GROUNDBREAKING! THE SEND CENTER BEGINS CONSTRUCTION (PG. 16)
SHORT-TERM OUTREACH AND RELIEF MISSION
The “Remote” Factor in Missions The Essential Leap of Obedience; the Essence of the Miracle A note from Dr. Sammy Murimi In Share International’s communication with our readers/ hearers over the years, we have used the term “remote” to describe the physical/geographical mission field where God has called us to minister – the numerous unreached hidden pockets of villages in the hinterland among the Turkana people of the northwestern region of Kenya, the Dalits of the Andhra Pradesh Province of India, and the Toposa of Southern Sudan. One would have to travel to those areas to realize how remotely removed they are from the rest of the world. Share International has led well over 300 Americans and Africans to numerous villages in Turkanaland through the annual Short-Term Outreach & Relief Mission (STORM) trips since 1997. Needless to say the desperate physical, spiritual, economic, and cognitive conditions in these villages are as evident as the equatorial heat at the noon-day hour; it’s totally overwhelming, almost unbearable/unbelievable! Yet such was the case when Jesus led His disciples to a “remote place” near Bethsaida in Israel about 2,000
”You give them something to eat.” Luke 9:13
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years ago. The disciples had already witnessed Jesus perform miracles through them (Lk. 9:10–11), but now He calls them to really lay their faith on the line; to the hungry thousands, he says, “You give them something to eat.” As I started writing this, I did not realize that just a couple of days later – September 7th – my wife and I would be standing on the spot, on the slopes of Lake Galilee where it’s believed Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand! (Many thanks to those who made it possible for me to accompany my wife on her official trip to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.) The spot is truly “remote”! I am no longer surprised by the response of the disciples to Jesus’ command/challenge. Confronted with such critical conditions, the “natural” human response might be to “bury your head in the sand” and pretend the Lord did not really mean what He commanded, or to shift the burden elsewhere – “send the crowd away” to find food somewhere out there – or even to give a “legitimate” reason to “prove” to the Lord how unrealistic His command really is: “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish, how could you possibly expect us to feed all these people?” “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each,” Jesus said to the disciples. Jesus had a plan in place already! His initial command to the disciples was to extend the unique privilege to them to participate with
Him in the actual miracle. But all that the disciples could perceive (not unlike us today!) was the utter remoteness of the situation. Mission Impossible! It is that same “remote” factor that we, Jesus’ disciples today, have to confront if we are to “feed” the thousands of people in the remote pockets of peoplegroups around the world. Jesus has already given the command to reach out and make disciples of all people-groups. He has set the plan before us in His written Word already. He is extending a similar privilege to us – to participate with Him in fulfilling the Great Commission – to feed the world with the holistic Gospel. Will we choose to experience the essence of the privilege, the essence of the miracle of seeing many come to Christ in our time by taking the essential leap of obedience to “give” those without the Bread of Life “something to eat”? That’s what Share International is all about. We invite you to participate with us in the miracle. From a purely human point of view, the situation is desperate. I challenge you to take that leap of obedience today as together we reach the Turkana people of Kenya, the Toposa of Southern Sudan, and the Dalits of India. Do not stay remotely removed from these and other people-groups. Come, join with us today as we give these people-groups “something to eat” in the Name of Christ. Obey His command.
Saying Good-Bye to John Nakara After 15 years of ministry among his own people, the SI leader in Turkanaland, John Lodepe Nakara, has now moved on to another area of ministry. He will be vying for the Turkand Central County seat in the Kenya Parliament in the forthcoming elections (March 2013). Both the U.S. and the Kenya Boards have released John to follow God’s leading. His last day with SI was July 6th. There was great fanfare and celebration in Lodwar as we all prayed and bid John farewell, with much appreciation for his service to the Lord and his own Turkana people since 1996. We’ll all miss John. But we are also confident that the Lord will direct his path as he seeks to serve Him in a different capacity. Please pray for him. His wife, Agnes, will continue to serve as leader of the SI Women’s ministry in Turkanaland.
