Drought and famine continue

Let me first say that Timmy is me (Tammy)! For some reason the "a" in Tammy is very hard for the kids to say or maybe it's my accent (everyone tells me I have a mid-western accent- whatever that means)! Anyway I thought this was a neat picture sent to us by Pauline from the kids at Nice View- thanks dada (sister in Swahili)!

For those of you who are supporting Saved By God's Grace know that you are remembered by the kids at Nice View, Mercy and Eldama Ravine. Your help is greatly appreciated and you can see from the following email that it is greatly needed.

Our friend, Nathan, is a Kenyan we met during our trip in 2008. He and his wife are raising their baby boy during difficult times. He tells us how things are in Kenya at this time:

Kenya is currently undergoing a severe drought,there has been no food in our farms and people are scared,many people including children in the worst hit regions are feared dead,a big no of people are going without food.The biggest problem is however lack of sufficient water!

This is real life for our friends and family in Kenya. I pray that when you read this you will say a prayer for them and their country. My heart and prayers and energy go towards loving our God and trusting Him to bring providence to Saved By God's Grace.

I wish I could fix it all, but God has placed these specific children in our path for us to reach out to. I have always loved the story of a man who was asking God why there was poverty in the world and why He didn't take care of it. Then God asks him why the man wasn't doing anything about it with the resources God gave him.

God will be faithful and I trust Him to move people's hearts to also reach out and help. I pray we are all listening to God's voice and stepping out to help those He puts in our path.

They are not forgotten

We have been encouraging Anastacia in her work in taking care of the kids at Mercy Child Foundation. She is by herself with over 30 children to care for. Recently we sent her a note, this is her reading it with Pauline, giving her encouragement and reminding her she is not forgotten.

I also talked with her last night, she was getting the kids ready for school (from Arizona they are 10 hours ahead of us). Every time I talk with her I remind her of God's love for her and the children and how He has brought us together. Many times she expresses fear of being left alone. I tell her we think of her and the children daily and are praying for them. We will not leave them, they are our family.

The children are told that God is providing for them because people are willing to give sacrificially. I am here to pass on their thanks to you for not forgetting them. God is giving these kids hope through your support and they are learning how very much God loves them. What an eternal impact you are having in the lives of these children - thank you and may God bless you.

We are praying and spreading the word about our kids in Kenya not only for support for food, clothing etc., but also to get Chuck and I back to Kenya on a more permanent basis. If you would like to help us bring the Gospel to Kenya please join The Change Campaign today.

Christopher's letter

Sorry it's been a few days since my last post. We left Missouri at noon on Saturday. Thanks Kevin and Pam for extending the invitation to stay another night. The morning conversation was great, hence us not leaving at 8am. We then drove straight thru to Oklahoma City to visit Florence, she is Gideon's (from Nice View Academy) sister. We had a late dinner with her around 10pm, stayed until about 1am then took off for home-Phoenix, Arizona. We arrived in Phoenix around 5pm Sunday night. I hope that explains why no posts the past few days!

But as I had mentioned before, here is a picture and part of a letter from Christopher at Mercy Child Foundation.

"I thank you for your help because with your help we are going well with education, we have our daily food, and we have good health...I have this chance to thank you for your help in my life. From that time up to now I see there is change in my life. You are blessings in my life. So with your support I am very far in my life. The God whom Israel were praying is one we are praying...We are praying for you everytime and I hope God had eared our prayer and we are waiting for super natural thing that you never see in you life...because our God is living God and will provide."

This letter shows how your support is helping and the faith Christopher has that God will continue to provide.

We recently sent funds over for food purchases and Christopher, along with all the children at Mercy, Nice View and Eldama Ravine, do not have to worry if they will be eating tomorrow, or going to school.

Please consider becoming a $12/month supporter through The Change Campaign. Our goal is 1000 people (as of this post we have 15 people signed up) at $12 a month which will allow us to continue providing food, education, medical attention and shelter for the three orphanages. It will also put us on the ground in Kenya so we can show them the love of God in action and put into motion some self-sustaining projects.

During our trip we had some great conversations and ideas brought to us and we are very excited to return to our family and friends in Kenya to begin implementation. We are waiting on God's timing but as Christopher said in his letter, "our God is living God and will provide."

