COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A former Coldwater woman has made annual 2 week trips to Kenya for nearly a decade to spread the Christian word and lend humanitarian aid to that east African nation. Tracy Sweitzer Bowers, a 1997 graduate of Coldwater high school, spoke Wednesday at the meeting of the Coldwater Early Bird Exchange Club. Bowers is director of outreach at Cornerstone Church in Grand Rapids, where there are 3 area campuses for the United Methodist church in the community. The Cornerstone ministry teams including youth members work in northern Kenya. Bowers say there are 42 tribes in that desert area and small children have to journey a long way to attend schools in huts and there’s no bussing. It means the kids have to walk for miles, like trekking a distance from Coldwater to Quincy, and they leave for classes in the dark and often return in the dark as well, while having to fight off any of the natural wildlife that might present itself.
Bowers says many of the Kenyans in the desert feel they are a forgotten people but the Cornerstone ministry tells them there is a God who loves them and they were created in His image. The primary focus of the church’s assistance to the tribes is with clean water and veterinary clinics. Bowers is the daughter of retired long time Coldwater High School teacher and coach Tom Sweitzer, who this year is President of the Coldwater Early Bird Exchange Club Board of Directors.
