Bibles for Kenya

Last night, my mom and I ran up to Kenosha to see her second cousin, Linda, talk about her missionary work in Tenwek, Kenya.

Linda is like a member of our family. When I was a child, she and my mom's sister, Bev, were missionaries in Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo). When they came home on furlough, they lived with us in between their travels, usually while they were taking courses at Trinity International University in Deerfield.

Linda has since married and she and her family went to Kenya for three years. Linda's husband, John, is an internist at the hospital there in Tenwek. Linda knew she was going to be homeschooling her three children and hosting visiting doctors. Sounds like plenty to me! But she asked God for her own ministry. "Just a few women who want to study the Bible."

God has answered her prayer - and more! Her Bible study with three other Kenyan women has grown into Bible studies that meet all throughout that region - including hundreds of women.

One of the things they do is encourage the women to memorize Bible verses. If they memorize 17 Bible verses, the ministry (Tabitha Ministry) gives the women their very own Bible.

They also minister to these women by helping them become more financially stable. They partner with the local church to provide homes, seed & fertilizer, and even cows to women and their families.

I was so encouraged by her talk last night. Someone suggested that women in the US memorize the same 17 verses and then give the $8 Tabitha needs to purchase a Bible for a woman in Kenya.

I thought that was a great idea - and am going to apply it to my own family but with a twist. My kids are studying for the Bible Bee this fall, so we are going to donate a Bible for every 17 verses each child memorizes.

I told the children this morning and they got excited. Now, to figure out a way to keep track of the number of verses, and the number of Bibles.