Abundant Blessings in Kenya

Thank you for such generous giving, Cedarbrook Community Church! In the photo above, you can see Margaret and her baby, Gladys, beneficiaries of Survival interventions in Ndiuni, Nairobi, Kenya. Margaret was gracious enough to write a letter with some of her story and her many thanks for you and your support for her and her family. As you can see in the other photos, women and their children are benefiting immensely from time encouraging one another, learning vital life skills and child care, and having fun just being together. Read Margaret’s beautiful story.

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Dear Cedarbrook Community Church friends,

My name is Margaret. I am 39 years old and am blessed to have three children with my husband, Francis. Our daughter, Gladys, is the survival beneficiary. We live in a densely populated area whereby many residents are casual laborers with no stable source of income. We live in a three-room, semi-permanent house. Most people work on farms other people own where they earn KSh200 (Kenyan shillings) per day. [$1.97 USD] My husband is a casual laborer and I am a housewife taking care of our young baby. I thank God for granting me an opportunity to be in the survival program run through the Githunguchu Church Child Development Center.

I was registered into the program when I was two months pregnant. The staff visited me and advised me on the importance of attending prenatal clinics and I started immediately. They also taught me the benefits of prenatal visits until I gave birth. For my older children, I only visited the clinic once in the third trimester but for Gladys, I attended all the scheduled clinics until I gave birth to her. She is now three months old. After I gave birth, the staff visited me and educated me on the importance of immunizations and my baby has now received all vaccines she needs. I am so grateful to the staff who have been following up with us on a monthly basis to monitor Gladys’s growth. They are advised me to do exclusive breastfeeding for six months and up to now, she has only been fed breast milk.

I am thankful to be in the program this is because I have learned skills to make money through small income generating activities like chicken rearing, while still being allowed to stay home as a housewife. Currently I have six chickens and am happy to report that five are laying eggs. In one day, I normally collect four to five eggs to supplement my family’s diet and sell the surplus for KSh15 each. [$0.15 USD] The program has enabled me to create rapport with other mothers in the program. I am not originally from this community, so this has allowed me to make many friends who I get to see each month at the project where we have an opportunity to share life experiences.

Initially, I was not going to church, but through the teaching we get from Pastor Paul at the project, I started attending church. At the end of last year, I gave my life to Christ! I am able to meditate on the word of God on daily basis thanks to the Bible I received at the project. Please pray for my husband to get saved and come to know Christ and that he may acquire a stable job. I thank you for your continued support.

May God bless you abundantly.

Yours faithfully,
Margaret