“What binds us together is the prayer, the promise and the lifting of each other’s burdens, the commitment we have made and kept, to be companions to each other on the road that we share. What binds us together is the laying down of our lives for each other in a way that we cannot even explain.” from Living Prayer by Robert Benson
Sometimes we travel to unexpected places on “roads” we are not familiar with, are not really sure how to navigate, and actually do not even know what our destination is. But we travel confident in the promise that awaits us.
On April 17, a group of Covenant members will travel to Kenya to explore the opportunities for Covenant to meet with some amazing people who are passionately and boldly helping the children of Africa.
We will meet Clive and Mary Beckham who, while involved in a number of humanitarian projects, became aware of the plight of abandoned and orphaned babies, particularly those born HIV positive. They started New Life Homes where the babies are treated with the dignity, love and respect that all babies deserve. With a generation of parents dying from poverty and AIDS, the traditional extended tribal structures can no longer care for the unprecedented number of orphans. In Africa, over 40 million children have lost one or more of their parents, and they are vulnerable to neglect, abuse, radical politics and perhaps to eventually getting AIDS themselves. Babies are abandoned in hospitals, ditches, bus stops and pit latrines. When found, they are brought to the New Life Homes orphanages and cared for…and a unique phenomenon has been experienced…over 75% to 90% of the HIV positive babies admitted became HIV negative after a few months of care. The babies are adopted by families who take a radical stand for the value of children and against the taboo of adoption and the tyranny of tribalism. Together with their new families, these babies are the most hopeful part of the story, and these new families are the beginning of a generation of progressive leadership. We also will visit the Ark Family Home which houses ten children over the age of two, and cares for children who have not been adopted, usually due to special medical needs.
We will meet Salvador and Irma Astudillo de la Torre. Together these two people are firm in their commitment to the African people. Salvador is a doctor with Tumutumu Hospital. The hospital site was chosen in 1909, and since 1956 is one of three mission sites sponsored by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. Tumutumu serves as a teaching hospital, as well as providing the rural community it serves preventive and basic curative health care. With admissions of over 7,000 patients a year, the hospital provides excellent maternal, child health care and AIDS prevention. Tumutumu provides training to approximately 100 nursing students annually by providing hands-on experience in the community. Irma’s commitment to the children of Africa is very obvious when you have the opportunity to listen to her story. Committed to educating the children and giving them hope to escape the poverty, she serves with the St. Phillips School, located in one of the worst slums, Mathare, in Nairobi. Mathare is a collection of slums with a population of approximately 500,000 people. Irma also has a presence with the Renguti Elementary School. Started by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, and adopted by the women of the church to serve children, this school provides what is often the only nutritional daily meal a child will receive and their life sustaining AIDS medication.
We will meet the African artists and bead makers when we visit the Kazuri Bead factory. Founded by Lady Susan Wood, child of African missionaries, this visionary recognized the need for jobs for impoverished African women. Begun in 1975 in a simple shed with two employees, the Kazuri Bead project has grown into a successful center for needy women who have no other source of income. The beads are made with clay from the Mt. Kenya area the factory acts a social community as well and the hum of voices can be heard all day. Kazuri is a member of the Fair Trade Act.
We will meet the women in Amani ya Juu, a refugee cooperative that is a sewing-marketing training project for marginalized women in Africa. The women involved in this project are learning to work together through faith in God who provides a higher peace that transcends ethnic differences.
Who else will we meet? We are not sure, but we hope to encounter many strangers who will become friends and will lead us to the destination that God intends Covenant Presbyterian Church to discover. We know the children of Africa need our support…and we will listen…we will watch carefully…we will learn…and pray that we can make a difference in the lives of the Kenyans and that they will make a difference in ours.
Would you like be a part of the travels? We would like to take a piece of each of you on our exploratory trip to Kenya. Here are the ways you help!
African Baby Steps …The Shoe Project
We would like to take with us 300 pairs of children new shoes (for children ages 1-5) for the children of New Life Homes, who are taking their first steps onto the road of a healthy life. Please bring shoes (without the boxes) to the Rec Wing or the church office by April5, 2009. Please bind the shoes together with string or a rubber band.
Swaddled in Grace…March 24, 6 pm
All women of Covenant Presbyterian Church, young and old alike are invited for a simple meal and a time of community. Much like the women of Africa, we hope to hear the hum of voices on this intergenerational night as you choose to make Amani ya Juu necklaces (to support the stay of an orphan in New Life Homes) and/or make flannel receiving blankets and knitted baby blankets to take to Africa in April. Bring your knitting needles, worsted yarn, and/or sewing supplies (needles, thread and scissors)…all other materials and patterns provided. A short video on New Life Homes will be shown. Make a reservation 704.333.9071 http://www.covenatnpresby.org/ by March 18th. Cost is $8.
Questions? Contact Martha Isaacs or Carla Leaf.
Anyone not able to attend, but would like to help,
contact Carla Leaf @704.804.7578 or carla.leaf@covenantpresby.org
Prayers for the Road…for the children, the Kenyans and those who travel.
Trip Participants:
Staff: Bob Henderson, Carla Leaf
Trip Leaders: Bill Keith, Kim Barnhardt
Team Members: Jerry Jernigan, Toney Mathews, David Isaacs, Kerr Collins, Mark McAlister ,Kristi Walters, Jerry East, Jane Kuester Taylor, Martie Griffin
Medical Team: Louise Rogers , Amy Ryan , Catherine Austin, Rebecca Nesbit , Will Summerville, Libba Gaither
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