“Of course he will be!” Larry answered. And we started our journey to meet the man at the post office seeking help for his children. It’s one of my favorite and most told stories. I was going to meet Francis, help with his kids at home, and then get on my way. But the Lord had other things on His mind.

Recently Paustine Kigen of Eldoret shared the perspective of the people in Eldoret. Read along as she gives the other side of the story.

– Milt

August 27, 2007 is a magical day that we want to remember at CRF in Eldoret. Many orphaned and needy people came to Huruma Center in Kenya that day because they were desperate and had so many challenges. “Huruma” means “mercy” in Swahili. But it was hard to find much mercy in Huruma in those days because of the rampant illnesses that were caused by the HIV/ AIDS pandemic. Many of the orphaned children in Huruma had no one to care for them. And coming from one of the poorest slums in Kenya, it was never a pleasant scene to meet ailing children and widowed women who had no one to turn to for support.

CRF came in at just the right time to meet the needs of the people. No one was sure if the CRF representatives would show up, even though it had been announced. Not even Milton Jones himself was sure of what was happening. People came from many kilometers away that day to seek hope, especially the orphaned kids. The word had gotten out that Milton Jones and his friend Larry Wu were visiting from CRF and might be able to help the needy children in Huruma. The Huruma compound could not contain the huge numbers of individuals that came. Every inch was filled with people almost stepping on each other with hope that their children would be sponsored by CRF. What Milton must have expected was to find a couple of children belonging to Francis Bii – not an entire village. The number of children present was close to 200 – not the one or two that Milton expected.

In some ways the day ended a bit unceremoniously because many people expected all of the children to get sponsored. Out of the nearly 200 kids, CRF was only able to commit to finding sponsors for 19 of the neediest children from the Center that day. It was a small start, but August 27, 2007 marked the first of many happy days for CRF in Eldoret. In November of the same year, CRF started sponsoring even more students and helped establish the Eldoret Christian Aid Network (ECAN-CRF) with Francis Bii.

From our small beginnings, ECAN-CRF takes pride in having sponsored more than 2,000 children to date. The rising miracles in Huruma are the transformed lives of young boys and girls. Huruma Centre and ECAN-CRF are proud to have molded a generation of leaders. Kamau, who was the 19th child to be sponsored by CRF on that first day, was an orphan when CRF first visited Huruma. When CRF sponsored him in grade 4, his life took a huge turn. He joined Uasin Gishu Secondary school where he scored high enough to enroll in the University of Nairobi. Today, Kamau is joining Portsmouth University in the UK for his Master’s degree.

A journey that started with doubts and hopelessness has now turned into a treasured opportunity. Thousands of children from Kenya are so grateful. Thank you, CRF, for coming at just the right time to share the love of Jesus with our community.

As I read Paustine’s perspective, I think of all the children out there who are not sponsored yet and are waiting with great hope. And I also think of how good they must feel when Francis comes to one of them and says, “You have a sponsor!” That’s the way your child felt the day he or she learned they were sponsored. Thanks a trillion for sponsoring a child!S

CRF had a sponsorship program in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake hit. We did our best to bring relief through our director, Roberta Edwards. Unfortunately it wasn’t long after the earthquake that Roberta was murdered, and our Port au Prince program closed.

Vulnerable children who were orphaned or made destitute by the earthquake were sent north to Cap-Haitien in order to get a new start. Initially, it seemed like a good idea to me. However, the government didn’t have a plan. CRF had a small program in Cap-Haitien, so we decided to increase it to help all of these children who were arriving from the earthquake. We built new buildings, sponsored the kids, and created new educational programs.

Haiti is in trouble for a lot of reasons. Their government has been corrupt. Their president was recently assassinated. No one knows who is running the country. Their economy has tanked because of the mistreatment of the land. And educational opportunities are limited.

As I said, there are so many good people in Haiti—like Moise Toussaint. When we first arrived in Cap-Haitien our truck broke down. Moise stopped to fix it. He was our Good Samaritan. I had never met Moise before. Unbeknownst to me, Moise was our CRF director there. He had no idea who I was either. He was just helping someone in need.

