Have you ever eaten a yummy mash of potatoes, greens, corn, and onions grilled over a charcoal outdoor oven? Or helped peel potatoes, carrots and cut cabbage in a small, wooden home? Have you ever gotten to pray with someone exactly your age who is HIV+ and has left an abusive husband?  Have you ever met a woman who has lost her husband, lost a daughter to drowning, and has another daughter who has AIDS, and yet seen the joy of the Lord shining from her face and heard words of blessing and praise coming from her soft-spoken voice?

We did! A team from our church, Brainerd Baptist Church, just returned from a trip to Nairobi and Kisumu, Kenya with CARE for AIDS.  Our team included Chuck & Terri Bateman, Ashley Humble, Angie Albee, my 13-year-old daughter Heather Marsh, and me (Brooke Marsh).  We were privileged to be led by Duncan Kimani, Cornel Onyango, and Caleb Davison in an immersive tour of the work of CARE for AIDS in Kenya.  We emerged on the other end of our trip very impressed with the philosophy and implementation of the vision of CFA.

We got to see firsthand that CARE for AIDS partners closely with the local church to offer a center.  This center employs a Kenyan spiritual counselor and a medical counselor to guide clients who are HIV+ through a 9-month program of education and care.  In addition to learning how to take care of themselves physically, the clients are discipled spiritually. They are also “empowered” by seminars on how to start a business, farm, raise animals, and many other things that could help them take care of themselves and their families.

We saw that CFA (CARE for AIDS) is all about restoring relationships and community. When a client is diagnosed as “Positive”, they are rejected by their community, their family, and often lose their job as well.  Upon receiving the diagnosis, they are inclined to just curl up and wait to die.  CFA lets them know that there is hope – they can become healthier, grow in the Lord, have a meaningful work and life, raise their children, and restore the relationships with their family and community.  These lives are transformed by this program and the hope that it offers them.

We were so blessed by being able to go with the counselors to several homes.  We were welcomed into these clients’ homes and prayed with them.  We also visited several centers to see the work of counseling in action.  We got to pray with these precious people and surely we knew that the presence of the Lord was in that place!

We attended a graduation and saw the final product of 9 months of counseling and training. We saw graduates who were no longer afraid to admit that they were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and who were alive again, active in their families and communities, and ready to share the good news of their transformation (physically and spiritually) with others.

We got to share words of encouragement with the counselors and pastors who spend their days pouring out into the lives of the clients.  We encouraged them to sit at the feet of Jesus and drink of His Word and presence so that they will be full of Jesus and have something to continue to pour out into the lives of others.

My daughter and I departed from the group for a few days to visit family at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya (an awesome ministry too) so the rest of the team will have to share about the amazing work in Kisumu.

As in so many trips where you go to serve others, we received blessings that seemed so far above what we were able to give.  My daughter, Heather, got a glimpse of the world of poverty and suffering beyond what she had ever seen, but we still got to see the joy of Christ in the lives of these people and the hope that they were receiving from the CARE for AIDS program.  We are so thankful to have been able to go!

We also got a puppy who, as you can see, loves CARE for AIDS!  (See how I slipped that in there?)

In addition to all these stories, this blog has been a way for us to share what God has been teaching each of us, the amazing things He is accomplishing through CARE for AIDS, and the challenges that we’ve been exposed to through our work in Kenya and the US.  Here are some of the posts from the first 6 months that we think are especially meaningful – if you missed them, now is a great time to catch up!  If they make you think, then leave a comment and let us know (or just leave a message for Moose)…

1,000 Lives – A Mountaintop Experience – Justin celebrates the 1000th client to graduate from CFA and draws parallels to climbing Kilimanjaro.

Living Hope – Duncan relates an amazing story of transformation in one of the Kenyan families through a CFA center.

My Journey – Cornel shares what it was like growing up surrounded by HIV/AIDS and how CFA came to be.

Poverty?  – Nick helps us to understand the real definition of poverty, which is more complex than we usually think.

A Night with a Pumpkin – Duncan provides an incredibly challenging reflection on an American Halloween tradition.

Empowering Dreams – Caleb invites us to examine our dreams for the future and help others pursue their own.

Thanks so much for being a part of this journey with all of us!

