YASHA Ministry : YASHA Schools & Forest Project and Fund Raising Initiatives

Getting my mind away from Facebook and ON TO OUR BLOG

2011-03-17T14:32:00.003+02:00

Facebook had become such a friendly and easy platform, that I actually started neglegting our blogs big time. Of course my time is limited and keeping in touch with all your friends under one umbrella/roof is GREAT to say the least. I also didn't realize that time (or maybe it has not been "invented" yet "that time") that one can share everything written on the blog on Facebook ... BUT NOT VICE VERSA.

Soooo ... I am switching my mind back to the blog (which I enjoyed so much "that time" before I knew about Facebook) ... and hopefully I will get the blog updated in no time.

Nice time (like they say here in Kenya :-)

WE NEED TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP ... SCARY STUFF!!

2010-09-28T08:03:00.007+02:00

Reflecting back over the past year or so, I realize we've come to a cross road at the school ... My mind is still not comprehending it, but I know we need to act and act FAST. The property which we rented since January 2005 to house our school, has been sold on an auction. The new owners bought it at a very reasonable price with only one intention in mind ... they want to sell it for a profit. As soon as they'll get a buyer - depending on what the new owner wants to do with the place - we will have to look for another abode. We hope for a miracle before then.

Since my husband has gone to South Africa last year June (2009) to work there, I have been working much harder than usual as I have to now also fill his shoes. Of course we hope, we trust, we pray that this will only be a temporary arrangement, but still ... This is where we are right now. I have not been posting anything on our blog, simply because I have just been so occupied, but I realize that I just HAVE to make time for it as the life of our YASHA kids depend upon it.

We have a lovely 13-acre piece of land in mind which we'd like to buy in order to build the children of YASHA their very own school, but ... we need $258,565 to do it! A lot for someone like me who's parents never really owned property, but I guess for God it's not a big deal :-)

Will you help us ... please? Will you tell your friends to help us? Your family? Your colleagues? Your church family? If all of us can unite, then we'll be able to do it.

Feel free to contact us if you need any additional information - we'll be happy to share with you our hearts.

God bless

Lydia

END-OF-THE-TERM TREE PLANTING CELEBRATION

2009-08-11T21:15:00.009+02:00

29th of July 2009 @ YASHA Guest House

We planted 49 trees (7 trees in 7 rows) as a fund raising project. In about 4-7 years we can start "harvesting" the trees and make quite a bit of money for the school.

Working, working, working ...

Great preperations were taking place as each child received a merit bag after the day. Here Anne Cheptoo, the manager of YASHA Guest House is at work the morning of the big day.

At lunch time we treated the kids on hot dogs and sodas. The Nursery School had their own fun time at the YAHSA school premises as we just thought they are too small to control at the guesthouse the whole day. Here Anne and Lydia are posing with the long buns and sausages that are suppose to be sent to school.

On the photo below is Samuel Ouma with our friend from the soda depot as they are busy counting the sodas for us.

The BIG day ...

Students gathering under the tree as they arrived.

Each class had a few trees to plant and we made sure that every student participated.

Lydia planting the 1st tree ... unfortunately the batteries of our camera gave trouble, so we couldn't take more photos. We had a lovely day of fun and games after the ceremony and the students as well as the staff enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

STUDENTS - 2nd Term

2009-08-11T19:01:00.010+02:00

GRADE 0 - Tiny Tiger Learning Centre
(Pre-School with Ace and Christi)

Back f.l.t.r. : Tr. Margaret Mwangi (Monitor); Minashe Mwangi; Gabriel, Gabriel; Omondi;
Front f.l.t.r. : Bilhah Wangari; Jonathan Sifa; Daisy ; Tiko and Charity.

GRADE 1 - Petey Peacock Learning Centre
(ABC's with Ace & Christi)
Back f.l.t.r. : Tr. Agnes Mwelu (Supervisor); Victor Mabwa, Nicole Njeri; Faith Nekesa; Pauline; Samson Ndiba; Andrew Otieno; Brian Wanjama and Mr Dixon Kipkemboi (Acting Monitor).
Front f.l.t.r. : Erick Gachoka; Brian Mogaka; Glen Nguyo; Ephraim Igambo; Timothy Venter; Simon Ngige; Stephen Wainaina and Caroline.

GRADE 2 : Ellie Elephant Learning Centre
Back f.l.t.r. : David Ochola; Venter Mwaura; Evans Gachoki; Jeremiah Joe; Steven Aranda; Naomi Kimunto; Ishmael and Mr Peter (Monitor)
Front f.l.t.r. : Ian Macharia; Kelvin; Esther Ikabi; Jeremiah Okwiri; Jasmyn; Duncan Kipchirchir and Valentine.

Grade 3 : Ricky Rabbit Learning Centre
Back f.l.t.r. : John Nyagaka; Sarah Wanjala; Lea Wangari; Melvin Wachira;
Front f.l.t.r. : Beverley Wanja; Keith Kamau; Tr. Minnie Wanjiru (Supervisor); Samuel Njoroge and Cathrine.

GRADE 4 : Zippy Zebra Learning Centre
Back f.l.t.r. : Keith Baraka; Amos Gitau; Shadrack Methuselah and Titus Kipyegon
Front f.l.t.r. : Tr. Carol Chanzu (Supervisor); Maureen Chepchumba; Peter Ndirangu; Paul Thiongo; Anne Nyambura and Mr Joseph Wasonga (Monitor)

GRADE 5-6 : Abbie Antelope Learning Centre
Back : Tr. Esther (Supervisor)
Front f.l.t.r. : Joy Venter; Marvel Mothoni; Jedidah Njeri and Stefanus Venter

STUDENTS - 2nd Term

2009-08-10T20:25:00.001+02:00

Baby Care Centre
Mickey Mouse & Teddy Bear Classes

Nursery Department
Tom & Jerry Class (3-4 years)

Barney Class (4-5 years)

Visit to YASHA Learning Centre, Lulukwet - Teret Forest

2009-07-16T12:39:00.009+02:00

Thursday, 16 July 2009

Talking of growing from glory to glory ... In less than 7 months we have seen these kids develop like crazy ... We can't wait to see what will happen to them in the next few months.

