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I arrived at Tenwek Hospital last week. I always enjoy keeping you updated and informed on the sights and smells of We Treat, Jesus Heals – especially while I’m here in Kenya. I want you to be connected. I want you to be challenged. I want you to be encouraged. Your faithful prayers and generous giving are impacting hearts and changing lives.

There is so much need. So much exciting growth. I can’t wait to share with you! Read below for a few snapshots from my first week.

I landed in Nairobi at 10:30am last Monday and grocery shopped at Carrefour. Shiny and bright, you can find almond butter and organic apple cider vinegar on these shelves. Some parts of Nairobi are so modern; I feel at home amongst the other expats.

I hop into the van with my driver, Obadiah and start the 150 mile NW trek to Tenwek Mission Hospital. Soon we enter a completely foreign world. I see vegetable stands lined with raw potatoes and I smell piles of green onions sold at speed bumps by eager saleswomen. I feel less comfortable as we drive past poverty.

I’m here at Tenwek with Dr. David Hoover, FOT President and Mr. Don Hoover, FOT Treasurer. Last week FOT hosted a dinner for every department head from the Tenwek administration for an evening of encouragement. “If we lose the spiritual aspect of Tenwek, we have lost everything,” said Elijah Bii, Director of Spiritual Affairs. Tenwek’s spiritual mission has remained integral; one way is through 14 chaplains ministering in the wards. Around 900 Tenwek patients have professed Christ as their Savior this year.

Many of you generously donated to the Tenwek Hospital College School of Health Sciences building expansion. The three new classrooms and large library, which will allow student growth to expand by 50%, is complete.

I watched PAACS resident Dr. Oscar Rotich and volunteer Dr. Marleta Reynolds pray for this pediatric patient before a hernia repair surgery. “Being able to pray for a patient and tell them about the love of Jesus Christ while providing surgical care is not easy to come by; but PAACS residency provides this opportunity,” Dr. Rotich writes in the PAACS newsletter. “I hope to, after completion of my training, go back to where I was raised and share the Good News about Jesus Christ while providing surgical care.”

Threads of Hope, a ministry sponsored by Friends of Tenwek, is a vocational training center for vulnerable women who live in extreme poverty in the greater Bomet area. Over 30 young women have graduated from the program since 2017, newly equipped with a sewing machine and opportunities to provide an income for their families through seamstressing. I joined a group of graduates this week practicing their English.