Ministry Update - September 29 2022

Dear Partners,

Following is a letter from Samuel Osoi, explaining the gravity of the FAMINE in Kenya. Also attached are photos of the DEVASTATION that has ensued. We recently sent $5,000 in relief funding and will be sending at least another $5,000 which we have received for famine relief. We anticipate a need of $50,000 as this famine is destroying lives at a very rapid pace. Please continue to pray for rain. Without it, the famine will just continue to get worse. Any special financial help is appreciated, as we have minimal funds in our accounts to assist with these urgent needs.

"Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our GOD? we put our hope on you, for you do all these things." Jeremiah 14:22

Dino C.


FROM SAMUEL OSOI

2021-2022 DROUGHT PANGS!
Over 200,000 people are bearing the brunt of an acute food and water shortage. Kajiado county hasn't seen any rain for at least two years now; the clouds have simply disappeared from the skies.

Families are struggling to feed themselves and their livestock

Dried up water pans and barren agricultural fields are now dominating Kenya's second largest county. Women are forced to walk for several kilometers in search of water, pastures for dying animals. The little agricultural land is covered in dust, with carcasses spread across the ground.
Water is a big challenge here. The families also share the little food they have with their animals, in the hope to keep them alive. "The food we eat we also boil for the weak animals so that it becomes chewable for them. It interferes with our family budget, but we have no option," someone cited.

Prolonged drought has forced hundreds of children out of school

As the third term of the school calendar has started, many pupils are yet to return to class. The low turnout is due to the lack of food. Many children have turned to be full-time herders. They are forced to travel many kilometers in search of pasture and water for their livestock. The majority are migrating even as far as the Ethiopian border.

People walk for days trying to find pasture

The drought has taken its toll on the animals, some herders report they have been unable to find proper pasture even after many days of walking. "This is our third day, we are walking towards the all corners of Kenya borders hoping to find pasture for our livestock. Some dropped dead, some are becoming weak and can no longer walk we have to leave them to die. We are weak ourselves too. We fetch water when we find any, and also ask for food in the villages we pass," says, a herder.

Hunger is a problem here, people are migrating as far as 40 kilometers in search of food, water and pasture. Women and children travel in the late evening to search for water; they sleep there to get water in the early morning before going back home. It is such severe!
Pastor Samuel Osoi

Dear Partners ,

It has been awhile since the last update, so I have quite a few things to share.

First, and by far most important, is the DIRE drought situation facing our dear Brothers and Sisters in our ministry area of Kenya. We now have over 200 Churches sprinkled over 3/4 of the Region where the Maasai Tribes are located in Kenya, and virtually every part is being affected by the lack of rain. As the drought persists, livestock begin to die, creating a huge food shortage issue. Our church is now experiencing this in a BIG WAY. Members in many regions are dying of starvation and unless relief comes shortly, it will continue to worsen. Daniel has asked us to divert any short term giving to food costs, as the inflationary trend in Kenya, coupled with this severe drought, has made this THE ONLY ISSUE of concern at this time.

We raised over $5,000 through the Third Annual Dominic Costanzo Memorial Sporting Clay Shoot in August. We are using the proceeds from the Shoot to relieve immediate food needs and alleviate some of the suffering of Our Church in Kenya. We are asking our Donors to consider matching this amount in the coming days. Any help towards this immediate need will be a HUGE BLESSING for our Brothers and Sisters in Maasai Land.

On a more positive note:

We have been able to increase our giving to Waddada, thanks to your help and Ken's diligent efforts towards this part of the Ministry. Wadada is currently housing at least 33 children, which stretches the capacity of the Children's Home, but it is a blessing nonetheless.

The elections in Kenya have turned out as a positive for Christians for the near term, as many Christians have gained and retained seats and the New Prime Minister is a Christian as well. His opponent had a negative view of Christians and this was a concern going into the recent election, but Praise the Lord that things have worked out for now.

Daniel's vision of this Ministry reaching all Maasai is continuing. They are reaching farther into outlying areas, even establishing some churches in predominantly Muslim areas. As I said before, over three quarters of the Maasai area has an established church from our Ministry.

At the present time, Ken and Steve are planning to travel to Kenya in October.

I ask everyone to pray for all of the above situations, however the Lord leads you.

I leave you with a few Scriptures to consider and ponder

Zechariah 14:9- And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one and His name the only one,

Psalm 77:14- You are the God who works wonders: You have made known your strength among the peoples.

Mark 6:7-8- And He summoned the 12 and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; and he instructed them that they should take nothing on their journey, except a mere staff, no bread, no bag, no money in their belt.......

Yours in Christ,

Dino Costanzo

Dear Partners,

We have spoken to Daniel this past week. They held a Barasa where many decisions were made.

