We’ve added 6 new documents to the Denis’ Notes page of the website. They’re all teachings following on from ‘The Gospel of Matthew’ series.. Follow the link to view them in PDF format:
Category Archives: News
DRY AT LAST! (or the STORY of the AMAZING ELLIE WHEELER)
We are thrilled to report that at last we are not struggling with the water leaks from the Restaurant and kitchen roofs! Actually, we did not know what we could do to overcome the embarrassment and challenge of the daily flooding in the makuti (thatch) large meeting hall/ restaurant that we call PAMOJA (Together) and also the kitchen. The October November December stretched out with alarming torrents of rainfall causing not only damage to the roofing but to the rooms underneath. The restaurant is one of the main sources of income for us with bookings for meetings and group meals.
We had many extra-early morning starts to mop up the floods inside before the visitors arrived. The Craft Room walls, units and electrics also were damaged and we closed it down until we could find the wherewithal to repair.
Then , a miracle happened! Ellie Wheeler came up with a brilliant idea of an online raffle which raised 1,700 pounds in the end, thanks to all the generosity of those who contributed. Her lively organisation of all of it was just superb, right down to the tense online draw. Congratulations to all the winners and thankyou everybody who “bought tickets”.
The total was spent on a double canvas roofing, stretched over metal hooping and finished with Kenyan roping. Isaac had gone to Nairobi to purchase the canvas direct and to do some good wheeling and dealing (the Kenyans are good at that). We needed a lot of new thatch pieces ( called “makuti” and made on the coast from coconut leaves). Isaac found that in Nairobi the pieces were pricey, so he biked to the coast to buy direct.
Unfortunately, his phone was stolen as he queued at a traffic light. He had just inserted it into his helmet to take a call…whoosh. However, he got a great deal with the thatch which arrived a few days later (and he saw the sea!).
We stripped and sorted re-useable pieces then our workers got to work on restructuring.
A few of our workers are mentally challenged . Benson, alias Sonko, has been with us throughout my time here and is quite famous with his double set of teeth.
We have a tiny forest where we plant our unsold tree seedlings so we got our frame posts there. It took several weeks because of applying wood preservative and metal supporters, then joining the canvas . At last, everything was mounted and we awaited the next downpour….
Wahome , our skilled fundi/ workman / mason/carpenter turned his attention to the small area of thatch at the entrance and he roped in the new makuti.
At last we were dry!
The kitchen roof got a similar treatment but here we used tin sheeting for good water run-off. Result = Cooks happy!
The repairs have uplifted our spirits and helped us to feel that , once again, the site in general looks attractive.
We are moved again by the real legacy of the special, wonderful Wheeler family. We miss Rob so much but just imagine, how proud and thrilled he would be to see what his family have continued to achieve here at Peacemakers. We look forward to welcoming everybody here at some time. We hope Ellie will also will make it soon to dedicate her balcony as “Wheelers’ Nest “.
THANKYOU ELLIE! THANKYOU EVERYBODY !
Peacemakers Kisimani Centre
Peacemakers is now thanking God for its 30 years in Kenya. Our Centre can be booked for all sorts of activities and events. All spaces can be used for people to meet together; even Video Conferencing is available.
We are open to ideas on how the Centre can be in partnership with other Christian organisations as a base in Kenya; whether to simply visit and hold outreach/seminars, etc. or longer-term use. We believe the Lord has a big plan for using our Centre to bring knowledge and spiritual refreshment.
If God is stirring you to be part of this move in Kenya, then please get in touch with us.
We need the support of Peacemaker members for our stability and development. Thus, we are inviting you to support our 30 years celebration by joining us in membership and thus to be a part of and bless our next steps forward.
For more information and contact details, please click here: Peacemakers-Flyer
Denis’ Notes
We’ve added 8 new documents to the Denis’ Notes page of the website. They’re all teachings following on from ‘The Gospel of Matthew’ series. Follow the link to view them in PDF format:
Raffle Winners!
Thank you all so much for taking part in the Peacemakers International raffle!
So, the winners are…
1st Prize (£150) – Caroline Bryce and Richard
2nd Prize (Cake made by Ruth Wheeler) – Clare Stokes
3rd Prize (luxury hair brush from Hair by Carley, home made candle and £20 restaurant voucher) – Chrissie and Roger Wynveldt
4th Prize (6 Cupcakes by Piped Blooms) – Cora Maeve Wheeler
Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket, we raised over £1,460!! Your support will enable us to rebuild the restaurant roof. We’ll post updates and pictures of the work as it gets underway… watch this space.
I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love Ellie xxx
Ellie’s fundraising raffle!
The raffle will be drawn on 19th December 2020 at 12 noon. Please follow the link to buy tickets. Remember to tick the box to allow your details to be shared with Ellie, and DON’T GIFT AID!! Thank you for your support!
