A Call to Love God by Loving Our Neighbor Who Are "among the least"

In Kisumu, Kenya, a large and unkept school for children with disabilities, James Koun settled under the shade of a Jacaranda tree, next to his dorm. He greeted us warmly. Conversation led to understanding that James’ goal was to become a pharmacist. As a Sudanese citizen, James told us about the violent strife in his country. We were together when Southern Sudan became an independent nation. A few years later, after James sat for his exams, he traveled home to Old Fangak. He carried home his favorite newly-formed team’s football jersey - Southern Sudan.

Photos above show our time with the Southern Sudan boys who, despite their own physical trials, cared deeply for their homeland.

Since 1983, Old Fangak in Southern Sudan, a remote village lost in surrounding marshlands of the northern Nile, became a safe haven for hundreds of people displaced by civil war and genocide. Here, in this simple sparse place, many sought refuge from years of internal conflict between corrupt government and rebel militia. After a short cease fire, the war resumed full force in 2023.

Unfortunately in 2018, the rainy season in the Old Fangak region increased and brought constant flooding. Many, including James' family, suffered from water-borne diseases; some died. Dykes, constructed with muddy rocks and lined with thin plastic, leaked. Houses collapsed from the waters’ pressure. Crops rotted. Food insecurity rose and malnutrition weakened already struggling children. Fresh water wells became contaminated. 

Because of the continued flooding and the 2023 violent coup, one might think the Southern Sudanese of the northern Nile area would give up, give in, and lose hope; but community resilience proves too strong for that. Below is a photo/video display of determination to survive and trust the Lord Jesus.

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Above: phots of the constant, life-threatening flooding.

Video: Hungry young men working together to rebuild a damaged dyke.

Below: Photos of the donation from Among the Least buys 7 bags of sorghum at 60usda a bag - enough to feed James extended family and orphaned children for a couple weeks

With donations made through AtL, James’ family secured precious sorghum to balance the lacking diet of water lilies and small fish. The youth repair dykes with little supplies. Together, they keep working to serve each other. These ones, who are surely, “among the least,” know how to love God and their neighbors as themselves. Please remember them in your prayers.

Ever hopeful.

Mark and ~Lisa

Among the Least Field Directors

So Much More in 2024

2024 held more than we imagined. Among the Least thought our plates overflowed with projects, but God added extra. We wonder how He does it so well.

Meditate for a moment on the a verse at the end of Ephesians 3 - “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or imagine.” In context, the Apostle Paul encouraged unbelievers from various nations that he was called to share our Creator’s amazing strategy of salvation and redemption with them, even if it cost him imprisonment. Although AtL’s experiences don’t include severe suffering, those we minister to have been persecuted, abused, neglected, forgotten - treated like they don’t belong. Our desire to give the same confidence in Christ that we hold dear, knowing his Spirit works through us; obviously, more than we think! Please enjoy the fruit of God’s power to equip with redeeming love.

AtL’s beloved Kenyan Coordinator continues facilitating discipleship groups and teaching our friend, Nancy Mackensen’s book: Your Story His Glory. Working together with AtL, Carolyne continues to reach out to a Ugandan Children’s Ministry. She also started a WhatsApp training with a mama we know in Cameroon who cares for little ones. She will be opening an income-generating business soon! We helped Carolyne’s oldest son David with German lessons; he passed exams with high marks ahead of schedule and is looking to immigrate to fill an engineer job. Please pray.

AtL’s Refuge in Pagosa manages two branches that intertwine. We host severely persecuted families who legally enter the USA to process their numerous, expensive immigration applications. Our Field Director is an Accredited Representative with the Office of Legal Programs through the Dept. of Justice. She volunteers with various legal teams and clients who need practiced law that brings safety and welcome. Doors open wide to share the Good News of belonging.

The Field Directors also participated in a DC faith-based conference hosted by the National Immigration Forum. After 3 days of prayer, training and discussion, they met with representatives at the Senate to talk about solutions that provide secure pathways to citizenship for those who longingly wait for permanency.

As always, AtL networks for ethical adoptions, family preservation, and humane treatment of unaccompanied minors. Our goal is to see healthy practices globally because children are certainly the “least among” us.

