I think you have to have a unique personality and flexibility of spirit to be a missionary. I've heard new Christians say that they struggled with issues before coming to Christ, often with "but what if God calls me to become a missionary in Africa!" For Bill & Chat, they wouldn't be human if they hadn't struggled with similar thoughts when they felt the Lord calling them there, but for some reason, I don't think they struggled too hard with that calling. They make it look easy. It has been obvious since I first met them that the Lord has called them to this and that they are only interested in being in the center of God's will.
At no time in the last six years has the impact they are having in Kenya been more evident to me than last Friday morning. Among the piers of emphasis in Bill & Chat's work in Kenya is education (as well as "clean water" and "building"). In Kenya, secondary education is not free, and a lot of kids can't attend because of scarce resources. A lot of kids are orphaned or abandoned and live on the streets, and their futures are tenuous at best. Not only have Bill and Chat been instrumental in the vision and creating the school at Gituamba (The Jeanette Keyton Connolly Memorial Primary School), but they have also promoted the education of students into secondary schools by finding sponsors to pay the education costs. I can tell you first hand that these kids are excelling, and it is in no small way because of Bill and Chat. I don't know how many students Bill and Chat have found sponsors for, but there are thirty of them at the P.C.E.A. Jitegemea High School that is up the hill and on the grounds of the Tumaini Conference Center where we stay while in Nakuru. Their school term finished last Friday, and a group from our team went with Chat to walk them down to spend time with us at Tumaini before being taken to where they would stay until the next school term. We got to interact with them, help them write letters of thanks to their sponsors and to spend time with kids some of us on our team individually sponsor. But the most amazing thing to watch was their interaction with Chat and Bill. Chat is truly "mama" to every one of them. Each one individually brought their report card for Chat to review, and the love and respect in both directions was palpable. There were often tears of joy on both sides. There is no question in the mind of any of these students that Chat is their biggest fan (and that each one of them is her favorite!). And I have no doubt that the love and adoration from Mama Chat is the reason they want to excel. And they do! The grades and the improvement from term to term are consistent for every student. I'm a firm believer that the future of a country is a direct link to the quality of the education of the students they produce. This is one more area where Bill and Chat are guaranteeing the future success of Kenya.
We have had many opportunities to be involved in SWOK's clean water efforts. Back home here, we have limited opportunities to save someone's life. Oh sure, you might get a chance to save a drowning victim, put out a deadly car fire, or perform some other heroic act. And we certainly have opportunities to impact others' lives. But with Bill and Chat, we have the real opportunity to join them in saving lives every time we do a Uzima water filter distribution. As Americans, we really can't relate to the water situation in Kenya (as well as many under-developed countries around the world). We take water for granted. Even if you stay at a two-star hotel in the US, you wouldn't question whether you could drink the tap water. In Kenya, if you stayed at the best of hotels, you'd ALWAYS ask if the water is safe to drink. Because almost everywhere, it's not! And if you drink tainted water in Kenya, chances are it could kill you. Three of the top five causes of death in Kenya are waterborne illnesses (cholera, typhoid and dysentery). This year, our team had the blessing to be involved in distributing filters that will provide about 7500 people with clean water. And since they started this initiative in 2010, SWOK has now surpassed the 250,000 person mark with clean water. They are on target to pass the one million mark by 2020. It's a thrill to be a part of this.
The "Building" pier of SWOK's platform is probably the one I can best relate to since construction is my profession. Every year, Bill and Chat have given us the chance to be involved in construction projects, whether building a church with rudimentary local materials, building a church with concrete and steel, building a state-of-the-art (by local standards) steel and concrete house, building a school or dining hall or a brick outhouse or putting an unheard-of purified piped water system in a school. Every project has been a challenge and a blessing as well as evidence that Bill and Chat are following the Lord's will. Bill is truly a visionary, but he knows it's not his vision. His vision comes from the Lord. He truly seeks it and is lead by it. And he is undaunted by the size of it! He recognizes that if God has directed and ordained the vision, He will provide the means and resources to get it done. And He has done amazing things through Bill, Chat and SWOK! And I thank the Lord that I have had the opportunity to play a tiny part in that. I also know that the Lord is continuing to reveal his plans through SWOK, and they're huge! And I know that he has the right couple picked to carry them forward. Thank you, Bill and Chat, for all that you do! We love you!
