STORM Trip Testimony: Ben Korir
A STORM Trip Testimony
It was a great day for me when I met the American STORM team in Nairobi and had a church service together. I met some of my old friends and made new ones as we prepared to embark on serving the Turkana people together. My fiancée was celebrating her birthday that very day – the very day I proposed to her! It was fantastic!
Ephesians 3:18-19 talks of growing deeper, reaching wider and soaring higher. Our lives are not measured by how many years we have lived but by the kind of things we do and the joy we bring to others by putting a smile on their faces. So often we lack answers to the many complex issues of this life, but God has the answers. God’s grace gives us the power to endure and withstand any kind of pain and suffering.
When we arrived in Turkanaland, my Children Ministry team started with the training of Sunday School children workers, who were excited to be equipped for the first time. We trained them for 1½ days. Everything was going very well for me up to that point.
After the great start and progress, the unexpected happened to me. I lost my dad on 17th of July. I was shocked. The entire team was a great encouragement to me and my family during that very trying moment. I thank God, the Murimis, and SI team for everything. The SI Mission Statement – “sharing the Gospel and our very lives”, became a reality to me as each one pitched in to help me fly back to Nairobi and later travel to my rural home. They paid for my ticket and even gave me a large donation, which helped with the funeral arrangements and the healing process.
I give God all the honor and the glory for what SI is doing in Turkanaland, from church planting, education, livestock, free medical camps, eradication of poverty, mobile clinic, to a well stoked permanent health center that provides services to people in remote villages. And I give God all the glory for STORM-2010, for all that He enabled us to do and accomplish together. My appreciation and gratitude to the entire STORM team. You were all a breath of blessings to my life.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40). May God bless the SI ministry for the encouragement it gives to so many people. God will not forget what you do. He will reward you (Heb. 6:10).
~Ben Korir
Stories from the Children of the Kingdom
A note from the Children of the Kingdom director, Emily Huff. (The Child of the Kingdom Ministry is Share International’s child sponsorship program providing food, education and discipleship to children through college.)
As the holidays are around the corner, I am keenly aware of how much I have to be grateful for. The people in Turkanaland and in India have given me a perspective on gratitude that has forever changed me. My heart is to write and share with you about these brothers and sisters in a way that moves you beyond statistics, to truly loving our neighbors (near and far) as ourselves. The best way I know to do that is to share with you a few of their stories.
Alice Lokulan, the mother of Lorot Ekom and Michael Ekai Ekiru (children sponsored though the Children of the Kingdom ministry), shares the following:
“I thank God for His provision through SISL (Share International Small Loans) program which gave me a loan to put up this food items kiosk. It has really helped me to sustain my family after losing my husband a long time ago. I take Share International as my husband because if it were not for the loans, I don’t how I could have survived with my children. God bless Children of the Kingdom (COK) and Share International! Now I can use the profit from this kiosk to buy clothes and food for my children. Through the COK program, the school fees of my children (Michael Ekai Ekiru and Lorot Ekom) are paid for. God bless Hans Schenk and Brant Bousquet for sponsoring my children. I have nothing to give to them, but a cry to God bless them and their families abundantly. I give thanks also to COK for the gifts from Michael’s sponsor, because through them a house was built for our family. This really touched my life and made me recognized in the village. Glory to God.”
Alice Lokulan, widow and mother of two working at her food kiosk provided through Share International’s Small Business loan to help support sustainable income to Turkana families.
Dorcas Koki, a high school graduate testifies:
“Glory be to God for His love for me in my life to go through the Children of the Kingdom program. I count myself blessed because the support from COK has made my academic life a reality. I say thank you to COK and my sponsor who paid my school fees from primary to high school which I finished last year in 2009. Many have dropped from school due to lack of school fees. COK has made me realize my dreams and career in life through guidance and counseling by the COK staff in Kenya. I thank God also for the COK outreach program which has helped me to share God’s love to many youth where many have seen God’s power and manifestation. These outreaches have helped me grow spiritually. I have known what to means to share the gospel and our very lives.”
A letter from two girls in India who are being sponsored through Children of the Kingdom:
“When my parents asked Jesus Christ about our future, the Lord answered our prayers and sent Ratnakar (Share’s Children of the Kingdom director in India) to us. He understood our downtrodden state and told us COK will support our education – our family was very happy. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for understanding our need and sponsoring our education. We wish you all a Happy Christmas and New Year 2011. We will continue to pray for you and your families always. We thank the Lord and Praise Him, for all his mercies through you.”
“We always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” 2 Thessalonians 1:3
Giving thanks for the ways you continue to share your lives and share the gospel through your generosity,
Emily Huff U.S.A. Children of the Kingdom coordinator
To Sponsor a child or donate money to support the ministries of Share International, Inc. contact us at the following address:
Emily Huff207 N. Service Rd E.
Ruston, LA 71270
(318) 497-0311
shareCOK@gmail.com
or click the button below