Church Growth The SI Church Growth Program has been preparing and sending effective and passionate Turkana missionaries to remote parts of Turkanaland and beyond while supporting several pastors in the original mother churches. To date, Share supports 37 missionaries and pastors in Turkanaland. These indigenous missionaries and pastors are more accepted among the hundreds of unreached villages in the outermost parts of Turkanaland. They have been able to plant 135 churches across Turkanaland since 2006. One of the most encouraging aspects of our Church Growth Program is that every SI planted and supported church is carrying out discipleship trainings every Friday and Saturday. Believers in these churches are continually growing in the knowledge of God’s Word and their faith is maturing in Christ Jesus. The results are that more
indigenous Christians are involved in missions and church planting! In the last quarter alone, 28 adults gave their lives to Christ as a result of the discipleship programs. In addition over 100 Swahili Bibles were distributed in the churches and adult literacy programs.
SITE
SITE (Share International Team of Evangelism) is the ministry that surveys and lays the ground work for church planting and church growth. This year SITE has surveyed villages and areas with no church presence and areas where the local church is not grounded in God’s word and mixing traditional witchcraft with the Gospel for immediate future outreach.
SOLAR POWERED AUDIO BIBLES In the last issue of ShareNet, we shared about solar-powered audio Bibles that are loaded with Scriptures and sermons in both Turkana and Swahili languages. Galena Bible Church, of Galena, Illinois, was so moved by this opportunity to reach and disciple the illiterate men and women among the Turkana that they purchased 90 audio Bibles. They appreciated how well these Bibles would work for people who travel with their livestock
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to find water and pasture, people who can’t attend a weekly literacy class. The 90 Bibles were distributed during and after STORM 2012 to all of the SI pastors and missionaries and to many of the daughter churches. The audio Bibles have been well received and are being loaned out in the churches so that church members and fellowship groups can hear God’s Word during the week for increased discipleship.
Motorbike Ministry So far this year, four motorbikes have been purchased and distributed to four SI supported missionaries. The motorbikes, or “piki-pikis” in Swahili, are so beneficial to the missionaries for reaching remote villages for evangelism and discipleship in the churches. There is still an urgent need for more motorbikes for many of our missionaries! Please consider purchasing a motorbike today. The cost is $3,000 (includes needed accessories and a year’s maintenance). Help our missionaries to share the Gospel with these remote villages.
• Easy, fast, and cheap transportation
Some daughter churches are more than 30km away from their mother churches!
• Used as ambulances for remote villages
During emergencies, motorbikes can be used to transport sick individuals living in remote villages to the nearest hospital.
• Helps spread the Gospel even further!
Enables missionaries to more easily reach out to the even more remote villages in Turkanaland and beyond!
• More secure form of travel
Traveling on foot or bicycle is more dangerous in areas
of Turkanaland along the borders of Uganda and South Sudan. Motorbikes help keep our missionaries safer.
• Lets missionaries spend less time traveling and more time with their families
The team operates by using our traveling indigenous missionaries and research gathered from people living in remote villages to identify villages where a missionary, Bible teachings and discipleship programs are needed to spread the Gospel to those who have not yet heard. SITE then plans an evangelistic outreach such as a showing of the Jesus Film, home to home evangelism, prayer walks and open air preaching of the Gospel; usually a combination. People put their faith in Jesus at these events and then a missionary is assigned to begin regular preaching and discipleship through our Church Growth Program. This year SITE has done at least one evangelistic outreach each month in either a new village or a village with a church that is not in line with Scripture. Hundreds have come to Christ through these outreaches and the need for more Christians to sponsor trained indigenous missionaries in these villages is enormous! ShareNet / F all 2012
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STORM
SHORT-TERM OUTREACH AND RELIEF MISSION During the last week of June and the first week of July, 19 Americans and 12 Africans participated in this year’s STORM (Short-term Outreach and Relief Mission) trip to Turkanaland. The overriding goals of this trip were to evangelize, provide continuing education and training for church leaders, and minister to the physical needs of those in remote villages. The group also gathered to break ground and pray over the SEND Center, which Share is building to train indigenous pastors and missionaries to reach the unreached people-groups of Kenya, Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia!
ANDREW EDAAN, ONE OF SI’S DRIVERS, ON THE ”PRAYER MOUNTAIN” NEAR LODWAR.
