None of the items these people are requesting is that expensive. It cost around $50 for a good goat and about $20 for pots and pans. Can you assist ROW in helping us to meet the basic needs of the people of the Mathari Valley?

One of the goals for ROW is to equip these families with small microeconomic opportunities. This would include raising chickens, pigs and goats as well as using pots, pans and plants to supplement their lives.

As Christians, we are instructed in Psalm 82:3-4:

“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

The people of the Mathari Valley have undergone extreme persecution, which has resulted in the loss of material possessions, homes and even lives in Kenya. It is up to God to bring about reconciliation in that country, but it is up to us to meet the needs of those who have been displaced.

Over 1,000 people have lost their lives in the fighting in Kenya. We have received reports that over 300,000 people have been displaced and over 49,000 people have come through refugee camps in the Nakuru area. Hundreds of homes in the Mathari Valley have been looted and destroyed.

Even though we have recently lost communication from these men in Kenya, we know that we serve an ever-present God who is mindful of all things. God knows their struggles, the dangers that exist in that area and the recent chaos that has left so many people without hope.

Christians in America haven’t yet experienced real persecution for their faith. Nonetheless, many of us know what it is like to be ridiculed by others for loving Christ, we have experienced lean times in our lives where all we had was our faith in Christ to rest upon and perhaps some of us have endured danger for proclaiming Christ as our Lord. Whatever it is that you are facing today you can be certain that all Christians experience trials and hardships. We have hope, though, and it is found in Romans 8:35, which says:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”

Take heart today, for no matter what you go through, Christ is, and always will be, right by your side!

On the first day, there were 368 people, followed the next day by 2,000 people. On the succeeding days, there were 1,264, 2,406, 3,432, 2,500, 2,033, and 1,644 people. A total of 15,647 friends dropped by Rivers of the World’s work area in the village of Nakuru, a beautiful lakeside town in Kenya. The people who have been arriving are refugees who have fled from Nairobi to Nakuru in desperate need of help.

Since the Dec. 27, 2007 national election, widespread violence has occurred in parts of Kenya, to include areas of Nairobi. Until Friday, Jan. 25, 2008, Nakuru had escaped the weeks of violence that has seen as many as 1,000 people killed in the east African country and around 250,000 people forced from their homes.

I never do this, but I am urgently asking folks to join with ROW in meeting the needs of these displaced people. These 15,000 people need food, blankets, mattresses, cooking pots, clothing and fuel to move them on to their final destination.

Imagine the plight of the family of Samuel K., who is one of our micro business loan members. He and his wife Grace, their three-year-old daughter Jane and her grandmother, live together in a shack in Mathare Valley, which is one of the five large slums in Nairobi. Their home was looted and everything was taken, even their clothes. Samuel’s business selling chickens was wrecked and all his stock stolen. They have nothing but the clothes on their backs.

As Christians, now is our chance to actively demonstrate the love of God by helping these folks in need. If the neighboring town where you live were suddenly destroyed by a flood, would it prompt you to help? It should matter not that these folks live in another country and another continent—needs exist and we must rally together to meet those needs.

Paul instructs Titus that he should remind the people of the importance of good deeds in the life of the Christian. We read in Titus 3:14 (NKJV):

“And let our people also learn to maintain good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful.”

There is no time for us to be idle. We must work hard each day and to live our lives in such a way that we are prepared spiritually, physically and financially to meet the needs of others in times of crisis.

The word “frog” can also stand for something else—Faith Relies On God. My friend Lane sent thousands of little toy frogs to the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya. Ten months later, Lane traveled to that region of Kenya and photographed the people and our work on an orphanage, hospital and other projects in Nakuru, Kenya.

When I arrived home in Georgia and looked at Lane’s pictures, I discovered that in one of the photographs was a little boy who was holding out his toy frog friend. It was as if this boy was reminding Lane across the miles that “Faith Relies On God.”

If you see a frog today, rejoice knowing faith in the Lord will not disappoint us. If you are struggling today to find that hope, I encourage you to hold tight to this verse of scripture in Romans 5:5:

“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

God has made every provision for us to survive in this world, and to survive with strength, encouragement, abundance, joy and hope. Put your faith and hope in the One who gives to us the Holy Spirit as our comforter and who has provided a way for us to have everlasting life with Christ.

In some remote areas of Belize, canoes instead of vehicles transport people from one place to another. Tree stumps in the Temash River in Southern Belize could prove challenging maneuvering this waterway. Vehicles certainly do not travel fast on some of the roads in Kenya, since the terrain could damage most vehicles driven in the United States.

Whatever means used, whether it is by canoe, four-wheel drive vehicle or a motor-powered boat, Rivers of the World (ROW) uses every means possible to traverse remote rivers to reach people from Africa, Asia and all across the Americas. Working side-by-side with those people who live daily in these remote river basins, we provide a variety of assistance to help these people overcome some of their greatest challenges.

Academics, research, education and medical/dental concerns go hand-in-hand with church planting, construction, evangelism and Bible distribution. Regardless of the method we use in these remote river locations, one thing is consistent—in all we do we strive to show the love of Christ. In Isaiah 57:14 God’s word says:

“Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”

This is precisely what we at Rivers of the World are all about, removing the many obstacles that stand in the way for people of these river basins to enjoy a better way of life and to experience the loving hand of God through His people.

To find out more about Rivers of the World, a non-profit Christian ministry, visit our web site at www.row.org.