LMI Kenya Mission to Women, Children, Orphans 2008

In September of 2008 I travelled to Kenya to minister to pastors, women, widows, and orphans. It was a journey I will never forget. During the Lydia Ministries Conference to Women, hosted by Bishop Tom Omukhobero and the Kenya Evangelical Methodist Church, I spoke to the women about being Christian women in leadership. Below is a video production created out of that experience. I hope you enjoy it, share with your friends, and if it moves your heart -- join us for TEAM KENYA 2009. If you can't make the journey with us, but would like to contribute through donations, please visit our website at www.lydiaministry.com and you can donate at the bottom of the page securely with your paypal or visa. Or, you send a check or money order to Lydia Ministries International, 290 Half Timber Drive, Marion NC 28752
We do not take a salary from LMI donations. All work and ministry is provided by volunteers, including the director --Susan.
LMI is a 501 (3)(c) non-profit organization/ministry and your gift is tax deductible. Please give so that our work to pastors, widows, women, and orphans around the world can continue.

Other Donations Needed for TEAM KENYA 2009

In September, TEAM KENYA 2009 will travel to Kenya with a team of 15-20 volunteers to renovate a children’s center in Kibera/Muthare, the world’s second largest slum area. This will include cleaning, painting, and some much-needed remodeling. The children who attend the center/school are orphaned due to the AIDS epidemic and are living on the streets of the slum; some have been fortunate enough to have been taken in by families living in the slums. In a 2.2 square mile area, there are over 100,000 orphans; 80% are orphaned due to AIDS; and half of the 80% are HIV-positive (40,000 children). I know we cannot minister to all of them, but it is our team’s hope that we will also be able to take much-needed school supplies and some basic clothing items for the children at the center. Many of these children are running barefoot through the streets, putting themselves at great health risk for infections from parasites or simple cuts. Most go for days without food, and have never known the taste of clean water.

In addition, part of the team will build a multipurpose building to serve as church/school in Namanga that members of the Maasai tribe desperately need, with two rooms to provide a home to the pastor who currently walks 7 miles daily to get to the church area. Maasai elders have given ten acres of land to build the church on, and the entire Maasai tribe will help with the building project. The children are presently meeting outside under the trees for school and are in danger from lion attacks.

Would you please consider giving supplies to this worthwhile cause and/or posting this at your church or place of work. We are accepting donations of toothpaste, toothbrushes, new children’s underwear, new or gently used children’s shoes (crocs and slip-on sneakers), #2 pencils, cap erasers, pens, 24-pack crayons, plastic pencil sharpeners, packs of notebook paper, 70-page spiral bound notebooks, children’s vitamins; powdered infant formula, and over-the-counter medications (generic pain relievers for both adults and children, antibiotic cream or ointments, first aid supplies, Monistat or its generic equivalent, miconazole), dark purple 50/50 t-shirts in children and youth sizes for the school uniform shirts, dark navy shorts in boy’s sizes and dark navy jumpers or skirts in cotton for girls, dark navy or dark purple knee socks, or white knee socks for girls.

In addition, Lydia Ministries International is prepared to host several showings of the Jesus video and the Magdalena video while in Kenya, during our events there. We need a digital video projector to be able to do this.

You can mail your donations to: Lydia Ministries International, 290 Half-Timber Drive, Marion NC 28752 USA

While we will accept material donations up to September 5th, we prefer to have them by June 6th for our training day meeting. At this time, each team member will help pack suitcases with the donations.

If you live in the Western N.C. area, in the Charlotte, N.C. area, or in the Harrisburg, PA area we may be able to have someone pick up the donations or arrange a drop site.

If you would like to join team Kenya 2009, or know of someone who might, early registration deadline is June 15th. The cost of this trip is about half of what most mission trips of this duration and quality cost. We have done this to make the trip available to more people and get the job done. The total costs: round-trip airfare from Asheville NC, room and two meals daily, ground transportation in Kenya, training, training manual, one day safari, day at the Giraffe Reserves, Celebration at the infamous Carnivores Restaurant in Nairobi-- and a tee shirt --$2,950.00 The early bird discount ends June 15th, unless other arrangements have been made. After June 15th the cost is $3,450.00 Thank you so much in advance for anything you might be willing to donate!