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OVER AN 11-DAY PERIOD:
- More than 5,700 Turkana men, women, boys, and girls attended different teaching or preaching sessions. - 448 indicated a decision to trust in Christ for salvation (including a village witch doctor)! - 15 were baptized. - 240 pastors attended the teaching/training conference. - 1,162 were given medical treatment. - Almost 7,000 livestock were vaccinated. - 350 bags of food were distributed.
The STORM 2013 team is forming now! Dates are set for: June 28 – July 10, 2013
Since STORM 2011, a witch doctor, whom STORM team member John Karrick had never met, had been regularly lifted up in prayer. John had sensed the presence of Satan’s hold in Kaitese, a village he preached at in 2011 where there was a known witch doctor practicing black magic and communicating with the dead. When John returned to Kaitese in 2012, he felt a burden from the Lord to call upon the village witch doctor and share Christ with him so that the forces of darkness could be lifted from this particular village. Sure enough God had prepared Paul Longorimoe Ekaran, the witch doctor in Kaitese. He opened his heart to the Gospel of Light and he received Christ and threw away his idols, trinkets and even gave up his alcoholism that very day! This 65-year-old man and his wife Annah are now both believers in Christ and are praying for God to bring salvation to their eight children as well. Praise God! Please pray for Paul as he is begins his new life in Christ and struggles with persecution from family and loss of income from leaving his witchcraft business. Mark Eyanae, the SI-supported pastor in Kaitese village, is meeting with him in his home as he had not yet begun to go to church gatherings after being beaten by his eldest son for leaving his witchcraft and giving his life to Christ. The grown son used a walking stick and beat his father so badly that he coughed up blood and had to be taken to the hospital.
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“I loved being able to spend time teaching the young women. It is so evident that these girls are living out their faith by being obedient to the Lord, no matter the cost. They work long, hard days in order to help support themselves while still trying to get an education. They don’t always see fruits from their labor but they know the Lord will truly bless their obedience. These girls deeply love the Word of God and it drives me to take full advantage of resources I am blessed with.”
- Noel Downs (Dubuque, IA)
“For the entire two weeks, I was teaching from God’s Word. Not being one to enjoy speaking in front of a crowd, I was definitely outside of my comfort zone. I was forced to rely fully on God’s provision, that He would speak through me. The verses that kept coming to my mind during the trip were Isaiah 55:10-11 where God talks about how when His Word goes out, it does not return void without accomplishing His purposes. I had to remind myself that I simply need to be obedient to God’s leading. The salvation of others is not my responsibility – it is in God’s hands, and He is faithful.”
- Clay Leachman (Ridgeland, MS)
“Seeing the joy and enthusiasm for life in the lives of these children that have so little was humbling and encouraging. God is at work in the people of Turkana, especially the children – the next generation. This trip has changed my life and I hope to return again soon.”
- Suzy Erb (Lena, IL)
“The Turkana people know how to love. They demonstrate the power of relationships along with the need to live in close community in a way the “West” seemingly is losing. This capacity only expands exponentially when they discover Christ. I was blessed over and over as I interacted with the people of this region on Africa. Thank you Share for giving me this opportunity to expand my faith and my vision for sharing the beautiful message of Christianity across this world.”
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“One thing that was particularly driven home to me this STORM was the blessing of our ongoing partnership with our Turkana brothers and sisters. This was my fourth STORM trip, and I realized that God has blessed me with strong personal relationships with these dear saints. Really, ministry, whether here or abroad, is all about relationships. Think about the Apostle Paul and all the names of folks he lists at the ends of his letters. People really mattered to Paul. Jesus came for people, not programs. What a unique blessing we have to be true friends with those who are so far away, and in many ways, who are so different (at least in terms of culture). The beauty of the Gospel is that we’re all brought together in Christ (Eph 2:11–22).”
- Gary Kirst (Galena, IL) “After months of praying, and days of trying to arrange a meeting,
God provided an opportunity for a member of our team to share Christ with a witch doctor from the village of Kaitese. Both the witch doctor and his wife accepted Jesus as their Savior! I am praying this will result in a positive spiritual and physical change in Kaitese.”
