Kenya Blog – Hyodo Family

Sometimes there are unplanned missions

August 23, 2021/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

“We care for orphans not because we are rescuers but because we are the rescued.” -David Platt.

Because we are so blessed to have had God save us that we feel compelled to save others, not because we are something, but because sometimes we can do something

Trisha is pictured visiting Lucie in Western Kenya at her home in Bumamu Village in Butere, Kakamega County. Because of her small stature, we thought that 12-year old Lucie was 12-months old. But they reassured us that she was 12-years old. At 11 kg (24 pounds) we were very concerned and she also could not talk or walk and sat listless the entire time of our visit.

Dr. Murilla took over and managed Lucie’s care, teaming up with several doctors, pharmacists and a physical therapist. She told us that when Lucie was around 5-years old she either had meningitis or cerebral malaria. This, combined with malnutrition has led to the downfall in her health. She also had some type of abdominal infection which made it difficult for her to eat and also was suffering from seizures in which she had several at the hospital. I asked Dr. Murilla if she thought Lucie would ever talk or walk. She said that was not sure but that for now, they were focusing on putting weight on and gaining some strength in her muscles.

Paul visiting with Dr. Murilla at the hospital

After two weeks at the hospital, Lucie was able to walk for short distances and she weighed over 16 kg (35 pounds). We are thankful to have found her in the village to be able to get her some help and also thankful to Paul for providing assistance and for the many people in the US who donated some money in order to pay for her hospital bill. God is good!

Have you ever…?

July 27, 2017/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

The blessings of ministry in Kenya

Have you ever held an orphan baby in your arms and looked into her eyes and had her reach out and smile and cup your finger in her little hand?

Have you ever laughed with two girls in Maasailand for two hours even though neither of you speak each other’s language?

Have you ever baptized 23 people in a dirty water hole upcountry and had 7 leeches attach themselves to your leg in the process?

Have you ever blew bubbles with kids from a small village who had never seen bubbles before?

Have you ever played with two boys who used to be homeless and sniffing glue on the streets and now are attending school and are healthy and happy?

Have you ever hugged a tribeswoman from the country and had them give you a cool necklace?

Have you ever stood on the equator and poured water down a funnel 5 feet north and 5 feet south of the equator and seen the water circle down in different directions?

We have! These are some of the blessings of serving in ministry in Kenya!!!

The Hyodos

“It will make a difference to this one”

December 13, 2015/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

There are so many orphans, so many poor. What difference does it make if you reach out?

Like the popular starfish story reminds us, you can make a difference in the world by making a difference for one person at a time.

Sarah, pictured here, was an orphan girl that we had helped out in 2010. She was found in a trench with an injury on the right temple area of her head when a passerby heard some crying. Malnourished and traumatized, we nursed her back to health.

When she got adopted later that year we were excited for her new journey as a citizen of the Netherlands. Now six years old, she is pictured with her parents, Marcel and Marlies, and with the other three pictures, you can see that she is healthy and happy. She was a life that was healed and restored, the right side of her temple completely made whole again. These are some of the times that we know that our God is real and alive.

Often, while walking through the city, a Kenyan friend will grab my hand and we will be walking and talking-hand in hand. A man holding hands with another man would be considered a very odd thing to do in the US and it made me feel a little uncomfortable at first. But now I enjoy it and it makes me feel that our friendship is more cherished and special.

We discovered our way to make a stand against evil in this world. To really make a difference for us was not to pick up a knife or a gun and acquire revenge against injustice. It was to reach out and help one helpless person.

What is stopping you from reaching out and helping your neighbor?

The Hyodos

Global Ministry-American Style?

March 31, 2015/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

I enjoy good friends in Kenya, like Pastor Francis Koriata, a member of the Maasai Tribe.

I have had some great times with Pastor Francis, as well as occasional misunderstanding, but our friendship has been solid through the years. I have learned that there can be cultural, societal, and ethnic differences that need to be overcome sometimes for us to become better friends and to be more effective in all that we do.

