Tournament Joys

At a recent small tournament, Wild Hope's Nyota FC took first place for both the U17 and U12 teams. We were very proud of them! The photo above shows the U12 team (in blue) waiting to collect their trophy :-)

The longer we know these young men, the more we learn about their lives. The more we learn about their lives, the more we want to see them succeed in both football AND life. Their community is a challenging place in which to find joy and hope, but we know it's not impossible.

Please join us in prayers of blessings for these guys, and for our efforts to do increasingly more than sports alone for them.

The crowd of impressionable young ones looks on.


The goals we made for the pitch come apart and get carried home so that they don't get stolen.


The team enjoys a little post-game chat.

Let's Do Lunch (AKA We Have the Neighbors In)

Saturday the 8th of March was a fun day for the team at Wild Hope. With no kitchen or permanent structure of any kind out at the new property, we managed to throw a lunch party and serve about 150 neighbors a big, hot meal of pilau rice and stew. We took the opportunity to buy a nice fat ox and make it into the main dish.



Under the shade of our tented pavilion, we told the neighbors how happy we were to be among them and we shared a little about who we are and what we do. Later, when a heavy afternoon shower broke over our heads, we squeezed together under the tented roof and danced and sang.

It was a lovely day, made extra special by the fact that Peter's sister, Alice, and her husband, Mark, were with us from the U.S.



We could not have pulled it off without Philemon and his crew of willing and able volunteers. They gathered all the utensils we needed and did the cooking over open fire pits on site. It was tremendous.



Celebrate with us the joy of building relationship with our new neighbors!

Proud Graduates :-)

Education is such a luxury! In developed nations we hardly ever realize the privilege it is to have easy access to learning.

The team here at Wild Hope is extra proud of our adult-learners who have been gathering faithfully to study in Torosei, Kenya. In the photo above you see the 7 recent graduates of the first phase certificate level of the International School of Ministry. These men, leaders in local churches, have worked hard because they know how important it is to be trained in solid foundations if they are going to encourage others in their growing faith.

To set the scene, imagine that you live hours from a power line, a paved road, a bookstore or a library. Imagine that donkeys had to carry large solar batteries out to your location in order to get the one solar powered VCR and television set in the area up and running so that you could watch classes taught in your 3rd language, English. Imagine that the motivation to learn, to keep up with the reading and to take the tests, was to know that you were better prepared to serve others in your remote church community.

Completing 19 trimester-long classes to earn their certificates, these men deserve to be very proud of their accomplishment. Throughout this season they have studied a wide variety of topics from surveys of the Old and New Testaments to the integrity of a leader. Drawing together to encourage each other took on a whole new level of meaning in this small group. When one classmate did not pass the final exam of the final course, the guys agreed to all repeat the course together to help ensure that this colleague finishes successfully. Now that’s school spirit!

At Wild Hope, we believe in the development of local leaders and that takes many forms. Our thanks to Christian Assembly in Eagle Rock, California, for the financial gift that secured this college level course as well as the DVD player and television set. Thanks, also, to Jeff James for accompanying Peter Russell on a wild motorcycle trip out to Torosei to get the solar power up and running again.

As the fruit of this course is felt throughout the network of churches in that region and 10 new students sign up to take the course, we are blessed to be able to facilitate training and maturation among indigenous leaders.

Photo: Peter and Tammy Russell with the graduates on location at Torosei where the Russells lived for many years during the 90’s.