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January 24 6 days laterever have that feeling that things can’t get any worse?… they can (in circumstance… but God hasn’t left this place for a moment)
they can also get much better simultaneously, which makes life… in one word:
complex
The last 6 days have been an absolute rollercoaster with highs and lows
I didn’t know I could handle emotionally.
But the Lord is faithful and true to His word
“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” [Phil. 4:13]
Paul tells us in Philippians that Jesus is the source of contentment
and this week is proof in that
Wednesday through Friday
was spent at the police station dealing with the recent thefts
It was tiring but it is past us now
We have come to a settlement and I have ordered a new burner which should arrive with a leader from the US at the beginning of February.
Friday pt.2
We started studying the book of revelation with Scott and it’s fascinating
not only to learn what prophesies are unfolding
but to learn from someone educated in the matter
These are the times I wish we had technology to download each other’s brains
cause I would love to share and learn more with all of you about times that are very near
Saturday
I went to the Salvation Army bright and early
I explained to the captains that I want to do more with the church this year
and we came up with a solution
Saturday afternoons I will be working with the ladies in the home league
and participating in home visits
Sunday afternoons I will be leading a bible study
Who will be attending, I don’t know,
but the Captains will find people who are eager to learn
I’m looking very forward to pouring in all I can with this group and in turn
learning more about their lives here in the slum.
This is where relationships start and I’m very excited
Saturday pt.2
On the way home from the Army I ran into two of the girls
who consistently hang around outside of our gate.
Caroline and Agnes are in high school and as I walked by them I blurted out
“would you like to come here on Wednesday’s at 4 and be discipled?”
I was kind of like… what just happened?
But their faces lit up and now the Lord has given me not just one but two girls to teach
This was one of the things I was struggling with last semester
because a big part of this mission is discipleship and I had not yet met anyone
who I could enter into that with
Sunday
I came out of my room ready for church with a cheerful
“Happy ½ Birthday” from Anna J.
I had forgotten, but my amazing teammates had not
if a teammate’s actual birthday is not during the 9 months we are together here
then we celebrate their half birthday
So Sunday I was 24 and a half…
Meanwhile…
Kayla and Rachel were at the hospital all day…
Rachel has been having some problems after having surgery at home over Christmas
And true to African form, a trip to the doctor can take 9 hours
Just like buying a bottle of coke can take 20 minutes
Something we are still getting used to
Sunday pt.2
Tyler, Anna J., Samuel (a friend) and I were at a football game (soccer as we know it)
A friend of ours was playing so we went to cheer him on
At the field there is a rundown gym behind the “bleachers”
Samuel told us is run by the government for street boys
They capture the boys from downtown Nairobi and bring them here as rehabilitation
Samuel told us that if they try to escape they are beaten
and they are locked in so that they can’t go anywhere.. tough rehabilitation
Anna and I went to check it out and they were surprisingly welcoming to visitors
There are 38 boys living in this old abandoned gymnasium
All between 9 and 18 years of age (some of them don’t know how old they are)
One boy has been there for 3 years
Anna and I left with a definite sense that we are supposed to help these boys
Sunday pt.3
After dinner someone brought out a cake designed like the Canadian flag
with a small plastic Canadian Goalie helmet/bottle opener…
where they found that, I don’t know!
Just after I served some cake our guard comes to the door telling me someone is here
We aren’t supposed to have visitors during meal times so I asked who it was
And he said “I don’t know, she is crying”
Sunday pt. 4
I went to the gate to find one of our dear orphan friends
sobbing uncontrollably covering her face
Anna S., Elisabeth and I rushed her into the other house to have her calm down
so we could ask her what was wrong.
When we turned the light on,
we noticed she was bleeding from the corner of her eye
She had obviously been hit with something
These beatings were not new but she now feels that our house
is a place where she knows she is loved and safe. I praise God for that!
It still fills me with joy to know that she came to us in her hour of need.
As our leaders set the stress aside and tried to find a solution to this girl’s problem
we bandaged up her cut, got her some clean clothes to wear
and settled her down with dinner and a movie so that she could relax.
After that it was off to Anna’s bed where she slept soundly till the morning
Meanwhile
Scott killed our first rat… with a broom!
