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

News from pandemic

    Dear Friends,

Although we are not among you, we would like to share some things with you. I also believe that in carrying out these missions to which each of us has been called, we will in everything refer to the Word of God, which is, was and will be light in this dark gray world. I also trust that the Holy Spirit is present among you today and that He will guide your hearts, as He gives directions and wisdom for further work.

Quoting Psalm 25,

TEACH ME YOUR PATHS To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day

Let us submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, so we can prepare ourselves for him to touch our hearts, to refresh us and give us joy in every little thing, despite all the logs that the devil throws at our feet, let us remain in the Lord and let us not give up in difficulties.

A few words about us: When we were starting this mission, I knew that it would not be easy, despite the long months of expectations and prayers, "the rain of blessings’’ did not come. One year passed, then another and another and there was still only silence. Our barely smoldering spark of hope that better days will come did survive deep in our hearts. Despite many questions or doubts, God gave us so much grace to remain in faith. If it were not for this persistence (someone else would say naivety) we would not be where we are today. I am deeply convinced that God had a plan for this place and He still has! But are we still in the same faith as we were in the beginning? We have come to work in a place where not everyone is enthusiastic about change, development and Gods word. Some in the society still practices shamanism,witchcraft, some of the values we believe bring positive change to communities and individuals are met with distrust. Kwademu has a high percentage of poverty, and this is largely the result of lack of opportunities, faith in change, old habits or lack of equality. Women are usually seen as harlots, expected to stay at home. Their role is to carry water from distant sources, cook and always submit to men. It is the man who should look after and provide for the family according to the local tradition, but in most cases men do not fill this role because the circumstances are too difficult for them to bear. Their families are so numerous that they can barely make ends meet. Education is seen as superfluous and it’s value not recognized, as previous generations didn't have the opportunity to attend school so find it hard to recognize the benefit of education. Free school meals are a huge motivator for attending school. Centuries of poverty and lack of opportunities mean that children are born without any plan for the future. They are often born outside of marriage and many men have two families, two wives at a time. As a “white school” as our school is called here, not Light of the World but ‘’mzungo school’’, we struggle with many things. Our parents expect things that are sometimes impossible for us provide. There are needs practically everywhere. We often offer work opportunities to parents to cover their children's tuition fees and earn for their own needs, but not all are sympathetic. Once, one parent expected us to provide 3 meals a day for his child (we offer free lunches) but when given opportunity to come and work for us and earn some money he declined, although he is a construction worker. Helping people to see opportunities and want to take part in positive change is the hardest task. It is similar a bit to someone addicted to alcohol, the person does not see the problem, according to them everything is fine - usually other people can see some things clearer than the person affected by the addiction problem. If the person does not deny himself and makes a decision that he or she does not want to live like this, that change and help is needed, then there is nothing other people can do but persuade and pray. Nevertheless, hope remains that a day will come when the breakthrough occurs. We may not witness it ourselves, but we will have a small part in it. We sowed and inoculated a seed that grew with time and turned into a beautiful flower. I understand this process as during my entire childhood one of my parents struggled with alcoholic addiction. It is not that none of the local residents respond positively to our work. When one sees that a parent cooperates and wants to participate in our work, the heart rejoices in itself. However, there are not too many people like that. Why am I writing about this? Well, I guess it’s hard to understand the reality from far away. We all have the will and we want well, but in all of this, we need wisdom and God's guidance. The most important thing in all this however, is the gospel, not the bowl of rice and beans, which will end at the end of the day. The next day we will go back to the same starting point looking for another bowl of food. I am not saying that food is not important because this is how we are constructed that we need calories to live but the Bible says ‘’Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you "- Matthew 6.

We sow and we do what we can. Often the truth has to be spoken loud to help to open ones eyes to things that should not happen. The decision is no longer with us. When Jesus preached the good news, not everyone accepted it. Not everyone saw the light that He was trying to communicate to others. Some people spat at him, pointed their fingers or laughed at him and finally, as we know, He was crucified. I am aware that not everyone will be satisfied with what we do, not everyone will be open to the changes we are trying to bring to the community and individual lives. One will say good things about us; the other will point his finger at us, or worse, as it used to be. With each day, we face new challenges, and it is with each day that God reveals new things for us, and for this mission, the devil also comes and has it in our hearts. There are times when a person starts to wonder if it's you, God? Was it your will? Therefore, I am asking you for prayer, not one, but a series of prayers for the whole mission and us. For some time now, Henry began to fast and pray for, among other things, our family, ministry and village people, that God would refresh their hearts and open their spiritual eyes. I must admit that I am involved in this, but not as intensely as he is. He has lost a lot of weight, the neighbors even wondered if he was sick. When a person lives in devotion and sacrifice, with time he does not feel hungry, the hunger he feels is a spiritual hunger, thanks to him we function. If you feel that God is leading you to this, I also encourage you to fast and pray. For some time now, Henry has also been thinking about doing a Community Development course that would include an individual approach to families depending on the problem - counselling. It is also one thing I would like us to focus on when we pray. Briefly about what happened in our country during the pandemic. Since the schools closed,
Headmasters salary have been paid in 70% and 100% of the gardener’s but the teachers only got a small bonus of $ 10 each (most of their salaries are paid from tuition fees). In recent months, we have focused on the expansion and renovation of the school: we finished the tower, i.e. rooms for teachers, we installed solar batteries on the tower and large school, we also put a bathroom for teachers, we repainted the school, we almost finished the fence, we made a few paths in the area, we also sowed some grass. The store for building materials is also almost finished and we have installed another gate. We also organized food packages for families.