Daniel and others are traveling to Narok on March 24-27 to inspect 3 new churches and to check on the other 6 churches in the area. They will then head to Isinya and Nagati. These will be new regions for the ministry. We ask for your prayers as these brothers and sisters continue to spread the Word of Christ throughout Maasai Land.

According to Nelly, and confirmed by Daniel, over 200 churches now comprise the ministry. Our most recent figure, prior to this update, was 125 over a year ago, it appears we are experiencing robust growth!!!

We are in the planning stages for a ministry trip to Kenya. We would like to check first hand on the growth and activities. Ken is planning on going and we hope Steve Lovellette and two others will be able to join him. The plan is to depart sometime in October and the trip will last 14-21 days. We have just begun planning this trip, please feel free to contact us if you have questions, or an interest in going on this ministry trip. We are estimating the cost to be approximately $5,000USD per traveller (for those interested in going or sponsoring this trip). For the last 2 years, we have been unable to send anyone due to the covid travel restrictions. As of today, we are now able to send people to Kenya. Although we have some logistics to work on, the trip is on as of this writing.

Daniel has expressed continued need for 2-3 more motorcycles, emergency church repairs, and his individual need for his youngest son's dental issues. The motorcycles are $2,000USD each, church repair estimates are $2,750USD, and $2,200USD is requested for the dental work. These requests would all be considered general fund needs on our end. As we have stated in our earlier update, our general fund is lower than anticipated. We will do our best to accommodate as much as we can, but any help from our partners is always appreciated and welcomed.

We are including some pictures with this update. We pray for your physical and spiritual health in these interesting times.

The Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds thru Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7) 

Yours in Christ,

Dino Costanzo

Dear Partners,

In my last update, I mentioned the Ministry has an outreach in Europe. Although it is small, over the years, great results for advancement of the gospel have been accomplished. Our missionary, Nickolay, is semi-retired, and currently resides in Irpen, a suburb of Kiev, Ukraine. He has been unable to safely leave Kiev, as he has been recovering from hernia surgery. His family made it out safely but he remains in Irpen. Due to the fighting, it is virtually impossible for the population to obtain normal food and water.
We ask for prayers that the situation will turn positive for those that remain in the areas affected, and for our dear brother, his family and his friends who remain.
Prayers are most important as at this point, there is little else that can be done right now. Blessedly, our latest transfer made it a day before the actual war broke out, so we believe, financially at least, he is OK. Unfortunately, there are very few grocery items and water for purchase at this point.
This situation is very complicated. Our government, the world governments, and the media are making it very difficult to understand the full breadth of this situation. Your prayers will reach our Lord and be a huge benefit to our Christian Brothers and Sisters struggling in this very difficult situation.
In Christ,Dino Costanzo 

Dear Partners,
I am writing this update on a dreary day in the Cincinnati area. Our forecast is for rain all day and I have to monitor our current homestead for basement flooding! I will be spending the day going back and forth in my truck, from home to office and back, monitoring our sump pumps, ensuring nothing gets clogged. We have so many leaves and sticks in the yard from all the winter storms.
As I watch the pumps from my truck, I am reading a book recommended by Ken. The title of the book is Spiritual Wars by Ken Vallotton. So far, it has been a very good read. Those of you who have been a partner of this ministry know Daniel, Nelly and the Pastors in Kenya experience much spiritual warfare. They see it more plainly than those of us who reside in a First World country. Nonetheless, it is a very real part of the world in which we reside. Sometimes, we get the impression the spiritual realm is little more than a fairy tale; however, thoughtful reading of scripture will tell us otherwise. But we can glory in our salvation and take solace that we are more than conquerors in him who loves us.(Romans 8:37)
Previously, we had communicated to you a shortfall in donations for Wadada. Through your generous donations, that shortfall was met and we have funding that should take us through 2022 with no issues. We have approximately $70,000 earmarked for Wadada, which is, essentially, the expected budget through 2022.
However, with the uptick of donations and concerns for Wadada, our General Fund is well below the norm. We use the General Fund to build churches and take care of special needs that are requested, such as transportation needs, emergencies, covering short falls in CEF ministry donations, and so on. All of Daniel's Pastor expenses and other needs are also cycled through the General Funding, but actually specified directly for those needs. We currently have in the neighborhood of $100,000 in the general fund, with another $76,000 pledged. Daniel and Pastor expenses run about $20,600 per month. This means that, including pledges, we will be even by the end of 2022.
As the ministry has grown, the need for taking care of individual needs has also grown. As you can see, as blessed as this Ministry has been, we are now essentially running on an "as needed" basis, always just ahead with funding, but ultimately just about -0- balance on a year over year basis.
We have a CEF event coming up and have approximately $3,000 allocated for this. As of this writing, I don't know what the final expense will be, but our plan is to fund it and pray that funding for the balance comes in.
Recently, Daniel requested three motorcycles for his pastors to travel to, and within, their parishes. We stepped up and paid for these bikes, hoping funding will come in for these as well. The cost was $2,000 per motorcycle, $6,000 total.
The funding for this ministry has always come from a small, but generous, group of individuals. It is my guess this will always be the case, as long as the Lord continues to see a need for Resourcing Ministry Partners. Concerns were recently shared with us that they heard we were dropping support for certain parts. It never ceases to amaze me how the devil can confuse things. My job is to alert all of you on the spiritual and financial health of the ministry. Besides being a donor, I serve minimally in the decision-making process. I just listen to concerns brought from Kenya through Bill and Ken then proceed to address those wishes the best we can with available resources. The ministry began with Daniel and his vision. Over time, Nelly and Wadada were added. We also do a small amount of work for another missionary in Europe. As with the Kenya outreach, only funding specifically designated goes to them.
Currently, we are satisfied with the current climate, considering everything going on. Please prayerfully consider the two needs we have specified above. As always, we are so thankful for your continued prayers and financial support.
In Christ,
Dino Costanzo