Mr Dickson, Lena and Gladys in front of the Nursery School class in Lulukwet.
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Reciting one of their scripture verses ...
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Here I am with the rest of the school. (Look at all the lovely art at the back :-)
~~~~
We took Richard Kabiru (far left) with us ... He is from Nairobi and is helping us out at YASHA Mission Academy with our Admin. He also is a member of CONGRESS WBN which makes him double family.

In Teret we've also started with a class for the very young ones. They are still in the process of smearing mud on the walls, but by next term everything should be ready. Please pray with us as we're still trusting God for a teacher to help with these little ones.
~~~~~
Richard standing at the sign board of the school.
~~~~
I took them all for a nice cup of tea and mandazi at one of the local hotels in Teret. Wonderful!!!
Here Richard is with Past Richard and Bernard.

Thanks for your prayers and support. Right now there are quite a number of children in Teret without shoes and warm clothes. We have just entered the coldest time of the year and would very much like to provide for those little ones the necessary. Contact us if you would like to get involved in that (yashaministry@yahoo.com).

Shalom ...

The Ward Family from Scotland

2009-05-24T14:07:00.011+02:00

8-15 May 2009

Allan, Janette and Mathew (8) arrived in Njoro on the Friday evening after meeting with Enock Mohol, the coordinator of ACE in East Africa, during the morning. Allan spent the weekend with us, but had to go back to Nairobi on Sunday, as he had to work up to Wednesday.

Allan was specifically interested in helping YASHA looking at different options concerning water. He actually wanted Wilco to start digging the well at the Guest House as to look for water, but because of the heavy rains that couldn't realize as it would have been too dangerous for the guys digging. We believe that if we can go 30-40 feet deeper, we might find plenty of water.

This photo of the Ward family was taken after the Sunday morning service at Kingpriest Centre, Nakuru. It was such a privilege having them with us.
We had a Graduation Service as our Sunday School children just finished the Discovery Series. Here Allan and Matthew are taken with Past Erastus and Pauline - Past Maina also got a certificate as to validate our church's relationship with Christian Union.

///////////////

Tuesday morning's chapel @ YASHA

Janet brought a powerful message to the staff and students about God's love. She never knew that our song of the month came from 1 John 4:7,8 talking all about LOVE :-)

Janette also gave the school some valuable advice on various issues during the course of the week and the Staff especially were encouraged so much. As a school we had to re-align ourselves with certain ACE concepts that were misunderstood and we truly are grateful for her input in this regard.

Matthew thoroughly enjoyed "school life" as such as he is a home schooler. He blended in real well and made pretty good friends that week.

Tree Planting Celebration - 7 April 2009

2009-05-05T07:24:00.017+02:00

YASHA Learning Centre,
Lulukwet - TERET

When the new Satellite School in the forest closed for the 1st term, we decided to thank the Lord God for His mercies in a practical manner ... We decided to plant 2 trees as to celebrate the 2 classes that was birthed this year.

Because the current statistics in the forest show that only 10% of the children will ever proceed to Secondary Level, we felt the Lord pressed on our hearts to start a 2-year program where the kids can learn to speak, read and write English as that is the major obsticle. ACE has proven itself as a worthy tool in the Hand of God, so we've decided to use the ACE Pre-School as well as the ABC-program (Gr 1) and then send the kids back to the local primary school ... giving them such a fantastic head-start and love towards education.

At the beginning of the year these kids could not even speak Kiswahili, as their mother tonge is Kalenjin. Now - a mere 4 months along the line - the kids can understand the Bible and animal stories though they might still answer in Kalenjin, they can say all the pledges in English, they know the letter songs, they can recite Psalms 100 as well as a few other scripture verses. They also know all their colors in English as well as all the shapes ... What a privilege to witness such growth.

We normally take some YASHA Mission Academy Staff members with so that they can also feel part of this great project. This time we also decided to take our prefects with - they couldn't believe how these kids are just flourishing. All glory to our God!!

The kids had a small program ready to "show-off" their great progress.
* *
o

A few of the projects that the children have been doing this term.
They normally work in groups of 5.
++
^
Here the kids are saying the pledge to the Christian Flag.
~~
"

On the left we have Veronica (the overseer) and Miss Emily (our secretary from YASHA Mission Academy) and on the right we have Teacher Esther (Supervisor of the Snr Learning Centre) and myself together with all our prefects.
^^
()

Here Br Wilson is making one of the holes.

##
--

Singing and praising the Living Saviour ...
:-)

The Team of Teret planting the one tree ...
* *
=

... and the Njoro Team planting the other tree.
/\
---
After the occasion we gave the children of Teret some merits ... juice, sweets and biscuits.
What a pleasure to serve them with God's love!!

ILI Training - 9-11 April 2009

2009-05-03T20:32:00.009+02:00

The 3-day training was held in the church of one of our former students from the time we were still lecturing at the Njoro Bible College - Past Steven and his wife, Milka, are 2 lovely people and the Lord is really blessing their ministry.

Past Paul Waweru was one of the lecturers during the training and I must say, we've enjoyed him quite a bit.

Quite a good number attended the training seminar.

We thank the Lord for provision for us to sponsor 5 of our brothers from the forest to attend this very powerful and strategic training seminar. We are also grateful for our friends in Nakuru who welcomed them in their homes during this time.
Back f.l.t.r. : Ps Sammy (Sugutek) and Ps Richard (Teret)
Front f.l.t.r. : Br Bernard (Teret), Ps Towett (Chemamul); Lydia Venter and Ps David (Kapsenda - he is also the General Overseer of the 10 churches in the forest)

The entire group.

YASHA STUDENTS - UNIVERSITY EXPO, 21 March 2009

2009-03-30T17:02:00.007+02:00

Lydia took her principal, Mrs. Mary Anyango, as well as the Supervisor of the Abbie Antelope Learning Centre, Mrs. Esther, to the Expo. Maureen Talitha - who is both a part-time student at YASHA as well as a monitor in the Zippy Zebra Learning Centre - also went with. The students were Mary Wambui, Tabitha Wafula, Maki Venter, David Mwangi, Nathaniel Gachukia & Collins Mwangi.
~~~~~~
Esther, Maureen, Lydia & Mary

~~~~~~

~~~~~~

Tabitha and her dad, Stanley Wafula, who works at the Egerton University as a Librarian.
~~~~~~

~~~~~~

David & Collins very much interested in Science and Medicine.
~~~~~~

Mary looking at the Home Science Dept of the Egerton University.

~~~~~~

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The YASHA team.

~~~~~~

Mary, Lydia & Esther

~~~~~~

YASHA SATELLITE SCHOOL - Grade 0, Starting Jan 2009

2009-01-05T06:52:00.010+02:00

1st Meeting WITH THE Parents

Saturday, 10 Januay 2009

Veronica and I showing the parents some of the phonetics.
*****
Tr Fancy with some of the children that might join.

*****

Quite a number of parents turned up ...
*****

Serious preps to be done ...

Veronica Cherotich will be overseeing the progress in the forest. Here she is busy studying the Pre-School Bless Program.
*****
Wilco making the school in the forest a new blackboard.
*****
Silas - one of the voluntary workers who currently stays with us - helping to prepare the small phonetic cards.

BUYING OF LAND for YASHA Mission Academy

2009-01-02T23:13:00.000+02:00

For the past three years we had this sword hanging over our heads that the current place where we're having school, is going to be sold at an auction. Now it seems it is finally going to happen, as the debt-collectors are claiming that the court-case has turned out in their favor and that they now can proceed with the selling of the property.

We need your prayer and your support!!

This is the 13 acre piece of land that we trust God for ... Can you imagine a school on this property? A place where the children can grow and develop and be molded into all that the Lord has in store for them. We call this in a reality as we move forward and possess the land.

Project Completed @ MORNING STAR SCHOOL, Gashula, Nakuru

2009-01-01T12:40:00.010+02:00

FINAL VISIT on Monday, 29th of Dec, to complete offices ...

This was an outreach project of YASHA Mission Academy. Our desire is to also assist other ACE schools in Kenya, so that more children can be reached with value-based education.

If you want to get involved in our work here in Kenya, please contact us at
yashamissionacademy@yasha.za.org

Tony & Wilco arriving at the school on the 'pikipiki' (motorbike) ... Charles, who made the offices, were not available, but his partner, Tony, were ready to assist.
~~~~~ The final product after a lot of hard work ...

Wilco with a very happy Pastor Patrick.

~~~~~

Hi everybody ...

2009-01-01T11:55:00.004+02:00

Just to let you know that it is going well with me. I am so happy with the Venter Family and trust God that I can stay with them forever and ever ... There is roomers that the orphanage where I use to stay, is moving to Meru (which is very far from us). That might complicate things ...

Please pray with us and trust God for favor, so that the foster care process will go smoothly.

Thanks for loving me ... Although there is not much in me not to love :-)

Happy New Year! From ... TD

SEASON GREETINGS ...

2008-12-21T08:42:00.009+02:00

Dear Friends ...

~~~~~

We want to wish you all a

BLESSED CHRISTMAS

And a

PROSPEROUS 2009
~~~~~

We also greet you with the following portion from The Message extracted from II Cor 13:

And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters here say hello.

The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you.

Lots of love ...

Wilco, Lydia, Maki, Joy, Stefanus, Timothy & TD

MORNING STAR SCHOOL, Gashula, Nakuru

2008-12-20T11:44:00.015+02:00

Follow-Up Visit ...

When we visited this school in July, we realised that this school needs proper "offices" as well as some nice wall charts. YASHA Mission Academy then started trusting God for the material and finances to upgrade their Grade 0 Learning Centre a little. Past Patrick has a heart for the Lord's work and is it a privilege to be involved in this project of his.

BEFORE ...

-----

The Lord pressed it upon the heart of a dear friend from England to sow into this project - We immediately got hold of a carpenter called Charles, to come and make the offices.

Charles did a tremendously neat work ...

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Wilco loading the offices in the vehicle.

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Although the offices were finished long time ago, Wilco and the boys only got time last week to go and work at Morning Star Academy.

They then realized that their was a small mistake when taking the measurements, so now the tables first have te be made bigger.

It was great to also involve Stefanus and Timothy into the work. They caught up quickly and Wilco admitted that they've done alot to help completing the task.

-----

Wilco will go to complete the work at Morning Star Academy a.s.a.p.

YASHA SATELLITE SCHOOL IN TERET - Grade 0, Starting Jan 2009

2008-12-12T09:43:00.007+02:00

GOOD NEWS !!!!

For the past couple of years we've witnessed how children in the forest are not capable of communicating in English. Yet the education, as well as all their exams, are presented in English. There are normally very few primary schools in the forest and ONLY 10% of the kids will move on to Secondary level. This is a sad state of affairs, don't you think?

Now, the Lord laid on our hearts to start this project in Teret first (because we're involved in quite a number of forest-locations) and to introduce Grade 0 to them next year, followed by Grade 1 in 2010. ACE provides a fantastic tool not only to reach this children with the gospel, but also to get them speaking English in no time. Once they've worked through the "Pre-School with Ace and Christi", we can take them through the "ABCs with Ace and Christi" where they will learn to read and write and then SEND THEM BACK to the LOCAL SCHOOL.

I might add that there is currently only one primary school in Teret with very few teachers. The average number of students per class are about 100. We simply cannot close our eyes and make as if we do not know ... We KNOW and we SEE and we need to ACT.

On Wednesday some leaders from Teret came to our school to learn more about the School of Tomorrow program. We had a very productive meeting with them and we're all very excited with this new development. Please pray with us, as this is again breaking new ground ... We know however that with God nothing is impossible.

This photo was taken in the Tiny Tiger (Gr 0) Learning Centre at YASHA Mission Academy.
Back f.l.t.r. : Anne Cheptoo (our Supervisor in Grade 0); Wilco & Lydia; Ps Richard and Veronica Cherotich.
Front f.l.t.r. : Nelson, Joyce, Wilson and Bernard.

We will immediately start training Veronica Cherotich in the Grade 0 program. She will then again go and train the teacher in the forest early January. Veronica already knows the Kalenjin language and has done the "Learning Centre Procedures" training at YASHA some times back.

