Missionary vision is not new to the Pokot. For a number of years, many hearers of the gospel have desired to tell others in neighboring villages of the Good News of Christ.

Pokot missionaries have crossed the border of Uganda to reach their fellow tribesmen. As a result, other tribes have also been affected from seeing the change in the former cattle-rustling Pokot of eastern Uganda.

The unintended consequence of the Gospel has been a tenuous, but stable peace among Pokot and Karamojong. With limited resources, yet a hunger for others to share in the Gospel, evangelists have established many churches along the border of Kenya and Uganda.

The missionary zeal goes beyond Kenya’s border with Uganda. Just north of Uganda is a country that has been in civil war for some time now. Many readers have undoubtedly heard about the genocidal atrocities occurring in the region of Darfur in the Sudan.

A peace accord was signed in late 2005 that officially brought the Sudanese civil war to an end. However, the Islamic government of Sudan refuses to allow peacekeepers in to Darfur to address the claims of genocide.

An ongoing relief effort has been staged on the Kenyan side of the border at Lokichogio for a number of years. As southern Sudan, often referred to as the New Sudan, has become more stable, those relief efforts have started moving to the interior of Sudan to a town called Juba.

The road connecting Loki and Juba sees more convoys of relief supplies than any other road in Sudan. The supplies in these convoys pass by people who have been victims of civil war for decades, yet they watch as the UN trucks pass through and receive no benefit or outreach.

It is in this area, among the Toposa tribe, where the leadership of the Pokot Outreach Ministry desires to send their first cross-tribal missionaries. It is not a place that you will see on CNN or Fox News. It is, however, a place in need of a savior.

Civil war has thrown this place back in time. On a visit to the area in 2006, Julius Murgor stated that the Toposa remind him of the people of East Pokot, the most primitive of the tribe, more than 15 years ago when he returned to his people to start his ministry.

The first men are prepared to arrive in the area in November 2007. Initially, the men will stay in rented accommodations until the funds can be raised for a mission station and a well.

It is estimated that it will cost about $1,500 to get the men relocated to the area and $600 per month in support. Harvesters currently has commitments for half of the monthly support.

It is exciting to see what God is doing and to be part of a ministry that seeks to expands its boundaries to engulf others with the love of Christ. This is a unique time in the history of the world, and particularly, the history of Sudan.

Likewise, the freedom to place a missionary inside Sudan is also unique. We must take advantage of the opportunity before the doors close again.

Your help is needed. There will be many obstacles to overcome as these men relocate to Sudan. Please pray for their safety. Please pray that God would give them an unquenchable desire for the Toposa and their salvation. Please pray for the Toposa that God would prepare them for his Word and that the spiritual darkness would be removed from the area.

This year’s October medical/evangelism team consisted of a mix of doctors, nurses, paramedics and laypeople from Kensington church in Michigan, Callahan Baptist Church in Florida and churches from Hilton Head Island & Ohio.

The team of 20 started as strangers, but quickly became friends in Christ, working tirelessly to fulfill His mission for the Pokot. We were blessed to have Julius Murgor work with us in the field for 2 days of the mission.

Seven days of mobile medical clinics were conducted in the bush, sharing the love and hope of Christ. The Lord’s hand was truly on the team this year, as we were able to administer medications and treatment to over 2,800 people.

Most of the treatments were aimed at malaria, infection, pain management and wound care. While alleviating disease and pain is important, we must keep our focus on our true reason for using this team- to let the Pokot know of the ultimate physician and the availability of eternal life through Him.

To offer them hope.

The Pokot are living in a constant struggle to survive. Starvation, disease and death are a way of life for them. Only 1 in 5 of the children will make it to their 5th birthday, with 40 years the average life expectancy.

Their government does not offer them any aid, and POM cannot fulfill the overwhelming needs of the 1 million Pokot. Our medical efforts are small and short-lived, but sharing the love of Christ to a people who have been virtually ignored by their country speaks volumes to them of the power of our God.

Our teams act as support for the local pastors, who can then follow-up with the people we have reached, and expand their ministries.

We continually hear of the thankfulness from the African pastors, nurses, and patients for our coming to help them. We are truly blessed to be used to ease their suffering, and let them know of eternal life with God.

If you have a heart for the medical and spiritual needs of the Pokot…

If you have any type of medical background, or not!!…

If you are ready to listen to that tugging at your heart…

If you are brave enough to trust Him to take care of your worries…

then join us next October!