Financial donations to help build the church/school and renovate the children’s center are greatly appreciated . If you would like to make a financial donation, you may send a check or money order to: Lydia Ministries International, 290 Half Timber Drive, Marion NC 28752 or you may visit our website at www.lydiaministry.com/teamkenya2009.html and there is a donation button where you can give securely through Paypal or Google checkout.

Lydia Ministries International is a 501 (3)(c) non-profit organization/ministry. Your donations is tax deductible. You will receive a receipt for your donation. 100% of your gift goes to the ministry of LMI. We do not take a salary from the ministry.

Donations Needed for TEAM KENYA 2009

I have to say that fund-raising is my least favorite part of ministry! I was taught as a "little girl" to never ask for money, it was not "lady-like" and I have struggled with this throughout my ministry! Yes, that is a personal confession, but isn't that part of what blogging is about-- getting personal and real with those around us? Ok, back to my story -- raising funds and requesting money is the hardest part of ministry for me. However, I had a conversation with my Life Coach one day about this very thing, and I realized that there are people who want to support this ministry, and they want to support me. I just have to be ready to make the need known. The most important thing though is that I know that God will supply every need. He owns the cattle on all of the hillsides, and his economy is never in recession!

In September 2008 I travelled to Kenya. I was there to lead a Pastors' Leadership Conference, and Women's Conference. I had been asked if I would go out and minister to a Maasai tribe, and I had accepted. When I was taken out to meet the Maasai tribe I never knew that God would use that time to put such a passion for these people on my heart. It wasn't because the people asked, but because God showed me the pure passion they had for Him as they worshipped Him there under the acacia trees.

I never knew that I would be spending the entire next year planning how I could raise funds and recruit volunteers to take the journey of a lifetime to Maasai land in Namanga on the border of Tanzania and Kenya. But not just a journey, a mission to build these people the church they had been praying for. The elders had given the land and the Chief Ole Sadira had extended the request of the people -- send someone to build us a church/school building.

As I pondered this, I had another heavy burden on my heart -- the children I had met in a children's center in Muthare slums. I had been blessed to take shoes which had been donated and which I had collected, and I sat and put shoes on the children's feet. Some of the children had to be told, "I'm sorry. I don't have any shoes which fit you." I was determined to go back and renovate the children's center. Then too, there were the children in the streets -- orphans. Some of them were lucky enough to have a bag of beans to suck on. So, a real mission would have to reach out to these kids.

I knew that I did not have the resources or the knowledge to build a church! I didn't have the resources or the knowledge to renovate a children's center. I couldn't minister to over three hundred kids and feed them two meals a day by myself. I knew it would take an incredible team of wonderful and dedicated people for this mission hope to become a reality.

With less than 4 1/2 months to go until our time of departure for Kenya, I can say that God is building the most wonderfully equipped team anyone could hope for. We have team leaders who are dedicated and passionate and equipped! We have team members who are ready to do what it takes to get the job done.

But, we still need the funds to get the job done! So, while I hate to ask for donations, I realize I have to let the people who support this work know that the need exists. We need to raise at least $10,000.00! That seems like a lot. But, when you think that to build a church in the USA can costs in the millions of dollars. To build a multi-purpose building to use as a school and church in America costs millions of dollars. To renovate a children's center could easily cost tens of thousands of dollars in the USA! To host an event for over 300 children and provide two meals a day for them could costs several thousands of dollars.

I know Americans are the most generous people on earth. I believe this is one reason God has always blessed America, because the Christians and the people who profess faith in God in America are so ready to bless others.

If you can give, please go to our website: www.lydiaministry.com and you will find a donate now button on most of pages. Lydia Ministries International is a 501 (3) (c) non-profit organization/ministry. Your donation is tax-deductible. 100% of your donation goes to the ministry. We do not take a salary from the ministry. We are all volunteers, including Susan.

Short-Term Mission Opportunity Join TEAM KENYA

Short Term Mission Opportunity
Join Team Kenya 2009



TEAM KENYA 2009 is currently accepting applications for our short-term mission projects in Kenya. When you sign-up for this short term mission trip, you are not just signing up, you are joining a TEAM! TEAM KENYA 2009!