But there were others who were not as nice as Moise. We had about a dozen trucks with food and medicine to deliver. Our supplies were stolen. Another group tried to stone me. The police took me in for stealing a vehicle. I didn’t steal a vehicle. It seemed like when I was in Haiti, I couldn’t get a break either. I noticed a man following me around everywhere I went. I was told that he was a voodoo priest cursing me. Bad religion is probably the worst thing going on in Haiti. As a result, we have planted churches. CRF’s biggest facility is going to be Place of Joy in Cap- Haitien. We just planted a church there. Satan worship was happening on this very site before we started the church. Place of Joy will be a great place of education and worship for these children who have had such a tough history. But we are having to build a wall around it right now to protect it from thieves. We just can’t get a break.

And then they had more earthquakes there a couple of months ago. We brought food, drilled water wells, and even helped rebuild houses. And if that weren’t enough, a fuel truck exploded near our program resulting in damage, injuries and deaths. Fortunately no one in our program was harmed.

And now Cap-Haitien has flooded this month. Houses are destroyed again. People have lost everything. Water has risen ten feet high in places. And these are our children that we are trying to protect and educate. We are housing those who have lost their homes in our Place of Joy and the Sovereign School compounds. But we need a break.

I think a lot of people have donor fatigue when it comes to helping in Haiti. But once again—Haiti needs a break.

I’m not sure why, but it seems like a bunch of us have a difficult time typing out christianrelieffund.org. And then if we do, we put .com instead of .org

Let me tell you, I have dreamed for many years of having the gold standard of all domains—CRF.com

But it was never available. A company in the Netherlands owned it. And guess what happened? They quit using it last year. And we were able to obtain it by making a donation to their charity which includes helping a bunch of orphaned children in Tanzania.

I feel a drumroll coming…

We are now going to be CRF.COM! 

And since most people call us CRF already, our new domain should make it easier to find us on Google, too!

Of course, if you really love christianrelieffund.org and can remember that there are two ‘f’s, you will still be able to use it. The old domain will get you to the same place. But if you are like me—it’s going to be CRF.com

I’m even thinking of changing my email address. You know, dropping the weird one that’s long and confuses people. I might even go to milt@CRF.com What do you think?

I know that you are concerned about the horrible tragedy in Ukraine. If you don’t know, CRF has 66 sponsored children in Kyiv and Odessa. Our program there needs us to be praying like crazy for them. Many of you have contacted me asking how you can help. Let me be honest about our current situation.

We are not able to contact through email or phone Galina Cherevchuk, our director in Ukraine. As a result, we don’t have current information on our children there. Our banks also cannot assure us of the ability to send funds where we wire them in Ukraine. We are working diligently to communicate there and to be able to send money. However, we have some limitations at the present time.

We are asking current child sponsors to continue their sponsorships. We will get your support there as fast as we possibly can. 

Many of you have volunteered to send additional funds. Since we can’t get the money there now, it would be better to wait until we have the ability to send donations. We will inform you when that time comes.

By being a CRF sponsor, I know you love and care for vulnerable children. Please continue to pray. God is there. God loves these kids. God is merciful. And God has the power to do something.

Thanks a trillion!

— Milton Jones, CRF President

For our 50th Anniversary, we wanted to sponsor 500 new children. And we did. We have more children sponsored now than ever before. We had a thermometer online showing how many new children were being sponsored this year. And we rejoiced like crazy when it passed the 500 mark.

Scott Sager, one of our board members, said that we should do a fund raiser for something that cost $50. What costs $50? A goat. Hundreds of goats were bought at auction and distributed especially in the Turkana area of Kenya this year. We unloaded pipe out of one of our water trucks there and filled the truck with goats. People all over the desert were given a goat out of the back of the truck. These goats will change the lives of people in the desert.

We have drilled more water wells than ever before in 2021. I remember when we drilled our first one years ago. We were so happy. We couldn’t believe that we were able to drill a well to save lives. But our water ministry is so much bigger now. Our goal for our anniversary was to have over 500,000 people daily drinking water from our wells. We passed that goal during the summer. At one point, CRF was predominately a child sponsorship ministry. It still is, but giving clean water has become nearly as big a part of our ministry as our initial mission.

My goal was to write a book for our 50th anniversary. And I did. I just didn’t like it. But the revision is coming. It will be full of some of the best stories of the last 50 years. 