Often, while walking through the city, a Kenyan friend will grab my hand and we will be walking and talking-hand in hand. A man holding hands with another man would be considered a very odd thing to do in the US and it made me feel a little uncomfortable at first. But now I enjoy it and it makes me feel that our friendship is more cherished and special.

Serving in an International ministry, I realize that we can have a tendency to see things in our own perspective and don’t realize that sometimes we need to admit that we have a filter that can shade the way we see things.

I had someone from America donate some clothes to give to the poor. While at an orphanage at Graceworks in Meru, Kenya, we distributed clothing, but the clothes that we received from our American friend was much too large for even the largest person in the whole village. I am pictured holding up some pants that could have fit two Kenyans into the one pair!

One of our church teams from the US were touched by the plight of girls at the Comido School in the Kwa Njenga slum who frequently quit school early because when they start getting their period they can’t go to school, fall behind, and end up withdrawing. At first, we didn’t quite understand how having a period would prevent someone from going to school. After realizing that they didn’t have feminine hygiene products, the team raised money when they returned back home and then when they came back to Kenya, we presented the school with the boxes of hygiene products. (pictured)

Months later when I met with the Principal of the Comido school, Pastor James Kariuki, I naturally asked him how it was going with the girls in school. I was surprised when he told me that many were still dropping out. Perplexed, I asked him why. He told me that some of the girls didn’t have underwear to hold the feminine hygiene products in place so it did them no good! This was something that absolutely did not occur to us to even think about.

Pictured is a feminine hygiene pack complete with underwear and washable hygiene pads that can be reused. We dispensed these years later at another slum school and learned through locals how to provide what works well here in Kenya.

After 8 ½ years in Kenya, I am learning that I don’t always have the answers and cannot single-handedly solve the problems in Africa. I have learned to humble my pride and realize that the American way isn’t the only way, nor is it even an effective way sometimes to reach other nations.

By sitting side by side, walking together hand in hand, working together with local Kenyans, we can make a difference in a real, lasting, and effective way. I have learned that sometimes a task-oriented, get things done method might actually be slower than to first take the time to get to know someone well so that you can understand more completely, and then be able to really help. This is something that I picked up from my Kenyan friends.

One day Pastor Frances called me and asked if I were in town. I told him that I was in Nairobi, but that I was planning to depart to the US in two days. Although he lived in Maasai land, about 5 hours away, he wanted to come into town to meet for a couple hours before I left. When we met, I asked him what he wanted and how we can best make use of our time to get something done so his 10 hours on the road wouldn’t be a waste of time. He told me that he just wanted to spend some time with me. That was it. I am still thinking about that and wondering if there is something that I can learn about Global ministry from my Maasai friend.

The Hyodos

Hope in the Mathare Slum

October 19, 2014/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

In 2006 I met a man in the Mathare slum named Benedict. I asked him if the kids in the slum had any hope of a future. He replied, “knowledge is power”.

At that time the Nairobi Rotary Club sponsored a sewage project in the Mathare slum. I was excited to meet my fellow Rotarians at the site. When I arrived, I was surprised that I was the only Rotarian there. I wondered why would I end up there when nobody else in the club attended. But then I met Pastor Benedict Kiage, and I knew that the Holy Spirit had connected me to this man who was the principal of the Mcedo School.

Later someone told me that sometimes humanitarian groups will sponsor projects, but a lot of times they don’t like to go into the slum. Judging by the dirt and smell of the slum, I totally understood their perspective. But God’s Spirit moved me with compassion for the people of Mathare and we decided to intentionally visit there and bring visiting mission teams into this area to give them the proper perspective of what kind of living conditions some of our fellow man were living in. Pictured is Trisha, leading a mission team from the Lighthouse Christian Church from Washington State.

