Goodbye Kenya, Hello Zambia

As I wait in Lusaka for the plane that will take us to my friends Everest and Jane in Nkwazi, I have had some time to reflect on the past several days. Clearly, they have been very encouraging and I think will lead to new partnerships to bring hope and help to those in great need.

Four projects in particular show great promise.

I met a remarkable man, Kennedy Nyagudi. He is a nationally known leader in political, business and church circles. Kenn is a giant of a man who was greeted warmly by people wherever we went. Kenn has a great dream. He has land along a river that he wants to develop as a cabbage farm. Ten acres of irrigated land will produce 300,000 head of cabbage a year. The profits from this crop will pay for all the living and school expenses of the 26 orphans that his team is caring for. As well, he will use the profits to by irrigation pumps for the poor land owners so that they can also create income by planting crops. When Kenn told me about the problem of unsafe drinking water (so common in developing nations), I told him about the bio-sand filters that we are building in Zimbabwe and the Philippines. Within a couple of minutes, I had connected him with Tim in the Philippines; they talked for about half an hour. Kenn is the personal advisor to both the Prime Minister and the Vice President of Kenya. The next day he had a meeting with the VP; during the meeting he talked about the water filters. This may be the best solution for the estimated 30-40% of rural people in Kenya with not access to safe water.

The other day, I wrote about another remarkable man, Mike Brawan. We discussed two very interesting projects. Mike put a pastor into the maximum security prison a while ago. There are now over 1,200 men who have given their lives to Christ; however, they have no Bibles. Mike has a man in Nairobi who prints Bibles in English and Swahili for less than $2 each. So we are going to set up a project to provide at least 500 Bibles for the men.

In Kenya, if a woman cannot pay a fine she is put into prison, usually for 6-12 months. These are typically for minor misdemeanors like selling vegetables on the side of the road without a permit. But the worst part is this: without exception, when a woman is put in prison, her children are put in there too. Mike told me that because of malnutrition, bad water and sickness up to half of the children die in prison. As long as the mother is there, the children must stay in the prison too. All that is required to let the woman and her children out, is to pay the fine. Mike says that typically this is about $50-75. So I met with Mike’s administrator and he is going to get us a list of women and the amount of the fine that is owing. Together, via the Impact Network, we are going to “release the captives” and confront this injustice.

One last story. In December, Mike got permission to build a baptismal tank in the men’s maximum security prison. A date was set, but then suddenly there was a mass outbreak of both cholera and a of very contagious skin disease. Mike was going to postpone the baptism, but he sensed God telling him not to delay, but to pour anointing oil in the water and go ahead. 1200 were baptized. ALL of them instantly healed. He saw the lesions drying up as they came out of the water. I spoke with the warden on the phone tonight.He gave me exactly the same account. He is so happy that he is trying to get Mike into every prison in the nation for baptisms.

So with all that happened over the past few days, I can hardly wait to see what the Lord will open up for us in Nkwazi, an urban ghetto of over 30,000 people. This community has the highest rates of AIDS, alcoholism and violence in the nation. An my heroic friends, Everest and Jane run minister hope in the midst of this darkness every day. It is a privilege to come alongside and see how we can help build more bridges to rescue lives.

Thanks to all of you who have prayed so fervently for Christina and Adam’s safety. God did an incredible series of miracles to save their lives. But I will let them tell the story once they get home.