Christ Care Ministries International
Extending God's Love
Pastors Desk2008 was an eventful year, with many blessings as well as challenges. We want to thank all of our faithful supporters and friends for their prayers and donations. This ministry depends on the prayers and support of God's people all over the world and we praise Him for providing for the ministry in so many ways. The year 2008 began with a great challenge in January and February with the postelection violence that brought such heartache to our area and has continued to reverberate with higher food and fuel costs and an increase in the number of children we are supporting at Christ Care Center. We continue to face the monthly challenge of paying student school fees, and even though God has blessed us with faithful supporters for the children, the need is always great.
In the midst of the violence, we were able to finish the construction of the exterior of our church building and have been able to use it for many various events. We still need to complete the plastering of the walls and the final portion of the floor, but the building has already been put to very good use! For seven months last year the building was used daily for our School of Ministry. Eighteen Christian leaders graduated from the School of Ministry in October and have returned to their home areas to further the spread of the gospel with a greater understanding of God's Word and how to apply it to transform our communities and culture. In August, we had the joy of hosting a community health seminar along with a team from HEART (Health, Education, and Africa Resource Team). We had over 1,000 people attend the two day seminar and they received education on many health issues, especially HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. One of the many positive results of this seminar was the founding of Unity Interdenominational Pastors' Fellowship which is now meeting monthly to support and encourage pastors from the many denominations in our community to more effectively reach the unreached and to shepherd their flocks. We praise the Lord for the HEART team for providing this seminar which benefited so many in our community. In July and August we had a visit from our friends Wayne and Janet White. One of the highlights of their visit was starting a tailoring class for ten widows in our community. Through donations, we were able to purchase ten sewing machines for these widows and provide training so they might be able to support themselves and their families through their new tailoring skills. Wayne also helped build furniture for the center and taught many of the young men carpentry skills. After months of praying, God answered the prayers of the members of our Soccer Fellowship through a surprise donation of soccer jerseys and soccer balls this past July. These young men saw God's love and concern for them through these soccer jerseys and we praise the Lord for the amazing way He answers prayers. The soccer fellowship continues to grow and reach many young men in our community with the good news of Jesus Christ and His transforming power in their lives. Our junior academy continues to educate and train over 80 young boys and girls. The academy is always in need of support and encouragement as the teachers are teaching under the most difficult circumstances. One class still meets under a tree and the other in a borrowed mud building. Please pray for the junior academy and for the many families who are blessed by the availability of school for their children who would otherwise not have the opportunity. We praise God for the opportunity to share the love of the Lord with over twenty-eight orphans at Christ Care Center. We mostly rely on the generous donations of caring people and are always in need of others who desire to share their blessings with those who have so little. If you would like to help support our orphans with school fees or uniform costs or even with food costs, you can be sure your donations will be tremendously appreciated and our heavenly Father will be pleased. One of the great joys and blessings this year has been an amazing answer to my prayers to further my education so that I might better serve the Lord and my community. I am now a student at Pan Africa Christian University in Nairobi working on my bachelor's degree in Bible and Theology. While I am away from the center, my wonderful wife Lilian and others are carrying the responsibility of running the center and its many ministries. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek to faithfully serve the Lord. Again, we want to thank you for your faithful prayers and support for Christ Care Ministries International. Our desire is to learn to love our Lord better and to serve Him more faithfully. We will continue to look for ways we can bring God's blessings to our community and the life changing truth of His Word to the lives of all we come in contact with. Please continue to uphold us in prayer and pray about supporting us financially as the Lord allows. Serving the Lord Jesus Christ, Wicklife and Lilian Omendah Senior Pastors and Leaders Christ Care Ministries International. |
