Boggs back from Kenya

Hello friends,

I sit in the very warm internet cafe in Malindi town, thank the Lord for ceiling
fans. With a little hurry and hesitancy, I left Lango Baya village this morning for
the last time this trip. Said goodbye yesterday and today to dear friends and
co-workers in the mission. What wonderful village people we have here to work
with. It warms my heart to see them work hard to help their people as we walk
beside them with our helping hand. God is building up some strong workers here in
his vineyard. Praise the Lord for their commitment and dedication.

We have accomplished almost everything on my somewhat long "to do" list this trip,
so God has smoothed the way and given us the energy and guidance we were hoping
for. And thank you for your prayers during this mission trip. I
started out a little "iffy" in regard to personal timing and prudence of spending
this much time in Kenya. But once I arrived and started working, it became clear
that we are doing what needs to be done, and we must continue to trust the Lord to
cover us with his unending care and grace. From this morning's Psalm: "Your
precepts are my delight, they are my counselor." And in yesterday's evening
prayer, there was something about the certainty of God's work and victory. I was
reassured that my short sighted vision is not the vision I need to rely on, but to
just rest in the knowledge that God is our protector and provider, and he is
already victorious and covering us with his grace. Holy is his name!

I planted a couple of banana seedings late Sunday afternoon that I brought from
Nairobi as a test project. The sun was getting low and the billowy clouds were
everywhere. The light was soft and gray, and yellow, and white all around
the clouds. The birds were singing and the red earth was damp and pliable in my
hands. And now the little seedlings stand proud and tall, ready to grow up and
become adults and bear much fruit. It was a nice end to a
Sabbath day in Kenya.

See you all soon,
Blessings and peace to you,
Doug

Mud "Boggsing" in Kenya

Greetings from Lango Baya Mission,

I pray you are all well and that God is unfolding a beautiful spring season for you.

We are well in Lango Baya. Still hot and sticky, but the work is going smoothly,
thanks to your prayers. Please continue to lift us up to our loving Lord.

We have completed two major accomplishments:
1. We traveled through the villages for two days meeting with many of the local
people who are engaged in small business, i.e. basket making, bicycle repair,
tailoring, small roadside markets, fruit growing, etc. This survey gives us a good
sense of the level of business knowledge and competence of the participants. So, we
find that most of them don't keep any written records and therefore are not sure if
they make a profit or not. For this project we are working with Ajema Kikuyu and
Ngumba Kagu from Nairobi. I think I mentioned them to you. Now we can write up a
"model" for doing small business development. Today we met with two Sisters and a
third man in the Diocese office and they are interested in partnering with us in
launching a small business start up project.
2. Saturday, we spent the day driving out to the farms of those who had been trained
in Farming God's Way to see their progress. It is both encouraging and frustrating.
Some are doing well and most are in need of ongoing follow-up training, so we spent
a lot of time "reteaching" what was taught at the initial trainings. It takes time
for them to move to the higher standard of cultivating that we are pushing them
toward. But with this growing season we should see some good results from what they
have implemented. In time we are confident the increased yields will attract more
farmers.

(Forgive me if I repeat myself a little. Memory is not my strong point.)

This week I will be registering orphans in the two villages that we have not yet
registered, Girimacha and Malanga. Pray that we can find them all and that the
families are home when we come to see them. We will meet with the Village
Coordinators this week who oversee our orphan program to refine and adjust where it
may be necessary and to understand how they are doing in their duties. They each
have agreed to get a plot of land and show the children how to grow maize using
Farming God's Way methods. This will be a great project for the orphan children.
They can sell their corn and raise some money for their group. Teaching the young
people more about self-sufficiency is one of our goals.

I still need to get aroung to visit more of the orphan caregivers and children who
have already been registered. I will try to do more of that this week. The days are
getting full and I only have one week left. We are delivering the letters that you
have sent to your orphans as we visit the villages. They are very happy to receive
them, and your gifts also. And on Wednesday evening we will meet with the local
Rotary Club to discuss our six village water project.