Dear Partners,

The Missionary Team has returned safely from the latest outreach and many indigenous lives encountered the message of saving grace through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There were no major problems and CEF and the Missions outreach was accomplished without any issues or monetary overruns. From what has been relayed to us, the only major change was money for the church build was shuffled into food, water and medical supplies. Because of the severe drought, our team in Kenya felt these immediate needs outweighed any other at this time. 

We are including photos from the recent trip (and a link to our gallery), which gives you a wonderful synopsis of the trip. We have included a picture of the map that gives you an idea where the trip took place.

Bill, Ken, and I have been meeting weekly this year, so everyone can feel comfortable that this ministry is still a very main focus of our three lives as we sojourn in this foreign country. I can tell you that it is a great feeling to see the love Bill and Ken have for this call they have been given. It is a feeling of Christlike Revelation, when the Holy Spirit moves them as they share their life experiences in Christ and the way God moved them into this love for the Kenyan people. 

I can't say this enough, but we are also very thankful for the way God has moved all of you to lend a hand in this ministry. We have no idea how long the Lord will tarry before his return, but as we can see from what is going on in this world, we are a lot further along in world history as seen through the eyes of Scripture. 

We know we will have blessings and hardships as we travel in this world, (psalm 103). We know that the road will not always be what we would like, but we also know that we will be sustained and that we have a purpose, all of us. ( John 15-16 )

When you take a look at what our brothers and sisters are accomplishing in Africa, I hope you can get the feeling of adventure, as this is your adventure as well.

I also hope that you get a stir from the Holy Spirit of the Hope, Faith, and Love that you are contributing too. It is my sincere belief, this is what God wants for us. Regardless of our circumstances, we are all connected and in this together. Brothers and sisters, together heading to an eternity of adventure. 

Yours in Christ,

Dino Costanzo

Dear Partners,

Daniel and a group of 15 supporting pastors, as well as Nelly and others, will be heading to Samburu land near the end of July for preaching, church building and a CEF rally.
Due to the distance travelled, this trip and rally are about twice the expense as a normal ministry trip; however, the ministry was blessed with enough donations to make this trip and rally possible. Those in Africa are so thankful for your continued support. This current mission trip includes a church build, but funds for future trips and church builds are not available. CEF funding is totally tapped. In the past, we have had two, maybe three, CEF rallies a year. Currently nothing is scheduled beyond the July rally.
We have received enough support for Wadada to get through the month of August, but support continues to lag behind. I want to stress that donations have been holding steady, but actual costs have risen, because of the growth of this partnership. I have talked about this before, but just wanted to emphasize it again. In the beginning, the pastor salaries were about $5,000 a month. We are now paying $15,000 a month for a total of 135+ pastors. Wadada expenses have gone from $1,500 to $2,500 a month . sometimes reaching $3,000. School expenses are increasing, due to inflation, age based costs, and more students.

We are doing all that we can, with our limited resources and time to continue to spread the word about this ministry. If you think of it, pass on the information of our web site to those in small groups, business associates, friends, relatives, etc. It is an easy way for someone to at least get a feel for our mission and the mission of those we support.
The positive of all of this is: Look at what your financial efforts have enabled our partners in Africa to accomplish! We have built more than 50 church buildings, increasing the mission to 100 plus churches total. We have funded wells, cisterns, & eco-farms. They have built an administration and training building, a children's home. There are Evangelistic Rallies and Children Rallies for Christ throughout the Maasai Land. Thousands have been reached with the gospel, because of your partnership. Matt; 28:19-20
All of this has been accomplished through the financial help of basically two churches and 100 individuals. Amazing how the Lord can work miracles, if we allow ourselves to be his vessels. I have attached a couple of photos and linked a video for your viewing!
Yours in Christ,Dino CostanzoBishop Daniel Osoi Preaching