The
Light Center Church

Olasiti Village of Ngong Hills Kenya

Partner with the CIRCLE OF SUPPORT • Give Now

About: First Strip

ABOUT
The Light Center Church

A team of believers is coming around The Light Center Church and Pastor Francis to help the people of Olasiti.

God gave The Light Center Church to the people of Olasiti Village years ago, with Francis as the pastor.

Pastor Francis gives us this report:

"We are 61 members still small but we are growing by grace. Our main mission is to preach Christ, to unsaved inside and outside our community, strengthen the body of Christ by preaching and teaching to be well grounded in the Word and in faith in Jesus, teach them to help and love one another in the Lord. Coming together in worship every Sunday as congregation."

Pastor Francis has a desire to put new projects, such as the water tank, right on church grounds so that those in the remote village and those nearby will come for water and also connect the giving spirit of the church with that of the ultimate gift, the Lord Jesus.

A MESSAGE FROM
Pastor Francis

Apart of being a pastor, I am a husband and father. I am a farmer...our churches don't pay us. Our church is small. Many villagers are not Christians and they don't know the meaning of Christianity--we are having hard time to teach them the word of God. We work our own way to earn a living.

What can help me, and our community in the remote area is to have water like a borehole. This will help us to have green houses, drip irrigation and show teach people how to work for themselves, marketing their own products,this will open the opportunity businesses for the jobless, mitigate poverty and idleness, and people will be able to put food on the table, and get school fees for their children.

Only water can help in the remote areas, and to have a one big garden and green houses will bring people to work together as community, and will improve quality of life as well.

OLASITI VILLAGE
of Ngong Hills Kenya

Olasiti Village is in a remote Masai area of Ngong Hills. Ngong is only 20 miles from Nairobi but the remote village of Olasiti is 2 hours by road if and when the roads are driveable.

The primary industry for several decades in the Masai culture has been raising livestock--cattle, goats, chickens. In the last 20 years they have been farming more alongside raising animals. The main crops include vegetables, maize, Beehives have also been introduced which offers honey for food and the excess for sale.

The recent several years have had summer droughts with harsher and hotter summers. The drought which resulted in poor feed crops--much of the cattle had to be sold to the market or to other buyers from other better-off regions.

In Olasiti Village area, 3 bore holes were drilled in the last several years but each stopped producing because these were either not dug deep enough or perhaps the underground water streams dried up.

So, the number one need is water--for drinking, for farming, and for the livestock.

Second Strip

CIRCLE OF SUPPORT
Team of Believers

Christian community development experts have discovered the benefits of using “Asset Based Community Development” or ABCD—to overcome adversity. ABCD is consistent with perspective that God has blessed every individual community with a host of gifts, abilities, and resources including such diverse things as land, social networks, common knowledge, animals, savings, farming, schooling and certificates, creativity, work experience, production, equipment, machinery skills, handyman skills, organization, skills, and more.

The key concept of ABCD is forming a CIRCLE OF SUPPORT. When a leader wants to form a “circle of support” they ask for help, guidance, wisdom, and feedback from one or up to four others they trust. The circle is led by the leader of the family or church or community. This person is called the Circle Leader. Volunteers, resource members, advisers are called “Champions.” The leader reaches out to ask trusted experts to be in their Circle as “champions.” Each circle meets as often as needed. Action does not need to be rushed, but time should be given to allow the priorities and plans for support and actions to be done well.

The information above was developed by two Christian PhDs in international economic development--Dr. Steve Corbett and Dr. Brian Fikkert.

GOALS
Short to Long Range

1) Procure a 10,000L Water Tank like the one photo above (in another country) to collect rain water. This tank could help local farms and provide water needs for approximately 3 months--during the driest part of the summer. One of these tanks in use can be seen in the photo above, in the background.

2) Procure several bee-hives. Bees not only produce honey for eating and for commercial sales but the bees help the farm plants and local vegetation to pollinate and grow better.

3) Procure sturdy greenhouses to protect crops from wild animals grazing and ruining the crops

LRG1) Study the problems with the 3 bore holes that have stopped producing. Use this knowledge to develop a plan to either re-drill the existing bore holes or to drill a new bore hole in the area.

LRG2) Develop a Tele-Health program--for all of Kenya and especially for remote areas such as Olasiti Village and Ngong Hills. Working with Tele-Health Representatives in the U.S. at this time. View more information about TOUCH-Telehealth CLICK HERE.

LRG3) Develop training programs in farming and livestock for the local area

GOD'S PLAN
The Circle of Support

In 2018 Peter Njagi, pictured in the Goals section, led a group on a 2 week trip to Kenya, The group was comprised of University of New Mexico students along with a Missions Sub-Group.

Pastor Francis met the group and welcomed them to Kenya. Pastor Francis met Ed Hazlett and they became immediate friends--"Olelashi Lai" which means "brothers." The New Mexico group experienced the people, culture, economy, resources, needs, and beauty of Kenya. One of the most impactful portions of the trip was when they visited Masai villages in Ngong Hills.

Since the trip, Pastor Francis and Ed have kept in touch about once a month. In February 2023 the drought created a God-moment--the vision of a Circle of Support for Pastor Francis and The Light Center Church. Pastor Francis is choosing the Support "Champions" and is the leader of the team.

Pastor Francis was re-introduced to Peter over Zoom/WhatsApp. Peter and Ed are the first two on the Olasiti Village Circle of Support.

Donate

Project 1:
Water Tank

10,000 Liter (2641 Gallon) Water Tank

(Photo is an example of a tank in Haiti)

• Concrete Foundation

• Hardware: Gutters, Cement, Pipes

• Delivery Costs

• Labor: Engineer in the church

111,250 Kenya Schillings = $890 US Dollars*

PROJECT FUNDED!

DELIVERY SCHEDULED 14 APRIL

* The Light Center Church raised the money for the cost of the foundation to include the concrete, sand, rocks (from local stream), and steel wire for strengthening the concrete.

How to
Donate

All donations will be sent via M-Pesa to Pastor Francis or funds will be sent directly to the hardware store in Ngong where all project supplies will be purchased.

Donations may be made by Venmo or Check. All donations will be posted on the column to the right.

Coordinate your donations with our Circle of Support Treasurer Peter Njagi, UNM Swahili Instructor/Graduate Path to PhD.

Email: peter.njagi1@gmail.com.

You may donate using VENMO to our Treasurer, Peter Njagi Mwangi

Peter at his family's home in Kenya about 3 hours from Ngong Hills and The Light Center Church. Notice the 10K Liter water tank in the background similar to The Light Center Church Project 1