What is happening

Seacoast Women’s Ministry

CGA's mamas and students were richly blessed by the recent team from Seacoast Church.  The team was made up of 8 lovely Christian ladies.  Six of them were women of mature faith and two were young ladies in their teens who demonstrated a blossoming faith as well.  These ladies led a three day conference for the widowed mamas of our students, sharing Biblical principles of both spiritual and practical purity.  Their teachings, though individually prepared, were beautifully coordinated by the Spirit to bring a unified message of God's loving interest and concern towards the lives of these mamas.  Each team member shared a teaching from her expertise along with a personal testimony.   The lessons they had planned for the mamas were lovely, giving opportunity for interaction, ministry and hands on activities.  But even more powerful was seeing them humbly avail themselves to times of impromptu teaching and sharing with our older students and staff.  These unplanned sessions were so beneficial due to the openness and vulnerability through which they shared.  We are trusting that these testimonies will encourage our staff and students also to share more with each other.   The teenage girls also made a lasting impact on the hearts of the students as they spent full days working among our nursery to grade six.

We commend the team for being flexible, teachable and very enjoyable.  They were fun to have around.

Highlights

• Passing out almost 200 donated brand new Crocs to the widows
• Unexpected breakout session for youth that took place under the trees at the Church
• The servant leadership of Mari Fisher and Roz Page

Drama and Music Excellence

Teacher Dorothy, Teacher Judith and Deputy Principal Charles escorted thirty CGA students to the Suba District Music Festival in Nyandiwa last Thursday. The students had qualified for the competition with their performance at the Divisional Festival the week before. A group of 18 students in 1^st-5^th grade showed their ability to dance and sing as they competed in the Luo Singing Game Category. They earned a 2^nd place finish. Some of those same students also performed an English Singing Game and this time took the 1^st place trophy. Faith Lumbwa from our 5^th grade class performed a Kiswahili Solo Verse and finished in 4^th place in that category while Joy Glory from our Nursery Class also finished in 4^th place in the English Solo Verse category.

Because of their good results, the two singing game groups and Joy Glory will proceed to represent the district at the Provencial level in Kisii at the end of June. We are proud of our talented young ones and their courage to perform at a high level with large crowds and lots of pressure. We hope they will continue to glorify God with the abilities He has blessed them with.

Journey Across Lake

On Saturday morning a group from CGA boarded a boat and rode across the lake to Mfangano Island. The delegation included thirty students and twenty staff tightly squeezed in the wooden boat. After the hour long journey we were greeted by the students at Gethsemane School who were awaiting our arrival. The hosts treated us like kings with their warm greetings and great meals. We spent the day with our sister school competing in various sporting activities. Like us, they are working to educate the orphans of Suba District and instill the word of God in them to see God's Kingdom come to Kenya through their lives.

The games began with a three-set win for the CGA volleyball team. The boys did not fair as well against a very tough Gethsemane team. The staff took the court next and played an extremely competitive match that eventually saw CGA lose in a third set thriller. After a light lunch they headed out to the football pitch. Once again the CGA girls proved strong with a 1-0 victory when Irine Achieng put the kick through the goal-keepers legs and through the goal. The staff teams competed next. Once again the staff had a very even match that ended with a 0-0 draw. The final competition of the day was the boys' football match in which Gethsemane prevailed with a 2-0 win. The boys, girls and staff all walked back to the school together and enjoyed a late lunch or early dinner. After the speeches CGA rushed to board the boat and set off for home. The sun was setting as they waved goodbye to their friends from the island. Within a short time the students broke out in a chorus and never stopped singing until we reached the shores of Mbita. The joyous singing helped the delegation to keep their minds off the dangers of travelling on the lake and the rain that soaked us a for a few minutes. It was a great field and good exposure for most of the children who have lived their whole lives by the lake but had never even been on it or across it before.

Fighting Cancer

This week we had the chance to visit Barak in the Children's Cancer Ward at Nyanza Provencial Hospital in Kisumu. Barak is a 5 ½ year old boy from our Pre-primary class at CGA. Yes, he is one of the first ones around this area that was named after the current U.S. President. In April our Orphan Overseer, Lillian, walked into his class and was told by the teacher that the boy is not feeling well. After giving him some water to drink she hugged him and noticed how hard his stomach was. She sent him to the local clinic that treats all of our children. The doctor gave him some de-worming medication thinking it was just a worm or amoeba which is what many people suffer from here. Lillian was worried it was more than that and personally brought him back and talked with the doctor. They agreed he should be referred to the District Hospital in Sindo and get an ultrasound. After receiving the results they immediately took him to Kisumu for more tests. On the day we visited they found out that it was indeed cancer in his stomach. Thanks to Lillian's quick intervention we are hopeful that it was caught in time. They will be checking his hemoglobin count and if it is high enough then they will begin his chemotherapy on June 10^th and it will continue for at least six weeks or possibly much longer depending on his blood counts.

