Hey, there family and friends! It is such a blessing to be able to celebrate the birth of Jesus with so many loved ones! We are now propelled into 2024, but first I will reflect on 2023 which was quite the year… full of so many ups and downs. In many ways it feels like a year of incompletion.
Personal Update
Shoutout to my friend, Steve Wright, who sent me this huge inflatable bear to cheer me up and help me recover.
The first major incompletion was my hip. I first started to experience major hip and leg pain in the beginning of 2023, and it was decided that I would have a total hip replacement on May 23rd. After seven months of recovery, I still have not experienced complete healing. The bursa is inflamed and one of the glute muscles is torn. A second surgery is scheduled for February 8th to try to rectify these problems.
from left: Zeke, Kaylee, Tammy, Roger, Sarah, Grace, Kellie, Paul and David
The second major area of incompleteness is our new home. We moved into our new house in December 2022, and we are so very thankful to the Lord for His provision for our living arrangements. We now have a working kitchen, working bathrooms and doors on the bedrooms, yet there are still many things to do: base shoe, door casings, putting in ceilings in the bedrooms which are in the basement, painting, and the list goes on. While we are able to live in our home, we are at a standstill because I am unable to complete any more projects due to the condition of my hip and the pain I am experiencing.
Feeding Africa
For privacy reasons, part of this document has been redacted for this online update.
Crops growing on the Shamba outside of Nairobi.
Although it felt like a year of incompletions, that was not the case with everything. We were able to complete the purchase of a Shamba (small farm) for our Nairobi feeding program to help to supplement the food they are handing out. The hope is that with chickens and some produce, they will be able to reduce their reliance on what they are receiving from the feeding program. A gentleman in Kenya was so impressed with what was happening with the feeding program, that he offered the parcel of land at a very reduced rate, and was willing to let the land be used even before we had it paid off. Thank You, Jesus, for the completion that we saw!
The young people who run our feeding program in Nairobi have been praying about what else they can do to meet the needs of their people in Kenya besides giving them food, giving devotionals, speaking words of encouragement, praying, and having Bible studies. After much prayer they felt the Lord was saying that nothing would change their country unless they begin to change the hearts of the youth. So they wrote to some high schools to see if they could go and preach the gospel. One school responded with the offer of room and board if they would come and speak to the students. Tammy and I provided them with funds for a rental van and a driver. And they headed out for 3 days. They had an amazing time and 35 students responded to the Gospel and asked Jesus Christ to be Lord of their lives! I love the fact that they want to meet Spiritual needs along with physical needs. Nifah, who leads our feeding efforts in Nairobi, is currently studying for her driver’s license in hopes of a vehicle being donated for them to use in travel to and from high schools, to and from the shamba, and to pick up and deliver the food bundles.
The Kijabe program also experienced some completion. We were able to help pay for a roof to be put on the structure that is located on the Kijabe feeding program’s land. With this roofing in place, Margaret is hoping to take in three young girls who saw their mother brutally murdered by her boyfriend and are temporarily staying with an elderly grandmother who is having difficulty caring for the girls.
Roof for the structure being built at our feeding program location in Kijabe.
The Feeding Africa program continues to operate, it is sort of limping along as we are in the negative at year’s end. One of the reasons that we are in the red is that a church who had been a supporter of Kingdom Partners Global and the Feeding Africa program for years, and had given $8,000 in 2022, just stopped giving with no word or warning. We have still been able to send money for food by using KPG general funds, though this has depleted most of those funds…yet praise God we had funds to deplete. As of December 31st, we have sent $177,370 for a total of 1,599,960 meals. We hit the 1.6 million mark on Jan. 1st. Happy New Year!
City-Wide Prayer
We continue to meet for prayer on Monday nights, and we will have done so for one year. Getting people to come pray has been a very difficult task, but so very rewarding! Although the numbers are small, we have experienced God meeting us each Monday night. We have seen many healings, both physically and emotionally. God’s presence has been felt by so many. Although the goal was to go for the year, which we did it, those who come have asked if we could continue meeting in the new year. Yes! Of course we will continue!
Family
From left: Grace, Zeke, and Sarah
Rescue squad outside our home on Christmas Day. They responded so quickly!
I’d like to say the end of 2023 ended with all the bells and whistles, but that would be an exaggeration as it ended with lights and sirens. Our daughter, Grace, had an episode with her heart… she collapsed to the ground clutching her chest and was clammy and couldn’t talk well. She was taken to the emergency room via ambulance with Tammy riding along and me following. Tammy, Grace, and I spent Christmas evening in the ER with EKGs, CT scans and blood tests to rule out heart attack and pulmonary embolisms. Grace is extremely weak and tired but in very good spirits. She loved getting to ride in the rescue squad for Christmas. We will be following up with a pediatric cardiologist on Jan 10th at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee.
Thank You
We are so thankful for each of you who pray for us and support us financially. Please continue to pray for physical healing for Grace and me; as well as increased financial support to meet the deficit we are facing. Just a reminder that all gifts given to the Feeding Africa program go 100% to feeding these people in desperate need of food. We are also looking for people to help support Kingdom Partners Global as we reach out and minister to those God brings across our path. If you are interested in helping support the ministry, please click the link below.
Click the link below to give online. If you are giving by check, please send your check to the address listed below; do not put our name on the check, but make checks payable to Kingdom Partners Global. All checks will go towards our personal support unless stated otherwise. You will receive a receipt for tax purposes. Thank you so much for being a part of the ministry with us.
Kingdom Partners Global Inc.
6015 60th Street
Kenosha, WI 53144
