Kenya and USA Update and Projects

Dear Friends of Care of Creation:

On behalf of our entire staff, we wanted to thank you for your prayers and support in response to the recent urgent request for prayer for projects in Kenya and the USA. It’s great to hear from you and know that you are helping us as we work both here and in Kenya.

We still have a lot of funding challenges ahead of us so it is important that we continue to put our faith in God for his future blessings and provisions. The phrase “give us this day, our daily bread” has deep meaning for us here at Care of Creation as we move into the fall and winter seasons.

More News From Kenya

It’s sometimes hard for us in the USA to fully grasp what is happening in Kenya. Here in the USA, drought is something that we experience but in most cases, our grocery store shelves still remain full, when we turn on our taps clean water still flows and we still remain friends with our neighbors.

However, in countries where the land literally supplies “life” through food and water and fuel, drought literally drains life so families can’t eat, crops disappear and unrest breaks out over the very scarce remaining resources.

Since we sent our last letter to you, we have received some additional news from Francis, one of the staff members who works at Care of Creation in Limuru, Kenya.

Here is what Francis writes in regards to how the current Farming Gods Way (FGW) plots are doing during the drought:

Am just back from Ndeiya and farmers are tilling the land in preparation for next planting because the maize crop is just about 100% failure. Am doubting if we ourselves will harvest from the FGW though so far the they are the best looking in the whole place!

The info I gathered today is that there are many comments from different corners that if only some little more rain, then the FGW would definitely prove what the passer-by farmers “have been suspecting”, that – “FGW is the way to go”. This is both at SDA and Kiawanda.

Some people commented to the lady who’s our FGW plot caretaker at Kiawanda and she had to plead with them; they said, “Take care because soon someone if not one of us will harvest your green maize because it is the only one around”. This is what Tafroza Minayo told me today us I updated with the situation on the ground.

Francis later followed up with some additional news:

Yes, as Craig says the situation as I had reported is very bad even as I write. Consider this:

1. Our SDA FGW demo plot had been the talk of passers-by for some time but eventually fell on the hands of a hungry person/family (Bro. Kanori has been away and we’ll establish about how much we lost when we weigh the final harvest since we were forced to gather and dry at Bro. Kanori’s)
2. Our beans were the best in the community and though many others harvested
3. The mulch we thought was to be readily available is now a gold-rush hot item.
4. Food aid is being dished out to the people I work with in Ndeiya; Maai Mahiu is worst hit and my friends even seem ‘confused’
5. Yesterday cows were cut up with pangas by some men in Thika as Maasai’s from Kajiado roamed their starving and dying cows into some farm. This brutality was about the scarce resource in the name of grass!
6. This morning as we drove from Machakos we saw dead cows strewn along Mombasa road.
7. All maize in Ndeiya, though ours has more smiling features, is on it’s final lap to the grave.
8. Many Maasais and their cattle have been chased from ranches due to the depleted resource – grass.
9. The Athi is dry just like many other rivers.
10. In Nairobi 20 litres of water is going between KSh.50 and 100 depending on the area.

Thanks for prayers. It’s being reported in the media that we prepare ourselves for a coming El Nino in the next 2 weeks.

We don’t know what to say.

Will keep you updated.

Francis

So, what can we do about this terrible situation in Kenya?

First, we would ask that you continue to pray for our Kenyan brothers and sisters and for the Care of Creation FGW projects.. Please pray for peace (shalom) and for God’s blessings on the land that they depend on for survival. Second, please help us continue to do what we can with the resources that we have to help the people of Kenya through this difficult time. And finally, thank God that the projects that Care of Creation Kenya is doing are providing the opportunity to share the Gospel as we show that caring for creation as God intended is the right thing to do.

Two New Books Published

Care of Creation is pleased to announce the publication of two new books by Craig Sorley, Founding Director of Care of Creation, Kenya. These books — “Farming That Brings Glory To God – A Set of Biblical Principles to Transform the Practice of Agriculture” and “Christ and Creation – Our Biblical Calling to Environmental Stewardship” — are used by Craig as part of his workshops with Kenyan farmers. They join the book “Our Father’s World – Why Christians Should Care for Creation” in educating people about the solid biblical foundation for Creation Care.

All three of these books are available from Care of Creation through our website at shop.careofcreation.com.

Funding for Ongoing Projects

We are seeking and praying for funding so that we can work on the following projects:

Farming God’s Way Workshops. These are 2 – 3 day workshops in Kenya that are presented to pastors and farmers. They outline the biblical basis for creation care and do the initial training required for the Farming God’s Way agriculture. In Kenya, farmers and pastors have very little extra income to attend workshops like this so we are hoping to raise enough funds to hold 4 workshops in the near future. Our cost to put on a workshop is $750.00. We are hoping to recruit churches or individuals who will sponsor one or more of these workshops.

Urbana ’09. Many of us know of one or more people who were influenced to enter into missions based on what they heard or saw at an Urbana conference.

This December, we have an unusual opportunity to educate and train a huge number of students who are thinking about being involved in missions sometime in the very near future. This is a unique opportunity because it occurs only once every three years and, given the urgency of situations like the drought in Kenya, deforestation in Haiti and the growing environmental issues in India, it is possible that many lives will be lost and much more damage will be done if we wait to raise this issue with potential missionaries until the next Urbana conference in 2012.

We are looking to raise funding for a Care of Creation booth at the conference which will allow us to have follow-on discussions and fellowship with students who attend workshops given by Ed Brown and Craig Sorley as well as some other organizations (Eden Vigil and Renewal) we are partnering with. Our total cost for the booth space is $2500.00. We also have need for funds to cover some of the Care of Creation staff travel expenses from Madison to St. Louis where the conference will be held.

If you want to participate in these two special projects by helping us with the funding, please make sure that you indicate that your gift is for “Urbana 09” or for “Kenya Workshops”. That way, we can make sure that it gets to the right place. You can make your gift online here or mail it to us at Care of Creation. PO Box 53744, Madison, WI 53744.

This has been a blessed summer for us. Lots of projects, lots of contacts and lots of progress. Thanks for your partnership and prayers.

In His Name for Ed, Susanna, Craig, Tracy, Stacey and our staff in Kenya

Fredric Gluck

PS: Here are some additional links to stories about the drought in Kenya

• Lush Land Dries Up Withering Kenya’s Hope (NY Times – 8 Sept 2009)
• Kenya’s Rural Drought Hurts City Dwellers (Palm Beach Post / AP)
• Kenya’s Drought Worsens Hunger Risk (BBC)
• Drought, death grips Kenyan heartland (CNN)
• Recurring Kenyan drought affect millions (Voice of America)

image credits: voanews.com, urbana09.com