November/December 2009
Rescue the perishing . . .

They put the sickest patients by the open windows in Ward 3 at the local government hospital, especially during the rainy season. It is a dismal place where many people die without hope.

We met Eric by the window. He was confused and weak. We prayed with him and I asked him if he needed anything. He said he would like a Kiswahili Bible. He was discharged before I could deliver the Bible.

Two weeks later he showed up at our gate asking me for his Bible. I gave it to him and he was given a ride to a house that defies description Due to his living conditions, he was given the opportunity to stay with Desmond in a spare room at his house. Over the course of the few weeks he stayed with us, his story unfolded.

He was born out-of-wedlock and was raised by his maternal grandmother. He was banished by a legitimate brother and threatened with death if he ever returned.

Eric moved to Kisumu as a young man and never returned to his home. He worked at several odd jobs and lived a solitary life. He had a few friends but no family.

Eric’s condition rapidly worsened. On Saturday he developed difficulty breathing and his stomach started swelling. He tried to eat but lost his appetite. He was admitted to the mission hospital in Maseno. On Monday evening, we finally found someone who could lead us to his grandmother’s home. Eric slipped into a coma on Tuesday morning and we were able to bring him home to his grandmother Tuesday afternoon. He lost his fight against AIDS on Tuesday night.

On the day of his burial, we discovered that the brother who threatened him had died of AIDS last year. The family farm belonged to Eric.

Where is the victory in this story? Eric’s grandmother had prayed that Eric would find a family and he did. He lived with the CHI family in Kisumu for several weeks before his death. He knew he was loved and he knew he was cared for. Most importantly, Eric knew the everlasting love of his Saviour, Jesus Christ. He knew there was a better place for him. A place where he would be loved unconditionally and eternally.

We are privileged to have played a part in rescuing Eric from perishing in a hospital without care or in a filthy house with no food, no water and no hope. I personally cannot wait to see Eric again!

. . . Care for the dying

If someone had told me when I graduated from nursing school in 1983 that I would be working with AIDS patients in Africa in 2009, I would have told them they were crazy. I wanted to “save the world” and work where the action was in Emergency Nursing. Over the years, I have had many challenging jobs and learned and matured. Now, God has given me the strength and desire to serve the people society has cast aside. To share hope with the hopeless. To be the hands and feet of Jesus as I serve the lost and dying.
There are times when I look out the window or travel the countryside and I am amazed that I have the privilege to live and work in Kisumu, Kenya. It is a remarkable and challenging place with many societal hurdles, including poverty, lack of job opportunities and, most significantly, the highest rate of HIV and AIDS in the country.
I know I cannot focus on the big picture because the odds of succeeding in ending the AIDS pandemic are huge. It is truly a God-sized problem. But, He cares for each and every person who has been infected by HIV.
I count it as joy all the sweat, the tears, the frustrations and trials along with the blessings of helping to share the love of Jesus, His sacrifice on the cross and the hope of His resurrection with the lost and dying in Kenya. Jesus truly is merciful to all of us.
I will continue to serve in Kenya as a staff member at the National Office in Kisumu. I will continue to be responsible for the bookkeeping, coordinating the various ministries as well as caring for AIDS patients.
In order to do this, I need people to join in partnership with me to help fulfill the Great Commission. Will you commit your financial resources to this ministry so I can commit my time and skills in providing care and compassion to those infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS? If so, please complete the enclosed response card and mail as soon as possible. I urge you to consider helping “the least of these.”

Jesus is merciful . . .

. . . Jesus will save

Will you help me fulfill the Great Commission in Kenya? I need a total of $800.00 USD monthly to meet the expenses of housing, food, health insurance and transportation. Your one-time and/or monthly donation to Christ’s Hope International will help pay for my living expenses as well as several ongoing projects in Kenya. Since we are a non-profit organization, all your contributions are tax-deductible.

If you feel as compelled as I am to help and wish to partner with me, please go to www.christshopeusa.org today and set-up an automatic monthly donation or give a one-time gift. Or, you may complete the enclosed response card and mail a check to Christ’s Hope USA, P.O. Box 2238 Traverse City, MI 49685.

