Below on the right is a video by a Kenyan gospel group called B.U.G.G. (Brothers under God's grace)

My Friend Alex is in this group and apparently they are kinda famous here.

Having 4 #1 songs on their latest album.

This video is for one of their singles and somehow ended up on Youtube which Alex just found out yesterday.

 

Alex sings the second verse.

He is the guy in the phone booth.

His Aunt is actually the lady in the first scene with the young boy.

 

It's pretty exciting so I thought I would share it with more of the world.

The group is an advocate for purity and I love how many Christian artists there are in Kenya.

There is a wealth of good music here... good music with a good message.

If you like hiphop and R&B ;)

 

So....

enjoy.

 

p.s. you can also watch it by clicking here

Saturday afternoon started out as planned. We gathered at the AIM orphanage for lunch before heading out with the kids to a children’s home outside of Kibera. Edward was there, which is always a welcome surprise.

 

Edward is one of our translators and a very dear friend, whose funniest attribute is probably the noises he makes when you tickle him. He is one of the young men who befriended my last team in 06/07 and continues to grace us with his presence today. In fact, he has been volunteering at a school a few hours away and staying there, till he heard we were back in Kibera, and then came to help us with our ministry.

 

Edward and I go to the same church and I love to watch him be in his element there. He dances and sings - sometimes waving a handkerchief – and worships with everything he has. He is a huge encouragement and inspiration to the general body of youth living in Kibera. He is kind, funny, has a little brother quality and has an incredibly sensitive heart. That is why it broke my heart so much to see him in pain.

 

As we were packing up to head out with the AIM kids, Denise frantically pulled the team aside into a room. Visibly shaken she started to tell us what was going on. All I remember is, “I just got a call from one of Edward’s friends… Edward’s brother is dead and he doesn’t know yet.”

 

I could only stare at her in disbelief as I saw Edward half jog toward the door of the room we were gathered in, phone in hand, bewildered look on his face. Another friend had finally gotten hold of him after trying for hours to get through an unreliable phone line. The next few minutes felt like days as I sat on the floor crying, listening to only Edward trying to catch a breath as Denise held him.

 

To see such a sweet person be informed of tragedy is unbearable. Especially a friend, whom you know would be broken hearted for you if the situation were reversed. Edward was taken to the city mortuary by Denise and Shaun. The next few hours included notifying the rest of the family, Edward collapsing and learning of what happened to Edward’s older brother Raymond.

 

Raymond was a construction worker and the sole provider for the entire family because was the only one who was able to find a paying job. He was working on the ninth floor of a building and fell to the basement. No one is really sure how he fell and no one knew what had happened till they went to check on the loud bang. I try not to imagine what they found but the descriptions I have unwillingly received were enough to give anyone nightmares. He didn’t make a sound though, which gives me hope. I want to believe that the Lord took him before he hit the ground. It may not be the case but it makes a very disturbing story slightly more endurable.

 

We also have hope in the fact that Raymond was a strong man of God, involved in church, he loved his family and had a tight group of friends that did ministry together – all whom were sullen and heartbroken at Calvary Blue House church the following morning. It was a sad service but there was light behind it. Knowing that Raymond is in heaven instead of this place dulls the pain in his family and friends. But there are still tears, for the family who is left behind with nothing, and added to that, the enormous cost of a funeral.

 

The church and community are really stepping in, providing food for the family and money for the funeral costing over $1000. This may seem like little by way of funerals, but it is a huge mountain for a family, whose provider of food and rent is the one being buried. At the moment, they don’t even have electricity because they can’t afford the bill. Still, God is providing though people around them. This is a family who is dearly loved and is being taken care of during this dark and life altering time.

 

As for me, not having access to money (my ATM card has not been returned yet) has been frustrating. As a North American my instinct is to throw money at the problem. In this culture that has been proven to be a bad decision. Still, I want to help, and I will, I just need to borrow some money and most importantly, research the best way to get the money to the family, even if that means having someone take the money for me.

 

Mostly though, the family needs prayer. Money gets spent and food gets eaten but they are walking down a road that will take a lot of time to heal. This is a family with many testimonies of how God has provided in the past, and I’m sure that this will be another experience that they can praise God through. Please pray for Edward, Mama Eunice, Sally and the rest of the family. Just hearing that people care brings a smile to their faces.