Please let us know if you want to get involved in this exciting project.

STAFF CELEBRATION - Friday, 28 Nov 08

2008-11-29T15:53:00.006+02:00

This year we organized an "An Amazing Breakfast" at our home for the staff. We left them some clues over a period of days of What, Where and When the occasion will take place. We are SO SORRY we didn't take more photos. Wilco and I, together with some students of the school, were waiting on the staff and were just too occupied to think about photos. It was also the day after we got TD, so our minds were really full.

Joy took this photo while the staff did praise and worship - Ps Maina and Pauline were leading it.

AWARD CEREMONY - Sat, 22 Nov 2008

2008-11-24T16:37:00.043+02:00

Our theme this year was

"LIFE in the KINGDOM "
"Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt 6:10)
We wanted to portray something of this scripture to our parents and guests, that we are to live a victorious life in the NOW REALITY ... Not waiting for one day ... some day ... but that God desires His Kingdom to come into our lives TODAY as a result of our choices and accurate life styles.

Although the quality of this photo is not good at all, it can at least give an idea on how the stage looked like.
:-)

Pauline Maina was the Master of Ceremony - she did a fantastic job.
:-)All the staff was introduced.
:-)

Mr Mbugus - the Area Inspector of Schools - also attended and gave a short speech.
:-)
Pre-school with Ace and Christi

Grade 0 presented us with a lovely program.

Here Timothy, Efraim & Nakesa are reciting Ps 100.
:-)
"A Glimpse of Heaven"
Victor Maina was playing the "main angel" and here he is receiving a street kid, Kamau, into heaven.

While the street kid is getting "royal treatment" (a hair cut, a manicure, etc.), another man enters heaven, Omondi. He is very shocked that he "is dead" and even more shocked when he recognizes Kamau who is being treated like a king. The moral of the story is that Omondi was allowed to see a glimpse of heaven, as his ministry and his lifestyle was not pleasing unto God anymore. He had to see how all people are valued in the Kingdom and was allowed back to earth so that he could truly manifest God's love to a broken world.
:-)
"Turn the other Cheek"

This play was about 2 ladies meeting at lunch time, when the one girl is very upset because of the fact that her boss is stealing her proposals (rejecting it when she gives it to her, but then using it later with her own name signed under it). Both are christians, but the one who has been wronged is totally bitter and is contemplating on how to take revenge on her boss ... until 3 children who are playing in the park shows her how true christianity looks like.

We want to thank Bob Snook for making all his plays - more than a 1000 of them - available for free download. May God richly bless you. http://www.thewestcoast.net/bobsnook/
:-)
Grade 1 presentation
Here Annette is singing a song about "Holiday".
:-)
The YASHA choir

They presented quite a number of items and we were all hightly impressed. Mrs Maina and Miss Minnie have been working very hard in preparing the students for this event.
:-)
Poem : From Clashes to Glory ... written by Andika

The Abbie Antelope Learning Centre presented this poem that took the audience on a journey through 2008 that started with Tribal Clashes, but ended in victory.
(This poem can be read on the right-hand side bar.)
:-)
Dance items Maki presented a praise and worship dance, called "Promise" ...

... while Joy & Julian ("Double J") were dancing on "Morning Star".
:-)
"Destiny"

Mary Wambui (at the back far right) and her team presented a Narrative called "Destiny" ... one of the most excellent items at the Ceremony. Mary is a born accress and I believe she's going to still go far with her talent.
:-)
Grade 0 Graduation
Congrats students ... you are going to Grade 1!

Aren't they looking great!

Here Past Patrick from Morning Star Academy and Helen from Mekisa Academy in Karin, Nairobi, are congratulating our Pre-Schoolers for completing the Reading Readiness Course.
:-)
Award Ceremony 2008
Jeremiah Okwire (Grade 1) receiving his certificate.
In Yasha all the children receive certificates like the one below ...
:-)
Our Head Prefect - Mary Wambui
Above we have Mrs. Kabui (left) and Mrs Bett congratulating our students.

Here Pauline Maina, Carol Wafula (a parent) and Lydia Venter are congratulating Joy Venter - and several other students - for their participation in the East African Student Convention this year.
Prefectorial Administration 2009

These are the prefects for the new term.

Junior Academy's AWARD CEREMONY - 18 Nov 2008

2008-11-21T00:03:00.014+02:00

"Fly Higher"

This year the Staff of the Junior Academy has organized the whole event by themselves. It was great to see what they can come up with. The entire ceremony was a huge success. Special congratulations to the Principal of the Junior Academy, Esther Karanja
~~~~

Past Maina setting the atmosphere while we're waiting for more parents to arrive.
~~~~Past Patrick from Nairobi brought the Word.
~~~~

Parents came in good numbers.

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It was so cute to see the items that was prepared by the Baby Day Care Centre (4-36 months). Teachers Ireen (left) and Damaris are doing a tremendous work with the little ones.
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Tom & Jerry Class (3-4 years) had several songs and scripture verses.
~~~~
Barney Class (4-5 years) also presented a skit about sharing.
~~~~ Mrs Penny Mungai, amongst others, helped to hand out the certificates. Here little Victor and his dad, Samwel, receive it.
~~~~
Wilco giving a final word.
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Afterwards the parents relaxed with their kids on the grass while taking some sodas and snacks.

Sports Day - BALL GAMES - Nov 2008

2008-11-14T00:47:00.023+02:00

The Blue and Red Teams are ready for a gr8 sportsday.

The day started with chappel in the morning ...
*****
S O C C E R

Shadrack helps Mr Ouma to prepare the balls.
*****

Red Team ... are you ready?
*****

Blue Team ... are you ready?
*****
Let the games begin!!

Wilco announce the starting of the games.
*****

The Junior Academy was also there to chear the teams.
*****
Grade 0-1 mixed teams

Red team is kicking off ...

At this point in the game the Red Team was winning with 2-1.
Tr. Margaret Mwangi was keeping score.
Finally the Red team won 4-1.

*****
Grade 1-3 mixed teams
Teams praying together and planning their strategies.

Titus of the Blue Team to kick off - Keith standing near him.

In the heat of the moment ...

Blue Team won 2-1
*****
Teams still chearing their hearts out ...
Haka-haka 1-2-3
It's a R, it's a E, it's a D-D-D ...

Blue team building some spirit ...

Parents enjoying the competition.

John & Jedidah Kafui (the parents of the head prefect, Mary)
*****
Snacks for those who get a little hungry ...

Naomi quenching her thirst ...
*****
Grade 2-5 mixed teams

The winners of this game would determine the WINNING TEAM OF THE DAY ...

Leonard, the goalie of the Red Team, is absolutely a talented player.
The teams had to extend the time as they both had 2 goals each, until ...

Finally the Red Team pulled it off - WELL DONE!

*****
At the end of the day everyone enjoyed ...

*****
V O L E Y B A L L

Friendly match betweem teachers and students.

The staff who took on the students :
F.l.t.r. : Julius Mwangi, Rose; Emily; Mary Anyango, Lucy Wanjugu; Solomon (temporary worker); Beatrice Mwangi and Anne Cheptoo.

Student team
F.l.t.r. back : Collins Mwangi, David Mwangi, Maki Venter, Mary Wambui, Tabitha Wafula & Anne Nyambura.
F.l.t.r. front : Julian Wanja & Joy Venter

Lydia with Anne Cheptoo, the empire.

Students doing some art while teacher Margaret is keeping score.
*****
Lunch time - yippeeee ...

Rose has been preparing the dough from early morning.
Tr. Damaris, Rose and Tr. Agnes were the ones cooking chapati's.
*****

CONGRATULATIONS TEAMS ...

Mrs. Pauline Maina, Mary Angango and Lydia Venter were handing over the trophees.

The RED TEAM were the overall winners.
Maki Venter and Collins Mwangi receives the golden plate.

The Blue Team won the cheering cup.
Mary Wambui and David Mwangi receives it on behalf of the team.

MOMBASA - AUG/SEP 08

2008-11-09T07:21:00.004+02:00

Visiting some of the CONGRESS WBN family

While being in Mombasa, we visited Kingdom Life Centre of Past. Kennedy and Anne Ondieki. Here they are with their 3 children : f.l.t.r. Little Daniel, Stephany and Ebenezer.
~~~Here we are with Anne and Past. Kennedy. They have also started Wima Complex, an ACE school, in the beginning of 2008 and it's going so well.
~~~

The kids of both our families.
//~\\
Past Paul & Christine Kamau with their 2 cute children.

