Saturday, March 24, 2018

You Saved Mueni / So Close / Rachelle's Memorial Thanks


You Saved Mueni

By Dawn Brown


All the orphaned children of Child Arise are loved by the Lord.  Mueni is one of His children and she is special to me personally.  I feel like God allowed me to “find” Mueni.  She wasn’t part of the ministry when our team visited Kenya in 2012.  The Lord kept putting her in front of me and her face kept standing out.

I will never forget seeing her for the first time. The one child that stood out to me immediately in the vast group of kids crowding around us when we walked onto the school compound.  I could tell something was wrong with her eyes, but I didn’t know she would soon be blind and I didn’t know she was orphaned. 

Later that day, our team was split up and I was put in Mueni’s class.  God again.  Joseph, Elizabeth Mativo’s son, was with me.  The teacher approached him and asked if he could help.  After we returned to the United States, we decided yes, we could.  When medical intervention wasn’t an option, we eventually placed her in the Salvation Army School for the Blind in Nairobi, where she could get the help she needs.

This winter, we got word that she was having severe, continuous abdominal pain and Elizbeth’s daughter, Irene, had to take her to the hospital where it was determined that she needed surgery immediately.  If you’re on our email list, you would have gotten the prayer request.


You can’t have surgery without money and Irene didn’t have any.  As God would have it, someone Irene worked with was at the hospital and saw Irene with sobbing Mueni at her side.  This woman’s husband is a surgeon and he arranged for her to have the surgery without payment for 2 weeks.

When I found out this surgery was $3,939, I was surprised by how expensive it was for Kenya and how expensive it was for Child Arise.  We try to help with medical expenses when we can, but it’s usually things like an antibiotic or pain medicine, not major procedures or surgeries.  

Without this surgery, she would have died, but instead, Mueni is doing very well.  After the prayer request went out, along with our need for payment, we were in awe, as we watched every dollar come in over the next week!  The bill was paid in full and there was even enough money for the important follow up doctor’s appointment.  

Seeing Mueni for the first time in 2012

When we first met Mueni, we were told surgery would save her eyes but that was not the case

Mueni when we thought her vision could be saved


Mueni getting her new dress from a donor, before leaving Mbooni to go to Salvation Army School for the Blind
 
Mueni's first day, moving in at Salvation Army School for the Blind in Nairobi
Elizabeth's first visit to see how Mueni is doing.  She's very happy there!




Recent picture of a much more confident and happy Mueni  


Special Thanks


To all who prayed and made donations in memory of our daughter-in-law,
Rachelle (Moseley) Brown.
We thank you.

 
Matt, Elizabeth, Rachelle, Zack and Kendall


So Close

by Dawn Brown

We are so close now to the completion of our building!  Once it can be occupied, it will be so much easier for Elizabeth and the other women who help her.  They have been cooking, feeding, cleaning up and teaching over 200 energetic, hungry kids in Elizbeth’s yard in all kinds of weather!  

On the equator, the summer sun can be very intense.  In the winter on the mountain, the rain is cold and the wind can be harsh. Imagine these women and teens cooking outside over an open fire for 200 kids, with no running water, no electricity or gas, and then it starts pouring down rain. 

  

Of those 200 children, 75-100 of them are orphaned.  Many have caregivers who are not yet Christian.  They get a good meal, love and hear about the Lord.  We have 45-50 who attend our Bible study and meal for widowed women.  The meals meet the physical needs, but the Bible lessons have produced much fruit, both in spiritual growth of hurting believers and those who have trusted Jesus for the first time. 

 

We’ve had a lot of bumps in the road with the construction and the government requiring quite a few changes to our location and building itself, but we are well underway and heading towards completion.  The location of our building even has electricity!

We are so close!  We don’t want to have to stop construction for lack of funds, because it will only get more and more expensive with their extremely high inflation.  All that’s left is roofing, gutters, plastering, painting, doors, windows, floor, a security gate and rain water collection tank. 


We have spent about $118,000 and anticipate needing about $25,000 more, which will be way under budget.  Please prayerfully consider if you would like to be a part of finishing this very important building project.  Thank you so much for what you’ve done already!

Cooking for the kids outside in nice weather
Serving the food in Elizabeth's yard

Serving the food in Elizabeth's yard


Serving the food in Elizabeth's yard
Hungry kids with lots of energy at the Bible lesson

Hungry kids with lots of energy at the Bible lesson

Meal time in Elizabeth's yard

Meal time in Elizabeth's yard



Prayer Requests


Elizabeth fell 4 years ago and hurt her knee so that she wasn’t able to walk for weeks.  It’s been fine until recently.  Her knee has suddenly become quite painful.  She has a lot of walking on mountain trails, not to mention all she’s doing monitoring the construction site.  Please pray for that knee to heal again.


Pray for the children who just started high school in January, that this will be a smooth transition.
Pray for the government because things are not going well. It is a corrupt government.

Pray for the Feeding Center. The building is not done yet. Pray that the funds are available and that the building is completed quickly.

Pray for the widow’s strengthening of their hearts to build their faith. Pray especially for Agnes Ngunu who has been sick, pray that she returns to good health.


 

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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