Mathias’ home was an eight foot by four-foot chicken coop constructed with old pieces of scrap wood, twine, crude mud walls and an uneven mud “floor.” His “roof” was old plastic grain bags, haphazardly strung across the top of his head. The Luo language does not even have a word to describe this type of building. When it rained, he put a bucket over his head to keep part of his body dry. When he got so weak, he could not even lift the bucket over his head. He laid on old pieces of rotting foam crawling with ants, soaked with rain, sweat and vomit. His bathroom was a small bucket by the bed.

For six weeks, we visited Mathias daily. When I would ask him how he was doing, he always said he was fine and gave me a “thumbs up” handshake. He would push his right thumb against my right thumb and give me a big smile. During this time, he continued to lose more weight and became weaker and weaker. Mathias’ family refused to care for him, citing a Luo tradition that says the eldest son cannot move back to the mother’s home/property and, if he does, no one is allowed to touch him. We argued with his sister-in-law to at least cook him one meal each day, since we were providing the food. She refused. Mathias cried.

One day we found him lying in his own urine, vomit and faeces. He was so weak, he could barely speak but he gave me the thumbs up handshake. We cleaned him up the best we could. It was hot inside his little shack. The rain had pooled in the plastic sheet above his head and a bird was drinking from it. Tears and sweat ran down my face and I am sure Mathias could tell by the look on my face his condition was grave. As I was searching for words to say to comfort Mathias, the Holy Spirit prompted me to ask Mathias if he would like to be assured of going to heaven. Mathias said he would. We talked about Romans 10:9, “. . . if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” I asked Mathias if he believed that Jesus could save him from his sins and give him a home in heaven. He nodded his head. Although he had been too weak to speak, he took every breath he could to repeat the sinner’s prayer with us. The next day we found Mathias had been moved to his mother’s house and put in a comfortable bed. The family started bathing him and helping him to eat and drink. On Tuesday, he sat up and ate an entire avocado and a few bananas. The next day he was dead.

People ask me how I can stand to be around so much pain, suffering and death. I think about Mathias’ story and how the small victories, such as getting his family to bathe and feed him and the larger victories, knowing he died a dignified death with the assurance of heaven waiting for him, mean more to me than a paycheck, a large bank balance or my own home. With all the difficulties of being so far from home, there is no other place I would rather be. I am reassured with the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:34, 40, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Dear Family,

It is nice to know some of you look forward to my “monthly” updates as I have received several e-mails asking if I was still alive. Yes, I am still alive and I am still in Kenya! Since my last newsletter in April, I have been immersed in an unbelievable amount of activities, challenges and victories. We will sit around the table during dinner and, after discussing the day’s events, we will quickly realize that the week has already ended and we need to prepare for a new week.

Just an example of the craziness: We went from sixteen patients in our Care & Compassion program the end of March to over FIFTY patients as of today. Several of our new patients live in outlying areas that require an entire day of traveling to visit them. Since there are only seven Care & Compassion volunteers now, we are stretched quite thin as daily we purchase produce, pack plastic sacks with flour, rice and beans, shop for medications for pain, infections and nausea and distribute them as needed. We search the market for shoes for a lady with a horrible fungal infection in her feet, sort through the stacks of donated clothing to find a pair of trousers that will fit a man who has lost over twenty pounds in the past month; consult doctors and nurses at local clinics and hospitals to determine the best course of treatment and on and on and on. We also visit patients in the hospital on a daily basis and provide transportation to the clinic for those too sick to sit on the back of a bicycle or motorbike. Originally, the Care & Compassion ministry was supposed to be Monday through Friday, but sick patients still need care on the weekends, so we find ourselves just as busy on Saturdays and Sundays.

In April, I also took over the role of bookkeeper. It was by default—I did not go looking for this position! This involves the usual accounting activities such as paying bills and payroll for our staff, balancing the checkbook and financial statements. It is interesting and challenging. When I told God, I would do anything He asked, I guess that includes the bookwork, too.

