Rehema Ministries/dba In Step Foundation, Kenya

Tina created a mural from floor to ceiling on three walls of the veranda. We had several young people who were visiting and lent a helping hand. She put her heart and soul in this project. What a blessing.

Hummm; now you might be looking at your walls and thinking that this was a big project, well think again! It was Huge the veranda is 110 ft long!

Story of Rehema Painting

A few weeks before Rehema arrived at the Children’s Home, I was watching Oprah. She interviewed a twelve year old girl who is so gifted by God. He shows her what to paint. I was moved with overwhelming sorrow after seeing Akiane’s painting of two orphans; a brother who is two years old taking care of his sister who is three months old, and another painting of a little girl who was….tied up to a board and thrown out to die on the dirt road.  I was so overwhelmed by this painting that I had to leave and go to another room and cry for them.  I kept seeing them over and over in my mind.  It hurt to think of the fear and loneliness they must have felt.  I cried out to the Lord, “Why does this affect me this way?”  I printed copies of these paintings and kept them in my purse (I still keep them with me.)  Not long after that, the Lord woke me up one night to pray for the orphans and abandoned children.  I still had that same overwhelming sorrow, and cried for them.  I then asked God, “Do You want me to paint them?”

A few months later, our Church missionaries, Jeff and Carla Picicci in Kenya, wrote us and told of what the Lord had done.  That God had started the Children’s home!!  He had given them three children to care for! The third child was found in a corn field.  I thought, “Oh Lord, on the dirt, she was just laying there on the dirt!” The Lord had now put a passion in my heart to paint Rehema.  I would paint “Mercy in a corn field.” Before I touched the canva,s God sent someone to confirm what I felt. Joyce and Jackie (her sister) came to visit me and joined in at our women’s prayer meeting. As we were praying, Joyce saw a vision of me painting for God. What she saw didn’t surprise me, but what she said did. She said, “You are going to paint like Akiane, with visions from God.” I was so excited, I told her I carry pictures of her paintings in my purse. God is so awesome!

Jeff and Carla told us that Rehema had been found by teenagers on their way to school.  She was there for two days.  She survived scorching heat in the morning and a down pour each afternoon.  She even had paw scratches on her belly.  God showed His Mercy in that corn field.  I wanted to paint her lying there peacefully, protected by the leaves.  The three large leaves covering her represent the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.  The large water drops represent the downpour from the afternoon.  I placed her hand on the corn to signify her embracing, with thanksgiving, the place where she had been left, as if she is saying, “It is well with my soul, thank you Father for life.”

For weeks I struggled with painting the background.  I painted different scenes, in different color variations.  But nothing worked.  The backgrounds kept getting in the way of the three covering leaves.  In my frustration, I asked the Lord, “What will work?”  He said, “Paint her at night.”  So there she would lie, peacefully covered by God, awaiting her new home.

Linda and Kim, made a trip to the children’s home in April 2009. Both Linda and Kim are fabulous artists. They painted a mural in the sitting room, which they based off of a photo of our kids dancing. ”The Dance of His Never Ending Love”

Debbie came to Kenya to do her senior project. She is a very talented young women and left a lasting gift for our kids.