September 2021

Dear friends,

I greet you very warmly, we are all well and we trust that you are in good health as well. Some time has passed since the last letter. Some of the plans and dreams we wrote about we achieved, some unfortunately not. We were hoping that August would be a very fruitful working month for the group of volunteers from Poland, unfortunately the trip did not take place due to several changes to flight dates by  the airlines. Both we and the volunteers had to accept this fact, but nothing is lost. We trust that a better time will come, it will be God’s timing not ours ... Who knows, hopefully if God opens the door, the Polish group will come to Kenya next year. In the mean time, we can prepare and plan in more detail their visit. Please pray with us for wisdom for all of us and for God's blessing for those willing to come.

Not long ago we were building the 6th grade classroom, with great appreciation and thanks we applaud everyone who helped to bring this stage of the project to completion. But this is not the end, thanks to the support of the Baptist Church from Bialystok, we started building a library / community room,  thanks to which children will be able to practice reading. We have noticed that there is no library or reading room in the area and most of the members of local community have significant problems with reading skills, sometimes even on elementary level.  Parents of the children did not have an opportunity to learn to read, and if they do, they read very poorly. We would very much like our children to have a better opportunity than their parents had.

However, to complete the building of the library/community room we need more cement, furniture (cabinets,

tables, chairs, desks, carpets), more books, electrical equipment/supplies to install lighting and a  solar battery. We will be grateful for any help, both financial and spiritual.

In this last period, we also helped Emmanuel, surely some people remember him (we wrote about him on FB), whom I came across (it might seem literally by chance, and yet - with God there are no coincidences). Emmanuel comes from a God-loving family  with many children. His biggest dream was to continue his education in high school.  After graduating from primary school, Emmanuel spent several months at home due to the lack of tuition fees for high school. Today, Emmanuel is a first-grade student of a Secondary School.  He is amazed that his greatest dream of returning to school has come true. God is truly wonderful when we let Him work through ourselves, and you, our friends, have your part in it. Without your help, all this would not be possible.

Current semester is coming to an end, in addition to the final exams, we are preparing for the sports day, that will take place next week. It will be a day of fun and competition between classes. Almost everyone is looking forward to that day!

 

The semester break will only last one week, the next semester will start on October 10th. Our dream is to complete the building of the library and equipping it, before the start of the new term.

What's next?  Just a few days ago we found out that it is recommended for our school to have an IT classroom. Due to the change in the educational system 5th grade students have computing lessons in the curriculum.  Someone  might ask what

is the need for computers in a village?.. but in Kenya’s educational system the program of study is exactly the same for children from the cities and those in the villages .  If God permits, building and equipping an IT classroom will be our next project. Where to begin? We now entrust this plan and the entire project to the Highest, if someone would like to contribute to this goal please add reference "Computer" when making a donation.

Anyone  who has a laptop in working order that they don’t need (ideally with software in English) please keep it for us! Please don’t send it though, we hope someone will be coming to Kenya and they could bring it with them.

The bore hole is functioning and it’s an enormous blessing for everyone, especially in the current dry season.  People come for water with several canisters because all the puddles are now dry, rains this year were sporadic and tiny. The only downside is that the water from the bore hole is slightly salted and it would be good to filter it, but we haven't yet established how much it would cost. I will try to write more about it in the next letter.

Our children are doing really good. Every Friday we do Bible class with our pupils. They  start day with song of

worship than we go to the word of God.  We are trying  to teach them importance of having relationship with Jesus. It is amazing to see kids from different religion background coming to our school and attending those Bible studies.  Though at home they are thought other things we are doing our best to help them to FOCUS on Christ in the future at the same time hoping they leave 

 the tradition learnt at home.

Apart from that we do carry  fellowship with our staff, every Tuesday we meet together with teachers and other workers to seek God, pray and listen to the word of God. During one of those meetings one teacher received Jesus, we know that heaven is rejoicing because of this 1 person, we do have our hopes high for many more to acknowledge Jesus to be their savior.

