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An International Missionary Outreach Dedicated to Evangelizing the Lost By Sharing The Gospel According to the Scriptures
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Bryce Homes Kenya Update |
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Dear Friends and Coworkers with Christ, Earlier this Month, we had another successful visit to Bryce Homes of Kenya households and I am glad to share this bulletin. Loaded with gifts to distribute, we were received with great enthusiasm as children and women sang songs of praise to God. These are the kind of stories I always yearn to write about and when such scenes of joy in praise to God emerge, the larger readers’ family who are relentlessly supporting this program come to my mind. You people are indeed blessed just as the scripture records that “It is more blessed to give than to receive”. Pitching tent in the middle of a community where almost every widow and orphan is a member of Bryce Homes Kenya, we offloaded the gifts and began to distribute from one household to another. Since the households are many, our report for this month is focused on four, namely: BH #10, BH #18, BH #26 and BH #27. They include Widow Anne, Widow Emily, Widow Rusalina1 and Widow Maren.
Widow Anne, in the photo above, while sharing her testimony, reflects on her past before she became a widow. The late husband was a civil servant so they had stable income to bring up the family. Since they never had any savings, the demise of the sole family breadwinner left her with the heaviest burden of her life; meeting the educational needs of the children who were already enrolled in high school. She says the only option she was left with was to sell family assets/property for the children to continue with school with the hope that these children would later get jobs and support the family. By good luck, her son completed his education and got a good job, married and bore children. To her disbelief, before she even settled after the turmoil of paying college fees, the son equally passed on. This left her depressed and she cannot withstand the heavier burden of providing for the orphaned grandchildren. She then resorted to look for a pastor to pray with her until she bumped on to Bryce Homes Kenya. It is her painful life experience that saw her being received in the Bryce Homes Program. She therefore continues to thank the individuals who sacrifice their income to support Bryce Homes Program. She concludes by recognizing the gospel of Christ that accompanies this program hence its uniqueness.
Widow Anne (BH #10) with the grandchildren. She extended her gratitude to the readers and Bryce Homes International.
Widow Emily (BH #18) is one of the pioneers of Bryce Homes Kenya. Her life story among those which were widely covered in Roger’s initial trips to Kenya. It is a true meaning of resilience in a troublesome marriage which was later followed by the demise of the family breadwinner. Prior to the demise of her husband many years ago, she had given her life to Christ but this was not welcome by the larger family that was predominantly Adventists. Even after the demise of her husband, her in-laws pursued her and was given conditions on what to do to remain relevant in inheritance of the family property. In search for help and prayers in a church where Pastor Achilla was present, she was prayed for but God even intervened by linking her to Bryce Homes Program which provides for her to date. She is among those who benefitted from Bryce Homes shelter upgrading. She got a durable house which she still values and thanks this program for. She has equally played a pivotal role as a role model to the widows in these area. Our Board in Kenya has always used her for leadership role in encouraging other widows who are helpless.
Widows Emily (Left) and Rusalina1 (Right) when they took us through their testimonies. The two live in different locations which are approximately 32km apart.
When we visited Rusalina1 (BH #26) her joy was rightfully on the face as always. I normally describe her as the trademark of joy in this program. What makes her happy is the fact that this program identified her in the deepest of remote places in this locality. One would wonder why we burn a lot of gas to reach her with these gifts but it only makes sense when one physically access the place and hear her remarks. She is among those needy cases which makes us encourage readers to keep on with this godly mission of ministering to the needy in deed. Widow Maren was even more encouraged. She has only taken a couple of years in the program but the change in her life is great. At her old age, she forgets her life pressures and still focuses on her faith. She narrates how she received salvation and the attached benefits. Bryce Homes Program found her in a dire situation when other widows in this program shared with us about her condition. We are glad she is now happy.
Widow Maren (BH #27) with her grandson.
Finally, I take this opportunity to extend our greetings as the Board of Bryce Homes Kenya. We continue to pray for you, Lighthouse Trails and UTT readers, since the work you are doing is indeed divine before God. The lives of these widows and orphans have not remained the same and we can only thank God for you. Blessings!
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Understand The Times is an independent non-profit organization in
Canada and the United States.
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