This is my niece, Sundi. We first came to Kenya because of her. Because of her, and my sister-in-law Kim, her husband Jeromy, and my nephew Damon. But it all started with Sundi. It was 2007, and Rebecca and I were here on a trip to stay with and help and encourage Kim, to go on safari, and see about this humble ministry we’d heard about in Soweto, Kenya.

Fast forward 18 years, and it’s hard to believe all the wonderful people we met back then and over that time all the work the Lord has done; and yet, it doesn’t surprise me a bit. He will always accomplish His purposes. And if we get to be a part of it, we are blessed by being in His divine will and favor.

Today (Wednesday, 5/28) we rode with Pastor Nick who generously brought the van that is shared between several ministries (including ours) to transport us to the school today. We came into the school with a hero’s welcome! You’ll have to check out the video to get a taste of it. Singing, praising, and giving thanks – all of the children in unison – was quite a sight to behold…brings tears to your eyes, and smiles to your faces, honestly.

We had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with the staff pastors, teachers and the children. Our kids sang songs and played several games with the students, including duck-duck-goose, telephone and some unique/new ones to our kids. Our 3 kids had the opportunity to share the love of Christ – as someone who potentially to our little friends, could be a strange looking visitor (as a white “mzungu” person – something many of them had not even seen before) – but ultimately coming from someone who was able to show fellowship, love and grace, through simple things like encouraging the children, asking how they were, what they were studying – and even something tangible – like handing out pieces of candy to the children.

Rebecca, our 3 kids and I had a chance to get a tour of the facility, which had changed since we had been there last. For those that don’t know the layout, there’s the church building, the classrooms (2 stories – which originally were 1), and the dormitory rooms, which is 3 stories. What had changed since we had last been here included some additional space above the kitchen and the office, as well as the skills classrooms, which we’d heard a lot about from our good friend, Steve, who worked on those for several months when he was here a few years ago. Those skills/trades classrooms include: a salon/barber shop, a welding/workshop, a sewing room and an electronics circuit room. This is very exciting, since the older students can start learning practical skills and trades that they directly apply later in life – or some even right away!

From there we had a chance to check out the well, and its components – which include the circuit panel, the pump and other items. Much of it has had a long life, with some components needing updating or maintained over the years (I got some pictures but forgot to go back and get others today) – but many parts still going strong since 2009! That being said, there is some fairly important maintenance and/or fixes we need to perform if we hope to not burn out the pump motor prematurely. That said, we’ve authorized Samuel to have the contractors come to perform the work later this week. Our hope is that this work sticks to around the estimate it came in at, and we can use a portion of the funds that you all so generously gave to take care of this fix. This will give the school and local community clean water again – now and into the future.

The next project we got to take a peek at was the land next door. It’s about a ¼ acre parcel that currently has a cow and a goat there, lol. Several of the kids enjoyed going over there when Samuel took us for a quick tour. This would be a potential spot to purchase and build upon to help fulfill the desire of the school to grow into the additional population of secondary children that it could educate – and also help stem the loss of current middle school students – since right now we go to our equivalent of 8^th grade, but given these new laws that go into effect next school year – that are mostly good new rules that strengthen childhood education, but do put additional constraints on us – would limit us to elementary/primary school only. (only up to 6^th grade)

The upside to this is it “could” help accelerate the growth of adding a full-fledged secondary school (high school). So we need your prayers. The parcel of land is not cheap and the building will certainly be an investment. But the Lord knows the needs and will answer if we but ask, we are confident. If you can be praying, since we haven’t even “gotten” to the building portion yet – but to acquire the land is 2.5 million Kenyan Shillings (KSH) from the current owner – which is equivalent to just over $19k. It’s a huge ask – and to be clear, Samuel isn’t even asking. We are just in prayer with him. But I know one thing that he shared with us today that really struck me: If he hadn’t shared the needs with our friends back in 2007 – with Kim, and Jeromy, and Michelle, and us – and others – who knows where Vision Link School would be today, and there would be no We Are Kenya. So friends, I’m being faithful to Samuel’s testimony today from 2007 and applying to today to the new need; to simply ask – for prayers. Not for gifts or money to be sent – but to ask the Lord for wisdom.

We don’t want to act rashly or unwisely – but just want to seek His face and see what He tells us. There is so much good they are doing here in Soweto with so little, and we are simply glad to be a part of it – like I said earlier in this note.

I really, truly appreciate all you in the community of friends and family have done for us. On a smaller, simpler, but nevertheless important note: Would you please pray for Aidan? He’s not feeling well, and we pray he recovers quickly, so that he will be able to serve and enjoy more time on this trip. We are looking forward to more days with the children – whether at the school, on safari, or on other adventures.

Thank you all, and good night!

Tom & family