For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.1 Corinthians 12;12, 27

“It’s gonna be cold where we’re going.” After home service, John stayed for a couple weeks to travel with John Kissinger Nyang’au to visit churches and districts in the upper Midwest to promote Project 24 and Christ’s Care for Children—Kenya (CCC—K). Kissinger is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya (ELCK) and supports our field as the Director of Project 24, a project partnership of the ELCK and LCMS to care for orphaned and vulnerable children in Kenya so they may know about Christ.

In past newsletters, we’ve shared about the children, the members within the ELCK who support the boarding facilities and the chaplains who share Christ with their families. This time I had a chance to visit many supporters and advocates who helped start Project 24, many of whom are in the North Dakota and Minnesota-North districts. This trip also included South Dakota, Minnesota-South, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Some supporters, who have visited Kenya and have a passion for helping children, have become advocates of the program. They volunteer their time and resources to share with other congregations and people in their areas about the children, how they grow in God’s Word and how people can be part of this mission work. Some have been with the program for nearly ten years and have a wealth of knowledge, deep relationships and a love for Christ. We’ve gradually come together as a team to bring our respective background and perspectives and to do things together that we wouldn’t be able to do alone. Through their guidance and connections, we were able to strengthen some relationships and develop new ones.

During our visits, we met with several current and new donors—people who value relationships, develop trust through interaction, assess dependability based on results, but put their trust in the Lord and His guidance. It was a blessing to share with them first hand how this program works, the interaction with the church leaders, the care they have for the children and the accountability they encourage and enforce to ensure the children can grow up in the Lord and have the resources they need.

Over two weeks, John traveled over 5,000 miles. On the day of his last two presentations, he woke up to eight inches of fluff on the ground. Time to head back to Africa!

John Wolf is the Africa Region Project Manager for the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. He and his family, with the support of LCMS churches like Saint John’s, are serving in Kenya. Please keep them in your prayers! We encourage you to follow their family blog, www.hereiamsendmesendme.blogspot.com, which is also where you can sign up to their mailing list and make donations.