Meet the Wathomes

The vision of Beacon of Hope comes from a couple named Jane and Ken Wathome. Both affluent Kenyans, they have taken their passion and giftings, along with their influence throughout Kenya (Ken leads Bible Studies with some of the most powerful government officials in the country) to make a HUGE difference in the community and throughout Kenya.
Beacon of Hope was created in 2002 because Jane saw a need in the community to help lift women affected by HIV/AIDS out of poverty. Please take a look at the Beacon of Hope YouTube site to learn more about its creation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPhD7kjjcqA

As mentioned in the previous entry, Machakos is a rural mountain village surrounded by BEAUTIFUL, breathtaking landscape. It is Ken's birth place (literally . . . he was born on the estate that we stayed at) and the town which he considers “home.” Because Kenya has such a hospitable culture, it took A LOT of work to host our team of 16 (plus about 10 other volunteers from Beacon that came with us). It was quite an honor to be asked into this village, and the Wathomes made sure that we were treated well. We stayed at Ken's mother's home, but she wasn't even in the country while we were there. However, she and Jane recruited several women from the village to help make our stay there amazing. Jane met with this group of women for a couple of different meetings to work out every meticulous detail of our stay. We were fed like royalty, with meals big enough to feed an army. One of my favorite things was eating the fresh avocados taken from the tree out back. (Side note . . . as I'm sitting in a conference room at Beacon writing this entry, a staff member just walked in to take our morning tea dishes. She is singing. I asked her what she is singing and her response . . . “I am praising the LORD!” Very cool) All of these women were true servants of the LORD, and seemed to have much joy in honoring him while serving us. We left Beacon on Tuesday morning around 10:00, and after about 90 min. came to Machakos Town. We then traveled another 25 min “off road” (or so it seemed) before reaching Ken's home. It was on a beautiful piece of property surrounded by lush bushes, avocado and guava trees, and other greenery. Except for the whole mountain thing, there were times I felt as if I could be in northern Wisconsin. It surprised me to see Kenya had parts like that. We unpacked our things and headed to the clinic which took place at a school about ½ mile away. We set up the pharmacy, lab, and doctor's office and headed back to Ken's. That evening we shared some sweet music and prayer time around a campfire with our team and our other Kenyan friends. It was really cool to worship together in that environment. The section of Machakos that we were in does not yet have electricity (it is supposed to be there sometime in September), and although the house we stayed in did have a generator, the mountaintop we were on was completely dark. We all saw some of the brightest, most beautiful stars we had ever seen. It was awesome. We went to bed relatively early in preparation for the clinic the next day.

Ah! This entry is getting so long and there are so many more things that I want to share. I want you to all know the details of the sounds, the smells, and the sights that we're experiencing. I want you to be able to see the smile on the children's faces, hear the laughter in their voices. See the differences and similarities between the Kenyan and American cultures. Know that we are feeling so thankful for being here and covet your prayers over the next 10 days. Thank you for being part of our team!

Until next time,
Amy