Judi & Terry Mott, Kosele Kenya – January 2022

2022 is a very significant year for us because on July 31st it will be the 20th anniversary of the day we first travelled out to Kenya and began the work that is now known as Hope & Kindness. It is a time to look back, to reflect and to remind ourselves of all that God has done through what has been an amazing journey of faith for all of us.

Right now we (Terry & Judi) are in the UK but very much hoping to be back in Kenya before the end of February. Covid travel restrictions and a terminal cancer diagnosis for Terry’s mum have meant that we have been away from Kenya since August 2020 (so much longer than we had planned.) During that time we have been living in Middlesbrough and have been very grateful for the time that we have been able to spend with our first grandchild, Joy, and with Terry’s mum, Shirley. Being away from Kenya for so long has, at times, been very frustrating but also a good reminder that God knows better than we, exactly where he needs us to be.

Most significantly our long absence from Kenya has meant that our Kenyan leadership team has had to step up to the very challenging task of running everything – our school, farm, community outreach and children’s home, as well as the church led by Pastor Dorine. In 2002 we dreamt that Hope and Kindness would be run by a team of Kenyans. We didn’t now then just how long it would take for that dream to become a reality but we are confident that it now has. This year marks a very important time of transition for us, as we move out of the driver’s seat and hand the keys over to our team and trust them to drive well.

Hope and Kindness Leaders and Youth Team

This year we are looking forward to seeing the teachers in our Primary School continue to grow the loving community in the school which gives the children a chance to enjoy learning and thrive in every respect – academically, emotionally and spiritually. We are also planning to enhance our ICT provision in the school to improve pupil learning and also provide additional teacher training for teachers from other schools.

Whole school for 2021/2

We are also anticipating success in the Agribusiness projects which we have been growing for the last 18 months – rearing Tilapia fish fingerlings for sale to local fish farmers in a very green aquaponics production system, and rearing crickets for human and animal consumption. Both projects are very exciting. We have four large greenhouses producing the fingerlings in tanks, powered by solar energy.

The community around Kosele, which traditionally depended on subsistence farming, has experienced real poverty and hardship for many, many years; largely exacerbated by climate change making the rains less predictable and droughts more frequent. The impact of Covid on the general economy has also made the situation worse (although fortunately there have been relatively few deaths.) Our Pastor Dorine and our Social Worker Nancy help us to look out for those who are most in need and donations from fund raisers in the UK have allowed us to provide assistance to our most vulnerable neighbours. We will continue to do this in 2022.

Like churches all over the world we are praying that 2022 will be a year of significant growth, especially in the depth and quality of discipleship and strengthening of relationships between church members and within the wider community. We will be working with our Youth Church leaders to share life and the gospel with children and young people, especially in our school.

Prayer Points

We would appreciate your prayers for:

• Our leadership team
• The Agribusiness projects which we hope will bring in income to make our work more sustainable in the future.
• Our teachers and pupils who have experienced significant disruption for the last 18 months and who still have a very challenging year ahead of them as they work to make up the ground lost to Covid.
• Pastor Dorine and our church members.
• The community that we live and work in, people who amaze us with their resilience in the face of hardship, poor health, poverty and uncertainty.

Every Blessing
Judi and Terry