Heading to Lodwar, Kenya – To Further the Goals of the Solis Foundation

If I don’t answer your email, interact on facebook or you don’t see me tweeting too much over the next ten days, it is because I will be in a remote part of Kenya.  Lodwar is a small town in the Turkana Region and is located in the Northwest region of Kenya.  Ethiopia is to the north.  Sudan and Uganda are to the West.

I co-founded the Solis Foundation after meeting Bishop Kaaleng and hearing about the famine caused the the long drought (that continues to this day).  Some of the people “in the bush” were only eating one meal every three days.  As I was sharing this with your Kairos Hollywood congregation, they contributed $10,000 so that we could buy and distribute food to those who were hungry.  The first time we visited, we took a band aid approach (which is helpful when people are starving).  But our desire was to do something more meaningful in the long run.

So, with the help and guidance of the Village Enterprise Fund, we started a program where we mentor and give micro-grants to new entrepreneurs to start small businesses.  In this way, they are able to be agents in overcoming their own poverty.  It only cost $300 to start a new business in this area.  So if you would like to help start a new business in Lodwar this year, please feel free to become a partner with us.  We are seeking to start 10 new businesses this year and 30 the following year.

I also founded the Unembraced, which ministers to orphans in the same region.  Currently the Unembraced is lead by a number of people in the Kairos West LA church.  You can learn more about the Unembraced at our website.

While I am gone, I have scheduled some blog posts to go up each day of next week.  You will have the opportunity to hear from Geoff Maddock, my guest blogger this coming week.  He will be doing a series on “When the Good Samaritan Goes Home…”  I think you will find it a rich series.

Mike Thomas (managing director of the Solis Foundation) and I are going to Kenya by the way of Dubai, and I plan to visit and take some pictures of the tallest building in the world – the Burj Khalifa.  If you haven’t seen this building, you should check it out.  It is 1,000 feet higher than the previous tallest building the Taipei 101.  I have some friends in Dubai who I get to stay with.  When I get access to the internet, I hope to connect here and there.  But if you don’t see me around for a while, you know why.

4 Responses to Heading to Lodwar, Kenya – To Further the Goals of the Solis Foundation

1. sergey says:

   September 24, 2010 at 3:31 am

   Hi JR,
   I think you ment to write “three meals a week”
   Some of the people “in the bush” were only eating three meals a day.

   take care and God bless your trip
   

   Reply
2. JR Woodward says:

   September 24, 2010 at 7:49 am

   Sergey,

   Thanks for the correction, it is one meal every three days. I’ve updated it.

   Reply
3. Jeff Gang says:

   September 24, 2010 at 11:26 am

   J.R.

   Fantastic story! You’ll be in my prayers.

   Jeff

   Reply
4. JR Woodward says:

   September 24, 2010 at 12:08 pm

   Jeff,

   Thanks bro. Hope to see you soon. Peace.

   Reply