1st Staff Meeting of 2010!

One of the most frustrating and inspiring parts of my work is the biweekly CFA staff meeting. Frustrating, because it usually involves someone coming late, someone talking much more than they should, someone complaining about an issue that I completely disagree with, everyone spending much too long drinking tea (from my American perspective, anyway), and it takes place on a Saturday morning. Inspiring, because it is the time when I can hear all of workers talk about how things are going at their centers, which inevitably prompts me to praise God for certain things and spurs me on to work harder towards others. Today was our first full meeting of 2010, so I wanted to give you all a few of the highlights - things that you can join me in both praying and thanking God for!

First, I can't say enough how excited I am about what God is doing in Kisumu, the new CARE for AIDS region in the western part of the country. Cornel, Geoffrey, Lazarus, and Elisabeth have been working tirelessly for the past couple of months, and it really shows! The first center, at Central Baptist Church, officially started its recruitment the first week in January. In just a couple of weeks Lazarus and Elisabeth have recruited 112 people living with HIV/AIDS who want to take part in the CFA program. 62 of those live too far from the current center, which leaves 50 people who are starting the program. Hopefully that number will jump up to around 75 in the next couple of weeks, and the center can start its normal operations ahead of schedule! Cornel and Geoffrey will keep track of the other 62 people, and they will be the first to know when the next CFA center opens close to where they live. Praise God for the fast start at Central Baptist, and pray that God would provide the funds for us to open another center soon and serve more people in this incredibly needy area.

I also got some encouraging news from our newest center in the Limuru area at Kamirithu Assemblies of God. Paul and Eunice, the workers there, have been recruiting clients for a little over a month and they have a full group of 75 clients, with at least 10 on the waiting list for the next round. They have started counseling all of the clients and holding the first seminars, and they are already starting to see fruit in the way of faith decisions, improving health, and a strong desire to learn. Paul and Eunice have received a lot of help from Rosemary and Humphrey, the workers from our very first center, who are currently on a break between groups of clients. We are so thankful for their willingness to help out and offer their experience to our "rookie" workers, and I am continually amazed at the capacity of all of our staff to give and sacrifice for what they believe in! Please pray that everyone working at KAG would be able to instill in these new clients a proper perspective on the CFA program and help them to grasp the reality of salvation and the bright future that they can have.

More updates will come soon as I get to spend time in each of the centers, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you more stories of how God is blessing this ministry and all of us who are involved with it!