Family Love ~ GOD'S Love
By Dawn Brown
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| Elizabeth Mativo and Janet Dailing at the start of the widows and orphans ministry in 2009. |
I have the best mom ever! Janet Dailing raised her kids to feel loved, secure, and to be moral and independent, among many other things. She’s always been there when we needed her. She gave up so much to help my family when I had lymphoma at the age of 34 with 2 little boys.
She even became my caregiver at University of
Nebraska for 8 weeks during my bone marrow transplant procedure so my husband
Jeff, could continue to work and keep our little guys in school.
Now my mom needs us. In early December, for health and safety
reasons, we moved her into our home to better meet her needs.
It was obvious to me that there just weren’t
enough hours in a day and I would have to make some changes in my life. I began to eliminate my involvement in
ministries that have been very important to me over the years.
The most time consuming ministry for me is
Child Arise. Would I simply have to
dissolve the ministry that raises funds for Child Arise NGO in Mbooni Kenya?
My mom has loved Elizabeth Mativo since the day
they met back in 2001. She’s been a
supporter of Child Arise financially, prayerfully and helping me with many
tasks. Would she be disappointed in me
if I just let it go?
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Janet Dailing with the Mativos during their 1st visit, 2002, in their church planting days.
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Yes, Elizabeth would continue to work very
hard to share the love of Jesus with the widowed women and orphaned children in
her area. Yes, she would continue to
teach and encourage them from the Bible, lead them by her example of hard work,
and following and trusting the Lord. She
would still visit those who can’t leave their homes and reach out to widowed
women who don’t know the Lord in a saving way.
Then I began to think of all the widowed
women I met in Kenya who are taking care of orphaned children with grave
physical and mental disabilities and none of the advantages we have in this
country.
First I thought of Ruth. She’s an elderly woman and she has 4 orphaned
children, 2 of them with handicaps that require intense commitment from
her. Those 2 kids have severe mental
disabilities and along with many other things, they have voiding dysfunction. How does Ruth handle that with no bathroom,
no laundry facilities, and no water at her fingertips?
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| Ruth & some of the other women dividing up the grain for all the women. |
Then I thought of the widowed woman who has a
mentally ill adult daughter. When her
daughter doesn’t get her medication, she flees off into the dark forest in the
middle of the night. The woman has to
take her 2 little grandchildren in tow, and head into the forest to find the
daughter.
There are the demands on
the old lady with cancer who still must care for the orphaned children she took
in years before. What about the
struggles of the grandma with leprosy who’s raising her orphaned grandchildren. The list goes on and on. I can’t imagine the burdens and responsibilities
these widowed women carry.
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| Margaret has painful leprosy. |
No, I cannot dissolve this ministry that the
Lord clearly guided me to start. No, I
cannot turn my back on these precious women and children who are loved by the
Lord, every bit as much as He loves my family.
We have worked so hard, you and me, to
provide materially for these very needy women and children. We are making a difference that can be seen
all around Mbooni Kenya, by keeping these kids in school and providing some of
their physical needs.
How can I let these women and children down? How can I let you down? How can I walk away? Most importantly, how can I say no to the Lord? I cannot.
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| Agnus cares for orphaned children & is dedicated to working with the Sunday School children. |
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It’s a bittersweet time. My mom leaving the home she loves, me
stepping back from ministries that are important to me, the joy of having my
mom in our home and privilege of serving her and the Lord in our new
adventure. My desire is that, with the
Lord’s help, we can be there for my mom like she has been there for all of us
for so many years.
As we continue to move forward, I hope and
pray that you who donate to Child Arise will continue to remember those “widows
and orphans” in Mbooni. I hope that you
will give me grace and forgive me if I’m not able to provide you with the
updates and information on a regular basis, like I have in the past. The needs will still be there.
This article was printed with permission and
the blessing of my mom, Janet Dailing.
She will be faithful helping with the mailing of this newsletter;
folding, stuffing and stamping, as usual, serving the Lord and the women and
children of Child Arise. My mom
continues to be a blessing to many!
  Prayer Requests
Pray for my daughter Irene
& her new husband, Kevin. They were
married in January!
Pray for the children as
they start the new school year.
Praise for how far we have
come in our community because of our blessings from the church in American.
Prayer for my mother’s
health and for my friend; Dawn’s mom, Janet Dailing.
Pray for Kenya. We have much violence and our economy is failing.
*LIKE* and GET NOTIFICATIONS on our facebook page100% of your donation goes to Kenya!Donations can be made toChild Arise KenyaWidows & Orphans Ministry827 5 Ave Dr W, Andalusia IL 61232309-798-2596dawn@ChildAriseKenya.comChildAriseKenya.comChild Arise Kenya is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax-exempt ministry |
