"Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?"
Isaiah 66:1
This village church and apostolic center in the Nyarombe Village of Kenya that the Lord led Pst John Omondi to build has continued to grow and minister to the village people. Along with reaching the local orphans and children there, blessing the widows is an area that the Spirit of God has been moving on by rebuilding and repairing some of the widows homes in the area. Many of the homes there are African mud homes that have stood for years and provided protection for them from the elements, but some are also deteriorating, leaking and needing repair or just rebuilding all together. Pst John's heart has gone out to these widows in their plight and has been praying for more support and provisions that would allow him to make more of an impact upon these village people and widows. The Lord has been answering that prayer as He moves upon hearts to come alongside him with financial support for this need.
Below is the first widow's old house that was eventually torn down after the new one was built. It was the first house built to bless the widow that donated the land for the church. Her roof was leaking and she had to huddle in the corner when it rained to stay dry. Pst John knew this widow could have easily donated that land to get money for a new home, but rather she chose to donate it for the contruction of a church that would benefit the village people. The Lord blessed her in return for her generous and selfless gift.
Widow that donated land stands in front of her
old mud house with the leaking roof and no windows.
Widow's new plastered house with new roof,
door and windows.
This new house is a 2 bedroom plastered home with windows and metal door that replaced the widow's one bedroom home that had no windows at all, had a broken wooden door, and had walls that were cracked, eroded and unplastered. The plastering over the mud walls is more expensive, but it also adds more strength, a good esthetic finishing, and prevents the rains from eroding the mud walls.
However with this blessing there became a challenge Pst John faced. Many of the members of the church that began attending were vulnerable people who were also pulled to the church through the charity work of the widow's house. Other widows that began attending approached Pst John to help them get a house like he was able to get for this widow. There was one widow whose bed mattress was on the mud floor, and when it rained the water flowed into it and would get her mattress wet. Another widow had to leave her home and move far away to a rental place as one of the mud walls of her home caved in and she had no one to help her rebuild. Pst John acknowleded, "The needs are diverse and they are real." He began praying that the Lord would bless him with increased support to help these widows and village people more since the Lord brought him there for a purpose. The Lord has been faithful.
A new bed was provided for the 2nd widow as repairs began being made to her present home. Murium/clay and cement is being added to raise and transform the mud floor into a concrete floor to keep rain out, and plastering is being done to the outside walls to create strength. The real blessing has been that this widow was not a member of the church, it was only her daughter-in-law that was a member, but as a result of these acts of kindness she has confessed that she is now becoming a member of the church. Love has pulled her, and now she will be able to hear the Gospel, the Living Word. Jesus' passion was meeting both the spiritual as well as the physical.
to place her mattress on and get it off the floor
Other Widow's Needs:
There are other widows whose mud homes are worn, weakened, and leaking that need replacing. Some whose homes weren't plastered so the walls have washed out by rains, and even one that finally caved in all together, forcing her to relocate far away to a rental property.
A widow's home: walls washed out, leaking roof,
anf timber that is weakened.
Another widow's home: walls caved in.
Had to abandon to a rental far away.
Had no one to help her rebuild.
There are many widows in need here, and the Father's heart is towards them. He is moving upon this area of home repairs and rebuilding for these widows in this village as Holy Spirit creates and makes the way for more support and hearts to join in this Kingdom work.
Process of Building an African Mud Home:
The process of building one of these mud homes with a concrete floor is very interesting. The men work very hard as you can see in these videos below. They are hard working people here in Kenya and Africa. The stages of building are shown below with pictures taken from the building of the first widow's house. The videos are of the concreting of the floor taken from when the floor was done at the church. These pctures and videos show the process for those of you that are interested in learning more about these African ways of building. The heavy rainy seasons there are March-May and October-November and make it much more difficult to transport the heavy loads of murium, stone chips and sand. The feeder roads into the village become a swamp so it more of a challenge to build during these rainy seasons. See video below:
Truck transporting load of murium stuck.
Swampy roads from heavy rains.
STAGES & PROCESS OF BUILDING AN AFRICAN MUD HOUSE:
1. Buying timber - cutting them down into size.
2. Buy roofing metal sheeets plus heavier roofing timber.
3. Engaging the carpenter for building.
4. When structure is done, mud is put on wall- 2 stages.
5. Fixing in windows and doors.
6. Final stage - plastering for added strength & esthetics if desired.
Stage 1: Cutting down trees and cutting them to different lumber sizes
Stage 2: Carpenter builds structure and places roofing materials
Stage 3: Mixing mud composition and placing mud in
walls. This must dry for 2 weeks before more mud
is placed to fill in gaps that were left after walls dried.
Stage 5: Windows and doors are placed.
Stage 6: 2nd layer of mud covering (see side wall)
Stage 7: Plastering (front wall with door & window)
PROCESS FOR CONCRETING FLOORS
1. Purchase truckload of muriam/clay, stone chips, load of sand, and bags of sand.
2. Lay 4 inches of murium/clay.
3. Place layer of stone chips that are then pounded to compact them together.
3. Mix cement and sand and pour over murium & stone chips - concreting floor.
Stage 1: Purchase and deliver supplies
(murium, stone chips, sand, concrete bags)
Stage 2: Carting the murium into place
Stage 3: Pounding the stone to make it compact before cementing
Stage 4: Concreting - mixing cement, carting it in,
and pouring it on top of murium.
FOODBANK:
Pst John also has a desire to build a separate house on the church property that would basically be like a foodbank, supplying food and supplies for the widows and orphans there; supplies such as maize, beans, salt, etc.
DONATE TO BUILD A HOME FOR A WIDOW:
For those that may feel led to send support or donate towards this widow home effort or to the ministry needs and vision at large you can contact Pst John for more information at:
PRAYER:
Father God, we thank You for Your faithfulness to provide and to bless as You invite us into Your Kingdom work. We thank You that Your eyes and heart are upon this village and these widows and orphans and that You have sent Your son, John, as a servant to carry and to impart Your Spirit, to teach the people the ways of Your Kingdom, and to bless them as they come to receive Jesus and know You as their Father and learn that they are covenent children of God. May Your presence fill each house and each heart. And Father, we ask You to cotinue to multitply and increase this ministry and show Yourself mighty on their behalf. Let us see many come into the Kingdom as Your hand and Your heart of blessing touches and transforms this village. You have not forgotten them. They are on Your heart. Your love flows to them through every heart and gift of kindness, service and generosity. We speak and decree multiplied blessings upon them and espcially back upon those that sow into this ministry. Amen
"True spirituality that is pure in the eyes
of our Father God is to make a difference
in the lives of the orphans and widows
in their troubles, and to refuse to be
corrupted by the world's values.
James 1:27 TPT
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