(pictured below)
Monday
Our new house mate was up at 6am showering and getting ready for school
We got her breakfast and she headed off to school which is conveniently next door
Monday pt.2
Anna and I went back to the boys place to try to organize a frequent time of visit
We met with the boys again and allowed them to ask us questions
Some are so bright and have so much potential
that is being squandered only by lack of parents or guardians.
All of them are beautiful
and I’m sure their lives have seen more heartache and struggle than I can imagine
We sort of finalized two days a week with the guy that was in charge at that time
I think we will return this week and continue to visit every Monday…
I’m sure I will have more to tell you very soon about these boys.
Meanwhile
Kayla is back at the hospital with not only Rachel but Melissa as well
Brandon and Brian are also sick… all with different illnesses
Monday pt.3
It was getting near the time our new house mate was to return from school
when one of her abusers showed up to our house
I decided to head out to meet her on the road as the man stopped Elisabeth and I for a chat.
He was asking where she was and gave us a story that matched hers
about the previous day, only he claimed it was an accident
not a likely truth
he then decides to tell us how bad she is and that she needs discipline
we played dumb about the girl’s whereabouts as our day guard so graciously blurted out that she spent the night here….
He didn’t know not to say but it sure put a kink in our plans of dealing with the situation
Just as that was happening I saw the girl coming up the street
but she ran back before she was seen
Scott talked to the man for a while and after he was gone,
I went to get our friend and bring her home
Today
Our friend is still with us as Kayla and Scott work toward getting this girl to a safe place
There have been a few meetings and a lot of prayer through this
Already some prayers are being answered and we are learning a lot
about God’s character, grace, and forgiveness
who knows what tomorrow holds…
Please pray
-for this girl, who’s identity I may be able to reveal at a later time
-for all the children affected in this situation
-for our leaders to continue to do an amazing job, in spite of the stress and chaos that has become daily life in our house as of late
-lastly, please pray for me… that I would continue to learn from these trials
and that I would be able to show Christ’s love… to the abused and the abusive January 19 my least favourite place in KenyaI've spent the last three days in and out of the kilimani division police station
why?
well, it turns out that more than my cell phone was stolen
my DVD burner is missing as well
I probably would have noticed this had it not been taken out of the box
and the empty box placed back on my shelf
I was going to work on my orphan video but now I've come to a standstill
without the burner I can't continue my work
the lady who was fired after the cell phone was taken was called to the house by Michelle
the one we put in charge of hiring our cleaners
she denied everything even though she was the only one in my room while we were away for Christmas
she was taken to the police and this is where I learned how opposite the Kenyan justice system is to mine back in Canada
they work with guilty until proven innocent, accept bribes and are probably more corrupt than you can imagine
even their building is falling apart as they drive their expensive cars and gorge themselves on taxes
it took three days to settle it all
and i still don't have my burner back
but i got half of what everything was worth
and judging by what I've experienced at the station the last few days
it's that or she goes to trial and then possibly jail
I just want to put this behind us
now we will be more careful with who we let in our house January 17 canadian footballs and letters from homethis one is for donkey
you did well kid... they were thrilled!! :)
last week I had the pleasure of visiting our recent neighbors
the street boys
they moved away just before we left for break
and the thought of them not being around all the time was kind of upsetting
we were told they moved to Karen
a few towns over... a rich neighborhood and not in the slum
so these ideas were comforting to us on the team
we asked one of their old house leaders to take us there
so rachel, anna J. and I went on a journey to try and find their new home.
I was most excited to see Joseph and Francis...
two of my seventh graders from new adventures school (where I teach English every other week)
i knew they wouldn't be in my class anymore so I was hoping they would be home so could give them a little something from home.
last semester one of my classes assignments was to write letters
letters to names of people that I handed them
these names were of "my" youth back home at hope community church
I wasnt sure who was more excited... me about the possibility of the youth getting letters from Kenya
or the kids about the thought of corresponding with people outside the only world they know
they had so many questions and I quickly knew that they were more excited than I was
over christmas I took the letters with me
and had a kenya party with some of the youth
I cooked them Ugali with beef stew and they answered each letter by hand
I realised that even the youth were excited about these letters and I pondered weeping a little knowing that
these letters would soon be in the hands of young slum dwellers who may not have ever gotten mail before.
