Dinah Platt, Allie McKee, Rachel Mangan, Brenda LaRoche and Edith Brown with Mama Tancy at the Nest Orphan Home in Limuru, Kenya

I am amazed at all my women’s team experienced during our recent visit to Kenya. My team of ladies went hard from the moment they arrived in Nairobi. I wanted them to experience a portion of the multitude of opportunities to serve the poor. We packed our days full as we delivered supplies, taught lessons and songs to children, visited prisoners, and encouraged widows and women who live in the slums. God sustained us. He strengthened us. He gave us what we needed to be able to pour our lives out. We gained so much from time with those whose lives are so different than ours. We saw God provide for the needs of the poor. We experienced vibrant, real worship. We saw faith and love in the lives of those we met that challenges us to want more of what they have.

My days back in the US are filled with preparations for our next summer trip. I am continuing to post photos from our trip in  photo albums on our Go Near Ministry FaceBook Page. Please visit and LIKE and pray for those you see in the photos.

More to come in the days ahead…..I am loving God’s call to GO NEAR. 

Be still and know I am God

Leading my first trip of women to Nairobi brings me energy and excitement. I can’t wait to connect the ladies with the people and children I love in Kenya. There are so many opportunities for them to be involved in helping orphans, widows, and the poor. My mind floods with all the things I want these women to experience. Anxiety can creep in with the “what ifs”  and the myriad of details involved in conducting our programs, scheduling and transportation, and how my women are doing in a culture so different. I question….What if I fail in this role as solo trip leader? What if?

I have been praying constantly that God would direct everything. I have been begging Him for wisdom and abilities. This morning before leaving for the airport I went into the kitchen and saw  three notes written by Claire, my daughter.

Notes from my daughter to cheer me on!  ”Be still and know that I am God” is our theme for this week’s mission trip

This reminder brings me peace and confidence in the midst of serving and being stretched in so many new ways.

God’s confirmation… He is speaking.

This is the page I opened up to within minutes of seeing the notes in the kitchen. Amazing to see the same verse. I am convinced that God wants me to get this message and share it with my women as we leave our families and work to travel across the world to serve in Kenya. I am confident we are right on target doing God’s work.  I have written God’s message to you and to me below.

“Be still and know that I am God; 

I will be exalted among the nations

I will be exalted in all the earth.

Psalm 46:10

To view photos posted during the trip to Kenya scheduled Jan. 27th – Feb. 5th.  

LIKE Go Near FB PAGE   or join Go Near Ministry FB Group

Go Near Ministry will be posting photos during our time in Kenya. Be sure to check out our Facebook!! 

Dear friends,

It is my privilege to update you on Go Near Ministry’s efforts to mobilize people to empower the poor this past year. Thank you to all who joined us in serving orphans, women, widows and children in Africa.
 

Lewis began full time employment in October. He has stepped down from leadership in Go Near Ministry. I am now serving as Executive Director and honored to announce our expanded Go Near Ministry board.

Belinda Shelton, Veronica Euler,  April McMorran, Cheryl Williams,  Melody Taylor, Stephine Lacey and Amy Daniel.
(not in photo: Peggy Jones & Nancy Puddephatt)

*WHAT WE’VE DONE & WHERE WE HAVE BEEN*
*2012*

40 volunteers traveled to serve in partnering orphanages, schools and a church in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.  

Our young volunteers return with a changed and empowered perspective and
advocate for the poor and missions in their schools and churches.

Our projects partnering with Kenyan leaders to provide job skills, feeding and education for widows, orphans and the poor are growing in numbers and reach:

*The Uzimatele Orphan Home & School*

Go Near Ministry funds new classrooms and teacher salaries, delivered school supplies quarterly and 100 children plus staff are fed a nutritious meal daily at Uzimatele School. The Uzimatele Orphan Home is near completion.

*LRCDC* 

Established by Go Near Ministry the Little Rock Center for Disabled Children
continues to provide a safe, nurturing environment and daily meal for disabled children in Nairobi slums.

Volunteers embrace LRCDC director and teaching assistant 

*Widows Sew*

Go Near Ministry sewing training has expanded from 2 to 17 widows in Gituamba slums since 2011. In early 2012, trainees began to receive monthly feeding assistance for their families. 

Anna Taylor delivers fabrics and notions donated by Little Rock community.

Widows Sew has expanded in 2012 with the introduction of Judith and James led by Anna Taylor.
Also, a new member of the team Jennifer Bentley traveled this summer and
trained women in Gituamba slums to make jewelry.
She is raising funds to move to Nairobi to oversee the widows sewing and jewelry making projects.
Please contact us if you would like to be a part of her support team.

