Catching Up

We will back up to Monday and try to catch you up on what we've been doing. Kelly is helping me catch you up.

Monday morning we went to Kamiti Men's maximum security prison in Nairobi. Although we were not granted access to visit the prisoners, we had a successful meeting with the officer in charge and senior chaplain laying the foundation for the future of CR.

In the afternoon we visited Langata Women's Prison. We thought we were there to share our stories with them, God had other plans. After hearing some of our testimonies, some of the women prisoners in CR share gave their testimonies, taking CR to a whole new level as it was the first time any of the inmates had shared that openly. Even the chaplain was blown away by their sharing.

We ended Monday worshipping with a youth group called Ebenezer that we have a very strong relationship with. Mike and Kelly shared their testimony, touching many people. It was great to hear their testimonies of how CR has given them permission to talk openly. We had fun singing and dancing too :-).

Wednesday
Now we skip ahead to Wednesday because we have already posted for Tuesday. We visited Oasis of Hope, a drop in center for street kids. To read more about Oasis go to their blog linked to this page. It was great to see their new building and how much room there is for future growth. Kelly really enjoyed seeing Mike hanging out with the kids. The kids absolutely loved him. We joined them during recess then attended their Wednesday church service. Everyone had multiple hanging on them, it was awesome loving on these kids.

Later we went to Kitale Main Prison and met with the men in CR, about 60 inmates and 7 mzungus packed in a small room. We were granted access to videotape the meeting record some amazing testimonies. One inmate even shared a poem that he wrote about CR which I will post later. God blessed our time there with a rainstorm which was much needed because of the drought. They sang for us because the rain was so loud we couldn't continue talking.

Next we visited the Women's prison and were met with a warm welcome and great singing. We taped more testimonies from women that had gone through CR. God is so good and lives are changing. I can't wait to see how these videos are going to help other Africans see how CR can help them.

Thursday (Today)
At 5 am this morning, Noah walked to the local bicycle taxi stand to get a ride to the commuter van, then took a taxi to the Kitale Club (a 3 hour journey) to spend time with us. Noah was in prison for 7 years and started the first CR in Kenya almost 5 years ago in prison. He was falsely accused of murder and when he finally went to trial late last year he was found innocent and released. I think of Paul and how the time he spent in prison God used for good. To me Noah is a modern day Paul. Now he is looking at starting CR outside. He was so excited to receive a CR Bible and meet 4 of the people with testimonies in it.

A visit to Kitale would not be complete without a visit to Sister Freda's Hospital. CJ & her husband, Richard enjoyed a reunion and walk around the farm to compare farming stories. Sister Freda gave a gracious tour of the compound to see the growth of her ministry. The nursing school is progressing well and will give so many people an opportunity for education and equip them to care for so many.

We drove to Eldoret (1 1/2 hours) and went straight to the Eldoret women's prison for the first. We spent time getting acquainted then were granted access to visit the inmates. We introduced them to CR and shared our testimonies. They were obviously moved by our stories. I had a great reunion with Nolega, who is the mother of my God children in Kitale. She is doing well and her sentence has been commuted from the death penalty to 10 more years in prison. Praise God! The officer in charge wants to start CR and since Nolega has been through it she will be the leader. We left a few materials for them to get started. Asante sana Bwana (Thank you Lord).

Please pray for our seminar tomorrow(Friday) when we will introduce CR to senior pastors and prison chaplains in the North Rift Valley. Our team is doing well, everyone is healthy and having a wonderful time here serving God. The only challenge is keeping CJ and Mike separated as they tend to create mischief where ever they go :-). Now we are caught up to date. Thanks for your prayers, we could not do this without them. God's presence is evident everywhere we turn.