I was able to take a short break the last weekend in May. I traveled to Kakamega and stayed at the Rondo Retreat Centre for two nights. It is a beautiful, equatorial rainforest about one hour north of here. It is a serene and restful place full of birds, butterflies and flowers. It is also home to the Colubus monkey—an endangered species. It was wonderful to just be able to spend time watching the monkeys play in the trees, the butterflies float by and the birds fly over my head. I am looking forward to returning there sometime in August for another visit.

Can you believe it has been one year since I asked you all to prayerful consider sponsoring my ministry? It is amazing how quickly time goes by. I originally said I would try this work for one year and then let you know my plan. Well, God has granted me a three-year work permit and I feel that is His way of telling me to stay on for a while longer—maybe for the entire three years or even longer.

Even though the work here can be frustrating and challenging, there is no place else I would rather be. However, I can only stay here with your support. Are you willing to continue to sponsor my ministry here in Kenya? On the other hand, if you have not been able to give financially before, will you consider starting now? I need a total of $1,250.00 USD monthly to meet the expenses of housing, food, health insurance and transportation. Your one-time and/or monthly donation to Christ’s Hope International will help pay for my living expenses as well as several ongoing projects in Kenya and East Africa. Since we are a non-profit organization, all your contributions are tax-deductible.

If you feel as compelled as I am to help and wish to partner with me, please go to www.christshopeusa.org today and set-up an automatic monthly donation or give a one-time gift. You may also send a check to Christ’s Hope USA, P.O. Box 2238 Traverse City, MI 49685.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support and partnership with me! Your contributions will allow me to continue to share my gifts and talents with “the least of these.”
God bless you,
Denise

Mama Hellen Adero (pictured far right), our beloved Care & Compassion volunteer and graduate of our first Home Based Care Class, died suddenly early on Sunday Morning. Her death came as a great shock to us all here with the Care & Compassion ministry in Kisumu, Kenya.

Hellen was wonderful Care and Compassion volunteer. She was loved deeply by everyone who knew her. She was a gracious woman of God who had a compassionate heart for the sick, the hungry and those in need.

Mama Hellen also spent her days visiting many in her community, helping in any way she could. She lit up so many lives and will be profoundly missed. Everyone who knew her loved her. She has touched many with her kindness and love.

Please keep the Kisumu team in your prayers as we grieve over the loss of such a dynamic and godly woman.

First Home Based Care Class Kisumu 2009

Imagine. . . your “home” is a eight foot by four foot chicken coop constructed with old pieces of scrap wood, twine, crude mud walls and an uneven mud “floor.” Your “roof” is old plastic grain bags, haphazardly strung across the top of your head. When it rains, you have to stand in one corner to avoid getting too wet. Your bed is old pieces of rotting foam crawling with ants, soaked with rain, sweat and vomit. Your bathroom is a small bucket by your bed. Your kitchen is an old TV stand stacked with USAID porridge packets and your stove is a small charcoal grill. Your water has to come from a river about a half of a mile away. And, you have to treat the water before you can drink it because of the bacteria, worms and parasites that grow in the river. You have constant vomiting and diarrhea and are too weak to even get out of bed. Your family has abandoned you because they are afraid of your disease. They refuse to prepare your meals, wash your clothes and provide you with clean bedding. You miss your clinic appointments because your family will not pay for the transportation. Since you miss your appointments, you cannot continue to take the medicine that may save your life.
Imagine. . . this disease has a name but no one in your family or community will say the name. You can’t even say the name because of the shame associated with how you acquired the disease. You silently waste away in secret because of the looks, the stares, the isolation and shunning from your family and community.

This is not a work of fiction. . . as we encounter several cases just like story on a weekly basis. Many times, our clients have waited too long and they die before we can provide food, medicine and spiritual care. We struggle with determining who gets help and for how long. It is a ministry with few “success” stories and a lot of tears and frustration. However, we serve a BIG GOD who cares more for these struggling men, women and children than we can imagine. He cares about every hair on our heads. He knew us even before we were “knit together in our mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139) Daily, we go out in faith that we will be Jesus for someone that day.

