-Fr. Thomas, Principal, Lanet Umoja Primary School, Kenya

In February of 2012, I will embark on a journey to Kenya, with a small group of teachers and community members, to make connections between schools in Kenya and our elementary school in Moretown. We will travel with a group called Everyone’s Child. My participation in this trip is a direct result of prayer and meditation with our very own Christ Church Sudan Communion group and we see it as a natural extension of the Communion that we share with Sudan. As God would have it, I will be based in Nakuru, which is where I hope to visit with a Sudanese woman, Rhoda Yar, who some of us from the Sudan Communion have been supporting in her education at the Methodist University in Kenya. It is a wonderful thing to imagine being able to hold her in person, as I have in prayer for the past few years! Her plan is to go back to South Sudan to help in the continued recovery efforts. Another connection to Christ Church is that Beth Ann Maier (pediatrician and long time member of Christ Church) went with Everyone’s Child on a medical mission a couple of years ago.

But back to Everyone’s Child… I became aware of this group when Sister Ruth Young, of the Church of the Crucified One, came to my classroom several years ago and did a slideshow about her recent travels to Kenya. Everyone’s Child, is a non-profit, non-denominational group that was created as a result of her experiences and the quote above sums up the heart’s work of Everyone’s child. Their mission is to “educate where there are no schools, to care where there is a great need and to connect where there is isolation”. Toward that end, Everyone’s Child has built 5 primary schools in Kenya and we will be visiting these schools, bringing penpal letters, art, school supplies and a sense of connection to Moretown, Vermont – a place where children, just like themselves, have struggled with natural disaster (Moretown was hard hit by TS Irene) and who want the same things that they do – to play safely, to have friends and to learn all they can about this great big fascinating world we share. Through the activities and songs that we share with the students at these schools, it is our hope that they will see that though there are differences in how we live and what we look like, that our hearts and minds are very much the same.

I plan to update my Christ Church family regularly and would appreciate your prayers as I prepare for this adventure. Since prayer and communion with the Sudan Communion have been so powerful to me in this journey, I would like to extend that net, if you will, and ask if you might be interested in joining the Sudan Communion group for the four weeks preceding my trip – to pray for and with me, and for our brothers and sisters in the Sudan? I am not sure what this would look like or when we would meet, but I have the sense that I am supposed to be asking, so do with it what you will. I will also let folks know about donating school supplies or other items (if you are inclined to donate dollars that is fine too) but for now, I have the strong sense that what is needed most is prayer. Please consider joining me in mid to late January to prepare – if you are interested in more details or have questions, please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

More information about Everyone’s Child can be found at: http://www.kidsinkenya.org/

In gratitude and anticipation,

Sara Baker (the blonde one)