August Days

God allows the seeds to grow!

One of the six vertical garden being tended by the Iftin women's group in Eastleigh. Each of the gardens are doing very well. We will be carrying out a mass planting day with women who want to begin gardens of their own in their apartments, or on roof tops, near the end of September.

Training continues with the Noor Jewelry Project

With no power and poor lighting in Eastleigh, Erica has been hosting the Noor ladies in our home as they continue their training in jewelry making. The ladies are preparing for a large show to be held next week at the Sarit Centre in Westlands, Nairobi. The transition from "training mode" to having them form a viable business is a challenge. But slowly by slowly the pieces are coming together. The ladies were very encouraged to learn that a small order of their beads sold at the Atlantic Baptist Convention Assembly in Atlantic Canada last week. God is good!

Erica enjoying a unique dinner

with our friends Joy and Don Hepburn.

Last evening, while the kids were enjoying sleepovers, we were able to meet our friends the Hepburns -- in transit from Rwanda. Don and Joy are leading a team from their church on a short term mission trip, serving our partner churches and schools there. They shared several stories of the impact the trip had upon their group. A great highlight was witnessing a baptism of about thirty people on the shores of Lake Kivu. Canadian Baptists have been involved at many levels serving churches and communities in Rwanda, but perhaps the most accute need that we have addressed is with orphans and vulnerable children through the "Children of Hope" ministry. Throughout Rwanda, child-heads-of-households are being helped with education, support and basic physical assistance through communities of faith, love and concern.

With our time short, and traffic so terrible in the city, we treated Don and Joy to a tailgate picnic in the parking lot of the Jomo Kenyatta Airport while they awaited their connecting flight home. It was VERY FUN! We had a few odd looks. At one point a tour bus pulled up and we are pretty sure we saw someone snap of few pictures of us drinking our coffee and enjoying sandwiches.

We pray for a safe journey for the Fallingbrook volunteers as they return to Ontario. They have surely shared a transformative experience together over the past weeks.