Power for Pastors Goal: $20,000
By Fredrick Amwoka
Friends Theological College (FTC) is an institution dedicated to the training of Friends pastors, as well as to the academic progress, personal development, and spiritual growth of the students whom God is calling to other ministries. Located on the Kaimosi Mission in Kenya’s Hamisi District, FTC has worked since 1942 to fulfill its mission statement: “Friends Theological College equips pastoral ministers who will be thoughtful listeners, effective evangelists, dynamic preachers, informed educators, and models of integrity.”
Together, the FTC community seeks to integrate faith, Scripture, and knowledge in training the present and future leaders of churches in East Africa; and to foster in individual hearts and lives the process of maturing in Christ.
The college is located in a rural area in western Kenya. One of the challenges FTC has is frequent power blackouts, sometimes lasting throughout the whole day and night. FTC also has at times very high power bills that cannot be paid promptly. The power gets cut off––especially towards the beginning of the financial year. FTC sometimes goes without power for weeks on account of not paying the bills.
Students use the library as late as 10:30 p.m. Without stable power, these hours are challenging to support. Because the FTC library is semi-computerized, power is needed to check in and out library materials; student searches for information; classification and cataloging. With no power, FTC can’t function.
In addition, the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA), which accredits African seminaries, requires that students have access to academic journals. FTC struggles to provide this access, and hopes that one day students will be able to access these resources online. FTCstudents only use the library computers for their assignments.
Solar power, because it will ensure that the computers and the internet are running when students need them, will enhance our students’ effectiveness and efficiency in learning. When solar power can eliminate the power blackouts, our students will be able to use resources when they need them.
Therefore, Friends United Meeting’s 2016 Summer Mission ProjectPower to Pastors will focus on raising $20,000 to assist in the Solar Power project at Friends Theological College.
Called to Assist
By Jim Hoeksema
My first connection to Kaimosi was in 1968, when I was 12 years old. My father, Marvin, came to be the principal of Friends Bible Institute. Although my older brother and I attended Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, we spent our holiday months in Kaimosi from 1968-1971.
After college, I spent two years working with FUM in Kalokol, Turkana, while still single. After getting married, my wife Donna and I, and our three children, spent five years working at Rift Valley Academy.
Currently, I teach at William Penn University, in Iowa, in the Industrial Technology department. My subjects include electricity and electronics, technical physics, and alternate energy, as well as mechanical and architectural computer drawing. For about four years now, I have been thinking about taking a sabbatical. We hoped to return to Kenya, but did not know where to go or what to do. We did, however, start saving money, so that when the right thing opened up we would be able to go. We also started praying that God would have the right place contact us and ask us to come. When Robert Wafula visited Iowa, in August 2014, he asked us to help with the solar electric project and various needs in the library. We prayed about it and believed that this was God’s leading. Donna and I have the skills needed for these projects and we have the ability to easily make the transition to living and working in Kenya.
Projected costs for the project 32 panels @ $1,500 each. (This cost allows each panel to be fully installed and wired, and includes battery and inverters)
Breaking the above cost down further, donations can be made for:
$290= one 250w solar panel
$50= racking and mounting hardware of one panel
$480= one battery (24 are needed)
$42= one two-foot LED tube to replace a fluorescent tube
$4.50= one LED light bulb to replace an incandescent bulb
Information for children
What is Solar Energy?
Solar energy is energy from the sun that makes its way to the earth in the form of rays. This is the most abundant form of energy in existence, and we use it to make thermal energy (heat) and electric energy (electricity).
To make electricity directly from the sun’s rays, we use something called a photovoltaic cell. Photovoltaics or PV make an electric current when exposed to light. These devices are also called “solar cells.” Solar cells contain a naturally occurring element found in sand called silicon. When the sun’s rays hit silicon, a chemical reaction happens, moving electrons and making an electric current. A group of solar cells is called a solar panel, and to generate lots of energy, many solar panels may be used to form a solar array. Photons in the sunlight displace electrons in the silicon, which creates an electric charge that can power your home!
Why Should We Use Solar Power?
Toxic air pollution given off by power plants is making children and families who live around the plants very sick with respiratory problems like asthma. Power plants also give off dangerous amounts of greenhouse gases like Carbon Dioxide and Methane which contribute to “greenhouse effect.” This is when the layer of gasses allows light radiation to make its way through the atmosphere, but traps the heat waves from being released back out, thus warming the earth. Keeping in mind that everything is connected, this heating then causes the ocean level to rise, which drives people in coastal areas away from their homes; it causes the living conditions of many sea creatures to become too warm to survive, which in turn affects the entire food chain; and it negatively affects the health of us all as we breath in dirty air. Clean, alternative energy like solar takes advantage of the abundance of energy-packed sunlight that makes its way to our surface. By using solar panels to power our home, school, or church we use less energy from the power plants, which means less toxic pollution is being put into our atmosphere. Resources and Activities to try:
• A complete four-day VBS program about solar power can be purchased for $50 (includes shipping) at: http://solarunderthesun.org
• A useful site for activities about solar power: solar-science-experiments-for-kids.html
• A 22-page activity pack that is designed to celebrate Earth Day in a new and unique way by focusing on Solar Energy. You & your students will learn the importance of renewable energy and will make a solar cooker to explore the power of the sun! It is found as a digital download at Solar-Energy-Activity-Pack and costs $4.
Past Summer Mission Projects
Look what we have accomplished together in the past seven years!
• 2015: A Place to Play provided for safe playground equipment in Amari Refugee Camp, Ramallah, Palestine—donation total: $13,594
• 2014: Education for Esther provided 50 scholarships for girl education in Kenya: donation total: $26,372
• 2013: Teacher for Teachers raised awareness for Kenyan teachers and helped develop peace curriculum—donation total: $11,503
• 2012: Cash for Classrooms built new classroom space for 1,900+ children in Loltulelei, Kenya—donation total: $24,000
• 2011: Kids for Kids provided the opportunity for Friends Theological College students in Kenya to implement income-generating projects—donation total: $18,500
• 2010: Water for Life provided the tools and knowledge for Kenyan villages to have clean drinking water by using biosand water filters—donation total: $23,500
•2009: Bikes for Boys made it possible to purchase bikes and other rewards for students at Belize Friends School—donation total: $10,439
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