1/5/2008
Dear Brethren,
Kenyan streets have quieted slightly today as many of our brethren who have
been locked up in their houses for
over a week now due to the deadly violence, begin to venture out (And not a
minute too soon because there food
supply was almost empty). Some brethren had been forced out of their homes over
a week ago due to the turmoil and
ran for their lives across the City, taking refuge in other brethren's homes
and now are finding out that they have no
houses to go back to. The reports are now coming in from our brethren over there
in Kenya.
There are a few small church families who were living the Mathare slums. Mary
and her husband (Whose
name I cannot spell or pronounce) have been COG members for a long time. They
both HAD jobs and now there jobs
are gone, and even their houses are gone. They have 2 children Oliver 3 yrs
old and a 9-Month-old baby. They own
some land in a remote part of Kenya and hope to try and travel there to flee
the turmoil and also to avoid starvation,
but are in need of some help to get there.
Another COG member who lived in Kibara shantytown is Judy. The little she had
is completely gone also, so
she is also in a dilemma.
There also is a young man from Uganda named Mike who traveled to Nairobi in
the recent pass to try and find
his parents. He found out that they were both deceased. He was able to find
a job and was living in that same
shantytown. He became friends with some of our COG members there a wile back,
and has been receptive to God’s
teachings. Now he is not only an orphan, but like the rest, has lost his job
and also has no place left to go back to.
Mike is not looking to leave the City of Nairobi (he has no place to go to)
and feels that he can find some way of still
earning his daily bread there in the City. But we need to try and help him with
some basic items like a small mattress
so he won’t have to sleep on the bare ground at night. And maybe a little
funds to hold him over till he can find some
way of earning his daily bread.
Please understand that these brethren of ours are in dire need of our help
at this time. Also please
understand that they are NOT lazy, they are NOT sluggards. The unemployment
rate in Kenya is around 90%. Very
few Kenyans have jobs, but many of our brethren have been blessed with ways
of making their daily bread. But this is
situation that is totally beyond their control. The political unrest there has
brought the Country into total chaos.
Now I have seen first hand the normal life style that our brethren in both
Kenya and Tanzania are living in, and
have been trying to make other brethren here in U.S.A. aware of their condition.
But so far, very few seem to have any
care or concern for them. Now this is nothing new to the brethren there. We
found the brethren in all of E. Africa to be
lacking some of the most basic necessities, like owning there own personal copy
of the Bible, or having mosquito
netting to help prevent them from contracting three different life threatening
diseases that are spread by the mosquito
there. We even still have some brethren in Tanzania who are still sleeping on
the dirt floor in their mud huts because
they have no mattress.
Most of these brethren have been COG members for many years. Some go as far
back as Radio church of
God. But they have been neglected, not necessarily because of the brethren in
God’s church. I know that many many
faithful brethren have given much funds to the church government over the years
(Actually I should say quote unquote
“church” government) because if they were truly God’s government
here on earth, then why did we find around half of
all these brethren lacking these basic needs? Our God is a loving God. And He
makes it quite clear who His true
disciples are: By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye
have love one to another (Jn. 13:35).
Anyway, I am not here to be bashing on the past. I am here to try and make
the fate of our brethren who live in
that part of this troubled earth known.
If you have access to our Website, please click on “Kenya” where
you can read some short stories about our
brethren there. Also see some of them at their homes, in the pictures we have
taken. (Before the current turmoil)
http://voiceinthewildernesschurchofgod.org/index.html
We originally started our Website to try and bring some exposure to the conditions
that many of our brethren
abroad are living in. PLEASE DO NOT BE TURNED OFF BECAUSE WE HAVE DEVISED A
NAME TO OPERATE
UNDER.
We could not legally operate without registering some kind of name. And our
God commands us to abide by
man’s laws as long as they don’t break His laws.
The only name that really counts though is “Church of God” and its
correct definition is: “The House Of God,
which is the Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth.”
(1Tm. 3:15).
Membership is TOTALLY dependent upon: “If the Spirit of God dwell
in you. Now if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom. 8:9).
Yes, God Church is a household, a family. But if we are sons in that family,
then we need to be doing
something with that Spirit of His to qualify as sons: “For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God” (Rom. 8:14).
Let me get back to our subject now.
Please help our brethren in East
Africa.
We are living in troublesome times brethren. Thank God that we are nearing
Christ’s return. Many people
around this world are suffering. Many, especially our brethren need some of
our help now. Remember our Creator
says, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men,
especially unto them who are of the
household of faith" (Gal. 6:10).
Some of these people are of our very “HouseHold” . Do not wait until
these awful event arrive in you physical
houses before you take any action.
Anyway, I am only trying to pass this information on so that if you know of
any COG groups in you area, who
could possible take up a small collection (And only if they are in the position
to help). It would be good.
I do not think that they will need tons of money, because they live very modest
(usually surviving with a small
mattress to lie on to sleep. And what ever they grow in their gardens (cabbage,
corn, bananas, etc.) is what they eat.
Those living in the City have no gardens, but they had small jobs to earn their
daily bread. They also normally live with
the very basics like mattress, 2 or 3 pieces of furniture, and they eat much
imported rice because it is what they can
normally afford. But they need some help now because their Country is in total
turmoil, and they have no money.
Now please don't misunderstand my request. I know that many true COG members
here in the USA are also
pressed for funds. Many are living on SS many are struggling to survive themselves
with the high cost of living. I am
not trying to make them feel guilty in any way. Besides, the most valuable gift
any of us can give them are our prayers.
But they need to be made aware of the brethren's conditions so they know to
pray for them. But for those who can help
and want to help, this is their opportunity.
Below is an E-mail that I received from one of our church brothers in Kisumu
(3rd largest City in Kenya) His
name is Jacob. He was a Catholic until a year ago when he began learned the
Truth. He dropped his former religion
like a hot potato and began studying his Bible. He runs a small business trucking
fish from the lake to the City with a
5-ton truck that he owns. As he spends much time at the lake purchasing the
fish, he preaches the Gospel to literally
hundreds of people. Every message that we give, we send him and he reads them
to those people.
Here is his E-mail I received today:
Hello, How are you doing, things here are so bad, very many people have
been killed, homes burnt down, business
premises looted and burnt down, even churches burnt down. thousands of people
do not have sheltersn tension still
very high, the country needs the help of God than ever before, unless Almighty
God talks to the rulers, the suffering
will continue. The international world should something and do it very urgently
to save our country
We are really suffering, we have exhausted all that we had, it is only today
that i have managed to get a computer to
comunicate. However, we have faith God will do some miracles. Kisumu town is
not what you saw when you came
here, it is a goast town. I lost two people as a result of this.
Has Josh come back? May people of good will pray for our country!
Jacob.
Brethren, If there was ever a time for us, the members of the Church Of God
to display some of God’s love
towards our brethren, it is now. If you want to help, we have a good network
already set up for about a year now. Any
and all funds donated go directly to our brethren there. No one here is on any
church payroll. We have true overseers
who have been risking their physical lives to care for our brethren there.
We also understand quite well the story about Ananias, and his wife Sapphira
(Acts 5:1).
If you want to help, please send your help to:
Kenya Hands Of Hope
120 Stage Rd
Tuckerton, NJ 08087
Thank You,
Bill Goff