The plan is to continue the paths, build another staff room and put up bathrooms for girls. Furthermore, to supply a water reservoir, with a capacity of 2000 liters, to the store. I believe and I deeply hope that we will be able to achieve it over time.

As we all know, we didn't manage to come to Poland as planned. We didn't know if the airlines would pay us back for tickets or not. We waited a long time, wrote emails, called with the help of some of you. We were promised that we would get a voucher worth the ticket prices to be used by 2022. To our surprise, we were not sent any vouchers; in return, we were returned the entire amount. Initially, we wanted to spend on another trip, we thought we would go to Poland for Christmas. However, with increasing infraction rates and warnings, we knew that we would not be able to fly quickly. In August, it turned out that our health insurance expired (each insurance is renewed every year). We discussed what to do for a long time, and finally we used part of the amount from the tickets and we bought insurance for another year, taking into account our health, which has recently deteriorated a bit. With the onset of the coronavirus, my heart problems also began. Recently, Henry had surgery near his eye. A growth appeared that had been growing for a long time. He should go to the doctor and check his vision to see if there is a need for glasses. When we were returned money for the tickets, I really wanted to remove the roof in the house in the village and strengthen the foundation, which would be a good start and start for the future with the addition of two more rooms upstairs and another bathroom. Unfortunately, it didn't work this time. The rest of the cash from the tickets Henry paid to the motor boda boda, which will ultimately be used at school, for example for visits to parents or transport for teachers for their training. The school is expanding at an extraordinary pace and with this, there are new needs that I think will be realized over time. More about to the well. The cost estimate we initially received for the purchase and installation of the pump was over $ 11,000, now it has even increased to $ 13,000. From the very beginning, there was a problem because the electricity that is on the school premises is too weak to run the pump. People from the electricity company delayed work and until today we still did not receive anything from them, even the price list of the work. We decided that there was little hope that anything will be submitted by them soon. However we did not give up and asked the company installing the pumps for a different cost estimate, with a weaker pump that was to be adapted to the current. It turned out that there is such a possibility and the cost of buying and installing this pump is about $ 8,500. Also a lot, but we believe that God has no limits, for Him no amount is large. Returning to the church that we are rebuilding, we slowly move forward. Everything takes a lot of time, because people from the church are not available every day, they also have other jobs and duties which they do at their own pace. We have the funds for plastering parts of the church and filling the windows. The floor will be the biggest expense because the church is quite big. But this

can be done even at a later date.

There are still debates about the full reopening of the schools. Suddenly, the government made the decision to return the children from grades 4 and 8 and the first grade of high school. These classes are to continue their studies, which is now semester 2 and their final term will be in January. I have no idea what is the plan for the next year and what will happen next with these classes because in Kenya the academic year starts in January. We can only wait and over time we will get all the answers. In concluding this update, I entrust you to God, “ I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength Eph. 1: 16-20, God bless you Mirka and Henry

Latest update

Dear friends, sponsors, brothers, and sisters in Christ.

 I would like to thank you all on behalf of Light of the World Academy for your relentless support, for your constant prayers and words of encouragement. It is thanks to you at large and God of miracles, that we can see great things and progress being done in Kwademu. 

