Serah's Story (A Chance to Respond to Kenya)

"Pray for us," the text message on my phone read. "My parents and my husband's parents have lost everything and we are hosting many family members who have become refugees overnight."

I sat staring at the tiny screen on my phone trying to comprehend what was going on in Kenya. The message had come in just days after December's disputed election results were announced and the news we had been reading on the internet was not good. Breaking down along tribal/political lines, the country had pockets of shocking violence springing up which would eventually take at least 850 lives in the ensuing weeks.

My mind raced back over the years. Byron and I arrived in Kenya in 1984. (Yes, we were very young.) We spent most of that initial 2 year commitment to Kenya in the lovely little town of Nakuru where we worked with a group of high school students who were hungry to grow closer to God. One of the students that I was closest to was Serah Njeri.

When the students were on leave from the boarding school in town, Byron and I would pack up our blue Landrover and travel out to different areas of the country so that we could visit some of them in their rural homes. We stayed in their villages and experienced the hospitality of many different cultures within the culture of Kenya. What I remember so clearly about Serah's home village was the happy relationship she had with the neighbors who all shared a forested highland area of fertile land.

Ten years later, in 1994, the tension at election time took a serious toll on Serah's community. We got the shocking news that her family home had been burnt down and Serah's relatives were left with nothing.

Oddly, this loss came shortly after our own home had burnt to the ground. Generous friends in the U.S. helped us rebuild quite quickly. We also had a small (in U.S. terms) insurance payment that we received from the company through which our organization had insured our far away home. My memory is that it was a couple of thousand dollars, meant to help replace personal items, not to cover the cost of a new building.

We saw the insurance as a gift that we could share. Because of the quick generosity of donors in the U.S. we already had what we needed to build again in Loita. Blessed with the insurance money that came after we were already in the re-building process, we saw Serah's family as a perfect place to pay it forward. Our Kenyan insurance went to their re-build and all of us were blessed.

We didn't see much of Serah over the years and we eventually left East Africa. In the fall of 2007, still quite newly back to Africa, I got an email asking if this was the correct email address for Byron and Lisa who used to live in Nakuru. Serah had found us and we were so happy to re-connect.

Serah and I passed sporadic email or text notes. I was concerned when things began to fall apart after Kenya's elections because I knew that her family came from one of the main ethnic groups that was targeted by angry demonstrators.

Soon we heard about her parents and husband's parents losing their homes (again to fire) and being chased out of their long-time communities. I tried to imagine how Serah, a teacher of teachers, and her pastor husband were managing to care for the extended family that was in so much need. But I never expected to hear the news we got next.

A couple of weeks ago I heard my phone go off at 6am. Squinting with my blurry morning eyes at the message, I tried to wrap my mind around what Serah was saying. "My husband Moses has gone to be with Jesus." This was all it said.

Moses contracted a fast moving, hard pneumonia that took his life and left Serah a young widow with 3 children and a large, extended family that still needs her.

This post has been quite long but the point of it is to give you an opportunity to respond to a needy family that is deeply affected by the turbulence in Kenya. At Wild Hope, we are not equipped to do mass refugee relief, but we can follow this relational line and make a difference for an extended family with shattered lives.

If you would like to give, please hit the donate button on the right of this blog and designate your gift for Serah Mburu. 100% of your donation will be passed along to Serah.

Thanks for joining us in this.

Lisa, for the Team at Wild Hope

Wonderful Water!

The Sinon School in the Sokon area of our city, Arusha, is a school that Wild Hope has built a lasting relationship with. Because we strongly believe in education as one of the most effective tools in the war against poverty and HIV/AIDS, we are blessed when we are able to bless them!

Just recently, the Sinon School was able to turn on the water faucet and celebrate with us the working well on the school campus. Imagine the joy of that simple luxury, running water :-)

Big thanks to our friends at Diamond Canyon Christian Church who have partnered with us in our efforts to provide a better school for the kids of Sokon. The photo above shows some of the team from California enjoying the water with some of the kids.

The kids at the school are thankful that they no longer have to haul buckets. We are thankful that we could come alongside to provide wonderful water!

