Meet

The Founders

Joel Ombima

Joel Ombima

Founder

After high school Pastor Joel attended technical college in Kenya where he learned sign-writing, painting, and environmental work. He then attended a bible college in Nairobi for 4 years and graduated with a Diploma in Theology in 1992. Joel continued in an extended program receiving a Bachelor of Christian Ministry at Far Eastern Bible College taught by professors from Singapore.

Joel was ordained as a Pastor of his local congregation in Lolgorian in the Maasai Mara area. His current livelihood is a professional painter, sign-writer and environmentalist, raising trees and flower seedlings in his nursery. Joel educates the community on conservation and preserving the natural landscape in the Maasai Mara region.

Joel wears many hats, apart from his pastoral work he is the project manager of the Cora Blue Fund and supervisor of the school grounds. This organization assists Maasai girls and boys of Olopikidongoe to continue their education. A girl’s dormitory is complete and a boy’s dormitory will be constructed in the near future.

Joel - Daily life

For me involves waking up early about 5 a.m. and having my morning devotions with my wife and the Lord. I assist my wife in lighting a charcoal stove to warm water for bathing and prepare breakfast for the family. After breakfast I take my children and one neighbor child to school on my motorbike about 3 miles. We manage to squeeze 4 children and myself on one motorbike. We have hopes to purchase a small truck for transporting our children and purchases for the school. When I return home I pick up my wife and transport her to school then I leave for my daily work.

We have 3 meals a day, light morning breakfast, lunch and dinner. An example of our daily meals would be steamed sweet potatoes with tea for breakfast, for lunch we cook kale and cornmeal “ugali” and for supper we eat beans mixed with whole corn. We have about 5 varieties (such as goat meat, chicken and other vegetables) for or meals and a few spices. In the evening everyone walks home from school and we meet together as a family for dinner. As Judy prepares dinner the children do their homework, after dinner we come together for family devotions and pray then we go to bed around 10 pm.

We are surrounded by many kinds of wild animals such as: elephants, buffalo, rhino lion, leopards, hyena, zebra, impala, giraffe, snakes and others. Sometimes we have cases of animal attacks due to our work in the jungle, wild animals have killed some people. When a wild animal kills a family member, the government will compensate this family with about $200,000 shillings (about $2,000 USD).

Since we have been in America our children sent us a picture of a poisonous snake they killed in our house and another one they killed in the school office. They sent us a picture on our phone. It makes us nervous to leave our children alone. We have a dirt floor and often the walls are cracked and bugs, snakes and mice can enter our home. We are hoping to put in a concrete floor, bricked walls and a more secure ceiling to keep the wildlife out. In every village there is a market day where they sell cows, goats, produce, fabrics and other foods. Market day is Wednesday and Saturday. Everybody must purchase food on market day otherwise there is no place to make purchases until the next market day.

Faith & Ministry

I was converted in 1987 at age 18 since then my faith and trust has been in the God of Israel , God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who’s name is Jehovah, the creator of the universe and all that is in it.

I believe in the Holy Trinity of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I believe in the bible as the final authoritative word of God and that all scripture is give by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. II Timothy 3:16.

I believe in the apostle’s creed, which states:

“I believe in Jesus Christ, the son of God who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born by Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilot, was crucified, died and buried, descended into hell, the 3rd day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven and seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence He shall come to judge the living and dead.”

“I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church, the communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”

My ministry is to reach out to the Maasai people and the community with the Word of God and touch souls through the message of repentance and holiness. I am showing DVD testimonies of healed and delivered people that God has helped through our prayers in faith.

My wife and I are preparing local Maasai believers and other church communities around for Christ’s soon coming.

“The voice of Him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3

When there is a group of converted souls in a distant area but there are no churches for them within walking distance, it is part of my ministry to find an ordained Pastor to go to the community and plant a new church. Currently; I am overseeing 5 new churches that we have planted in the Maasai community.

Judy is the wife of Pastor Joel and they have 3 children. The eldest, a girl age 19, another girl 12 years and the youngest boy age 10. She received a 2-year certificate in Early Childhood Education in 2005. She is currently a student pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education.

Judy also attended and received a certificate in Participatory Integrated Development from GTZ (a German NGO program). In addition she received a certificate of participation in a Kidzana Children’s Ministry Training Seminar in Uganda and finally she completed a certificate for Pastors Wive’s and Women Leaders in the Church Psycho-social Awareness Workshop in 2010.

Judy is a trained teacher by profession and is currently the director of Kinyor Yesu Christian School. She is raising money for improvements and additions to her 9 classroom private school grades pre-school to 7 th grade. She currently has 90 plus students and the expansion will include a boarding facility for both boys and girls to accommodate 150 plus students.