At that time, the Mcedo school was divided up into individual classrooms scattered throughout the shanty homes made of dirt floors, mud and stick walls, and corrugated metal roofs. The kitchen was in a small separate room, blackened by the lack of proper ventilation. The lunch was to be carried to individual classes in plastic containers that sometimes were spilled or stolen on the way. Pictured are the original kitchen and eating areas.

Despite the meager hope that I saw there, Pastor Benedict had a calm confidence that God would provide all of their needs to make a difference for these kids. Through the years, we have seen them grow from the scattered rooms, to a building made of cement and stone and just recently, an additional complete building of classrooms with prefabricated metal pieces imported from China. Through the years we have done countless projects with the Mcedo school. One of these projects was a library, where our family painted a mural with the bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

We have seen this literally come to pass over the last 8 years.

Years ago, God blessed them with a stone building so they didn’t have to meet in separate rooms all over the slum. It was a drastic improvement for the school, but they still had to sit in classrooms and eat on the dirt and there was much more to be done at the school.

in September 2014, two wings of new classrooms were built from a prefabricated design from architects in China. The buildings were completed in less than one month. No more sitting in dirt. No more having rain leak water in the classroom. No more spilling food on the ground.

This year while sitting with Pastor Benedict, we remembered the humble beginnings of the school when we had first met. He bragged about how the community is now desiring to get their kids in the school because many students have performed well in their exams and some have gone on to excellent Colleges and Universities. He reminded me that through providing knowledge for these kids, they have obtained hope of a better future for themselves and their families. Knowledge truly is power.

Later I reflected that his words rang true. But I wondered if it was truly academic knowledge that had got them here, or if it was his faith in knowing God. Sometimes it is not only what you know, it is who you know.

The Hyodos

Teaching leaders to teach people to fish

June 19, 2014/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

Answers to questions?

When walking through the slum areas of Nairobi questions always arise: “why do the slums continue without change?”; “Why doesn’t someone help these folks?”; “Why does poverty exist in today’s world?” Often times, there are no real, tangible answers to these questions. Pictured above is a boy that I saw picking up trash in the slum. If you look carefully near his left hand you can see a dead rat in the background. It is not right that people live in conditions such as this.

Through our benevolence ministry, we do strive to help people like this by giving aid such as food and clothes. But this kind of help can only go so far. In the Bible, Jesus said that you will always have the poor among you” (John 12:8). Sometimes it seems like there is a “black hole” of need. No matter how much you try to help, it just gets sucked up so fast and after you give, the need is just as urgent or maybe even greater than before. It can get discouraging sometimes when you are a missionary trying to make a difference. Many missionaries I know feel this way. I have also felt this way too. But what I have found serving in our ministry, World Ministries International, is that our efforts are not an empty gesture. This is because we know that we are also raising up leaders that can make an incredible difference in the nation.

Pictured is our bible school classroom at the Telposta Towers building in downtown Nairobi. Our ministry chairman, Dr. Jonathan Hansen, is seen raising core leaders to focus not only on their own individual concerns, but on a perspective of helping the nation. Our ministry is training and teaching pastors, business people, and citizens who have a genuine desire to improve communities in Kenya. Our certificate and degree programs help Kenyans to step up to a higher level of knowledge, understanding and wisdom to truly make a larger impact in society. Students can earn up to a doctorate degree in Theology.

By focusing on all levels of society, from helping the poor, afflicted, orphan and widow to the leaders of the nation we take a balanced approach to ministry: touching lives individually, through communities, and by reaching key leaders that can have a huge impact on the nation. If you give someone in the slum some food, you definitely help him today. If you teach him how to provide for himself and his family, you are helping him and his circle of influence tomorrow and beyond. If you teach a leader to teach others how to provide for themselves and for their families, you are helping him touch a community and a nation for tomorrow and beyond.

This is why we have served in Kenya for 8 years now and continue to serve. This is the reason why we keep doing what we do. This is the way we roll.

Help the Hyodos

May 8, 2014/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

Support your missionaries:

It has been almost 8 years now that our family has lived in Nairobi, Kenya. Lately, I have been traveling back and forth to the US to work and earn income to support our family and the ministry here in Kenya since our normal fundraising account with our ministry was inadequate to fully support everything.