I sit in the shade on the patio outside the internet cafe writing this note to you,
as the clatter of tuk-tuks (three wheel Piaggio taxis) moves incesantly up and down
the street. Poorly maintained cars and buses belch smoke into the air and people
walk and ride bikes eveywhere. It is warm and humid but there is a nice breeze
blowing swaying the big trees overhead and providing a break from the heat of the
day. It is fun to be in Malindi for short periods, I can get a snack of yogurt here
which we don't keep in the frig "at home". I think I would die without an occasional
yogurt fix. Driving back out to Lango Baya in the evening at sunset moves one into
the quiet, slow pace of the rural setting that I love. Fr. Pedro has some chickens
and roosters, so I am up by 6 AM and into my prayer time. The day unfolds, sometimes
with the typical "African surprises" of changed plans and missed appointments, or
appointments one didn't expect. But we are accomplishing
most of what God has laid on our hearts to do. So, praise his name, all is well in
Kenya.

Attached photos: Children love to smile and laugh, even though they may be hungry.
And you'll see where I got the truck stuck in the mud on the way to Mkondoni Village
after a big rain storm. Da, you'd think I'd know how to drive on these back roads by
now. :-)

Peace and love to you,
Doug

Kenya update with Doug

Hello friends of Lango Baya Mission, Kenya,

All is well, and very busy. Just completed a three day village "Survey" with two
experienced small enterprise development specialists from Nairobi. We met with many
women and a few men who are now running some type of small business enterprise in
their village. We assess the economic status in the villages and the level of
knowledge and expertise of the business owners. Then try to identify ways to help
them be more successful and help others start small businesses that are appropriate
to the available resources. All this will take several months to several years to
bear fruit, as we start with simple training and move on to help them expand their
businesses if they are successful. We have identified several issues and
opportunities that we can use to leverage the few
resources that the village families have to begin some income generating
enterprises. This is exciting new ground, and the local Diocese of Malindi has an
office that is responsible for Gender Awareness training and business development
that we are meeting with this afternoon, Friday. We may partner with them if they
like what we are doing.

Next, week I start to register new orphan families in the two villages that have not
yet been registered. This is a moving and rewarding experience to visit their hut
homes and talk to them about their life and take the pictures of the orphans.

The rains have come, sorely needed, praise God, and we pray that they continue, as
this area has been in a semi-drought for many years. The people run out of food
between rain seasons because their harvest is so poor. Our Farming God's Way
initiative is helping them to grow their maize so that they get a better yield. It
is starting to make a
difference.

I have included a picture of the food distribution to orphan caregiver families in
Viriko Village, and one picture of a chat I had with some of the orphans from
Sosoboa Village, and a one of the kids I'm talking to. As you can imagine, it is a
life changing experience to get close to these people who live SUCH a different life
than we live. It is hard to imagine how different it is until you come and see it
for yourself. So, I hope more of you will consider coming and having this life
changing experience.

I am staying healthy and well. Thanks for your prayers. All plans are running
smoothly so far, except for when I got Fr. Pedros 4 wheel drive truck stuck in the
mud on the way to Mkondoni Village for Mass. We were only an hour late. They
waited for us. :-)

May God richly bless you as you continue to seek him and serve him,
Peace to you from Kenya,
Doug

Doug Boggs still in Kenya

Greetings from Kenya,

It is Sunday evening as I write these notes. It is dark but I can hear the wind
blowing in the big trees outside my open window. Thankful for the wind and for
ceiling fans as the heat and humidity keep me perpetually sweating. I have been in
the town of Malindi for four days doing research on availability of markets for
vegetables and fruits that may be able to be grown in the villages. I am finding the
local market vendors open and receptive to buying produce from the local village
farmers.

By chance, thank you God, I have met a couple of people who have worked in
agriculture in rural areas and have received some good advice. I am anxious to head
out to the villages on Monday and start to renew friendships and see how the farmers
have done with the Farming God's Way
methods that we have been
introducing. We pray that once a few families have good yields with these methods
that its use will spread thoughout the villages and have a permanent impact on
reducing hunger in this region.

Attended Mass this Palm Sunday morning at St Anthony Cathedral in Malindi. The
Bishop presided after a long 1/2 hour palm procession from the center of town out to
the Cathedral. And of course was treated to wonderful, vibrant African music and
singing at Mass. I will be bringing some of this music home, so you'll be able to
hear it for yourselves. It is such a joy to see God at work all over the globe,
redeeming and bringing people into his kingdom.

