Prior to last Advent, we received the latest newsletter from Nairobi, from which we share below some of the difficulties being faced by this faithful team in a deprived community:
The whole world is currently going through difficult moments of the COVID 19 pandemic. It started in China and quickly spread to the rest of the world, every country counting deaths in thousands. As the disease spread quickly in the western countries, a lot of fear engulfed among the African nations as the number of COVID 19 victims grew every day in the affected countries and various governments watched helplessly.
Here in Kenya, the ministry of health was always in the media warning citizens to change their ways, wash hands, wear masks, observe social distance and many people adopted the new rules from fear of the pandemic. The government started buying more land for mass graves, as more hospital branches were opened in preparedness for influx of COVID 19 patients. The immediate step that the government took was abrupt closure of educational institutions on March 15th 2020 and a curfew placed on Nairobi and Mombasa cities, where a few numbers had been reported already. Dwellers of Nairobi and Mombasa were restricted to not move beyond city borders and other populations outside could not enter for a couple of months, apart from foodstuff and parcels.
Again within Nairobi city there were some estates where COVID 19 pandemic number of patients seemed to grow steadily. VPM closed down our school program in Korogocho on 24th March 2020. We retained the feeding programme for the children who still depend on our feeding to survive in Korogocho. The feeding programme itself was strictly manned to control who are coming in for the food because the number of starving people kept swelling each day beyond what VPM can accommodate.
Street children distributed Bread at VPM
We thank God for delivering African Nations, from the hands of death in our millions as victims of COVID 19 pandemic. It was only as God’s protection. This is because African Nations, Kenya included, don’t have the capacity to contain pandemic virus that seemed difficult to the western world.
Vision Missionary Church is the backbone of gospel evangelism to the residents of Korogocho slums. Our mandatory goal of our services at VPM is to present Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour of all human kind and everything that we do, we do in the name of Jesus Christ as our guiding principle. We thank God as a team of “Vision Peoples”, serving the Lord in Korogocho, for his faithfulness and gracious manifestation to our ministries for all the needy of Korogocho. Our church remains alive and vibrant to all corners of Korogocho slums.
I’m really urging you and your family members to take care of yourselves in the coming weeks. I’m pleading with you to wear your masks, please keep a social distance and sanitize always. We cannot afford to lose any other person to this virus. Please will you keep safe for me!
Revd. Franklyn Otwoma
Franklyn knows the Christian community in Epsom and truly appreciates the generous support from Christ Church over many years. We continue to share in love donations to VPM which a number of our congregation and others in Epsom and across the UK have made over the Christmas period. This allows them to continue in their faithful commitment to their feeding and medications programmes to the many needy residents in Korogocho.
Please pray for VPM and to learn more about all their extensive activities, their website is: http://www.visionpeoples.co.ke
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