With the busyness of our missionary work in Kenya: running a bible school and several dental clinics, overseeing benevolence projects with slum schools and orphanages, ministering to local missionaries and helping with babies like Joseph, in addition to work and ministry responsibilities in the US, I have neglected to keep up with our fundraising and even though we still have a handful of faithful givers, our missionary fund has now run dry.

So we request that if it is possible for you to consider contributing financially to our cause, now would be a good time to do so. Please consider a contribution by clicking on “Partner” and then “Giving to our Cause” on this website to make a donation through Amazon Payments. Or you can write a check to World Ministries International and put “Hyodo Family” on the bottom of the check and send it to: World Ministries International, P.O. Box 277, Stanwood, WA 98292, (360) 629-5248. Thank you for your consideration. God bless.

Love,

Mike and the Hyodo family

Orphan babies revisited

February 18, 2014/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

Have you ever done something and years later wondered whatever came of that?

In 1998 God touched our family with a word from the Bible, James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

It was then that we began visiting orphanages and helping widows and orphans all around the world through our ministry, World Ministries International. In Kenya we have helped over 15 babies with our family. Trisha is pictured with our most recent baby Joseph.

The majority of the babies that we have taken care of have been adopted, mostly by foreigners, but some by Kenyan families. A couple years ago one of the babies, Benedict, was adopted by a family from the Kenyan coast of Diani- just south of Mombasa. In January we were blessed to take a trip to the coast and were able to visit Benedict and his family.

Benedict

Benedict and his new family

It was so nice to see Benedict in a happy home being loved by wonderful parents. We gave him a toy car only to find out that he absolutely loves cars. When we were leaving we let him “drive” our car and he would not let go of the steering wheel. We had to drive him around for quite awhile until he was finally willing to release his grip (pictured). Seeing Benedict again with his wonderful family was a nice reminder to us that we are making a difference and changing the destiny of the lives of orphan children.

Welcome to our journey

September 3, 2013/in Kenya Blog /by Mike Hyodo

Hello and welcome to our new website and blog. For several years we have not had a website up. We used to have one that we created ourselves on our Macbook iWeb, but when they had switched the format over we lost it and haven’t put one up until now.

So we are starting over again. Our main goal with this site is to inform you of what we have done and what we are doing as missionaries in Kenya. Also, another goal is to invite you to partner with us in prayer and financially so that we can continue to do the work that we do.

Mike is an ordained pastor and is serving with an international missions prophetic ministry called World Ministries International (WMI) based in Stanwood, Washington. He is also a dentist and is the department head of benevolence at WMI.

We have lived in Kenya as a family since 2006. Although Mike has done many mission trips to several countries in the past and our family lived in Jamaica for a short time as missionaries, this has been our major full-time missions endeavor that we have undertaken.

We work with orphanages and orphans. We also help out orphan babies through the Nest orphanage and halfway house. We have had 14 babies so far, that are usually in need of extra time and attention that the orphanage might need help with. The majority of them have been adopted, from local Kenyan families and mostly from European families.

Some of our time is also dedicated to working in slums and poor areas. We have done many projects for slum schools such as the Comido School in the Mukuru Kwa Njenga slum and the Mcedo school in the Mathare slum. This would include not only visiting and encouraging, but things like borehole wells, libraries, kitchens, energy-saving ovens, food, clothes, painting projects, solar lights installation into the roofs, teacher and student scholarships and support, wood, chairs and desks, and other miscellaneous relief, projects, and support. We also work with street kids and help to visit and make relationship with people living on the street and to try to get them off drugs and educated and trained for a future worth living. This is done by partnering with other NGO’s and ministries such as the Made in the Streets ministry and the Mission of Hope ministry.

