CGA Alumni Spotlight: Martha

Martha Akinyi.

A CGA Alumni currently studying Mechanical Engineering at Oklahoma Christian University.

Joe taught her Math and Bible for several years at CGA, and even coached her in soccer and basketball, and has been close to her family during his time in Kenya.  We are looking forward to spending time with her in the coming months!

This is her personal narrative of her life story which shows the impact of CGA and how she is being a light for Jesus by giving back to the world, after persevering through extreme challenges.

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Born in the small village of Mbita, Kenya, I did not expect anything big out of my life. Nobody decides what family they belong to. If that were possible then I would not have chosen my family. My father was a polygamous and my mother was his third wife.  I was the sixth child of my mother; 5 boys and 2 girls. My father died in 1996 when I was 4 years old and my mother died four years later.  My siblings were divided among relatives and it wasn’t until I was 15 that I met all of my brothers again.  My younger sister and I were sent to live with a neighbor, Helen, and her sons. 

Growing up as an orphan in Kenya, I have learned the value of every opportunity. I was unfortunate to not have a complete family,

but I am happy that out of everything I had to go through growing up, I am more than victorious. Maybe I was just not lucky... or maybe there was something God wanted me to learn from the whole experience.

It all started in Christ's Gift Academy when I was blessed to be among the kids who joined Kindergarten in 1999. I now have effective communication skills, can read and write, and I have a good reputation for knowing Bible verses.  That knowledge was instilled in me through CGA.  All the time that I spent there as a student molded me into who I am today.

But, even with all that happened, God still gave us a place to call home. I am grateful that God used Helen [my guardian] and CGA to give me another chance in life. I am glad that I made it through high school in a community where female education is not valued.  It is a community with the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and a large number of teenage girls drop out of school because they get pregnant and have to stay home to take care of their babies. This is where I was born and grew up.  I am glad that amidst all of this, I made it and I am currently pursuing my degree in mechanical engineering.

I remember vividly those times early in my life when we hardly had a single meal in a day; when we slept on the floor on a very small mat without a mattress; when we had no clothes to put on; when some of us were not able to go to school because of the financial status of the family.

Everything has changed and I have opened a new chapter in my life.

It has now been one year since I set my feet in the United States. This is an auspicious point of my life having come this far.

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Martha came to the U.S. in August 2013 to attend Knoxville College. After her Freshman year, she spent her summer in Houston serving as an intern with Impact Ministries. Read about her internship serving inner-city youth in Houston. She has now transferred to attend Oklahoma Christian University to study Mechanical Engineering.  Her story is one of the many beautiful success stories of CGA Alumni.

Pacific Northwest

The Journey Continues...

After a great time at Daneen’s home in PA and then our East Coast travels, we headed to the Pacific Northwest for two weeks.

First stop: Seattle.  

Our main purpose in going to Seattle was to reconnect with Bethany Presbyterian Church, a longtime supporter of CGA.  We were able to meet with their Kenya Missions committee to give them an in-depth update on CGA, as well as our future plans. We also shared about CGA during the 4 minute "News from the Front" at the start of each of their weekend services.  It is a special church that does so much for their local community and all around the world.  

We also enjoyed reconnecting with many friends; a long-time friend of Joe's who is a missionary in India and recently got married; a few of Daneen's friends from college, Peace Corps and Uganda; as well as several other friends.  After church on Sunday we watched the Broncos – Seahawks Super Bowl rematch... not from the stadium but a restaurant just outside of Seattle with our old neighbors from Mbita who also recently came back to the U.S. from Kenya.  There weren't as many people in the restaurant as there were at CenturyLink Field, but at times it felt just as loud!  (They're serious about the 12th Man!) 

One of the biggest blessings of our time in Seattle was that we were invited to stay with friends from Bethany Presbyterian who have a great view of the Puget Sound.  

Next stop: Portland 

On Monday, we boarded the BoltBus to Portland.  It was a cheap way to travel ($19 each) and we even had free WiFi onboard the bus!  We definitely never rode on buses like that in Kenya.  Portland has a special place in our hearts because Daneen lived there for a while and it's where we first met each other and began to fall in love!  Many dear friends still live there so we enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with them.  We hosted another small intimate gathering with friends to share about CGA, Suba Lakers and us, and had another gathering of CGA supporters at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.  

We also spent a morning at Forest Hills Lutheran School and shared with all of their students. Forest Hills began a partnership with CGA in recent years and has found ways to involve their students with ours.  We were lucky to squeeze in time with a number of friends while also hanging out in the Colombia River Gorge for the day! One of the Portland highlights was being able to attend a wedding of our friends Garret and Heather (also our wedding photographers).  It was a special time attending a wedding together (our first since being married) and seeing God's union of another fabulous couple!   

