 During my recent trip to Kenya in December visiting students and families in Children of the Kingdom, one of my biggest joys was getting to meet with some of the alumni from the program who shared wonderful updates about where their lives have taken them. In this amazing group, there were parents, teachers, government officials, nurses, directors of organizations, accountants, and nutritionists.  What stood out to me the most was their deep and committed love for God. It was clear through our conversation that they are such men and women of character and integrity, and it made me so proud to see how they truly are this ministry’s dream come true.  For almost 30 years, our mission has been to share God’s love through the gift of education to equip students to be servants in the Kingdom, and I had the chance to see the fruit of this work of so many who have come alongside and invested in their lives. It was even more powerful to hear how each of them is in turn investing in 5-10 dependents (outside of their families) to provide them with opportunities and support. This impact is beyond what we could have imagined. Below are a just a few of our beautiful sons and daughters of the King who have graduated from our program over the years and who are bearing such good fruit.  Dr. David Kamar Imana is the head of operations at Caritas, a humanitarian and development arm of the Catholic Diocese of Lodwar, Kenya. He also teaches part time at the university in Lodwar.  Flora Lemuya is a teacher who loves working with students and who shared that the opportunities she received through the program "made her somebody."  Stanley Esekon is an administrator for the Lodwar Municipality for the Turkana County Government.  Ann Ekiru is an assistant in human resources for the County Ministry of Health and Sanitation Services.  Mark Mekede is the Communications Officer for the County Assembly of Turkana.  Rose Natudao is a registered nurse serving patients at the Lodwar Clinic.  Below is a prayer I wrote in honor of those who are a part of Children of the Kingdom:
Lord, help our brothers and sisters in Children of the Kingdom to make something beautiful for You with their lives. May their words, choices, and actions be offered as true expressions of worship [1] Help them to love you from deep within, with the strength of their arms, the thoughts of their minds, and the courage of their hearts.[2] Amen. [1] From Morning Prayer from Every Moment Holy [2] From the beautiful translation of Matthew 22 from the First Nations Bible
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Though many are sharing messages of cheer for 2024, I am writing with some difficult news to start off the year. I was just informed that one of our wonderful young college students in India was killed by a motorbike on Saturday as she was going to work. As a way to grieve and mourn her loss, I wanted to share pictures of her here and to ask for prayers for her family.  Family Photo from 2010 (Mahima is in the bottom left of this photo) for when you've lost someone far too soon “There are spaces of sorrow only God can touch.” -Sister Helen Prejean, Dead Man Walking "God, this. This is impossible. This grief is too much to bear. If there was a tight order to the world that you made, it’s come unspooled and no one will wind it up again. God, I feel it coming, that ache for the stories that will never be told. And an anger rising when I remember what never should have been. Worst of all--God, could anything be worse?-- it is so beautiful the way this grief is a language of love. I am lovesick with this much sorrow. Teach me to speak this new mother tongue. Show me how to memorize so I can never forget what they gave and what is gone, and what we were owed by a world robbed of their presence. Hold me by the edges for I am coming apart. And nothing but love will find me." -Kate Bowler The Lives We Actually Have            Mahima with her sponsor Marcia Murray from a visit in 2012 above and other images below from visits in 2012, 2014, and 2018     "Be merciful to us, O merciful God, for we have lost one we loved, and there is no earthly balm to unmake this sadness. Only the ceaseless, tender work of your Spirit can braid bright strands of comfort across this weave of earthly sorrows."
- Douglas McKelvey, Every Moment Holy |
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