On February 12 this year, Moses Migwi, father of one of the students in our program, wrote to John Lohoi, director of Children of the Kingdom in Kenya. Moses reached out to share some difficult news that his son, Ian, had been bullied and beaten up by some other boys at school and had been hospitalized.  Needless to say, Ian was traumatized by this series of events, and his father was writing to ask for prayer.  He wrote, “I had to share this because Children of the Kingdom is a big part of our son’s life. We ask that you keep us in prayer as we trend this uncertain path and that God will direct our steps.”
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In the meantime, I wrote to Patty Tucker-Ladd, Ian’s sponsor, to ask her to send him a letter of encouragement. She wrote the following letter of response on February 13th. 

​And on Valentine’s Day, we received this picture from Ian’s father: 

Patty wrote me an email that day thanking John and Moses for making sure that Ian got the letter and for taking care of him.  A couple of weeks later, Ian was transferred to a new school and Patty wrote him another letter which was delivered to him there. He has been able to make new friends and has some very supportive and loving teachers.

The reason I share this with you is that this is a picture of what makes Children of the Kingdom stand out as an organization. We are a small child sponsorship program built on relationships that have deep roots.  And these relationships make such a difference.   The fact that we could get an email from a parent on one day and have one of our faithful sponsors respond via email the next day with a letter that was delivered connects them over the miles through love and encouragement.
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Our hope is that these children would experience the love of Christ through the gift of sponsorship. It is clear that there is a direct connection between our children and their sponsors in our program, and we rejoice in the way that God’s love is being made manifest through Children of the Kingdom.  

In honor of International Women's Day, I wanted to celebate the girls in our program by sharing the following prayer by Deborah Hirt: 

Lord, make me an instrument of peace:
Bless all women who daily strive to bring peace to their communities, their homes and their hearts. Give them strength to continue to turn swords into plowshares.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love:
We pray for all women who face prejudice, inequality and gender disparities. Help us seeand to face the discrimination against women inall the many forms it may take.
Where there is injury, pardon:
Comfort all women who suffer from the pain of war, violence, and abuse. Help them to become instruments of their own reconciliation and peace.
Where there is division, unity:
Forgive all women and men who let differences breed hate and discrimination. Let your example of valuing all of creation help us to see that we are equal partners in the stewardship of your world.
Where there is darkness, light; where there is untruth, truth:
Comfort all women who struggle in the darkness of abuse, poverty, and loneliness. May we stand with them in light to acknowledge their suffering and strive to remove the burdens of shame or embarrassment.
Where there is doubt, true faith:
We pray for all women who live in fear of their husbands, fathers, and forces that control their lives. Help them to be empowered to be their true selves through your everlasting love and faith.
Where there is despair, hope:
We pray for all women who live in the despair of poverty, violence, trafficking, slavery,and abuse. May the light of your love bring them hope.
Where there is sadness, new joy:
Help us to see the strength and goodness in all women and men.
Transform our hearts to celebrate the love and grace of all people...
Amen. 

​Children of the Kingdom is a small organization made up of sponsors who care DEEPLY about the children.  Two of those sponsors are Brant and Virginia Bousquet from Franklin, Tennessee.

​The Bousquets started sponsoring Michael Ekai Ekiru after hearing Emily Huff share at her parents’ church, Christ Community Church in Franklin, about Children of the Kingdom in 2003.  Michael was a street child whose father died when he was very young.  Bishop Samwel Kaaleng, the founder of Children of the Kingdom in Lodwar, recognized Michael's potential and knew he could amount to so much more than where he was headed. He recommended him to our program, and Michael was matched with the Bousquets in May 2003. After a mission trip in 2006 to South Africa and Kenya, Brant visited Lodwar for the first time and was thrilled for the chance to meet Michael.  
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​Brant & Virginia added Dorcas Koki to their sponsorship in 2006.  Dorcas had also lost her parents and had been adopted by her aunt. Her acceptance into the Children of the Kingdom program set a different course for her life and opened up opportunities she would never have had otherwise. 

​Since this time, in addition to their two biological children, Brant and Virginia have considered Michael and Dorcas their African children.  They have been faithful supporters of these two as they completed primary and secondary school, and then they made sure their college fees were covered as well. 

In early 2017, Dorcas completed her degree in nutrition at Great Lakes University in Kisumu, Kenya and then was married to a wonderful man named Abraham Chegem Ekai in June 2017.  In December of 2017, Michael graduated from Kwale Medical Training Center with a degree in environmental health, and Brant was able to make another trip to celebrate with Michael at his graduation ceremonies in Nairobi.  After that joyous time, he then traveled to Lodwar to help host a party for Dorcas, Michael and other children in the Children of the Kingdom program.

