MID-EAST AFRICA – COUNTRIES OF KENYA and TANZANIA
In 2024, I became involved in the East African countries of Kenya and Tanzania through the Father John Judie Ministries organization, founded by Father John Judie, one of our local priests, who is spending his retirement years serving in Kenya and Tanzania. Here is a summary of the projects I have been involved in and led. If you wish to read more about the details of each of these projects, see below the dotted line…
There are ongoing needs in all of these projects that donations would benefit.
Projects:
- Project 1: A new 500-seat church, St. Veronica, in Kenya
- Project 2: A new house for a poor single mother in Tanzania, with 2 children, 1 of whom is a seminarian
- Project 3: Paying off the school debts of 7 poor seminarians
- Project 4: Christmas candy for 98 rural, poor children
- Project 5: Finishing a half-completed much needed school building in Tanzania
- Project 6: Pens and Pencils collection & school supplies and classroom furniture for students
If there is a specific project listed above to which you want to donate, you can write that in the memo area of your check (the bolded, underlined type above) or just write “general donation.” If you have questions, contact me at: jrknott@bellsouth.net.
Write your checks to: Father John Judie Ministries, Inc.
Send the checks to me for deposit:
Rev. Ronald Knott
1271 Parkway Gardens Court #106
Louisville, KY 40217
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PROJECT 1:
A NEW 500-SEAT SAINT VERONICA CHURCH IN KENYA
The year started out with a commitment to build a small church in Kenya at the suggestion of a local Little Sister of the Poor, Stephen Kitili, herself from Kenya, here in Louisville, where I have Mass every Monday and hear Confessions once a month. It was to honor her mother, who was an illiterate catechist who taught hundreds of people about the Catholic Church. I reluctantly agreed to help and set what I thought was an ambitious goal of $20,000. It turned out to be 5 times bigger than I agreed to and 5 times more expensive. I had no idea it was actually going to be that big until I saw the poured concrete foundations. By then, it was too late! I spent many nights worrying about whether we could possibly finish it. With God's help, lots of prayer, and much help from many generous friends, they dedicated the new St. Veronica Church on August 10, 2025. The people call it a "miracle."
PROJECT 2:
A NEW HOUSE FOR A POOR SINGLE MOTHER OF TWO IN TANZANIA
Through Father John Judie, I was introduced to the world of seminarians in Tanzania - some as young as 14 years old, the age I was in 1958 when I started at St. Thomas Seminary here in Louisville. Father John told me about a young 14-year-old seminarian, Filbert Amos Kileo, who had been sent home because his single mother and sister at home could not afford to pay the $800.00 a year room, board, and tuition costs. When his bishop, Filbert Mhasi, heard about the situation he was moved to do something about it since they both shared the names "Filbert." Bishop Mhasi told him, "Come back to the seminary, and I will find the money somewhere!" When Bishop Mhasi and Father John came to see me and told me the story, I knew I had to support him with his room, board, and tuition costs because I had depended on the Archdiocese of Louisville to support me through 12 years of seminary. For me, it was simply a matter of it being "payback time."
One part of the story really pushed me into high gear. I was told that young Filbert would not be able to go home from the seminary because his mother and sister basically had no room for him in their window-less, one-room rented living situation. I asked Bishop Mhasi to visit the home and send pictures. When I saw the living situation, I asked Bishop Mhasi about how much a new house would cost. I was thinking simple and small. He sent me the architectural drawings for a three-bedroom house with a living room, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, and front and back porches. When I asked "how much,” he said $13,000.00! I knew I needed to "take it on." I asked him to find out what the lot would cost so she could grow some vegetables. I knew she had few furnishings, so I asked about that as well. I wanted to make sure she owned the house and the lot, and it would be her security for years to come. The total cost was about $21,000.00. Construction started on September 1, 2025. Their pastor blessed their new home, and they moved in on November 15, 2025. The family feels it is a "miracle."