Before leaving Oregon we spent a day in Corvallis with a CGA board member (and good friends) and then took a drive up the beautiful Oregon Coast to enjoy some of God’s great creation with the cliffs and the waves.  

We feel privileged to travel across our beautiful country and catch up with so many people that are close to us, while also sharing about God’s work in Kenya!

Reintegration

Adapting back into our home culture in America is a process.  

It can be an emotional roller-coaster at times.  Sometimes our feelings and emotions change day by day; other times it is minute by minute.  There are things we love about our home culture and things we don’t.  There are equally many things we miss about life in Kenya, but also a number of things we don’t miss.  

Here are some of the good and bad about our reintegration process so far.

Our Challenges ~

Choices & Options. We easily feel overwhelmed at the constant decisions and choices.  It seems there are so many options... everywhere.  Where to go eat... what to order when you go to a restaurant... what sides to choose with your meal.  Going into the mega Supermarkets where there are rows and rows of anything in the world to buy can be overwhelming.  Shopping for 3 items takes longer than it should because we feel the need to evaluate all of the options; Are we getting the best deal?... Is this what I actually wanted?... Do I even need this?  

Pop Culture & Technology. We often feel we are a little behind everyone else.  We don’t know the latest and greatest TV shows or the hit songs or the popular movies.  Technology is definitely a few paces in front of us.  We don’t have a clue about the latest apps or newest gadgets. We are trying to catch up without getting caught-up in these less important things in life.

Comparison.  In Kenya, we rarely found ourselves comparing our lives to others around us. Yet, shortly after arriving back in the U.S., it seemed our thoughts easily focused on comparison. Do we wear the current style of clothes? Do we have a successful career?  Can we hold an intelligent conversation with our friends about culture, jobs, family life and more?  It is easy for us to be envious of other people’s talents, job success, knowledge, houses and possessions.  While Joe has been in Kenya for 11 years, life in America has continued.  People have built families and careers.  Years ago, we each gave up our careers, sold most of our possessions and moved to Africa.  Obviously, we’re not in the same place as most of our friends [our age] in America.  We’ve been challenged to re-center our focus back on Christ.  God gave each of us different talents and abilities and different life paths.  Wherever we are, whatever job we have, whatever our family looks like, we are supposed to live for Christ right there!  We know all of these things in our heart, but we have to keep reminding ourselves so we don’t get caught-up in these deadly comparisons. 

Transition.  While transitions are necessary and good, transition means you’re not where you once were, nor are you where you are going.  You’re in between.  For us, this means we’re living out of our suitcases and in a new city and new home every 1-2 weeks without any form of routine or normalcy.  We miss being settled and having our own home and way of doing life.  Yet, we’re called to live EACH DAY for God’s glory.  Not dwelling on the past or dreaming about the future. Simple to say, but hard to live out.

Things we embrace ~

Options. While the various options overwhelm us at times, we’re equally grateful for them!  It’s a blessing to have a number of great restaurants to choose from.  It’s even more incredible to go to a restaurant and they have more than 3 items on the menu! :-)

Traveling. One of the benefits of traveling around the U.S. for 4 months is that it gives us a chance to see, learn and gradually re-enter American culture.  We stay with different families in different homes in different parts of the country.  Each family is at a different stage of life and does life a little differently.  At times we are blown away by the various ways people are loving God, loving others and serving their community.  We are able to learn from how others do things to help us establish how we would like to live life in America when we settle down next year.  In the process, God is also opening our eyes to how we want to live for Him in America.    

Family & Friends. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to travel for work and also have time to see family and friends along the way.  It’s very special to reconnect with friends we haven’t seen in a while and enjoy precious family time. Everyone has been very gracious to us; giving us some space but also spending time with us and letting us be a part of their lives. 

Sharing about Kenya. It’s a huge blessing to be able to continue talking about Kenya; sharing our stories and love for the ministry in Mbita. We love being at a church or an Open House and meeting a CGA sponsor and getting to tell them personal stories about their student.  It’s exciting to meet a new Suba Lakers partner and tell them about how special the girls are and why the Club means so much to them. Mostly, we love reconnecting with old friends and hope that when we share about Kenya, God is opening their eyes to a different part of the world.


We appreciate your prayers and grace as we reintegrate back into life in America!!

Immaculate - God Can Make a Way

God made a way where there seemed to be no way for one of our CGA Alumni, Immaculate.

We heard a great story from Kenya last week which made our hearts smile and showed us that God is in control.  This is a great encouragement to us because it shows that God is using the Kenyans who are filling our roles at CGA to do even greater things (more than we could do as Westerners)! 