​Brant reported that after this trip he is convinced that “child sponsorship not only changes the child’s life, but it changes the family’s life, and it ultimately changes the community.”  He was able to meet with graduates from our program who are in Lodwar and who are investing in their community committed to making it a better place. It was a profound realization to see the impact that this ministry is making. Your gifts are not just paying school fees. They are helping educate the individual.  This becomes a real game changer for families, for the community and for the world.  Brant said that “Lodwar will be a better, stronger place because of this educated crop of students in whom we've invested.”

​Our mission is to share the love of Christ with these students and to equip them to be missional servants in the Kingdom. 
​This is what Brant was able to see firsthand. 
 
We are so grateful for you all as sponsors who invest in and pray for our students. It matters and is truly making a difference!

Pictures of Brant with Michael and his family and friends at his graduation 

​This year’s 17th annual Children of the Kingdom December Outreach targeted a village named Lokipetot Arengan from November 29th- December 3rd.  Fourteen boys from the Children of the Kingdom program and sixteen girls served on the team led by John Lohoi, our Children of the Kingdom director in Kenya, along with Stanley Alem and Andrew Edaan from Share International.  There were no churches in this village and many people there had not heard the gospel before our team came.  Not only did our students preach and teach in open air meetings that included 500 people over the course of the three days, but they also went door to door sharing about God’s love, prayed with villagers, and showed the Jesus film.  John Lohoi reported that over a hundred people in the village accepted the invitation to receive Christ into their lives. 

On the Saturday before they left, the Children of the Kingdom team along with the village and their chief dedicated a piece of land to be made into a church.  The first to step forward to commit to donate funds for the new site were children from our program.  Justus Lokosowa, Chota Eregae, Jane Kutan, Zecharia Etabo, Isabella Loruman, Eliud Losususi, Gideon Eyanae, Murimi Muya, Agnes Akai, Regina Akiru, Jessica Kebo, and Janet Lolii all pledged funds for building supplies. 

Children of the Kingdom’s mission is “To share the gospel and our very lives with children in need through the gift of sponsorship for education to equip them to be missional servants in the kingdom.” These children have lived this out so beautifully on this trip, and we are so grateful for their example to us of being Christ’s light this Advent season. 
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Ann Voskamp writes, “Advent is a whole lot more than waiting for Christmas, Advent is a whole lot more than preparing for Christmas —- Advent is ultimately about preparing the way for the Light of Christ in a world dying for light. Advent is a whole lot more than passively waiting for the King — it’s about participating in the work of the Kingdom of God.”
 
James Amadon also shares some encouragement in this season: “It is tempting this Advent to see only leafless trees, falling sunlight, and a darkening cultural horizon. But this is God’s pattern: death to life, bad news to good, sorrow to joy. Lift up your shoulders, shed your burdens, and open your eyes; joy springs up in unlikely places.”
 
Giving thanks for these students faithfully participating in the work of the Kingdom of God and for the joy that is springing up in Kenya through them. 

​The North Rift Regional Conference for the Kenya Students Christian Fellowship 2017 took place from November 6-10.  Selected high school students and teachers from all over the north rift region of Kenya gathered together for fellowship and teaching.
Joseph Alaku, Reinhard Nawiakwan, Gilchrst Billa, Janet Lolii, Cynthia Aremon, Epetet Esinyen and Millicent Losike represented Children of the Kingdom at the conference from Lodwar.
Despite some roadblocks (a bridge was out on the way which caused major travel delays), they finally made it and were welcomed to the conference where they were equipped to equip others for Christ. Our coordinator, John Lohoi, wrote that it was obvious that the lives of those who attended will never be the same as they were filled with encouragement and tools to serve the Lord back in their schools and churches and to be a light wherever they go.  
This conference was covered by funds in our general fund, and we are so grateful for this opportunity that this provided for them.  

​Children of the Kingdom has served 497 children through the years with 135 students graduating from high school, colleges and universities.  We currently have 262 children in our sponsorship program.    
Our mission is to share the gospel and our very lives with children in need to equip them to be missional servants in the kingdom of God, and we are seeing that mission being lived out beautifully by our students as they are growing physically and spiritually and serving in their communities.  Ten students traveled to Mombasa for the Kenya students Christian Fellowship conference in the spring of 2017, and seven students went to the KSCF regional meeting in Kitale in the fall of 2017.  Twenty-five students will participate in the 17th Annual Student outreach to Lokipetot Arengan Village in December sharing the gospel, leading worship, and distributing food and supplies.     
We continue to give thanks for your partnership in this work as we aim “to love and serve the Lord and to live our lives so that those to whom love is a stranger will find in us generous friends.”