making a difference in the community

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Esther and Chris

are married!

Join as we thank God for the marriage of Esther and Chris. They are vital to the mission and we count them as family.

We are all beyond happy that God selected them for each other. We stand with them in praising God for this union and will do all that we can to support their marriage.

Monate Akuei

rivercountrynews.com

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We caught Monate Akuei in the RCN Spotlight this week in Tappahannock ringing the Salvation Army bell for Christmas donations. He is the ambassador for The Emily Martin Rescue Centre.

Monate was born in South Sudan in 1998. Because of war and adversity in South Sudan, Monate spent most of his life in Kenya. He went to school in Kenya and in secondary school was a schoolmate of some of the children sponsored by Neighbors Outreach Worldwide. In the summer of 2019, Susan Elliott Eastwood, of Tappahannock and Kenya, and some of the children were invited to a rugby match sponsored by CFC Stanbic Bank. At that match, the boys recognized Monate (an accomplished and well-known rugby player) as their former schoolmate. Susan asked Monate if he would be willing to use his well-known name and reputation as a good man to speak on behalf of The Emily Martin Rescue Centre. He readily agreed and spends time at the centre volunteering with the children of the women who are clients and speaks on behalf of the clients whenever given a chance. He has been an advocate for the Rescue Centre both on Kenya television and radio and has spoken most recently in the United States.

You can also find him at the Seventh Day Adventist Community Food Pantry on Wednesdays volunteering his time.

Susan Eastwood is interviewed by Kenya National TV

While visiting the hospital to follow up on a case of female circumcision, Susan was interviewed about the longterm affects of this practice and how The Emily Martin Rescue Centre is helping to address the problem

Johnstone Olindi scrummage.co.ke

The headline

Kenya 7s fly-half Johnstone Olindi and his Homeboyz counterpart Collins Shikoli joined hands with Susan Elliott Eastwood to contribute food to 50 families in Korogocho Slums in Nairobi.

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The 50 were part of the families that were affected by the Korogocho market evictions.  Olindi says having been raised in the slums he was touched by the eviction story which was highlighted on news.

Together with Shikoli and Susan, they made contributions before they visited the families on Sunday.

 “I felt nice doing this because I grew up there and I know how it feels to lack food. We managed to reach 50 families with the little we had but still didn’t manage to help everyone. But we would be willing to do more of that if we got any support from any NGO or well-wishers,” he added.