News - Holemans

T.J. was a third grader in my class at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya. He lived with his family on RVA's lower campus. Both of his parents are veterinarians, but they weren't in Kenya as vets, at least not when I got to know them in 2016. They worked down in the Rift Valley, about a thirty minute drive, in a town called Maai Mahiu.

Maai Mahiu is a truck-stop town located on the Trans-African highway that spans from Lagos, Nigeria, in West Africa to Mombasa, Kenya, in East Africa. The semi-arid region around Maai Mahiu has no major sustainable industry, with a majority of local commerce carried out through small roadside businesses that cater to long-haul truckers and other drivers passing on the highway. Prostitution, drugs, cheap alcohol, pornography, and inexpensive lodging make Maai Mahiu a popular overnight stop for weary truckers. Poverty is stifling, and malnutrition is common for local people, especially since a lack of consistent rain prevents optimal crop yields in the area. The transient male population, AIDS and other diseases, and family violence leave children homeless, hungry, and orphans.

That's where Naomi's Village comes into the story, and where TJ's parents worked. Naomi's Village is a fully registered children's home providing complete care for total orphans, located near Maai Mahiu. Founded in 2011, they have since rescued over 90 children, including abandoned babies and those left parentless by terrorist attacks, AIDS, disasters, and domestic violence. The plans they have for these children and their futures are part of a remarkable undertaking, a call of God, to one day see the comforting of a vast wound on the heart of African humanity. They provide these children with education, having started both a preschool and Cornerstone Preparatory Academy, proper nutrition, healthcare and spiritual care.

TJ's mom, Anji, worked as the Child Sponsorship Coordinator, seeking sponsors to help these vulnerable children. His dad, Steve, was the Director of Cornerstone's Community Development Program--improving the lives of the parents of the community children who attended Cornerstone Academy by teaching them business and farming skills.

All of that was partially made possible because TJ and his siblings were in classes at, and part of the community of, Rift Valley Academy while his parents were working. TJ was in my class because, as a prayer supporter for another missionary family working at RVA, I had read their newsletter telling of an urgent need for a temporary third grade teacher for one term, and answered that need. I was able to meet that need because others provided monetary and prayer support for us and allowed us to go to Kenya.