- Chris Cantrell (Vinton, IA)
Agricultural Development During STORM-2011, African environmental scientist, Dr. Dan Kihika, taught agricultural practices among the Turkana people. The people were taught methods of planting and fertilization and the importance of adding agricultural development to their lifestyle, instead of relying solely on the raising of livestock for their livelihood. Share International is thanking God, as we report that Christians in the villages of Nadapal, Kaitese, Namoru, Chokchok, and Monti have been able to grow and have recently harvested sorghum (a grain), katumani maize (a variety of corn), cabbage, sugarcane, and cowpeas (a legume)! Continue to pray that more and more Turkana people would embrace God’s plan for the soil, and that God would continue to heal their land and send rain as more and more Turkana turn to call upon His name.
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Children of the
Kingdom
Children of the Kingdom is Share International’s Child Sponsorship Program. We have 251 students in our program and 18 more in New Hope, our sister program for street children. Students are back in session from September through November for their last term of the year. Be in prayer for the students who will be taking examinations in November to determine if they will graduate in their classes. Our waiting list continues to grow. If you would like to sponsor a child, please contact Emily Huff at emilyhuff@shareint.net for more information.
Celebrations
David Loreng was the seventh child in our program back in 1997. I first met him in 1994 when he was just four years old and have fond memories of playing frisbee with him and laughing a lot together. Look at the picture of us sticking our tongues out and of him being a typical little boy covered in dirt (right). On each of my trips back to Kenya, I have visited David and have been so impressed with the man of God that he has become. His letters to his sponsors through the years have always been ones that have encouraged and pointed to the Lord, giving praise and glory to Him in all things. On July 27, 2012, he graduated from Eldoret Polytechnic School in a colorful graduation ceremony that was attended by thousands of people all over Kenya. Celebrate David’s huge accomplishment with us and give thanks to God for this gift!
Giving Back
Dickson Maisa, formerly the assistant coordinator for Children of the Kingdom, now the coordinator of the C.O.K. ministry in Kenya, organized a meeting with 96 students who were home in Lodwar for the school holiday in August. The meeting was opened up with praises and worship songs to give God the glory for His provision for the last three months. David Imana, who graduated from the program several years ago and who is now studying in Thailand working on his master’s degree, was home on holiday and came to encourage and spur on the students who are currently in the program. He became the first Turkana sponsor of students and is now sponsoring three students. David was so excited to see the boys he had sponsored since 2010 in the meeting and he pledged to support them until they finish their schooling. What a gift to see a former Children of the Kingdom student now giving back and challenging others to be good stewards of all that has been given to them too. That same weekend, Dickson met with a group of graduates from our program. They had a time of reflection and thanksgiving of what God has done in their lives over the years. Dickson reported that he was so blessed to see their appreciation for the work of God through the ministry of Children of the Kingdom. He challenged them to make a commitment to give back to the ministry as David Imana had done and touch the lives of more Turkana children now that they have graduated from the program. One of the current students (David Lorukudi), who is pursuing his college degree in education and who is sponsored by the Salt and Light Sunday School class in Ruston, LA, made a one-time contribution right away as a sign of starting the vision. The others were also compelled and have agreed to make a commitment. Even those who do not have jobs were touched to give what they are able to. What a gift to see these graduates taking the next step. They have been blessed and they are now a blessing to their community.
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Turkana Girls
Empowerment
After carrying out a holistic ministry among the Turkana people of Kenya since 1997, Share International continues to find ways and means to help the Turkana people come out of the perennial dire poverty. The Turkana women have proved to be the better practical economists in the Turkana culture! The Turkana women are the key to sustainable economy in Turkanaland. In February 2012, under the leadership of Dr. Mary Murimi, SI initiated the TGEP to minister to the Turkana adolescent girls. The purpose of the program is to educate Turkana adolescent girls in various practical skills at an early age so that they can impact a whole people-group for the better for generations to come. The initial lessons will involve basketry, bead making, and soap making. Volunteer instructors have already
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been identified in Nairobi and some have already traveled to Turkanaland to begin teaching. The plan is for instructors to travel to and stay in Lodwar for short periods on a regular basis. The girls will be taught in their own villages until the SEND Center is built. At that point, the girls will be trained at the Center and sent back to their villages to start small businesses. They will be taught from Scripture while undertaking the training. The first training has already taken place, and girls from 11 villages gathered to learn how to make five different types of soaps and to hear God’s Word.