Among the Least is a Pagosa Springs faith-based not-for-profit that serves the least among us by understanding the vulnerable are made in God’s image as scripture so clearly defines. Please feel free to reach out to us with comments and ideas.

Thanks so much for your support.

AtL 2022 Update

Reflecting on ministry highlights reminds us to thank God who called Among the Least to serve among the vulnerable. Please join us to praise the Lord for all He has done.

• Ministry in Kenya is thriving. The sewing program at the Resource Center had 5 graduates who received new sewing machines. The women are working hard at running their tailoring businesses, training apprentices, and contributing to their churches and communities.  

• David, AtL’s water program staff person, traveled to regions where bio-sand water filters were built and placed. He shared examples of discipleship through maintaining the filters. 

• Carolyne, our Kenyan coordinator, journeyed to areas where she shared with young women about menstrual health, and the Lord’s concern for them and their problems - something that is rarely given attention. Because of these ongoing relationships, Carolyne enrolled in counseling courses through Amani Christian Counseling Center so she is better equipped to serve her new friends. 

• State-side ministry keeps growing: a team of local friends helped successfully transition an immigrant guest and her baby to independent living. She has her driver’s license, bought her own vehicle and holds regular employment. We’re happy to report she won her immigration petition! It's the first case AtL submitted to USCIS.  We’re praying for our next guest!

• Lisa volunteers with a variety of immigration cases with clients from Afghanistan and Ukraine. She’s also on a team that reunites families who are being separated at the US southern border.   

• AtL was contacted by local families who want to pursue adoption. We’ve met with them, made ourselves available to assist in their process, and shared resources.     

One of our biggest challenges is facilitating conversations with Christians concerning the extremely harmful humanitarian crisis at our southern border. We often hear unfounded assumptions about this complex migration issue, which is global and has a biblical standard for believers to address it. A search on verses commanding us to care for the widow, fatherless and foreigner are numerous and explicit. Those verses are foundational for the AtL’s mission of prayer, unbiased research and thoughtful actions.

Recently, we stayed in El Paso, TX, during an unpresented influx of migrants crossing the Rio Grande. We served at a shelter and listened to stories from faith-based NGOs, community members, border patrol agents and migrants. There are solutions to keeping our borders safe and still offering asylum to those fleeing persecution because this humanitarian crisis is not unknown to God. He offers answers as we seek Him in prayer.

We continue making a motorhome ready to travel. We plan to stay in places that need immigration law assistance. It’s amazing how God opens the door to share the gospel with those of a different faith or no faith at all. Interestingly, many migrants are families in Christ, fleeing religious persecution.

As Field Directors of AtL, we are getting older, and hopefully wiser, evidenced in our grey hair - haha. We continue attending Restoration Fellowship and a regular fellowship where we eat dinner together and study scripture. Mark and I receive good counsel from spiritual leaders. Although we question the political divides within the church nationally, it seems best to focus on the Lord who “leads us beside still waters and restores our souls.” 

Please pray for everything mentioned above! That’s a tall order, but those items need prayer covering. Of course, we always pray for Lisa’s continued health and healing. We consistently ask God’s provision and protection for our supporting churches, friends, board members and family - know we remember you before the Lord with thanksgiving.  

Ever hopeful, ~Mark and Lisa Hauger, AtL Field Directors

Below is a selection from @among.the.least Instagram where you can visit for quick updates and meaningful posts.

Consider This: Needs Many Don’t Know

 Like many conversations between Carolyne and me, we discussed problems regularly while we sat under a mango tree, its branches swaying with ripe fruit. The wide shady area offered respite from the hot Kenyan sun. As we leaned against the grey plastic table, sipping late afternoon tea, all our brainstorming came to nothing. Better we be distracted by the low hanging juicy bounty that bobbed around our heads than to continue throwing ideas into the humid wind. 

I pitched my question one more time, “How do we help the girls stay in school?”

Carolyne shrugged. “It is always a difficult time of the month for girls. Inadequate facilities at the schools, no money for pads, and the washable ones the mamas made wear out too quickly. Also, the shame heaped on menstruating teens feels distressing.”

We regularly examined the sad situation of why the older girls missed weeks of class because of their menstrual cycles. Regardless of our dialogues, sustainable solutions never evolved.

