Rosemary and her daughter

“… In 2011 … I traveled to Kenya with four other Third Churchers to visit our brothers and sisters in the Kihumo Presbyterian Church. As many of you know, we provided monies from our Capital Campaign to the Kihumo Church to purchase purebred goats for distribution to the neediest members of their congregation. A severely handicapped woman, named Rosemary, was one of the first recipients of a goat. Rosemary lives with her daughter, granddaughter, and their animals in a home (you or I would probably call it a hovel or, more simply put, a shack but it is home to them) with dirt floors, a corrugated metal roof, and patched-together wood-slatted and metal siding. The goats have provided Rosemary with a livelihood and have transformed her and her family’s lives. She has milk for her granddaughter with enough left over to sell on the side, and, during our visit, she sold a buck for the US equivalent of $150.00. Rosemary was so thankful for what the Kihumo Church and Third Church had done for her and her family that she gave the entire $150.00 to the church. I can only imagine what a difference $150.00 would have made in Rosemary’s personal life. It is truly a modern day version of the poor widow in the Bible that put her remaining two alms in the offering plate.

(from the Focus on Stewardship message given by Tom Klaseus on Nov. 8, 2015)

Rosemary’s home