Hope for Children Center - Oyugis, Kenya
By Dee Stringfellow
As I sit here in my comfortable little
home with a fire in my fireplace, with
plenty of food to eat and some to last
for awhile, I can’t help but think of Pas-
tor Maurice and the responsibility that
he and his Edith have taken on with
these orphans. We don’t have children
coming to our door and begging for a
little food. Daily they see children beg-
ging and stealing for food.
I’m beginning to grasp the enormity
of the situation in Kenya. As Pastor
Maurice stated in a recent report, “We
still have so many requests of children
who want to come that we assist them.
At times, I meet some of them in the
streets sniffing glue. Some are starving
in their homes, some walk naked with-
out good clothing. They have nowhere
to call home. The sight itself tortures
me. Sadly enough, many had come but
I denied them the chance due to lack of
room and enough finance to accommo-
date them. When I meet them in the
streets, all they ask me is, ”Will you re-
ally come for us?"
“The more they stay in the streets,
the more they get spoilt. Some are as
young as three, six or seven years old.
Some are children of prostitutes, aban-
doned either because the mothers
have died or the mothers have run
away from them because they are no
longer financially able to care for them.
I know of one whose mother is ailing
and likely to die in Kisii hospital. She is
about four years old. I even wonder
how she gets food in the streets of Kisii
town. I am appealing to you that, if pos-
sible, you work together in finding
sponsors so that we can admit more. I
hope you know that the more the funds
we get, the more orphans we invite to
the Center. I know that you have been
working very hard and I wish to encour-
age all of you to continue with the same
spirit.
“Julia [a member of their Commit-
tee; see ”A New Year - A New Direc-
tion" last issue] has a natural love for
the orphans. There is a time I saw her
trying to hold back her tears when we
lacked a chance for us to admit some
orphans who had nowhere else to go to
but the streets. They were four orphans
from one family. The eldest was a girl of
about 12 years and the youngest was
about five years old. That was late last
year. It was sad that one could easily
shed tears. The children were in rags
and we did not have any room for them.
We just gave them some ready food
and told them to look for chances later.
However, I took their pictures using our
camera, with hope that one day we will
send for them so that we can get spon-
sors for them.
“I have been meeting two of them
in the streets and any moment I see
them, I feel a lot of pain. At times I dip
my hands in my pocket and whatever I
find I give them for survival. But they
need to have shelter and a place to call
home. They need sisters and brothers.
They need you and me. They need love
and hope."
“Will you really come for us?” What
a soul-piercing question. What would
you do?
I have known for years that these
situations exist in our world and yet
when you are not confronted with it you
forget. I will never forget again. Seeing
the records of all these children at the
Center and what they have been
through shows me how fortunate I have
been. We never had much of this
world’s goods, but I was never cold,
hungry or without a roof over my head.
Most of all, I had two parents that loved
me.
They have moved into their new
buildings, on their own land, and I’m
sure they are thrilled to be there. Pat-
rick, my new “grandchild,” said they are
so busy getting things moved, but so
happy about it. This must make all of
you joyful as well to have had a part in
it.
Pastor Maurice was so apprecia-
tive for all of the support and sacrifices
of the sponsors and contributors, for
helping with the children and for the
building of the new orphanage. He
does realize that many of you sacrifice
so that you can help these children. I
have found, in times past, that most
people in the poorer countries tend to
feel that we are all very rich here in the
United States; probably the poorest of
us do have more than they do.
A couple of things that would help
them so
much are
a genera-
tor and
two water
tanks. As
you
know, at
this time,
they do
not have
electricity.
In January there were 109 children
at Hope Center and ten of these have
no sponsors. Our Board has voted to
allow Pastor to admit the five children
mentioned above. One of them, the
four-year-old, has already been spon-
sored.
There have been times, I know,
that you have prayed and asked the
Lord, “Will you come for us today?” And
we know that His promise is sure and
He will come for us. What a day that will
be!! Do you think that maybe these
dear little children felt that way when
Pastor Maurice was able to tell them, “I
have come for you today”?
God bless each and every one of
you who have taken on the responsibil-
ity of supporting these children and
making the burden of Pastor Maurice
and Edith a bit lighter.
?
If you are interested in helping
with the work at Hope for Children Cen-
ter please contact:
Donations: Sally Specht, PO Box
741, Angwin, CA 94508, Phone:
(707)-965-1379; Email: slspecht@
hotmail.com.
Child Sponsorship: Dee String-
fellow, PO Box 223, Galvin, WA 98544,
Phone: (360)-746-7481, Email: sdeloras
@ncplus.net.
-3-
Part of the stream below the property
Two additional tanks like
this one are needed