SI is very grateful to a Christian organization in the U.S. that funded TGEP for one year.
New Hope A recent report from our Program Coordinator in Kenya, Dickson Maisa: “I am pleased to inform you that on August 21st 2012, I took the New Hope Heroes to the streets of Lodwar to do face-to-face evangelism to their former friends.The main aim of this operation was to share the Gospel of Christ with the street boys, give testimonies on what God has done for the former street boys, share our life experiences, and share the love of God. I thank God that boys were receptive to the Gospel and some accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. It was so amazing to see the New Hope Heroes recognizing the goodness of God’s Word and the work of Share International in making them get into a different generation in life both physically and spiritually.” As a result of this outreach, New Hope was able to bring two more children off the streets and into our program! Praise God! New Hope Children currently supports 18 prior street children we call “New Hope Heroes” for the positive and courageous choices
they continue to make everyday by staying in school, staying healthy, and staying away from the negative influences of the streets. There are many more children who need to be rescued. Currently, we are grateful to Joshua Lemuya and his congregation at Soweto church for housing the children when they are not in school, but we’re waiting on a building grant to come through, from Classrooms for Africa, which will provide housing and a resource center to support more children. Please pray with us for God’s provision. Thank you! Contact Rachael Swanson for more info: newhope@shareint.net.
”New Hope Heroes” doing a Christian rap during STORM
Women and Children’s Program ADLALIS
MONITORE
Share International’s Women and Children Program (SIWCP) takes place in the villages where Share has planted churches. This ministry focuses on weekly Bible study for women, food distribution, nutrition education, hygiene, small business training, and fellowship. The ministry also does evangelistic outreaches in the villages. The main message of the women’s ministry this year was for believers to stop mixing Jesus with their traditional idols. Outreaches and revivals in village churches taught Christians to believe in God alone and not seek the advice and help of witchdoctors who cheat them and ask for their property in times of need. Members of our women’s ministry staff and wives of our other staff members have encouraged the church women to pray without ceasing to the God of the universe who is all powerful and does not seek
to cheat them or take their property as payment for His healing power. During each of these outreaches many women were saved and children were taught from God’s Word and prayed over.
India Ministry Share International’s ministry to the poor and oppressed Dalit people of Rajahmundry, India includes child sponsorships through our Children of the Kingdom Ministry, a sewing program that teaches women in poverty to sew in order to create a sustainable family business, all the while hearing God’s Word, and supporting indigenous pastors in the area. Our India staff has been inspiring many lay pastors to establish congregations among the unreached Hindu people in and around Rajahmundry. All Christians in Rajahmundry are former Hindus who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Sewing Program
Our sewing program currently has 20 Dalit women learning to sew and being taught from God’s Word. Here are some testimonies of the women from our last class who have graduted with skills, Bible teaching and a sewing machine (provided to SI each year by a faithful SI donor) to use in their own businesses: Daddala Mariyamma came into the sewing program with an anxiety disorder. Her mother died when she was young and her father is an alcoholic. Her pastor admitted her into the program and she was taught to seek God for healing, and miraculously she was healed. Now Mariyamma is earning a living with the sewing machine donated by Share and through the healing of her mind through Jesus. She is known in her village for her sewing skills. Bathula Mani Kumari is a Dalit woman from a suppressed family, who did not have the money to pay a dowry in order for their daughter to get married and
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have a family of her own. Through the skills and confidence in Christ she learned in the sewing ministry, Bathula earned her own living and became independent. A young Dalit man noticed her skills and confidence and came forward to marry her without a dowry. Bathula thanks Share for the sewing program and how it has changed her life. Katunga Saramma is a Dalit woman who was forced into marriage to an alcoholic by her step father. Her husband left her after she gave birth to little girl. Katunga was living off charity from the church. She began the sewing program and all the other students and teachers prayed for her. After she graduated she began earning her own living by making clothes. Her husband returned and God blessed her with another child. Katunga thanks God for the slavation and restoration He brought into her life through the sewing ministry.
