Latest / Kenya Kronicles / Kenya Kronicles 005 - The Impact of Ministry
Transcript
- Ken Peel: Hey and welcome to Kenya Kronicles This is episode five, and I'm Ken Peel. Thanks for joining us today. Also with us the president and founder of Fishers of Men Ministries, Joshua Ngao And Joshua, again another episode. Excited to bring this one. why don't you introduce who our guests are today? Joshua: Yeah, I'm excited to have another episode so that we can be able to share to people about what is happening and what God is doing. today I have my good friends, my missionaries who have been to Kenya four times. Four times. They broke the record. Nobody else has ever gone for mission trips. Ken Peel: Ha ha ha. Joshua: four times. So, and they did not just go to visit and go to see the animals, but they went to serve the Lord. So I'm so excited to introduce Dr. Scott Palmer, who has been even my eye doctor for a long time and a good friend and Dana Palmer. who was helping me at the office here from doing all the books for a very long time. And the way we met is just going to talk about it, but they are good friends, good sponsors, and good people who believe in what God is doing in Kenya. And we have had a lot of fun serving the Lord together. Ken Peel: Yeah. Amen. Well, Scott and Dana, it's great to have you on this podcast. I know that Joshua and I have been looking forward to this for for some time to because we have a little bit of a connection. All of us have been on a trip together, one of the trips in the past, and I'm looking forward to talking about that. Plus plus your other trips and and what God has been doing. So let's start off first of all, how did you guys find out about Fishers of Men ministries? Scott & Dana: met Pastor Joshua back in early two thousand. A friend had brought him into the office that I worked at to meet Wayne Stuedemann who later became the ministry's board president. Pastor Joshua came through our office on a regular basis when they had board meetings and I got to know him and the ministry. eventually we began sponsoring a young young girl in the spring of 2008. In 2009, at a friend's wedding, I was able to finally introduce Scott to Pastor Joshua. Ken Peel: Okay. So Scott, what was that like for you? What did this whole introduction thing? Scott & Dana: Well, there's a little bit of a story. Ken Peel: Okay. Scott & Dana: I had heard of this Joshua guy and Ken Peel: Ha ha. Scott & Dana: was excited to meet him and it was a at a wedding and after the first introduction I needed to use the restroom. And so this is the first time I can remember actually hearing the Lord telling me what to do. Ken Peel: Mm. Scott & Dana: And I was standing in front of a urinal and the Lord said, Scott, you need to help this guy. And so I finished up what I had to do and went back to the conversation and told Joshua that if he ever needed his eyes examined, well, he should let me know. And I gave him my business card and he then just looked at me dumbstruck and said that he had just made an appointment at a really inexpensive place to get his eyes checked 'cause that's the only place he could afford. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: And that was the first of many times that God intervened. Ken Peel: Wow. Well I'm excited to hear some other stories about how God worked in your life. So had you guys ever done anything mission work wise or anything like that before you started doing stuff with Fisher's of Men? Scott & Dana: I had gone to Romania with Shoes for Orphan Souls in two thousand six and Joshua kept, you know, stopping in my office saying, When is Dr. Palmer gonna go and examine to Kenya? We need him Joshua: Thank Scott & Dana: to examine the eyes of our children. And I I looked at him and I said, Joshua, I am not the holdup. I've gone on my mission trip. He is perfectly able to go. I'm not the holdup. So Joshua then dutifully went down the street to my office. Ken Peel: Ha ha Scott & Dana: The same day. Right right Joshua: You Scott & Dana: after that. And walked in. Well, hi, hi, Pastor Joshua: You Scott & Dana: Joshua. It's it's Ken Peel: Ha. Scott & Dana: good to see you. And almost as loud as he could, he said, Your wife said you can go to Kenya now. Ken Peel: Ha ha ha ha ha. Scott & Dana: And and I started looking for excuses right then. but I Joshua: You Scott & Dana: A long time ago I had told Joshua that someday maybe I'll go to Kenya because I've seen calendars before. They have twelve months and someday is not on those pages. Ken Peel: Ha ha ha ha. Scott & Dana: but obviously Joshua has a Swahili one, so he Ken Peel: Ha ha ha ha. Scott & Dana: he someday was on his calendar. Joshua: you Ken Peel: so was was that the first trip that you had been on, Scott, to to Scott & Dana: Yes. Yes. Ken Peel: Kenya when when we all went together? So Scott & Dana: Yes. Ken Peel: when you were getting ready to go on this trip, did you have any idea that what you were going to be doing would turn out the way that it did. In other words, you went because you felt a call to look at, you know, and help people with their eyes and with vision and and how to do that. But God really worked in other ways too, didn't he? Scott & Dana: yeah. so I was looking for portable equipment that I could take with me 'cause a lot of the equipment I use on a daily basis is not very portable. Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: and not very packable in a reasonable size. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: And so I ran across this portable eye examination kit, P-E-E-K, on the internet. that sounds like a great thing. Well, it turns out it was just an app for a smartphone to show letters, Ken Peel: No. Scott & Dana: but there was a Dr. Hilary Rono in Kitale Kenya. And not knowing anything about Kenya, Joshua probably did right, wink wink. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: So I called up Joshua and said, Joshua, where's Kitale? Well, that's 18 miles from the school. Can you call this doctor Hilary Rono and and ask if I can borrow some of his equipment? And so Joshua being Joshua, he called his his left hand, nurse Rhoda, who worked part time at the school and also part time at the Kitale Hospital. And she said, Yeah, don't call him on that number. That's the hospital number. Here's his cell phone number. They've met. And that's how I got introduced to Doctor Rono over there. yeah. Ken Peel: Wow, that's a great story. Ha Dana, I I'm curious, so how did you get involved with being behind the scenes of Fishers of Men ministry, with the whole bookkeeping and doing the newsletter and everything that you've done over the years? Scott & Dana: it started basically as a friendship and then we went to Kenya. and it was probably I think I resigned from my position in 2014 to take care of some family matters and I kind of had the time, so I thought, I do writing, that kind of thing. So it started out with doing the newsletters, updating some of the brochures, more desktop publishing, that kind of thing. then it was probably twenty eighteen, maybe, that I had taken care of all of our family stuff. I hadn't gone back to work yet. I had time on my hands, and I thought, well, I have these general skill office skills, bookkeeping and Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: communications, that kind of thing. It was just tools that I had in my toolbox and I thought, well, why don't I volunteer? Because obviously Fisher's a men had a need. and it was My my internal thinking was, well, I have these skills that I can offer and Fisher's of Men has a need. Well, instead of hiring somebody, I could volunteer my time so that the ministered resources could go to help the children. Ken Peel: Right, right. Scott & Dana: So all told it was probably about twelve years between doing the brochures and and the office work that I've really put forth my efforts here at the office here at Fishers of Men. Ken Peel: Yeah. Joshua, let me ask you, what has their partnership not just financially but also going on the trip, helping children with taking care of their eyes, Dana's participation in keeping the wheel rolling, so to speak, with doing the bookwork and the newsletters and things like that. What has that meant for you and this ministry? Joshua: Well, I think there are people who have gone to Kenya and They see the animals, they do everything, but they come back here and that's it. But for them to go back again and again four times, there was a reason. And Ken Peel: Yeah. Joshua: the reason is, I can say that I did not just get a missionary to go to Kenya. And I did not get a sponsor just to help us financially. But I got friends too. Ken Peel: Yeah. Joshua: Friends who care, they care about even me as a person and my family. they have Kenya in their heart, whereby some of the stories that we have of many changed lives And when I go back there and I see the many people who were not able to see and they were able to see, people who, one of the kids in the school who was completely to be blind. and they sponsored that kid. And that beautiful girl now is in ninth grade, waiting to go Ken Peel: Mm. Joshua: to high school. She had no future at all. So I can see that people who are used by God to be able to bring a new life to many people. And also, Scott did, he also supported Nas Roda. to go back to do what he does so that Ken Peel: Mm. Joshua: she can help. So we have somebody now who is helping. So these are not just sponsors, the general sponsors. They are sponsors who are involved in everything, even after they go, they come back here and they always want to know what is happening