We also operate a bible school called the WMI-Kenya bible school in downtown Nairobi and are trying to expand throughout Kenya by opening satellite schools. The school is a DVD-based format that offers certificate as well as degree programs through the World Ministries International School and Theology and the Christian Life Educators Network, offering degrees through the Christian Life School of Theology based in Columbus, Georgia.

We also have some dental clinics and do free dental camps with portable dental equipment for upcountry and poor areas. So far, we have built 2 dental clinics in Jamaica, and a clinic in Russia, Romania, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and 10 in Kenya. 3 of the clinics here in Kenya we directly oversee and manage. Because we do charge fees to most of the patients that we offer dental services to in these 3 clinics, 2 of them do generate profit that goes to subsidize the expenses of our ministry here in Kenya.

We also organize meetings with church and political leaders, churches, and crusade meetings especially when the director of our ministry, Dr. Jonathan Hansen, visits Kenya.

When we visit areas, we also do evangelism and food outreaches. We show the Jesus film that can be played in Kiswahili as well as some local tribal languages. There are 42 different tribes in Kenya, although most people can speak in English or Kiswahili.

We also host mission teams and have had small groups that stay in our home to large groups. We even had one group of over 50 people that came from the University of Southern California School of Dentistry.

We also have found ourselves ministering and helping not only Kenyans, but also many missionaries, especially new ones, that find themselves in need of assistance in Kenya.

We ask that you pray for our family and our ministry. There are times where the “going gets tough” and we find ourselves not as “tough” as we think we are-so it is hard to “get going”. We have always trusted in God as our strength and joy, and obviously He has always provided all of our needs, as we are still here after all these years. But it is also wise to pray and we do ask for you to pray for us, not only for protection and provision-favor and blessing, of course, but also for wisdom, discernment, spiritual understanding and growth into God’s perfect will. We have not arrived and are full of flaws, and worldly issues that we want to overcome and need your help to attain victory. As parents, we also do ask for prayer for our children…for all the things that parents worry about: protection, making wise choices, education, relationships, jobs and financial concerns, etc.

We also ask you for your financial help. Only full-time missionaries can truly understand what it takes to do what we do. Suffice it to say that often there is a cost that cannot be anticipated and or quantified when you serve in overseas ministry. This includes, but is not limited to financial.

We are blessed because Mike does have the ability to work in Washington State as a dentist. This enables us to earn income to help pay for expenses for our family, and for the expenses of the ministry. We are blessed because Trisha does still work as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines, enabling Mike and our family to travel at reduced airline fares, making it possible for him to fly back and forth to work.

We are also blessed because we are not needy for money. We have a handful of regular supporters for our family who give a very small percentage of what we need financially to survive. We also have some people that will give us one-time donations or occasional donations. But the majority of our financial support right now is when Mike travels back to the US to work in the dental clinic there. We do not have any major donations from any church, group, family or individual. There is one church in the US that does give us regular support, but again, it is only a very small percentage of what is needed for our family and our ministry here.

But we consider this also a blessing because when Mike goes to churches to preach or when he speaks anywhere, he has the liberty to share what is really on his heart and what he really feels that the Lord Jesus Christ might want him to share. He does not have the pressure to compromise or water down the message out of worry that they might not like what he has to say and thereby eliminate their support of him.

In this way, we are pure before men and before God. Although we do have accountability to World Ministries International and to the ordination body over us, we also have the freedom to do what we choose out of the motivation and purity of our hearts without influence or fear. We have appropriated what the bible says in John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

[button link=”/support/giving-to-our-cause” size=”small” align=”right”]Give to our mission[/button]So we do ask for you to give please. Give to us financially. When you do, not only can you write if off because we are a non-profit, 501c3, but because this will allow Mike to not have to travel as much back to the US to work, enabling us to do more in Kenya and also for International missions around the world.

You can give through our website here, or you can also contact our parent ministry at:

World Ministries International
P.O. Box 277
Stanwood, WA 98292
(360) 629-5248

We will try to do regular updates. Please feel free to contact us with any comments or questions at mikehyodo@hotmail.com

Love you!!!