They are in the process of moving to Nairobi where they will run the CONGRESS office.
//~\\
Wima Complex ACE School
Anne Ondieki addressing the students during Chapel.
~~~
Wilco brought the Word ...
~~~
The students of Wima Complex.
Our children (on the left) had the privilege to have school with them for one full day.
~~~
Joy ...
~~~
Stefanus ...
~~~
Timothy in the pre-school unit ...
//~\\
Thank you once more to all our supporters who made this trip to Mombasa possible - it was really wonderful ... every bit of it. Please check out our Blog www.rainbowcelebration.blogspot.com to see more FUN photo's of our holiday.

VISIT TO SOUTH-AFRICA - JUL/AUG 08

2008-10-18T19:54:00.066+02:00

VISIT TO WELKOM

Yvonne O'Neil from Kingdom Ministries in Welkom, who inisiated the fund raising for this trip South as well as for our holiday to Mombasa. It was great seeing her again after so many years. We are truly grateful for this combined effort of brothers and sisters in the Body who made this possible for us. We pray that the Lord will continue to advance His Kingdom through your lives.
Uncle Dolf and aunty Rhoda Naude have been dear friends of ours for the past at least 13 years or so. We met them at one of the "Love Southern Africa" conferences in Pretoria during the mid-90's. The Lord actually connected us when praying together and after all these years, they - together with their daughter Corne who use to work for World Mission Centre - are very dear to us as a family. We stayed with them on Odendaalsrus when visiting Welkom. During this time Lydia had major back problems. They took her to the doctor, payed for the doctor's bill and treated her like a daughter ... THANK YOU dear friends. Hope you enjoy your new home.
~~*~~
ACE ADMINISTRATORS SEMINAR,

held at the
CHAMPAGNE SPORTS RESORT,

DRAKENSBERGE, South Africa
29 July - 1 Aug 2008

This seminar was one of the main reasons why Lydia went to South Africa. She had the privilege to attend this very strategic meeting with Mr Enock Mohol, the Coordinator of ACE in East Africa.

~~*~~
Enock in a meeting with Graham Yoko, the Director of ACE in Africa.
Trevor's wife, Pam and their daughter, Tamzyn.

~~*~~
Past Joseph Temlett was one of the speakers at the Seminar. He was also the main guest this year at our Educator's Convention that was held in Nairobi a while back.
~~*~~

Judy Carnegie & Nadine Hermann from Step By Step. We've been using this excellent ECD program with our pre-preschool kids at YASHA for the past almost 3 years, and have seen great results. If you want to learn more, you can contact them at stepbystep@mccmidlands.co.za
~~*~~
Here Lydia is taken with Janet Harris who is the School Implementation Manager of FUTUREKIDS in SA. YASHA is still trusting the Lord for the finances to implement this technology in our school. You can contact her at janet@skillspro.co.za to enquire more.
~~*~~
Here are also 2 lovely people that Lydia met with a heart for value-based education.
~~*~~
A lovely display of some countries in Africa that are involved in the School of Tomorrow program.
~~*~~
This lady and her husband is helping at an ACE school in Russia. They are using the school to teach English to the children, but God is using it as a platform for His glory.
~~*~~
Inbetween all these activities, there were also great food that was served. What a treat!!
~~*~~
It was great to meet with Rina Botha again. She and her husband, Christi, visited us a while back. With her is some staff members of their school who attended the Seminar with her.
Lydia's "room mate", Sharon Hancocks. She's the principal of Young Eagles Christian Academy in the Cape Province.
~~*~~
Lydia was so pleased to finally meet Teresa Botha, a friend she has been communicating with for quite some time via e-mail. She and her husband are actively involved in Kenya.
~~*~~
CONGRESS World Breakthrough Network
It was great meeting some of the CONGRESS WBN family in South Africa. Suresh and his wife, Michelle Ghunah (standing just left of Lydia), are running the embassy in South Africa. (Suresh was in the US at the time of the photo.) The name of their Kingdom Community (KC) is Elijah Embassy and they're situated in the Randburg area near Cresta. Wade & Annelize are on the left and Vincent Munena on the far right at the back. The kids are all in the front.
~~*~~
OTHER CHURCHES & MINISTRIES THAT WERE VISITED
Past. Robert Francke from the AGS Church in Westonaria. Lydia had an opportunity to share with them about the work here in Kenya. We thank the Lord for their partnership and assistance.

The worship that evening was really awesome. Jaco Nelson on the right is the son of very dear friends of ours, Rina & Bennie.
~~*~~
Lydia and the boys were also very privileged to visit LOFDAL in Pretoria. Uncle Chris and Aunty Isabeau (below) have been dear friends of ours for more than a decade. Lofdal is involved in Youth Evangelism.
~~*~ Another church community that is quite involved with our ministry, is the Vineyard Fellowship in Blyvooruitzicht, Carletonville. Past. Anton Gresse (far right at the back) and Rowland Wilson (far right in the front) are taken here with the members of the Praise & Worship Group, "Handpicked".
~~*~~
Rowland and his wife, Lucy, are the guardians at the Harmony Centre (a house of safety) in Blyvoor. They are also our Mission Coordinators in South Africa. If you would like to get more involved in either the Centre, or the work here in Kenya, you can contact them at wilsons4kenya@hotmail.com or (+27) 828264408.

Harmony Centre, Blyvooruitzicht, Carletonville
~~*~~
Br. David Copp and his wife, Phyllis, who are involved with the Penticostal Church of God in SA. They are originally from the USA.
~~*~~
Past. Hennie and Olive Eksteen. We met them at Corpus Christi in Potchefstroom when we just got saved in the early 90's. That was also the community where we got baptized. Great was Lydia's surprise when she met them again after so many years. They are now involved in a fellowship in Fochivlle. The interesting thing was that these precious people were just attacked by thugs when Lydia met them. She could really identified with this as we were still in a process of recovery by that time.
~~*~~
YASHA'S EMBLEM
When enquiring for someone who does printing, Lydia was advised to go to "Print A Sign" in Fochville. To much of her surprise, it belonged to an old school friend's brother who were a couple of years younger than them, Gert-Pieter. He did an excellent job. If you're in that area and you need any printing done, please contact him at
~~*~~
WEDDING BELLS are RINGing ...
Julius Mwangi asked Lydia to buy him and his fiance, Isabel, a set of wedding rings in South Africa. The first shop she went in to look for some, is where she got these lovely rings - exactly the right fit as well as the right price. They are getting married on the 29th of Nov 08. We wish them all the best for their future.

STARTING OF THE 3rd TERM 2008

2008-10-02T17:53:00.001+02:00

Delivering all the goodies that was brought from SA

While Lydia was in SA, she organized for this emblem to be made for the school. Great was her surprise when she found out that the guy who owns the printing business, was with her in Carletonville High School many, many, many years ago (ha-ha). His name is Gert-Pieter van der Merwe and he owns "Print A Sign" in Fochville, SA. If you're in the area and you would like some printing work done, you can contact him on (+27) 823776248 or e-mail him at gpvan@absamail.co.za ... You can be sure to get an excellent service.
Here Lydia is with Mrs Pauline Maina, the new Administrator of YASHA.

~~~~~

This videos were donated to YASHA by Rowland and Lucy Wilson from Blyvooruitzicht near Carletonville. They also blessed YASHA with educational books and other items. Rowland and Lucy are our Mission Coordinators and are involved with a home of safety, called Harmony Centre. They are doing a tremendous work there. If you would like to get involved in their or our ministry, you can phone them on (+27) 828264408 or e-mail them at wilsons4kenya@hotmail.com (unfortunately their other e-mail is not operational at the moment).
~~~~~

This is toys that were bought mainly for the Baby Care Centre and Nursery Department, although we also have some toys in the lower Primary level.
~~~~~
Lydia bought quite a lot of stuff for the monthly Merit Shop. The students were totally thrilled to "buy" some items from South Africa. Many of the things she brought is either not available in Kenya or very expensive like the army men - you will pay at least 3 times more for it if you buy it locally.
~~~~~

We are SO GRATEFUL for all your contributions that made it possible for Lydia and the boys to come back with these, and so much more. May our Father who sees in secret, reward you in public.

MORNING STAR SCHOOL, Gashula, Nakuru

2008-09-03T11:54:00.002+02:00

Pauline Maina and myself visited Past Patrick towards the end of July this year. Past Patrick has been running a normal government school for the past couple of years, but in January this year he started with the ACE Pre-school Bless Program (on photo). Past Patrick is 2nd from the left inbetween two of his teachers.

We visitied in the afternoon, so kids were resting.
Immediate needs of the school :
Offices of students (desks) need to be fixed

Stationary: Wax crayons, pencils, rubbers
Colour charts: Letters, numbers, shapes, etc.
Phonetic sounds
~~~~~~~~~~
Past Patrick is also working with Unicef where they provide tents and services to the IDP's (Internally Displaced People) - there are still a couple of thousands of these people who have nowhere to go.

Literally thousands of these children are not in school ...

Here I am surrounded with a bunch of beatiful IDP kids as well as some Unicef volunteers. ~~~~~~~~~
Past Patrick is a man of integrity who desperately needs financial assistance. We have come to know him as someone who believes in hard work. At the moment he is running a project where he's raising and selling pigs to the local hotels as to assist the school (photo below).
Let's pray for him, and if you feel in your heart that you'd like to support him in some or other way, please either let us know, or contact him directly.
E-mail address bishograce@gmail.com.

EA ACE STUDENT CONVENTION, NAIROBI - 20-22 July 08

2008-08-30T08:55:00.001+02:00

SERIOUS PREPERATIONS ...
Everyone is looking forward to the event that will take place at Green Acres School in Limuru.

Tr Esther (principal of our Junior Academy) was helping our students with art.