Your TEAM experience will begin before you ever leave the states, when you will gather with all of TEAM KENYA 2009 in the beautiful blue-ridge mountains of N.C. on June 6th. You'll meet your team members, choose your room-mate (if you haven't done so already), receive training on everything from packing for the mission, staying safe in the mission field, cultural sensitivity in the mission field, sharing your faith in the mission field, making the most of your journey, and meeting your team leaders.

At this meeting you'll also receive your TEAM KENYA 2009 TEAM Manual, your travel itinerary information, and your fund raising information package to assist you as you raise your funds for this mission trip. This kit includes a letter from Lydia Ministry International telling your friends and family members about TEAM KENYA 2009 and how they can help you make this journey of a lifetime. It will also include a brochure with a form printed with your name. Supporters can make their donations in your account to Lydia Ministries International, and therefore their support for you will be a tax-deductible contribution for them. By the end of the day, you will have made new friends and will be looking forward to taking this journey with your new TEAM members.




What Would You Do In Kenya?


Help build a church and school building for a Maasai tribe in the bushland of Namanga, Kenya. Experience God's grace as you minister among the Maasai. As you help frame the building you will work side by side with young Maasai warriors, sharing stories about your life, as they share stories about their's. As you lay foundation blocks for the church/school, you will be laying a foundation of faith and fellowship that will sustain many Maasai for years to come. As the rounds and layers of blocks rise higher and higher above the heads of the Maasai women and men, the young and the old, their hopes will rise higher and higher. You will become the one they have prayed for to come and help build a church/school for their people.

It's not often that we get to even make a difference in one person's life, but you will be making a difference in the lives of so many people! Not only will you help build a building, but you will be building a future for generations of Maasai to come! You will work with a team of people who are well-qualified, and a team who loves God and wants to share His love with others.
Or, you may be chosen to work on renovating a children's center in Nairobi that serves as a school and home to over 100 poverty-stricken, orphaned, street-kids. You will paint, decorate, build tables to serve as desks, and you may help build a sandbox or two! You will work with your team members to create a bright and better environment for the "least of these".

If you are chosen for the Nairobi work team, when the renovations are finished at the children's center you will work with your team and leaders to minister to approximately three hundred street kids and orphans! You'll join our 2009 Mission to Kenya's Kids and share the Gospel through drama, music, dance, games and stories!

Daily you will join your team for devotions, team meetings and communion. You'll share breakfast and dinner each day. During this time you will have an opportunity to "digest" not only your meal, but also how you feel about what your are seeing and experiencing. You will have a time to share your own reactions -- to debrief.

Because we know that you are going to pour out so much of yourself, we have scheduled in time for recreation. We've reserved a day for a safari to the Nairobi National Wildlife reserves where you will have opportunities to see the real wildlife of Kenya, such as lions and zebras. One afternoon will be spent at the Rothchild Giraffe Center where you'll be able to get up-close and personal with Giraffes. Then, before you return home, you'll join your team members for an unforgettable evening at Carnivore Restraunt where Maasai warriors will serve dinner to you on spears! It's a wonderful evening of celebration when the work is finished and you prepare to return home.

The journey doesn't end when you return home. There's more! On October 17, once all team members have returned home and have had an opportunity to process your experience, you will meet your team members again and join together for a celebration of thanksgiving and joy! At this meeting we will debrief and you will have an opportunity to swap photos and stories and share how your life has changed since returning home!

Our goal for you is for you to have the best short term mission experience possible, as you join TEAM KENYA 2009 and build a church, build a school, renovate a children's center, and minister to kids during Mission to Kenya's Kids!

While most trips of this quality and substance would cost well over $4,000.00, the cost for this 14 day trip is only $2950.00 if you register early and pay by June 15th. How can we offer this at such a low price? Because Lydia Ministries International is not in the business of "booking tourist/mission trips." We are not "charging" you to go on this mission trip. We are only asking you to pay what it costs us to take you on this trip and to provide a quality experience, while you work and minister in Kenya.