Young women in developing nations struggle with the crisis of “period poverty” - not having access to sanitary items or hygienic bathrooms during their menstruation and enduring the humiliation associated with it. This hidden poverty is not a popular subject in Christian exchanges. It receives little attention, regardless of the negative affect on girls’ education and self-image.  Visualize for a moment that your daughter had to miss at least one week of each month because she lacked supplies to serve her during the school day. Imagine her being stigmatized by a natural phase in life.

We had talked with the girls’ mammas. We had talked with the girls. We had all talked together. We even introduced the idea of menstrual cups, but there was hesitation. The mammas continued sewing washable pads, and we let the idea of menstrual cups go - until now.

 After years - yes, years - of prayer and consideration, the doors opened with a Kenyan-based company that manufactures menstrual cups. They offered a “buy one-donate one” program. At this point, I’m living in Colorado and Carolyne is in Kenya. No more long talks under shade-giving mango trees. We video-chatted through WhatsApp relentlessly. The plan took effort, energy, time and finances. Thankfully, God provides all that was needed to start a project that catered to girls in secondary education level and it focused on three goals:

1.     Educate the girls and their moms well about the new idea of menstrual cups.

2.     Evaluate if the program was successful, and if it could be improved.

3.     Make sure we came alongside these women and listened to their stories

while sharing that Jesus cared about their situations. 

Carolyne and her assistant managed the 1st goal by reaching out to a friend who supervised a girls’ program in a western low-income urban area. The program encouraged girls who struggled to stay in school because they lost hope as they fell behind in their studies. Carolyne and her assistant traveled to the program’s center, carrying educational materials and products, along with the staple at every meeting - sweet tea made with warm milk. They visited with the girls, giving them time to share their difficult circumstances, offering them informed options, and of course - enjoying a hot cup of chai. They all parted with hugs and promises to get together at the next scheduled break.

Goal number 2 proved challenging. Evaluating a program in Kenya can be tricky because “saving face,” especially in a “donation program” is socially imperative. The sensitive nature of the menstrual cup project provided a perfect example that Kenyans running Kenyan programs affords an efficient method for assessments. AtL’s responsibility is to help equip Carolyne to fulfill God’s call on her life, not control the project. Her leadership ability and desire to serve with integrity makes our partnership work well. Ministry built on long-term relationships reveals that  no one is chasing their own agenda. Trust builds the strong base.

Carolyne visited the girls during their school break and gently inquired about the cup’s effectiveness - what could change and what did they need now? Since Carolyne was a safe person who was well-prepared to question the girls without bias, they answered without reservation. She learned that this particular donation program needs to be more individualized according to each girl.

 As we all know, pictures are worth a thousand words, so we’re happy to share photos with the participants consent. A gospel of care showed the Lord’s heart for the girls. He is their identity and in their destinies, including attending classes without concern. The project is just developing, but already changes futures for good. Vision takes unpredictable amounts of time. Commitment to sustainable ministry finds its foundation in friendship – between God and each other.

AtL’s Board sends God’s blessing to our Kenyan Coordinator - Munguaku bariki, Carolyne. We are together - Tuka pamoja.

If you would like more information, or want to donate toward this project, please visit AmongtheLeast.org or email mlthauger@gmail.com.

Ever hopeful,

AtL Field Directors, Mark and ~Lisa Hauger

Courage in Kenya

What does courage look like in Kenya? The commitment of young mothers to raise their children, regardless of the cultural practices that stereotype them as non-achievers, always dependent on hand-outs.

Among the Least partners with Kenyans who biblically come alongside those being oppressed, namely single moms with at-risk children, and build dignity together.

Recently four moms received scholarships and graduated from our DIGGS program (Discipleship Income Generating Grows Sustainability) with a specialty in tailoring.

This year-long accredited program was taught by our Kenyan Coordinator, Carolyne who shared lessons about the women's identity in Christ and goals for using business as a platform to live the gospel. Patricia, our qualified instructor, taught them how to make patterns, cut various materials and design clothing. These young moms are now equipped to contribute to their communities by paying back into the program and apprenticing others.

Through donor's faithful giving and cooperation with committed friends, courage in Kenya blossomed. It grew into meaningful relationships and sustainable skills. Vulnerable children will be raised by their moms and not placed in orphanages. These women's destinies are rooted in their Creator.