Joy is about to serve as our students prepare for the Volleyball competition ... Unfortunately the item was later cancelled.

*****

READY FOR THE "SAFARI" ...
Packing our 4X4 for a trip like this, is always a sight for sore eyes. And that's not all that get sore during a 3-hour trip ... :-)

Stopping halfway to stretch our legs

*****
On arrival at Green Acres School, we have a short orientation in the hall.
*****
Having some good fun during one of the evening rallies

*****
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Monday morning and it's cold ... brrrrr ...

Here we are with the team of Harvest Learning Centre, Nakuru

- Shadrack & Nathaniel (the ones closest to Wilco)

*****
On the pavalion ...

*****
Below : Amos in action during the Socker Kick event (but where are all the students at the back going?)

*****

Tabitha (above) and David (below) from YASHA ... running as if it's their last opportunity ...
Below Wilco and Lydia congratulate Joy after she has won the first "heats". She was very emotional after the race, as she really ran her heart out. She finally ended 2nd, which we thought was quite good.
*****
Br Enock Mohol, the co-ordinator of ACE in East Africa, together with Julia Fulcher, the Organizer of the event. She did a pretty amazing job.

Above : Julian & Joy doing their dance on the song "Morning Star) - The 2 girls got a 3rd place.
Below : Mary, Tabitha and Maki did a worship dance on a song, named "You". Look at their beatiful dancing attire.

*****
Tabitha Wafula from YASHA playing Chess with Paul Okampo in the finals ... He won for the 2nd year in a row and she took the 2nd prize.

Here Wendy from our school is playing Checkers with a boy, named Shadrack.

*****
PRICE GIVING CEREMONY
All our students got medals ... We give Father all the glory!

*****
Having lunch for the last time before we all bid farewell ... Until next year.

*****
WELL DONE TEAM !!!
We THANK GOD for a successful event and are looking forward to many more to come !!!

The certificates were handed out during Chapel. On the photo is :
Back f.l.t.r. : Wilco Venter & Pst Erastus Maina; 3rd row f.l.t.r. : Mr Julius Mwangi, Lydia Venter, Mary Wambui & Ms Lucy Wanjugu; 2nd row f.l.t.r. : Anne Nyambura, Maki Venter, Joy Venter & Tabitha Wafula; Front f.l.t.r. : Wendy Achieng, Julian Wanja, Amos Gitau & David Mwangi

Our family LOVES "Mutumba's"

2008-08-21T21:42:00.007+02:00

Most of our clothes, shoes, hand bags, house hold items and even toys (if you can get it) are being bought on the secondhand market. Here Lydia is negotiating a price for a table cloth.

Some clothes are being displayed very neatly ...

... and some are just heaps upon heaps where one has to "dig in" ...
like this photo below.
(Here trousers were being sold at 50Kenyan Shillings each - about R5,80 or $0.75)

NEW TYRES FOR PAST MAINA & HIS FAMILY

2008-08-21T20:50:00.007+02:00

Remember the special request that we had a while ago to bless Past Maina with new tyres?? The reason was that they are transporting children every day to and from Nakuru to YASHA (a distance of about 30km) and it became more and more dangerous

because of the condition of his tyres.

Well, we thank God for the response.

Below is the set of new tyres that he was blessed with a while back (July, to be more precise).

We felt privileged to have fascilitated this.

Below is the Maina family : Past Erastus & Pauline Maina

together with their two sons, Governer (left) and Victor.

SPORT DAY - 14 JUNE 2008

2008-06-28T20:19:00.046+02:00

... Held at the Pavilion of the Egerton University, Njoro.

The Blue and Red teams marching, before the games begin.
~~~~~~~~~~ Tr. Anne Cheptoo was the Sport Commentator for the day doing an excellent job.
~~~~~~~~~~ Ps Wafula, his wife Carol (from England), together with their daughter Debbie who has Down Syndrome. Debbie is a real Darling and a Blessing in YASHA.
~~~~~~~~~~Sack Race is about to start ...

~~~~~~~~~~
The action is on ...
~~~~~~~~~~~

A few of the Grade 0 kids of the Red Team just want a hug from the Administrator after the great effort they've put in during the Sack Racing.
~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Mwangi handing Debbie the Bean Bag - "Go for it, Girl!"
~~~~~~~~~~
Maki painting the faces of some members of the Red Team.

~~~~~~~~~~

Team Leaders Mary Wambui and Maki Venter ...
best friends who are representing 2 different teams.
~~~~~~~~~~~

Carin Chebet (left) and Brenda Wambui - excited to be in the Blue Team.
~~~~~~~~~~

Crowding at the judges table ...
~~~~~~~~~~

Jeremiah Okwiri. Although he is paralized from his hips down,
he still enjoyed every minute of the day. Jerry is sponsored by a lovely lady from Germany, called Isa. She can really be very proud of him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Lunch time ...
~~~~~~~~~~
Teachers Carol and Margaret = calculating the score.
~~~~~~~~~~
Bee was the photographer of the day.
~~~~~~~~~~
Blue team chearing their hearts out!!
~~~~~~~~~~
Boys 100m U/11 - James Kamau 1st, Stefanus Venter 2nd and Samwel Kipkemboi 3rd.
~~~~~~~~~~
Wilco ready with his stop watch.
~~~~~~~~~~
David Mwangi (Blue) and Peter Ndirangu (Red Team) - ready to fight until the very end during the 1600m Boys U/16.
~~~~~~~~~~

In the Relay the victory clearly belonged to the Blue Team.
~~~~~~~~~~

Blue Team victoriously stepped up to the occasion by winning 226 to 192!
~~~~~~~~~~

Wilco and Tr. Mary Anyango handing out the Winning Cup to

Mary Wambui and David Mwangi - Leaders of the Blue Team.
~~~~~~~~~~

