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.
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| Seeing Mueni for the first time in 2012 |
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| When we first met Mueni, we were told surgery would save her eyes but that was not the case |
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| Mueni when we thought her vision could be saved |
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| Mueni getting her new dress from a donor, before leaving Mbooni to go to Salvation Army School for the Blind |
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| Mueni's first day, moving in at Salvation Army School for the Blind in Nairobi |
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| Elizabeth's first visit to see how Mueni is doing. She's very happy there! |
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| 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.
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| Matt, Elizabeth, Rachelle, Zack and Kendall |
So Close
by Dawn Brown
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!
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| Cooking for the kids outside in nice weather |
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| Serving the food in Elizabeth's yard |
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| Serving the food in Elizabeth's yard |
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| Serving the food in Elizabeth's yard |
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| Hungry kids with lots of energy at the Bible lesson |
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| Hungry kids with lots of energy at the Bible lesson |
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| Meal time in Elizabeth's yard |
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| 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
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