Last night we took Kim to the airport. It’s a sad night that finally hit me this morning that she is gone. Kim has been having a rough time here. She has vertigo and being from Jersey has never really had an unbearably hard time with it. Coming to Nairobi though, being about 8000 ft above sea level has had a really bad affect on Kim.

 

Not only does she get dizzy but it has been affecting her eye sight and coordination making everyday tasks really difficult and painstaking. After praying through it for a while and seeking advice from doctors and colleagues she decided that the best thing to do for her health is to return home early.

 

I can’t imagine how hard this is for her. How confusing, frustrating and difficult it is, but Kim has handled it all with grace and faith. She is really encouraging and will be greatly missed, not just by the team but especially the leadership team.

 

We know that her ministry doesn’t stop just because she is not here. God will be using her in other great ways and I am excited to see what is in store for her after this difficult time.

On Thursday, my replacement day off because Alpha was here on Monday, I was awakened at seven for laundry, eight by a phone call and then again at 8:30 but a team member who needed to talk to me.

Normally I would be annoyed by morning disruptions but let me tell you why this morning was fantastically different.

 

First of all, the team member who knocked on my door, I am absolutely thrilled that she felt comfortable to wake me up when she needed me. I really am, I told them all at training camp that if they need someone to talk to it didn’t matter if it was 2, 4 or 6 in the morning, I’m available to them. So I was very happy that she came in when she did… half asleep but happy.

 

Shortly after talking with her, I got a text from Michelle who was asking what our raining day policy was. I didn’t realize it had been pouring outside.

 

Within the next hour I made 6 phone calls to arrange two doctors appointments, cancel morning ministries, re-schedule translators and met with Driver and Shaun about our current weather situation. We prayed about it and felt that God wanted us to use this time to slow down and spend time in prayer and get filled up from being drained from our ministry schedule.

 

We gathered the team, who were about to head out in the rain, and we all sat in the common room and prayed about what this day should look like. Then we just waited for God to give us an idea of what to pray for each other. The Lord showed up in a huge way. Every person in the room was visibly affected by the words that God was pouring into us. We were given prayers and words of wisdom to speak over each other and it was an incredible morning of broken hearts being mended and confirmations of personal prayers. We spent two hours in prayer and it felt like 20 minutes.

 

I feel like I haven’t been able to stop smiling in weeks. It seems like any time something bad happens; God throws 2 or 3 good things on top of it to counteract it. With every sickness there is healing, with every leak in the roof there is something to laugh about together, with every hard day of ministry there is hope and perseverance poured down onto this team, with every struggle there is a lesson, with every question of trust in locals there is forgiveness and tremendously strong relationships.

 

The blessings just won’t cease.

In Matthew, Jesus says that in this world there will be troubles, but take heart, I have overcome the world. He is overcoming our world every day. And it’s a sweet ride!

 

Oh and I want to report that from all the illnesses that we’ve had, almost all have been healed.

I no longer have ring worm and it turns out my eye issue was a sty that has subsided. No one is staying home sick anymore. Strep and tonsillitis are on the run, fleas have died, bedbugs are gone… Honestly… I’m smiling even now.

Last Friday we leaders went on an excursion together to a national park. There is a place called a safari walk which is really a small zoo inhabited by African mammals. Our initial reason for going was so that Kim could see some interesting things before she had to head back to the US.

 

We saw a bunch of cool animals pretty close up and Michelle and I were lucky enough to have an employee follow us around for a bit. He gave us some information on the animals and let us get pretty close to them to take pictures, even letting us hold hands with the monkeys.

 

Kim, Driver, Shaun and Denise had taken off already so Michelle and I just took our time and waiting for good photo ops. The highlight of the day was definitely seeing the monkeys spaz out and attack each other.  It’s pretty funny to watch them play. We also laughed for a bit after seeing a squirrel – the first squirrel I’ve seen in Kenya – because Kenyans can’t pronounce the word squirrel. It sounds more like squaittle. We always look for opportunities to get a Kenyan to say squirrel. It’s actually turned into a hobby of mine.

 

I’ve added some photos to an album titled ‘Safari Walk’…

 

I’ve also helped you by naming the photos by the Kenyan pronunciation of the animals.