Future mission trips are planned:

Women’s trip Jan. 27^th- Feb. 5^th Trip participants are:
Allie McKee, Cheryl Williams, Brenda LaRoche, Sheri Stone,
Rachel Mangan, Dinah Platt, Edith Brown, and Jennifer Bentley

June mission trip in partnership with the Summit Church of Little Rock

Cheryl cares for babies at the Nest in Kenya

I Have Seen It - by Cheryl Williams

On my last day in Nairobi, Kenya, Melody asked me if I would be willing to write down my thoughts about my experiences while there.  My first thought was…I would not know where to begin. Moments later I was reading in Psalm 140.  When I reached verse 12, I knew now where I would begin.

“I know that the Lord upholds the just cause of the poor, justice for the needy.” (Psalm 140:12) 

I know because I have seen it…I have seen it.

Studying about missionaries, giving to mission causes, and lifting prayers for those who serve have always been part of my life.  Though I have personally longed to travel abroad as a missionary for many years, my mission field has been here in my country, in my state, and in my town with my family.  In this new chapter of my life, the empty nest, God has given me permission to go…I will NEVER be the same!

For years, I have followed the story of God’s plan unfolding in the lives of Lewis and Melody Taylor and Go-Near Ministries.  They and their children lived in Nairobi and God led them to partner with Kenyan believers in serving the poor, orphaned and widowed.  Relationships were established, connections were made and God continues to bless what He began through Go-Near.  While traveling with them in June 2012, I witnessed the love the Taylors have for the Kenyan people, but also the love the Kenyan people have for them.

I have seen it.

While in Nairobi, we were honored to serve alongside believers who are making a difference in the lives of those in need.  At the ‘Baby Nest’ orphanage, we witnessed women working tirelessly to make sure 21 orphaned babies were fed, changed, talked to and loved.  I saw a precious woman named Emily minister to disabled children, believing they can learn and progress.

Emily with children she teaches and cares for at the Little Rock Center for Disabled Children

Our team with Emily and Mercy who work together to care for disabled children in the slums.

Then there is Pastor George and wife Jackie.  Where to begin here?  Two biological children, 10 adopted (at last count), pastors a church, began a school (located next to a Muslim center), began a widow’ sewing training program, and live among the poor they serve.

Cheryl, Hannah Beth, Belinda, Melody and Allyson with Pastor George on our way to the school he started in Gituamba slums.

Cheryl teaches at Uzimatele Educational Center

We saw the tireless efforts of Mama Tancy at ‘The Nest’ Orphanage at Limuru.  She is firm, but very loving as she is ‘mother’ to these orphaned or abandoned children.  She believes God for orphan and medical care in her home town someday.  Such faith…I have seen it.

     There are many more stories that could be told about God’s faithfulness in the lives of these Kenyan believers.  The most encouraging thing was to see their complete trust and faith in God’s provision for them.  They BELIEVE God for their future, because He is their PROVIDER.  Their trust in Him was humbling to me and an encouragement at the same time.  I am so glad to have seen such faith.

     According to Acts 1:8, Jesus’ last words to us while on this earth were, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  Whether your ‘mission field’ is Jerusalem (home), Judea and Samaria (strangers, poor, needy, imprisoned, or just different from you), or literally the ends of the earth, God’s plan is for us to go…near.

     James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” 

Upon returning home from Kenya, God has continued to show me countless verses in His Word about the importance He places on His love for the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners. In partnering now with Go-Near Ministries, I look forward to more opportunities to return to Nairobi.  I want to go near to these precious friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. I want to lift them in my prayers, support them financially, and most of all encourage them in their faith as they have encouraged me.

     Whether it is through Go-Near Ministries or another ministry, please know that you are honoring God when you love and serve the ‘least of these’.

Proverbs 14:31, “The one who oppresses the poor person insults his Maker, but one who is kind to the needy honors Him.”  So glad to have seen it.

Cheryl Williams

 Cheryl and Belinda care for premature babies at the Nest

Cheryl teaches Sunday School class at Pastor George’s church

Children can’t get enough of our visitors. They want to hold your hand.

Cheryl was determined to go back to Kenya and soon! (with or without me)  Cheryl approached me about leading a group of women to Kenya. As a result, God has raised up our next  **team of women who will be traveling with Cheryl and me to Kenya January 27th- Feb. 5th. God is using Cheryl in magnificent ways! God is at work on behalf of those He loves.

**Jan. 2013 team: Jennifer Bentley, Edith Brown, Brenda LaRoche, Ali McKee, Dinah Platt, Sheri Stone, Melody Taylor and Cheryl Williams