Free Luncheon Missions Group to Hear About
Kenyan Abandoned Children Home
FRIENDSHIP,
NY -- The local U.S. director of a Kenyan missions group which provides a home
for abandoned Kenyan children will be the featured speaker at a free luncheon
next week in Friendship.
A
newly formed missions group will hear about the Rehema Home in Nairobi and
Bukura, Kenya, from Shea Reagan of Wellsville during the noon to 1:30PM
Wednesday, November 20, session at the Mission House, site of the former St.
Andrew's Church rectory at 28 East Main Street.
Purpose
of the local group is to acquaint area residents about positive efforts being
made locally, regionally, nationally and worldwide in reaching out to people in
need.
The
Mission House property, which includes a church and offices, is being used by
the What God is Doing in Friendship ny alliance of churches to provide new
opportunities for area residents who have a variety of needs, including social,
educational, and services.
Individuals,
regardless of church affiliation, are invited to attend the free luncheon, with
required registrations to help determine luncheon needs, being made at
ajmbaird@aol.com or (585) 808-1300.
Last
month, Casey Jones and Anita Baird of Allegany Hope, local outreach
missionaries, described how anyone can “Become a Missionary in Minutes,” using
free resources which are available to equip and use in efforts to meet the
holistic health needs - physical, mental/emotional and spiritual - of family
members, friends and others.
Reagan,
who was named this year as executive director of the U.S. fundraising operation
for Rehema Home, will talk about the 189 children who have been rescued from
the streets of the two Kenyan cities during the past quarter century of mission
operations.
The
director and her family became involved with the Christian organization several
years ago as a result of a trip to the home, which was started when
missionaries Irvin and Ruth Schwandt took their first child, found abandoned on
the side of a road, into their home.
The
Schwandts started their mission initiative through the Elim Bible Institute and
College in Lima, Livingston County..
Up
to 100 children are cared for at the two locations at any one time, with some
being discovered in landfills and other areas, including abandonment at
hospitals, because destitute parents have the hope that someone will find them
and provide a better life, while others have been abused and taken from their
parents.
Some end up being adopted, while others are re-united with their families.
Photo:
Shea Reagan of Wellsville, U.S.
assistance director for the Kenyan Rehema House.