The church in Ol’Gulului, where Domenic had held a Revival almost three years ago, is where everything had started for us in Kenya. This is when they gave us the land we are building on. The church isn’t right by our compound.
Having the elephant fence finished was critical; we couldn’t begin building the dorm for the girls until it would be protected. One Sunday, Lucas and the others were walking home from church when the elephants came; they were so afraid and had to run hard and fast to find a place of safety.
The elephants come by our compound every night and know not to come near our fence. I think it might have been the government that drilled a borehole for them, not far from our compound. I wanted to stay at Ol’Gulului for a couple of nights, but the road was flooded, and we couldn’t get there. I thought we should just park our car at the elephant’s well, and sleep in it, so I could see them, but I got vetoed. The elephants are big and wild, and it’s not safe to be around them. There is a report that they had destroyed a safari van in the region
We finally got our first look at the dorm as we drove through the trees and bushes. It is amazing! Luckas, one of our early graduates, is living on site. He hires all the workers and makes sure everything is being done properly. He gets work done as soon as they get the money. He is very frugal and reluctant to go over the budget for any reason. This isn’t like work that we would be doing in Tanzania, where it would take as long as two years to finish one that was added onto another building.
By using a vaulted ceiling for the dorm, the room looks so big. The roof is on, doors and windows are in, wiring is done, and they are plastering the walls. Harry even helped throw some of the plaster mixture up on the scaffolding for the workers to use. The inside will soon be finished. We weren’t able to return and see the completed work before we came home, because the road in was not ok for us to get there.
We had no place to take the ten Kenyan girls that we had evacuated out of Tanzania, in the middle of the night. All we could do right now was to send them back to their families. This is a very dangerous time for them because of the drought. Their fathers need money for food and will just sell them to be young wives to satisfy a never-ending need.
One of our Maasai girls had graduated from both the Technical School and the Bible School. When she had gone home, she found her father was already accepting cows for her, the bride price, for her to be married to an old man. Her mother called us desperately begging us to take her back, which we had done, but now there was no other place for her to go, rather than back with her father. We are asking you to Pray, Pray, Pray for these girls’ safety.
When we had met with our board in July, we had explained the situation about the Kenyan girls who were still in M’Takooja. The board had resounded with a huge, “Get it done!” The work was started in July and now it is nearly finished. All the supplies are there to finish the inside, and everything is paid for.
Before we can bring back the girls, we have to have a toilet/shower block, furniture, staff, and a temporary kitchen. They will make the large room into two big rooms with a temporary wall until there are funds to build another building., One will be a workroom and the other will be their new home. We will start with the ten girls we evacuated from Tanzania, and then add a couple more that are in desperate situations, so the plan is to start with 12 girls
The furniture we will need once the building is finished is 8 bunk beds and mattresses, 8 tables, 8 chairs, and 8 sewing machines. We will have a monthly budget consisting of food, firewood, and salaries. Please pray that the funds will come in quickly to make it possible to open this work in Ol’Gulului in January.
God knew the urgency of what we were feeling about getting the fence completed right away. Because of the fence, they have been able to plant three stages of gardens. One of them is producing so much food right now. Lucas had cooked some sweet potatoes for me, and I have never tasted anything so sweet.
Another thing we want to share about Ol’Gululie is something we experienced on our evacuation route out of Tanzania.. As we were nearing the gate to exit the game park, we were seeing massive herds of cattle, goats, and sheep with many Maasai men on guard looking for lions. We hadn’t witnessed this kind of shepherding before. As we continued to drive, we saw hundreds of temporary small huts covered with plastic. There were so many young boys and girls, about 7 or 8, with smaller herds, all along the road. We hadn’t stopped because there were so many of them. Finally, Domenic had spotted our water tower far off over a valley in the trees, so we stopped. About ten small boys and one older girl came running, asking for water and bread. We didn’t have any, but Kathy had enough gum to give each one a piece.
The Maasai had brought their herds to this region, where there was food and water for them. Domenic was able to converse with the kids. When he pointed out our water tower, they got excited. They have been bringing their herds to get water from the trough we have for their herds outside our gate. To us, it seemed like a very long way to go, but they knew where there was provision for them. They said they had even seen the white people at graduation. The well we had dug is providing for herds coming from very far away. We praise God for the witness of the provision of water for them. Some day they will come seeking the Living Water only Jesus can provide. They will always honor us for providing water for them. There is much more to tell, but another letter will be needed to do it.
Serving the Lord who even provides water for the little boys’ herds,
Harry and Kathy