Pastors Pastor Shekar has been in the ministry since 2004, and does the Lord’s work in Velugubanda, a village known for the persecution of Christians, where a church was set afire by radical Hindus. Pastor Shekar now has a congregation of 70 believers among the Hindu people and now many Hindus come to him for prayer when they are sick. Recently a Hindu man was healed when the entire congregation prayed for him after doctors declared that he was dying. Now many Hindus in the villages are accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Please pray for Pastor Shekar and his family.
Pastor Daniel is evangelising in several villages, and last month he baptized three people in the village of
Kovvuru, where he travels hundreds of kilometers on bicycle for evangelism. Pastor Chinni has a congregation in the isolated village of Vellamali. His church began with a few believers and now it has 70 believers who worship together. He does evangelism in several villages using his bicycle to travel from village to village, which has led to establishing congregations in two other villages! Each congregation has more than 40 believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Pastor Chinni has been trying very hard to build a shelter where the congregations can assemble for worship. Kindly join us in praying for his efforts to spread the Word of God among the Hindu people he ministers to.
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SEND Center
AN UPDATE FROM TAYLOR KILPATRICK The SEND (Sharing Eternity through Nationals Daily) Center is being constructed in Lodwar to be a training facility for missionaries and pastors. We seek to share the Gospel in all of Turkanaland, and South Sudan and up into Ethiopia and Uganda. Below is a report on the progress from SEND Project Manager Taylor Kilpatrick from Ruston, Louisiana, who is currently living with his wife and three daughters in Turkanaland in order to supervise the building project. Much of the work completed over the past three months
QUALITY CONSTRUCTION
has been the necessary preparation for the construction of the Center. Our shipping container arrived at the end of April and we placed it on the piers we had prepared in advance. We then began to convert the container into a construction office for the project. Half of the container is an office and the other half is for construction storage. I have also been accompanying the church growth department every other week as they go out to different interior churches. I am given an opportunity to speak to the churches that we visit and encourage them to take part in the SEND Center through whatever means the Lord leads. I have visited the following churches: Namoru, Kaitese, Lopong’o, Chokchok, and Namukuse. It has been a blessing to me to visit the interior churches. My family came with us to Kaitese and Lopong’o. We also delivered donated clothes that came in the container. We continue to pray for the Lord to provide for the Center and have faith that He will. So far $71,600 has been raised for the Center! If there are any questions please feel free to contact me at: taylorkilpatrick@shareint.net
We have constructed a mock-up wall on the East side of the Share Compound. (Pictured) This will serve as a quality control visual and is our proposed stone color for all of the SEND structures.
Adult Literacy In Turkanaland most adults are illiterate. The pastoral and migrative nature of their culture (together with extreme poverty) have caused formal education and literacy to pass up the adult generations in the entire region. Share International provides free adult literacy classes in villages where we support indigenous missionaries and churches. Learning to read and write for themselves not only opens minds and opportunities for Turkana men or women, it enables them to read the Bible for themselves, to their friends, family, churches, discipleship groups and, most importantly, their children. Share International currently facilitates 10 adult literacy classes in
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villages outside of the main town of Lodwar. A new session just started in September and 192 men and 224 women are enrolled in these classes! Adults of any age can join a class regardless of income or religious beliefs. Classes serve as an outreach to the community, take place in the village church and are taught by a local, indigenous Christian man or woman, sometimes even a graduate of our Children of the Kingdom program. Many more adult literacy classes are needed among newer church plants all over Turkana. Please consider sponsoring a teacher in a village without adult education classes for $120 a month.
Livestock Program The Share International Livestock Program enables the growth of a sustainable economy, and helps alleviate poverty by providing a family with one male and three female goats. When the female goats multiply to 10, the recipient family is required to donate at least three females back to Share International to redistribute to another family.
them to multiply. Nangiro will sell milk and meat from the goats once they multiply to help pay the fees for her children to go to school. She says she will also be giving to the local church out of money she gets from selling milk and meat. “May God bless the donors of the goats!” says Nangiro. “And God bless Share International for caring for the needy!”
