Ukunda and Wema Update

Here is an update from a Project 24 and 1001 Orphans.



The Ukanda Project 24 site is pictured here. This site should be fully operational by April 2011. Currently, a few children are living here.



Project 24 focuses on bricks and mortar, building the rescue centers. It is a partnership with LCMS.


Pastor Jamison Hardy and Jim Wolf from Concordia Lutheran Ministries, sponsors of 1001 Orphans stand near a well funded in part by CLM people.




After visiting Ukanda, we went to Wema station where 21 children, who are sponsored by 1001 Orphans stay.



The Wema station is within 10 miles of the Indian Ocean near Mombasa. The area has a high Muslim population. One of the pastors who serves in this area had been born a Moslem and after he converted to Christianity suffered repeated beatings and nearly died. Now he serves as a Lutheran pastor.



On the Wena compound is a Lutheran church that the children attend. Pictured on the calk board is the Ten Commandments. Bernie Seter, chair of the Board for International Mission, stands with Evangelist Emmanuel.



The pulpit at the church in Wema.



District Presidents Jim Baneck and Don Fondow stand with Bernie Seter and Emmanuel.



View out of the church's front door. There is no electricity or running water. Water is manually pumped and carried up the hill. The generator that powered the pump has broken so the small plot cannot be irrigated for the crops.



A small chicken coop also sits on the site. The rooster seemed alarmed that I would approach the coop.

Now we are off to the airport to travel to Eldoret located in the northwestern part of Kenya.

Will update as the Internet is available.

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Location:C 108,,Kenya

1001 Orphan and Project 24 Update

In this video, Pastor David Chuchu of the ELCK provides an update to the 1001 Orphan Project.

In the next video, Rev. Bernie Seter, chairman of the Board for International Mission, provides an update on Project 24.

Click here for more information on 1001 Orphans

To Donate to 1001 Orphans click here

More information on Project 24 can be found here

Breakfast with Obare and Update on Drought

This morning in Mombasa, we had breakfast at the hotel before going out to see other orphan sites. We discussed some of the work in Kenya. He began to explain to me how the ELCK is organized and how the Central Diocese is larger than all the other dioceses put together. The projects we have seen are in the Central Diocese but from Nairobi, the one we saw yesterday involved a 10 hour car ride.  Today, we will fly 2 hours to the North. The point is that there is a lot of territory in the Central Diocese and the projects go from Nairobi to the furthest reaches of the territory.

He also explained how in Kenya it is very possible for a person to never have heard about Jesus. He told a story about a Masai man who had five wives, one hundred children and several grandchildren. He said that there are currently 40 ELCK congregations among the Masai and how 200 or 300 people will gather to hear the Word of God. In the case of the Masai man who had 100 children, the man heard the Word and converted, that day 108 people were baptized.

In the video above, Pastor David Chuchu gives an update on the drought affecting Lutheran congregations and pastors in Kenya.

Trip To Mombasa

Today on the way to Mombasa, we drove through parts of the Rift Valley and the Masai Mara near the Tanzanian boarder.




We also saw the new site of a Project 24 orphanage site in Taita Taveta, Kenya. Also located at the site is a church with about 25 communicate members. Paster Alexander has been there about two years.




A panorama of the site





Right now we are about half way to Mombasa... The trek continues.

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Location:A 109,Voi,Kenya

Update from ELCK Office in Nairobi

Today we went to the ELCK headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Bishop Obare and Rev. David Chuchu gave us an update on projects between the ELCK and the LCMS, especially 1001 Orphans and Project 24. Currently, the ELCK is caring for slightly more than 1000 orphans with the assistance of the LCMS.

When people in America hear of an orphanage, the image is of children in an institutional setting. Yet this is not the "orphan" program in Kenya. The children remain connected to their family. The 1001 Orphans program works more like a boarding school. The children are provided with shelter, meals, Lutheran catechesis, and education either through the Kenyan public school system or by the church itself. On breaks every two or three months, the children stay with their families or extended families. Then after break the children return to the orphan program. Such an arrangement resembles a boarding school and is not uncommon for children in Kenya.

