Tournaments & Urgent Prayer

Food and fuel prices have been dramatically increasing in Kenya, sparking deadly protests and civil tension within the region. Last week I discussed how this has been affecting our fuel budget, getting Bishop to the places he needs to be to ensure operations run smoothly. This week the price of food followed suit with a dramatic 30% increase and an announcement from President Ruto suggesting this will only be getting worse.

Full disclosure: this causes a bit of anxiety, but God’s got this. Our board of directors has been crunching numbers, evaluating the health of our emergency fund, discussing long-term strategic plans, and relying heavily on prayer and guidance. We are already starting to witness God’s divine intervention to meet a need that only a few people knew about.

You can help us ensure food is always provided for our kids regardless of the turmoil occurring around them. These children were rationing food when we first met them during the COVID pandemic. Just the other day rationing was brought up as a possibility from our Kenyan partners: “Brother don’t worry. We’re Africans, rationing is always an option we’re used to," Bishop explained. We assured him that rationing was something these kids will never experience again. Sponsor a child today or give monthly to our nutrition program. Both of these programs provide the essentials needed during these turbulent times and beyond.

But wait, there’s more! My wife, Kara, had the honor of speaking in front of a small church group in New Jersey thanks to supporter Kristina Barkey (pictured below with my wife). She flew round trip within a 24-hour period to attend and came back with sheer excitement. The stories of interactions and discussions she had were encouraging. Kara said she talked about our most recent issues with price increases, and God delivered. This small group of 20 people instantly provided nearly $5,000 by the end of the evening. We were not expecting this event to be an emergency fundraiser! Thank you, Hillside Church, for your wonderful gift. It will be supplementing our current food budget for the next few months. Please consider sponsoring a child to help us in the long-term strategy of making a difference.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for our children: They are competing against other schools in track and soccer. They’re kicking butt and having fun! Check out these epic videos of the comps. Here is a list of our kids moving forward in the tournaments: 

  1: Emmanuel W (volleyball)
  2: Jasmim C (volleyball)
  3: Bravin S (Handball)
  4: Ivan S (handball)
  5: Bernard W (Soccer)
  6: Mitchell A (soccer)
  7: Ian W (soccer)
  8: Abigael S (Handball)
  9: Lindah N (Handball)

• Pray for Kenya: The current Kenyan administration is causing a lot of chaos and struggles compared to the surrounding countries.

• Pray for our Kenyan community: Seasons of hunger are enough of a struggle, let alone a continuous burden of increased costs to simply survive. Keep an eye out for possible emergency food distributions outside of our normal annual schedule. We’re keeping a pulse on the situation and will intervene when necessary. You can proactively give towards our crisis distributions here. Updates on our June distribution will be coming out in the coming week!