Galatians 6:2 – “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” At Spread Truth, we find pleasure and joy supporting the communities here in Kenya and particularly, the most vulnerable and needy! Every year, we conduct a mega mission week that brings together both Spread Truth US and Africa team, for a week-long of community outreaches and Gospel sharing. This year, 2023, was no different! From the 18th to the 26th of February, we held the SPREAD TRUTH MISSION WEEK 2023 and here are the highlights. We deployed the following programs throughout the mission week; Sports, School Outreaches, Nutritional Support, Anti-FGM Initiative and a Medical Camp. Throughout the mission, the Gospel reached 8,535, we recorded 137 salvations, 3,300 The Story Booklets got shared, 24 Tons of food distributed recording 3,433 food beneficiaries, 15 pastors got trained and 4,515 accessed free medical services!
Sports has always presented an impeccable opportunity to reach the youth to mentor, support talent and evangelize! The mission week kicked off with an action-packed sports outreach through a mega Basketball Tournament. 40 teams, both male and female, participated and vigorously competed across 4 different courts in Nairobi; Umoja, Buruburu, Diwopa and Komarock. The matches were nothing short of spirited, heated and thrilling! For the men’s teams, Spread Truth Tigers emerged winners and under the women’s category, Money Team took it home!
As part of the school outreaches, we visited Gathirimu Girls High School, Havilla Children’s Home, Olteiyani Primary School and AIC Girls Kajiado. We had a great time spending time with the students in these schools, hearing their stories and one-on-one group sessions for mentorship. We also got to hear the stories of those we have supported and those who have gone through our FGM Psychosocial Support Curriculum. The Nutritional Support has gone a long way in keeping the children in school especially during this period of persisting drought that has informed food insecurity, affecting school attendance.
To know God’s will, one must know God’s Word! Under the pastors training, 15 pastors got trained on hermeneutics!
A mega food drive took place at Kivingoni, Machakos County where we distributed food to over 1,000 families, offering nutritional support. Kivingoni is among the areas adversely affected by drought in the country, leaving thousands of families sleeping hungry. We also had a great time here fellowshipping together and sharing the Gospel.
We met with Ex-cutters at Illaramatak Community Concerns Centre for the Anti-FGM Initiative program. The ex-cutters are the men and women who formerly supported FGM by forcefully cutting girls, but abandoned the retrogressive act and are now advocates of fighting to end FGM. We thank God for such an opportunity to directly hear the sad and painful tales of the knife. At the center, the women are empowered to venture in activities with economic benefits such as sowing and bead work. They now have a powerful mantra, “CUT THE GARMENT, NOT THE GIRL!”
As the mission was ongoing, it was an honor to be hosted by the Office of the First Lady of Kenya, Her Excellency Mama Rachel Ruto to discuss areas of collaboration. We had a privilege of sharing a copy of our FGM Psychosocial Support Curriculum, What Is A Little Girl Worth? In the spirit of appreciating our partnership with various government agencies, we paid a courtesy call to National Government Affirmative Action Fund, State Department for Youth, National Youth Council and the Uwezo Fund.
Spread Truth has worked with the community in Kajiado for long through various platforms and particularly Nutritional Support. The need for free medical services for the underprivileged became apparent in our interactions there. The FREE MEDICAL CAMP at Eiti in Kajiado County was the culmination of the mission week. We held a 3-days camp and as highlighted, 4515 people got access to free medical services! General outpatient services were offered and during consultations, medical conditions ranged from: upper respiratory tract infections, gastro-intestinal infections, urinary tract infections, diabetes, hypertension, fungal skin infections and common allergies.
A total of 171 women were screened for cervical and breast cancer and we thank God that through the camp, the women were sensitized on embracing cancer screening that was utterly avoided due to its invasive nature. This now ensures that early warning and preventive measures are taken on time to manage and treat any cancer case.
A total of 318 patients were attended to for dental services: 250 were extractions, 68 were treated for various dental conditions with antibiotics, painkillers and mouth washes.
A total of 47 people benefited from minor surgeries where they had body lumps and tumors removed, what would have otherwise caused a dime at a hospital yet many that came to the rescue of the free medical camp face financial constraints to access paid medical services.
The lab tested a total of 300 patients for the different tests. 1000 patients were accessed with eye-related conditions which are highly informed by the hard conditions of the region.
We are so grateful for the volunteer team of 30 medics from Hope Citadel Foundation who tirelessly worked to attend to all the patients with much commitment and dedication. At the medical camp, nutritional support was also offered and everyone that got treated went home with food!
As we exited Kajiado, we held a church service at the Olosaruni Baptist Church for thanksgiving where we got to distribute Maasai Bibles!
They say if you want to walk fast, walk alone, but if you want to go far, walk together. We truly appreciate the partnership with our various partners. We extend our gratitude to the Office of the First Lady Kenya, National Government Affirmative Action Fund, State Department for Youth, National Youth Council, the senator and women representative Kajiado County, Hope Citadel Foundation, Midwest Food Bank through Kapu Africa, the Amina Myren Foundation, Illaramatak Community Concerns, Kahawa Sukari Basketball League, Diwopa and Kahawa Sukari and Kivingoni Baptist Church. We are also so appreciative of both the Spread Truth US and Africa team for giving themselves all out with love in service to the community.
The Story! God's story! We are so glad that we had so many opportunities to share the Gospel of Christ throughout the mission and transforming lives.
As our mission week came to an end, the team was privileged to meet the US First Lady, Her Excellency Jill Biden and what an honor and an immense blessing this was!
Philippians 4:20 – “To our God and Father be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.”