Don't they look great in their unique dresses created exclusively by them? With the new sewing machines they can also make their children's clothing, school uniforms, and earn a living!

Ever hopeful,
AtL Field Directors, Mark and Lisa

Be sure to check out the video at the end!

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As Pastor Mary and George from Kisumu, Kenya thank partners from Pagosa churches and donors from other states (although he mentions all donors as churches, but you guys know who you are...) we want to add our abundant appreciation for the great things God has done.

AtL 2021

Measuring Time

Entering any new year finds us celebrating a change in time. We anticipate fresh beginnings and make well-intended resolutions, regardless of woes encountered just days before the proverbial “ball drops.” Measuring time makes change imaginable, like the universe is saying – “Here’s another chance. “ 

Among the Least Project SASA means Develop NOW.  The measurement of time should not control when we decide to improve our lives and the lives of others.  That choice is always with us, especially if faith is placed in a Savior who promises that “today is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).  Jesus offers opportunities for His work to happen all the time.  Every day is an occasion to experience Him working through people, situations, life.

As we reflect on how God’s hand moved in our measurement of time, gratefulness, in spite of hardship, overwhelms our hearts with joy.  Just look and see His goodness:

1.     Kenya:  Coordinator, Carolyne, manages a sewing project DIGGS training.  She’s also preparing an initial project to help keep young women in school. She continues meeting with women’s accountability groups for bible study, runs her GRACE shop, and sees hopeful futures for her two sons.  Evangelism and discipleship continue to be her passions.  Please pray as she identifies a young apprentice for sewing instruction and retail business.

AtL water project is undeveloped due to continued Covid restrictions.  Our goal is to equip others to build and manage the product while sharing that Jesus is life-giving water.

 Thanks to two recent donations, AtL is able to match the purchase of a new sewing machine, making the total 5!  They will be loaned to women who have been discipled in work ethics and tailoring skills.  We also received generous funds to designate toward SASA projects.

 2.     Stateside: AtL’s ethical adoption support blesses families in the process of adopting.  Please pray as two families navigate journeys to welcome children home.

 Thanks to churches and not-for-profits’ donations, AtL partners with an asylum hosting team called Xenia.  The focus is to host and help integrate asylum seekers into community as they navigate their legal processes.  Currently two guests have enjoyed the program’s benefits. The current guest is now employed and working on getting her driving license. She has a beautiful baby that everyone loves to hold.

Mark and Lisa, AtL’s Field directors, continue to administer projects along with serving in the immigration arena.  After Lisa successfully completed World Relief’s 40 Hour Immigration Law training and maintains contact with Villanova’s VIISTA program, Lisa has assisted in submitting visa applications for human trafficking cases and prepared Afghan Evacuee asylum applications. As Lisa apprentices under a Denver-based attorney, she has pending plans to help with DACA renewals and unaccompanied minors crossing global borders.  Of course, all this happens in conjunction with Mark’s muscles.  He’s literally the right-hand man!  The seriousness of scriptures concerning refugees in our midst compels them to keep serving the Lord in this space.  Below is an excerpt from Lisa’s journal:

“Immigration ministry includes a consistent need to measure time and convert it. Starting with Ethiopian and Afghan calendars, that range from seven to thousands of years of differences from our Georgian calendar, this demands redating life events, sometimes from 1384 into 2022.  The tedious task consumes valuable time, but is necessary for accurate petition submissions.  Yet, regardless of the precision needed in calculations, I’m reminded that God measures time outside our spheres.  

Walking with those who’ve escaped severe persecution and entered into a distressing immigration system, reveals that time is not only measured by filing deadlines, or mandatory dates. It’s more importantly measured in ‘its fullness,’ – when God became human to share reconciliation with us.  

Who knows what any year might bring?  What we do know is Jesus provides the measurement of time to carry redemption, to offer His reconciliation to a wounded world (Galatians 4:4-7, Ephesians 5:16, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21).”

As AtL Board members, we desire to faithfully give oversight to the programs of this organization. Our friendship and concerns are to compassionately serve the least among us.  We send you many thanks for your kind support, and blessings for a new year measured by God’s abounding grace.

