People-Lover/Morgan People-Lover

In the rural town of Ahero, Kenya, small clusters of children laugh and play together. The warm sun shines down on them as they join hands, form one large circle, and sing, “What a Mighty God We Serve.” Their teacher steps outside and smiles with approval, her face shining. She applauds and beckons the children inside. Dozens of bright pink-and-white uniforms flood the crude one-room schoolhouse, and the students find their places behind rickety wooden desks. The smell of cooking porridge fills the air, making tummies growl and heads turn. For many, the small bowl they receive for breakfast will be their only meal until tomorrow. A jagged piece of chalkboard leans against the front of the room, and plasticcovered photographs of the children’s parents line the remaining walls. Every day, these colorful photos remind the children of the powerful pain that binds their lives together. All of their parents have died from AIDS.

Kenya’s Many Challenges Meet the orphans of Ahero, the blessed forty-eight children that a man by the name of Pastor Benard Ondiek has rescued from the street. “Everybody has been affected by death in their homes,” explains Pastor Benard. “Therefore, when somebody in the community dies and leaves children [behind], nobody cares.” Emotional and physical exhaustion prevent extended families from taking in their orphaned relatives. Young boys resort to begging while young girls turn to prostitution

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People-Lover/Morgan in order to feed their remaining siblings. Pastor Benard says, “Sisters and brothers live together, naked in their homes without food all day. Nobody will come to their rescue.” He attributes rising numbers of teenage deaths to a vicious cycle. “Older men are taking advantage of younger ladies who cannot get money to go to [the] hospital. [They] die early because of AIDS.” Pastor Benard wipes his tear-filled eyes. “The [ladies] die without hope, and nobody cares. [Their] parents are dead.” Teenage men can sometimes find work, but most jobs involve rigorous physical labor. “Most of them dig or farm. [Some] ride bicycles . . . to [Lake Victoria], bring fish, go out, sell them, and come home tired. [They] wake up in the morning [and] ride their bicycle another 200 kilometers . . . every day. I have seen . . . fifteen of them who are doing that business die . . . They work hard, [but there is] no food. When they fall sick, they die . . . You can’t work and [not] eat well and live. You can’t.”

The Heart of Pastor Benard Ondiek Pastor Benard is no stranger to tragedy. Born in a remote village called Wachara, he lost a sibling when he was nineteen after walking with the baby in his arms over 100 kilometers to the nearest hospital. His mother also suffered complications while giving birth to Benard and has required extensive care all of her life. Benard remembers thinking that, “If I [could] get a job, I [would] take my mom to the best doctor. “My home was pathetic,” Benard says. “My father had nothing, but he wanted me to get an education.” After Benard did well in the public elementary school, the family opted to continue his schooling even though the government no longer covered the cost. Pastor Benard’s father said, “My son, I will do my best. I will sell all of my land to

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People-Lover/Morgan [send] you to school. I will even become a witch-man for anybody for you to go to school.” Benard said, “Dad, I will not disappoint you.” For two years, Pastor Benard walked three hours one-way everyday without shoes, book bag, or school uniform. “It was [a] life of surrendering. I did that because I wanted to get [an] education.” He explained that in Kenya, “Many children drop out of school after their parents are dead. They can’t get food, go to school, [or] get health care. They can’t get anything – clothes, shoes – anything. “I come to the villages and see the lives of the people.” He pauses. “Every time, I cry.”

Friends of Christ Ministry Pastor Benard’s deep well of compassion has branded him as a people-lover, known and adored by the street children of Kenya. An outreach program called The Friends of Christ Ministry founded by Pastor Benard in 2000 aims to meet the needs of orphans and widows in Wachara and Ahero. “Forty-eight [orphans] at Ahero get breakfast, education, [and] spiritual nourishment,” Pastor Benard says. He grieves that they cannot help more children. “It takes a lot of money to care for an orphan.” Pastor Benard and his wife, Pamela, have four children of their own and have adopted two. He describes the delicate process of bringing orphans into the home. “If you bring one [orphan in]to your home . . . they want the love you give to your children. Anything you give to your children, you give to them. They become part of you.

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People-Lover/Morgan “But,” he continues, “if they see a kind of bias amongst your family members, they [will] run away to the streets and talk bad about you. [Then], even though you are trying to help, nobody will trust you. We have to be very careful how we help these kids.”

Vision for the Future “My vision is tremendous,” Pastor Benard admits. He and his ministry team continue to search for a thirty acre parcel of land. They want to build houses, classrooms, a conference center, and a recreation center for the orphans. “We [also] want to keep cows for milk, plant vegetables, and try to build a fish pond. The reason why we are doing this is [because] we want our group of children to be responsible. We want to teach them, starting by keeping chickens, keeping cows, keeping fish . . . We don’t have to buy, buy, buy; we can eat what is there for us. “For us to do [all of these things], we [will] need about twelve houses which will have five children in each with a foster mother or foster father to make a home for them. We want these children to realize what parental love is.” Some of the orphans have no recollection of their parents and have never experienced parental love. Pastor Benard insists that simply meeting the orphans’ physical needs is not enough. “Without parental love, we are torturing [them psychologically]. We want someone to come and tell them, ‘You are my child. I have accepted you in my home, and we can do things together. You are valuable. You can go to school. You have access to education, and when you are sick . . . you can go to the health center and be treated . . . God created you in His own image. You matter [greatly] to God.”

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People-Lover/Morgan

Looking after Orphans in Their Distress The profound suffering in Kenya and the way Pastor Benard sacrifices for others challenge us to live out our faith as explained in James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (NIV). Pastor Benard’s story and the plight of his people have made their way around the globe. Through the donations of his American friends, he has acquired enough funds to purchase a five acre piece of land and ten thousand bricks. He needs an additional $45,000 to build ten foster homes and a meeting house (which will function as a church, school, and medical center) for the orphans. This is a modest beginning, but Pastor Benard is not discouraged. He believes God will meet the Mount Kilimanjaro-sized needs of his ministry. “I pray that in twenty years, God gives me life. I want to see that [a] hospital is built here. I want to see the school for the orphans . . . built too. I want to save the community [that is] desperate, dying and without hope.”

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