Dear Partners,
In the next week, Daniel and several pastors will be making a trip to many of the outlying churches of this ministry. I have included Ken Yockey's description of the trip and what will be accomplished, as well as some maps that show the itinerary. The cost of the trip is close to $10,000 USD. While that figure does include some funding for new church buildings, there is an urgent need for more funding for at least three more church buildings.
The Wadada children's home and the new Administration Building have experienced some cost overruns. We have received some additional contributions towards the overruns of both projects, but we are just now learning of the need for additional church buildings.
I want to give you a brief summary of annual expenses and financial status of the Ministry.
Our annual expenses for administration and pastor salaries comes to approximately 15,000 per month. This comes to approximately 180,000 per year. When I took over the treasury duties my Dad was in charge of, there was approximately $200,000 in our account. Our goal is to always have this amount available, as a contigency to cover a year of salaries in the event of an economic downturn or the loss of a large donor which would make an impact on giving. At the same time, when important needs or emergencies arrive, we are in a position to help fairly quickly. As of September 1, 2020, I am pleased to let you know that our account is still at the $200,000 range. We have made the decision to pay for the trip and make sure that the buildings are completed, and fund any additional church buildings that are needed.
You should also know that we are not paying any salaries or stipends for the work that is done here in the states. We only pay the barest minimum for travel expenses, when our representatives need to travel. These expenses are often picked up with a special contribution. All administrative expenses incurred on this side of the ocean have been picked up by either Boot Country/Bill Van Fleet or Costanzo Insurance. We have an accounting firm that does all of the year end things that need to be done for a 501c3 and that information is always available upon request.
I wanted to share this information so you are informed that nothing has changed in the Ministry financial situation as run by my Dad. I also wished to make you aware that church growth is going to affect costs going forward. We, of course, consider that a great thing, because it means that the efforts of our ministry are growing.
I want to stress that the needs of this Ministry has always been left in the hands and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our needs have always been met and I believe, as I am sure everyone believes, that will continue. But, as the keeper of the finances in this realm, I believe it is my responsibility to keep you abreast of what is happening. Church growth has nearly doubled in two years to what we can best estimate to now 125-150 churches throughout the Maasai Lands. This creates the need for more churches and more pastors. Evangelistic events will certainly increase. These churches are always working to sustain themselves; however, they are counting on us to be there to help support the ongoing growth and mission.
Please continue to be prayerful towards our work and ways we can reach new supporters, as well as pray our current needs will be met for new church buildings and financial needs for the Lord's workforce (pastors and administrators) in the Kenyan region.
We are going to begin adding pictures and information about each individual church in the coming days to our website,
resourcingministrypartners.org. We have information on thirty right now and are working on setting up ways to get pictures and information on the others. I talked to Daniel this past week and we are working on this. It is very difficult, because of the time constraints on Daniel and communication channels without the presence of American citizens in the areas of our churches, but we are striving to figure this out. Trust me when I say it is difficult to communicate with a different culture, but such a blessing and miracle to see how God makes the important things, spreading the knowledge of Jesus and the Gospel take hold.
Yours in Christ,
Dino Costanzo
From Ken:
More about the upcoming trip to Samburu Land. I have asked for additional information, the request for funds is $9,600 USA money. The trip will be 7 days in duration, starting September 7, 2020. It takes 11 hours plus to go from Ngong to Maralal in Samburu land. Using the maps provided Ngong is just south of Nairobi. They will meet the Land Rovers at Reverend Nelly’s home in Ngong to reduce transportation cost. Not sure how many of our pastors are make the trip. That information will be forthcoming. They will travel to Maralal in Samburu land the first day. Meeting up with the Samburu Pastors in Maralal, adding a second land rover, they will need a company of the Samburu Maasai with them for safe passage through this land. Most of this area is not Christian yet, it is off limits to many outsiders. They will travel to Wamba, visit all of the Wamba churches and church plants established by Faith Chuurch Kenya. Encourage the pastors and members. Stay the night in Wamba. Once the mission is complete in Wamba, they will travel north to Marsabit Kenya. A very long ride on difficult roads. There are plans to hold services in Marsabit, more to come on the ministry plan. Then return back to Ngong and then to Ibissell.
I have provided three maps that high light the trip routes. Maralal is the only major population center in Samburu Land. The rest is pure wilderness.
Map 1 shows the distance from Ibissell to Maralal. Ibissell is the ministry headquarters for Faith Church Kenya. Baringo is in the hex box, it is No Man’s Land, one of the most dangerous places in Kenya. Full of bandits and terrorist. The Samburu Pastors are some of the only Christian witness that will go into this area and Minister. Prayer focus!
Map 2 High lights the areas being focused on during this trip. The trip focus in on Wamba region of Samburu Land, then to Marsabit to the north. The Trukana tribe is showed to left. They are a ministry focus as well. Four tribes are the focus of this outreach, Samburu Maasai, Pokot Tribe, Trukana Tribe, and Rendille Tribe.
Map 3 shows the distance from Maralal to Wamba, Wamba does not show up on many maps. It is very remote, they will experience very difficult travel to reach there. The Samburu Highlands are shown on this map. They are very high in altitude, similar to Denver in the USA. I had trouble breathing on the top during my 2019 visit. A very beautiful place! There are many Samburu Faith Churches located on top of the Highlands.
More to come!
Ken
This is the follow up update since I sent this email:
There will be 7 pastors including Bishop Daniel and Rev. Nelly going from Maasai Land. They leave on September 14. Once in Maralal, they will add another Land Rover, and 4 Samburu Pastors. In Wamba they will add 2 more pastors, a total of 13 will travel to Marsabit. A Faith Church plant has been established in Marsabit, the tribes that are the focus of the ministry outreach are all nomadic, the names of all the different tribes being ministered too, Rendille, Borana, Gabra, Burnji, Sakuye, Somalia, Elmoto, Dasanach, Wata, and Garre. As you can see Daniel has set his sights on bringing the gospel to all of these nomadic tribes. Some of these tribes are from Ethiopia, which boarders this area to the north. Please be in prayer for this trip, the outreach, this is a very strategic trip.
The funds that are budgeted for the church building are for a church that is under construction in Wamba. It is not complete. They hope to add the additional funds to get this church completed.I was not clear on whether they are also using some of the funds to build a permanent church in Marsabit. I also found out we have another school, it is in Wamba. I know about the one in Pokot land but not in Wamba land. Sorry I have to dig to get this information. However it is very important that the donors know the total breath of this ministry.More to come I am sure!
ThanksKen