When leaving Kenya and since returning to America, many people have asked "How will things  continue in Mbita without us."  Our answer is always that God has bigger plans than we can fathom.  We sometimes like to think that we are irreplaceable but the truth is that if God calls us to leave Kenya, then he is going to put the right people in place to continue and improve the work. 

We had tried to counsel, advise, pray and help Immaculate while we were in Kenya, but didn’t make much progress.  It didn’t take long after we left for others to jump in to help her. 

Joe taught Immaculate Akoth from the time she was in 5th grade at CGA.  She finished 8th grade at CGA and joined secondary school.  I remember visiting her several times in high school.  As a total orphan who grew up under the care of an old grandmother, her family wasn’t giving her much support and she always seemed to be in need.  Through much perseverance she graduated from high school in 2012.  She did well on her National Exams, earning a B- grade which qualified her to join university. She was one of the students selected for the first ever CGA Post-Secondary Scholarship last year. 

Immediately after high school she worked as a computer tutor, a part-time teacher and then with the Red Cross as a volunteer.  She was hoping to go to college to study accounting, but the CGA scholarship was not enough to pay for all of the tuition.  No one in her family was willing or able to contribute financially towards her education.  With few options available, she interviewed with Bridge International Academy and was selected.  Instead of using proper teachers that are trained in the Kenyan education system, Bridge International selects their own staff and provides them one month of teacher training before placing them in a classroom.  Since these schools are not properly registered like normal Kenyan schools and their teachers are not certified, they require the teachers to work a lot of hours with very little time off, and then pay them very meager salaries.  Immaculate completed the Bridge International training and was posted to teach at a school in western Kenya.  We were concerned for her because she was trapped in a low-paying job without the opportunity to go for further education.  She worked for about 9 months before her contract was terminated in August 2014.  She was a little disheartened to lose a paying job (even if it was only a little pay), yet we were a bit thankful and knew God had better plans for her.

She had no option but to come back home and live with her grandmother, who is very old now and has no steady income.  We counseled her several times and told her to continue praying and asking God to open doors.  We also challenged her that she needed to reach out to family members, her church and others in the community to see where she could receive some assistance. 

Her desire was to go to college for Accounting.  She wanted to attend the Suba Institute of Development Studies (SIDS) in Mbita to study Business Administration & Management together with Accounting.  She requested a meeting with the Director of the school and, after a lengthy talk explaining her situation, the director accepted to reduce her tuition fee.  One of our CGA staff members, Chris, asked a friend in Nairobi who was an accountant if he would be willing to assist Immaculate.  Chris’s friend ended up sending enough money to buy all of the textbooks she needed!  Immaculate also shared with her church and they raised money for her.  Another well-wisher gave her the equivalent of about $25 which was exactly the balance remaining after she received the CGA scholarship funds.  ALL of her tuition fees were covered!

When Immaculate received the news, she was so happy and could not hide it.  With a bright smile she said:

“Now I know that the Lord is true to his word in Jeremiah which says, ’For I know the plans I have for you, not to destroy you but to give you a hope and a future.’”  

We thank God for his provision and opening doors for her through numerous people.  We trust that God will provide for Immaculate in miraculous ways over the next two years while she will be in college.

Our Future

The most common questions we have received during our first 1 ½ months back in America are: 

So what’s next for you? 

Where are you going to live? 

What are you going to do? 

Our answer is: “We really don’t know!”  

We truly have no idea where we are going to live after our traveling and commitment to CGA is finished.  I know that seems strange to most people here in America (and most parts of the world).  Western Culture tells us we all need a 5 & 10 year plan.

As for our 5 Year Plan?
We don't have one!

There is stability and security in knowing what the future holds.  Absolutely. But we are continually reminded from James 4:13-17- “Why, you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” 

Both of us had our whole lives figured out before God came in and changed our paths.  Daneen was a successful engineer with a good job in corporate America until God led her to Zambia.  Joe was busy trying to become a big-time college basketball coach before God drew his heart to Kenya.  At this point in our lives, we could easily choose our favorite place to live in America, and then start applying for jobs as an engineer or teacher or in other professions.  It would be easy for us to “build” our lives in America once again.  

But we don’t want to do that!  God clearly called us to Africa and now he has clearly called us home. We are sure that he has a plan for 2015 and beyond. He even has a 5 & 10 year plan for us!  He sees the big picture and he knows the future.  He created us, so, more than anyone else including ourselves, he knows us best- our unique passions, giftings, talents and experiences.  He knows where there are needs and where he can best use us!  We don’t want to limit God to a specific type of job or a certain region.  