Mark's Double Duty Trip to Tanzania

If you've ever sent a gift to Wild Hope then you'll have received a receipt prepared and posted by our own Mark Harris in his office in Pasadena. Mark faithfully keeps our books straight and makes sure that donations are allocated properly and receipted in good time. We would NOT like to face this task without him!

But Mark is far more than an accountant! With cross-cultural mission experience of his own (in Russia) and an advanced degree in the subject, Mark brings to our team a depth and knowledge that we truly appreciate.

Not too long ago, Mark had an article published in a missions magazine. His topic was Cross-Cultural Leadership Training. Though he was citing experiences from Russia, his article caught the eye of a local pastor here in Tanzania. Sergi tracked Mark down and invited him to come out to Tanzania and lead a seminar in Moshi, a city not too far from our Wild Hope team.

"Hmmmm," we thought. "This could be a nice double blessing for Wild Hope and the indigenous pastors and leaders who are gathering." With books to keep straight in the United States and East Africa, and with several different systems already underway and trying to converge into one, we knew that we could really use Mark's expertise on this side of the ocean. Peter and Byron and Mark just needed time in one place together to set up a good, workable system that would allow for flex and growth and multiple currencies! Meanwhile, local church friends in Moshi were looking with expectation for input from his other areas of expertise. How could we pass up such a great opportunity to launch a double blessing?

Peter teamed up with Mark to teach and they greatly enjoyed their days with the men in Moshi. Their time and input was deeply appreciated and they were happy to be able to help bring further training to these dedicated leaders. During the rest of his trip, Mark, Byron and Peter huddled around computers with ledgers and receipts and multiple cups of coffee and tea. A nicely workable system emerged and we are thankful!

What a great blessing all around. Thanks, Mark, for your help on so many different levels.

"The Boundary Lines Have Fallen for Us in Pleasant Places" (or God's Gift of Land)

The line from Psalm 16 captures how the team here at Wild Hope is feeling about a beautiful open 20 acre piece of land outside the city of Arusha. As we signed off on the purchase, our (almost disbelieving) minds were rocked by the fact that God has provided a piece of earth for our dreams to grow on.


(Staking the boundaries)

Let me go back...

Many of you will know that, from the beginning, Wild Hope has dreamed of a base called home where the fullness of life would flourish. Hardly daring to put words to it, we have hoped for a place to plant ourselves; a place where work, ministry, hospitality, training, demonstration projects and experiments can flow together to be a blessing here in Africa. In short, we dreamed of a retreat and training center with working gardens. In biblical terms, we have wondered if there was a little corner of Africa where we might live in Shalom with the land, each other, the community and our Creator.

Big dreams for a little team!

God must be a big dreamer too :-)

Somewhere along the way during this last year, He has sent us a small group of amazing partners who decided that they would like to see this thing go forward. To our own great shock and amazement, God allowed Wild Hope to recently pay cash for 20 acres of African soil.

This land is surrendered to our Maker. He is the one who provided the finances, led us to the plot and walked us through the weeks of dialogue and discovery with the local community.

We at Wild Hope are willing tenants, hoping to honor Him in the way we care for this piece of earth and the neighbors He has given us around it. Smile with us about this: all our neighbors are Maasai :-) They are quite surprised to find two families from the United States who speak their language (!) coming to join them in their community. As for us, we are happy to oblige.

Obviously, there is much to be done. First up on the to-do-list is to drill for water. We are praying we find good water and soon!

In time, as funds are adequate, we will begin to build. We will build our homes, a gathering place where we can teach and train, hospitable quarters for future teams, and gardens that utilize the earth in a Creation-honoring way. These are our initial dreams, but we know that more will unfold as we begin.

Please join us in celebrating this gift of land. And pray with us that it truly will be a place from which life springs forth.


The Wild Hope Team on the land


Looking out toward some of our neighbors

We Are Thankful (and Our Hats Are Off To...)

There is much to be thankful for this year!

We have some very special news about "the land" but that will have to wait till next week.

Today we just want to say a heartfelt thank you to Byron's dad, Oscar Borden. Oscar worked for 12 years in East Africa. Though he moved away many years ago, his heart and mind still carry a love and concern for this place.

