Mission & Outreach
Bathing Suit Drive for the Urban League
The Urban League’s summer school-age child care program is in our building, and they go on a number of water-related field trips. To use the public pools in our area, proper bathing suits are required, but we learned that some of the kids in the Urban League program didn’t have swimsuits and towels so they were unable to participate.
So in July, Sherry Conklin and Sally Hunt spearheaded a collection of new children’s bathing suits and beach towels.
Thanks to the fabulous generosity of the congregation and community, we were successful in meeting the needs of the Urban League kids, and then some! We also got connected in with other programs in the area to make sure that all of the donated items found their way to the kids that need them.
Some of the many swimming items that were collected.
After we gave the suits and towels to the kids in the Urban League program, they made a very cute thank you note for us!
Since kids have a tendency to outgrow their clothes from one year to the next (ha ha!), we plan to do another collection next May so we can help out right from the beginning of the summer swimming season. As this summer wraps up, bathing suits and beach towels typically go on clearance sale, so if you like to think ahead, you can probably get some good deals on kids’ swimwear and beach towels. Then hang onto it until our collection next May, or donate it now and we can hold it until then.
Welcome Desk & Lobby Hospitality
Our welcome desk is a hub for many people in the community. We continuously provide support and guidance to the community members who visit us. Our bulletin board includes a posting of affordable apartments updated each week for people looking for a place to live, and job postings to help with a new start. Community events are also advertised for family fun as well as informational assistance on programs that may help struggling families or single parents.
We’re a stop-off to people seeking resources and agencies that are in our building, or looking for direction in solving life’s problems. We have morning coffee hour four days a week, giving folks a bit of social time as they enjoy conversations and plan their day, and often we have baked goods to share, too. Sometimes a smiling face or helping hand can change a life!
Carolyn Cummings, Missionary in Kenya
Carolyn has been serving with Africa Inland Mission in Kenya for 30 years. She started out as a Bible school teacher, then became the Children’s Ministry Facilitator for the Mission. She is now an administrator in the office that covers Kenya and Tanzania, providing office administration, contingency planning, project administration, and unit leadership for the missionaries working in Eastern Kenya. On weekends, she has a Bible club for teenage boys from a large slum area in Nairobi.
Carolyn Cummings and the boys from Kibera on a camping trip at Lake Naivasha in Kenya.
News from Carolyn (received June 21 and July 24, 2019):
Dear Friends,
I had a wonderful couple of months in Boston this spring; thanks to all who made me feel so welcomed and showed so much love, especially to Dave and Lana Lewis who let me stay with them even though their cat hates me. Darcy will be very happy to get rid of me. I’ve had some great fellowship and exquisite meals with many of you and I am thankful, even for the extra poundage I’ve accumulated on my posterior. Wouldn’t want to go back to Kenya weak!
Shortly before returning to Kenya, I spent a very interesting day at Harvard. THAT was not the interesting part, I’ve been there a million times. But this was the first time I’ve been to Harvard to use the library for research.
My great-great-grandparents were missionaries to China in the 1840s. Inspired by Judi Manola’s research on the Park Street missionaries to the Sandwich Islands, I trotted along with her to the library to look up my ancestors. The records of the American Board of Commissions of Foreign Missions (ABCFM) are held in Houghton Library at Harvard. Believe it or not, I found myself reading the actual letter written by Rev. Seneca Cummings to the ABCFM offering himself as a candidate for their mission to Foochow, China. There were also his recommendations from professors at Union Theological Seminary. I thought it pretty funny that in the application letter he said he wasn’t married and had no plans to get married, but if they thought it better to go as a couple, he would arrange that — which he did, marrying my great-great-grandmother two days before leaving New Hampshire for Philadelphia where they joined their mission teammates on the ship to China. To touch the actual letters written in 1846 was an amazing experience.
Rev. Seneca Cummings
Earlier in June, I spent some time at Africa Inland Mission (AIM)’s headquarters near Atlanta with 14 candidates looking to become missionaries. They have to go through a bit more examination and preparation than my great-great grandparents did, but it’s still thrilling to know the missions enterprise continues. I led devotions and had many conversations with the candidates about life in Africa.
In early July I flew back to Kenya with no trouble at all, and am now totally back to work and life in general. My luggage was a little unusual because it included a box containing the bits of an IKEA chair, but all arrived unharmed.
The day after I got back, a good friend who has left Kenya and retired to Scotland arrived on my doorstep for a visit. My house was still a mess after I had put everything from the downstairs upstairs, so the downstairs could be painted while I was away. Fortunately Alison is the kind of friend that wades right in and helps. And the best part is that she has a lot of IKEA furniture she has put together and knows how to read the wordless IKEA international instructions! I would never have gotten the chair put together so easily without her! She also carried back downstairs all my books and DVDs so I could get them on the shelves. It was very much easier with her help.