We are truly open to whatever God has for us.  More than any other time in my life, I (Joe) am open to any type of job and I am even willing to go back to school to get another degree or get further training in a certain field.  Other ministry or support-raising jobs are definitely a strong possibility, but other “normal” jobs (with a weekly paycheck) are also an option.  We might even have some months of transition next year where we get part-time jobs as a substitute teacher or waiting tables or something else.  Even those kinds of opportunities excite me.  I am truly looking forward with great anticipation on what is next.  

We hope and pray that during our travels over the next 3 months (through the end of 2014), God will clearly show us our next step.  We are dedicating time in prayer about our future, talking with different friends and networks and exploring opportunities as they arise.  

In the past, God has always guided us down the right path, and we are confident that he will do it again!  

Fundraising

Raising your own support is not an easy task.  

Raising money for any good cause is often a struggle.  But it’s especially difficult when it is for yourself.  

Some people seem to be incredibly gifted at fundraising.  They’re bold to make the “ask” and it just comes naturally.  For most of us, it is not that easy.  Just recently a friend in ministry with a support-raising role was sharing with us that he spends over half of his “working time" just raising support.  That leaves only 50% of his time for actual ministry!  

Support-raising is very counter-cultural in America, especially for a man.  My mentality is that I should work hard and earn my own salary.  I shouldn’t be dependent on anyone else.  Asking for help is a sign of weakness.  As a missionary, I am forced to rely on others to provide for me and ultimately I have to rely on God to provide day in and day out.    

In addition to raising my own support to be a missionary in Kenya for the past 11 years, I have also felt the responsibility to fundraise for the ministry I have been serving with, Christ’s Gift Academy (CGA).  CGA has a Board of Directors in the USA who is responsible for fundraising and there is another American missionary couple who serve with CGA and also take on that responsibility.  Along with them, I am the only other American missionary that has been on the ground in Kenya long-term.  That places me in a unique position to impact the lives of Kenyans, as well as share the stories and the needs back home in America.  This “burden” of fundraising includes finding sponsors for each of our students which is usually about 30 new sponsors each year ($45 a month), but also includes getting one-time donations and finding general school sponsors who can give consistently without having a specific child to sponsor.  Child sponsorship only covers about 70% of our budget so we need one-time donations and general school sponsors to make up the other 30% of our budget.  We also focused on finding churches, groups and individuals who can give a larger amount monthly that will help pay our teacher and staff salaries ($200 a month).  

On top of all of that, God led my Kenyan friend and I to start a football club for girls in Kenya back in 2009, the Suba Lakers.  We began the club to help young, vulnerable girls develop their talent, stay in school and come to know Jesus in a more personal way.  As these young girls grew older, we realized that to keep them in school and continuing their education to build a better future, we needed to support them financially by assisting with high school fees.  Otherwise they would end up dropping out of school to get married at a very early age like many girls do in Mbita (only 16% of girls in Mbita finish high school).  As the only American representatives of the Suba Lakers, we are tasked with the responsibility of finding sponsors for our girls to help us pay for their secondary school fees ($30 a month). 

So... this “non-fundraiser” is tasked with the responsibility of raising his own support, as well as support for 2 ministries.  I have never liked the “direct-ask” approach, probably because I don’t like it when people do that to me.  We’re constantly trying to re-think our approach and find creative ways to engage people in the ministry.  But since neither I nor Daneen have any marketing or creative design background, it often feels like an overwhelming task.  My personal approach to all these fundraising needs is: to make the needs known through newsletters, presentations and discussions; and then let each individual decide if they want to be a part of it.  I pray that the Holy Spirit will prick the hearts of many to join in. We are trusting that God will provide.   
    

As we pray and consider what is next for us after our commitment to Kenya ends in December, part of me hopes that our next job will not have any aspect of fundraising, for us personally or for anything else.  But we don’t want to limit God!  We want to stay open to whatever and wherever God is leading us.  

Though Fundraising has been difficult for these past 11 years, God has always provided… for me personally and for these ministries I have worked with.  It may not always be to the level that we would like, but it is always enough.  Fundraising has kept me humble by knowing that it is not through my own power, wisdom or strength.  It has made me more dependent on God and grown my faith exponentially.

Even though fundraising is the least-desirable part of being a missionary, I am grateful for the opportunity to do it.  I am appreciative to all of the supporters of Christ’s Gift Academy, Suba Lakers Football Club and for me personally.  So many people have invested their hard-earned money to impact the lives of young Kenyans- feeding them, educating them and giving them a hope for a better future.  

Most of all, I thank God for how he leads and guides me and how he provides when we put our trust and confidence in him!