Does this make you think of ways that you could get involved or get creative?  Have something to say to Stephanie, Duncan, or the Webb Bridge 7th graders?  Let us know in the comments!  Or, see some ways you can be a part of CARE for AIDS here

Video not working?  Check it out on our new YouTube channel here

Despite all these barriers, Brainerd Baptist was still determined to send missionaries.  They are missionaries because all the factors above were like nothing to them.  They came and none of them was affected in anyway. Not even by mosquito bites.  The heat in Kisumu was nothing to them but a reflection of God’s glory.  They are the first team/Church to come out to this part of the country for missions with CARE for AIDS.  I owe them a lot of respect, but glory to God.  Because they came, they left a mark in different people’s lives.  I will mention just but a few of them:

1.  They left a mark in some of the clients’ lives.  At first the clients thought they were only loved by us the CARE for AIDS staff, but right now they know that they are loved globally by people who are very different from them, and because of that they see something that only God can do.  These are people who were once rejected by close friends and family members because of their conditions.
2. CARE for AIDS staff and the partnering churches are the second group that marveled at the encouragement from the team.  I still receive some reports and this is what most of them tell me: “Cornel, kindly call them back.”  I think by quoting this, the team will be able to hear from the horse’s mouth.
3. The children were not left out.  I was impressed when I went back to the village; the parents were happy about what happened to their children because they could not stop telling about the lessons, the games, the balloons and the sweeties.  I am sure the Bible stories will stick into their minds for good.
4. Thank you to the team for training the Sunday school teachers.  This will go a long way because you trained people who will in return train others.  To show they appreciated, they all applied the techniques they were taught by the team on the first Sunday after the seminar.
5. I will not forget the church the team attended (Nyalenda Baptist).  They want the team back any time.  They said that they trusted the team with their pulpit and they did it justice.  They said any time the team is back, they will allow them to use their pulpit again.

Kisumu is very ripe for missions.  Jesus would say “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”  I appeal to everyone to come.  I will kill all the mosquitoes, cover the sun with a blanket ,and repair all the roads. Come!

Interested in going to Kenya to see Cornel?  Get more information here.  We are also happy to respond to any questions or thoughts you would like to leave in a comment below! 

I had the privilege of being in a donor breakout session where Dr. Maxwell was asking his donors to help take this training to the persecuted church around the world. He told us that there are four questions he believes that you must ask yourself when an organization asks you for money. I wanted to share those questions with you because I hope our donors ask these same questions.

1. Does the leadership have character AND competence?

2. Can I give more than dollars?

3. Is this organization making a difference?

4. Has God nudged me to help this organization?

When applying these to CARE for AIDS, I hope you could answer “yes” to the first three questions, but the fourth is out of our hands. If God doesn’t nudge you to give, then we would rather you not. God can provide all that we need as an organization through whomever he chooses. We pray that he chooses to use YOU, but if not, we hope you give where God leads you to.

Thanks to all of you who give faithfully to the ministry. It IS making a huge difference!

It’s amazing how small groups can be effective in achieving the objectives of a larger group. To achieve our organizational goals CARE for AIDS has made it part of our empowerment plan to divide up every group of clients into small groups. The clients choose which group to be in depending on their interests.  For example some clients live in semi-urban areas and are interested with Agribusinesses since they can rent small plots of land. In the same locality other clients have to rent single –roomed houses in congested slums to live with their children, and such people would rather sell bead necklaces or detergents to their neighbors or take them to the nearest open-air markets. Each group selects their leader and holds regular meetings. As the saying goes, “the wearer of the shoe knows better where it hurts,” so these group leaders understand from experience the needs and wishes of their members and know the best way to go about meeting these needs.

Small groups are very helpful in economic empowerment since after registering with a microfinance institution the members can save and sign as guarantors for any member who needs to borrow a loan. In most of these financial institutions one would not access the loan outside the group because they lack collateral, but once in a small group even the banks would accept the group’s savings as security for the loans offered to individuals in the group. There is a Kenyan saying that “a group of people can lift a giant pot which can never be possible by a single person.”  In this way, the individual will be able to fight poverty out of their lives. The group members know each other very well and have trust for each other, and so besides offering financial support to each other, they offer moral support to each other, they pray with and for each other, and they practice peer counseling and support. This goes a long way in achieving social and spiritual empowerment of the members.

