When the Limestone Presbyterian Church baptizes a
child, we promise (on behalf of the one
universal Church) to help care for and nurture the baptized
child. We also have an optional special offering. In the
back of our sanctuary there is a woven container from Kenya
where people can place donations. This money will be used to
support Rehabilitation Center for Children (also called
the Wee School), a mission
project recommended by Lyle and Terry Dykstra (former Limestone
pastor and his wife who are serving as mission workers in
Kenya). Please give what you can whenever there is a
baptism to help the Kenyan children in need
as we celebrate new children being part of the Limestone church
family. See below for photos from the Wee School and the
accompanying letters from Terry Dykstra and volunteer Nancy
Bertram.
To date, Limestone has raised
over $3000 for the Wee
School on Baptism Sundays.
Dear
Limestoners:
I presented the check to the Wee School today just in
time, because the staff told me the medical assistance account
for the children was almost depleted. The man in the photo is
David Wakogy, the director of the Wee School. Sarah Kariuki is a
teacher at the Wee School, and she immediately walked over to
the Kikuyu Mission Hospital and deposited the check of $1,125
in the Wee School account. Nancy Bertram, also in the picture,
is a volunteer from Florida who serves on the committee that
helps direct the school's activities. She and her husband Frank
Bertram, who is a retired orthopedic surgeon, come every year
from January through June to volunteer their services. The
children in the picture, of course, are our dear ones. Asante
(thank you) thank you. Greetings from Lyle.
Peace and Love, Terry Dykstra
Hi Rev. Bruce and Carolyn,
I am writing to let you know that yesterday Terry Dykstra gave
me and the teachers at our "wee" school the money to help with
their medicine and treatment at the hospital. We are so
grateful, and it seems so little just to say that when it means
so much. We were totally out of funds, and there were children
just yesterday who needed some treatment. We didn't know Terry
was coming so it was a great surprise and a big help. We thank
you for your help, and I also think it way you raise this money
is a wonderful idea. When I return to the states I am going to
suggest it to my church.
Thanks again and Mungu akubariki (God Bless You)
Nancy Bertram
Note from Terry Dykstra and some pictures
from the Rehabilitation Center for Children in Kenya.
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These are pictures of the children at the
Rehabilitation Center for Children, otherwise known to
some people as the "Wee School". These 250 children are
very poor. For some, the food they receive at school is
their only meal for the day.
Many of the children are
orphaned because of AIDS and they are living with
relatives, who, at times, are overwhelmed with
responsibility, when most of the adults and teenagers in
the extended family die and the elderly are left to care
for the many grandchildren, nieces and nephews. A
few of these children have come from war-torn areas,
especially Somalia and Sudan. They have been orphaned
or they are refugees. Others, are living with parents,
who, for various reasons, do not have the means to
adequately house and feed the children. Some are street
children.
The Wee School is operated
by the "Church of the Torch", the first church the
Scottish missionaries built in this area when they
settled in Kikuyu around 1898. An elder in the church
noticed the many children foraging in the gardens and
begging for food. He brought his idea to the Session of
establishing a school run by church volunteers.
The children are taught by
loving volunteer teachers, and they receive a meal of
fortified porridge made with corn meal and soy milk -
mostly supplied by the USA Food Aid program (smile). I
saw the sacks of grain in the storage room of the school
and I felt so connected to my fellow Americans and
touched by their generosity. |
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