It is so exciting to be able to share with you an outline of our plans for mission work in Kenya. It has been a longstanding dream that is finally coming to life, and we would very much like to share this journey with you!
Our vision: To share the good news of Christ through Bibles & food distribution in schools and poorer
communities. To keep this concise and easy to read we have broken it all down into these simple sections:
Where? We will be living 35 minutes outside of Nanyuki with Tim’s parents on the RFM Africa Mission base called ‘Cyara Farm’. We have a lovely little cottage that is being prepared for us. CYARA is about 4 hours north of Nairobi by car and just west of Mt. Kenya.
When? We fly on 23rd August (2022) from London Heathrow to JKIA Nairobi.
What will we be doing?
● Supporting Tim’s parents with sharing the good news of Jesus amongst the communities around Cyara.
● Partnering with local schools to provide:
A Bible for each student (there are currently 4,560 primary school students in the immediate surrounding area)
A feeding programme for very poor schools. Initially, this would be providing a porridge called ‘Uji’ to students before they start their day. This will help students concentrate and thus enhance their learning. It can also alleviate some of the financial pressure upon families to feed their children.
Tim will also be exploring how he can use his 11 years of ICT/Computing teaching experience to equip
and train students and teachers with IT equipment and skills.
With who? Tim’s parents – Roger and Shireen West have been working in East Africa for 35 years and we are going to work alongside their ministry called RFM Africa. It is great that we have the opportunity to work with them, given their experience and missional foundation.
Our kids? Eliza (6) and Josiah (4) are excited about the adventure, having visited Kenya recently. We have
secured a place at a local prep-school called Braeburn International Nanyuki, which starts this September.
This simple, yet powerful scripture has really inspired us and is the basis of our mission work:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all
your strength. & Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31
With love and blessings,
Tim, Christian, Eliza and Josiah Xx
The Projects
If Christian and I can be on the ground in Kenya, we can use our expertise and time to launch and oversee these 3 main projects.
- Bibles Fund – Providing bibles to students and communities
- Generous food – Feeding children in schools to enhance their education
- Generous IT – Providing IT equipment + Internet connections for classrooms in rural schools. Training teachers and students in basic ICT skills.
Bibles Fund www.biblesfund.com – Aim to give 1000 bibles in year 1
We would like to be able to go into all primary and secondary schools in the Laikipia county and provide each student with a bible. There are currently an estimated 7000 students in the area we will be working in and it would be amazing to be able to give an age appropriate bible to each one whilst sharing the good news of Jesus with them.
Once each student has a bible, we could concentrate on returning each year to offer Bibles to each year 7 entry. The bible society Kenya have provided me with a full stock and price list of bibles ranging from Small New Testaments + Psalms and Proverbs £3 each to full hard back RSV Full print bibles. £5.60
For £12 a month you could provide 4 new testaments or 2 full bibles to students in Kenya.
Generous Food aim to feed 5 schools/1000 students daily
Tim has noticed in his 11 years of teaching that there is one place in school that students consistently flock and run to, and this is the lunch hall. Eating a decent meal in school is proven to help students’ concentration and focus on education and so we would like to be able to provide food for the most need of Children. “The promise of a good meal attracts these hungry children into the classroom, giving them the energy to learn and hope for a better future.” Mary’s Meals.
We currently have 1 school called Oltafetta that we are helping with food. Students have access to a nutritious breakfast porridge meal and some fruit. £600 a year will feed 100 primary school students with a nutritious breakfast porridge.
Generous.IT – Exploring how Technology can enhance learning in rural Kenya.
Tim has taught ICT and computing for the last 11 years in the UK and would like to explore how he can use his IT teaching skills to help poor schools with IT Equipment.
He will embark on a feasibility study to assess how IT could enhance education in poor communities.
He mini vision would be to
- Source a small plot of land within walking distance to a few schools. Or in the school itself.
- Build a physical IT classroom out of basic bricks and corrugated iron roofing It would need to be waterproof and lockable.
- Furnish the IT classroom with say 30 computers.
- Source install a wireless internet connection
- Train and fund a teacher to teach basic IT skills + maintain the mini network.
- Allow the school to rent the computers out to the community to make an income.