Share in the joy of serving the Pokot, and lose your life for Him.

Greetings to you in our Lord’s name. I have been in the U.S. for over a month now having started from Winchester, V.A., where a group of missionaries supported by Fellowship Bible Church came together for fellowship in the Word.

Each missionary gave of what God is doing around the world. God is really at work to save His people. We also heard how the devil is trying to hinder the spread of the Gospel.

I have started my trip to the supporting churches and friends throughout the States and I look forward to seeing many of you in your churches and homes. Please pray for my safety as I drive about 5,000 miles on the “wrong” side of the road.

My family was doing well as I was leaving the country. Josephine, now 13 and in 7th grade, is home on break from school. She continues to keep good grades. She also behaves well in school and is well liked by her teachers, house parents and fellow students. We thank God that, as she grows to be a young woman, she loves the Lord and is developing a responsible character. The good thing is, apart from looking like her daddy, she is daddy’s girl!

Rebecca, now 8 and in 4th grade in our village school, looks forward to boarding school this year where she will join her sister. The school turned her away last year because she was too little. Otherwise, she is also doing well academically and growing tall.

Miriam, the ever happy and ever singing, is growing well and has lost her baby teeth at the age of 5 and is in the 1st grade.

Jumboy, Jared our son, is now 3 and in kindergarten, is also doing well and has started to like school, which he used to resist. Did I say a while ago that he was a terrorist to the girls? Well, he has turned around to be the “king” and a spoiled boy being carried around.

Church Planting and Evangelism

We thank God for the Training Center which has given us men to minister to the fast-growing populations of the local churches.

Before coming to the U.S., I had the opportunity to visit John Pusien up on the “mountain of God.” We visited several places like Kotit, Ptoyo, Kapkaba and many others, where we saw what these men go through every day. It made me appreciate our training facility and the evangelists who sacrifice to train there and minister to their communities.

In Ptoyo, there is a tribal prophet who claims to have powers to bring rain and make the dusty, rocky, hot and hungry people have food. He has taken advantage of the people by demanding honey in containers and goats from the hungry villagers in the area.

To rescue the people from such powers, these men have gone in with the Gospel and have dispelled the powers of darkness and a church has been planted. This area and the others areas, as well.

With a team led by Ed Hirshman, we recently visited Kasitit and Chelsitit areas in East Pokot with the Gospel for the first time. Ed described it as something he would expect to see in National Geographic. People wore animal skins for clothes and ostrich feathers on their heads. Pray for Yusef and Job as they keep the flame of the Gospel burning in the midst of very difficult circumstances.

Water Drilling

We reported to you last year that we were not able to drill as many holes as we would have liked according to the demand for water. This was because of a lack of funds, so we drilled only 4. This year seems to be starting well. Between January and now, we have received funds from a church in Michigan to drill 3 holes. We have finished one hole already, which has an abundance of water. In the next month or two, we should be through drilling the two remaining holes, unless our old drilling machine breaks down.

Around the new well, a village is building up and a gathering is being drawn to hear the Gospel. There is no better tool to get these ever-thirsty, ever-hungry than drilling a well for them. Please pray that God will continue to provide more wells. We are also praying for the provision of a new drilling machine that can drill as deep as 700 feet.

We also have the Agricultural and Water engineers from Israel, who came to look at our irrigation solution to the starvation situation, have completed their report and have given us their evaluations and recommendations. It will surely be a lasting solution to the persistent lack of water. They have recommended that when the Serewo Water Fall Project is done and the irrigation project is complete, it will irrigate more than 2,000 acres of land and will produce a lot of food twice a year. This is great news for us!!

Meanwhile, 110,000 Pokot will be facing starvation between now and August of this year, according to the World Food Programme. Please pray that God will provide $20,000 a hole for us to continue drilling water for this dry land and provide some food for the people.

Ophanages

I have come to appreciate parents for the undertaking of parenting, providing the things that children need and shaping them up for future usefulness and responsibility. This is what we are trying to do at the orphanages where God has given us a challenging position of parenting some of the children who have grown well and are helping us as teachers, preachers, nurses in our clinics and serving in the government as teachers and chiefs. It is a sign to us that is encouraging to us and is evidence that we have done well. Our third orphanage in Chemolingot is just about ready to receive about 100 children by January 2008. That will bring our total number of orphans to around 450. Please continue to partner with us in prayer and financial support as we try our best to feed 350 mouths every day, clothe, educate and take care of these children.

