In our fall of 2007 newsletter, you may remember the story of the divine appointment that Harvesters International Missions (HIM) had with Godfrey Kibua ten years ago that led to the purchase of our first water drilling rig. Harvesters, by faith, committed $65,000 for the purchase of this rig, which was old, and in great need of repairs. Through that purchase, the Lord was faithful and He brought water to many Pokot for the first time in their lives.

Five years ago, it became apparent that repairs for this equipment were becoming nearly impossible and the Lord again blessed us with the donation of equipment from the United States. Again, by faith, HIM committed $50,000 to ship the rig and other necessary equipment to Kenya. Although this was also a used rig, it had a lot of life left in it. Since the rig’s arrival in Kenya, the Pokot have dug twenty-seven wells, but now, five years later, as with the first equipment, it is getting harder and harder to find replacement parts and to get repairs accomplished.

We are pleased to give testimony that the Lord has provided $300,000 through individuals, churches and foundations for a brand new drilling rig from India. This rig is capable of drilling much deeper wells that will open new areas for evangelism and it will also drill wells much faster. We have placed an order for this equipment and are excited about what the Lord has provided and how the equipment will be used to share the Living Water with those who have never heard the Gospel.

We praise the Lord for His great provision and for His faithfulness in answering the prayers of His people.

Julius Murgor Continues His Ministry to the Pokot as a Member of Parliament

Ministry is the act of serving. Serving is to work for or be a servant to. The concept is usually related to some type of religious action or capacity. The life of Jesus is a tremendous example of the concept of service and His death was the penultimate act of service.

For over 20 years, Julius has served his community and countrymen with integrity, honor and energy despite circumstances that would have been the undoing of lesser men. In all that he does, he is resolute to address both the physical and spiritual needs of others.

Through his effort and God’s blessing, Julius has become the Pokot’s advocate to the outside world. He has stood in stark contrast to government and parliamentary officials who have done little to help the underserved community of West Pokot. The people know that he genuinely cares for them and he has selflessly dedicated himself to their betterment through the gospel of Christ.

For a number of years, Julius has resisted community pressure to represent them in the government as their member of parliament. Prayer, church politics and the status of ministry leadership led him to the conclusion that the time was not right for such a step.

As time has passed, the obstacles that had previously kept Julius from putting his name in the hat for MP were removed. Julius has a dedicated and talented team overseeing many of the daily activities of the ministry and church politics are being taken care of through other means.

Therefore, it was with peace of mind and the full blessing of the Harvesters Board of Directors that Julius agreed to seek the post of Member of Parliament for the Kapenguria constituency of West Pokot District. During the Kenyan election season, which is thankfully much shorter than that of the U.S., it wasn’t necessary for Julius to do much campaigning. He is well known in the area as a man of God, integrity and unflappable moral standards.

Elections were held on December 27th. The Presidential election has been widely contested and chaos has broken out across the country. One thing that wasn’t in question was that Julius won his seat by garnering more than 50% more votes than his nearest competitor, Samuel Moroto, the incumbent.

There is no question that he will represent his constituency with the same energy and resolve that he has exerted thus far. Please pray for Julius as he adjusts to his new responsibilities and the nuances of politics. It is believed that his new duties will dovetail nicely with his ministry responsibilities. It is with great anticipation that we surround Julius with prayer and thanksgiving as he moves into a new phase of his ministry serving others.

For the Pokot tribe on Northwestern Kenya, water is life. For the past decade, Harvesters has been drilling water wells in Kenya to help to bring clean drinking water to the people.

With a well, this nomadic tribe can settle, raise their animals and become communal dwellers. Water is the key to their physical life and for Harvesters it is the key to sharing everlasting life.

The well is the first step in the construction of mission stations which become community centers for medical treatment, schooling and spiritual growth.

The goal for 2007 was to drill ten new wells. With each well costing approximately $21,000, to reach this goal alone was almost a quarter of a million dollars. By mid-summer, money had been sent for five wells. By God’s grace, all the wells that had been started had produced water, but we were still five wells short with less than half a year remaining.

We trusted that the Lord knew where the remaining $105,000 would come from, and He was faithful to provide.

During a visit to the U.S., Julius Murgor and director Ed Hirshman visited a business in Memphis, Tennessee. Through the company’s charitable foundation, Harvesters submitted a request for four of the five water wells needed to meet our goal.

The grant was accepted and the foundation has generously supplied the funds for those four wells and other generous donors have met the need for the fifth well.

The Pokot are being given more than physical water – they are being given fountains of living water. Each new well is used as an opportunity to start a preaching point under a tree. Once a community begins to gather, a permanent church is established by the community or a mission station, with a nurse and a pastor is constructed.

Thanks to the generosity of the foundation and contributors, several thousand Pokot will now have the opportunity to be nourished by both physical and spiritual water.

As Harvesters International Missions (HIM) seeks to reach its goal of establishing 15 new mission stations over the next five years, the need for nurses increases.

Each of the 10 existing mission stations consists of a well, a church that often doubles as a school, a small home for the pastor and a clinic. With each new clinic, there is a need for medical staff.

As the Pokot children are able to start completing secondary school, it is the hope that more and more of them will be able to attend university to be able to train in the areas of medicine, teaching, politics and agriculture. With these skills, these graduates are starting to return to help their people.

