made to

Child Arise Kenya

Widows & Orphans Ministry

827 5 Ave Dr W, Andalusia IL 61232

309-798-2596

dawn@ChildAriseKenya.com

ChildAriseKenya.com

Child Arise Kenya is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt ministry

 

 

 

 



Our World, Their World, The REAL World.

Our World, Their World, The REAL World.  The REAL Gospel

By Dawn Brown

The world you & I live in is so very different than the world where the women & children of Child Arise live.  Our American world, gives us a much distorted view of the REAL world, the world where the majority of humanity lives.

 

Every 4 seconds in the REAL world, a child dies from a preventable cause.  If you earn $40,000 per year, you make more than 99% of the people in the world & if you make just $13,000 per year, you are in the top 10%!  My guess is that most reading this are at least in the top 10%.

 

Do you follow the REAL Gospel?  Many of us in the United States call ourselves Christians because we’ve made a decision to accept Christ as our Savior.  That’s very important, but there is so much more.  The REAL Gospel is not just “fire insurance” or a “sin management program”.  It’s the entire story of Jesus given to us in the Bible.  He showed us how we are to live with His words & by being the example.

 

We are to live our lives differently than how we lived before we trusted Jesus to be our Savior.  “Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”, are the words He gave us in what we call The Lord’s Prayer.  God’s “will be done on earth”.  That means here & now!

 

His Word tells us that the rich are to share with the poor; being generous with our money & our belongings.  The healthy will care for the sick.  The strong will protect the weak & seek justice for those who are marginalized & treated poorly.  God’s followers should have character traits of compassion, mercy, justice & love above & beyond those who do not have His Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

 

In their world, Ruth, a widowed elderly lady takes care of 3 children whose parents have died.  Two of the kids are seriously disabled & can’t take care of themselves at all.  They are older, but not potty trained, among many other problems.  How hard that must be for her with no income, no public services, no running water.

Ruth & 2 special needs orphans she cares for.

Widows Group praising God.

Ruth & Katheu, the child who is abled, say they praise God for Child Arise.  Katheu is thankful to be in school now.  Ruth says she gets so much encouragement from the Widows Group, Bible studies & prayer times.  This family has received food & blankets from Child Arise too & they are grateful.
 

Widowed woman explains to American team how important the

Widows Group is to encourage each other in the Lord.

 

In their world, widows are not treated well at all.  They are less than “second class citizens”.  Rhoda, a widow, receives no material help from Child Arise, but says she is blessed abundantly by the difference Elizabeth Mativo has made in her life with the Widows Group teaching & fellowship.

Beatrice (right) is thankful for her goat.

In their world, there are very few jobs, if any.  Beatrice is one of the younger widows.  Her young husband died in his sleep many years ago.  She raises their 17 year old son alone, trying to find work to provide for them, but it’s never enough for 2 meals a day & his school fees.  Beatrice is always at the church or Widows Group when there’s a time of prayer.  She loves the Lord & praises Him for the goat she received through Child Arise.

 

Has God filled you with love & concern for those living in poverty?  Does your heart break when you hear about the needs of the poor widows & orphans in Mbooni?  Has He given you a desire to help the women & children of Child Arise?  We need YOU!  THEY need YOU!



Mia Reynolds & her grandma made pot holders & sold them for Child Arise

Children have helped Child Arise.  A girl made pot holders & sold them, donating it all to Child Arise.  We’ve had kids sell their garden produce, do bake sales, sell bottled water at garage sales & hold lemonade stands.  They told others about the kids in Mbooni who will be helped.  Vacation Bible Schools have given their offering.  These kids are seeing something greater than themselves.  They are caring about the needs of others.

Sami, their friend, Mary & Joe Dailing sold baked goods & bottled water at their mom’s garage sale & made a display to explain the need for clean water, food & education.

The 5^th Annual Bike Ride Fundraiser just took place.  Riders ask for donations for riding, to support this ministry.  God put it on the hearts of 3 women to start this fundraiser.  They had no idea how to do it, but they began.  They followed God’s leading.  They continue to be used by God & are dedicated in DOING something for these women & children.

Lori Rice, Abby Benevidez & Kelene Henning head the Bike Ride fundraiser.

We need more who are willing to come along side us to raise awareness of the needs of these precious ones & the work the Lord is doing through Elizabeth Mativo.  Pray & ask God how He wants you to be involved.
   

Invite friends to your house to hear about the needs?  What about your Bible study group, Sunday school class or co-workers?  Hold a dessert fund raiser at your church?  Host a yard sale with proceeds going to Child Arise?  Ask God what your roll should be & call us to discuss it.  The possibilities are endless!

 

Prayer Requests From Missionary Elizabeth Mativo

U The children are just getting back to school after the trimester break.  I am so thankful for the donors who provide the funds for some of them to go to school.

U Pray for Nzioka.  He was top student in our entire district on National exams.  He is doing well in his first year of high school.  He has to change buses many times & it’s very far away, so he doesn’t get to come back to Mbooni to see his grandmother.

U Praise God.  The new high school students are adjusting well & doing good in school.  The boy far away from Mbooni is doing fine.

U I have been sick for 3 months.  I had malaria & now pneumonia.  I have medicine, but it is taking a long time to get well.  I am able to continue with the ministry because it is not bad enough to have to stop.  Praise God for that!

U Pray for funds for a tanker truck to carry the water from our borehole to all the schools, businesses and homes.  There are people who need it, but it’s too far from them and we have plenty of water, but no way to get it to there.

 

*LIKE* and GET NOTIFICATIONS on our facebook page

 

 

 

100% of your donation goes to Kenya!

Donations can be made to

Child Arise Kenya

Widows & Orphans Ministry

827 5 Ave Dr W, Andalusia IL 61232

309-798-2596

dawn@ChildAriseKenya.com

ChildAriseKenya.com

Child Arise Kenya is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt ministry