Medical Services

Recently, there was a problem of a pregnant mother who went into labor. Some older women came to help her but the baby took forever to come. After two days of labor, only a hand of the baby stuck out and nothing more for another whole day. Apart from the traditional midwives, there was no one in the village trained to help. As the situation proved to be too complicated for the traditional women, there was nothing they could do but watch the baby and mother dying in front of them.

This is one of the incidents that compel us to establish mission stations with medical clinics and trained nurses to help the people medically where they are in the villages. We thank god for Chepuka, which is being finished now. The people are very happy that they will hear the Word and receive medical services in this precious facility.

We are also praying for a more equipped hospital to which we can refer our village cases.

Thank you and may God bless you as we partner together to advance His kingdom.

Julius Murgor

Wow! What an incredible experience! In February I traveled along with several other missionaries to minister to the Pokot in Kenya. I’ve helped Harvesters International with some of their print projects over the years and, as a member of Grace Community Church, I’ve heard about and prayed for the Pokot. Ed Hirshman asked me to prayerfully consider going on this vision trip so that I could see firsthand the great need of the Pokot and also the good that was being done by God with the contributions being handled by this honest, responsible organization.

In addition to the wonderful opportunity to get to know and work alongside missionaries from my own church and other churches in the U.S., it was very special to meet and talk with pastors and evangelists of the Pokot Outreach Ministry (POM) headed by Pastor Julius Murgor.

These faithful servants with names like Abraham, Yusef, Samson, James, and Miriam were outstanding examples of servant hood to us all. We traveled through the very dry (and very hot!) Rift Valley to visit many areas in both West and East Pokot. These included the waterfall project, the drill rig, the pastor training center, the orphanages at Karioung and Kodich as well as another orphanage under construction in Chemolingot, several mission stations and villages.

We held meetings in venues ranging from newly-constructed churches to “tree churches” – the ground beneath a shady tree. We also visited the clinic in Kapenguria, which is supported by our contributions and also some land that has been purchased by Harvesters and POM in hopes of building a small hospital.

The POM Clinic, along with the annual Harvesters medical team visits at various locations throughout Pokot land, is often the only medical care this tribe receives. The only government hospital is located miles away from their villages – days away if, you are walking.

Many literally die on the way to this hospital and some have been turned away because they can’t pay or the hospital lacks supplies. We visited three remote villages in the northern section of East Pokot where many villagers had never seen “white faces”, or mzungus, before. They didn’t have any buildings in their villages other than the small circular huts in which they live that were made of mud and dung.

It was absolutely amazing to watch as entire villages stood up to accept Christ after being given the invitation to do so by Pastor Julius Murgor. Speaking in their native language, Pastor Murgor compared the hopelessness of the gods of their forefathers with the living hope offered by the true God through His Son, Christ Jesus.

We also saw a glimpse of the future when two engineers from Israel presented options for bringing more water to the Pokot. These options would also provide irrigation for crops and perhaps a small power plant that could supply electricity to the area as well. Israel’s terrain is very similar to Pokot land and their government-backed projects have been very successful at providing produce for consumption and for sale.

Of all the trip’s experiences, I will remember the Pokot children and women more than anything else. The number of children, orphaned because their parents were killed by conflicts with neighboring tribes or by malaria, living in the various orphanages is staggering.

“I will never forget the bright joyous smiles on the faces of these skinny, raggedly clothed kids. They are truly just glad to be alive and to have water, shelter and food. In many of the areas we visited, only one out of every five children will survive past the age of four. The mothers know that the chances are slim that their babies will survive and they don’t want to bond with them, so they give the babies to one of the other children to care for. It is so sad.”

The struggle of the women in this area is tremendous. The women are almost lower than the animals. They have really hard lives – cooking, taking care of the children, walking for hours to find water and then hours walking back with heavy containers on their heads. There is still ritualistic female genital mutilation being performed in the non-Christianized areas – which just breaks my heart.

I quickly started to view the women as my own special ministry – probably God’s REAL purpose for my mission trip to Kenya. I wanted so much for them to feel special and to feel God’s love for them. So instead of just shaking their hands (they all wanted to touch us), I would grab them and give them big hugs. I would laugh with them, jump up and down and make the “la, la, la, la, la” sound they make when they are happy and enjoying something.

