Recent News From Africa

MY DEAR FRIENDS,

There has been a change of plans and I am back in Nairobi with Pastor Josphat Kamau and Bishop Mugo is here. Mugo's son Joshua is in Nairobi National Hospital (where I was last week) and he has a tumour in his groin. Mugo is now here with us and this matter is more important that me going to Meru. I am trying to listen carefully to God's will in this situation .

It was sooo good to go back to Matumaini to see all the children and the staff. They are extremely grateful for the medical supplies that I brought and for the financial help that was sent with me which totalled over $800. Many of the staff have 4-8 kids of their own to feed and they sometimes go months without pay so please know that these funds came at the right time. Many of the staff have also had relatives killed in the clashes or they died of HIV and left THOSE kids orphaned and homeless so these parents have no choice but to add kids to their own families.
Ruth and I were like 2 kids at Summer Camp for several days in a row without hydro, eating by candlelight and listening to the rain pounding down off and on for 4 days. She is such a delightful woman of God and she has sacrificed her needs for years so a little thing like eating 3 or 4 different kinds of cookies that I bought was a delightful treat for her. She says she is ' allergic to the camera' so she shies away from having her picture taken. I hope that I can have as much Godly stamina as she has when I reach 71.

I was fortunate enough, with some camera wrangling to take some videos of Liz Hodgins, a missionary who is manager of the hostel and Pastor David Sagwa, who is the Director and one of the children at the hostel singing songs so I plan to put something together once I return back to Canada.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the need here is so great and the Lord is working miracles ever day to make funds go so very far. The present vehicle used at the Center is a 92 Toyota truck with a large cap on the back which is starting to rust on the seams. It has lots of mileage and while it is a diesel it is in dire need of replacement I am going to talk to some dealers back home using my vast people skills and dazzling personality( SMILE )and try to secure a new or newer truck for them here. It will be tempting for dealers to know that I can probably get them an income tax receipt through I-Teams Canada. I am fully confident that the Lord will provide for these great kids and dedicated staff here.

The taxi ride on the highway to and from Nakuru is a far different experience than it was 2 yrs ago. It is a brand NEW road and the trip only takes around 2 and a quarter hours. Smooth road is very different than hard clay with huge potholes SMILE.

More news to follow soon. Please continue to pray for all of My overseers and our safe travel and favour. The traffic in downtown Nairobi is absolutely beyond belief until you have actually expereinced it.

LOVE to all ---- In HIS Service,

Steve

Steve's Trip

From: matumaini church [mailto:matumainipefamolo@yahoo.com]
Sent: October-08-08 3:17 PM
To: charleswillner@yahoo.com
Cc: missediegrainger@gmail.com; dbd74000@yahoo.com; jwillard@cogeco.ca
Subject: Re: Thank you letter from Ruth

Dear. Friends

Greetings from Matumaini in the name of our Lord Jesus.

Thank you for your kind gifts of cash and medical supplies. We are very grateful to receive them.

This will be a great help to buy more maize and beans for the children as we still have displaced children at the centre. This has caused the need to be greater. Owing to the tribal clashes, we are still assisting children that had their house burned and lost everything.

These particular children will be very happy to receive a tooth brush and toothpaste. The medical supplies are very useful and just what is needed. We do thank Steve Beecraft for bringing them.

May God richly bless you for your kindness our children.

We thank you for your continuing pray difficult situation

Sincerely yours

Ruth Scott Kellie

Message From Steve

Dear Friends,

IT has been 4 days of rain every day and power was out for 2 days so travel has been limited.
It has been a great adventure and a humbling one. Pastor Samuel at the PEFA church on the property asked me to speak and I spoke on the very last chapter of Matthew when Jesus spoke for the very last time to the 11 and gave them the Commission. I also spoke on forgiveness. I asked them if it was okay and I covered both my hands with olive oil and all the children and most of the adults came forward for anointing, healing and prayer. It was powerful as all of them knelt in the front of the Church and listened while I prayed.
Tears come easily and quickly. It is a great joy to see some of the kids that I met 2 years ago but there are MORE kids and so much more need. Most of the kids are fascinated by the big MZUNGU smile
This country has been mortally wounded by all the tribal violence that occurred at the beginning of this year. Many people had their homes burned to the ground and lost everything. Over 1500 people were brutally murdered because of their tribe.

I encouraged them that the Lord will restore Kenya. There is SO much poverty here but yet there is STILL some hope and much faith. The rest of the world needs to know and understand the great need here. While I understand that the need is in many places, this is the only personal account that I can give because I have seen it.

My plans have been altered slightly and I will be going back to Nairobi tomorrow instead of to Meru. Pastor Mugo was going to host me but needs to travel to see his son at the hospital where I was last week.

I await the Lords direction and purpose and I ask you all to please continue to pray for my protection and travelling mercies and favour of those that are hosting me and MOST important for my precious kids.

More news to follow from Nairobi in the next few days.

In HIS Service

Steve Beecroft

Testimony from Youth Rally

Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2008 01:27:12 -0400
From: maribeth.boshart@gmail.com
To: pastorjoerock@hotmail.com
Subject: many thanks!!!!

Hey Joe! we "finally" got home and our van was buzzing for 3.5 hours on the way home with excitement about what God is up to and what our youth are looking for in their faith journey and our church. In fact they decided that they are going to meet at our church at 8 a.m. to pray and intercede for our congregation. So, thanks for putting together a great day that spurred our kids into a deeper walk with their Heavenly Dad! We really appreciated all your hard work and the guys in the van that took the pizza really liked the snack on the way home.
Maribeth
AKA "Momma Bosh"

Grace Ministries Scholarships

I am very proud to announce that three GM scholarhips were awarded this past Sunday; they were given to Joel Wuerch, Jordan renaud, and Lindsey kiss. I would also like to mention that we had strong applicants and found it hard to determine which applicant would be eligible for the awards. The scholarship committee, which was made up of Marc Holmes, Jan Lewis and myself, were all pleased to see the applicants put a lot of thought and effort into their applications. We, here at GM, want to encourage this generation to use their giftings and aspirations to futher the kingdom of God in their respective fields of studies. Congratulations to all of you, and this is just the beginning of what we hope will become annual scholarship awards. Citius, Altius, Fortius!

Alejandra Ward

NOTES FROM A CLASSICAL WORK :

"Imitation of Christ," by Thomas A. Kempis

The Disciple: "How often, Lord, shall I resign myself? And in what shall I forsake myself?

The Voice of Christ: "Always, at every hour, in small matters as well as great, I expect nothing. In all things I wish you to be stripped of self. How otherwise can you be mine or I yours unless you be despoiled of your own will both inwardly and outwardly? The sooner you do this the better it will be for you, and the more fully and sincerely youdo it the more you will please Me and the greater gain you will merit. -------- Bk. 3, Chapter 37

New Ushers

On September 3, 2008 the usher's ministry team had a meeting and are pleased to announce the addition of 3 new ushers to the ministry:
A very warm welcome to Joan Whittle, Steve Ouellette, and Dale Jones.
In addition, I would like to express a big THANK YOU to the existing Ushers for their time and commitment to serving at Grace Ministries as this is a ministry that continues to change to meet the continuing needs of the congregation.

In His Service,

Elder Marc