Lydia Venter and Tr. Minni Wanjira handing out the Cheering Cup to

Maki Venter and Collins Mwangi - Leaders of the Red Team.
~~~~~~~~~~

Bee blessed the school with a wooden fish bowl that she bought in Zimbabwe as a reminder of last year's Award Ceremony that she organized for YASHA with the theme "Under the Sea".

JUNIOR ACADEMY'S SPORTS DAY - 7 JUNE 08

2008-06-09T20:55:00.018+02:00

Red and Blue Teams marching before the audience. How it works is that the little ones participate in their different items while the bigger students do all the cheering.

Ps. Achar Mungu starting this great event with prayer.

Tr. Damaris was the Master of Ceremony.

Blue and Red Teams cheering their hearts out (above and below)

... with parents shouting just as hard.

Great action photo - Adam throwing the bean bag.

Mr. Mwangi and Tr. Beatrice were the field officials of this item.

Tr. Carol Chanzu keeping score …

Another action photo during the Water Throwing Race!!

Kids are being lifted up after receiving their “medals”.

We’ve asked parents to hand out the “medals” to the kids on the podium. Parents f.l.t.r. is baba Adam (i.e. father to Adam); Ruth (mama Timothy); Peter Kihika (baba Purdric) and Pauline (aunty to Glen, a Grade 0 student). On the stand is f.l.t.r. Ann, Purdric, Adam & Joy after they’ve done the Bean Bag Throwing.

The parents also had the opportunity to participate in several items like Tug of War, Egg Running, etc. (above & below)

The Blue and Red Teams showing off all there “medals”. This year we had a great idea to make the so-called medals of lollipops – It worked like a bomb. Wilco with some of the staff after a hard day of PLAY.

David Mwangi and Mary Wambui were the cheering leaders for the Blue Team who walked away with the Cheering Cup.

Tr. Esther Karanja – Principal of the Junior Academy – and Lydia handing over the Winning Trophee to the captain of the Red Team, Timothy Aaron (with the red t-shirt on). Little Purdric Kihika just joined in spontaneously.

OUR "SHAMBA"

2008-06-08T21:58:00.004+02:00

This year we have been doing some planting both for our own consumption as well as for the school. Our feeding scheme is currently serving about 120 people every day, so we are really praying for a good harvest.

In this small portion of "shamba" we've planted some beans as well as peas. We also planted potatoes, onions, tomatoes, carrots and maize. (Will take some more photo's later.)

MERIT SHOP - 30 MAY 08

2008-06-04T22:21:00.003+02:00

We had a good Merit Shop on Friday. The students from Nakuru were especially surprised to see how their efforts during the month had been rewarded. We try to save where we can, or to at least get sponsorship on certain items. To have a “proper shop” for around 80 students are becoming more and more of a challenge. Because of the fact that most of our children cannot afford basic toiletries or even the stationary they need for school, we feel compelled to continue with this monthly blessing.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Photo below : Ivy and I packing out the stuff ...

In the Merit Shop we “sell” things like mini boxes of Breakfast Cereal, hand lotion, glycerin for the girl’s hair, key holders, juice, biscuits, pads for the bigger girls, roll-on, colour pencils and all kinds of stationary.

OFFICES FOR ALL OUR NEW STUDENTS

2008-06-04T13:25:00.001+02:00

Carpenter Tony, busy making offices at school. It works out cheaper if we get a guy to do it on our premises. We were shocked however to see how the prices of timber had gone up

VISIT FROM SOUTH AFRICANS

2008-06-04T13:20:00.002+02:00

A while ago 2 friends - Kallie and his daughter, Sheline (spelling!) - came to visit us. Callie is currently working with the Rift Valley Railway Project which is stationed in Nairobi. They are from the same church as Rowland and Lucy Wilson, our Coordinators. It was a blessing having them over for a night at our place.

NEW STUDENTS FROM NAKURU TOWN

2008-05-07T05:41:00.007+02:00

These - and others parents who couldn't make it on Monday morning - have changed their whole little world around to bring their children to an ACE school. Some of their kids were in good schools, but as they say : "The academics maybe good, but no values are imparted to them."

The question is? How can we expect value-based leadership, if there is no value-based education. We thank God for ACE that is impacting the lives of the children of Kenya.

The bigger students were writing Assessment Tests for two days before they could be placed in the appropriate Learning Centres. Ivy was one of the young ladies who supervised them while they were writing. She came to help us for a month or so.
The parents hired a "matatu" to pick and drop the children every day.

BOOKS FOR AFRICA ...

2008-05-04T21:17:00.006+02:00

We are grateful towards the family of Mr and Mrs B.L. Shah who have blessed YASHA with 4 boxes of books from America. Sital (2nd from the right) is fellowshipping at the Gospel Community Church in Nakuru and they were the ones giving the books to this family to give out.

On Saturday morning I had a meeting with the Photography Club, so they were there when our friends brought us the books. I am so sorry for cutting Bindi out of the picture (that says allot for someone who's in charge of the Photography Club - ha-ha).

TEACHING ON EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

2008-05-04T08:30:00.005+02:00

Susan is one of our dearest friends in Kenya. We met her at a service in Njeri in 2003 where we were ministering in Past Solomon's church. We immediately connected. Susan is the Regional Coordinator of SWAK (Society for Woman and Aids in Kenya) - An organization that helps vulnarable woman and children. She came to visit our school and had an opportunity to share with the staff on how to deal with children with special needs.

MOMBASA - 17-24 APR 08

2008-05-03T23:06:00.018+02:00

PARENTS BANQUET - SAT, 19 APR 08

Here Wilco and I stand on the roof of the school, Wima Complex Academy.

Anna Ondieki addressing the parents. What a lovely lady she is.

Maki did a worship dance and - as always - it touched the hearts of people.
Wilco and I had the opportunity to talk with parents on what the ACE system can offer their children.
OUR BONUS BREAK-AWAY AT AMANI ACRES

Because it's on a coral reaf, we had the opportunity to see so many live sea animals.

Wilco and his Timothy after they've built some sand castles.

Our kids with Bee in one of the warm pools during low tide.

We also visited Fort Jesus that was built by the Portugese in 1593.
Our two handsome boys - Stefanus & Timothy

PREFECT LEADERSHIP SESSION - 11 APR 08

2008-04-14T22:17:00.002+02:00

Br Peter Thuku from the Congress World Breakthrough Network came to share with our youth about the fact that THEY are the greatest recource.

At the back f.l.t.r. : Lydia, Peter and Maureen (Head Girl).

Middle f.l.t.r. : Faith (Ass Entertainement Prefect); David Mwangi (Ass Head Prefect); Joy (Health Prefect) and Maki (Entertainement Prefect).

Front f.l.t.r. : Maxwell (Sanitary Prefect); Samwel (Library Prefect); Amos (Ass Environmental Prefect) and Julian (Library Prefect).

Two of our senior prefects were absent, namely Mary (Environmental Prefect) and Tabitha (Library Prefect).

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - 9 APR 08

2008-04-11T21:36:00.007+02:00

Wednesday morning during Chapel meeting. Our students were allowed to come in informal clothes.

Debbie is the child of an English friend of ours, Carol, who is married to a Kenyan brother, Stanley Wafula. Although Debbie has Down Syndrome, she has developed so well in YASHA and can now read and write ... something the parents thought will never be possible for her to do. Here she is presenting a song during Chapel. She has gained so much confidence and truly is a blessing to all of us.

We also had our Merit Shop on Wednesday. This normally is the highlight of the month.

Christine, our secretary, dishing out chocolates and biscuits to the staff.

VISITING THE FOREST - Sunday, 6th of April 08

2008-04-09T00:06:00.005+02:00

Wilco and past David Birgen from Londiani. He visited us on Saturday and Sunday. He is our new Coordinator of the churches in the forest.

Below is some of the members of the church in Teret.

They've also managed to visit Nessuit Reformation Centre. Here Wilco is handing out some Kalenjin Bibles to past Richard.

VIP B-DAYS IN THE VENTER'S HOUSEHOLD

2008-04-08T23:15:00.007+02:00

JOY's BIRTHDAY - 21 MAY 2008

Her desire for a long, long time was to dine out in a Chinese Restaurant. We asked the manager to write her a note in Chinese telling her that she can have a meal in his restaurant. We organized the whole thing with Bee (our friend from England), and had to really plan ourselves well in order for her not to find out. We had to then meet with Bee in town to pick the surprise card and had "to look for someone from China" (photo below) who could translate the card to us. Needless to say ... she was extremely surprised and had a great time!!

We envited some special friends with : Bee on the left of Maki; Chebet on Maki's right hand side and Jedidah on Joy's left (Jedidah is one of Joy's best friends).

STEFANUS's BIRTHDAY - 7 APRIL 2008

Maki decorated his cake this year and I think she did a tremendous work.

Stefanus' Bday - The whole family in our bed. We somehow have not taken nice pictures of his birthday yet, as he is having a friend over tomorrow (Wednesday) when the school closes and we'll celebrate his Bday then.

MAKI's BIRTHDAY - 2 APRIL 2008

On Friday night we arranged a surprise sleep-over for Maki. All the students in her class managed to come. From the back f.l.t.r. is Mary and Maureen and then David Mwangi, Maki, Joy, Tabitha and Stefanus in the front.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here she's about to cut her cake.

SECURITY UPGRADING AT OUR HOME ... Thanks to YOUR contribution!!

2008-04-08T21:25:00.017+02:00

We've appointed a nightwatch from the Turkana tribe, Johnson. Here he is armed with the traditional bow and arrows. (He is also a lovely Christian whom we know for almost 7 years).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the kitchen Wilco designed a door that can "fold up" because of a lack of space.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Above is the security door between the sitting room and the living quarters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wilco preparing the frame for the new steel door .

Below is how it looks directly after it has been fitted.

VISIT FROM UNIVERSITY'S LIBRARIAN - 26 Mar 08

2008-04-03T21:54:00.006+02:00

The Library Prefects of YASHA (f.l.t.r. Brenda, Samwel, Julian & Tabitha) organized with one of the librarians of the Egerton University to come and talk to our bigger students on how to manage the library properly.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER ... CONTINUE

2008-03-19T07:54:00.007+02:00

Yesterday on Tuesday, 18 March, Wilco went with Mr Mwangi (the caretaker of Njoro Bible College and one of our parents) together with two police men from the Njoro Police Station, to pick our briefcases from a Police Post in the forest. The photo below shows how it was presented to them. The dark brown briefcase was cut open due to the fact that they couldn't open the locks, but the light brown one is still completely in tact.

Below : Everything - except for a few beautiful pens - were still inside. We absolutely thank God, especially for the children's passports that we've renewed only recently.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER ... CONTINUE

2008-03-18T09:06:00.008+02:00

Our family : Sunday morning before church.

