News

Bottineau church builds school in Kenya

By Scott Wagar

04/10/2012

Six men from the Lutheran Brethren Synod have recently returned from Africa where they assisted in constructing a school for orphan children and spent their time ministering.

“Several weeks ago a team of six men, five from Grace Lutheran Church in Bottineau, and one from Bethel Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, Minn., had the opportunity to minister in Kenya for two weeks. It was an amazing life-changing experience for us,” said Rev. Craig Jennings, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, and the man who lead the missionary trip to Africa. “The bulk of our time was spent working on the Kakamega School of the Helping Hands Mission. Kakamega is a city in western Kenya about 5,000 feet above sea level. It has a population of 75,000 and is located 19 miles north of the equator. The school is about a 25 minutes drive outside of the city of Kakamega, itself.”

Timothy Mundia founded the Helping Hands Mission in 1990 with very little before him but the grace of God. Today, through hard work and his faith in God there are approximately 40 churches in western Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, along with four schools (K through eight), two orphanages, a sewing school and a ministry for widows.   

Their journey into constructing a school, actually started out to build an orphanage, but when they entered into the mission site, their plans changed quickly.

“We originally planned to start work on a new children’s home to house about 70 children with AIDS, with 24 of them being HIV positive, but once we arrived on site we changed our plans,” Jennings said. “The school had one usable building made up of six classrooms and another classroom building, which was unfinished and unusable. We decided that rather than start a new building and then return to America with two finished building sites, and the students and orphans no better off, we would use our funds to complete the school building, which was already under construction when we arrived.”

The team was primarily made up of individuals who were skillful in construction work. John Lynnes of Bottineau, Jessie Fahenstock of Willow City and Aaron Abrahamson of St. John spent their time along side the men of Keyna in constructing the school, while Jennings, Rev. Arlow Hushagen of the church in Fergus Falls and Curt Nelson of Bottineau cared for the spiritual side of the mission .

“Two of us on the team, Pastor Hushagen and I, had the opportunity to teach pastors and other church leaders. For a little over a week, we taught a group of 51 students,” Jennings said. “I taught each morning and Pastor Hushagen taught in the afternoons. When we were not teaching, we were outside helping the other men with building the school.”

The six men also spent their time at other area schools in the region volunteering to assist the children of Kenya.

“We had the privilege of visiting three schools operated by the Helping Hands Mission. Each of us had the opportunity to teach at the schools as well as to give simple gifts to the children, gifts like pencils, crayons, backpacks, rubber flip flops and some wooden toys,” Jennings said. “At each of the schools, we heard from administrators and teachers who described the great needs they have, and the challenges they face. Our hearts were deeply stirred at the poverty, their dire needs and less-than-adequate facilities we saw, but we were also amazed at the work that is being done to educate the children.”

With the sun being so close to Kakamega due to the high altitude of the city, and being so near to the equator, the team had to deal with extreme heat, sunburn and not being able to breathe efficiently, but the men worked through it and in the end successfully accomplished the work they set out to do.

“As a result of the team’s efforts, and financial gifts of many people, the Kakamega School now has 12 usable classrooms, which also includes a place for some of the orphans to go and stay,” Jennings said. “When we returned to America all that remained was for the African workers to finish pouring concrete floors, plaster the brick walls, install windows and the doors, paint the walls and build a new gate for the compound. Much of that is now completed. And as of now everything is paid for except for a final $1,000.”

Jenning said that the trip wouldn’t have been successful if it wasn’t for two Bottineau businesses.

“I want to express our sincere thanks to Pamida and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Both organizations donated backpacks and bags to give to the children at the schools we visited,” he said. “The children have virtually nothing that is their own, and so they were immensely grateful for the gifts.”

Presently, there are 228 students at the Kakamega School, but the Kakamega government estimates that by the time the Lutheran Brethren team gets back to Kenya there will be 800 children in the school.

Jenning stated that the six men are already planning to go back to Kenya for the entire month of February to construct the children’s home they initially went to build.

“Over the next six months our goal is to collect the needed building materials here in America and then ship them to Kenya by October 1. Materials such as lumber, rafters, tools, and even a skid steer,” Jennings said. “After the building materials spend three months at sea, they will arrive at the Kenya port of Mombasa and be transported by truck to Kakamega. We plan to have the basic building erected in one month’s time, leaving the inside work for the Africans to complete after we’re gone.”

With their dreams to construct the orphanage, comes a major road in front of them due to the financial cost, which Jennings is placing before God.

“An enterprise of this magnitude is not humanly possible, and so if it comes to pass, God will need to work miracles to bring it about. We need at least $100,000 and equipment if it’s to become a reality.”

Individuals, who wish to assist this project by donating funds or equipment, can contact Jennings at (701) 228-3727, cjennings5025@gmail.com or by mailing him 615 10th St. E Bottineau, N.D. 58318

The team has set-up an account with Bottineau’s First National Bank (424 Main St.) and a tax deductible 501c3 called Kenya Orphange Project.