Bringing hope and saving help

“Remember me, O Lord, as you favor your people; come to me with your saving help” (Ps. 106:4). On behalf of His people, the psalmist calls out to God for help; the psalmist intercedes for His people and trusts in the fidelity of God.
 
The focus of the Bismarck Mission is to support orphans and their educational endeavors.  Let us recall that orphans are vulnerable people who must rely on others—they do not have a mother and father to raise them and, frequently, they are cast upon family members whose willingness and abilities to care for them appropriately vary greatly. Amid a society in which subsistence living is the norm, there is another mouth to feed. The prayer of the children and youth might be, “Remember us, O people of the Diocese of Bismarck, show us your favor; come with your saving help.”
 
The Bismarck Mission currently supports 432 orphans at three parishes (Gekano, Ichuni, and Manga) in the Diocese of Kisii, Kenya. In November 2019, we began serving children and youth at Manga parish, expanding our enrollment to reach out and serve the needs of these children. The basic assistance given to orphans include: a monthly allotment of maize and a small stipend, the paying of tuition and school fees and the purchase of school uniforms. In addition, those in secondary schools can borrow textbooks and required reading books.
 
Supplemental to their education, the Bismarck Mission supports orphans and their guardians in other ways, namely, the housing program and heifer program. Each year, after an application process to determine needs, a “house” is built for up to five families. These houses are the common houses of the area, built of tree branches and mud with a metal roof. With proper care, these houses will provide good shelter for up to 50 years. The Mission supplies the necessary materials such as metal sheets, nails and doors, and the families do most the labor required for the building of the house. In doing site visits, it may be determined that the need of a family is not for a house, but for something like a latrine (outhouse) or a borehole—at times, funds are used for these projects.
 
In 2015, the Bismarck Mission initiated its heifer program. The intent of the program is threefold: 1) a cow offers a family a small income from the sale of milk, and they do not have to spend money for milk; 2) milk is important for the overall health of children, especially for those who are HIV-positive; and 3) a cow provides a small-business opportunity for a family, teaching them added responsibility. Once it has been determined that a family has adequate land to raise Napier grass (a perennial tropical grass native to African grasslands) and they receive instructions for the care of the animal, a bred heifer is given. The first-born female calf of the heifer becomes the property of the Bismarck Mission after it is weaned—this heifer is then raised to maturity, bred and given to another family.  After the first-born heifer calf is reclaimed by the Mission, the cow becomes the property of the family. Any bull calves remain the property of the family. Now, the Mission has 11 cows, 10 of which are with families, and one awaiting to be awarded to a family. There have been two heifer calves reclaimed by the Mission and are being raised to maturity so they, too, may be inseminated. Unfortunately, the ratio of bull calves to heifer calves has been three to one!
 
Orphans and their guardians frequently express their gratitude “for Bismarck.” They experience the care and concern of people half-way around the world who act out of “their love of God and their faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ.” The work of the Bismarck Mission brings hope into the lives of people afflicted by the harsh realities of pervasive poverty, ubiquitous unemployment and the disheartening destruction that death brings to families and villages.
 
On behalf of the 432 orphans supported by the Bismarck Mission, I come before the people of the Diocese of Bismarck, to express gratitude for your past fiscal support and prayers and to ask for your continued generosity and prayer in the upcoming African Mission Appeal. Hear the voices of the orphans who call out, “Remember us, O people of the Diocese of Bismarck, show us your favor; come with your saving help.”