About Musese Village

 In November 2022, my family and I were thrilled to be able to travel to Musese, Kenya. Musese village is where my mother-in-law lives, and this was the first time I had traveled there in many years. My husband and I were grateful to have our three teenagers with us for the trip.

As I pondered how I could be a blessing to the community, I read about the option of visiting widows and orphans. In my previous visits, I had never spent time in the homes of the neighbors in the community. I told Eric I would love to visit some of the widows, in hopes of bringing them some encouragement, making them feel special, and bringing them a small, special blessing in time for Christmas.

Our group (including my mother-in-law, myself, Janna—a friend from our church in the USA, and Rose - a faithful member of Grace Musese Church, and our wonderful drivers—my husband one day, and Simon the next day) dedicated two full days to visiting our soon-to-be new friends. After deliberation, we brought along for each widow a small bag of rice, some tea bags, and sugar, which would be helpful to be able to serve chai when family or friends visited during Christmas. We also brought some money, as well as some small gifts for the widows’ children and grandchildren.

These visits were humbling, and so rewarding. The first home I visited was definitely much simpler than I expected, with a dirt floor and no furniture that we could see. The grandson of our hostess ran to borrow several plastic chairs for us to sit on. Whether their homes had more or less, wherever we went we were greeted with smiles, open arms, and absolute gratitude. We held hands and prayed together. I can’t describe how full my heart felt.

Several of my new widow friends insisted on giving me live chickens. My mother-in-law seemed to read my thoughts, which were that these women had many needs & I came to be a blessing to them, not to take from them. My mother-in-law whispered to me, “you can’t say no,” and she was right. The women wanted a chance to bless me as well, and I could not take that away from them. So I happily accepted each chicken and carried them out with me!

Toward the end of the first day, I was reviewing the envelopes we had carefully labeled for each of the widows. “This one is for Rose,” I said. Sitting next to me, the young woman, Rose, who had been guiding us all day, said quietly, “it’s me.” So, although we could have just given her the gifts in the car, we drove on the bumpiest of all the roads, that almost seemed impassable, stopped at her house and let her go in first. Then I came, knocked at her door and called out, “Hodi!” as I had in every home, and she answered it and acted surprised to see us. We laughed together, then presented our gifts for her and her two children, held hands and prayed.

I can only thank God for this ministry, which shows His heart for His people. If I had not had the opportunity to initially visit these ladies in their homes, I don’t believe I would have felt the same passion for reaching out to them. Since our initial visits, Grace Musese Network of Churches has identified widows in all eleven of their congregations. They are receiving some regular support, and there is a vision for equipping them to pursue their own visions of generating some of their own income and being able to minister to others as well.

“El Roi” means “the God who sees.” I am so grateful to have a chance to be a small part of reminding these ladies and their families that God sees them, loves them, and has a plan for their lives.

 My name is Brad Owens. I have been an RN since 1997. I visited Musese Grace Clinic on a mission in December 2024. I was amazed at the care that was being provided.  I witnessed pediatric, adult, OB, and geriatric care. They administered many critical medicines in oral, intramuscular, and intravenous forms. A nine-month pregnant woman presented at the clinic, and they were about to treat her very effectively.  

The Musese Grace Church has the motto. Doing what we can, where we are at with what we have.  Certainly, the medical clinic is fulfilling that promise.  They are limited only by the equipment and supplies they need.  A few supplies I identified are as follows.  

• They need a continuous supply of sharps boxes and a central storage area.  They are providing so much care that involves sharps that the current supply cannot keep up. This is an urgent need. 
• They need a refrigerator for vaccines. They cannot get vaccines from the government without a proper dedicated refrigerator.  
• The autoclave is broken and needs to be replaced.  They are able to do minor surgery, but they need to sterilize the tools. 
• They need a pulse Ox. This is an inexpensive device that measures blood oxygen levels. 
• They need a fetal doppler and speculum to treat pregnancy.  
• A constant supply of needles and syringes.  
• Several overhead fans for patient and staff comfort.
• They need an x-ray machine, heamogram for CBC, and biochem machine.  
• On going need for reading glasses.  Optometry service for individuals who can't see far away.  

I was amazed at the care, and it was a joy to visit.  Njia yangu ni moja. Njia yangu ni Yesu. 

 My story. 

I have always wanted to go to Africa to do mission work.  At the age of 72 my dreams came true.  I was asked to teach Bible School stories to the children.  This was a prayer answered.  After the first day the children met us with big smiles.  This filled my heart with so much love for them but when it was time to leave that was another story.  I wanted to take all of them home with me.  I think of my time in Africa often and I miss them each and every day.  GOD has blessed me by this trip.  

Momma Jane.

 Pastor Harry Kauffold went to visit the Musese Grace Worship Center in Kenya in 2001. When he came home, he spoke to the Lititz United Methodist Church congregation about his trip and what the people needed. The women walk approximately 5 miles to get water from a creek and carry it home on their heads. Children don’t know when they will get their next meal. There is very little work available, so no income. He asked the congregation to raise money for a well and purchase 3 acres of land next to the church property to grow crops. He also wanted to go back in 2008 with a team. The church did raise the money to drill a well and purchase the land.