I couldn’t think of anything better than acquiring 50 acres of land to develop what could be our biggest CRF work ever. We didn’t get a 50 acre place for a CRF ministry. Instead, we got a 65 acre piece of land with great buildings on it. Where? Haiti. If you ask me where the most needed place for a CRF ministry is—I would say Haiti. And we are going to have an incredible campus there in the future to help people in need. 

Our 50th Anniversary year was a year of huge giving. I will tell the details of it in our annual report next month. But we wanted to end the year with a bang. We have been blessed by some major donors who joined together for a Challenge Gift to inspire us all to give a little bit more in 2021.

Because of their generous gift, there will be a match of $500,000 that will be used to double the impact of your gifts through our gift catalog and water projects this December! 

GIFT CATALOG:

We know that you love giving through our Christmas catalog. And this year the first $250,000 given through the catalog (including to “Where Needed Most”) will be doubled! 

WATER PROJECTS:

We also have $250,000 for water funds to double your water gifts. In other words, for every $5,000 we receive, we will be able to drill a $10,000 water well!

You have made our 50th Anniversary special. Bigger is not always best. But you have made this not only our biggest year ever but also our best. 

Thanks a trillion!

A few days later on Christmas morning a boy brought the missionary a beautiful sea shell as a present. The teacher was amazed and asked him where he got such a lovely shell. He replied, at the seashore.

“But,” she said, “that is 30 miles away.”

The young boy replied, “Long journey part of gift.”

On a CRF trip, I went to a very remote area of Guatemala where Mayan peoples lived. It was a long trip. We ran out of roads, so we had to 4 wheel it there. Finally, we couldn’t go any further in our vehicle and had to swim across a river to arrive at our destination.

When I arrived, the chief gave me a Coke. He had heard from somewhere that I liked Cokes. It cost him a week’s wage to buy this beverage. It took a day’s journey to obtain it.

I was speechless. The journey was long, treacherous and costly just to get me a Coke. I told him that he shouldn’t have made the long journey just for me. But it was part of the gift.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” 

– JOHN 1:14, NIV

Jesus left heaven and came to earth just for us. That was quite a journey. But it was part of His gift.

When I tell a sponsored child, that their sponsor is from America—they are amazed. In most parts of Africa, the further a person travels to visit you corresponds to how important you are. When a child finds out that he has a sponsor from so far away, the child feels more important. His esteem is raised. 

I hope you know the value of your sponsorship to children who live so far away. It not only gives life, but it also gives esteem. Giving a Christmas gift of sponsorship is a good way to celebrate the holiday. It means even more when your gift comes from so far away.  

God took a lot of long journeys to show us His love.

From heaven to earth.

From streets of gold to stables of straw.

From security to susceptibility.

Long journey part of gift.

“My name is Rivald Owala. I come from a family of five. My dad died when we were young and left us under the care of our mother. A week after the passing of my dad, the wall of our house collapsed on us. This was after some heavy rains that had continued to weaken and destroy our home over some time. We almost died that night when the wall collapsed, but we were fortunate that it collapsed outwardly. God saved us.

We were forced to seek shelter from my grandfather’s house for a month as my mother tried to build a home for us. Things were not easy because my mother did not have a job but used to pick tea leaves for our neighbours to get some small money that was never enough for the family. The money was not even enough to buy food for the family. I felt the struggles that my mum went through, but we had no one to assist us.

At the time affording education was even out of the question because if we had nothing to eat, where would we get money to pay fees and buy books and uniforms? I was schooling at a neighbouring public primary school at Chebara, but I was never in school; always being sent home to buy books and pay fees–something that was never forthcoming.

My life changed when one day my mother met with Aggrey Maitsi whom I came to understand later that he worked for CRF. After hearing what my mum had to say, he promised us that I was going to be sponsored. I waited for two years before I could get a sponsor. But the long wait was worthwhile because I was given books and uniforms plus food to carry home. I could not imagine. I was really happy; I remember coming to school at 6 a.m. because I did not want to waste the God-given chance. I left home before my mum was awake; Aggrey found me standing at the school compound waiting to be shown the class I was to join.

Every time I see my CRF sponsors assisting me, I feel like I have a dad and mum because without them I would not be here today. I am working hard in school because I would not like to disappoint them especially after giving me the opportunity and sacrificing to see that I stay in school. 

