Founder and Director of Women Together, Margaret Gibb, had the privilege of spending one week in Novokuznetsk – a mining city of 700,000 in Siberia. It is in this city that a caring and amazing church, founded by Ilya and Janet Bantseev, started Teen Challenge, a ministry to drug and alcohol addicts.

“This was one of the most exciting experiences I have had in overseas ministry with women, because I was able to hear amazing stories of how Jesus was the answer in the lives of desperate women.” comments Margaret Gibb.

Teaching consisted of delving into the stories of Bible women who were also desperate! Basic leadership training was presented. And the most meaningful part of the week, was praying for each woman and presenting each of them, a prayer journal to begin the journey of closer communication with God.

Janet Bantseev, overflowed at their response to this gift said to Margaret Gibb, “they probably have never had such a beautiful book given to them. Imagine, it will be used for personal prayer!”

The amazing result of the Teen Challenge program in Novokuznetsk, for both men and women, is that church and business leadership comes from this group of people. That’s how amazing life-changing transformation is when God is at the center of dedication and commitment.

Nyang’ori is an hour’s flight from Nairobi and a place where Women Together teams love to come. We work with The Pentecostal Bible College in Nyang’ori, near Kisumu. The Pentecostal Bible College is home to about 250 students who come from many parts of Kenya to prepare for ministry. Women Together for 5 years has taught the Graduate Wives who are also Moms, and often have little or no theological training but will be joining their husbands in ministry. What joy to teach them their own worth and value before God! What encouragement for them to learn that they are equally called by God to fulfill their divine purpose and assignment.

Our nurses were able to host a Medical Clinic for the community and provide medical care to many students and their families.

The need for basic medical attention is acute in this area. We were able to work a Kenyan nurse who helped us with her expertise.

We are always part of their Graduation Gala which is always an exciting celebration. For many parents they are seeing their son/daughter graduate with either a certificate or a B.A. Often these children are the first in their family to ever graduate from any college. Our scholarship recipients, from the Women Together “We Were Made For More” program – Esther Rudia Kanai and Phylis Kayaro Ayodi come from this excellent College.

Women Together is committed to work with an amazing group of women in Nairobi. This trip was our fifth! We conducted a Women’s Conference in the Kabare section of Nairobi which included Biblical instruction, spiritual encouragement and medical training. Our team consisted of: Ellen Krahn, Evelyn Franklin, Sherry Leyte and Margaret Gibb. We did a medical clinic in the Overcomers Caring Ministry Day-School and Orphanage. Our new appointed Women Together Coordinator, Eunice Monda, along with her husband, our Founders and Directors of this ministry.

We had the privilege to serve the needy Mom’s whose children are part of the “Overcomers Caring Ministry.” A bag of flour to these Moms, was a great gift! They could feed their families for almost a week. For our team, we experienced the joy of serving. We did not need to serve, we got to serve!

Another high-lite was taking 8 key women in leadership leaders on an overnighter – a Peer Care Retreat! Hearing their stories of their early childhoods and the unfolding of where they are today, was inspiring to us from Canada and an encouragement to all who were part of this first-ever overseas Peer Care Retreat!

We will do this again in 2017.

Within an hour’s drive from the Entebee Airport, the Women Together team arrived, very late on March 7th, 2016 to what looked like a well-kept compound and home to the ROTOM Ministry. Staff en route shared briefly why ROTOM started and what we would find on our week of orientation. A friendly barking dog along with the Founder Kenneth Mugayehwenkyi welcomed us to ROTOM and directed us to the guest house. In stark contrast to the blackness of the night, the guest house, all lit up, was immediately settling after our 18 hour flight from Canada. This would be home for a week.

ROTOM stands for: Reach One Touch One Ministries. Kenneth started ROTOM in October 2003 as an answer to the devastation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic which took the lives of thousands of adult children, leaving grandmothers to raise their grand children. In African culture, it is the adult children who look after their parents in their senior years. With the HIV/AIDS taking so many adults, something had to be done to help the grandmothers who were living in severe poverty themselves and had the added responsibility of raising their grandchildren. Most raise 2 -5 grandchildren. We met one grandmother raising 13 grandchildren. What we saw and learned was amazing!

Our week consisted of visiting villages were we met the seniors in the small homes provided by ROTOM. We met their grandchildren, listened to their stories and understood how ROTOM has brought them the seniors and their grandchildren, dignity, hope and life. “My life has purpose again” was a common statement we heard from the grandmothers!

Home-based care and medical attention are all part of the ROTOM program to ensure that the needs of seniors and their grandchildren are being met. The grandmothers we met are happy women! Thanks to ROTOM!

We have been asked to provide leadership training to the ROTOM staff of 26 and will be doing much more with home based care with this needed ministry in Uganda in the near future.