I kept thinking about the people there and what I could do to help them. I prayed for the village and direction for how I could help. There were two hymns that kept coming back to me. They are ‘Pass It On’ and ‘Here I am Lord’.

I am a quiet behind the scene person and have never traveled outside the USA. I felt like God was telling me to go. But I kept thinking of reasons why I couldn’t go. Then one day my husband said I want to go. I was surprised because he was not a traveler. I knew then, that we were to be part of the team.

Bible school was planned for the children, Pastor Harry taught leadership classes to the adults and there was a youth group. We spent time with the people just talking about their culture and the church. The children took us to their home where we met their family and spent some time with them. Everyone was so kind and friendly.

When the week was over and time to go home it was hard to say good-bye. It was like they are part of our family. There were lots of hugs and tears. The children love the story of David & Goliath. The church has expanded out into other villages sharing God’s word. A school was started at the church for the children. They receive porridge for lunch. The well gives them fresh water and it is opened to the village. There is a clinic for those who are sick. There is a cow for milk for the children, chickens and land for a garden. God can do wonders. 

When you feel God nudging you to do something out of your comfort zone, follow his plan. I am sure your life will be changed.

Philippians 4:13

God Bless.

 My main reason for going on this Kenya trip was because of my adopted grandson Shoun being from Kenya. However, having the opportunity to go with your mission group from Lititz Methodist Church was an added plus. Being able to serve all week long at your local church was quite rewarding. The highlight was to meet several of the university students and have the opportunity to go door-to-door witnessing and sharing our love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The relationship I developed with Kelvin Sila Muir was and still is a joy.  I learned so much from these students about their relationship with Jesus. It was exciting to watch them share it. 

First of all, I would like to thank God for his leadership, provision and protection during the 2016 Musese mission trip. I am truly blessed to have taken part and am grateful to the organizers for the opportunity to serve. My main mandate on this trip was to set up a level I medical laboratory that would cater for the diagnostic needs of the already running clinic and the community as a whole. The Lab would provide quality, reliable and accessible tests.

On Monday 08/08/2016 I traveled to Nakuru to purchase all the lab equipment and supplies from a vendor who had most of what we needed under one roof. Major equipment bought included

• Microscope
• Glucose meter
• Hemoglobin meter
• Centrifuge

In addition we got lab reagents and consumables. 

The room assigned for the Musese lab is adequate in terms of size, space, lighting and ventilation however it needs to be fitted with working benches and a sink hopefully with running water in order to meet laboratory standards and regulation. In the mean time we managed to put together some tables and some other available pieces of furniture as needed to serve our purposes although they are less than ideal. Addition of a small refrigerator for keeping reagents and other chemicals and specimens that require refrigeration is highly recommended. The refrigerator currently in the clinic is incapable of meeting the temperature demands and therefore unsuitable for this task.

The level I laboratory is designed to only do basic routine tests but this can be built upon as the needs increase and as funds become available. The tests currently done are as follows:

Blood slide for Malaria parasites

Urinalysis

Widal test (typhoid)

Brucella Antigen

Rheumatoid factor

VDRL (Syphillis)

Stool for ova and cyst

Blood glucose (RBS)

Hemoglobin (Hb)

Helicobacter Pylori

Pregnancy test

Sickling test

Anti streptolysin O titre (ASOT)

We also gave orientation to the lab technician (Victor) who would take over the day-to-day operations of the lab. He is a member of the Musese church and a trained lab tech.

At this point I would also like to acknowledge my friend Robert Ochola who helped us with all the logistics and lab set up from day one to the end and every step of the way.

During the 4 day medical camp the following test were performed:

B/S for mps   202

Urinalysis   18  

Widal test   22

Pregnancy test   4

VDRL    5

Brucella   8

Stool for O/C   10

RBS    26

H. Pylori   22

Hb    28

Sickling   1

TOTAL TESTS  346

I am very encouraged by what was accomplished. Hopefully next year we shall do even greater things!!

Zachariah 4:10

Ben Olinda

08/09/2016

B/s for mps   47

Urinalysis   8

Widal test   9

Pregnancy test   2

VDRL    1

Brucellin   1

Stool for O/C   2

RBS    5

Hb    4

H. Pylori   6

08/10/2016

B/s for mps   68 

Urinalysis   6

Widal test   5

Pregnancy test   1

VDRL    2

Brucellin   4

Stool for O/C   4

RBS    13

Hb    8

H. Pylori   5

08/11/2016

B/s for mps   56

Urinalysis   3

Widal test   4

Pregnancy test   1

VDRL    1

Brucellin   1

Stool for O/C   2

RBS    5

Hb    8

H. Pylori   7

08/12/2016

B/s for mps   41 

Urinalysis   1

Widal test   5

Pregnancy test   0

VDRL    1

Brucellin   2

Stool for O/C   2

RBS    3

Hb    4

H. Pylori   1