January 2005

Dear Tony and Laurie-Ann,

Greetings to you from Migori, Kenya, East Africa!

My trip back home from Ottawa was safe and I found everyone in good shape, all my luggage reached home alright.

Am writing to thank you for opening your home for me, I was so so blessed to be served with Kenya dish, thank you for thinking of me and touching my life.

I really enjoyed the fellowship in your home, I felt the peace of God at your home.

Thank you very much for everything.

Laurie-Ann, if at all you are planning to come back to Kenya, please let me know for I would like to have you come to Migori.

Please continue to pray for us here. I await to hear from you soon.

Tony, keep up with the good work, I was blessed by the people in your Church. Thank you for putting it all together.

My prayers and thanksgiving comes to you for the wonderful support which you have extended to me since the beginning of this year, yes, it has been a hard year for us as a ministry but yet stands to be the most rewarding year in my ministry here in Migori, Kenya.

As you can recall the ministry here has been so successful in many ways, the Lord has done to us more and more than what we would have expected.

The Lord enabled us to put an 85 x 45 ft extension of the Sanctuary and the Lord has filled it up. The Lord continues to give us villages, we have just come back from one week crusade where we officially launched Muhuru Church some 45 kms away from Migori. The leaders training kicked off very well in Sept, as I write we Pastors in class for their second Semester. I have been able to do two Mission trips, both to BRAZIL and CANADA this year, in these in saw the Lord save, heal and encourage the body. With your help, we are believing God to build an orphanage, Hope Center. This will give hope to the hopeless Children who have no one to take care of them in the center we will give shelter, clothing, food, medication and above all spiritual guidance. We are believing God to start off the project by January 2005, believe with me for funds. The home will accommodate 50 kids. We are trusting God for the finishing of the training Center, Please continue to believe with me.

As I said to you earlier, a great need for bicycles for pastors and bibles for the new believers. As I finish, I want to wish you a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year 2005.

Thank you for your unfailing love to my family and me, and the body of Christ.

The Canning Project:

We are believing God to help the surrounding villages to increase their food production, this we want to make sure that the starving communities in the villages have food on their tables. This we are going to do by introducing canning food in jars, this method has never been tried in Kenya, but our friends were visiting here early this year and this great idea came to them from God, they sent us canning video, now we can can our own food, we are expecting Mason jars about 30,000 pcs to kick off this great project.

When people know that crops will not go to waste for lack of storage, this will increase their effort to produce more food.

Surely, time goes quickly. Very soon we will be celebrating 5 years since the Lord brought Pamela and I to this village.

In five years the Lord has blessed Migori Worship Center with a congregation of about 1000 with other 10 Churches planted in villages.

The training of village Pastors have gone for 2 Semesters, we have just released them this morning for a break until 2005, all this is done here at Migori School of Ministry International (MSOMI).

Yes, we have touched people spiritually and trained ministers, and we are continuing, but what about the orphans and education?

Orphans have been in our hearts for many years, these kids have no one to show them love and as we enter to this year's Christmas, I wanted you to think about these orphans more. These precious children lack

a) Basic Education
b) Shelter
c) Food
d) Clothing
e) Medical attention
f) The most important of all spiritual guidance

When the center is built and completed, we will bring them in, be a blessing to these kids. The Construction work will commences in January 2005 and the same time we are starting the school for these kids and the rest.

In January, we shall offer 3 classes mainly:-
Baby Class, Nursery and Pre-Unit.

Any gift coming to us this time will go to these 2 great projects. Please also believe with me for funds to touch these lives, and in these we need, the buildings, chairs, desks, books, school uniforms for kids and also pens and toys.

Unless someone is coming with any of these from North America, we would prefer to buy them here to avoid a lot of duty.

Please pray with me and continue to support this work as the Lord enables you.

Yours in His Vineyard,

- Bishop John Okinda