Sunday morning we received a call from our friend from Nairobi, No'am Fourie. She informed us that a team from Faith Ventures Academy wants to visit us. We met them later that morning in Nakuru town.

F.l.t.r. : Violet Mohol, Julia Fulcher, No'am Fourie and

Enock Mohol, the coordinator of ACE in East Africa.

We thank God for so many people who have committed themselves passionately to help establish Christian Education in Kenya. We have been working with Enock and his team for more than three years now and they are doing a tremendous work.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER ... CONTINUE

2008-03-17T07:43:00.009+02:00

We are excited, as the Police have arrested several people over the weekend that were involved in crime activities. We must go this morning to see if we can identify any of them.

We also have to go to the Police Station in Sigotik - an area in the forest not too far from us - where they've discovered two briefcases with our children's passports in one of them. We are really grateful for this development.

We realize that the whole stealing operation was actually unsuccessful, as they only stole 2 mobiles (that are replaceable, by the way) and the briefcases that absolutely had nothing of value in for them. ("Sorry Keith - one of the briefcases was the one you've sent to Wilco". How are you doing these days?)

Thank you once more Friends, for your love and encouragement through this whole ordeal. We feel strong and ready to continue our work as we trust God to advance His Kingdom in Njoro in a mighty way.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER ... 12 Mar 08 at 2am

2008-03-15T19:40:00.021+02:00

This was written early Thursday morning, 13 March 2008 …

Today is a wonderful day! We can witness and testify about the saving power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yesterday morning this time, we were still in shock and very confused. Here is the story:

Yesterday we woke up just after 2am with the dogs barking fiercely. We immediately got up – Wilco went towards the front door in the dining room and I went to look through the window in the corridor. I saw two men with panga’s in their hands, coming towards the front door. Wilco did not know that, so he just thought it might be neighbours wanting something (we often had to drive someone in the hospital at night, so it is not so strange for us).

I shouted to my husband from the room not to open the door and when the guy demanded that either Wilco open the door or they will burn down the house, he realized … this is not a friendly visit. My husband told them that he could not just open the door, but that they can tell him what they want. Because I knew their motives were not good, I decided to sound the alarm straight away.

This caused the people (by the way, they were five men) to got into panic mode, but also to increase the speed of their attack. They immediately started to break down our front door, which is a locally made wooden double door. I cannot even begin to explain to you the feeling of hopelessness when you realize that people are breaking into your house, and there is very little you can do about it. Our children were still asleep and my only prayer was that they would get unharmed out of this. Wilco pressed against the door for as long as he could manage, but they finally overpowered him.

They immediately started to attack. Wilco fought back like a lion (we are all so proud of him). As I came out of the room, a guy approached me, shouting “We want money – Give us money”! When I told him we do not have in the house, he hit me with a panga in my face. I didn’t feel a thing and when blood started pouring, I thought that it was just my nose that was bleeding. I never knew that I was cut open from between my eyes, right through my nose up to the bed, down to my lip … In the mean time Wilco tried his level best to keep the thugs busy until help will come – Remember, the alarm was still sounding by that time.

I tried to phone the neighbour (which was out of town, but we did not know it). Unfortunately, the one man came to our room and took the phone from me while still demanding that they want money. We only had 100kshs in our purse (i.e. about R8,20 / $1,50) – we were planning to go to town yesterday. In another instance, I went to the room to pick a knife (dagger) that I bought Wilco during our visit to Garissa a few weeks ago. My thought was that I am not going out without a fight and seeing Wilco fight like a warrior, gave me courage to assist. However, the one guy came in the room with his panga and when he saw me with the knife he got extremely angry. I realized that my small knife against his big panga is not a fair match. I convinced him that I would not use it.

Help was still not there. Wilco was still trying to fight three to four men. By that time, he was full of blood … the sitting room, the corridor, our room had blood all over the walls and on the floor. Joy and Timothy were woken up by the noise and, as they see how the one man gave Wilco a blast on his head (which could have been easily a fatal blow), Joy started screaming and shouting. Wilco fell down and started calling on the Name of the Lord. The one man demanded for Joy to be quiet. At that time, I went to the sitting room with the one man still trying to force me to give him money, beating me with a club (knopkierie) against my back. I went and stood by the wall-unit trying to dialogue with him.

I suddenly saw our brass vase near my hand … He was still shouting to me … not expecting a thing. I got hold of the vase, turned towards him and hit him a “pot shot” over his head. Can you see the dent at the bottom of the brass? Somewhere out there, there is a man with a headache for sure.

I knew I was in trouble as I ran into the kitchen, pushing against the door. I knew he was stronger than I was, but suddenly his attention was diverted and he stopped pushing (although later on I understood from Wilco that it was not the person whom I hit that came pushing against the door. Apparently, that man was down holding his head … Good for him!!) I opened the back door and ran outside. By that time I saw a man approaching our house. At first, I was not sure if it was friend or foe and wanted to run from him, but when I saw the bow and arrow, I knew it was one of our Kalengeen neighbours. Maki and Maureen who were sleeping in the mud house, came running outside. I remember I just shouted to them to stay inside and to lock the door.

Meanwhile, Wilco got up and started attacking the men with fresh zeal. It must have been with strength from above, because by that time he had wounds all over. He somehow got hold of two men’s heads, and drove them into a wall in the sitting room (blood & hair were found on the light switch as well as on the curtain, which definitely did not belong to Wilco or myself). They must have seen or heard that help was near, because they suddenly scrambled to get out and ran away. More than 10 neighbours arrived with bows and arrows – but it was too late ...

Wilco and I in the hospital. We bless God that we are alive and well.

Below : Wilco's back was beaten badly.

We are out of hospital and feel strong and encouraged with so many people praying for us all over the world. Thank you to all our family and friends who supported us through this traumatic experience. We appreciate every visit, every telephone call, every SMS, every card, every prayer and every financial contribution. God has provided for the hospital bill and we are extremely grateful for the positive respons.

We want to especially thank our pastor and his wife, Erastus and Pauline Maina from Kingpriest Centre in Nakuru, that simply took charge over so many issues at home and at school. They also immediately went to fetch our children and took them home. "You are a true family - we love you so much."

We also want to thank Matron Lydia and her staff at the Valley Hospital in Nakuru. "You were great and we appreciate all of you. Keep up the good work"

Matron Lydia Obwanga, Valley Hospital.

One of the highlights was when Past & Mrs Joseph Njoroge (Snr Development Coordinator, East Africa) of CONGRESS World Breakthrough Network, came all the way from Nairobi to visit us. They also came with their son, Efraim, as well as Past and Mrs Ayiero.

On the photo f.l.t.r. is : Pauline Maina, myself (Lydia), Mrs. Ayiero, Mrs. & Past. Joseph Njoroge, Past. Erastus Maina, Wilco, Past. Ayiero with Governer Maina in the front. Stefanus, our handsome son of nine, took the photo.

It was also wonderful when we reached home on Thursday afternoon, to have a whole bunch of YASHA staff members, students and neighbours waiting for us at our place.

God bless you all with favor and divine protection as you continue to advance His Kingdom in the area where He has placed you.

WHILE I WAS WORKING ON THE BLOG ...

2008-03-04T23:25:00.007+02:00

Wilco and Stefanus decided to bake some banana bread while Tim & the girls were decorating his cake. They will cause me to work on the Blog more often.

Timothy wanted a Butterfly Cake for his birthday. He insisted however, that he wants to decorate it himself (fortunately he allowed the 3 girls to help him). It gave me time to do the newsletter, etc., that was so long overdue.

Satisfied after a "hard days" work. Timothy loves helping in the kitchen ... It might be that we're having a master chef in our home.

VIP B-DAYS IN THE VENTERS' HOUSEHOLD

2008-03-04T22:34:00.007+02:00

Timothy early this morning (4 Mar) before school with all the presents that he got.

We arranged for his best friend, Glen, to sleep over. Glen also brought his friend some gifts.

On the 20th of February we celebrated Wilco's 44th Birthday. Suddenly 50 doesn't sound so strange anymore ... Ouch ...

LUNCH TIME @ YASHA

2008-03-04T22:22:00.004+02:00

The dining hall that we've started building last year, had to be transformed as a Learning Centre for the large group of Grade 3-4's that we're having this year ... Students are therefore still sitting outside during lunch time.

Here some of the little ones (mostly Grade 0's) are enjoying their food.

BEE

2008-03-04T22:10:00.008+02:00

JOY'S B-DAY - 21 May 08

Bee played a big part in making Joy's day a huge success.Bee eating with her chop sticks ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~

BEE and the KIDS WENT SWIMMING for the LAST TIME before her trip to ZIM
End of Feb 08

F.l.t.r. : Maureen Awino (our previous principal, Lilian Jesse's daughter that is now staying with us); Stefanus, Maki, Bee, Joy and Timothy in the front.

They had a marvelous time together before she finally had go back to Nakuru to prepare for leaving for Zimbabwe.

The kids especially will miss Bee Moore so much as clearly spellt out on Joy's leg.

BEE WITH MANY OF THE YASHA STAFF BEFORE LEAVING FOR ZIMBABWE

2008-03-04T21:59:00.009+02:00

Bee, our dear friend from England who absolutely crept under our skin, has arrived safely in Zimbabwe. She’ll be there for some times, then come back to Kenya for a couple of weeks before returning to England. We trust that her time in Zimbabwe will be good, that she will meet many and wonderful people who will enrich her life just as we know she will touch theirs.

You can read more on what is happening in her life on her blog :

http://www.broninafrica.blogspot.com/

PREFECTS 2008

2008-02-16T15:03:00.001+02:00

This is our prefects for 2008. We try to regularly give them some leadership training on their specific level. Here br Samwel talks to them about the qualities of a leader.

CHAPEL SERVICE

2008-02-16T10:15:00.001+02:00

