These Women: Our Friends

The women we've met in Kenya are strong. Even the pastors and church leaders say if you give a good Kenyan woman a seed, she will grow a tree that produces shade for her family, fruit for food and seeds to sell. We've seen these same good women have a keen sense of finding fragile threads of opportunity, and from them, weave hope.

Our desire is to help them bring their hopes into reality. We work with them to identify their dreams, articulate their stories, and receive training. Then, we give them a seed.

By providing a basic foundation that reveals who Jesus Christ is to them, who they are in Christ, how to share their giftings and principles of good management, we've experienced the joy of watching these women move from victims to contributing members of their communities, happily raising their children instead of having to leave them in orphanages. They're not shy about giving God all the glory for the great things He has done!

We are blessed to call these women our friends.

We had our first training with Carolyne, who had no resources to raise her son and orphaned nephew. Now she runs a successful grocery kiosk and is director of Love in Action, a ministry that serves widowed moms.

Our second training was held in a small room set up near Carolyne's shop.

Communion with the widowed moms.


 Lois and her small son, TAVIN (yes, she named him after our boy).



Lois sews and embroiders to provide for her children.


 
She also  shares the blessings God's given her with other widowed moms.

Florence sells vegetables to earn a living so she can care for her two boys.

Florance's boys, who now do not have to live in an orphanage.

Florance shares her faith and training with other widowed moms.

Please pray for these women and the others who will participate in the training. May the Lord continue to pour out his favor on these forgotten ones who have so much to give.

Check back for more to read about other moms'
testimonies of redemption. We're currently designing a blog for them to share their stories. We'll let you know when it's up and running.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support.

hugs from the haugers

Shula = School

Tavin and Taleah started classes Tuesday. They attend a small international school on a hill, nestled among mango trees, overlooking the shores of Lake Victoria. There's about 75 students ranging from primary to secondary levels; they come from many different countries – India, Germany, Australia, Uganda, England and of course, Kenya. Only 7 students are from the USA, two of them are ours.

When time allows, Mark and Lisa join the kids for lunch. Small tables line the playground wall and when the bell rings (literally, a studentstands at the top of the administration building steps and rings a hand bell) chattering children emerge from the low, windowless, wood-framed classrooms. Dressed in a white shirt and kaki capris, Taleah skips over to us, her braids bouncing. She's smiling. Tavin wanders over with a shy grin. Other kids join us - Shamel, a young Indian boy and Brian, who has newly arrived from Virginia. Both are in Tavin's grade.

Out over the playground field, hanging in a tree, is a monkey. He keenly watches the food dropping on the ground, waiting for an opportunity to scavenge the remains of chapatis and bananas. We visit with other parents and find there is a community of Christians who meet in homes for bible study on Thursday mornings and family worship on Friday evenings. The bell rings again and the kids hurry off to their classes. We linger for a few more moments, listening to the weaver birds and enjoying the gentle breeze off the hazy lake.

After one full month here with minimal complications, we seem to be settling-in and finding the place God prepared for us. We're encouraged by the children's easy transition and the warm welcome we've received. We're happy. Oh, And what happen with the monkey? Well, he looked pretty happy too, munching on his leftovers!

Click on Tavin's page to see some pics and his news. Click Taleah's page to see her first school assignment she wanted to share (especially for Aunt Kiki and Uncle Bob!).

We appreciate your prayers, support and encouragement.

Hugs from the Haugers

Lovely Sunday

Such a lovely Sunday, worshiping with our Kenyan brothers and sisters. Thankful for Christ's precious family worldwide.

This afternoon we met with church leaders and submitted the proposal and curriculum for discipleship and income-generating training with widowed moms for review. Carolyne and Lisa have been diligently working on fine-tuning the training so it can accommodate Kenyan facilitators. We were welcomed to share the vision the Lord laid on our hearts. So very blessed, yes, blessed is what we felt when we heard Carolyne, once a victimized, widowed mother, speak passionately about her desire to help others find their place of influence in God's kingdom.

One of the leader's who met with us actually works for a very BIG development agency. He expressed great pleasure to see a development curriculum that was not only biblically-based, but focused on helping the women create their ministries to the poor. We agreed to meet again for a “formal acceptance” (whatever that means...). Anyway, next Monday, these spiritual leaders of the community will be gracing our humble home. Yikes! We'd better get busy cleaning and cooking!

This coming week brings some firsts for us! Tavin and Taleah start school on Tuesday. It's an international school so we expect they'll have some interesting experiences! Thanks to some thoughtful friends (you know who you are) we've gathered enough funds to buy food for the orphaned kids at Covenant House (the kids who spend Friday's praying to eat...) so we get to bring the first bags of rice and beans. Taleah had a great dream that her and Tavin we're praying with the kids at Covenant house and then the kids started to pray for each other. So, guess what we're doing next time were there?

