Do you take water for granted?

Dear Parishioners,

This weekend, we have our missionary appeal and welcome to our parishes Fr. Augustine Kipkemei, a missionary priest from the Diocese of Nakuru in Kenya -East Africa. The missionary efforts of the Church are a response to Jesus' great commission to, "Go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This spirit of mission has propelled Her members to bring the Faith to the far reaches of Africa and Asia as well as at home here to the Native Americans. But closer to home, our own ancestors at some point received the Faith through an outpouring of the Holy Spirit by the means of missionary work. The following is a description of the Diocese of Nakuru and the current situation the Church is working in:

The Catholic Diocese of Nakuru is in Kenya-East Africa. The diocese is composed of two counties; Nakuru and Baringo. East Pokot area in Baringo county is a semi-arid area and experiences perennial droughts due to unfavorable weather conditions. Therefore, hunger and lack of water is rampant. Some sections of Nakuru County are affected by a high rate of poverty. This has led to the abandonment of the newly born. Besides the babies, parents, as a result of the inability to take care of their children, just vanish and leave them on their own, most of them at a very tender age, leading to being taken to orphanages/children's homes. As a diocese, we run these orphanages, 7 in number (approx.1,200 children), and others become street children. One of the orphanages is basically to rehabilitate these street children. In both cases, the most affected are children. Adding to the injury is the high cost of living caused by a lack of political goodwill in the country.

The Diocese of Nakuru’s primary goal is the propagation of the Faith. As we do that, we meet some social and humanitarian challenges that call our attention to address tangibly. Some of the projects are: 1. Feeding the starving community, as well as providing water for drinking and for other domestic use by sinking wells. 2. Help the children in both circumstances with food, clothing, medical care, spiritual care, and provide means for their education, among others.

Thank you for your support of this missionary effort!

In Christ,

Fr. Luke Fleck