The visit was difficult but very enjoyable. He is in pain and struggling, but he is being well taken care of by the dedicated nurses and staff in the hospital. Their ward is full of children with all types of cancer. Barak used to be a very active and talkative young boy. He was visibly happy when we visited, but did not seem like his normal self. Please join us in praying for his overall health and that he will be strong enough to get his chemotherapy each week and that God would provide a total healing of the cancer in his body.

Two Outstanding Athletes

Nine CGA students participated in the Zonal Track and Field Meet today. All of them did their best, but only two did well enough to qualify for the Divisional Meet on Wednesday.

Dorothy Auma, a 6^th grader, finished in the top 5 in the 3000 meter race. Emmanuel Ogutu, a 7^th grader, placed highly in the long jump and the javelin toss. Both of them will travel to Nyamasare on Wednesday to compete against the other zones within the Division.

All the CGA athletes did their absolute best for the glory of God.

Track and Field

Christ's Gift Academy students participated on Friday in a track and field contest against five of the other local primary schools. Their team showed up on time and the track meet started with only three schools. The other three schools showed up at different times throughout the day.

Emmanuel Ogutu shined for the boys finishing in 1^st place in the 1500 meters and also placing in the 800 meters and the Discus. Caltex Omondi also performed well finishing in 4^th place in the 800 meters and the 100 meter dash.

For the girls Dorothy Auma was outstanding as she won the 800 meters and finished 3^rd in the 3000 meters. Syprose Akoth also surprised people as she finished in the top three in the 100 meter dash. It was surprising because she is a 5^th grade student competing against mostly 7^th and 8^th graders. CGA stole the show in the 800 meters as four students finished in the top 5. Dorothy was #1, Ketty Atieno was #3, Jillian Achieng was #4 and Linet Akeyo was #5. Gladys Akinyi also shined in the Shot Put.

All of these students will represent the Mbita base as they travel to Kirindo Primary School on Monday to compete in the zonal competition.

Exam Success

The Hexagon officially released the exam results from last year's KCPE class and also the first exam of this year. The Hexagon is a group consisting of six of the best academies in the Suba District. Here are the results.

Last year's graduating class from CGA finished in 4^th place and only a few points away from 3^rd place. Patrick Otambo was the 5^th best boy in the group and Rolex Maklago was the 7^th best boy in the group. Only one CGA girl was honoured and that was Joyce Openda Achieng who was the 10^th best girl.

This year's 8^th grade class finished in 5^th place in the exam from last term and only Zechariah Wanga was among the top 15 students in the grouping.

This year's 7^th grade class also finished in 5^th place. They were less than 3 points away from third place. Three girls from that class finished among the top 5 girls in the grouping which was the highlight of the day for CGA. Adah Sharon Awuor was #2 girl in the group, Mary Ooro was #4 and Valary Maklago was #5. Adah also finished with the highest English score.

For Standard 6, it was also a 5^th place finish. Collince Otieno had the 15^th highest score and Robert Omondi trailed him by 2 points to earn the 16^th highest score.

Congratulations to the teachers and students that earned high honors for their hard work.

Goodbye Maxine

Maxine Talbert, one of the greatest supporters of Christ's Gift Academy, passed away this past week after a battle with cancer.  Maxine first visited CGA in 2004 with two friends from her home church of Bethany Presbyterian Church in Seattle.  They came bearing book bags that members of their church had made for each one of our students.  She had visited very many different ministries in Kenya, but for some reason CGA was her favorite place.  There were three more visits to Mbita in the next few years after their first visit.  She was the main catalyst in mobilizing her church to support ministries in Kenya especially CGA. 

Maxine and her husband Gary had even talked about moving to Mbita and becoming full-time missionaries serving here.  It wasn't meant to be, but we are happy that Maxine is at home in Heaven.  She will be dearly missed by many friends in Kenya.    

Our orphan overseer, Lillian, shared a story today as we were greiving the passing of Maxine.  She was recalling how much Maxine loved the song Tutaimba Hosanna.  It is a Kiswahili song that means "We will sing Hosanna" and it talks about dancing around the throne of God praising Him.  A few years ago they had gone and ministered to one of the CGA widow groups in Nyamanga.  When they were returning home, Maxine kept singing it and dancing along the dirt road.  She drew many amused looks from the Africans watching this Mzungu (white person) sing and dance along the road.  It is comforting to think that now Maxine is literally in the presence of the most High God and dancing around his throne singing Tutaimba Hosana.   

Term 2 Opening

On Wednesday, May 5th CGA will open the second term of the 2009 school year.  The first term closed in early April with a great day of serving in the community and playing games between staff and students.  Since that time, the students and staff have been at home for a couple of weeks.  The students have been busy helping their parents and guardians around the house.   Most have been weeding their gardens after the heavy rains Mbita has received in the last month.  If the rains continue then the area should have a bountiful supply of maize as most people have planted in any open areas around their house.  The children are happy to return to school to continue their education, especially after all the hard work they were undertaking in their homes during the break.   

The CGA staff went through two days of inservice preparing for the opening of the term and are eager to start.  The school will continue to focus on the "Big Picture" as we study the Old Testament and examine how God was at work during that time.