One of those who recently completed her medical training is Miriam. Miriam is the wife of Pastor Job, one of the young pastors serving at the first mission station at Chepturu. We praise the Lord for Miriam and the contribution that she is making at the station. She is an example to the young people that she touches. She has completed her medical training as a wife and mother – no easy task.

We pray that others will have the opportunity of education and will find it a pleasure to give back to the Pokot people through the ministry of medicine. In addition to the station clinics, we are also praying that a small hospital will be built within the next five years.

Currently there is no hospital that is easily accessible to most of the tribe. The closest hospital, in Eldoret, takes is at least a day’s journey, if not more, for most Pokot.

Then there is the problem of payment for treatment and the issue of communication. There is a tremendous medical need, and so few qualified to meet that need.

With proper staffing and an adequate supply of medicines the future may hold life expectancies beyond 40 years and more than one in five children living past the age of 4.

Life is hard for the Pokot, but simple medical treatments can drastically improve their lives.

“Glad that God has Chosen Us.” I heard this from Kamlesh Biarwa of India in October 2006 on my first mission trip to the Pokot. These words hit me hard and drew tears.

I hadn’t thought of that before. I knew God wanted me there and I was excited to be serving Him, but I didn’t realize that God had actually chosen me.

Why would He want me? What did I have to offer? I was baffled and humbled by these words. They still resonate with me today and more and more I’m learning to understand their meaning.

Ten months ago before that trip, I felt that God was calling me to missions but never knew what that really meant. I thought I would maybe make a yearly mission trip, but that would be about it. Yet, on that trip God confirmed His calling and set before me a path that has completely and totally changed my life.

Through the Pokot people, my heart was changed. God used the clinics, the bush, and the beauty of the experience to bring me to the realization that this is what He had for my life. He opened my eyes and my heart.

It was the last night in the bush, on that first trip, when I told my teammates that this was God’s will for me and I was ready to follow. Since that time I’ve spent many hours in prayer and asking the Lord how I could serve Him through missions.

God has been so faithful and has continually laid the path out before me, one step at a time. I’m humbled and honored to say that God has made the way for me.

God has really changed my life in great ways since that trip in October. He took any plans that I had for my life and set them aside, so that I might follow His plans, and for that I am so grateful.

A year ago I would have never imagined that I would be working with full time missions. I am so thankful that God’s ways are not our ways. The path isn’t always clear, but it is straight. It isn’t always easy and sometimes it’s honestly just frustrating. Yet walking in Christ is always good. The Lord does have a plan for each of us.

The Great Commission is not a recommendation. It’s a command to us as believers. Christ meant for us to go and make disciples in all nations and to give to those in need. I’m convinced that we can all do something.

God is calling each of us to the work that He has set for us. I challenge you to seek Christ, do the work of the Lord, and do something for those in need around the world.

There is a great physical need, but more importantly there are so many that have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let us not be still, but active in the work of our Lord.

About ten years ago Harold Stevens and I arrived in Nairobi Kenya to explore the possibilities of finding someone to drill water wells to start the mission station project for the Pokot Tribe of western Kenya.

The first thing that we had to do was find an inexpensive place to stay and after looking at a couple of faith-based guest houses the Lord led us to the Methodist Guest House (MGH) in Nairobi. The second major task was to drive and find our own way around the chaotic city of Nairobi, me driving a right hand drive standard shift vehicle and Harold navigating. A prescription for disaster!!

We set out the first day and visited a couple of faith-based agencies and a couple of private drilling companies. At the end of the day we returned to the Methodist Guest House very discouraged in what we had found out concerning the high cost of drilling for water.

While standing at the reception desk of the MGH, Harold suggested that I place a telephone call back to the U.S. asking that the supporting churches pray for us and the need at hand. After completing the phone call and explaining to Harold the conversation I just had, a well dressed African man appeared and introduced himself as Godfrey Kibua, the General Manager of the MGH, and asking what we were in Kenya for. That divine appointment began a wonderful relationship between us (Harold, Pastor Julius Murgor and me) that only the Lord could orchestrate.

After sharing our troubled hearts that evening with Godfrey and what we were there for, Godfrey told us that not only did he know a man who had a drilling rig and transport truck for sale in Kenya but the man was on his way to the Guest House that night and we would meet and talk with him.

Since that day the Lord has worked many miraculously things in and through the relationship of Harvesters International Missions, the Pokot Outreach Ministry and Mr. Godfrey Kibua. He has continued to assist in every way possible and every step of the way.

Godfrey, his wife Patricia and the MGH staff have assisted every team that has come from the US making us feel like not only family but loved family! Godfrey has truly been and continues to be one of those “silent saints”, standing in the gap. Just ask anyone who has met them!!!

Godfrey’s job is as the Guest House manager. His mission has been to assist those in need with the skills and abilities that God has given him. Both he and Patricia are active in the leadership of their church and Godfrey serves as the chairman of several significant organizations in and around Nairobi.

He does all that he does without regard for recognition or want of reciprocity. He does it out of humbleness and a genuine desire to help.

Harvesters and POM are extremely grateful to Godfrey and all of the other individuals that God has brought into the ministry.

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.