and they are involved when there's a need. They are part of the, part people to be able to step in and help. So I Ken Peel: Yeah. Joshua: can say for them, they are friends not just the sponsors like everybody else, but they are friends that I can count on. Ken Peel: Yeah. And that's important, when you're doing ministry, because things can get interesting. I'll just leave it at that. When you when you do ministry, but when you have people that truly believe in the ministry, that truly buy into it, that have been called by God to do the ministry, it's a whole different ball game. It's really it really is. It's different because There's a heart there. It's not just going on a trip. It's going to see people come to know Jesus and to know his love and that they can h have eternal life. I mean, that's the ultimate goal, right? I mean, Scott, you were blessed to to have the ability to go and treat their eyesight. Dana, you're there to minister to the wives, the children, all the people. But you know what? The whole reason is, is that we're here to see people come to know Jesus as their savior. Joshua: And you too, Ken, the same way. You went to Kenya, you went there, but you did not stop there. You came here and you are doing what you do and what you are doing in Kenya. So, it's a teamwork. Ken Peel: Yeah, that's right. It is. It is teamwork. So let's walk through that first trip that you guys went on. I wanna find out your initial impression. Well the flight, first of all, to get there was an experience. Scott & Dana: You're so polite. Ken Peel: Okay, it was rough. But but when you stepped off the plane in Kenya, what were your first impressions? Scott & Dana: For me, it was a little bit intimidating because we stepped off the plane, they herded us like cattle into this enclosed building. Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: And the first thing that we see are soldiers with machine guns casually walking around in this area. And and then this gentleman walks up and says, do you know Joshua? Ken Peel: Ha Scott & Dana: Like Ken Peel: ha. Scott & Dana: Pastor Joshua? Yes, yes. He's like, come with me. So, Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: you know, I'm like, why is this guy with a machine gun following us so closely? So it it was a bit intimidating, Joshua: You Scott & Dana: but Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: you know, at the same time, there was never any feeling of being unsafe. Right. and traveling with our fifteen year old, soon to be sixteen year old, that was that was important to me that yes, she experienced life and that she get to see what a blessed life she lives because she was born in in the United States and to see how other people live. But it was also an adventure. It was like, wow, what are we gonna do? What are we gonna see? Having no no idea what was gonna happen, because Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: yes, there's an a a itinerary, but honestly that itinerary never really happened. What God wanted to happen happened. Joshua: You Ken Peel: Yeah, that's right, right. Scott, how about you? What were your initial thoughts? Scott & Dana: yeah, I w I was very intimidated. I I have control issues. I know it's hard to believe. Ken Peel: Ha ha ha. Scott & Dana: but yeah, I was intimidated by the guns and and but I was also amazed at what Joshua could do there. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: we got in the VIP enter the country line. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: Because we knew Joshua. Like, wow, Joshua: you Scott & Dana: we were treated as dignitaries just because we know this guy? This will work out great. And Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: and then we we loaded up all twelve or fourteen people and most of their luggage. and rode for two hours in a van or an hour in a van in in country traffic, which is interesting. and just to get to a hotel and crash hard. Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: and to back up, that first trip, because there was an issue with the aircraft connecting in the Netherlands, we arrived with no luggage whatsoever, whether Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: that was our own personal clothes or the humanitarian aid or the glasses or all of that stuff that we took with us did not arrive with us during that first trip. Ken Peel: Yeah. So that's always, makes things challenging as well when you start off a trip that way. so I know that Morgan's not here, but w did she talk to you guys about her experience or her thoughts when she first got over there? Scott & Dana: I I I don't remember a conversation like that, but I do remember it was a couple days after we got back and she likes things. Much Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: much less so now, but as a teenage girl she liked things. And a couple days after we got back, she was in her room and putting stuff in a big black garbage bag on her bed. And I was confused and what are you doing with that stuff in the garbage bag? I don't need that anymore. And Ken Peel: Hmm. Wow. Scott & Dana: that's when I knew it worked. Ken Peel: Yeah, for sure. I mean I've had similar experiences with myself and with others that I've known that have gone on trips like this. you really f feel almost ashamed that we have what we do have sometimes, because of the Joshua: Thank Ken Peel: the lack of basic necessities that people around the world have. I have a friend of mine that's a great missionary, travels every year multiple times, not only to Africa, but other places, and he just says, We live in Disneyland here in this country. And he said, Scott & Dana: yes. Ken Peel: he said, I just every time I go, it makes me appreciate what God has given me, but also how can I give to the people that I'm serving. So I understand what you're saying. And so as we talk a little bit about the trip, and I know I have one particular incident in my That we had on the trip, and I I'm hoping that you think of the same story, but it had rained a lot in western Kenya when we were there. And w continued to rain while we were at the school on a particular day. And I think you remember the story about how we had to walk up the hill in mud while they were pulling our vehicle with a rope and a bunch of guys pulling us up the hill to get us yeah, Scott & Dana: In dress clothes. Ken Peel: in dress clothes to get us out of there. But there was one particular part of that story, Dana, that if you can get through it, if you would tell that story of what 'cause this is my this is my vision of what happened on that trip, how God really worked through another person. Scott & Dana: Yeah. Well, we were trying to hurry up and get out before the rain started, and in rural Kenya all of the roads are mud with a lot of clay base. So as soon as they get wet, they just get slimy and icky looking. But Pastor Kennedy, the in country director, had hurried up and took Scott and you up to the top of the hill so you could get cell service. Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: So that you could do like a call back to the morning show here in the Quad Cities or whatever. And then he came back down to get myself Joshua: Thank Scott & Dana: and Morgan and Pastor Black from Des Moines and his daughter. Got in the car, started up, not even a quarter away up the hill, the car gets stuck. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: So here come all the male teachers and all their dress clothes and a janky looking twine rope, and they pulled the car Ken Peel: Ha ha ha. Scott & Dana: out, and it was like a Joshua: you Scott & Dana: a Toyota Corolla station wagon or a Subaru or something like that. And they started pulling the car and I'm like, wait a minute. They don't need to pull this car with four extra people in here. Come on, let's let's walk up the hill. So Pastor Black and the girls get out of the car and I'm thinking, well, I don't want to have muddy shoes for the rest of the the trip and I grew up on a farm so I took my shoes off and walked up the hill barefoot. Basically have mud up past my ankles and Thinking, heh, when I get to the top of the thing, I'll just use grass and wipe off my feet. Well, I get to the top of the hill and I'm met by a woman that has a large basin of water. And she puts the water down on the ground and takes her headscarf off and rips a chunk off and Of course, I don't speak Swahili. She doesn't speak English. Basically, we come to the understanding she wants to me to wash my feet. So I bend Ken Peel: Mm. Scott & Dana: down and I start washing my feet and she starts slapping my hands away. She wanted to white wash my feet and painstakingly, you know, cleaned around each toenail and between my toes. And I was just kind of dumbfounded and said, tried to motion that I would do it and she would not allow me to help her. then she tears another piece off to dry each of my feet and i'm just Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: like like wow Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: completely amazed and luckily i had told scott hey take a quick picture of us turned around and she was gone Ken Peel: Mm. Scott & Dana: and i was like we had to Show Joshua the picture. He had to talk to the kids to find out that it was a lady from the village. And basically, she'd walked two to three miles to the river to get water for her family. And walking back home, she encounters a white person who she's never met and decides she's gonna wash my feet. It wasn't until Joshua: or Ken Peel: Hm. Yeah. Scott & Dana: I was really processing it later that evening in my journal that She got that water for her family. She used Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: it for me. And then she had to walk two or three miles to get more water and walk two or three miles back to take care of her family that evening. And it was it Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: was just complete shock and awe that. Somebody would take their time to help a nobody, and then the next day she showed up bringing me a special gift. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: just because I came there. I don't I don't know if you can see this, but it's basically a water vessel. on one side it says we love you dear, and then on the other side it says caribou atana, like we welcome you. You back again. And I walked up a muddy hill, and she brought me a gift. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: It just didn't compute with what we're used to in our society. People don't Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: go out of their way to do amazing things. and it was just completely phenomenal that I still pray for this woman, I never got to see her again. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: I don't know anything about her other than I think her name was Talia or Tabitha. But Ken Peel: Sounds right. Scott & Dana: it doesn't even compute to where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. Ken Peel: Right. Scott & Dana: Those were his friends. He took care of them. And this lady didn't know me from anybody. So Ken Peel: Yeah. Yeah. Scott & Dana: that was Ken Peel: Well, I know that Joshua and I don't know if you remember this, Joshua, but you and I, at least I was, I was a mess after that. I mean, I I was bawling like a baby after I saw that because of the sacrifice that she made to wash your feet and to dry your feet. When she pulled her scarf off of her head to dry your feet, that was it. I was a mess. I was done. And it was very, very powerful. And it it leaves an impression, on you. It still has to this day. And that was in two thousand what? Two thousand fourteen. Scott & Dana: Fourteen, twelve years ago. Ken Peel: Yeah, I mean twelve years ago. It's it's still vivid in my memory of that day and what happened. And so Scott, I know that you have another story that you'd like to tell about w your experience on that trip. Scott & Dana: we all showed up at the school and when white people show up, it is a big deal. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: in fact Joshua shared with us that some people believe over there some people believe that if they see a white person that it's their lucky day. And so Ken Peel: Okay. Scott & Dana: it is a big deal when white people show up. And so a lot of the town people showed up. And I was there to do eye exams I thought on the students in the school and the teachers and the pastors and the staff and anybody connected with the school. Well, a mother and a little four year old girl showed up. And this little girl had eyes that crossed. They didn't point the same direction. And Ken Peel: Yeah. Yeah. Scott & Dana: I I thought that I might be able to help her. And so I quietly told Joshua, I need to see that little girl. I know I'm here only to see the students, etcetera. I need to see that little girl. And so he arranged it and She needed the strongest prescription I've ever written. And that was enough to help her to see. Ken Peel: I remember that. Scott & Dana: Yeah, and that that hit me. Ken Peel: Yeah, for sure. Scott & Dana: that not that that's anything miraculous here, but for God to place her in front of me over there. That was Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: and we still sponsor her. And didn't you say that at some point her brain would just shut off being able to see, it would give up? Well, out of one eye. Out of one eye would so she would basically have been blind in one eye. Ken Peel: Mm. Wow. Scott & Dana: But the the other story, the I w the cataract story, I was doing exams on a pastor in the mission. Pastor Philip P H I L I P. I guess they say every letter over there, so it's Pastor Philip And Pastor Pilip, how are your eyes? they're very bad. Well, read the letters on the wall. Yeah, I can read down to here. Okay. Well, that's not very bad. And then he says, I can't read my Bible. And I said, wait a minute. You're a 70-year-old pastor and you can't read? Yes. How do you do that? How do you how do you serve? He says, I have someone read it to me. And That was unacceptable. Ken Peel: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Scott & Dana: so I I determined he had cataracts and needed cataract surgery. He didn't have it while we were on the trip, but I don't remember if it was Dr. Rono or Nurse Rota that took us to the Kitale Hospital where