Why Support This Ministry?

My acquaintance with our Brethren in Kenya and Tanzania started in 2005.  I heard rumors that there were members of the Church who were in dire need of help, and that there was drought, famine and pestilence plaguing the brethren.  I went there myself to see first hand what the conditions were like for our brethren living in that 3rd world Country.  Now, I want to report on what I found out concerning our brethren in E. Africa.

Upon my first visit, I found the conditions of our brethren to be far worse than what was rumored.  I found Brethren who were Rich in Faith, but quite poor in material wealth—– many were struggling for mere existence!

Most of our brethren are hard working peasant farmers. When it rains their crops grow and they eat. But when it doesn’t rain the crops don’t grow and they don’t eat. That was the order of the day during most of my visits — drought! Some areas had gone without sufficient rain for almost 5 years. Some of our brethren were going a day (in some instances, two days) without eating.

I also found our Brethren a much neglected people. Considering that most were former members of the WWCOG (some even go as far back as the Radio COG) they were still lacking in some of the most basic and important items, like Bibles and mosquito nets. Our Kenyan Brethren have a strong thirst for the “Word of God”, but a scarcity of Bibles. Many families have no Bibles and we are constantly trying to provide them.

I also found that each family had members suffering from many of the diseases spread by the mosquito, like malaria (including many of the children.) Most of our Brethren had no mosquito nets because they couldn’t afford the $4.00 cost.

We are currently caring for 50 Church orphans, and 12  windows. These are all poor brethren and like Scripture says, Full of Faith.

Common Problem Plaguing the Church of God World Wide

I also found another problem among many of our brethren in Kenya, a “Huge” problem and one that has been plaguing the churches all around the world. Many of the brethren were confused about whom they need to pledge their allegiance to. You see, all the big groups are there in Kenya, and many of those big groups are confusing the brethren by competing for control over them. Many of the big groups pressure the brethren to be part of their particular “man- made” group. (Some even preach that ones salvation depends on it) So our work was cut out for us to begin turning the tide.

It was time to turn the tide

Our Brethren in Kenya were truthfully in need of help, both physically and spiritually. It was time to help them acquire some physical things like food, bibles, and mosquito nets. It was also time to begin putting an end to the confusion that was plaguing them from the many false leaders: by pointing them to God and teaching them that He (God) is the only one that we all need to be pledging our allegiance to. There is only one “Head” in the Church. There is only one “Body”, “Spirit”, and one “Vine” that we all need to be directly connected to, our Lord and Savior.

Upon returning to the USA, I began to try and make as many brethren aware of the condition of our Brethren in that 3rd world country. (How they desperately need our help.) So we began a non-profit, called: Kenya Hands of Hope.

We have reached out to the Larger corporate churches of God, but they refuse to help our impoverished brethren. One group stated: “we like to help our brethren here in this country before we help our brethren abroad”. The problem with that statement is that the brethren here are not “literally” dying of starvation, and have blankets and beds to sleep on etc. But those brethren (and many are orphans and widows) don’t. Some sleep on the ground in their mud houses. They need our help.

Another leader stated “preaching the gospel is a business and we tried Africa but we got no return so we pulled out of there”.

Not only did these leaders turn us away, but they wouldn’t even allow the brethren in their congregations to be made aware of the suffering and cries coming from our impoverished brethren, begging for help.

Please take the time to check out our Web site, Kenya Hands of Hope to learn more about our impoverished brethren that are living in E. Africa. Our “Kenya Update” page documents everything your donations have been accomplishing, in helping our impoverished brethren, especially the widows and orphans. (And the updates go back many years.)

If you can possibly help our brethren there, please send that help to:

Kenya Hands of Hope
5525 Springs Avenue
Myrtle Beach, SC 29577

We are 501c3 Tax-Exempt. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us by e-mail or phone. Call anytime, our brethren need our help.

Thank You.

Bill Goff

Telephone: (843) 447-0140
E-Mail: Goffb50@aol.com