Al donations to Peacemakers are greatly appreciated, but unfortunately only UK entrants are eligible to win raffle prizes at this time.
PRIZES:
st Prize – £150 cash!
2nd Prize – An 8″ round cake, baked and decorated by Ruth!
3rd Prize – A luxury hair brush from Hair By Carley, a homemade luxury, festive scented, double wick candle, and a £20 ‘The Restaurant choice’ Gift Card!
4th Prize – A beautiful box of 6 delicious cupcakes from Piped Blooms!
TICKET PRICES:
1 Ticket: £5
5 Tickets: £20 (1 Free Ticket / £4 Each)
10 Tickets: £35 (3 Free Tickets / £3.50 Each)
20 Tickets: £65 (7 Free Tickets / £3.25 Each)
40 Tickets: £100 (20 Free Tickets / £2.50 Each)
ELLIE’S STORY:
Christmas is approaching and I wanted to do something nice for a local charity as I know how tough things are in this current climate!
I immediately thought of Peacemakers International. Peacemakers Charity has been a big part of my life ever since I was about 10! I used to get involved at their fundraising charity events in the summers by helping out on the stalls selling beautiful ornaments and small accessories that people in Kenya had made to help us raise money for their communities. My Dad, has also been a huge part of the charity, volunteering for them for years helping out with the computer/website side of things. He also refurbished old computers so they could be sent out to Kenya to help children and adults study and learn and give them a better chance of earning money and finding work! Sadly my Dad passed away earlier this year and so I really wanted to do this raffle for him as well as Peacemakers, as they have lost such an important volunteer who supported the charity in more ways than one!
Since speaking to Brenda (The lovely lady who runs this amazing charity) about wanting to raise funds for Peacemakers by holding a raffle, she informed me that things in Kenya had been really bad lately! Due to heavy storms and large amounts of rainfall, the roof on the main community building has collapsed along with the balcony. She told me that to repair this it would cost around £1700. This is why £1700 is my goal!
I hope to go out to Kenya next year (something I’ve been wanting to do since I was about 10) to help the community in anyway I can. If you fancy doing something like this as well, let me know as I know all the help they can get is massively appreciated!
Thank you for supporting myself and Peacemakers International! Good luck! x
Christmas 2019 e-Bulletin No.19
May the God of Hope fill you with Joy and Peace this Christmas.
‘Hope’ is the joyful expectation that something Good will happen.
Humanly speaking, it’s not surprising that the ‘Hope’ in us seems to be gradually disappearing into a depressive, fearful state, when you witness the strife and turmoil all around us today.
‘Who can we Trust?’
We are in the season of ‘Goodwill to all men’ bringing and exchanging gifts with one another. We remember and celebrate the Birth of Jesus; let us too receive from Jesus the gifts he brings to us of Love, Joy and Peace. This releases us from all the fears consuming this world.
Merry Christmas Everyone and a Blessed New Year from Brenda and all the Peacemakers. Thank you for being a part of changing lives in Kenya.
Christmas bulletin from Kenya:
We are sending our prayers and wishes for a wonderful Christmas over there (in the UK).
Here the searing daytime sun belies the approaching nightly torrents. This rainy season is now predicted to last to the end of December. I spend restless nights listening to the incessant downpours. Remember, most of the house has a tin roof and the noise is deafening; the raucous chorus of the jubilant frogs in unison with the dogs howling at the lightning flashes. You can almost imagine you are on board a ship in a stormy sea… The gutters can hardly cope with the roof water gushing down; the water tanks fill to overflow.
We have been waking up to flooded areas, spending hours mopping up and scooping the soil back up the slope. We have been hacking out extra channels and planning digging more slow-down ponds. The Kenyans call the rain “Blessings”, of course! We did not have any rain in March this year but this November season has made up for it! For us, it hopefully means a good harvest is ahead.
We had a wedding in between the showers… thank God for helping us. From 4 am we were re-erecting tents, decorating everywhere and we managed to get everything done in time. It was great to see Isaac’s photography team Siera having the contract for the photos.
This time, the actual marriage took place in our thatched building and the reception down in the garden. The caterers cooked all night. Typical wedding fare includes beef stew, “mukimo” (mashed potatoes, yellow maize and greens, chapati and rice with grated carrots.
We have also hosted three graduation parties.
We thank God that a group of ladies and a few gents from our community want to start the Peacemakers Outside Catering Team. We already have a growing market in catering for groups and we need to do more by enlisting a full team. We are praying how to go ahead with repairs to the kitchen and extra equipment. As we begin to have guests to stay in the house, it will be all the more necessary for me to have a qualified hospitality / housekeeper employee as I find myself stretched in many directions to present a quality service.
