Which let me return to my OTHER passion -- mission service in Central Kenya.
Eight years ago a
remarkable member of my church, Florence Mubichi, completed a Masters
in Nursing and returned home to Kenya. Before leaving she said, "Come and see how God is working among my
people.” So in 2005, I was part of an 18-member mission team that renovated a
children's ward at Maua Methodist Hospital near Florence's home.
While there, I asked church leaders, "If I brought a mission team
to Meru, what would you most want us to do?" Eager to promote a
culture of reading, they asked for a community library.
Through the United
Methodist Church's Volunteers in Mission office, I led a mission team to Kenya
in 2006 and two more in 2007. The teams and other friends of the Mubichi family built
the library; sent over 20,000 children's books and
textbooks; purchased furnishings for the library; cataloged 5,000+ books,
and provided support staff to the board of
the Miriam Kanana Mubichi Foundation (MKMF) which was founded by the Mubichis in 2003 after the tragic
death of their middle daughter (see http://mkmf.org/).
Now I am working to ship 120 boxes to MKMF. The boxes contain children's books
donated by Oklahoma students (for impoverished primary schools) and nursing textbooks
donated by OU's College of Nursing (for the nursing school
at Maua Methodist Hospital). Some boxes contain Florence Mubichi's personal
belongings (she died March 22, 2010 from ovarian cancer while working on a PhD
and teaching at OU -- see http://ow.ly/epT2P and http://ow.ly/epTf0 html).
A couple boxes hold
teaching materials Dale and Sandi Troup will need once they reach
Kenya October 23. You can read why they sold everything and moved with
their 13 year old son to Kenya to volunteer with MKMF at http://thetroups.net/sandi/2012/04/kenya-longstory/. You can hear about all the things they will be doing in Kenya at http://thetroups.net/sandi/2012/04/mkmf/.
The boxes moved from my garage (see image) to a shipping firm to be weighed,
measured and palletized. We anticipate the total shipping expenses to be $4,800.
I have raised $1,400 so far.
I invite you to join in this wonderful mission effort. You can donate $10 or more through the Seeds of Grace Foundation
website (http://www.seedsofgracesite.com/).This 501(c)3 nonprofit was formed in the USA to support MKMF's
work. Or you can mail a check to Seeds of Grace, PO Box
9534, Naperville, IL 60564.
Whether this appeals to
you or not, thank you very much for
considering my request. You can
follow MKMF on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miriam-Kanana-Mubichi-Foundation/49684509342, read the Troups' blogs at http://www.thetroups.net/, and follow my
Twitter account, http://twitter.com/MeruMission, about Meru and MKMF.
:-)
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