The following weekend I joined Alison and some other friends from “the old days” in Kenya for a weekend safari. I hadn’t seen Kevin and Liz Borlase since they left Kenya 15 years ago with two tiny children. Now their kids are big and they wanted them to see where they had come from. They went on a week-long safari all around Kenya, I could only join them at the weekend, but it was a lovely time and we had great fun together.
At Lake Naivasha with Alison (in red) and the Borlase family
The painters did an excellent job on my walls, but destroyed my kitchen floor. Fortunately the contractor agreed to replace the floor, so I now have clean walls, new counter tops and blue tiled flooring. My kitchen is bright and cheerful, just needs new curtains. I may ban the boys from coming in the kitchen with their dirty feet, we’ll see. It was good to see them last Sunday and cook for them again.
Thanks to all who overfed me on my home assignment; I’m slowly getting back to my pre-Boston weight, and hopefully will go even lower… we’ll see if that’s possible.
Here are some prayer points:
- Pray for the boys doing their end-of-term exams and that they will have some good soccer games during school break.
- I am in charge of crafts at my church’s Sunday School Fun Day on Saturday, August 3.
- Four of my fellow office workers are going on their home assignments in August, and I need to be ready to fill in where able.
- Coach Caleb is getting married on August 10. I kind of dread all the festivities, but hope the wedding will go smoothly and be God-honoring, as Caleb intends.
- I have two women doing “vision” trips to see if they would like to join AIM and come serve in eastern Kenya under my unit. Pray they will be led by God to return!
Blessings,
Carolyn
An update (received August 13, 2019):
Dear Praying Friends,
I generally try to avoid going to weddings as they often take all day long, but last Saturday, August 10th, I happily gave up my day for the marriage of my colleague, Caleb Aringa.
Caleb is the coach of the soccer team and I have worked closely with him for 9 years, seeking to preach the Word to the boys and girls of Kibera slum. I have watched girlfriends come and go, and listened to him moan on and on about women, until finally he settled on Stella Mwanzia. I like Stella very much, but I am not so sure about her salvation. She’s been a good partner for Caleb in his work to help the soccer team kids with school issues, but she’s not so enthusiastic about the Christian guidance part. It would be great if you would pray for her salvation.
The day was lovely, the sun shining, the wedding party only showed up an hour late at the church (that’s really good), and they somehow managed to find matching black Toyota SUVs and one white one to carry the bride. One of my boys was driving an SUV, dressed like a Men In Black cast member. I immediately asked him if he had a driver’s license and he laughed at me. A little scary! The service was very beautiful with lots of dancing in and out of the church, clapping and ululating in joy as Caleb and Stella shared their vows. The pastor gave a good gospel message and charged the bride and groom to keep God central in their lives.
Some photos were taken outside the church, this one is all the people involved with the library and soccer club.
Caleb and Stella lead the wedding party dancing out of the church after the service.
The reception was on the edge of Nairobi on the grounds of the Kenya School of Law. We ate a great meal under tents, which was a good thing as there were big birds of prey swooping down on any hapless person trying to carry food across the grounds. We were very close to the forest that is just beyond the city limits. While the bridal party were busy off having photos taken, the MC did a good job of getting everybody up to dance. I did my part, giggling around with Caleb’s sisters, who were a jolly bunch. We danced over to Stella’s family and then paired up with them to symbolically join the two families. Caleb and Stella are from different tribes, so the MC tried to get each side to do their tribe’s traditional dance, which didn’t work too well as they are all a bunch of Nairobiites and don’t do traditional dancing. But there was plenty of raucousness and fun.
I was delighted to see Juma (center) there. He is the young man who had a heart problem and needed two valves replaced, which several of you helped fund when he was 15. He is very healthy now and … joy of joys … in medical school to become a doctor! He said he wanted to become one when he was a kid, but he’s making good on his dream. I was really happy to see him.
Caleb and Stella cutting one of EIGHT cakes! Everyone got a good piece. Check out Caleb’s “cravat.”
I took some people home to Kibera and then went home to collapse at 6:30pm. Fortunately the Law School had a party deadline of 5:30, so we weren’t there all evening.
Please pray for the library children as the last term of the year will begin the first week in September. In November will be the big end of primary/secondary school exams and we have 8 “candidates” who will sit the exam. It’s always an anxious time for them.
I have been busy at work with people coming to Kenya for “vision” trips, meaning they have joined AIM but are visiting the places we would like them to work before they make their final decision. One woman, a nurse, visited 3 different places on her trip; I am praying she will choose to join one of my teams in eastern Kenya where they do a lot of medical work.
Pray for Stella and Caleb to love each other and create a warm, Christian home in which to bring up their children. They say they only want one, we’ll see if they stick to that!
Blessings,
Carolyn