we got near the boys new house and were greeted by big john, medium samuel and eric
(we have to specify size cause a lot of them have the same names)
we werent sure if any of the boys knew we were coming so we though some might not be there
as john took me upstairs on his incredibly animated tour,
a door was opened to a giant room with all the boys sitting along the back wall
all of a sudden they started yelling and running toward us in a sea of handshakes and hugs
among them was francis and joseph
once things died down a bit the boys put on acrobatics, a skit and sung a song for us
after that i gave joseph and francis their letters
they couldnt have wiped the grins off their faces if they tried
they read the letters at least a dozen times and once they came up for air i presented joseph with his gift
my brother wrote the letter for joseph (as kyle)
and said that he would send him a canadian football because it is different from their football (soccer)
joseph LOVED it
and the three of us sneaked away for lessons on how to throw this foreign ball
they wanted to play like rugby but quickly caught on to the idea of making the ball spin
we had to leave because it was getting late but i told them to keep practising and show the other boys
and when i came back we could play a game of two hand touch
joseph gave me one of his drawings... he is very talented
and we headed out.
now I can't WAIT
to give the rest of the letters to my class
to all my youth at home
thank you again so much
for taking the time to write a short note to kids you don't even know
it means the world to them
and to me
the photos below are of
the boys' new house in the country
joseph and francis with their letters and new toy January 11 welcome h*squeek*... omeJoseph and Mike came to pick us up at the airport
Joseph is a friend of ours, a taxi driver and always arranging transport for us when we need it
we arrived at the house around midnight and we were greeted by no one
Rachel, Scott, Tyler and I unloaded our luggage and tried out keys in the door... they weren't working
just before I was considering asking why our teammates would not wait up for our arrival
they burst through the door across from ours in a weak attempt to scare us
yep... that's my team
oh and the keys... they wouldn't work cause they switched all the locks on us
clever... funny and clever
so I go to my room and what's this I find
mouse poop EVERYWHERE
on my clothes on my books on my dresser and yes... even on top of my mosquito net
I'm glad I sealed my bed before I left
they chewed up two pair of socks, some notes in one of my Bibles and peed on one of my paintings
it was lovely
and mum... in case you were wondering about the soap... let me tell you
so a few months ago my mum sends me some Irish spring
it's supposed to keep the mice away
well, i chopped it up and put about 15 pieces all over the room
when I pulled out my big suitcase from under my bed yesterday what did I find?
every piece of soap gathered on top
along with large spots of urine and at least a handful of rodent feces
yeah... pretty
think they did it in spite?
so I guess the soaps not working
or maybe it's working on the mice
cause this poop looked too big for mice
I think we have rats
in fact yesterday Scott had a rat wander in his room and stare him down
It's time for the big guns
seriously... send us some weapons cause it's nasty!!!
ok so enough about mice
my first day in Kibera was a good one
found out that a package had come for me downtown so Brandon and I went down to get it
an hour after searching for the Posta we get there and they are on lunch break
I wont take you through the package receiving ordeal
but 3 hours later I walked out of there with a parcel from a lovely friend in Virginia beach
after that I went back home
talked to a few people on the street and saw my brother Regan
I went with Regan to his mother's house (the lady I spent 24 hours with at the beginning of our stay here)
we talked for a few hours and then it was time to go home
today Anna J and Alicia come back
our team is almost complete
can't wait to get back into ministry and spend more time with these amazing people
Kenyans and Americans planes planes and more planesI made it
After 25+ hours in transit I finally arrive in Nairobi near 11pm on Tuesday
and man was it nice to be on the ground again.
especially after just making the same trip a few weeks earlier
flying to London from Toronto we experienced the worst turbulence I've ever been through
It was quite windy that day and the seat belt sign was on for 85% of our time in the air
(72% of statistics are made up on the spot)
but - being one of great intelligence - heh...
I checked in online early, booked my seat and had about 4 miles of leg room
so sitting for 8 hours wasn't that uncomfortable
even when the plane was being tossed around in the clouds...
it was like a roller coaster... without the safety of being attached to a track
landing was cool...
you know that sensation when you are driving and you jerk the wheel back and forth?
