2 Families and a faithful pastor
We have a 3 local needs we would like to see met if some of you are generous donors are willing to help us meet them.
(Need #1 and #2 and #3 are now met! Thank you! )
These simple investments will make a tremendous impact in the lives of folks here in western Kenya. A couple of these needs have been weighing heavily on Steph and I over the last couple of months, but we've had so much going on and so many needs here at Mercy Ministries we've hated to bring more needs. However, we know these to be true needs and we aren't here just for what is going on at Mercy Ministries. Will you prayerfully consider helping meet these needs to better the lives of many?
David's house. He has placed handmade bricks in the doorway that leads to the other room, to somewhat block it off so he can still sleep inside. He wants to get the new house built and bring his children home. They are currently staying with extended family members.
1. One of our new groundskeepers here at Mercy Ministries, David, is currently living in his house where one of the walls has completely fallen down. This happens sometimes with old mud houses during the rainy season. He is currently building a new mud house, but is lacking 20 roofing sheets to get it completed. The cost for all 20 is $250.
This is Joseph in 2019. He is one of the children living in the grass-roof hut, and now attends MCA. We met him through the feeding program we did for our village children during a time food was scarce.
2. We have been assisting a struggling family in our village with food and educating 2 of their 4 children at MCA (the youngest 2 are not yet school aged). The father, mother and 4 children live in a very small 1 room thatched grass-roof hut that is next to a creek. The house is in poor condition and the area, including the inside of the house, often floods when it rains. We would like to build them a better house that is a little bigger and on a raised foundation a little further from the creek in order to prevent it from being flooded. The father doesn't have a steady income due to the lack of jobs in our village, but works when work is available. The mother often looks after others' cows to try and bring in a little income. The mother and children faithfully attend Mercy Baptist Church. The father attends when he can, but often has to look for work on Sundays. The estimate to build them a new house is $750.
A family of 6 stays in this small hut. The creek is just a couple meters to the left.
3. One of the member churches of FARM (Fellowship of African Reformed Ministries) is in a very remote and difficult to reach location at the pastors homestead. The church has secured land a short distance away that is right off a main road, so it will be much easier for the nearby community to access it. We would like to help them put up a new building on that land. They are able to use some material from the existing church building, but they will not be able to totally build it without some new materials. The total cost needed for the new structure is about $500. Just imagine being able to put up a new church building for $500! This church is very focused on the true Gospel, and it is very needed in a community that has no other real Gospel-preaching churches.
This picture was from a pastor's training conference we did several months ago. The small building behind is the church building that we would love to relocate to a more accessible property. This little community has many people hungry for the Word of God.
Please pray for these needs, and if able, consider making a donation to help. I will put the Mercy Ministries donation link in the comments. Please note the donation "Facebook post 1 (or 2 or 3, depending on which need you are contributing to). Thank you for reading through this long post!
“Message from Jeff Bys cross posted from his Facebook timeline. With your help we are changing lives for good.”
We will update this blog and the Facebook posts here as these needs are met.