From time to time we also go into the village to visit some homes around. One day we visited a mother who was left by her husband after she started  having some mental problems. From that time the husband never came back, he got other lady in town and started having new family, neglecting the one he already had. This sick women is known here as a crazy one, none took time to talk to her, or help  with her sickness. Instead, people lough at her and point their fingers. After praying for her healing she has accepted Jesus into her life. We do believe even though she was not knowing what she is doing,God has seen her cry for help and is fighting for her as much as we do by trusting and believing  healing is on the way.Keep praying God to open the eyes and ears of people here.

How is our family? In short, not everyone knows my European driving license expired some time ago and I had to renew it. I had to get a Kenyan one, and I achieved it!  I have gained a bit of courage and can  now drive on African roads, I must honestly admit that one has to have eyes around the head. Henry is continuing his studies in Nairobi. He started another semester so we ask for prayer, for God's devotion and wisdom, and for perseverance to complete to complete his studies.

At the end of this letter, I place you all in the hands of the Most High, I am praying for God's blessing for all of you.

 Shalom

Borehole completed

 "Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love." (NIV,2 Jana 1: 3)

 

Dear donors, brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, we are grateful for each of you, for your great heart, prayers and support.

Without your help, we wouldn't be here today. You might be wondering what new has been happening recently here. In short, how are the things in Kwademu. God was so wonderful that He blessed the well design we all longed , finally In mid-March, we installed the pump! The well project has been completed and the well is working! We now have water around the clock, during the rainy and dry season. We don't have to worry anymore if it will rain and when!  The well is one of the biggest achievements this year.  It's a huge blessing for all of us, especially since the rains appeared with a considerable delay and not in the amount expected. Once again, thank you very much for all your prayers and support! 

Furthermore, there is progress in the church building work- we finished the floor, put the door in place, we also managed to buy and install a rainwater collection tank. In addition, we managed to reach several families and make them aware of the importance of family planning. On average, families here have 6 and more children. It is very hard to find jobs, and providing for such large family is a real challenge for many. Only 3 families took advantage of this program, but we hope that more families will get interested in it in the future.

The next school semester is coming to an end. This year the summer break will last only a week, the children will return to school so soon to catch up with the lost time due to Covid19 lockdown. We also hope that we will complete in time the construction of the 6th grade's classroom. We still lack some funds to complete it, but we trust that God will not leave us in such urgent need. In the next few weeks we are expecting a group of volunteers from Poland who decided to devote their time and money to come to Kenya to join our work at the school and community. So far we have hosted 2 groups in the past 3 years. Unfortunately, the pandemic that broke out last year closed that door for the volunteers, but we thank God that it is starting to reopen now. Therefore, we ask you, beloved, to remember in your prayers this group that will be with us in August. This time the volunteers will be helping in a bit different way.  We will focus not only on working with the children but also devote a lot of attention to the local community, preaching the word of God and sharing skills that some members of the community might find helpful in everyday life.

 Henry still spends most of his time in Nairobi at the course he started in January this year. I am in Mombasa with the children, trying to supervise the project in the village, with God's help. There is still so much to do, new challenges arise with each day, but looking back and at the present situation, we do nothing but give glory and honor to the Most High.

 

We send blessings and best wishes to everyone, and please remember us in your prayers. We also uplift  you all into the hands of Heavenly Father!

 Mirka

New Year

 ‘’Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,and he will make your paths straight.

 Do not be wise in your own eyes;fear the Lord and shun evil.’’

    (Proverbs 3:5-7, NIV)

At the beginning of this letter, I greet you all very warmly.  I sincerely hope that the situation in the world in connection with the current Covid19  situation has not impacted your plans for the year 2021. I trust that everyone is in good health, but if this is not the case, I am placing the sick in the hands of the Lord.

 

The New Year has fully started and new challenges and responsibilities have also appeared. In accordance with the Ministry of Education decision, schools in Kenya were opened on January 4th, so our school in Kwademu is  open too.  Less than 200 children came to school, as not all children have returned. Some families moved their child to schools closer to their place of homes. We have about 20 new kids among those who came. We also expect the number of children to increase slightly in the following days. Ultimately, we have room for 220 children. As kids have lost almost a year of education due to staying at home because of the pandemic restrictions, the Kenyan government has shortened their school holidays for the next 2 year. This was done in order to help them to catch up with lost time. Usually the school year in Kenya starts in January, now the new academic year will start at the end of July, the August and December school holidays will be canceled.