 Dave Nasralla  Chair

Becky Thompson  Secretary

Vicki Hujus  Treasurer

Carolyne Auma  Kenya Coordinator

Mark and Lisa Hauger.   Field Directors

Journey Continues Part 3: Mildred's Story on Mothers’ Day.

Mildred should be a woman you know!  But, since she lives on the other side of the world, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever encounter her endearing smile, encouraging personality, and optimistic outlook on life regardless of the hardships she’s endured. 

 Mildred is a mama in Kenya – a country where the gap between the rich and poor exists at extreme levels. “Less than 0.1% of the population (8,300 people) own more wealth than the bottom 99.9% (more than 44 million people). The richest 10% of people in Kenya earned on average 23 times more than the poorest 10%” (Oxfam International). Mildred is among the poor 99.9%, but it’s certainly not because she avoids responsibility and hard work. Opportunity and funds for employment training are scarce, social programs don’t exist and women - especially single mothers; they are at the bottom of the economic food chain.  Nevertheless, through AtL’s partnership with Covenant of Peace Resource Center in Kisumu, Mildred received her chance. Thank God!

 Below, Mildred shares her story to create understanding of how our lives intersect within God’s kingdom to serve one another:

“My name is Mildred…. I am born again and love Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I am the first born in a family of six and became pregnant when I was in high school. Because of my mama’s love and support, I was able to go back to school, and I finished well.  A couple years later, my dear mama died, and it fell on me to find a job to support my siblings and my child.  There is not much employment available for a young girl with many responsibilities.  Programs that might have helped are hard to find since funds for clients are stolen and the programs dry up. Sadly, I had nowhere to turn, and then I met a man. I thought I was in love, and he could be a support for my family. After I became pregnant with his child, I found that he was already married.  I could not be a second wife.  I found work as house help, but the pay was too low for me to manage the family’s bills, and the hours were so long I wasn’t able to see my children or siblings.  When I heard about the DIGGS tailoring program, I did not hesitate to apply.  I had always dreamt of making handcrafts and learning more about Jesus. The Lord has given me this place at the Resource Center in Covenant of Peace, so I have solid teaching, fellowship and a good sewing instructor.  May God bless those who made this program available to me. May I be found faithful to use what I learn to help others, and earn enough money to care for my family.”

Your continued support can keep helping women like Mildred experience life-changing discipleship and skills training.  Our goal is to raise matching funds to purchase sewing machines for start-up businesses with percentage pay-back into the project as women earn enough to share. Please see our GIVE button in Projects on our home page if you’d like to donate.

 (Quote from Oxfam International)

The mamas’ enjoy each the fellowship that comes with DIGGS training.

The Journey Continues

We’re 8,891 miles away from loved ones in who live in Kenya.  4 years have passed without touching their hands in a firm shake or embracing their warm necks. Regardless of the time or distance, the work we built together as sisters and brothers in Christ continues because it was forged through relationship.

 We first met Carolyne in 2006 during a frustrating trip of ministering development efforts in an over-evangelized, yet weakly-discipled community. The efforts needed to spur spiritual growth called for a challenging commitment.  God prepared us with two more month-long trips before we moved to Kisumu, Kenya to live among our friends for over 5 years. 

Upon making our home on the outskirts of slum areas, we began to keep journals and blog about our experiences. Living among those in poverty was not new to us.  We’d served in the inner city of Providence, Rhode Island and held our wedding in a church devoted to street ministry; but our ignorance to Kenya’s deep cultural nuances caused polite friction. We slowly learned to adapt, and Carolyne helped us navigate a meaningful, albeit difficult life as missionaries. An excerpt from our blog recalls the vision God birthed in our hearts and Carolyne’s help in nurturing it to fruition:

 ‘It’s said among elders that “if you give a good Kenyan woman a seed, she will grow a tree that produces shade for her family, fruit for food and seeds to sell.” We've seen these same good women have a keen sense of finding fragile threads of opportunity, and from them, weave hope. 

 Our desire is to help them bring their hopes into reality. We work with them to identify their dreams, articulate their stories, and receive training. Then, each are given a seed.

