Martin Family Newsletter

John & Anne Martin, P0 Box 778     Nakuru, Kenya
Email: john.martin@agmd.org       April, 2004
Kansas Missionaries Serving Street Children in Kenya

The Miraculous
Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who gave so that we could stay in Kenya. Once again God did a mighty miracle through you in our account. How can we thank you enough? We ask God's blessing on each one of you.

Group Homes
Our first group home is nearly completed! We are SO excited! There are 3 bedrooms that will hold 8-12 children. Some of these children were taken off of the streets in this very town, and will now return to a Kenyan-style home appropriate to the area with house parents and a loving church. The pastor has such a heart for these children. There is still much to do, but God is in this project. We feel His presence and His guidance.

HIV/AIDS
John and I were blessed to attend a two-week seminar on training people in home-based care for HIV/AIDS patients. There is such a huge need for this as over 60% of the hospital beds here are filled with patients suffering from this disease. We were given hands-on teaching on how to give bed baths, change bedding, treat bed sores, and to protect ourselves using readily available, inexpensive items such as plastic bags for gloves. We also got a deeper insight into the thoughts of some Kenyans. Although there were 17 educated people at this conference, only John, Sammy (HIV+) and I had ever been HIV tested. Even after 2 weeks of training the participants were very reluctant to go for the test. They just do not want to know Following the teaching on preparing wills John and I again were the only ones who actually had a will. Even among some Christians writing a will is considered a 'curse' that will bring death. John and I will be doing home-based care training in Assembly of God churches so that people can care for their loved ones with almost the same or better care than they would receive at the hospital. Because of the stigma of the disease at the hospital they are often treated with disrespect and left to die on their own with only minimal care.

Streetkids
For the past two years in Nakuru there has been a young, 9 year old boy names 'Ford' on the street begging daily. He is a charming kid who can easily separate people from their money with a smile. John and I tried to develop a relationship with him, and when his mother was ill in the hospital he asked us to take him and a cousin to visit her. She eventually died of AIDS, and Ford went to live with his grandfather. Neither the mother nor the grandfather was employed so Ford was the breadwinner for the family. Several

people had tried to put him in a children's home, but he wouldn't stay. His condition was deteriorating on the street. He was sniffing glue and losing his sparkle. As we prayed about what to do the Lord prompted us to try to find his home in the slum. He consented to take us there where we found a one-armed, drunken grandfather, a drunken grandmother who seizured, 3 other small children, a teenager and a few adults living in a small mud house. The children's parents had all died of AIDS leaving them for the grandparents to raise. We were prepared to place Ford in school, buy uniforms, books, etc. but when we saw 3 more of them plus a teenager who had only gone to the 3rd grade we were overwhelmed. The Lord had spoken to us to 'enlarge our tent' so we felt this qualified. We found a good, Christian school near their home, but it was expensive compared to the poorly run public schools. Again as we prayed God spoke to our hearts saying, "I choose the school." What could we do? Off the 4 went to private Christian school. We did not understand God's plan or how we could afford it. As these kids did not have any soap to wash their clothes they ended up going to the school on Saturday to do laundry. They were invited to the Sunday service there. The grandfather came along and found Jesus that morning. He quit drinking and started doing odd jobs around the area. The grandmother eventually quit drinking and is running a small vegetable business. The kids are doing well in school. They are clean, happy and learning about Jesus. This would not have happened in a public school. God knew

Baby Mercy
This next story I can barely write without crying. While visiting a patient in the hospital I was drawn to a lady at the end of the row whose baby was crying non-stop. As I got closer I could see the mother was near death from AIDS. Lying beside her was her baby, Mercy, dying from starvation. Remember the pictures from Ethiopia during their famine? This was worse. The mother had no milk so the baby hadn't eaten for quite awhile. Its little legs were like sticks. It was a 3 month old who looked like a tiny newborn. The mother barely got out the words asking me to pray for her and her baby. 'rhe hospital had refused to admit the baby to the children's ward because, "it wasn't sick." It was being left to die from starvation. Now this was not some little bush clinic. This was the district hospital! Sometimes John and I can lose our missionary cool (please forgive us), but this was cruel. We were able to 'persuade' them to admit the baby and at least make the mother comfortable. John went and bought bottles, formula and Pampers that created quite a stir in the ward. Not too many people using paper disposables in our area. Baby Mercy and her mother passed away after a few days. We know they died peacefully and are now in the arms of Jesus

Thank you for all that you do for us.
Love, John and Anne

Support Address: Assemblies of God World Missions, % John & Anne Martin, Act. # 292674,
1445 Boonville, Springfield, MO 65802 (Please make checks payable to Assemblies of God World Missions with our account number on the check.)