Pastor Thomson and Rea Mackey
Way back in 2004 Pastor Thomson from Kenya and teacher Rea Mackey from Morden met at a conference in Florida. Oh our God works in mysterious ways! Rea came back to MB and told the director of Children's Camps Int that if they ever wanted to do camps in Kenya he knew just the right person, Pastor Thomson Ondimu! Ray Wieler wasn’t ready to start camps in Africa but Rea persisted in bringing Thomsons name before the director time and again.
In 2005 I wrote the following... "Have you ever had a dream that you just couldn’t forget? I had one like that a few weeks ago. In my dream I had moved into a very poor black neighborhood and had just started unpacking. A little boy about 6 or 7 walked into the house and asked me for some food, he was very sad looking. I asked what his name was and he just shook his head and indicated that he was very hungry, I asked what his favorite food was and wrote it on the wall. I told him to come back tomorrow & I would have food for him. Soon another little boy walked in begging me for food, I told him I didn’t have any, took his name down, asked what his favorite food and again promised him food tomorrow. In the next hour 7 or 8 young boys came into my house, they looked so unhappy and asked for food. Lord, I thought how will I ever feed all these kids, there were so many & there was so much hunger.
Pastor Thomson and group from Canada
In 2008 Pastor Thomson was able to travel to India and join a group from Canada with Children's Camps Int to observe how camps were run there; Abe & Shirley Banman were part of that team. The day was hot, the smells were intense and the only place to sit on this particular day in the airport was on the dirty cement floor. This is where Abe and Pastor Thomson found themselves sharing their life stories. Thomsons childhood was very difficult, growing up without parents present meant he had to fend for himself at a very young age. He wore his first pair of shoes when he was fifteen years old. At the end of their conversation both men were in tears; hugging each other Abe declared “ Thomson you can be part of our family!” Two weeks after we arrived home from India Thomson called and asked Abe "did you really mean what you said?' Abe replied YES
Ray Wieler, Abe & Shirley Banman in Maua, Kenya 2009
In 2009 Ray Wieler, Abe & Shirley Banman travelled to Kenya to help run the first African Children's Camps. Counsellors were trained. hundreds of children came, the gospel was shared and many lives were changed! We saw such poverty! (My dream from 2005 was coming true right before my eyes, we saw so many poor hungry kids!)
Twenty seven churches worked together to make the first year a great success! Thankyou Pastors of Maua! After our time in Maua, Kenya we travelled to Uganda at Henry Enns invitation. We observed how schools were run there and this was the beginning of Henrys involvement with Pastor Thomson. Thomson invited Henry to come to Maua and after seeing the extreme poverty there he decided to help with the school and support the many orphans Thomson and Phyllis had in their home. Land was purchased and their small school was able to continue to operate. Jimmy & Rebeka Enns were also able to visit and offer their insights.
A committee was started in 2010 to see how we could help this family, their school called Victorian Christian Academy (VCA) and their church family. Dan Giesbrecht was asked to chair this committee and he has served in this capacity until recently when Jimmy was named the new Chairperson. Dan continues to sit on this committee and offers valuable advice. Wilf Unrau joined our group as well as Abe & Shirley Banman & John Redekop joined. A few years later Duane Fehr and Brian Dyck were added.
In 2011 we named our committee Hope Without Limits Foundation and chose to work under The Great Commission Foundation who do all our receipting of monetary gifts. This year, 2011, Thomson was able to visit us in Canada, he was able to speak at two churches in Winkler, one in Portage and Calvary Temple in Winnipeg. To know Thomson is to love Thomson, his visit was very rewarding! Our family pic including Thomson. Can you find him in the Banman Family picture?
We found water!!!
In 2014 we found water on the three acre garden we purchased together with Pastor Thomson. Since then truckloads of vegetables have come off this garden. We are so grateful for generous donors who provided funds to dig this well!
We built a school!
In 2015 we were able to at last build a new school, education is a huge part of our ministry in Kenya. As a board we recognize that in order for kids to get out of the cycle of poverty, education would be the key! This school is large enough for 250 students with classroom sizes similar to classrooms in Canada. Along with teaching the regular school curriculum Gods word is taught and lived out. Teachers give sacrificially, a job in a public pays much more. Hundreds of children have graduated from grade eight! Parents need to pay a tuition fee in order to send their children to VCA.
Nov. 2020
Thomson & Phyllis have five biological children, Stephen, Isaac, Emmanuel, Abraham and Shirley. Their home has always been filled with love for children who need a home! A few years ago all the children from an orphanage had to be removed because they were being abused, all 26 came to live at the Ondimu home! To date thirteen of Thomson & Phyllis children have graduated from grade twelve! Most of them have been able to secure jobs!
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