 By providing a basic foundation that reveals who Jesus Christ is to them, who they are in Christ, how to share their giftings and principles of good management, we've experienced the joy of watching these women move from victims to contributing members of their communities, happily raising their children instead of having to leave them in orphanages. They're not shy about giving God all the glory for the great things He has done!’

 When we left Kenya in 2016 to bring our family, including a new member, back to the states for health and education reasons, (which turned into more than we anticipated, but that’s another story!) we wondered how the work would continue… God reassured us that it wasn’t “our work,” and He had plenty of capable ministers to pull the efforts forward in His time and in His way.  Carolyne remained faithful to serve women in discipleship and income-generating labors. She continued to visit those who needed advice, prayer, mentorship, and skills training.

 During our visit to Kenya in 2018, there were hopes to start a sewing project for the community in the Resource Center that Among the Least helped build.  They did small scale trainings for mamas in the church, but wanted to expand to vulnerable women in the surrounding slums.  After covid shutdowns and constant updates with governing officials, they finally reached a successful conclusion. Carolyne, along with Pastor Mary from Covenant of Peace Church and a gifted seamstress, Patricia began a new sewing program.

 Our next series of blogposts will walk you into the beautiful process of watching these women move from fear and defeat to knowing their Lord Jesus and His destiny for each of them.  The stories will capture the goodness of God who keeps transforming us all, regardless of which side of the world we live on. 

A Baby Goat

Who doesn’t say, “Awe! How cute!” when seeing baby goats? It’s more than cuteness when a little one will contribute to the well-being of families during these uncertain times. A little goat, born on the other side of the world - seemly insignificant - is celebrated well by those who understand its value to grow and bring nutritious milk products to marginalized communities.

The goat project gives David, an AtL Kenyan leader, the ability to teach others a sustainable skill that offers food security and shares the gospel with tangible service. In James 2:16, scripture encourages us to act on our ability to bless others by helping meet survival needs.

Although we don’t know the future, we know the One who holds it in His hands. His name is Jesus. He can provide in small ways that make big differences. Even through the birth of a baby goat.

Thanks to all our friends who donate to make this life-giving project possible.

AtL 2020 Reviewed

Our friends in Kenya, sharing their greetings, thanks, and blessings for a Happy New Year. They also welcome us to see them again. AtL appreciates all those partnering together to help grow fruitful lives through the love of God. amongtheleast.org

As we filter through the wreckage of the past year, there appears to be plenty of redeemable events to share from Among the Least, and you’ve been a part of the meaningful success!  Below is an update from our field directors, Mark and Lisa Hauger.

“Maintaining relationships with families in the foster care and adoption processes, who request services from AtL, continues to be a beautiful, meaningful ministry.  Assisting these families requires detailed listening, privacy, competent networking, and resource sharing.  These ongoing interactions are filled with both heartache and joy. Pray for healthy families as they travel their journeys.

We sold some of our property and bought an old, but healthy, motor home so we could travel to locations of ministry needing immigration law services. The motorhome has been made accessible, but still needs a few more repairs.  Praying!

 After returning to Pagosa from an immigration law training in CA, we all heard information spreading about Covid.  Then we saw fallout from the actual virus spreading, and news, and deaths, and rumors, and opinions, and … the list seems endless… Regardless of Covid’s far-reaching fatalities, AtL stretched farther to help relieve some of the harmful impact:

 Sponsored Kenyan leaders in ministry to add more options to their businesses which were stressed by Covid restrictions:

 Carolyne - is now an Mpesa operator from her small shop, functioning as a mobile banker and thoughtful evangelist.

 David - nowadays is managing goats while maintaining water filters plus teaching/ translating for a discipleship ministry.

Steve - a talented artisan added brick making to sustain his work and ministry as a Christian musician

Equipped Carolyne with tools to make masks and share hygiene options within rural villages that needed attention.

 Assisted Kajulu Women’s Group to bring in their harvest before locusts (traveling across the Middle East to northern Kenya in epic proportions) threatened to consume it.

With AtL’s support, the Resource Center in Kisumu has purchased 3 new sewing machines.  They will begin another tailoring training that also includes a discipleship course.

 Since the AtL board is involved in education, their schedules and abilities to influence others during the pandemic has been a significant, but successful challenge. We appreciate their encouragement and support.   Thanks AtL board!!