You will depart on September 9th from the Asheville, NC airport and arrive in Nairobi, Kenya on September 11th. Cost includes, round-trip airfare (departing from Asheville NC on September 9th and arriving on Sept 11th in Nairobi and then Departing Nairobi September 22nd and returning to the USA on September 23rd.) Rev. Susan Leipsner, Director of Lydia Ministries International and TEAM KENYA 2009 team leaders will greet you in Nairobi at the airport and take you to the guest house.

Includes also: room at GuestHouse/hotel in Nairobi (and room at location while in Namgama, Maasai Mara); breakfast and dinner each day (lunch is on your own, and is usually less than 2.00 a day!); training in N.C. with lunch, snacks on June 6th and thanksgiving celebration and meal on October 17th; TEAM KENYA 2009 t-shirt, ground transportation in Kenya (except for personal travel--ie if you decide to take a taxi to go somewhere not included in itinerary); Registration packet, Training and Travel Manual and Journal; Safari to Kenya National Wildlife Reserve; Rothchild Giraffe Center, Dinner and celebration at Carnivore Restraunt.

NOT INCLUDED: transportation to and from Asheville Airport, Daily Lunch, beverages (coke, bottled water, etc.); snacks; health insurance; Passport and visas; gratuities; extra luggage fees, if any; immunizations;meals and snacks in airports/planes, travel to and from N.C. for training and thanksgiving celebration and debriefing, miscellaneous.

Deposits are due by May 15th of 1/3rd of cost. Balance is due on June 15th to receive Early-Bird Discount. After June 15th, the price is $3,450.00-- unless other arrangements have been agreed upon (in writing) with the director, Rev. Leipsner.
For more information:
call: 828-756-4980 or
email: lydiaministriesinternational @ gmail.com




Karibu To Kenya--Welcome to Kenya!

Introducing Rachel's Ministry -- Lydia Ministries International

Lydia Ministries International is Excited
to
Announce the Launch
of
Rachel's Ministry

September 23rd, 2009

At The

Leading Ladies: Empowering Women Through Getting on PAR with Rachel

PAR: Purity, Abstinence, Renewal

Women's Conference In Nairobi, Kenya

September 23, 2009Our Mission Statement:

Our mission is to provide a ministry to women, for women, by women which will support women who have made, or desire to make, purity until marriage a priority. Our mission is also to provide a support system for women who have been sexually active, but now desire to abstain from sex until married. Also, our mission is to provide opportunities of healing to women who have been sexually abused, have abused sex, or have been promiscous.

Goals of Rachel's Ministry:

• To Offer a support system to girls and women who have decided to make purity a priority until marriage
• To Encourage women who have previously been sexually active, but have now chosen to practice abstinence
• To offer opportunities which will extend healing to women who have been sexually abused, who have abused sex, or who have been promiscuous and now hope to regain a sense of self and value that is not based on sex or sexuality. In other words -- to help bring healing to wounded and hurting hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits of women everywhere!
• To raise awareness concerning the 1 million women and girls who go missing each year due to sex trafficing
• In countries where sex trade is the main means of survival or the only means of survival for many girls and women, to develop and network resources that would unbind the chains of poverty and abuse. These would include resources that would offer micro-financing to women's community projects that would provide food, clean water, medicine, shelter, clothing, integrity, and safety to women and children.
• The purpose of our ministry is to bring healing to women's lives, and to offer support, encouragement, and opportunities for women who choose a path to renewal.
  
  It is not a ministry that seeks to shame, judge, or ban any woman! It's not a "veil" ministry and we won't ask or encourage you to put a veil on to hide your hair, your face, your beauty, your eyes, or your body!

We won't ask you to take any kind of oath of purity to join. You won't have to move into a commune or mark your body in any way. We won't even ask any embarrassing personal questions, or anything you wouldn't won't to tell your mama -- or my mama! We are not a "male-bashing" ministry, we encourage holistic relationships with the opposite sex, but also acknowledge that in many societies and cultures women and girls of all ages have fallen prey to being used and abused which have lead to shame, humiliation, degradation, pain, and death.

Who Is Rachel?

Rachel was a woman whom we read about in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and in the Torah of the Hebrew or Jewish Bible. Her name means "purity". You can read about her in Genesis Chapter 29 & 30.