You should see the gifts they would give us – just to show that we were welcome there. We hated to take any of their few possessions from them, but it would have been a terrible insult to refuse. They are so skinny and they had quite a fun time trying to stretch their bracelets to fit my much plumper wrists! Or tie one of their belts around my much (much) more ample waist! But they were so thrilled to be giving us something.

It is truly amazing to see people who have so little material possessions with such a giving spirit. They don’t know exactly what our lives are like in America, but they do have some concept of the fact that we have sacrificed and traveled a long way just to come see them. And they are so appreciative of that.

The work that God is doing through Harvesters International and the Pokot Outreach Ministry is really making a difference in the lives of the Pokot.

They truly feel that “God lives in their village” when they see clean water coming out of the ground through the pump. I ask for your continued prayer and financial support.

I know it sounds like a cliché to say “we have so much to be thankful for here in America”, but it really is true. I was humbled by the Pokot’s strength and faithfulness through heavy challenges and trials, their thankfulness and their joy. It was truly an experience I will never forget.

Julius Murgor is a native of the Pokot tribe. As a child he was educated in the herding of cattle — the primary activity of the Pokot people. Julius did not take to the idea of being a herder and he would wander into the bush and make toys for himself out of sticks, rocks and whatever else might be available. This lack of interest displeased his father who asked the village chief to send Julius away to boarding school as a punishment.

Moving away from the tribe to an academic environment was difficult, but Julius was a good student and was able to skip two grades in elementary school. High school became a challenge financially, but God was in control and a man in Canada supplied the funds for Julius to be able to complete High School.

Julius’ acceptance of Jesus as his Lord and Saviour came through a friend who attended another High School about forty miles from where Julius’ school was located. Over a school holiday he shared with Julius what a teacher at his school had shared with him about the Good News. Julius became the first believer in his village of about 5,000 people.

After High School, through the continued support of his Canadian sponsor, Julius attended Kenya Highlands Bible College where he met a teacher who changed his life. This man suggested that Julius go to the United States to learn to teach others to share the Gospel. He knew that foreigners would have a very difficult time surviving under the harsh conditions which the Pokot live. It would take a national to bring the Pokot to Christ.

Julius was hesitant because of finances, but the Lord provided a full scholarship to Washington Bible College where Julius completed his undergraduate studies and then completed his masters at Trinity Divinity School (Trinity International University) in 1987. With degree in hand, it was time to return to the hard life that he had left. Many people tried to convince him to stay in the States, but he knew that God kept speaking to him through Isaiah 6:8 “Whom shall we send and who will go for us.”

Julius returned, got married and headed off to the middle of one of the toughest areas of Pokot where he preached for five years with no fruit. It was his wife Rachel who caused a turn in the ministry. She invited village women to tea and bread at the house. She started with about six to eight women and the conversations soon brought questions about creation, customs and beliefs. That small group blossomed into a Bible study, then a church and now has grown into 177 preaching points and continues to grow each year.

Julius and Rachel have four children — three girls and one boy. Julius oversees the work at three orphanages housing 450 children and 10 medical clinics. He also conducts evangelistic training for pastors and evangelists. He is constantly looking for new ways to improve the lives of the Pokot as a way of bringing glory to the Lord for His provisions.

God took the life of this one man to make a difference to a tribe of close to 1,000,000. With God all things are possible!

The roads in Pokot are rough and traveling them is a lengthy and arduous process. Pastors and evangelists walk long distances daily to minister unreached people and preaching points as they continue their mission to reach those that have yet to hear the Gospel. They walk tirelessly and are focused as they minister for Jesus Christ.

Vehicles are often unavailable or undependable in reaching those deepest in the bush. The most efficient, economical, and realistic solution is bicycles but they are often not affordable for nationals.

In August, through a gift given in memory of the late Harold Stevens, Harvesters was able to purchase ten bicycles for evangelists working in the bush of West Pokot District, Kenya. Harold worked with the Zulu tribe of South Africa for 27 years and later with Harvesters. Their charge, “Harold Stevens gave his life that others may know salvation through Jesus Christ. Use these bicycles to further that mission in memory and honor of him.”

Those evangelists are very thankful and proud to have received their new bicycles. Those bikes are truly an evangelism tool and helpful in their service. A bicycle that may seem simple and unsubstantial to us makes a world of difference to a people lost and hungry for salvation and to those that labor for Christ.

Those in Pokot send their thanks and appreciation for the faithfulness and charity of such a gift. They thank God for your love and faithfulness. And God is honored in such a gift and that is why we are here.