 We received a suitcase of handcrafted items for adoption fundraising in US which promotes fair wages in Kenya, thus protecting family preservation. In December, a family in the process of adopting reached out to us to discuss their journey. After talking about the financial piece, we thought of the suitcase!  They hosted a virtual sale which is still happening! Please pray for the Mathews family and be free to donate to their adoption by scrolling through AtL’s facebook page.

 In the beginning of September, we started communicating with Colorado Hosting Asylum Network and created a partnership. We checked the possibility of legally hosting asylum seekers in Pagosa.  We formed a team represented by 3 churches, and we welcomed our first guest!  We continue to facilitate team meetings and trainings while aiding in the immigration law piece. Our goal is to multiply this effort and be a community that offers hope to those fleeing persecution.

 Recent pictures of the Kajulu Women’s Group and members of Women of Worth get-together for fellowship, harvesting new crops, and discussing how to help one another with encouragement and paying children’s school fees. (Photos shared with permission.)

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Thank you all for the generous love, prayers and support!  Please know these smiles, praise reports and discipleship are a result of God moving you in response to their prayers.  

Questions? Reach out to mlthauger@gmail.com”

In the Waiting, We Work

While we wait for things to change, for borders to open, for restrictions to break, we work. We work because it is necessary. We work because it is good. We work because God calls us to be fruitful in our labors of love.

As the village mamas inspect their field, they watch for signs of change… Are the swarming locust coming? Will the rains be enough, or too much? Will there be enough to share? Can we keep standing when loss, evil and dangerous threats surround us? The book of James tells us, “Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.” We live in tremulous times; requiring patience and earnest seeking the Lord of the harvest. Let’s not grow weary in well-doing; like these dear mamas, we will reap if we faint not. He is coming again.

Some of the work AtL in Kenya is doing while we wait…

As Steve makes bricks and sells them, he also teaches others the trade and shares about God’s provision for our bodies, souls and spirits. Please pray for Steve as he continues reaching out to his communities with income-generating projects and the love of Jesus.

Carolyne continues to carry the gospel message by loving her neighbors. She teaches them how to help communities that live in close proximity to safely care for sick loved ones. Please pray for continued safety and fruitful ministry for Carolyne and the communities she visits. May the love of Jesus continue to be evident in her outreach.

Mothers to Mothers

No matter what you think about Covid19, or the confusing news feeds, or the barrage of theories, or the endless predictions…

This is a sweet story of mamas helping mamas by sharing basic common-sense information on how to use a face mask when caring for elderly and sick in their communities, and how to keep hands clean when water is a precious commodity.

Many women in rural Kenya are not on the list of well-cared-for people, especially widows with children. The complex struggles afflicting their lives defies simple explanations; just know when you open a fridge of food - they don’t. When you place loose change on your dresser - they have neither. When you run to the grocery - they can’t. When you need to visit a qualified doctor- they must wait in line. Gathering water and making it potable for their family to use? Well, that becomes a full morning’s work.

What they do have is each other. A joy of friendship. Not being forgotten.

Carolyne barrowed a treadle sewing machine and collected scraps of kitenge from local tailors. She got a pattern from Becky Thompson (seamstress extraordinaire) and worked into the nights. Among the Leastordered Swahili books, communicating healthy hygiene habits, and wrote a tract about caring for others. Then Carolyne went to rustic villages and distributed a service of love, so those mamas could do the same.

These women are not poor because of laziness. They never offer excuses of victimization, although horrible abuses abound. God’s strength and honor clothe them as they encourage one another.

Photos taken by the mamas with a $22 generic cell phone on 50 cents of airtime.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the amazing women out there!

COVID19 in Kenya

2009: She grew up in the tradition of polygamy until her father died. She married, but within a few years, became a young widow with two small sons. Without resources or hope she watched dreams shatter like broken glass that litters her town’s roads.Carolyne’s cautious agreement to pray with us seemed fragile; yet, God bestowed a gift of strong faith within her.

Armed with biblical training and a small micro loan, Carolyne started her grocery kiosk in Kenya’s Kondlele slum. Within a year, she earned enough to feed and educate her children, care for her orphaned niece, tithe, and help other widows do the same. Evangelism and discipleship happen regularly as Carolyne shares her story. She’s living her destiny.