Hope you enjoy saying them as much as I do!

Monday was an emotional mess of a day.

We had the Alpha team over to join us in ministry which was amazing.

We met them at the grocery store at 9am and I can’t begin to tell you how happy they make all of us.

 

We proceeded to split in half and walk into Kibera to do door to door ministry.

We split up again and visited different homes in different neighborhoods to pray for the sick and encourage the healthy.

 

Around noon we went to the AIM orphanage to eat lunch, pick up the kids and prepare for an open air in the afternoon. The Real Life team had already gone over the schedule and details for the open air, we just needed to run through it with Alpha and have them fill holes. The AIM kids were even going to do a drama for us.

 

We headed out around 1:30, picking up Chris along the way, making us one massive group from many backgrounds. We had 14 of us from the US and Canada, 9 of the Alpha team, most being from Nairobi, 8 of the AIM kids from Kibera, Chris from outside Kibera and his friend Faith, a Mormon from Oregon.

 

I could not stop smiling as we all walked the tracks to the open ground where we would meet our matatus and set up our sound system. God has brought such an oddly mixed group of people together to help and love people around us and in the middle of that, He has created these incredibly strong friendships. LOVE IT!

 

So we got to the area and laid out a tarp for our dramas (it has been raining a lot), set up the speakers, prayed and then started our program.

 

We had songs, dramas and testimonies from all groups and it went really well. People came forward at the end to be prayed for an even ask Jesus to come into their lives. I got to pray for a few guys who have been struggling to find jobs and have been sick. It amazes me every time I get an opportunity to do something like this because, I feel very unworthy and ill-equipped but God always encourages me and gives me words that I don’t have.

 

That was the good part of the day.

 

Afterward, we packed up and began the long walk home, dropping the AIM kids at home and continuing on out of the slum to our home with Alpha for dinner. Peter left for home on the way and Benja had to leave early as well so I told him I would drive him to the matatu stage because it was far and getting dark. I went to grab my wallet with my driver’s license out of my bag and discovered that it wasn’t where I always keep it.

 

Panic set in and I frantically searched the rest of my bag, knowing that my OCD tendencies force me to always keep my wallet in the same place. There was no trace of my wallet. Everything else was still in the pocket except for the wallet. I was asked if I just left it in my room somehow but I bought phone credit that morning so I knew that my wallet was with me, last seeing it around lunch time.

 

Somehow, sometime between lunch and the open air, someone had gone into my bag and stole all my money along with my ATM card and driver’s license. I was pretty upset. Already struggling with finances, I now have no way of withdrawing any money.

 

The rest of the night is a lot of boring details but another event was sitting in the underground parking at Nakumatt for 15 minutes because Michelle and I couldn’t get the matatu to start, at the same time Alex, from Alpha, was calling me to pick him up near the house (he had left half way through the day to preach somewhere and was returning for dinner and games at our house). It was all very stressful.

 

Now a few days later, I’m waiting. I believe that God will bring my cards back to me, somehow.

I’m uncertain how, but I’m waiting for Him to show me how powerful He is in a new and different way. I believe that the God who can heal people and transform lives can find two small plastic cards in a slum of over 1.5 million people and get them back to their owner. I believe that He brought me here for a reason, and a thief is not going to corrupt or disrupt God’s plans.

 

So I’m waiting, praying and hoping that it is soon.

But even if it doesn’t happen, I’m still here and I’m still going to serve the Lord.

 

The night wrapped up with Alpha showing the team how to do different tribal dances with Alex and John on the Djembe (drum) along with a very funny Massai impression.

But, the funniest by far, was Joel teaching a bunch of Kenyans to do the 'cotton eye joe'.

Chris is a good friend of mine.

I met him last time I was here and had the pleasure working with him weekly during a children’s program hosted by the Salvation Army Kibera Corps.

 

Every Saturday morning we have ministry that involves the whole team and I thought that running a children’s program would be not only fun for them, but stretching because they would be in charge for once.

 

We met Chris in the morning before heading into the slum and he was visibly shaken. I pulled him aside and asked him what was wrong and almost instantly, as if the question was a trigger, he starts to cry. I learn that a friend of his, Terry, whom I’ve met before, was working on some ministry plans with him on Wednesday night and then was found, hung in her home the following evening. Chris found this news out on the way to meet us.

