Leonard Simiyu
Opportunities. More than anything else, that is what the poor around the world lack. An opportunity to gain a valuable education, a marketable skill, employment, tools for a trade, or a loan to start a business can make the difference between poverty and prosperity. That is why Heaven’s Family works to provide, through our numerous focused funds, various opportunities to the “least of these” among Christ’s followers. Opportunities give the poor a chance to help themselves through their own efforts.
Leonard Simiyu is a young Kenyan man who is taking advantage of an opportunity made possible for him through Heaven’s Family’s Education Fund. Both his parents died of AIDS when he was 17, and his compassionate pastor, a Heaven’s Family national missionary (and micro-banker), Cleophas Makona, took him into his small home.
Cleophas noticed that Leonard had a knack for fixing things, and he requested help from our Education Fund to pay for his enrollment in a local 4-year school that teaches mechanics. For Leonard, it was an opportunity from heaven through Heaven’s Family, and he seized it. He has since completed his first year and has learned well. In fact, he has already had an opportunity to use his new skills to help Cleophas serve others.
Leonard working on the posho mill
Through our Christian Widows Fund, we helped purchase a posho mill for a group of widows who use it to grind grain into flour, which they in turn sell for a profit so that they can provide for their children. But like all things mechanical, one day the mill broke down.
Happy millers: Leonard (at center) surrounded by the widows who all benefit from the posho mill, and pastor Cleophas (at left).
When Leonard learned of the widows’ predicament, he grabbed his tools and headed for the broken mill. Although he is a novice mechanic, Leonard diagnosed the problem and did what he could to begin to repair it. Although a more experienced mechanic was needed to complete the job, Leonard’s preliminary work resulted in a reduced repair cost for the widows. Just as important, Leonard was thrilled to know that he had used his growing skills to be a blessing. Leonard’s future is looking bright, all because of an opportunity made possible through contributions to the Education Fund.
