First Love for Africa: 2012

Our First Blog!

Under the auspices of First Love International Ministries, I, together with Promise Mchenga, my dear friend and "African son", are establishing medical ministries in Malawi's Likoma Isalnd, Lira, Uganda, and the Kibera slums in Nairobi, Kenya. We are working to organize medical teams who will travel in a short-term capacity to provide medical and surgical care, and emotional trauma therapy to the poor and destitute in these countries. We hope to combine medical care with sharing the good news of true and lasting hope found in our Lord Jesus Christ; hope not only for eternal life, but in the discovery of the purpose God designed for each of our lives here on earth. To learn more about this ministry, or how you can be involved, please contact Nancy Kilpatrick, R.N., B.S.N., B.A., at: nnckilpatrick@gmail.com, or Promise Mchenga, at: promisemchenga@yahoo.com - or just add your comments to this blog! Zikomo kwambiri! Mulungu akudalitseni! (Thank you very much! God bless you!)

How You Can Help!

1. Donate to our Feeding Programs in Kibera and Mitumba slums. 2. Donate to the Women's Center in Kibera which helps impoverished women learn a trade and make a living to support themselves and their children. 3. Sponsor a child rescued from the slums. $30.00, $60.00, or $120.00 a month sponsorships are available. 4. Commit to financial and prayer support of long-term or short-term missionaries and teams traveling to Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda. 5. Join a short-term team traveling to Africa to see for yourself the difference your financial and prayer support makes! 6. Organize fundraisers in your community - church, school, or civic group - to help raise funds needed for medical supplies and equipment in hospitals in Malawi and Uganda. 7. Pray for the African and American First Love staff and ministries.

Friday, June 29, 2012

Hello, everyone! It's been a while, but I thought I would update you on our progress in the last year. Our trip to Likoma Island on Lake Malawi was wonderful, difficult, heartbreaking, heartwarming - all the things Africa often is to me! Much opportunity for some great things to be accomplished there, but as usual, it boils down to money and manpower. I am praying for God's provision and guidance for how best to proceed here.
In just two weeks, my team and I will be traveling to Kenya and Uganda, to serve in the children's home in Nairobi's Kibera slums, and then in Ayira Hospital and surrounding villages in Lira, Uganda.
I am eagerly anticipating returning to these areas, and seeing people I know and love there! The focus of this team's ministry will be in worship and evangelism, with some health education and outreach possible as well. Please pray for me and my team as we seek to accomplish what God wants us to do in these few weeks of ministry. We will be in Africa july 14-30th.
More exciting news is that my church, Bethany Church of Greenland, NH, has committed to contribute to my full-time missionary prayer and financial support! With their support, I have 2/3 of the funding I need to serve in Africa full-time, and am praying that this dream will become reality in the next year.
Would you please join me in prayer that God will supply the remaining 1/3 of the support I need soon, and that, in the meantime, I will trust His timing in this, and faithfully prepare for the ministry to which He has called me? Thank you!
If you would like to contribute to my monthly support to enable this ministry, please e-mail me at:
nnckilpatrick@gmail.com, or call me at: 207-337-1714, and I will happily fill you in on how you can partner with me in this ministry!
I welcome your questions and input about our blog site and ministry. Thank you for your interest and support. Blessings to you - Mulungu akudalitseni, and Obanga mi gum! (God bless you in Chichewa and Luo, the tribal languages of Malawi and Lira, Uganda.)
Nancy

Did You Know?

Researchers estimate that 5,000 people die each day in Africa due to the AIDS pandemic. As a result, there are 41 million orphans in Africa. Nairobi's Kibera slum has a population of 1 million people in an area of one square mile. The United Nations estimates that 50,000 orphans roam the streets of Kibera - streets that are littered with debris, garbage, and where small streams of rain water mixed with raw sewage flow freely. Hundreds of people in Kibera die every day from violence, hunger, and diseases such as AIDS, TB, malaria, and pneumonia. Malawi is a country the size of Pennsylvania, with a population of 15 million - and 1.5 million orphans, due to AIDS and hunger. As recently as 2004, hundreds of innocent Ugandans were massacred by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels in northern Uganda, and 100,000 people have been displaced by the violence there. The LRA has moved out of Uganda, and is now active in the DR Congo, murdering adults, and abducting children and using them as child soldiers and sex slaves. Isaiah 58: 6-12 says:

“Is not this the kind of fasting^R)"> I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice^S)">
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed^T)"> free
and break every yoke?^U)">
⁷Is it not to share your food with the hungry^V)">
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter^W)">—
when you see the naked, to clothe^X)"> them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?^Y)">
⁸Then your light will break forth like the dawn,^Z)">
and your healing^AA)"> will quickly appear;
then your righteousness^a]">[a]^AB)"> will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.^AC)">
⁹Then you will call,^AD)"> and the Lord will answer;^AE)">
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger^AF)"> and malicious talk,^AG)">
¹⁰and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,^AH)">
then your light^AI)"> will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.^AJ)">
¹¹The Lord will guide^AK)"> you always;
he will satisfy your needs^AL)"> in a sun-scorched land^AM)">
and will strengthen^AN)"> your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,^AO)">
like a spring^AP)"> whose waters never fail.
¹²Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins^AQ)">
and will raise up the age-old foundations;^AR)">
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,^AS)">
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

First Love for Africa

Our First Blog!

Ministry in Malawi

Ministry in Malawi

Ministry in Malawi

Ministry in Uganda

Ministry in Malawi

How You Can Help!

To Make a Donation to First Love International Ministries:

Friday, June 29, 2012