I would love to join Suzy Peacock High School after passing my grade 8 exams early next year and to train as a neurosurgeon when I finally join university. When I get employed, I will ensure that I assist other kids like me as a way of giving thanks to God and CRF for helping me. Each day I pray for CRF to continue helping children like me because without them some of us would have never seen doors to classrooms. CRF Sponsors! Be blessed abundantly.”

When Andrew Brown asked me that question, he had my undivided attention.

When CRF started helping in Turkana, Kenya, eight years ago, it was the worst place on earth. That’s why we started helping. It’s still a really tough place. But because CRF has brought water there through your generosity, it is a significantly better place.

Now, only an hour drive from Turkana, there is a place called “Samburu” where you hear stories like we first heard about in Turkana. 

What’s it like? The Nation, Kenya’s largest newspaper, recently described Samburu in this way…

There is nothing to eat or drink. Nothing. Not a single drop of water to save the mother and her child. The mother was with a group of people traveling the rocky, hilly terrain in search of food and water. They had gone days without food and water. “In all my years on earth, I’ve never seen anything as bad as this,” Samwel Silale, a village administrator, said.

Here, residents live in unsanitary conditions without water. It takes them more than six hours to bring home salty water, transporting it on their backs. “We have not received any aid. I do not need anything more than food for my children, who are starving to death,” a desperate mother said.

The national government announced that about three million people in northern Kenya were at risk of starvation due to droughts, ethnic clashes, and locust invasions.

CRF recently planted four churches in Samburu, and they were so excited to hear the gospel. But they need water. 

One of CRF’s rigs in Kenya has been devoting itself to drilling wells in Turkana. We will continue to do so, but we are also going to be drilling wells in Samburu. When you hear the cries, you have to move toward them. We know our donors will help in this area just as you have helped and will continue to help in Turkana.

With the recent migration of Haitians to the United States, you can see how desperate the people are. How can you help a Haitian? Maybe you can’t help everyone, but CRF is positioned to help you help some of the people who are most in trouble. The recent earthquake destroyed property and hope for thousands of people in Haiti. And CRF is there to help.

Often when a disaster happens, CRF doesn’t have people on the ground to help immediately. But we do in Haiti. Our CRF directors have assembled a hard-working team to assist the victims of this horrible natural disaster. We have given water, food, tents, beds, toiletries, and much more. Very soon we will be drilling wells there to keep the people from getting cholera. We also will be building houses to give Haitians permanent places to live. 

How long will we do this? As long as there is money to do so. Our team doesn’t want to stop the aid as long as people are in this current crisis. Haiti deserves a break. 

Unrelenting disappointment 
leaves you heartsick,
but a sudden good break
can turn life around.
Proverbs 13:12

The people were rejoicing.  They were singing, shouting and jumping up and down. As the celebration was winding down, I got into the backseat of a Land Cruiser to leave. We were just about to take off across the desert when someone opened my car door and gave me a gift to show his gratitude. He put a goat in my lap. I was now going to travel through this land of famine with a goat sitting on top of me. I had to accept it. It was the most valuable thing he owned. It was the best gift that he could possibly give. So I took off with the weight, noise, and other annoyances of a goat on top of me. 

The best gift you can give in the desert is water. The second-best gift you can give is a goat. Because of the goats that CRF donors have given—children go to school, families are sustained, and preachers are supported. A goat goes a long way.

This year is the 50th anniversary of CRF. As we were pondering this event, we thought— “Is there a gift that donors could give that would cost $50 for our 50th anniversary?” Yes, that’s exactly how much a goat cost.

We were hoping that many of you would give us $50 for a goat for our anniversary.

Maybe you could do that personally. Or maybe you could do more. Kent Mereness, who is a campus minister at West Texas A&M University, organized a “Give-a-Goat” event for everyone on his campus. They have given thousands of goats over the years. Maybe you would like to get your campus ministry, youth ministry, or small group to do a fundraiser to celebrate our 50th anniversary. On the following page, you can learn how to do it.

What happened to the goat in my lap? As we were driving across the desert, I saw a lone man traveling across the dry terrain. “Stop the vehicle!” I said. And I jumped out of the back seat and told the man, “I have a great gift for you!” Yes, he got my goat.