“Nobody is so poor that he or she has nothing to give, and nobody is so rich that he or she has nothing to receive.” -
Pope John Paul II

Jenny Allen with new friend, Julius.

Having just returned from a visit to the House of Hope Home in Kenya, these words by Pope John Paul II are the clearest way to explain the encounter I had with Jesus in Naivasha, Kenya. Over the years, my walk with God has led me to the simple truth that we are called to love others concretely; to offer all we have to give to those in need.  It wasn’t hard for me to realize that I don’t do a good enough job at this and that I needed to stop making excuses, so I began to pray for a way for me to share God’s love in concrete ways. The Lord placed Africa on my heart through this time of growth, so when I learned of our partnership with House of Hope, I was eager to jump in and make the journey over to Kenya.

During our trip, there were many things I had anticipated that came to fruition and many things I could hardly have anticipated. I had made many preparations for the trip. I did research on Kenya, made several packing lists and I was fully prepared to give; to offer supplies and time and love. What I did not fully expect was the amount of love that I would receive. My time there quickly became less about giving and more about sharing. We shared stories, meals, prayers, laughter, tears and tremendous amounts of love. How foolish of me to go into this experience thinking that we were the only ones who had something to offer.

Our mission to the people at House of Hope is so much more than helping to put roofs on buildings and digging wells. I still believe we are called to give in these concrete ways, yet there is something so much deeper at stake and I learned that to be relationships with people.

May we always give as much as we possibly can while keeping our hearts open to letting people in; to knowing them and loving them and learning from them

Recently, we have had two articles published about our involvement in mission partnerships.

Word and Way Newspaper

The first was a feature article about Dr. Lory Feeler, team leader for our partnership with Servant’s Heart Ministries in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.  Dr. Feeler has been a doctor for many years in our community and was just honored in May as a Zonta Woman of Achievement.  The local magazine, Jefferson City Magazine, published an article about her love and passion for our partnership in the Dominican Republic.  You can read about it here.  Our latest team returned from the Dominican Republic at the end of June.

The most recent article was published today in the Word and Way, a Baptist newspaper committed to accurately informing Baptists and others of relevant news, to promoting the work of Christ and encouraging inspirational living.  They included a short article about our partnership with Wings as Eagles Ministries on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  We were so blessed to spend a week with them in June.

Enjoy this great articles celebrating what God is doing and please forward them along to others so they can learn about these great partners.

The Kenya team is having a great week in Kenya.  Although they are not able to post pictures or blogs, you’ll notice to the right of this website that they give brief text updates each day.  Follow us on Twitter so you can be in the know with the latest at FBC-JC.

They have finished their time at the House of Hope Home, the children’s home we partner with in Kenya.  They have played with children and took them to an animal reserve.  The have completed the rain barrel off the school which was funded by our children in First Kids who raised $300 this past year. They also completed a roof on the newly expanded outdoor kitchen.

They traveled today to Kijabe to tour the hospital there and a children’s facility.  They will be staying with our good friends, Tim and Lori Myrick, who are missionaries (field personnel) in Kenya with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Continue to pray for their safety.  They will be spending a couple of days at the Masaii Mara Game Park and then flying back on Friday, arriving home late on Saturday.

The kids (minus the five youngest) at House of Hope Home.

Our Kenya Mission Team is departing Tuesday, July 6 for a mission trip to our partners, the House of Hope, in Naivasha, Kenya.  The House of Hope is a children’s home that provides a stable home environment and quality education for children who have been abandoned or orphaned.  There are currently 23 children living at the House of Hope.  The home was the vision of Joel Karanji and he and his wife, Susan, have invested every part of their lives in fulfilling God’s vision to care for these children.  We are so blessed to partner with them.

The team of seven which includes, Rand, Carolyn and Kris Swanigan; Jenny Allen; Laura Laney; Stephen Banks; and Nathan Gilbert, will be working on building shelves for the boys’ rooms, expanding the outdoor kitchen hut; playing and loving on the kids and a variety of other things.

Please pray for the team as they travel and serve.  Pray for Joel and Susan as they daily minister to these children.  Pray for the other workers at the home – Florence, Mama Paul and Mama Rose.  Pray for the children – that they may proudly claim God as their Father!

Please continue to stop by each day for brief updates from the team before they return July 17.