This letter is from Sanaipei's project! And the photos are from Compassion's Kenya Rural Region page.
Dear Eric and Hannah,
I am Rev. Samuel O K, pastor of [KE-901] in the EN division of K County, in the Rift Valley of Kenya, that ministers to your sponsored child at the [KE-901] CDC. I wish to express my sincere appreciation and thanks for the sponsorship and support that you give to Sanaipei. Positive changes have taken place through your intervention, so be blessed!
In the church where I minster, most of the members are Maasai. They are mainly "pastoralists" who raise livestock, and they heavily rely on this practice as their main economic activity. The land is rocky and rarely receives rain, thus does not support crop farming.
This community faces a lot of challenges -- for instance, high poverty levels from long droughts that take the lives of cattle the depend on for a living, a high level of illiteracy, and traditional practices like female genital mutilation and polygamy, both of which the community has long been promoting and still practices to date, even as the church continues to enlighten them. Sometimes there is a lack of full participation of our church members, as they keep moving from one place to another in search of green pastures for their animals. Despite this, the church has been able to achieve a lot in terms of educating the community about the Word of God.
Our church vision is to serve all people as Christ did, without favor. We strive to emulate this as the greatest service to our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our center exists as an advocate in releasing children from all scopes of poverty. Personally, I have seen an impact of the center on the children attending compared to other children within the community. Children attending the center tend to develop good morals because of the way they are taught the word of God. They also know how to relate well with others and benefit from skills they are taught as they apply to their future lives.
The other way the church ministers to the community is through youth conferences, fellowship conferences for men and women, and through the church school/junior youth conferences which remain outstanding events in the church calendar. The number of sponsored children's families that attend the church is impressive, as many have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior.
The sponsor-child relationship is of great value. When sponsors communicate with children, their joy cannot be hidden. Our children love to share their sponsor's information with their teachers, peers in the center, and their families. This reminds them that there is somebody somewhere who loves them and cares for them. When children do not receive a letter, they are not able to learn anything new from their sponsors. You can see these letterless children reading from their friends' letters and wishing they had one as well. Communication from a sponsor is the most vital thing for children, as they get information about their sponsor's country and family, as well as much-needed encouragement.
I request that you sponsors pray for your children's lives, that God may accomplish their plans in the future, and that they may continue to love the Lord with all their hearts. Please pray also for their families, that God may give them strength and good health.
Finally, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to you for choosing to make a difference by sponsoring Sanaipei. May God bless you richly.
Faithfully yours,
Samuel O K
If you would like to sponsor a child from Kenya, please consider sponsoring 7-year-old Kanana, who has been waiting over 6 months for a sponsor!
Kanana's birthday is November 9. She lives with one sibling and her single mother, who is sometimes employed. Kanana enjoys art or drawing, dolls, playing hide-and-seek, singing, doing arts and crafts, learning about God and singing songs. At home she is responsible for carrying water, child care and gardening or farming. To sponsor Kanana, click here.