he was gonna have surgery and There's no windows. Open to the air. And you wanna walk in the operating theater. Well, you go through a restaurant style door and you put on white Crocs and then you go through a restaurant style door into the operating room. And wait a minute. Where where's all the infection control? Where's all the sterilization? Where's all Nope, we don't need that. yeah, just Unbelievably Not United States. turned out they use a very old antibiotic eye drops afterwards and he turned out fine. and the whole bill, the entire bill for the cataract surgery, the consultation beforehand, a pair of sunglasses afterwards was fifty-six dollars US. Ken Peel: Wow. That's incredible. Incredible story. Scott & Dana: And and Joshua showed me a video of Pastor Philip after he got the surgery, which we didn't he didn't have it while we were there, but he got the surgery and here's this video of Pastor Philip I can see. he he got to read his Bible again. Ken Peel: Wow, praise God. That's awesome. Joshua: Amen, amen, amen. Ken Peel: So you guys have now been on four different trips to Kenya. And what stands out after those four trips for you and your spiritual walk, about the ministry, anything that stands out after these four trips that you've made to Kenya. Scott & Dana: I think because we've been incredibly blessed to be born and lived in the U.S. and to see how the people in Kenya and other countries live. They're extremely happy, in light of the the absolute poverty that they live in. You know, their Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: houses are made of mud, dirt floor. They cook over an open fire. If they're really wealthy, they might have a cow dung floor. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: And they take care of everything, you know, their clothes are always clean and bright. And they really feel blessed enough if they have enough plastic stackable chairs that they got at the NACOMart, that all their family and friends can have a seat when they come to visit. they're so grateful that we came to help them, and the children. you know, I think the first time we went, we thought, well, we're gonna be a blessing to these people. And instead, we were blessed and humbled by Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: their care and generosity and their just unconditional love for us because we came to help them. the generosity is just simply overwhelming. w on one of the trips we received a chicken, you know, so Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: I I I think we have chickens somewhere in Kenya now. on the first trip, when we were at Mowumba on the eastern side, which is very rural, very poverty stricken, we received a gift of four eggs. So I asked what the significance of the four eggs was and Well, it was because they didn't have five eggs. You know, to have them literally give their last four eggs or their chicken to complete strangers isn't anything you can prepare yourself for here in the US. Ken Peel: Right. Yeah. Scott & Dana: I and it's hard to put that into words so people can understand it here. And I think anybody that's gone on a mission trip kinda understands, you go two weeks, or three weeks or whatever, you come back, you can't immediately express that. it takes a long time to be able to process what you feel, what you see, what you hear, and we had the luxury to be able to go back again and it was like, yeah, I remember that. You know, the children whispered or their yes was when they raised their eyebrows. they didn't Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: say yes. It was, very respectful to their elders. and it was just n nothing compares to what we experienced there. There is nothing in the US that can prepare you for that. Ken Peel: So Scott, how about you? After four trips to Kenya, what's what's sticking with you? Scott & Dana: Well, there's a couple of things I suppose that their lack of sanitation. I was very fortunate that in my office there's a sink in every room. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: And somebody asked me what it's like over there. im someone in my office would ask me what it's like over there and I'd just look at the sink and it's like you want hot, running, clean water? It's right there. You don't have to pump Joshua: Bye. Scott & Dana: it, you just have to wiggle the handle. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: you want cold? Yeah, same thing. Just wiggle the handle a little bit different. You don't have to walk two miles. You don't have to get dirty water. You don't have to get contaminated water. You don't have to heat it up over a flame to warm it up. It's right there. Same Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: thing with with showers, same thing with food. we were so blessed to to meet Pastor Kennedy's parents on one of the trips and they provided all the fresh fruits and vegetables for the whole trip. And Ken Peel: Wow. Scott & Dana: and well on on a side note, Pastor Kennedy earlier that day told his mother that we might stop by Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: Now now this is a big deal I don't remember which trip this was on, but it's a big deal in Kenya that when someone comes to your house, you give the visitor a gift. And Pastor Kennedy's probably as tall as I am and and a big guy and we showed up at his parents' house and his mother who was fairly short, five foot two maybe, she dressed him down in the most polite way and I just watched that man melt in front of his mother. because she didn't have a gift to give us. Ken Peel: Wow. That's Scott & Dana: And Ken Peel: incredible. Scott & Dana: yeah. And it's like, wait a minute, we're here to give you gifts. Yeah. Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: No. That that's that was not their way. Ken Peel: Hm. Wow. So Joshua, let me talk to you a little bit about the different trips that you've been on with the Palmers and th what it's meant for you to have ministry partners like them. I know that we've talked earlier the podcast about how they're friends, they're not just ministry partners, they're not just donors, they're friends, but to have them having gone on four trips with you to your ministry there in Kenya. What stands out to you about those trips? Joshua: First, will say that I will revisit a little bit what Scott tried to talk about Morgan, because they as parents, you can see that God has used them to put and good to, know, Morgan went to Kenya one time, I think it was the first time. And the teenagers here, the way they love their shoes. So she has very good shoes. She wearing good shoes. And there was this homeless guy here. His feet were dirty, infected, and they were seen, his eyes, and he was walking barefoot. And Morgan looks at the feet and say, I think my shoes can fit you. So she removed her own shoes from her feet and then dressed that man. So that's one of the biggest thing that has really, it affected me and it is still, I still think about it. How a young person from here who I see my sons, the way they love their shoes. they have a special shoe that if she went to Kenya with a shoe, that's a shoe that she really loved, but she was able to donate it to somebody with a lot of joy from our own feet. So that's one of the things that really touched me and see that these guys, they, and they were proud of her because of doing that. So Ken Peel: Yeah. Joshua: that's one of the things that I... I can see there are families that God has called at times like this that they can be able to love people, meet people, and even be able to be involved in a ministry like this. Ken Peel: Yeah. So, Scott Dana is number five on the horizon possibly. You think you guys are gonna go back again? Joshua: Yes. Scott & Dana: I'll say maybe someday. Ken Peel: Okay, we'll use the Swahili calendar and we'll get Scott & Dana: No. Ken Peel: you to Scott & Dana: Well again again I we're very blessed that that I worked myself out of a job. nurse Rhoda now can do everything I could do over there and isn't burdened by the The the okay, now I gotta go back home and get glasses and get shipped over there. she can do it all right there. So Ken Peel: Okay. Scott & Dana: that that's really good. Been there, done that, got the shirt. Ken Peel: Yeah, you do. Scott & Dana: Well, and I th I think that's one of the ways that we've seen God work was that was our first trip that we met Nurse Rhoda and Dr. Rono. Well, Dr. Rono came out, I think it was the last day of the trip, and he was talking to the children in Swahili, and we learned through translation that he was once a sponsored child. That his sponsor helped him go through school, get his college degree, and then helped him go to med school. So Dr. Rono said, I think, because Nurse Rhoda already has medical training, that I think we can get her into a program where she can get more focused education on taking care of eyes. and the things that she can do. So not only does she take care of the children at the school, but she now has the ability to offer eye exams and and take care of people's eyes. It allowed to her to grow in her skills. It elevated her in the hospital. after some more classes, the health minister for that region put Nurse Rhoda over all of the children in the Riff Valley and and Wow, we got to expose her to something that somebody else Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: saw she has the potential. It had nothing to do with us. It was God going, I got a plan for this. Let's put this Ken Peel: Yeah. Scott & Dana: all together. And you know, she now, in addition to taking care of all