I have attached pictures of the produce market in Malindi and of the typical street
vendor. Life is sooooo much different here than what we experience in the U.S., it
is just hard to imagine how different it is until you come and see it first hand.
This fruit stand is owned by Samson with whom I have had
some good chats. He is the one sitting down writing his contact information into my
notebook. He is interested in buying veges and fruit from local growers. Progress
on these local distribution markets is good, now we just need to see what we can do
in the villages in regards to production.

Fr Pedro has asked me to speak on Tuesday and Wednesday to the church gatherings for
"Easter preparation" this week about what we teach and do during Holy Week and
Easter in the U.S. Please pray that God will give me what he wants me to say.

And please pray for safety and freedom from sickness, and that this work that we are
doing in our Sister Churches here in Lango Baya Mission will bear much fruit for his
kingdom.

Sending on Monday afternoon, and then heading out to the villages tonight. So, won't
be near internet for a week.

Thank you,
and May our Lord richly bless you as you seek to serve him,
Peace to
you,
Doug

Doug Boggs goes to Kenya

From: Douglas Boggs
Subject: Greetings from Kenya

Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 5:01 PM



Greetings
from Kenya,



Praise God
for a smooth trip. I am now in Nairobi until Wednesday meeting with Ajema and
Ngumba Kago. They are experienced in rural village development and have many
gifts in discerning what will help the people become more self
sufficient. So, we are making plans to work together in Lango Baya
Mission.



After I get
to Malindi and out to Lango Baya, we will begin to register more orphans and
meet with the church and village leaders to discuss the progress with Farming
God’s Way. A second round of training took place just last week, so I will
be visiting the village farmers who were trained and encouraging them to move
forward with their new knowledge about field cultivation and planting for the
coming rains, which are now starting. This is one of our most important
self-sufficiency programs.



Today I
visited two local small enterprise projects: one for raising rabbits for meat
which looks very promising for our sister villages in Lango Baya, and one of
Farming God’s Way at the International Kenya Conservation League where they are
showing very high yields of corn even in the past few low rain months. I
took pictures of their six foot high corn fields and will be showing this to
our village families in Lango Baya to encourage and motivate them to fully
adopt the program.



The
countryside on the outskirts of Nairobi is beautiful. A sharp contrast to
the crowded city within. I will be visiting the Kibera Slum on Wednesday
morning, one of the biggest and worst slums in the world here in
Nairobi. A “shocking” taste of how some people are living due
to lack of opportunity and structures that would support a just
distribution of resources. I’ll include some pictures of it in my next
email (if I still have my camera).



In this
email I’ve attached two pics of the beautiful CDG Airport in Paris, beautiful
architecture (a long tiring layover spot). And a picture of my view out
the “backyard” where I am staying at the catholic “Resurrection Garden’s
Retreat Center” on the outskirts of Nairobi. That’s a pond and small
waterfall off in the distance. Comfortable and only $25 per night. Some
of you should consider Kenya for your next vacation outing. We are going
in late August if you might be interested. So, give it some thought.
Also, I have attached a picture of the Farming Gods Way garden we visited
showing the corn grew two feet over my head even in a low rain season.
Evidence that this method works well. Finally, a picture of the rabbit
farm we visited that can provide starter breeding stock for us if we decide
that this is a viable enterprise opportunity for the Lango Baya Mission
families.



Append:
Today, Tuesday, I have just visited an aloe vera farm which we also think may
be a good choice for the Lango Baya area. I now am on the way to see a
banana farm to research that possibility as well. God is opening many new
connections for us through Ajema and Ngumba here in Nairobi. Praise him
for his provision.



More soon,
after I arrive in Malindi on Wednesday eve.



Peace and
blessings to you,

Love in
Christ from your fellow servant,

Doug

The Glory of Easter March 13-22

The Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA is doing the production, "The Glory of Easter." The dates of the show are March 13-22. Live actors, animals, great staging and very poignant.

Go to www.crystalcathedral.org for more info.

Here's a clip from Total Victory Today TV regarding the Glory of Easter.

Crosswalk in Fallbrook Friday, March 21

March 21, check out the Crosswalk in Fallbrook, CA. Starts at 10:30AM at St. Peter's Catholic Church (corner of Fallbrook Street and Stagecoach Lane) and the route goes to Main Street and ends at Fallbrook Presbyterian Church for refreshments. Great experience for the whole family. Call 760-728-5804 for more info.

Here's a clip from Total Victory Today TV.