So far in 2012, 32 goats have been donated to families in need. Because of the rains in Turkana this year, the goats have been healthier and have once again begun to multiply. Here are a couple of examples of families that have benefited from this program. Nangiro and her husband and children were victims of political violence and fled their hometown of Eldoret, losing their entire property in the process. The family relies on a palm tree called “Mkoma,” the leaves of which they use to make brooms and small baskets to sell for income. The family is thankful for the goats that Share International supporters have given to them and says they will take care of the goats and trust God to allow
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Health Program Turkana people suffer from many health related problems due to the limited health services available to meet the needs of the vast region. Many communities in the area go without health services altogether and rely on herbal remedies and witch doctors to heal medical conditions. The Share International Health Program (SIHP) is reaching parts Turkanaland where no medical services exist. SIHP is able to treat the most notable medical conditions of the area which include: malaria, respiratory tract infections, eye infections, skin infections, ear infections, gastroenteritis and more.
SUCCESS STORIES In January our team was able to save the life of a young man from the village of Nadoto. He had suffered for four months with tuberculosis, not knowing he could receive free treatment. According to the customs of his people, he associated his symptoms with being bewitched. The man finally visited the pastor who lived nearby for prayer because he felt he was near death. The pastor called our Health Program Coordinator who immediately diagnosed the man and brought him to the hospital where he received treatment immediately. He has since recovered. In August, the mobile clinic was able to reach a new village called Nakechichok. This village is rarely reached by health services. A week earlier, a Share International missionary who has a daughter church in the village observed the state of health in the village. He called our program coordinator, Derrick, and explained where the village was and how much in need of health services they were. That week the team took the mobile clinic to the village. The road to the village was gone and it took two hours to make the journey. When we reached the village, we found people gathered under all the trees waiting for our medical team. Almost everybody was sick and most children under five years and all the pregnant mothers had never received medical services. The children had all gone without being immunized against childhood illnesses. The clinic went on for over six hours straight without rest and everybody received treatment. The villagers were very grateful for the services and the team plans to make more visits to this village. The health team was also able to help a four-year-old, Miriam Akai, who had broken her leg playing with her siblings. The mother was unable to carry the child to the hospital and her husband was away with the family livestock. That week the mobile clinic came to her village and was able to take her in for an x-ray and to get the bone set and a cast put on.
SIHP provides the following medical services both in our clinic in the main town of Lodwar and in the rural villages via our mobile clinic: - Outpatient diagnosis and treatment
- Public health lectures in each clinic session, especially in rural villages during mobile clinics
- Medication and pharmaceutical counseling
- Minor surgery
- Referrals to tertiary hospitals in the
country, as well as referrals to our clinic
- Wound care
- Nutrition supplementation to the elderly, children, and terminally ill patients
- Gynecology and obstetrics management and referral.
In the last six months SIHP has: - Conducted 42 mobile clinics in rural villages
- Treated 7,806 patients
- Helped lead 142 souls to Christ
- Referred 46 patients to regional hospitals
- Renovated the clinic, including put-
ting in new ceiling board, painting, and installing a new metal door and a new water system.
Tremendous progress has been made in Turkanaland through SIHP, but the ministry has now outgrown the clinic. The clinic needs more space to do maternity and pediatric care and we are trusting God to move to supply for this and the other needs of the ministry.
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207 N. Service Rd. East Ruston, LA 71270
Connect with us on our website at: www.shareint.net or on Facebook at: Facebook.com/shareint International Headquarters Dr. Sammy Murimi, Director 207 N. Service Rd. East Ruston, LA 71270 Phone: (318) 243-4243 Director@ShareInt.net
Turkana Mission Office Attn. Dalmas Esekon P.O. Box 84 Lodwar, Kenya Phone: 011-254-711-565644 dalmas@shareint.net
Children of the Kingdom Coordinator Emily Huff 207 N. Service Rd. East Ruston, LA 71270 Phone: (318) 497-0311 emilyhuff@shareint.net
Nairobi Office Lois Mwangi P.O. Box 24872 Code 00502 Karen Nairobi. Kenya Phone: + 254-722279665 loismwangi@shareint.net
India Office The Messiah Gospel Ministry Attn. Ratnakar Thota Gadalamma Nagar, Door No. 88-3-2/1 P.O. Box 95, Rajahmundry East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh South India. Pin 533103 Ratnakar@shareint.net