Christian Refugee Camps
			Followers of Jesus in numerous nations have become refugees having to flee from their homes due to war and ethnic strife.

Christian Refugee Camps

If you've kept abreast of the news reports, you know that ethnic and political strife has taken a thousand lives and resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of western Kenyans. Because of your compassion, Heaven's Family has been able to send relief to refugee camps in Kenya, and that relief is bearing eternal fruit.

Our primary representative in western Kenya and his team have focused their ministry at one refugee camp where about 152 families who have lost everything are now living. All of those families have been given food, blankets, sweaters for the children (it is cold now), sleeping mats, basins, lanterns and soap. They've also constructed tents for forty of the families at the refugee camp so far, and built a large kitchen with a covered roof as it has begun to rain frequently.

They recently sent this report:

Praise the Lord. The refugee camp we are constantly serving is the only refugee camp so far in the region where no rape, no child abuse or molestation has been reported. There is no drunkness, no curse words, no incident negatively reported. In other refugee camps there are cases whereby some people, even those coming in the name of Red Cross, have to sleep with women to give them any support...

First we have truly demonstrated the love of Jesus to the people. We simply shared what we had with people and our talk was about Jesus. We never asked anyone to get saved, but people began coming to us, and I remember one person said, "You people are so different, what makes you this way?" We then told him about Jesus and then he requested us to pray for his wife and children in his tent. We have led more than 100 families to Jesus in these little tents.

We are still in the process of training house church leaders just here. People are learning to love one another and live in harmony. We are witnessing true reconciliation. Families are coming together every evening to pray for one another. There is a such a joy and peace in this camp that we have even been recommended by the district commissioner as the most disciplined refugee camp. We are also experiencing lots of forgiveness here. Any time we come here, people want to share with us their testimonies about how they feel like they want to forgive some people.

This has become our home. We are at this camp nearly everyday. When I am not here, my wife is, and when we are all out, some people from our house church are here. We are so thankful to God for how lives are getting touched and changed in this camp.

With funds from the Christian Refugees Fund, our representative and his team have also succeeded in helping ten families, who needed urgent attention, to get out of the refugee camp into rented homes. That includes one family with a baby who was born in the refugee camp, as well as others who have become ill from sleeping on the cold ground or who are elderly.

Let me tell you one more story that our Kenyan representative shared with me.

Pauline Nasimyu and her two twins not long after learning of her husband's murder

It's about a 34-year-old woman named Pauline Nasimyu. Pauline has nine children by her husband. In January a group of men from a rival tribe came to her house. They tied up her husband and, amidst her screams, dragged him away.

They then tied up Pauline and made her watch as they killed some of her neighbors. They intended to kill her, but one of the mob told the rest that she was the mother of twins, and this was a bad omen for some reason, so they let her live. But they proceeded to burn down her house.

Pauline discovered seven days later that her husband had been buried alive in a pit latrine with ten other men.

With funds from the Christian Refugees Fund, our Kenyan representatives have rented a house for Pauline and purchased some sleeping mats, food and clothing for her and her nine children. And they also told her about Jesus. She listened, and she believed. Now a church has begun in her rented house as well.