Here is my summary of this story, my paraphrase and some additional comments. Rachel was the younger daughter of a man named Laban. Laban was the brother of Jacob's mother. When Jacob cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright, he had to flee to the east. His mother told him to go to her brother and live there, to take a wife there. Jacob wandered around in the wilderness for awhile and then finally he came to a well. Here he met some men who introduced him to Rachel, his uncle's daughter. When Laban discovered that this was his nephew he offered him basically whatever he wanted if he would work for him. They agreed that Jacob would work for seven years and then he would marry Rachel.

Now, here are a few points I want to make. We know that Jacob was in love with Rachel, and he thought that she was incredibly beautiful. He wanted her enough to work at hard labor tending sheep and cattle. The point though is this, we are never told that Rachel had a say in the matter, or that she was in agreement with the decision. Truthfully, she was considered little more than the cattle were -- a possession to be bartered over by Jacob and Laban. I'm not saying that neither of them "loved" her, but that we are not told that she had any input into the decision.

Second, while Jacob was working away for seven years, Rachel was a "lady-in-waiting" and she continued to wait. On her wedding night, Rachel was put to the side and when the wedding took place, she was somewhere in hiding. The wedding party took place and then the celebration. Jacob took his veiled wife into their tent and they shared the wedding bed. The next morning, Jacob awoke to discover that he had not married his beloved Rachel after all. Instead, he had been tricked into marrying the older daughter, Leah.

When Jacob confronted Laban he was told that because Leah was the oldest she had to be married first. If he completed the week of the consummation of the marriage, and if he worked another seven years, then Jacob would be able to marry Rachel. Jacob completed the week of the marriage ceremony and he then married his beloved Rachel. From then on, it was a competition between Rachel and Leah over providing the most children for Jacob. Leah won the competition. Jacob had two wives, and Rachel had to share her husband!

Eventually, Jacob had enough of Laban's deceitful ways (yet, don't forget that Jacob himself was known as being the usurper!) and he packed his belongings, his wives, and his children, and he got the heck out of town. Well, Rachel decided to steal the household gods and she hid them in her camel's saddle. When Laban tracked them down, Rachel pretended to be having her menstrual cycle and so she sat on the saddle, knowing she would not be asked to move due to her untimely "condition". She was the only one who was not searched for the idols. Jacob swore a curse of death to Laban concerning whoever had the idols. Of course, he did not know that it was Rachel!

Rachel gave birth to Joseph, and after giving birth to a second son, Benjamin, she died. Today her tomb is located in a Jewish settlement known as Gilo in Israel. I lived in Gilo for almost two months.

All around the world there are women who are being bartered over, in one way or another. Decisions are being made about their lives that they have little or no say in; they are used for trade, for sex, for degradation. Sometimes it is very evident -- like the sex slave trade where girls and women are taken into captivity. But there are also women who are in poverty, and who either have only one choice to make, or they feel like they have only one choice -- prostitution.

Yes, sometimes women make this choice on their own, they see it as "glamorous" or "exciting" or "bold" or "easy" to start with. Sometimes they get sucked in by a "friend". But most often it is forced upon them. Over 1 million women and girls go missing each year due to sex trafficking, and over fifty thousand women and girls are trafficked through the U.S.A. each year according to reports by the CIA.

I've "Snagged" five videos and posted them on our website, at

http://www.lydiaministry.com/rachelsministry.html.

They are documentaries about the lives of women. I'll warn you, they are not "christian" documentaries, but they are powerful! They are not suitable for young children, and the content can be very disturbing. But, as you think about the women that Rachel's Ministry is trying to reach out to, think about women and girls like the ones you will see in these videos. I meet them all around the world, women from Liberia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, the USA, and from the middle-east.

Clicking on the videos will take you outside of Lydia Ministries International website. If you choose to donate on the Snag site, please be aware that you are NOT donating to Lydia Ministries International or to Rachel's Ministry. To donate to LMI or Rachel's Ministry, please click on one of the "donate" buttons located on any of the Lydia Ministries International pages at

www.lydiaministry.com

100% of your gift to Lydia Ministries International goes to the work of the ministry. We do not take a salary from Lydia Ministries International donations! Lydia Ministries International is a 501(3)(c) non-profit ministry.