Pastor David Chuchu provided an update about the draught in Kenya. Many people including members of the ELCK and some pastors are facing starvation. However I was unable to upload the video.




Here is Luther Plaza, the headquarters of the ELCK. The building wad built with the help of LCEF. The church has offices, a hall, and a cathedral. The remaining space is rented out and used to reply the LCEF loan. A great example of entreprenialship.



ELCK Cathedral

We also met with LCMS mission personnel in Nairobi and shared lunch, some of the best pizza we have had overseas. Tomorrow we head to Mombassa.



Kenya Landscape

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Location:Muhoya Ave,Nairobi,Kenya

Arrived in Kenya

After nearly 16 hours on two planes with 4 hours of layovers, a group from the LCMS arrived in Nairobi, Kenya. Archbishop Obare and Rev. David Chuchu greeted us at the airport. The group includes Rev. Dr. Donald Fondow, President of the Minnesota North, Rev. Dr. James Baneck, President of the North Dakota District, Rev. Jamison Hardy, Vice President of the English District, Jim Wolf, Director of Concordia Lutheran Ministries in Cabot, Pennsylvania and the great-great grandson of Dr. C.F.W. Walther, Rev. Bernie Seter, Chairman of the Board for International Mission, Roger Weinlaeder coordinator for Project 24, and Rev. Dr. Albert Collver, Director of Church Relations.

The District Presidents came on the trip to discover how their districts can partner with the LCMS in mission efforts in Kenya. Rev. Bernie Seter, chair of the BIM, said, "It is wonderful to see partnerships develop and the kingdom of God extended."

Jim Wolf came to Kenya as a representative of Concordia Lutheran Ministries to monitor the 1001 Orphans Project and to see where other partnerships could be formed. The 1001 Orphan Project focuses on providing care for orphans in need. Project 24 focuses on the bricks and mortar for Orphans.

In the car from the airport, Archbishop Obare mentioned that there has been a draught in northern Kenya and that there are many Lutherans literally starving. He mentioned that several of his pastors are near starvation and that he does what he can to help, primarily praying that the Lord provide relief to his servants and to his people.

Over the coming days, check back for more updates.

Rev. Albert B Collver, Ph.D.
Director of Church Relations - Assistant to the President


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Location:Convent Rd,Nairobi,Kenya

Unexpected Encounter

Collver with John Nunes at Detroit Metro Airport.

"In Kenya we will..." I was saying to Don Fondow on the phone. Fondow, the District President of Minnesota North was still at the airport in Minneapolis wonder why I and Bernie Seter, the chairman of the Board for International Mission, were not there but in Detroit. All of is are heading to Kenya. Then I saw John Nunes, Executive Director of Lutheran World Relief, standing 20 feet away from me in the Delta Club in Detroit, MI. We approached each other and embraced long lost friends. Serendipity! Originally, I had been scheduled to fly from Saint Louis to Minneapolis on the way to Amsterdam. Yet this morning at 7 am, Delta called to say the flight was delayed due to weather. I asked, "Can you route us to Detroit and then to Amsterdam?" The Delta rep replied, "Sure thing." Elite status has a couple of advantages. Little did I know then that this would lead to running into John Nunes, who had returned from preaching at President Matthew Harrison's former parish, Zion in Fort Wayne.

John Nunes and I talked about theology, Natural Law, and LWR's Lutheran Malaria Initiative (LMI), which the LCMS convention in July 2010 voted to support and participate in. We had enough time to share a toast and a drink before leaving for our gates. (I write this on the plane before the boarding door closes.)

John Nunes also is headed to Kenya and Tanzania toward the end of the week ... Who knows? We might have another serendipitous encounter in Kenya.





Before going to the Delta Club, I was able to have a Detroit Coney Dog. I grew up in the Detroit, suburb of Sterling Heights. I grew up eating these Coney Dogs... And every chance I get I fly through Detroit to have a Coney Dog. On Facebook one of my high school friends complained, "You don't come to Detroit to see me, but for the Coney Dogs." anyway...

Serendipity or to be Scriptural "everything for a reason." It seems my flight diversion to Detroit was for me to have a Coney Dog and to have conversation with John Nunes.

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