We appreciate your prayers and support. Your comments and e-mails warm our hearts and make us smile. It's good to be a part of the family of God.

Even in the midst of a storm, God's light shines through, encouraging us to keep our eyes on Him.

Are You Hungry?

The orphaned kids at Covenant House don't eat everyday. Watching them play and sing, seeing their shy smiles and curious gazes, it's hard to believe they are much different than your children or mine. Can you imagine not feeding your family everyday? Do you wonder what it must be like to tuck a hungry little one into bed?




One afternoon at we had a popcorn party there. As we visited with the older kids we asked, "What would make this place better?" They hesitated... We thought they might be thinking of playground equipment, or musical instruments. Maybe they wanted bikes, or games, or books... We waited and asked again, "Really, if you could have anything to improve where you live, what would it be?"

"Food."

Yes. Hard to believe, huh?

Food.

They want to eat everyday.

The facts are:

• Every Friday the kids of Covenant House pray for food.
• $55.00 would provide 25 kilograms of rice for 175 children for two days.
• $100.00 would provide 90 kilograms of beans for 175 children for one month.
• They need help.

Covenant House is filled with children whose needs go beyond food. They are orphans - kids with no families. The buildings on the 1.5 acre compound could easily be set up as homes, each with 12 children and trained house parents to care for them, as we work at an indigenous adoption program. Please ask God to show us how to be what He wants us to be for orphans. We're so hungry to help.

hugs from the haugers

The Tenants Who Wouldn't Move Out!

Becky had a room mate...

So when we moved in to our home here in Kenya, these little guys were already living there! We politely tried to "evict them," but they refused to move!

These little guys don't clean up after themselves, and they leave their body parts laying around! How rude!

They are lazy, loafing all day!

Becky finally had enough and decided she would physically eject them!

The next day, we saw the "grand daddy" of lizards! Thank God he was already "gone..."

Check back again for more excitement as we journey the Kenyan life!

POSTED 3 UPDATES IN ONE DAY FROM KENYA! IT'S AN INTERNET MIRACLE!!!
Please enjoy.
We'd love to have you comment!

Hugs from the Haugers

Times of Grace

Of course everything moves slower here. Plenty to do without the choices that lend towards effective time management. Eight people with one driver. A household to create from one store (think Alco only). Food to prepare (for 8 people) on a table top burner. Water to boil, always boiling the water. We bouncing along in traffic among the peci-pecis, matutus, buses, cows, chickens and people ambling along the roadside. We wait. We wait in jams, for meetings to start, vendors to barter, decisions to be made... This is life for the last 14 days, and it probably won't change any time soon. As we live, we find ourselves moving on the rhythms of God's grace.

Just yesterday we went to a shop to find fabric for Becky and Addie to make curtains. Waiting outside, at a busy intersection of town, we saw a young boy fall to ground and start seizing. He convulsed while cars whizzed by without concern. We prayed. Mark ran to buy a water and walked over to the boy after he came back around. We find out that his name is Eric and he sniffs glue. His life is harder than the dangers of sniffing glue. Mark prays with Eric and we watch him wander away. We have to believe God follows after him. It's a time of grace.

Becky and Addie's room is on the upper level of our home. It has a veranda that overlooks our broken-bottle encrusted, cement security wall and into the neighborhood.. That evening Becky tells us about the girl she sees from her veranda who lives in a corrugated metal shack next to the wall. She has a baby. The baby cries a lot. The baby is hungry. The next day, as Becky washes her clothes, she finds the baby's new cleaned diaper cloths draped across the security wall, drying in the warm African sun. Becky has to do something that will help. We talk. We pray and the following morning, while the diapers are out drying, Becky pins a thousand note shilling on to one of them. She prays again believing God will make the difference from this simple act of kindness. Another moment in grace.

His name is Timothy, and he wanders up to me at the Nakumatt market. His stares at his feet and whispers, “Will you please take me?” He glances up at me, tears brimming in his chocolate eyes. His story is not uncommon here. Neglected. Alone. What can we do? How does God want to make a difference in the lives of the “Timothys” that overwhelm this land? I pray with him, telling him it's dangerous to ask people to take him home. Does he want a ride? A meal? Where is his home? I give him some change and he wanders away. That night my prayers surround Timothy, and I have to believe God is with him, surrounding him with what I could not yet offer.We realize these grace moments fill our live not because of who we are or what we have to give. It's not about our efficiency or effectiveness. It's always about God and what He is doing. Yes, we'll work hard on projects that help the poor, participate in prayer and fasting, share the gospel. We'll cultivate good friendships and be thankful for our blessings. We'll acclimate to the differences we encounter daily but in the end, it's the moments of grace that show us were all in the same place; needing our Father's tenderness to heal our broken places.