 We hope that we will all find ourselves in this new reality. Shortly before the end of 2020, exactly during Christmas, we have once again organized food packages for the families of children from our school. The parents were happy to be able to prepare a Christmas meals for their kids.

Shortly before the opening of the schools, we also completed the construction of toilets that will be used by our teachers, and the former toilets used by teachers got allocated for girls. 

However, the biggest challenge now, is the access to drinking water. Unfortunately, it is the dry season in Kenya, rain is sporadic, extremely rare. Most of the local residents are dependent on the water from the river and the so-called ponds, in remote locations. The well project is still unfinished. The pump, and the necessary materials to connect it, still need to be purchased.  The last cost estimate we got was around $8,500.  This is a considerable expense, especially in the present situation when the world has turned upside down, and many small businesses have collapsed, people lost their jobs, etc. However, we trust that all provisions belong to God and there are no limits for His generosity.

I approach it with humbleness understanding that there are matters that I can change and there are those I can’t where only God can help, and it’s Him who decides when and how. In this situation I can only have faith in God, trust and wait patiently.

Despite the issue with access to water it does not mean that the school will have to be closed. We try to meet the challenges. We cooperate with very committed parents who decided to carry water to school every day- for cooking and washing hands.

 

Now, shortly how we Kalumes have been..

For some time I (Mirka) started having health problems.  Firstly, with stomach ulcers, then with my heart, and finally with legs. The latter  got so bad that it was almost impossible for me to stand or move, I practically dragged myself from place to place. The medication I took for several months did not help and the pain continued. A specialist doctor recommended surgery. It all happened very quickly, during Christmas period doctors decided that I needed an operation. Just after the New Year a specialist doctor came from Nairobi (unfortunately in Mombasa there is no doctor trained for this type of surgery). Thank God, in August last year, we extended our health policy for another year with the money returned by the airlines (as you know, we did not manage to fly to Poland, and the airlines turned out to be very responsible by giving a cash refund for unused tickets). Thanks to that we were able to take out health insurance. In short, it was the insurance that covered all the costs of the surgery, which the hospital estimated at nearly $4,000 (in the end it turned out to be a bit less, around $3,500). Currently, I'm recovering, according to the doctor's recommendation.  I have to slow down significantly and in 3 weeks return to the hospital for checkup. How am I feeling? Physically, it gets better every day. I think that past calls from my friends and Henry to slow down were a good advice which unfortunately I didn’t take on seriously. I have to admit that I find it difficult to ease off and relax by doing nothing. I fell into a vortex and it was hard for me to stop. I finally had to slow down although not of my own will, God has stopped me. Now I have time to reflect and spend more time with Him

Henry has been fasting for a long time and at the same time praying for us, for the people from the village, for the project and for God's guidance. Earlier, he mentioned a course that God put on his heart - Community Development based on biblical standards. The plan was that in April last year we will fly to Poland for a short time. On return girls were meant to start school and Henry college. As we all know, our plans do not always match God's plan. So our plan did not come to life as Covid showed up.

Henry, continued to pray. He received a letter of college admission this January. The university that accepted him is located in Nairobi. It is a Christian university. When he received the admission letter he had to go to Nairobi to enroll, so I was left with the kids. He believes that God will provide for him and guide him, thus take care of us here in Mombasa. The course lasts for one and half years, with breaks between semesters. This is not a situation that I completely understand, but it is one of many that I cannot control. I don't know what God has planned and what He has prepared for us. All I can do is trust Him and entrust my worries into His hands. My only consolation is that God does not give us things that are too heavy for us to bear. If this is Gods plan, we should definitely trust Him and act accordingly. There are days when I feel unwell, there are days when I try to find guidance and comfort in God’s Word, this verse recently became close to my heart : “ I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.  (Philippians 4:13, NIV)

 

This is what I find comfort in every day, especially when the devil tries to attack me, saying that I can not do it. I don't know the answer to the questions why Nairobi, why so far and not another school, how God will provide for us, but I know that God will not leave his servant. In all this, I want to thank God for Magda who is near the school, she is the one who has been helping me and supporting me as much as possible.

 

 Concluding this letter, I entrust all of us to prayer

 Greetings

 

 MIRKA