The reason I am writing to you is to update you about the current situation in Kenya. Last weekend, the President of Kenya extended the quarantine/lock down period for another 30 days. The bans on moving between cities and public meetings, as well as the curfew, remain in place. Hotels, churches, and schools will remain closed until further notice. There is a chance, however, that schools will reopen in September, although this is not certain, especially with the growing number of coronavirus cases. I know that most of you still send support for children, even though the children are not attending school. Thank you for your trust and persistence in what God called you to do. Because of the lock down restrictions, we are unable to prepare meals for children. Breaking the restrictions would result in us being put in quarantine. However, the school has a lot of other needs for which there is no budget. We do not always mention all of them as it would certainly look like a bottomless well for some. We all know that the school has been growing at a fast place, but there are still a lot of things to do. First of all, most of the teaching staff are from outside the village - when a teacher takes up employment, they look for accommodation as well, and unfortunately, we are not able to offer it yet. We used the tank elevation project to create 3 rooms for teachers, the work is in progress. We hope to create more staff accommodation in the future. We have just entered the rainy season, and like every year, the school grounds were hit with a multitude of water and was full of mud. Getting from one end to another was a problem because there was stagnant water everywhere, so we had to build a draining system to remove the excess water. Additionally, we started work on footpaths, and to be able to complete them we must first insert another gate for lorries and trucks. The reason for this is that large vehicles that deliver building materials to the rear of the school plot (where main construction works take place currently and will continue in the future) could destroy what we have done so far on the ground. Someone could also ask why are these footpaths needed? They are necessary, especially in the rainy season, otherwise, children will walk in the mud and bring it on their shoes to the classrooms. We have not yet completed work on enclosing the school with a wall, some parts are still only fenced, which makes it easy for snakes to sneak in, we have noticed a few recently. Due to the increase in pupil numbers, we need to build additional toilets for girls in a spot currently occupied by a temporary shed (covered with metal sheets). The shed is used as storage for building materials but we need a more solid and safe permanent storage. These are just a few things we would like to do and plan to do in the near future, step by step, of course, depending on funds available. Not to mention the still in progress well project, for which we are all the time fundraising and praying for. It needs the pump and strengthening of the school's electricity system, otherwise, the power will be too weak to run the pump. Currently, there is no budget for all these things, but if you agree to allow us to use the funds that are being sent, despite the fact that they are meant for lunches, to be used do part of these works, we will be grateful for your understanding and support. We also fully understand if you would prefer that the money you sent is used exclusively for lunches. In that case, we would like to ask you to pause the lunch payments until the school reopens. We are well aware that the economic crisis has reached many in different countries, not only us here in Kenya, so we fully understand whichever decision you make. Continuously thanking God for each of you and keeping you in our prayers!

 ''I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better." Eph.1 16-17.

May 2020 update

Dear Friends,

We believe that you and your families are doing well in this unusual time for all of us. Who could have expected that everything would suddenly stop- schools, nurseries, hotels, restaurants, other institutions, businesses, etc. We don't know the answers to many questions, we can only not lose hope and trust God to strengthen us, both mentally and physically, and lead us through this strange period. My wish and great hope were to meet with you, but it did not happen, this time. We believe it will be possible at a better time.

In short, how we are doing:

Like all over the world, schools, churches, restaurants, and other businesses have been closed in Kenya. Therefore, our school remains closed too. The 2nd semester was meant to start at the beginning of May, unfortunately, the quarantine/ lockdown period got extended, according to the ruling the quarantine/ lockdown is to last until June 6th. A ban on moving between districts and major cities was also introduced. Curfew from 7 pm was also introduced. Some sources claim that schools will open in June, although in my opinion, this will not be the case. The number of new daily cases of Coronavirus is higher every day, compared to the initial statistics. As of today, there are more than 1,000 cases in Kenya, including over 50 deaths. Only God knows the real number because it is impossible to reach and examine the sick in all areas, especially those in smaller towns.

Very few schools have started running the curriculum online, most children are still waiting for the physical opening of schools. The reason is that not all schools, including parents, are equipped with the necessary materials to provide over the internet teaching. In Kwademu, unfortunately, it is impossible, parents and guardians do not have smartphones, internet access, besides, most of them did not complete education and would not be able to carry out lessons for their kids. We hope that this quarantine/lock-down period will end soon and life will return to normal. Although the children are not at school, the building work is progressing slowly. I don't remember if I mentioned it earlier, but along with the water reservoir tower plan, an idea came up of using this project to build bedrooms for teachers. Most of the teaching staff are from outside the village, it will be much easier for them if they are provided with accommodation on school grounds. That's why 3 rooms are being added to the water reservoir tower. We hope to build more in the future.

We have now entered the rainy season. Heavy rains caused a lot of water to accumulate on the school grounds, not only in tanks but also on the playground. We do not have any drainage system as a result solid on the ground got torn up. We planted some grass and started some minor work – making pathways. We were able to make the pathway to the office and from the office to the area with flags, we also completed the pathway from the kitchen to one of the gates.

We had to repaint the exterior of the youngest kids' classroom as there were drawings and marks done by kids. We also bought another large mattress for the youngest children group. Furthermore, building work on the church has also started. This week, we plan to return to the church building and move the work forward a bit. Thank you most for your prayers and support. God is good, and with the following verse, I would like to encourage you and finish my letter.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 New International Version (NIV) ''..give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus''