BLOCK MAKING MACHINE & BASKET OF HOPE MISSION CENTER

This post is a little lengthy, but there is soooooo much to tell you!

Block Making Machine & BOHB (Basket of Hope Block)
(Pictures are posted below.)

The day after we landed in Nairobi, we (the team) went to the company who makes this particular machine (which weighs about 300 pounds), purchased one, and had it shipped to Mombasa. In Mombasa, the machine was loaded on a bus to Itsowi.

The blocks are made with soil (sifted through wire to remove all the big pieces and foreign objects), cement, and a little water. The soil is first tested for shrinkage by putting wet soil in a tray (about 1 inch x 18 inches) and allowed to dry. The amount of shrinkage then determines how many parts soil to 1 part cement. Water is added slowly until the mix stays in a nice clump when squeezed in your hand. The block is put in the shade and sprinkled with water in the morning and evening for 7 days; then bakes in the sun for 2 more weeks.

One bag of cement costs about $10 and will make 150 block. With 4 people working, 450 blocks can be made per day per machine!

At both conferences we taught at, the women and men were given an opportunity to make a block. The men said it was too hard for the women, but the women knew otherwise! It was so much fun watching block being made and seeing them catch the vision!

They are soooooo excited and started making block even before we left Kenya! They will first make block for the new Basket of Hope Mission Center; then they will make block for schools, churches, houses, and to sell. In time, a second machine will be purchased and sent to Tana River or Lamu.

The block making machine, like the Living Water Pump (KickStart water pump), is helping the people of Tana River and Lamu TURN HISTORY AROUND!


Land & Basket of Hope Mission Center

While in Itsowi in 2007, Meleckson showed Sharon, Ken, and I four acres of prime land, on a tarmac (paved) road, that was in the process of being given to us. Everything in Kenya is “pole, pole” – slowly, slowly! So, one goal of our trip this year was to see what was needed to move this forward. We were told that the land was ready to be surveyed, which began the day after we left Itsowi.

Meleckson, a local pastor and a man of integrity, very respected in the area, was on the property during the surveying. He asked the District Planner if we could have 10 acres, instead of 4. No was the answer.

About a week later in Mombasa, the team joined Meleckson and the District Planner for lunch so we could meet each other and have a clear understanding of the property. Sharon asked where the public water line was (it runs parallel to the paved road). She also shared that we need a borehole (well) on the property. The Planner asked why we needed a borehole for 4 acres of land. Sharon told him what we will be using the property for. The District Planner looked at Sharon and said, “You are doing good on that property. You don’t need 4 acres . . . you need 10 acres!!!” He called the survey team and told them to stop surveying until he returned the next day. Before we left Kenya, we were told that 10 acres were ours, and we had been given a letter of allotment!

Sharon met with an attorney in Nairobi, who asked why we were not going to own the land and that all buildings put on the land will belong to the land owner, not BOH. Sharon said she didn’t think BOH could own land; the attorney said BOH could as a registered branch in Kenya. BOH is being registered as Basket of Hope Kenya Branch and will own the land!

Some of the ministries currently in place in Tana River & Lamu Districts who will have a permanent home at BOH Mission Center . . . bible schools, women in ministry, pastors meetings and seminars, youth, school of missions, adult education, famine relief food distribution . . . and in the future, a medical clinic, nursery school, and whatever else God has planned!

Shambas & KickStart Water Pumps

Each time we go to the rural villages in the Tana River and Lamu Districts, we look for ways to help the people raise their standard of living, giving them hope and a “hand up,” not a “hand out.”

Since the first KickStart water pump was given in 2006, about 12 more KickStart water pumps have been purchased and given to the Women Leaders we minister to. These pumps help provide abundant water for their shambas (gardens), for the cattle, and for their own personal use for laundry, etc.

On our recent trip, we visited the garden of one of the Women Leaders, where she is growing tomatoes, watermelon, green beans, sugar cane, and rice! It was a beautiful garden, which produces enough food for her families and food to sell at market. I’ve posted pictures below.

The women pay back ½ of the cost of the machine, thus giving them ownership and providing money to purchase more KickStart water pumps to be given to others.

The KickStart pump seems like such a small thing in the scheme of life, but it makes their lives easier and produces much! We serve a God of multiplication!