In the beginning God!!!! These are the first words of the Bible. It all began with God. I always think about this when I think about how this ministry started. It began when the Spirit of God placed a desire in me in 2011 to take a group of students to Kenya for a summer mission trip. From that point on I knew that God had something wonderful in store if we would just be obedient to His call. There is nothing special about me or anyone else involved in this ministry. We are just being obedient to the call placed on our lives.
After travelling to Kenya multiple times over the last 6 years, I could no longer travel home and just think about what I experienced. I knew we had to put a plan in place to help people here in the States help those back in Kenya. Everyday millions of children all over the world starve. Not the typical hunger pains you and I experience when it has been 4-5 hours since we last ate. These children go days without proper nourishment. The long periods of malnourishment have devastating effects on the child. It is much harder for the child to fight off disease, it is difficult for the child learn properly and the children miss so much school because they are simply trying to survive day to day. The list could go on and on. We have seen countless children in this situation in our travels to Kenya.
There is a plan. Jesus spoke often about helping those in need. In the book of James we are told this, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” To offer a child a hot meal who is starving is one way we can visit a child in their affliction. A simple meal, 3 times per week, can change the whole trajectory of this child’s life. It will also impact this child’s family. On the contrary, one way we can become stained by the world is to believe that these children don’t matter and that they are someone else’s problem. Don’t buy into that. God intended for us to be His hands and feet.
Nourishing the Nations is partnering with local pastors in western Kenya. We have developed great, lasting friendships with these Godly men who lead their churches and families. We have started our ministry with Pastor Jared at Immanuel Baptist Church Magina. In his church he operates a nursery school called Sarah’s Kids. Here the children are fed 3 times per week. They are fed different meals each time per week. Meals consist of beans and rice, beans and maize or uglai and omena (small dried fish). We have been feeding in this church almost a month now. Pastor Jared has shared what a huge difference he has seen in the kids. They look more healthy and their attendance at school is improving. We are also seeing opportunities for Pastor Jared to share the gospel of Jesus with these families. That is our goal, that families would hear and respond to the gospel.
We can’t do this alone. We need your help. For only $25 per day, you can feed a church full of children. Usually 50-60 kids. Not only are we feeding kids, we are offering opportunities for the local villagers to be apart of the ministry cooking for these kids. We are able to pay a small amount that is already making an impact for these people. At each church we also need to build a small kitchen in order to comply with local law.
As of today we are only feeding in one church. My hope and prayer is to be feeding in 4 churches this year. The pastors are ready to begin. We just need folks to come along side us and financially support this ministry. $25 per month is not much money to us in the west. To those in Kenya it will be life changing. I am asking you to consider being a monthly supporter of Nourishing the Nations. You can make a difference. Simply go to http://www.nourishingthenations.org and make a donation online. You can also mail a check to 2916 Dustin Dr. Odessa, TX 79762. Nourishing the Nations is a registered 501-c3 organization which means your donations are tax deductible.
Nourishing the Nations Kenya 