I am also very happy about Ryan being here. We have had a wonderful time together! And, he really understands and has passion for the mission we are doing in Kenya! His marketing ideas are great. I don't know how I can ever repay Ryan for his work. Below you will find his first work to recruit support for Partners for Care. When I showed him Mare's reports he wrote people asking for support for her. If you would send his appeal on to others we would appreciate it. We need to raise support for some of the programs we are doing and Mare was a good place to start. If you haven't read Ryan's updates I encourage you to. You will laugh and cry. He gets encouraging messages some from people he doesn't even know. He is an awesome Christian! You can find his updates at www.partnersforcare.blogspot.com
And, speaking of the blog if you go to the blog you will see it has a new name thanks to Ryan. We almost selected "Where is my Blackberry" because Ryan had heard that more than once from me. But, we we went with "Bury my Blackberry in Africa". You get the message.
From my Blackberry in Kenya,
Connie
Sent via Cingular Xpress Mail with Blackberry
Project 473
473. Remember that number. Have it on your mine. It's the number of calories in a McDonald's double cheeseburger. It's the number of minutes most people work in one day. And it is the number of children under the age of five that die everyday in Kenya. 473 children...sit with that number for a second. That means 1 in every 9 children born in Kenya will die before their fifth birthday. 473 children...90% of these children die from preventable causes, malnutrition, malaria, AIDS. 473 children... There is not much else to be said. No poetic way of stating this situation. There is no way to get around the subject. This is the number that drives Partners for Care; this is the number that we cannot accept, nor tolerate.
To say that Partners for Care is dedicated to reducing this number would be understating the urgency in which we work, in the urgency in which we live. Every single one of our projects is a tireless attempt at reducing this number. The what if? campaign calls the youth of this nation to live in purity and be free from the burden of HIV/AIDS, the cause of 15% of children deaths. "Beat the Drum" and the rescue center at "Community Transformers" helps shield precious children from malnutrition, the underlying cause in two-thirds of these deaths. 93 children out of the 473 die from malaria; we have handed out mosquito nets for protection. Mare Dushe, a social worker in Marsabit, faithfully works with us in this fight.
"Our great prayer is for children to get opportunity to go to school, to save their lives, and better their future. To man belongs the plan of the heart but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue, let us commit our entire plan unto the Lord and it will succeed." --Mare Dushe
That is her life. That is our mission. That is Project 473.
Her life, and our mission need your help. The needs of Mare Dushe are 300 dollars a month. I cannot promise that by helping to support Mare, the face of Kenya or its people will be forever changed. I cannot promise that these 300 dollars a month will be the cause of great miracles and revival through the lands. But I can promise that it will help clean the feet of the hopeless. I can promise that it will help bring peace to someone who has never known it, love to one who has never seen it, and joy to one who has never felt it. With you help, maybe, just maybe one of Mare's 473 children will be able to see tomorrow.
Partners for Care supports Mare as she helps serve in the most humble of ways. She bathes the dying. She feeds the hungry. She cleans and washes the feet of those with "Jiggers." She prays for the lost. Her monthly reports on her service are heartbreaking. "The community is bearing the death of its livestock and their hunger in this drought, most resort to barely eating one meal a day. Time for drought to end, and time to seek God," she writes in her September report. Every report Mare writes are full of horrific suffering, yet exude grace and love.
If you have low self-esteem, do not read Mare's reports. They would make Mother Teresa feel like even she hadn't done enough. She has no flashy ministry techniques, or impressive media tools to spread her message. She just does her best to feed the hungry. She tries to clothe the naked. She spends her day caring for the sick and poor. She brings people to Christ. She calls herself a "social worker," I have a feeling she is called a "good and faithful servant." She pursues her work with nothing more than a prayer, "Our God is a merciful and loving God and answers prayers whenever one humbles." That was a line in her report…right before she described how people were burning their dirty clothes because doing laundry was impossible…there is no water.
When I think about Mare, I think about how we serve a Great God, One who holds the past, present, and future of our universe in His hands. Immense in power. Mighty in His ways. But as I read of her work I think about the blessing it is to serve a small God. One who is wholly distracted by the calls of the dying in Marsabit, by the calls of the hopeless in the slums, by my call.
I am truly blessed to serve a small God. Faithful in his distraction. The God of 473 children in Kenya. The God of Mare Dushe.
Written by: Ryan Morris
*If you would like to contribute to the work of Mare Dushe. Please go to www.partnersforcare.org and click on "Donate" and specify "Mare Dushe." Or you can send a check to "Partners for Care" at 2001 Breckenridge Lane, Alpharetta, GA 30005. We are currently looking to raise funds of $300 per month for her to continue her vital ministry to the people of Marsabit.
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