Thanks to your ongoing financial support, I helped sponsor our first Home Based Care Worker Training course from March 2nd to 13th. We were able to train seven Kenyan Care & Compassion workers as well as a few Wazungu (white people in Kiswahili). We received training how to care for PLWHA (People Living with HIV/AIDS) spiritually, physically and emotionally. It was a real honour to learn next to these hard working Kenyan volunteers.

Our new volunteers have been given the challenge to find five new clients each. That will really test all of our organizational skills as we make care plans to feed, purchase medications, and spiritually support so many new clients.

My stay here in Kenya has been extended and that means I need your help. Will you consider a monthly commitment of $30.00 or more to help me continue to care for those suffering from HIV and AIDS?

Please go to www.christshopeusa.org/donate.
Select the “support a specific person” and type in my name.
You may also send a check payable to Christ’s Hope USA, Inc. and mail to: P.O. Box 2238, Traverse City, MI 49685. Please put my name on the memo line.

Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.

Shortly after we finished the biscuits, the dinner bell rang. All the children and special guests circled around and prayed for the meal. Then, the smallest of the children led the line to get a plate overflowing of chapatti (like a tortilla) rice, cabbage, mbuzi (goat) and potatoes. It became very quiet as over 70 children ate what would be their largest meal in many weeks. I have to admit, the goat was very tasty!

After the meal was completed, the children put on a special presentation, including skits, songs they wrote themselves and lots of dancing. Yes, us wazungu (white people) even danced a bit. No photos of me dancing, though!
Needless to say, my homesickness disappeared the moment we arrived at Brydges. It’s amazing how I go to minister to the kids and they end up filling me up, overflowing and abundantly! There were no gifts exchanged, no concerns about the wrong size or color. No worries about whether or not the kids would like the gifts. Instead, we shared a time of celebration and feasting. I would not exchange this Christmas celebration for any I have had in the past!

Plans for January/February:
I will be traveling to Kisumu in Western Kenya from January 9th to the 21st to work with the Care & Compassion ministry there. Then, we have an American team coming the end of January and beginning of February. I’m excited to be able to join them on Safari in Tsavo the first week of February.

I’m working on Health & Hygiene lessons for our OVC (Orphan & Vulnerable Children) partners as well as for our Care & Compassion support groups and an evangelism pamphlet for our Care & Compassion volunteers. Along with developing forms for all the ministries, it keeps me very busy!

Please know I love and miss you all.

Denise

Hello friends,

It was been over a month since I last wrote. I have been busy over the past month, travelling to Western Kenya in October and to the coast the first week of November. I have been working on visual aids for teaching and helping to teach Choose to Wait, helping to set up policies and procedures for ministries, visiting, watching, listening and learning.

In Kisumu, (western Kenya), I accompanied Desmond, our Care & Compassion Coordinator, as we visited one of his AIDS clients, to give my opinion as to whether or not he could make it to the clinic in three days for his medication refill. We arrived at his home, a mud and stick two-room house with a packed dirt floor. We walked in the door and saw the client, Adam (I changed his name to protect his identity), lying on the couch in the main room and totally covered by a blanket. We immediately thought he had passed away, but his wife was trying to keep the flies off his face. Desmond lowered the blanket and I immediately knew that this man had just a short time to live. He did try to open his eyes and speak when Desmond greeted him, but the effort was too much. He opened his eyes and tried to make his mouth and tongue work, but he was too exhausted and weak to put any words together. I tried to feel for a pulse in his wrist and as I lifted up his arm, it felt as though all the bone, muscle and tissue had turned into gelatine. His skin was stretched tightly across his face and I could count all his ribs and see his heart beat through his chest wall.

You see, Adam was a married man with four children. He owned his own bookshop in Kenya and, despite having a leg deformity and having to walk with a limp all his life, he was a successful merchant. He also owned property and had a good farm that provided food for his extended family. It was not until he became critically ill that he was tested for the AIDS virus and was told he was already in Stage 4 (terminally ill).