the children and the eyes and the eye exams that she can do, she also has started a program for blind people to help get them a white cane and to train. them how to use it about safety and all of those things. So now she's helping a whole another population. Ken Peel: Wow. Scott & Dana: and it's just God has a plan. We might be the one cog in the whole wheel, but to see how He's made a change in everything that she can do and her station in life is just amazing. Ken Peel: Yeah. That's very cool. So Joshua, as we get ready to wrap things up on this episode of Kenya Chronicles, give us a quick update of what Fisher's of Men Ministries is is up to right now in Kenya and maybe some specific needs that you have right now, whether that be in the medical vision supplies or whether that be children's sponsorship, whatever, give us a quick update on where the ministry is. Joshua: Yeah, I think, just to touch on what Scott and Dana just said, they have been involved in this ministry since 08 And with the example that Dr. Palmer gave for this little girl, she was almost completely blind. And when she was going, she was going sideways and everybody thought that that one was going to be just a waste of, a life because she was not able to go to school. Ken Peel: Yeah. Joshua: But since that day, God helped, Dr. Palmer. to restore a life that was going to be lost completely. And now this girl and they sponsored her from that day. They became a sponsor. Now she was with the girl who did not know even how to dress herself. I saw her playing soccer the other day. She is in ninth grade going to high school. And just being so happy when you go there, she's one of the jolliest people running around everywhere. A kid that could not walk even across a room without somebody holding her. But now God was able to use the skills that has put in Dr. Palmer just to be able to give a life on kid that could have been lost. So those Ken Peel: Yeah. Joshua: are kind of things that he has done. I remember when he gave this pastor pillow, I went and I thought about the Bible where the blind man said, I can see, he jumped up from the seat and said, can see, I can see. And since then he's reading his Bible that he had not been able to read for more than 20 years. Now he can read. So Scott is here, but he's preaching the gospel then because of this pastor who can read his gospel and the gospel now. And that's how the Lord uses that. So I'm putting this that we need a lot of child sponsors right now. But sponsorship is like what Dr. Palmer and Dana have done. They have sponsored a child, have saved this child. We have talked about other kids who have been sponsored. Now the principal of Ngao Victor Academy, being a sponsored child and other kids who are, working. When we wanted internet, we got somebody's Starlink We found that Yusuf Kibet, who was sponsored by, Pastor Josiah Lorenzen from the Rock Church. They sponsored him all the way since he was in preschool, to college. And now he is, able to give, he owns the biggest, Starlink shop in Kenya. So. Those are kind of things that are sponsorship entitles. So if you sponsor a child, just know that God can use you to change a life, just as you love them. Ken Peel: Yeah, that's right. And so if All of this that we've talked about, the experiences the Palmers have experienced, the need that Joshua has expressed during this podcast, if God is reaching and touching you right now and saying, I want you to get involved, whatever that looks like, whether it's maybe you want to help dig a water well, maybe you want to sponsor a child, maybe you want to be just a general donor to the ministry for wherever the funds are needed, or you want to go On a trip or all of the above, whatever works, you can get involved with the ministry. All you need to do is go to FOM Ministries.org, and you can find out the children that need to be sponsored. You can find out about the water wells, find out about the rest of our podcasts. If you haven't watched anymore, there at the top it has Kenya Kronicles in red that you can click on and watch the rest of the podcasts or future ones. you can also give online as well if you want to. to do that as a general donation. Whatever works for you, this ministry, Joshua: Thank Ken Peel: God is using it. He's changing lives, and you can be involved in that. If God is calling you to do that, we'd invite you to do that. This is called Kenya Kronicles I'm Ken Peel. Scott, Dana, thank you so much for telling your story. Thanks for joining us. Tell Morgan hi and kiss the grandbabies. Joshua, as always, thanks for joining me. I can't wait till next month. We'll have another great interview that we have coming up for you with another person that's involved in the ministry. So looking forward to that. We'll see you next time on Kenya Kronicles