not so much fun in a 747
at one point I thought we were going to smash the nose into the pavement
and another I could have swore the right wing nearly touched the ground
great pilot though... considering the weather
it's wasn't so bad... cause I'm not afraid of flying
but... I couldn't help but get flashes of LOST in my head
like the back of the plane being ripped off
and charlie running to the bathroom
:P
ok... so that was one flight down
then I had a few hours at Heathrow
found an awesome lounge with recliners and fell asleep
woke up a few hours later only to figure out my clock was 30 minutes slow
and a voice over the speaker was saying last call for Nairobi gate 22
good thing I was at gate 3
cause I had to run for 10 minutes
no wait... that's not a good thing
BUT
I reached the gate with a small lineup left
and who was checking through but Scott, Rachel and Tyler
finally! my teammates. sooo happy to see them
this flight was much better
smooth and again... *taps head* great seat with lots of legroom
when we got to Nairobi all we had to do was get through customs... pay for our visas and pick up our luggage
and true to Kenyan fashion this took us ... over an hour with a line of about 15 people
Karibu Kenya is all I could think
Karibu Kenya January 08 Break overwell, here I am again...
packing
really dislike packing, especially with the recent decrease in baggage allowance
somehow I always manage to be like 3 pounds over
then it's the stress of re-packing and banging my head against the wall
but that aside...
I've enjoyed my time home
as short as it was
I actually think it was just the right amount of time
I'm very ready to return to Kibera
I'm about to embark on the last leg of this mission
5 more months and I will have to leave this place I have grown so fond of
I'm not really sure what God has in store for me after that
But one thing I know is that He's already planned it out
and to be honest, I'm not at all worried about it
not only is it far from now,
but I know that it will be exciting
because as long as I follow God's plan for my life
I am constantly getting to know our amazing creator
and every part of this journey is sopping with excitement.
After all... He brought me to Kenya didn't He?
But let's focus on home for a sec.
as much as Canada, or more specifically, Ontario, can frustrate sometimes
I love my home land and I'm very thankful to be Canadian for many reasons that I don't have time to mention
but here are some things that I've enjoyed over the holiday:
-family (It was nice just to spend time with you, I apologize to anyone I did not see over the holiday)
-friends (local and across the provinces, I missed you all dearly and now that I remember what I was missing, I miss you even more)
-driving (my car is broken so thanks to my grandfather I've had warm wheels to get around in)
-clean air (you think Toronto is polluted... next time you have emissions testing be thankful for it... it's saving our air in it's own way)
-communication (I barely used the Internet because I knew it worked! *shrug* and mum... thanks for the cell phone!)
-Indian food (mount Everest in Pickering village is aces and still my favourite)
-the movies (my eyes are set to wide screen and I've seen enough movies to last me the year)
-Christmas decorations (the trees! and nothing quite like the lights on a rooftop... but those LED lights are a bit much!)
-the youth (spending time with "my" youth and seeing them light up reading letters from kids in Kenya was wonderful)
-cooking (I cooked some Kenyan food and it was actually good)
-puppies (everywhere puppies, my dog nikita, mum's dog tripp, Melissa's new dog meleka, kobe feener... missed dog's without fleas)
-kids (so many kids under the age of 5 running around and they are all precious)
-babies (got to meet two new babies... our church is a baby factory!)
-skiing (yeah I went skiing... barely any snow but it was a great day)
-imperial buffet (3 words... spicy fried squid, ok 2 more words... crab legs)
-hot showers (even if they were cold they are still showers and very missed)
-clean water from the tap (try rinsing your toothbrush with a water bottle every time you brush for 9 months)
-a clean toilet (this one is pretty self explanatory)
there are more things I've enjoyed while here
I could go on but I wont bore you
unless you are already bored then you aren't reading this anyways
and it's a shame cause I have a secret prize for anyone still with me
just joking
well I do have a prize I could give you but it's more like a gift
and it's not really from me...consider it a re-gift ...from God
something that I will never stop learning from...
everything you have and everything you are is a gift from our God
this is becoming more apparent and real to me every day
what is the difference between a Kenyan and a Canadian?
geography.
simple geography
and I'm not sure why He chose us to be born here and experience the every day blessings of wealth
trust me...even the poor here are wealthy compared to most of the rest of the world
but I know that He knows why He chose us
and He knows why he chose them
and He hand picked every one of us in every corner of the world for a purpose
so count your blessings...go ahead.. I dare you, but start on a Friday night
cause you would be counting all weekend and we wouldn't want you to miss work and get fired
now, as you can see I type a lot when I'm tired -strange, I know-
and it's well past my bedtime
so... for today and tomorrow I say goodbye Canada...once again
thank you everyone for your support once again
I've had a great break
I'll be in touch...as always |
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