| carelinks ministries | |
Previous carelinks have spoken of the brothers baptized in prison in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan. It doesn't seem to take much to go to prison there- some of those we baptized were truck drivers who'd been involved in fatal crashes and had been unable to bribe themselves out. We were deeply distressed at the terrible conditions we witnessed there, even though they were allowed a room to meet in for their services and even had a guitar. Below's a file photo of our brethren in their meeting room in the prison. However we have had reports of a major TB outbreak in the very prison where our brethren are, and of the drug-resistant form of the disease. You can read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7307398.stm .We do ask for your prayers for our brothers there in that awful, overcrowded, underfed, no-medical access situation.
KENYAAs mentioned on previous carelinks, Carelinks have sent aid to brothers in Western Kenya affected by the recent violence, in which nearly 1000 people died and over 600,000 were displaced. Recently we were able to visit some of those brothers and sisters and hold a seminar at which about 40 Kenyan brothers and sisters attended. We were also pleased to meet with some farming brethren to whom brother Marcus had sent the How To Grow A Balanced Diet literature, funding and materials for the projects. They reported great success and that they felt fellowship between us and them as they watched the crops grow each day and the animals develop. Western Kenya remains unstable and we were very sad to receive the following email the day after our seminar finished:
"Lovely Greetings to you in the Lords Name. We are very very much happy spiritually with the study and the exhortation we heard from you at Nairobi..May God bless you and my Sister abundantly. However we became very sad and left destitute materially in the bush, as we were travelling back home from Nairobi on 23rd March 2008 night.On reaching near a town called Keroka we met a group of armed thugs of about 10 members who had already blocked other vehicles and robbing was going on, they blocked our ways , beaten us and robbed several valuable items and cash money that we had in our pockets so many passsengers were seroiusly injured and our driver. I and bro James Nyangute were also affected .Bro James phone was robbed and cash money. myself they robbed me of cash money and phones, a torch rechargeble and my jacket. It was good that they did not rob us our shoes and hand bags as others. bro James was not injured but my self i was bruised on the neck with a knife .
Br Samwel "
Here are some pictures of our affected brothers at the seminar and breaking of bread with us just hours before this happened:
Bro. Samwel [Centre, white lapels, listening carefully]
Bro. James Nyangute, far right:
We're in process of responding to our brothers' need via local brethren.
CONGO
We ask for your continued prayers and thoughts for our brothers and sisters in Congo. According to Doctors Without Borders http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=2560 currently reporting (March 2008) from the very area where our brothers and sisters are:
"The ceasefire agreement has not been fully implemented because armed groups remain active in the province. Some rebel groups continue to fight for their political demands or to maintain control over income-producing territories. Armed groups attack the population, stealing their resources and food. Nothing has improved for people, who continue to flee the violence. The displaced persons often stay close to the area where they live because they continue to hope to return home. They might be two hours’ walk from home, but are attacked on the roads and in the fields. Rape victims are often attacked while working in or returning from the fields...The other major focus of our work is treating victims of sexual violence. In January 2008, we treated 300 rape victims".
A group of Australian brothers have expressed interest in going out there and trying to make a video of the situation, as well as providing help; and anyone interested is welcome to contact either us at info@carelinks.net or Brother Scott Dodd of Brisbane.
With love from your brothers and sisters of Carelinks