Recently, Byron was telling his father about the lending base we want to raise so that we can increase the number of micro-loans to our African friends. Wild Hope wants to start with a dedicated $30,000 for this express purpose.

Oscar lives on very little at his home in Florida. He cares for others, tends to his work, and visits Byron's Mom in the full-time care unit where she lives.

Not long ago, Oscar wrote us to say that he had a CD coming due and he wanted to cash it in and send the whole sum to our lending-base fund.

This little note is just to say "Thank you, Oscar!" We wanted to honor you for giving the very first $1,000 to what we fondly call The OCB--or Oscar Clarence Borden-- Fund :-)

We are inspired by you!

A BIG Thank You!

Big thanks to our wonderful friends at 24-7 Prayer!!

Every year at the global gathering of the 24-7 family, there is a raucous auction, done with great celebration and hilarity, that raises funds for someone who is close to the movement and in financial need. This year it was decided that half of whatever was raised would be sent to Africa via Byron and Lisa so that we can assist an old Maasai woman who is like family to Wild Hope.

Ngoto Milai sold most of her cows to educate her children. Sadly, the local school was so under average that her children never scored well enough to go on and complete their high school education and they have never been able to find paying jobs. Her last couple of cows died in the drought a few years back. When Byron was in her area some months ago, his Maasai Mom asked him if there was any way we could help her begin some sort of small business so she could provide for her children and grandchildren.

Everyone was shocked and delighted when the auction raised $2,000! You would have been shocked too, given that the items sold were things like a spiral notebook decorated with photographs and jar of home made jam :-)

With the $1,000 that we have for this dear Maasai mother, we will be able to help in two significant ways. First off, a gift of goats or a couple of cows will be a huge blessing. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, we have enough in hand to set up a small business co-operative with this lady and a few of her friends who are in similar circumstances.

We are absolutely thrilled we can bring two forms of assistance with this one wonderful gift!

And by the way, Lisa put one of our Christmas stars, made by Wild Hope Artisans, in the auction and it sold for 50 euros. That's $70 and that's a record for a Wild Hope Artisan star!

Oh and PS... If you hear a rumor that Lisa was called upon during the auction to enter a Flamenco Dance-Off (the crowd pooled their resources and paid 100 euros to see the contest) then we thought we'd better let you know that, yes, it's true. She danced her little heart out :-)

October Hurries On By

Family...

The Wild Hope Moms (Lisa and Tammy) have been in full-on home school gear around here. The kidlets (aged 17 down to 8) are faithful and (almost always) sweet students. Of course, no one is perfect! And we moms admit that it can just as easily be one of us who is feeling cranky and less than inspiring.

Still, we are thankful for a good start to the school year and we celebrate with a welcome break. Chase turned 15 at the beginning of the month and this weekend sees most all the crew off on a camping trip to Lake Natron. Poor Sianna had to stay home with a fever :-( At least she's with her excellent mom, Tammy. Tammy was staying home anyway because the Russell family are raising four puppies that lost their mama! Phew! It's a lot of work but, oh my, those puppies are cute (and healthy!)

A place to settle...

Byron and Peter have spent hours and hours and days and weeks, scouting out land, leads to land, rumors of land and plots of land. Wild Hope is dreaming of a place to do demonstration gardens, house teams, do training, build residences etc. There has been much activity around this dream in the last few weeks but no official news quite yet. Please pray! We'll let you know as soon as there is something to know :-)

Sales up for the Artisans...

The cool of July and August has pretty much faded and we are into warm October days. There is a buzz of activity toward the Christmas rush on our Wild Hope Artisan products. Warm weather and Christmas go together for us and Christmas means a lot of sales for the project. It's very exciting to see eager shop owners making orders these days. We are thrilled to see the hard work of the women Artisans being appreciated and valued and purchased.

New ideas and plans bubble along and we take steps toward making things happen. These are good days. So much hope!

PS: The latest on Sianna is that she has Scarlet Fever. Goodness! We're praying for good recovery and that it doesn't move through all the kids...