Our nearest neighbour Mama Eric has been longing to start it but has been caring up until last week for the mother of the late Patrick Kavungura, one of the original Kenya Peacemakers. Mama Kavungura passed on at the age of 94 years; we attended the burial on December 4th. According to custom, most people travel to the mortuary to view the body then return to the homestead for the burial in the garden of the home.
The youth dig the grave at dawn the same morning and return the soil at a spectacular speed after the committal.
We have now planned to start new registration of members in January 2020 with a nominated committee. We had a marvellous Prayer time where the Lord really spoke to us all about forgetting the former things (Isaiah 43) and marching forward, finally reaching our hope and future (Jeremiah 29;11).
I am looking forward to stepping back a little to see the Kenyans organise and manage more. The new committee will plan regular activities including the start of a Bible Teaching base, monitor the Youth projects for tree planting, poultry and livestock. We will revive our Craft projects and extend training activities for nutrition and health. We plan to do a lot more marketing of our accommodation and facilities. We have seen how God has taken us on a journey to where we are now and are excited for the next stage.
Our real needs at the moment are to get the greenhouse up and running for planting more sensitive seedlings like avocado and macadamia and rotating to capsicums again but by constructing soil tunnels as the soil we have has wilt. We would be getting new soil from Mt Kenya Forest. This will be another Youth project, along with the poultry rearing. At the moment, there are hundreds of idle school leavers around, without funds for further education and few opportunities for any employment. We also need to make
money from the B&B business and catering. Our profits return to the vulnerable. We really have to see God getting all the glory when we see this place prospering. Here are some of the rooms for you to stay.
We are all thankful for your wonderful support. The students continue to be able to attend school because of regular gifts. The Terrington Ladies have been stars in contributions for beans for the Disabled children, and lovely knitted jumpers, the Swansea Ladies the same. Thanks to Lifewell for money for food distribution for needy families this Christmas and the Orphans’ Party. Thanks to the Taylor Davids for moving us so far forward with water projects. Thanks again to the Beadles who have enabled us to help so many people. Thank you for all your gifts and prayers.
Much love from all the team here and from my new addition of a Cardigan corgi, Evie (AMAZING, I know)
Happy Christmas from Kenya!
e-Bulletin No.18 September 2019
In the last two bulletins, I have been informing you about our current transition period to make the Resource Centre a self-supporting project. We now have our two Title Deeds naming Peacemakers Community based Organisation as the absolute owners of the land and its assets. All of our facilities on-site are now up and running to develop our commercial projects.
May I take this opportunity to invite you to come to Kenya, maybe en route to a safari, or otherwise, to stay in our beautiful Resource Centre and experience the real Kenyan way of life. Our centre is deliberately built in a poor rural area, endeavouring to create a better standard of life to the local communities. We will, of course, continue to work in the mission field of teaching and training while, at the same time, bringing employment and casual labour to the local people, as they serve you through the commercial side.
Take a look at “Peacemakers’ Homestead”, or this Air B&B link, for our accommodation ‘on-site’ in Embu County, Kenya. You will see Isaac and Christine who are the co-hosts and now husband and wife, ready to welcome you! Christine is Peacemakers’ Director on-site and Isaac, the Projects’ Development Manager. We currently have five bedrooms but we are looking to increase that capacity. We will be ready on October 1st to take your bookings for an overnight stay or longer. Isaac can also help you organise your visit and walks on Mt. Kenya and is even available to escort you, if you wish. We can also offer to meet you at the airport in Nairobi to guide you on your way to visit us.
If you have the desire to work voluntarily within the local community, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me about the range of activities you may be interested in. It will be a very rewarding experience as so many of our volunteers over the years have found; email: Brenda Marshall
We were so blessed by the donation from the Richard Taylor family in Swansea, for the purchase of a solar panel to power a water pump which would irrigate the shamba and tree nursery and for the cleaning of the animal sheds. The solar pump continues to improve our sustainability and save us so much money on electricity bills. They also kindly donated money for 11 Bibles and 5 water filters!
We are truly thrilled and blessed. They also sponsored one room to be painted ready for drugs counselling sessions.
At last, the chicken-shed, named after our Australian visitor, is in full swing and people are coming to buy the chicks at 1 month or older; the price goes up according to length of stay at the Cameron chickhouse. This is a great project. It is so profitable and Cameron has helped us enormously to focus on sustainable activities.
We were happy to have a visit from the Embassy of Ireland again this month, to monitor our progress and use of the piggery, greenhouse and incubator. They were so happy! We are praying they will allow us to apply for funding to put soil bags into the greenhouse so that we can overcome the challenge of the wilt!
The solar lights in the house are working well and have reduced our bill dramatically, although we are still waiting for Kenya Power to install a tokens meter for sockets use. Isaac Munene continues to manage our development and to acquire the best quality and deals for all our needs. His heart remains fixed on our total success.