This is more or less the students we currently have in the Academy Dept (Jnr Academy is not included in our weekly chapel meeting). Jeremiah (left) and Kim (right) is sitting on chairs because Jeremiah is physically disabled and Kim has a very unique problem whereby his brain kind-of switches off for a second or so. During this time he can fall over and hurt himself.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL KIDS IN KENYA ...

2008-02-13T12:51:00.001+02:00

Stefanus (9), Maki (15), Joy (10) & Timothy (4) on their way to school.

The kids have started a blog, called : venterkidzinkenya.blogspot.com - Check it out if you have time.

YASHA JNR ACADEMY & PRE-SCHOOL

2008-02-13T12:21:00.002+02:00

These are the kids of Tom & Jerry (3-4 yrs) as well as Barney (4-5 yrs) Classes plus their teachers. At least by now they are a few more students, but there are still place for quite a number.

Here Tr Lucy is telling the Grade 0 Learning Centre a story during carpet-time. As you can see they are hanging on her lips.

NEW EQUIPMENT & SOFTWARE FOR YASHA

2008-02-13T11:21:00.001+02:00

One of our monthly sponsors has blessed YASHA with some extra funds, so we've decided to buy a TV with some of the money. My hair dresser has given us the money for the video machine. We are starting with High School soon and then our students will have to watch quite a number of videos (Biology, Science, Algebra, etc.). We thank God that we were blessed with most of the videos 2years ago by friends from the Cape who's ACE school had to close down. (Another Kenyan friend blessed us with the funds for a DVD Player, but we have not yet bought it.)

We also thank God for provision to buy a new "Windows XP Professional" CD for our laptop. We only recently discovered that the software installed on our laptop, was counterfeit. We are to blame for this, as we did not have the money for our own programs at that point and received the laptop with everything already loaded on it.

Thank you Friends, for your donations that made this possible. Sorry for not mentioning names, but I lost a good friend when I forgot to mention her name in one of our newsletters two years ago. I don't want to make that mistake ever again (although I'm also not 100% sure on how to deal with this, as some of you have really blessed the ministry allot recently). Just know that we are praying for the Lord to bless you abundantly.

LEAVING FOR GARISSA - 27 JAN 08

2008-02-01T23:18:00.003+02:00

This photo was taken just before we left for Garisa after the burning down of a house the previous night. This happened about 500m from where we stay.

We were to drop Bee (right) at the Red Cross in Nakuru and Maureen (far left), Covey and Favor at their parents' home in Nairobi.

This is what is left of all their belongings ... It is totally heart breaking. We are grateful that their lives have been spared. Please continue to pray for this family.
The couple is devestated ...

On our way to Nakuru we found several vehicles that have been burnt.

The worst part however, is the many families that are camping out on the sides of the street ...

There are literally thousands of families that have nowhere to go ...

Hopelessness is written all over their faces ...

Do we have any idea of what it means to lose the place we call home ...?

I don't think so ...

Another vehicle that was burnt ...

This is now on the other side of Nakuru on the way to Nairobi and still we found people camping out on the sides of the street with their few belongings. This specific family has fled from Eldoret.

We found so many vehicles along the way that were carrying people and their belongings ... One cannot help wondering if they have a place to go to.

PEACE MARCH - SAT, 5 JAN 08

2008-01-31T07:58:00.001+02:00

The youth and young ones wanted to make a statement of PEACE in the streets of Njoro. They all met at Past Wambua's church.

Maki, our daughter, also spoke to the youth - Here she is in front with Brenda Kelly (Eng) and past Paul Wambua.

Marching through the streets of Njoro. This happened during a time where there were allot of unrest and tension. Many rallies were organized that brought total chaos about ... The church wanted to make another statement.

HARD AT WORK ...

2008-01-30T23:38:00.002+02:00

Tr Anne (the Supervisor) and Lucy (Monitor) of Grade 0 busy with lesson preperations.

Christine Atieto - our secretary - at her reception desk. She's a big blessing to the school.
Clemencia, our eldest, busy painting the banana trees on the office panels in the Grade 0 Learning Centre.

The famous little Bee ... This picture was taken when we were still in school. Currently she's with the Red Cross where she'll stay for now as we feel that it is much safer for here in such an organized group. Go and read about all her experiences in her blog : http://www.broninafrica.blogspot.com/

TIMOTHY'S 1st DAY AT SCHOOL IN HIS UNIFORM

2008-01-30T22:55:00.001+02:00

This photo was taken on the 14th of January when we still thought things will be OK ...

We are so proud of our youngest who is doing his pre-school (Gr 0) this year. Let's trust that things will settle down and that YASHA Mission Academy can open again soon.

NEW WATER TANK ...

2008-01-30T22:37:00.001+02:00

Michael and Brenda are the two friends from England that were staying with us in the beginning of January. Before they left, they bought us a new water tank (photo below). Here they are standing in front of the old tank ... It's obvious why we needed a new one LOL.

Thank you Micheal and Brenda - we do appreciate this so much. May God bless you both.

24 JAN 08 at 12:49am KENYAN TIME

2008-01-23T23:35:00.001+02:00

As I'm writing here, we can hear gun shots from nearby. It is scary - I will admit - but our trust is upon the Lord. This morning some of our staff were telling us how they slept outside in the field last night. These people had to flee with their children ... I cannot even imagine such a scenario. People are numb with fear.

Two days ago there were already 130 families seeking refuge at the University grounds. Right now there's a kind of a "tribal cleansing" going on ... What is the end of all this? In the morning we strongly felt led to get a Plan of Action into place : So what we did was to prepare one classroom for staff or families of students in our school, that need a place of safety. We also borrowed a tent that can take 20 people.

We deeply feel for the children that have to witness all of this. What are we imparting right now to this young generation? Please pray that all of this will come to an end, and that we will not make the same mistakes that Ruanda, Sudan and so many other countries before us, have made.
God saves Kenya.

NEWS UPTDATE ...

2008-01-03T21:42:00.001+02:00

Things are not looking good, Friends ... Yesterday 10 people from the Mungiki sect were killed in the forest nearby ... They specifically went there to kill the Ndorobo's.

A young Dorobo man was also killed while delivering some charcoal somewhere in our area. A small kiosk were burnt about 500m from where we stay ... And then when you watch news, tears automatically just come when you see all the pain and suffering going on all over the country.

We plea with you to stand with us in prayer ...

PLEASE PRAY FOR KENYA ...

2008-01-02T17:52:00.001+02:00

Right now things are still not good in Kenya. Many of our staff members have visited family over the holidays and there are no transport right now to bring them home. 2 of our students are being held in safety at the police station in Kisumu ... I cannot stand the thought of that ... the fear and uncertainty they must experience. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will comfort Brenda and Leonard.

Some of our staff members are sleeping outside, as family who was affected by the clashes have came to hide in their homes and now there is obviously not enough space for everybody. Some other staff members who are in danger areas, are currently hiding on the university premises.

Schools in Kenya were suppose to open this coming Monday (the 7th), but the 14th seems more likely.

Many places have no petrol and to communicate by phone (airtime) have become extremely expensive. Many shops are closed and items like fresh bread and milk are scarce.

Wilco was suppose to visit the forest this coming weekend, but he has been warned not to go as things are still completely out of hand, especially in those areas. Many innocent people have died and are injured and many, many people are currently suffering of hunger because of a lack of food supplies ...

Please pray for the people of Kenya.

We thank you ...

WATER CRISIS AT OUR HOME

2007-12-26T16:47:00.002+02:00

On this photo you can see the big leakage at the bottom of the tank. This happened after we’ve filled the tank with about 8,000 liters of water. We tried every method you can think of to stop the water from leaking : tar, Pratley Steal and even pressing plastic inside … but without any luck.

We called all the neighbours from around, inviting them to bring all their jerry cans and empty containers so it can be filled. For them it was a great day, as everybody struggle with water and most people must walk quite a distance to fetch water. It kind-of felt good to know that at least we’ve managed to help some people in the area. We still however lost about half of the water in the tank. It feels terrible knowing that there is such a water crisis, and then witness how water is simply disappearing in the sand.

Please pray for us for provision to buy a plastic tank that is much more durable and stronger.

10 ACRE LAND TO BUILD OUR OWN SCHOOL

2007-12-11T19:06:00.001+02:00

The place where we’re having school for the past three years, is rapidly getting too small. Please stand with us in agreement for this piece of land adjacent to where we currently stay. It is very well situated near to the (only) big, tar road in our area.
The focus of YASHA is mainly orphans that have been placed with the extended family as well as children from single mothers. We currently have around 110 students with a new intake next year of 20-30 children.
Please stand with YASHA in agreement as we need $110,000 to buy it.

YASHA Mission Junior Academy - AWARD CEREMONY

2007-12-06T14:43:00.002+02:00

Baby Care Centre (4-36 mnths) receiving their certificates. This photo was taken together with the parents of the little ones. Tr Lilian Jesse, our principal, was the Master of Ceremony in her colourful pink clown outfit.

Bee (Bronwyn Moore) from England at the back, has done most of the planning and decor of this occasion - what a blessing she is. Congratulations Bee!!

Tom & Jerry Class (3-4yrs old) did some songs and recitations which were wonderful.

Barney Class (4-5 yrs) did a skit about the Prodigal Son. Our son, Timothy, is here asking "his dad" if he can please have his money to go to the city. During the dress rehearsal the previous day, Timothy was excellent, but alas ... this day he got stage fright and shortly after this photo was taken, he refused to say another word. There were not much to do about it, but to get a replacement ... which there weren't ... so teacher had to step in and do it. Everybody understood the moods of a 4 year old. At the end it all went well and people still enjoyed very much.

The photo's of the Academy's Award Ceremony will be posted soon.

Our 2 tortoises have done it!!!

2007-12-06T14:32:00.001+02:00

Yesterday (5 Dec) when Stefanus went to fetch milk from the neighbours - as usual - he saw the big tortoise laying eggs in a hole in the ground. He immediately came to call us. I grabbed the camera on my way out and here is one of the photo's that I managed to capture. Her "husband" is much smaller than she is and we always kind of wondered if they can actually "do" it.

Awesome, isn't it.

We'll keep you posted ...