For those of you who continue to support Saved By God's Grace-thank you! We know you sacrifice to ensure the kids in Kenya continue to survive, we thank you for that sacrifice. Because of you the Gospel of Jesus is being presented daily to the kids in Kenya as they eat, are clothed, being sheltered and receive medical attention.

How glorious our God is to meet the needs of the children through His people.

Have you written your sponsored child?

We have a pen-pal system set up with a school here in Phoenix so they can write students at Nice View Academy. The program began at the beginning of our school year (Sept. 2008) and the students have written back and forth a couple of times. Today I received another batch of letters and as I read through them some make me laugh and some make me cry and others just make me darn proud!

Here are some quotes from the recent letters:

"It's precious and fantastic because God has given me this chance to write to you and know how you are going on with your life. I'm happy than I've ever felt." Veronicah Wayua

"I does not be excited for the school to end because I like studing very much." Sharon Nthenya

"My favorite thing to do when I am out of school is to help my parents and obey my elders...I have never heard of teepeeing." Philip Kilonzo

"I would like to meet you in person too." Nelly Ndinda

"In Kenya we live peaceful at our home is peaceful." Kelvin Mwendwa

"I am doing well in my studies. Am also very sad of your uncle's first wife mother who died. I don't have nothing to give you except to say sorry about that. I will pray for your family and don't forget to pray for my studies." Josphat Nzisa

"I will pray for your team so that it can win all the game. I will call my friend so that we can pray for you to get a good team. I wish to play." Daniel Gacheru

"I have just got a puppy. Not mine but my fathers. It is not my mum's puppy or anyone in my family." Bonface

"Here in school I am trying to do my best so that I can achieve my goal more so I am not good in maths but I am just trying." Beatrice Mumbua

"God has been my protector and my provider in every situations." Antony Muange

If you are a sponsor please consider taking a few minutes to write your sponsored child. You can send your email letter to sponsoredchild@SavedByGodsGrace.org They love receiving letters and they love responding to letters. What an easy way to make a connection with your child in Kenya!

God's perfect timing!

Chuck received an email from Fransisca (Eldama Ravine Children's Village) and she said the children are all doing well. She says the children have returned back to school and are improving in their studies.

I was brought to tears however with the following:

"Please tell Tammy her children miss her soo much and any time they talk of her they shade tears of joy knowing though they dont have parent mothers God has given them a caring mother to fill the gap."

I want to be there so badly to talk with them, hug them and just be there with them, but we are waiting on God's timing. And, as usual, my reading today spoke to that issue directly! Galatians 4:4 says "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son..." Since God knew the perfect time to send His Son then I have to trust He knows the perfect time for us to return to Kenya.

The children in Kenya are also praying, "we are still praying for you about your coming the soonest." We thank you all for your support and prayers.

Saved By God's Grace is waiting and trusting in the Lord for His perfect timing - Amen!

A part of everyday life...

Today was a mixed day of emotions. I received three letters from Nice View Academy - these were from students who wrote their sponsors here in the US.

Some of their questions made me laugh - "What is chiropractic?" "What is scissors?"

Some made me proud - "When we closed schools I helped my parents by washing utensils and cleaning the house." "I was number fifteen in exams." "I wish you to come and share the mangoes next term with you."

Some encouraged me - "I pray God to bring for you love and happiness." "I pray in Christ for you." "Even my mum is a widow. Widows and widowers they just pray to God."

But what hit me the most in these letters is the way the children tell their sponsors about their everyday life. They tell you of not working, starving, having no parents between normal, child-like questions/statements: (you can click on the letter for a larger image)

"There is no one is working. I am in standard seven."

"Only that my aunt she is not fine because we are starving and we don't have food. What kind of a game do you like?"

"I was number fifteen in exam. I have some more problems that I want to help me because I don't have parents and stay with my brothers. Now I am in class five."

Going without food and/or parents is an everyday occurrence for these children and their parents or guardians are without work. They speak of starving like we speak of running out of gas - needless to say I was in tears while reading these letters.

With your help Saved By God's Grace is working to bring hope through Jesus Christ to these children and show His love for them through meeting their basic needs.

Please prayerfully consider how you can help.