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Published: July 21st 2011
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Transitions
I have made it back to the USA...the land of the brave we say...also the land of extravagance. Growing up here I never would have used that word but coming back from six years of living in Kenya gives me a different perspective.
It started when I said goodbye to my friends at Spring Valley. I hugged them under the hot Kenyan sun, choking back the tears. There they stay working daily in the dust and heat without a consistent supply of electricity or water. However, their devotion to daily love the kids with hungry bellies, tattered clothing, scabs and scars does not wane due to circumstances. The children come happily to school because they know some hot porridge for breakfast, a hardy lunch and a good education await them.
Our first step towards transition was to go through the Nairobi airport. My husband and I found on our trip to South Africa that the airport now has a playroom that is quite spacious with carpet and toys and large picture windows that allow the sun to turn the room into a kiln. You can enter clean and come out glistening like you were a nice piece
of ceramic just put through the fire. There were two tiny air conditioners that were trying in vain to blast their cool air into the room. We positioned ourselves directly under the one that felt a slight bit cooler in order to avoid soaking our clothes completely through with sweat when a kind lady offered to turn it off because it was dripping water on us. We quickly expressed our love for the little machine and its little droplets of H2O as it was like our oasis in the desert.
A nine hour hop away on this journey landed our team from Texas, and my boy and I in a fabulous airport in Amsterdam....the transition started. I took my son to the lounge where there was a baby grand piano that was being played by various passers by, padded seats where you could actually sleep, soft music, a baby room where you could bathe the baby, air conditioning that made a difference and luxury.
Now we have made it to America where I am having to adjust to driving on the right side of the road, manicured lawns, fried onion rings and burgers (Yum!). Instead of potholes I
Care Packages
A day after one of our teams delivered care packages one of the families that received a package came to Spring Valley School to thank Alice. SHe said they had gone a day without food and she didn't know how she was going to buy food for her kids. Strangers showed up with a basin full of food for her family. We are able to deliver with our teams about 80 care packages throughout the year.
find smooth roads, instead of old women carrying bundles of firewood so they can cook for their family I find SUVs, big trucks and shiny cars that carry the loads. There are no men without their shirts pulling large carts of water to sell so they can afford food for the day and no donkeys. I can see why some foreigners think money grows on trees in America. Suffering is tucked away and comes in forms not so evident to the eye.
My location has changed but my passion remains the same for helping the orphaned and abandoned and those in need. Just because I don't see the problems on a daily basis does not make them go away. So, my job is to make known the needs and the victories of those a bit less fortunate and to get assistance from here to there.
If you check out the blog of May 4th, A Season for Everything, you will see we listed some needs. I am THRILLED to share that Alice and her girls got enough money to get a piece of land, to build a little house (that will even have cement floors), and to purchase
chickens so she can have a little business. Mercy and Maggie also got school sponsorships! With many people giving a little it adds up to accomplish a lot!
Thank you for those who have worked with International Treasure House Ministries over the years and for those who will continue to invest in this work! Thanks also to all the fabulous teams we had and all those who helped those teams get to Kenya and spread the Love!
My husband is currently in Kenya hosting Pinellas Community Church and also working on his immigrant visa to get here...we are hoping he may be able to join us in six weeks. At that time he will come and look for work as his for sure job is not so for sure now. All this change is a little daunting however we feel we are following the Lord's leading so we have to trust that He will work out all the details. We appreciate your prayers during this time.
If you want to be part of supporting ITHM in any of the following areas:
1. Sponsorship for high school girls. Mary, Sharon, Esther, Alice, Maggie, Letecia and Ann are
in the process of preparing for a brighter future through an education.
2. Multi-purpose building at Spring Valley-$1200 to finish the foundation, $20,000 towards the ground floor which will be a much needed medical clinic and offices.
3. HOREC orphanage-$600 for indoor plumbing
4. Or the general fund that assists us in many areas
please make your tax-deductible check out to:
ITHM
23223 S. Warmstone Way
Katy, Texas 77494
* Please place a sticky note for where you want your sponsorship directed.
** I have just made contact with a home in Romania that is raising street boys and girls and have custody of Rebeca and Giulia for those who know of my past work in Romania. We would like to assist them financially as well as they are picking up the beaten and bruised children off the streets of Romania and offering them a home of safety, provision and love.
*** If there is anyone skilled in web-page design and maintenance and wants to donate some assistance...I could really use some help! Please contact me on this site.
Let's change the world together! Thank you and God bless!
Jennifer Phillips Lawrence
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Sandy Swoager
non-member comment
Happy Homecoming!
Jen,Johnny and Jonathon,So happy to hear from you and so good to know you and Jonathon are back here and will be happier when Johnny is here with you too. We'll pray for Johnny's job opportunity to be confirmed and all will work together for good. May God bless you as you continue to be faithful to what He has called you to do. Love and prayers, Sandy Swoager