We went to the airport last night to pick up the nursing team from Northwest University. While we were waiting we hooked up with a guy named Mike Hyodo who is hosting the team in his home here in Nairobi. He had his two daughters with him. From the moment we saw him we knew he looked familiar, but we could not place him. I assumed he was an Assembly of God Missionary living here in Nairobi, because of the way Pastor Ben Sterciuc had spoken about him in his emails, so I asked him. To my surprise he said he was in Kenya running a dental ministry in partnership with local Kenyan dentists. He said they had a mobile dental unit that goes out and does dental camps all over Kenya. When he mention that their operation is based in Stanwood, Washington, I suddenly remembered. “I know you”, I said, “We meant 8 years ago at your base in Stanwood and you were just preparing to ship the mobile vehicle to Kenya.” A mutual friend, Maria Lancaster had brought us out to the base to introduce us to the World Ministries International team. Then both of us remembered that we had spoken about ministry in Kenya. Now 8 years later we were hooking up for the purposes of God. Immediately we all knew that the Lord was connecting us to work together in medical camps. We will be meeting to plan for the future in the coming days. Can you imagine! Seeds that were planted 8 years ago, have just sprouted and are now bearing fruit.
Another thing is that his daughter, Nicki (a recent graduate from Northwest University) is now heading up a ministry for widows here in Kenya called “James 1:27”. James 1:27 is the verse that says: “Pure religion and undefiled is to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction”. They have a sowing ministry with widows and they have taken it to a new level. With a Kenyan widow named Bonnie, they have come up with a clothing line called “Bonnie and James Clothing”. They are marketing this in New York this very weekend and it is anticipated to be very popular. The proceeds from this clothing line will go to help widows all over Kenya. As the discussion went on between Valerie and Nicki, we decided that Nicki should travel with us next weekend to Western Kenya and visit the Solid Rock Widows Ministry in Majengo. We just delivered 3 new sowing machines to the center (they are still in the box) and those sowing machines are in want of a vision, and believe me Nicki and her team have one. What an exciting development!
The scripture that comes to mind is Ephesians 4:16 “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”
This whole connection between Worldcomp and Northwest University and Mike and Nicki was the result of one act of obedience on the part of my daughter, Rebekah. The Lord had spoken to her that the proceeds of her next book, were to be donated to support a new mission to Indonesia headed up by a member of the Northwest University Faculty, Wally Kowalski. One day while Rebekah was at the University Wally and his wife were in the cafeteria and invited her to come and sit with them. At the same table was Pastor Ben Sterciuc who was just in the process of planning a trip to Kenya with the nurses and planning to work with the Maasai. At that moment she felt very strongly that the Lord was telling her that she had to connect Ben to me. She called me immediately to tell me about her conversation with Ben and the rest is still unfolding.
It’s a great illustration of how one act of obedience can bring about some very big results.
By the way dear friends, the Northwest University Students are on a really tight budget and have to watch their finances really carefully. If any of you would like to send them a love gift, it would be a tremendous blessing and allow them some breathing room. Any gift in this regard will be given, in it’s entirety to the team. Please send your contribution to Worldcomp Kenya, 7758 Earl Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98117 with “NWU Nurses” on the memo line or give online at: www.worldcompkenya.com/ways-to-help
Thank you again for being part of this great adventure with us.
We love you
Richard and Valerie