During  a seminar on group dynamics held at the Banana CARE for AIDS center, the facilitator who was from the Constituency AIDS Control committee prompted the clients to form groups of about 20 members based on their areas of residence. One group opened an account at Equity Bank to keep safely their savings and now, after saving for some months, is preparing to start a poultry project.

Another group leader, Simon, is very optimistic that the group, although composed of members from different tribes, will empower the members to fulfill their life goals. The group meets regularly at Banana –Hill Baptist Church. They have started a merry- go round. This is an arrangement where the members have agreed to contribute a small amount of money each time they come for their  monthly meeting and the total amount is given to one person every month. This is a kind of a loan with no interest attached, and it enables the members to expand or start new small businesses.

Still another group is led by Christopher, a dairy goat farmer. This being a  rural area,  the members are much more interested in farming, so they therefore have joined the Desert Oasis Residence  Empowerment (DOREP). Under DOREP the members are not only saving and have access to credit but also have a market for their agricultural products. Beth, a member of this group, says “I am expanding my poultry farming to include more layers because am assured of a ready market for the eggs.  The profit I made last year helped me pay school fees for my son in high school.”

Through the small groups the empowerment team at CARE for AIDS remains in touch with the clients through their leaders. After the clients have graduated from the center the small groups are used in following up the clients. This way the empowerment team is able to encourage them to continue adhering to medication, paying their health insurance premiums, running their businesses and taking care of their families. One year after graduation a common follow up meeting is held at the center for the larger group of clients and each group fills a questionnaire which is then used to assess whether empowerment has been achieved and maintained in the lives of the clients.

So that is how the small groups have enabled CARE for AIDS to ensure sustainable empowerment to HIV-infected men and women in Kenya, and it is working!  Glory is to God who empowers us to be able to empower others.

Ndumberi group meeting

]]> http://careforaids.org/2012/02/08/small-group-strategy/feed/ 0 http://careforaids.org/2012/02/06/congratulations-geofrey/ http://careforaids.org/2012/02/06/congratulations-geofrey/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:50:58 +0000 Nick Gordon http://careforaids.org/?p=1564 Last month, the CFA team in Kisumu took part in a fantastic celebration when Geoffrey, the Regional Coordinator, held a marriage celebration at Nyalenda Baptist Church!  Geoffrey and his wife, Elizabeth, have actually been married for a while, but it is common in Kenya to hold a simple ceremony at the time of your wedding and then host a more elaborate celebration at a church later on, perhaps when it is easier financially.  Check out these pictures from the event, and leave Geoffrey a comment if you’d like!

Lately, though, I’ve realized that I do miss it.  Sometimes I will come across a photo of a Kenyan adventure or receive an email from a CFA staff member in Limuru, and I’m transported back to East Africa.  I remember the excitement that came with experiencing the REAL Kenya, or the joy that I shared with people who were so different from me, but loved me nonetheless.  I remember the sense of peace that followed after meeting a family that had been completely transformed in one of our centers.  I even remember, with a nostalgic longing, how happy I would be in the afternoons driving a beat-up Land Cruiser on a pot-holed road past donkeys and tea fields under the brilliant blue African sky.  Maybe the pendulum has swung to where I’m now idealizing my time there, and I definitely DO remember the difficult parts, but I think I’m starting to recognize the aspects of that experience I will cherish forever.

Isn’t it amazing how we all have times in our lives that we look back on with either fondness or contempt, and how quickly those feelings can change?  I think it is a mark of wisdom to hold on to the joy that comes from a memory and the lessons learned from a period of time, but to leave behind the frustration or regret.  Are there times in your life that look better or worse than your present, depending on the day?  Times that you need to let go of, or still need to learn from?

Next month, I’ll return to Kenya for the first time.  It will be interesting to see how the reality compares to the way it now lives in my mind.  I’d appreciate your prayers as I prepare for what all the Kenyans are calling my “homecoming!”

Thoughts, questions, criticisms?  Leave a comment below, and I’ll be happy to continue the conversation with you!

Once you’ve identified this need, you are going to need people to join you in providing time and/or resources. Not to mention that depending on your age, experience, and reputation, there may be people who will be skeptical to support you and your work. So, what can you do to earn their trust and establish credibility?

As I alluded to above, hopefully your character speaks for itself and people will invest in you regardless of the cause. However, that will only get you so far and if you don’t have a clear vision and strategy, you won’t fool people more than once.