 

The amazing thing was, that after praying for him, he said, “Ok, let’s go.”

I told him that if he needed to take off that we would totally understand but he explained that this morning he came to do ministry and He isn’t going to let circumstances keep him from serving the Lord.

 

We walked…. And walked, down through the heart of the slum to a church on the outskirts of Kibera where we began our program for the kids. Chris jumped in, head first, singing songs, dancing, dressing up, using puppets and being as full of life as ever all while grieving…. And the kids loved him!

 

The team was really encouraged by him. His ability to put things aside and show kids love, inspired the team to do the same. His energy leaked into the team and motivated them to give their all that morning and they continue to talk about it, even now as they are tired and sick, they are challenged to push themselves for the sake of others and the work that God has called them here to do.

I definitely didn’t have this many physical issues last time I was in Kenya.

Here’s a short list.

 

-Nagging cough from when I was ill 2 weeks ago.

-Woke up with a swollen eye lid.

-3 cold sores in 2 weeks.

-Ring worm on my right arm.

-skin ripped off from wearing too many band-aids to cover ring worm.

-Patches of missing skin on both pads of my feet.

 

Basically I feel like I’m falling apart, very slowly, but painfully.

It’s difficult to dive in to ministry when you are constantly reminded of the wound on your face

or the pain every step makes when you have to walk 30 minutes just to get to Kibera.

 

But I’m clinging to God’s promises about these matters.

 

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.

Jeremiah 17:14

 

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Matthew 2:22

 

Please pray for my health,

And of course the health of the team.

 

This team has been passing illness around for the last month and we have already had 5 people visit the hospital already. Two more of them were very close to going.

 

Among their issues are

 

-fleas

-bed bugs

-flu

-colds

-bronchitis

-asthma

-strange rashes

-multiple cuts and scrapes

-strep throat

-tonsillitis

 

We definitely need your prayers!

 

As hard as it is to do ministry with ailments, a friend of mine names Chris,

definitely showed us all how to serve the Lord with a happy heart under all circumstances.

I’ll write about him next.

speaking of worship

last night was awesome...

 

God really showed up to hang out with us and it was an amazing time.

we watched indescribable (a conference talk by louis giglio about the universe, how big it is, how big God is and how small we are) under the stars

it was a bit cloudy but the moon was unreal.

 

after that we spent some time in prayer and then just sang for about an hour.

again, awesome

 

it was later that I found out we had all been sitting among a colony of ants

and they bite

 

it was a good night though

A lot of my work here has to do with calling people..

setting up ministry sites, scheduling visit times, securing translators etc.

and so a lot of my time is spent on the phone.

 

but here's the thing, a lot of Kenyans don't like using their own phone credit so they use this fun trick called flashing.

They call you and hang up... forcing you to call them back... using your own credit.

annoying

 

I can't even tell you how much credit I've gone through in the last 2 weeks.

some of it was personal, yes, but most of it was calling people back cause they flashed me.

 

and they will call for the craziest things,

like "how's the day?... tell the team I said hello... goodnight."

or I call them to tell them to meet me somewhere and 30 minutes later I get a flash and they say something like, "I am coming at one."

and I'm thinking... "that's good cause that's what time I told you to come."

 

It's not bothersome on occasion,

but take last night for instance... 4 people flashed me in a row

AND I was in a meeting, which causes multiple flashes.

nothing like your phone ringing off the hook during worship.

I've added some photo albums on the right.

One of Kijabe and one of Webuye.

 

I'm in the process of uploading one of the teams' drimes so hopefully you will be able to see that soon.

(on the lower right hand side of my home page)

 

What else...

I almost bought a puppy off the side of the road.

They are sold out of cardboard boxes in the city... puppies, kittens and bunnies

yeah.. sketchy

but they had labs...chocolate, black and golden!!

If I come across a small breed I cannot be responsible for my actions.

 

I'm a little ill at the moment.

Got back from Webuye and was burning up.

Also have a nasty cough so please remember me in your prayers.

I'm recovering quite quickly but more speed is welcome :)

 

that's about it.

looking forward to spending the next few weeks not running around.

peace