PROJECT 3:
PAYING OFF THE SCHOOL DEBTS OF 7 POOR SEMINARIANS IN TANZANIA
Besides funding the room, board, and tuition of young Filbert Amos Kileo, I and another generous woman friend paid off the room, board, and tuition debts of 6 more young seminarians who could not continue their seminary training because their poor parents did what they could, but could not afford to finish paying the expenses. For most of them, it was a miracle to get that load off their backs!
PROJECT 4:
CHRISTMAS CANDY FOR 98 RURAL CHILDREN
(CATHOLIC AND NON-CATHOLIC)
When I saw the picture (above) of some of the kids in one of the "outstation churches" (mission churches) Bishop Mhasi serves, I was struck by the sad-looking children. (My mind went back to my days growing up in the country. In this photo, I could almost see myself and my year-younger brother in front of the Bishop, and my sisters standing on the right in their home-made dresses like the ones my mother sewed for them.) I asked Bishop Mhasi to find out the children’s names and how many lived in that village. He wrote back, gave me their names, and told me that there were 98 Catholic and non-Catholic children. Remembering that my brothers and sisters and I basically only got candy at Christmas and Easter in the 1940s and 1950s, I sent enough money to Bishop Mhasi to buy a small bag of candy for all 98 children. I also asked that the 5 children in the photo above be the ones to hand out the bags of candy so that they could "feel important,” maybe for the first time in their lives. Even that little gift is a kind of "miracle" for children in a tiny African village.
PROJECT 5:
FINISHING A HALF-DONE, DESPERATELY NEEDED
CATHOLIC SCHOOL IN TANZANIA
Don't ask me how I got talked into additionally raising $82,000.00 to help finish a Catholic Grade School in Tanzania. I can't even remember when and how it happened! All I know is that, looking back, it has been the last of six "miracles" in 2025. What made it seem "impossible" was the fact that I had promised a few of my most generous donors that I would not ask them for more money after my major project of the St. Theresa Family Life Center a couple of years ago. I knew I needed some new donors. When I decided to "go for it," I did not believe I could do it until maybe Easter time, but I did something that I read about Pope Francis doing when he had a problem facing him. I turned to some divine help! The idea came to me in a dream. Because of that dream, I decided to try a devotion that Pope Francis practiced. Pope Francis said that when he faced a problem, he would write it down on a piece of paper, put it under his statue of the Sleeping Saint Joseph, turn the worry over to Saint Joseph and go to bed. It reminded me that I, too, had a statue of the Sleeping St. Joseph. Saint Joseph had four dreams in the Gospel of Matthew where an angel told him what to do next in a quandary. I put the story of the Tanzanian school in a folder and laid my own little statue of the Sleeping Saint Joseph on top of it and turned this problem over to Saint Joseph while I waited for his solution.
I never really asked people for money. I just told them what I was trying to do on my blogposts and invited them to call me if they wanted to help. Little by little, the money started coming in! Doubt and belief battled it out all through December. Right up to the last week before Christmas, I did not know whether it was going to happen or not. I told Bishop Mhasi that I would call him on Christmas Day to tell him how close we came to reaching the goal, thinking we could be $960.00 short. When the mail arrived on Christmas Eve, we miraculously reached our total goal of $82,000.00! I called Bishop Mhasi on Christmas Day to deliver my "good news of great joy!" A few more gifts after Christmas brought the total up to $86,225.00. The bishop restarted the building "right away" at the beginning of January. It certainly feels like a miracle to me!
To:Ronald Knott
Thu, Dec 25 at 11:48 AM
Rev. Ron,
Thanks so much for the surprise! I couldn't believe it! Such a short time has reached that amount! St. Joseph! St. Joseph!! It's really a miracle. Please convey my sincere gratitude to all who contributed for this school project. Let them be assured of my prayers for their health and happiness. I will be updating you on the progress and of course, sending you pictures. Merry Christmas!
+ Bishop Mhasi
PROJECT 6:
USED BALLPOINT PENS AND PENCIL DRIVE and
DONATIONS FOR GENERAL SCHOOL SUPPLIES
With new funding in place, the restart of this school building is already coming along quite nicely. However, after raising the funds for three major building projects in the missions of East Africa last year, including finishing the funding for this school, I have sworn off major building projects for a while so I can focus on some smaller mission efforts.