Desmond took Adam into his house to care for him until his family made arrangements to bring him home. Desmond became very close to Adam, and his brother, Seth, while trying to help him get strong enough to make the trip home. Adam was brought up in the Luo tradition and was not a Christian when Desmond met him, but, through time and study with Desmond, Adam decided to become a Christian and accepted Jesus as His Saviour while in Desmond’s care. Adam loved to hear the Bible being read to him, especially Psalm 23.

As Seth walked into the room while we were reading Psalm 23 to Adam, he started sobbing because he realized at that moment Adam was going to die soon. Desmond and I struggled to gain our composure and I tried to sing, “It Is Well with My Soul” but seeing an African man cry broke my heart and I could not get a sound out of my mouth. I managed to whisper in Adam’s ear that I would see him again and then walked out of the house.

We encouraged Seth to make Adam comfortable and told him that Adam would not need to make the trip on Tuesday to get his ARV’s refilled. Seth thanked us for visiting, eyes filled with tears; he turned and walked back to the house.

Adam passed away on Tuesday morning. He left behind an HIV positive wife and four children. In the Luo tradition, they practice wife inheritance, so one of Adam’s brothers will “inherit” (sleep with) Adam’s wife, in order to prevent the family from being cursed and to continue the tradition.

So the cycle of HIV/AIDS continues. We are praying that Seth, who knows the wife’s HIV status, will be a “cycle breaker” and prevent any of the brothers from inheriting the wife, but, as I have learned over the past two months, culture and tradition are much more important here than anything else–God, Jesus, family, and common sense.

Nevertheless, as I look on America’s history, it was not until the advent of the antibiotic age and microbiology in the early part of the twentieth century did we stop bleeding people with leeches and using poultices made of boiled onion to draw out the illnesses. We left people in bed for weeks after surgery to “recover” only to have them die of blood clots and pneumonia while in hospital. Childbirth was such a “horror” that women were given anaesthesia to prevent them from screaming in the doctor’s ears.

I remind myself that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one-step. And so, I continue to take one small step every day—to understand the language, culture and people of Kenya; to pray for ways to assist those desperate to eat, drink clean water and have access to adequate medical care; to teach children that they can prevent AIDS and that it can be overcome, so their generation can live to see their grandchildren; to sit at someone’s bedside and hold their hand as their prepare to die; and to love and hug AIDS orphans who need to hear about the love of God and how they bear the image of the One who created them.

In December, I will be working on more projects for our Care & Compassion ministry and helping with Choose to Wait teacher training. I will spend time with the AIDS orphans at Brydges and work on developing relationships with the children there. I hoping to travel back to Kisumu in January to do some Home Based Care training and to visit with more AIDS clients.

I will be celebrating Thanksgiving this Thursday, (even if it is not a Kenyan holiday), with Desmond, (from Northern Ireland), Peter & Rogier, from Holland, John & Joyce, our Kenyan staff and the Bell’s. We will tell our friends about the story of Thanksgiving and how the US takes time each year to thank God for all his provisions.

I will take this time to thank you for providing for the work here in Kenya. I could not go forward without knowing you are praying for me and financially supporting me.

As the cornucopia represents the abundant blessings of God, you provide the same for me.

May God bless you and your family abundantly!

Mungu aku bariki!

Denise Runge
Christ’s Hope International-Kenya
Volunteer, Kenya, East Africa

PS. If you would like to contribute to my ministry, and to make it possible for me to continue to teach, comfort and care for those infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS, please click on www.christshopeusa.org/donate and follow the instructions. All donations are tax deductible. A receipt will be mailed to you in time for tax season. God Bless!

Broken Things

“By reason of breakings they purify themselves” (Job 41:25).

God uses most for His glory those people and things which are most perfectly broken. The sacrifices He accepts are broken and contrite hearts. It was the breaking down of Jacob’s natural strength at Peniel that got him where God could clothe him with spiritual power. It was breaking the surface of the rock at Horeb, by the stroke of Moses’ rod that let out the cool waters to thirsty people.

It was when the 300 elect soldiers under Gideon broke their pitchers, a type of breaking themselves, that the hidden lights shone forth to the consternation of their adversaries. It was when the poor widow broke the seal of the little pot of oil, and poured it forth, that God multiplied it to pay her debts and supply means of support.