Joel Ombima

Judy Ombima

Founder

Judy – Daily Life, Ministry and Work

My work as a Pastor’s wife involves being a role model to the women of our community. I hold women’s meetings once a week in the local church and once a month for all the churches we oversee. Many women come to me for counseling before they see Pastor Joel due to the fact I can understand their problems. My day is very busy with counseling and church activities. I also oversee my husband and his church activities.

My second work is Director of Kinyor Yesu School. As a trained and experienced teacher of 10 years I work in the school daily, manage and employ the staff and ensure the school routine runs smoothly. I am in need of a school manager to assist in collecting the student fees and carrying out responsibilities in case of an emergency. For example when students or staff get sick and need to go to the clinic, when parents have concerns and need counseling about their children and handling new students and visitors.

I wake at 5 am for devotions then go for water in a nearby drilled water station where we can buy water (20 liters for 10 cents) to cover our daily needs. I then prepare breakfast and Joel get’s the children off to school.

Sometimes we walk to school if our motorbike is broken down with mechanical problems. We have hopes to get a school van to help us bring local children to school and assist us in our ministry. Most children walk to school daily from a variety of distances (approximately 1-6 miles). Some of the challenges children face while walking to school are illnesses from the cold and rainy weather, dangers from being attacked by wild animals or snakes and the extreme hot sun in the summer.

After school I come home to prepare supper, wash the clothes by hand and hang them overnight on our fence outside and assist the children with their homework. Before going to bed I clean up the dishes and do most of the house cleaning, as I am gone most of the day to school. Often couples come for counseling as late 11:00 pm and interrupt our supper. Other times we are called out to pray for those who are sick or having family problems. When issues arise this interrupts our evening schedule and keeps our lives very busy.

At times it is a challenge to feed those who often come to visit. So there is a need to expand our gardening and farming projects to grow additional food for our many guests. The expectation from the local communities is that a Pastor should not only feed his flock spiritually but also physically. This puts an additional burden on our family but we know God will provide.

When there is a group of converted souls in a distant area but there are no churches for them within walking distance, it is part of my ministry to find an ordained Pastor to go to the community and plant a new church. Currently; I am overseeing 5 new churches that we have planted in the Maasai community.

About

Our Family, Lifestyle, Faith, Ministry, Work and Vision

We were married in Migori, Kenya on December 17, 1994 in a Christian holy matrimony in the church. God blessed us with 3 children, our firstborn is a girl “Hilda Asigo” age 19 years expecting to enter college this fall. Secondly, a girl “Pricilla Ambio” age 12 years, she is in 7 th grade. Our last-born son “Samuel Blessing” age 10 years old, now in 6 th grade.

We live in the village of Lolgorian, Kenya in our own property. Our home has iron roof sheeting and the walls are made of sticks, mud and cow dung. When it is dry it does not smell, after each rain we smooth out the mud to reduce cracking.

About

Our Vision

We have a vision of constructing a vocational training facility for college age students. Often students don’t’ finish their high-school education so they cannot go to college. This school would provide practical training in skills they can use in their community to earn a living.

Some Maasai girls must leave school early due to unexpected pregnancies; forceful marriages after female circumcism and Maasai boys often leave school during the traditional Manyattas ceremonies where they train young boy to become warriors. Other reasons include inability to pay the school fees of approximately $150.00 per month this would include their food, room and board.

The classes we propose have practical training in tailoring using sewing machines, construction with wood-working equipment, mechanics with appropriate tools and welding equipment and lastly computer training courses. We propose tuition fees to be $100.00 per month and more affordable than the government high-school and college tuition.

Our

Budget For School

  1. Concrete Flooring for 4 Classrooms:
    Each Classroom – $500.00 x 4 = $2,000.00.
  2. Fencing around the School Compound:
    Each Classroom – $500.00 x 4 = $2,000.00.
  3. Installation of Electricity:
    Electric Poles, Meter, Wiring and Labor – $1,000.00.
  4. Desks and Staff Tables:
    (35) Students Desks & (10) Staff Tables @$70.00 ea. – $3,150.00.
  5. Reconditioned School Vehicle:
    (11) Passenger (Toyota) Van – $10,500.00.
  1. Girls Dormitory:
    Accommodates (70) girls w/bathrooms and septic. – $143,000.00.
  2. Boys Dormitory:
    Accommodates (70) boys w/bathrooms and septic. – $143,000.00.
  3. Staff Housing:
    Attached Housing for (8) Teacher’s Families – $28,000.00.
  4. Chapel for School:
    Concrete walls and floor, iron sheet roof – $10,500.00.
  5. Vocation Training School:
    (2) Classroom School – $28,000.00.Practical training tools and equipment – Budget-TBD