This has led me to revive an old idea I introduced when I was working in the Caribbean missions. I called it a "Used Pen And Pencil Drive." People collected and gave me over 1,000 used ballpoint pens and pencils they had retrieved from their kitchens, desks and cabinet drawers. Most people were surprised to find so many not being used. Now that the new school is on its way to being finished and will hopefully open soon, I would like to focus on gathering these items. Father John Judie has agreed to take them with him in a large suitcase when he returns to Tanzania in March. If you are inspired to help with this easy, but needed project, you can arrange a time to drop-off your used pens and pencils by emailing me at jrknott@bellsouth.net, or you may just leave them at my condo entrance (address listed below) with my name and your name on the package or bag. I can trust my neighbors to secure them for me if I am not at home. Here is Bishop Mhasi's response to this idea.
This has led me to revive an old idea I introduced when I was working in the Caribbean missions. I called it a "Used Pen And Pencil Drive." People collected and gave me over 1,000 used ballpoint pens and pencils they had retrieved from their kitchens, desks and cabinet drawers. Most people were surprised to find so many not being used. Now that the new school is on its way to being finished and will hopefully open soon, I would like to focus on gathering these items. Father John Judie has agreed to take them with him in a large suitcase when he returns to Tanzania in March. If you are inspired to help with this easy, but needed project, you can arrange a time to drop-off your used pens and pencils by emailing me at jrknott@bellsouth.net, or you may just leave them at my condo entrance (address listed below) with my name and your name on the package or bag. I can trust my neighbors to secure them for me if I am not at home. Here is Bishop Mhasi's response to this idea.
"Fr. Ron, thanks so much for this very good idea of school supplies. Some might take it for granted, but in our area and situation, there are many here who are struggling to get these school supplies like pens, pencils, plastic rulers, erasers and so forth. Fr. John will help us so much to carry these with him in an extra suitcase when he returns to Tanzania."
There are other school supplies needed, but ones that are too heavy to take in a suitcase – writing paper, crayons and other needed heavy-weight classroom supplies, even furniture like desks and chairs. Here is Bishop Mhasi's response to this offer to promote the need for some help with the heavy weight school supplies that they will need to buy or build over there.
"Fr. Ron, thanks also for making a financial appeal for securing some heavy-weight school supplies. For the heavy weight items like writing paper, any donation might also help us buy or build chairs and tables (desks) for the students."
TWO SUGGESTIONS AND ONE OBSERVATION
1. Invite your extended family members to help you collect these used "sometimes-just-laying-around" school supplies for these needy kids.
2. If your business gives away pens or pencils for advertising purposes, ask if they have a few they would like to pass on to these mission school kids. (Please, don’t just take them without asking!)
3. I know that this is going to be another one of those life-changing mission projects that will empower children and families alike for years to come! I was attracted to this project because I know and trust Bishop Mhasi personally, and I hated to see his half-finished school (a dream of his) just sitting there waiting for some more funds to arrive after he had worked so hard to raise the first half of those needed funds. I look forward to the day when these kids begin to access this desperately needed new Catholic school. This will not only make the kids happy, but it will make me and the other donors proud and happy as well! As the Book of Proverbs puts it, "Those who water others, will themselves be watered!"
2. If your business gives away pens or pencils for advertising purposes, ask if they have a few they would like to pass on to these mission school kids. (Please, don’t just take them without asking!)
3. I know that this is going to be another one of those life-changing mission projects that will empower children and families alike for years to come! I was attracted to this project because I know and trust Bishop Mhasi personally, and I hated to see his half-finished school (a dream of his) just sitting there waiting for some more funds to arrive after he had worked so hard to raise the first half of those needed funds. I look forward to the day when these kids begin to access this desperately needed new Catholic school. This will not only make the kids happy, but it will make me and the other donors proud and happy as well! As the Book of Proverbs puts it, "Those who water others, will themselves be watered!"