In my case, I was only a junior in college when I decided to start CFA with no international work experience, no non-profit experience, no HIV/AIDS experience, and a very small circle of influence to work with. One of the ways that I was able to close that credibility gap was by creating a plan that communicated a compelling vision with a focused and well-reasoned strategy. That along with my evident passion for the cause made up for what I lacked in experience. I have been asked some tough questions in my short career, some more constructive than others. The better you can anticipate those tough questions in a plan, the more convincing you can be.

Mission and Vision

The first place to start when creating a plan of this nature is to determine the mission and vision of the organization or project. If you don’t have clarity on this, there is no way that anyone else does. One of my favorite sayings on vision is, “When it is misty in the pulpit, it is foggy in the pews.”

Many people interpret the terms “mission” and “vision” in different ways but I think it is important to reach a consensus on this if we want these statements to build the foundation for our cause. The mission is the reason you exist at the broadest level. It is a general heading for the organization and it rarely changes. For example, there are many organizations that exist to end homelessness in their city. That is not a bad thing, but the mission is not necessarily what distinguishes them.

Our Mission: CARE for AIDS exists to mobilize the church in caring, both body and soul, for families affected by HIV/AIDS.

The vision is where you get to capture the imagination of your audience with a picture of what could be. A compelling vision will move people to action. This will also be the filter through which you will make decisions about what activities are productive to your mission and which are distracting. A vision is usually achievable in 1 to 5 years. It is not uncommon to have multiple visions over time that all support the same mission.

Here are some important characteristics of great visions. They are:

Unique – The first question out of most people’s mouths is, “What makes your vision unique?” If your vision already exists, people will be less inclined to support it.

Focused – If you try to do too much, you won’t do anything well.

Energizing – It should be what gets you, your staff, and your volunteers out of bed in the morning.

Concrete – Make sure it is measurable. It is not easy to engage people around a vague, indefinite vision.

Aggressive – It is hard to get others excited about a small or insignificant vision.

Achievable – It is good to be ambitious and dream big, but if you continuously fail to reach the vision, it can damage credibility and morale.

Our Vision: In the next five years, we will mobilize 75 churches as CARE for AIDS centers throughout the most highly HIV-infected communities in East Africa. These centers will serve over 5,500 families annually. Meanwhile, CARE for AIDS will be employing nearly 200 full-time African staff members to deliver this care and spread the gospel to the continent.

Have you ever been fully engaged with a vision? What made it so engaging?

Like most Kenyans, Elizabeth was raised in a Christian family. Her family could not afford basic needs, and there were frequent quarrels among her seven siblings. Desperately seeking peace and prosperity, Elizabeth and her family, including her parents and grandparents, became involved in witchcraft. They spent the little that they had in paying the witch doctors who kept on deceiving them. Not surprisingly, they didn’t find the peace they sought!

In fact, at the time of her diagnosis Elizabeth was already in the full-blown AIDS. After a hospital stay she was discharged and was staying with her aged parents, who were struggling to provide her with food and other necessities.

One day a friend invited Elizabeth to their church in Kangemi for a Sunday service, and after the sermon she received Christ as her personal savior.  At the church she met some brothers and sisters in Christ who encouraged her to pray and read God’s word. They also introduced her to a HIV/AIDS support group, which happened to be part of the CARE for AIDS ministry. Elizabeth found peace in God’s word. Since receiving the Lord, “I often sense His presence, His guidance and protection for me wherever I go.”

God had another gift for Elizabeth – having joined the CARE for AIDS center, Elizabeth’s physical condition continued to improve.  “At the time I came to God, my physical body was very weak since I was in the last stages of HIV/AIDS – I could hardly walk”, she remembers. “But praise God… a miracle just happened. My CD-4 count improved, I started gaining weight, and my health came back to me.  Nowadays, she even goes with the group to visit people affected by HIV/AIDS in hospitals to offer encouragement and share the Good news of Jesus Christ.

Jesus provides strength and uses us as a channel of blessings to others, to show people the way to God and expand His Kingdom.

Moving Forward, Elizabeth is filled with new life in Christ, and the ground is firm and steady beneath her feet. “I know the coming years of my life will not be easy,” she admits, “but the Lord will never leave me. He will provide for my needs and strengthens me.”

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  –Philippians 4:13

Elizabeth