It was when Esther risked her life and broke through the rigid etiquette of a heathen court, that she obtained favor to rescue her people from death. It was when Jesus took the five loaves and broke them, that the bread was multiplied in the very act of breaking, sufficient to feed five thousand. It was when Mary broke her beautiful alabaster box, rendering it henceforth useless, that the pent-up perfume filled the house. It was when Jesus allowed His precious body to be broken to pieces by thorns and nails and spear, that His inner life was poured out, like a crystal ocean, for thirsty sinners to drink and live.

It is when a beautiful grain of corn is broken up in the earth by DEATH, that its inner heart sprouts forth and bears hundreds of other grains. And thus, on and on, through all history, and all biography, and all vegetation, and all spiritual
life, God must have BROKEN THINGS.

Those who are broken in wealth, and broken in self-will, and broken in their ambitions, and broken in their beautiful ideals, and broken in orldly reputation, and broken in their affections, and broken ofttimes in health; those who are despised and seem utterly forlorn and helpless, the Holy Ghost is seizing upon, and using for God’s glory.

I’m sitting at a little desk in the family room of my new home. I can smell the orange tree blossoms as the breeze blows into my window. The back garden is filled with potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, fresh lettuce and even sugar cane plants, thanks to John, our friend, gardener and fellow ministry partner. The skies are filled with large cumulus clouds and we are hoping for the rainy season to begin soon. I arrived on Thursday and realized how much Kenya needs a good soaking rain for a few days and even a few weeks just to clear the air of all the dust and to revive the guava, mango and orange trees.

Jen has beans and ham cooking on the stove for supper and Dave just mixed up a large batch of dog food. Yes, he makes his own! You have to really love a dog to boil liver, hamburger, rice and grains together to make food. Let me tell you, it’s not one of the best smells I’ve ever encountered!

My flights to Kenya went smoothly and the Bell’s and I have been busy scheduling meetings, making arrangements for ministry opportunities and just general household stuff. I haven’t had much jet lag, thankfully and have started the HUGE learning curve to adapt to my new home/life.

On Saturday I was able to have lunch with Juliette from Living Positive. The chicken project saw in February is up and running and they are getting a reputation of having very tasty chickens. We have not been to see the children or the Living Positive support group yet but hope to do that soon.

On Sunday, we attended the International Christian Fellowship church in Nairobi and it was awesome to spend time with people from all over the world who worship and praise the same God. We had lunch with Mark, Camille and Sara Purington, fellow missionaries who serve in Sudan. The Purington’s are from Highlands Ranch, Colorado and are members of Cherry Hills Community Church (that I had visited multiple times when I lived in Denver). It was great to meet them and talk about Colorado.

On Monday we went with Joyce, one of our Choose to Wait teachers and our housecleaner, to a local school and helped her teach a lesson to the primary school kids. They learned today how to brush their teeth and why it is important to be clean, inside and out. Their memory verse was from Psalm 51:10. It was great to hear them shout God’s word as loud as they could several times. They teach both in English and Swahili. I realized today that it will be a long time before I’ll be able to teach in Swahili, without a doubt!

Today Tuesday, we went to immigration only to be told none of us had any of the proper paperwork. I have to get a copy of my high school diploma! (I graduated in 1979–any chance Kaukauna High has it on file and easily accessible?) Dave and Jen have been working on their work permit since February. It may take several months for the applications to go through but it’s all part of moving to a foreign country.

The rest of the week will be spent in working on various projects for Dave and Jen. They are going to Western Kenya for a meeting with our “sister” ministry in Kisumu on Thursday. I will attend another Choose to Wait class with Joyce and John on Friday.

Other than breaking out in a weird rash from a few mosquito bites, I’m doing very well. Internet access here is slow and it comes and goes at times but I will stay in touch.

Prayer requests: One of the groups I hoped to partner and work with has pulled out of Christ’s Hope and that has made us all very sad. So, please pray for them as they seek God’s will for their ministry.

Please pray that God will bring in new contacts so we can continue to build up the ministry. There is so much to do! But, we need to know who is a good fit for our ministry.

God bless you!

Denise