Today: COVID19 wreaks havoc within slums of Kondele, Kenya. Violence, fear, misinformation, and physical distancing without basic essentials, challenges survival more than contracting the virus. After living and serving from the same residence for 13 years, Carolyne faced eviction because customers dwindled. She had to find a way to cope... Together with the AtL board inPagosa, Carolyne and the group she ministers with, brought the request for help before God’s mighty throne room of grace - and He heard.

With wisdom from the Lord, Carolyne felt opening an MPESA from her shop would bring customers back because they could buy without handling money. Now, many can purchase items using the mobile phone transactions process. They also receive prayer and a word of encouragement from a woman who knows her God does the impossible.

Please pray:

For local families in the 4 Corners area who are in the process of transitioning kids in foster care or have pending adoption plans.

For families separated by the COVID travel restrictions and food insecurity in Kenya.

The women of WOW started sewing masks to give with tracts about Jesus’ eternal love amidst crisis.

An Invitation to the Garden

Spring season is when gardens emerge - digging, unearthing, pruning the old and planting the new.

The genesis of human history began in a garden. The world’s greatest aching stemmed from that same garden. The path to redemption was forged in a garden of crushing.

Jesus - His last days were not spent moving among influential ciricles or satisfying a bucket list. He washed misfits’ grimy feet and offered them a meal created by God.

Jesus - journeyed into a garden called the Oil Press. There He struggled with His own longings, wrestled with fear and grief until He surrendered to the will of Love. Jesus blood first fell in a garden.

He endured piercing torture. He died an excruciating death. He rescued ungrateful human hearts. Jesus bore our evils away.

Then an obscure character comes on the scene - Joseph of Arimathea - a prominent council member, yet “he was looking for the Kingdom of God.” Risking livelihood and reputation, he takes courage and asks Pilate for the body of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea buries his Hope for restoration in his own tomb - in a garden.

A lot happens in a garden - sowing, reaping, death and life - analogies for our own journeys…

Turn to the garden fo your soul. Dig deep into those places of pain, of shame, of loss and know today - Hope lives! He longs to cultivate forgiveness, significance and joy in your garden.

Jesus. He has Risen.

Good Friday

This hard, yet hopeful Good Friday memory feels appropriate right now…

APRIL 6, 2012

On Good Friday, I’m thinking about death. Confusion from the recent deaths of young friends’ swirls around us like wild dervishes. A student, Franklin, and a joyful widowed mom, Benta are gone from our community. Last week overflowed with distress that unavailable medical treatments could have saved their lives. The grief of a teary-eyed children, now orphaned, feels unbearable. Will extended family help them? Are resources ready to keep them healthy? I’m sitting on my bed, looking at tender flowers climbing over the grey cement wall, trying to make sense of disturbing sadness.

I knew when we came to Kenya we’d experience a raw, scarring life. I studied the plight of vulnerable children traded like commodities. I read the stories of victimized widows who sold their bodies to feed their babies. I understood the statistics on mortality rate, life expectancy, and per capita income.  

But now we actually see poverty devour. We hear the anguish cry and taste the hostility. We feel the life of the oppressed, inhaling toxic fumes of too many burning dreams. We are a part of these people, and the recent deaths vibrate an echoing question - WHY? WHY? WHY? …

It’s Good Friday and I’m thinking about life. Tonight, we’ll celebrate worship with Jesus friends, sharing communion. We’ll remember His sacrifice and let death be swallowed in victory. The WHYs will fade because we trust the Eternal - WHO gave His life to save us from the shroud of uncertainty. The grey hardness of suffering is covered with fresh blooms of hope. I’ll place my affections there, on the beauty growing before me.

It’s Good Friday. His sacrifice is enough. Resurrection morning proves it true.

Please pray for Mildred, Franklin’s widowed mamma and Benta’s children, Seth and Winnie.

2019 Catch up!

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Oops!  Some recipients of Among the Least blog asked why we sent 2016 update AGAIN…

Well, we don’t know for sure, probably a glitch in our website program that we hopefully fixed.  Please let us know if you receive another 2016 update or one for any other year that’s not current.

We appreciate your feedback and did ya check out the video? Super grateful for the great things God has done! Your support and encouragement answered this prayer...