I wouldn't say that I've been holding information

I've just not been productive enough to give it out... until now

 

there is a link here

that will direct you to the FYM kenya site

 

this site is updated weekly by our leaders

-photos of us working and goofing off

-short updates by team members including yours truly

-prayer requests

(there are links at the top for all 3 items)

 

I thought you might want to check it out

sorry I waited so long to give out the link

if you want to keep checking it out

save the link for future reference

 

there's also the option of recieving an email when the reports are updated

 

badai

just got back Saturday morning from our thanksgiving excursion

t'was a very relaxing time that consisted of

 

Wed - vegging

Thur - cooking, decorating, eating, napping, vegging

Fri - shopping at the market, watching like 400 movies, vegging

Sat - vegging, returning home

 

definately refreshing.

 

So Sunday I was at church and then led my AIM kids Bible study

It started out at a teenage girls group

then just the AIM kids came

then Kevin started coming

then Kevin brought Joseph

so It's pretty much a amal group for the AIM kids now... but I love it

 

Today is Monday and I've taken a day off

we have 5 days off per semester and I've used none so far

this is why this week is going to be awesome

 

Tuesday and Wednesday I am in my regular ministry

then thursday and Friday I am going to a guest house with my teammate Anna S.

then Saturday and Sunday a handful of us are heading back to Kijabe to climb t. Lagonaut

 

this is the rundown for my week... sounds hard and stressful

and by hard and stressful I mean relaxing and fun filled!

Sometimes I wonder if I try to make sense of too much.

But this daunting and sometimes frustrating habit almost never fails to prove and teach me something.

Now, it is not the series of events or even my tiny brain matter that comes up with the revelation itself, but the grace of God who wants to share these things with me. For this I am so thankful that I can’t express my gratitude in any language.

 

I’m reminded of my old self in these times.

I love to learn because it takes you to this place you have never been before.

It’s a gift of new eyes and you see colours you’ve never thought could exist.

Or new ears that hear sounds never whispered into being.

 

My reception or ignorance to these gifts is solely determined by my own stubbornness and there have been many times that I have refused to gaze upon the truth that sits patiently in front of me. Truth is something we are all entitled to and the day my life changed was the day I rejoiced in unhidden and vulnerable truth.

 

Let me explain:

One of my favourite passages in the Bible is Ephesians 4:17 through 5:21.

It talks about living as children of light. Becoming the heirs that we are and striving to live a good life. Not for our benefit, although there are benefits in living a pure life, but for the benefit of our perfect Father in a weak attempt to thank Him for all He has done.

I say weak because it is difficult to do; live as a child of light.

This has always been one of my favourite places to visit in the Bible because it gives me something to strive for, even when life seems to screech to a halt.

 

But in Ephesians Paul says in verses 17 and 18 that we are no longer to live as the world urges us to live… “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”

 

Paul writes that life without God is intellectually frustrating, useless and meaningless. We learned last year with the youth at Hope that any time you are brought to an understanding about scripture it is an encounter with the living God who is opening your eyes to truth. But, the hardening of our hearts is moral unresponsiveness and life corrupted by our deceitful desires.

 

I would never want to openly claim that I am morally unresponsive but in denying it I am lying and that in itself is being morally unresponsive. Uh oh paradox!

So then, if all are ignorant in our sinful nature what is the difference between the believers and non-believers? Surely we all, Christ followers or not, believe in the basic principles of living a pure life.

 

Paul says to put off:                              And put on:

Falsehood                                            Truth

Stealing                                                Useful work

Slander and cursing                               Build each other up with words

Bitterness                                             Kindness

Rage                                                    Compassion

Malice                                                  Forgiveness

Sexual immorality                                  Purity

Greed                                                   Thanksgiving

 

Even as I sit here I struggle with some of these. Does this mean that I am outcast from Christ’s family? Doubtful because God is everything and more of the right column and where forgiveness and grace are, I am safe.

 

This is not an excuse to go on indulging in deceit. Verse 23 outlines why this passage is one of my favourites. It says “to be made new in the attitude of our minds.”

Like I said, I love to learn, and who better to learn from that the creator of everything we have ever known. It is the gaining of the knowledge of the life that Christ offers that is exciting, secondary of course to the indescribable grace and forgiveness that entwines a life saved from eternal death.

 

All of this to say, I was reading Ephesians this morning, as I have done countless mornings before, and was reminded of many things. (see above)

;)

 

May the truth of Christ fill all of our lives and transform us all into new creations!

you are like what?

thanksgiving is over...

yeah I know but the crazy people in the United States have their thanksgiving in November

yeah... it's just insanity!

(I know some of you that are reading this are American... it's ok, I forgive you for confusing holiday dates)

:P

 

so....because I'm the minority I have to go along with the team plans.

and this time the plan is to go and stay at a guest house for 3 days and feast

American thanksgiving style

so I can't really complain can I?

let's just say it's gonna rock

and maybe roll

and I will be partaking in the consumption of pumpkin pie

 

we leave tomorrow and return on Saturday

I've actually got a wicked couple of weeks ahead of me

so I'll update you on that as it unfolds

 

until then, looking very forward to some relaxation time.

The night was wonderful… sleeping in a mud hut with a straw roof. The temperatures reached a low of about 15 degrees Celsius I’m sure; Eburru being about 9,000 feet above sea level… I think that’s right. Waking up to a cow carrying on was interesting, never had that happen before.

 

Program four: Church, Under a Big Leaky Tent

 

I feel strange calling church a program but I guess I’m going with the theme here.

We pulled up, after our short jaunt down the mountainside in the infamous matatu, to this school in the middle of nowhere on the edge of a drop-off to the valley below. There was a tent setup with tarps that a previous AIM team had set up, and thank God for that tent cause it started raining that morning.

 

When we arrived, the church was already in full worship mode and like every African church I’ve ever been to they sing ten or so songs, each about 15 minutes long.

They called on us and it was time to share. We started with a couple of songs, cause well, Kenyans are never sung out. We followed that with a drime called thief to the song Idioteque by Radiohead… I know… they follow me everywhere!

After the drime was over I explained it through a translator which I love cause it always gives you time to carefully choose what you are going to say next while the other person is talking.

 

Next up was Tyler… our very own incredibly gifted preacher. Well, his name is only Tyler to us. Here he has been called, Tyri, Taylor, Tyla and any variation of his name that has vowels that Kenyans can actually pronounce. Believe it or not they actually have a hard time pronouncing Connie… we just roll with it.

 

Tyler’s message was delivered with passion and authority. The kind of message you can feel and see the Holy Spirit moving through. There were voices lifted in praise and excited agreement when he said that he does not worship a dead man, but a God who created us and loves us and is alive and well in Heaven. [Paraphrased by me] He talked about purpose: our purpose being to live for God’s glory. Two people came forward to accept Jesus that morning. Party time in Heaven!

 

Program five: Youth Service

 

During church it started raining so we met with the youth inside the school.

We started out our program with a drime that I’m in called it’s my life… yeah, I’m in a drama… try to hide your gasps of shock cause I can hear you!

 

After that Brandon delivered a message to the youth and his official fanclub was started. One of the babies, probably less than 2 years of age, was just enthralled with Brandon and kept running up to him while he was speaking.

 

We served the youth porridge afterward. Don’t be fooled by the term porridge, it looks like really thick brown milk and it’s “burn your face off” hot! But they like it. After that we all packed ourselves back into the matatu and headed up the slick muddy mountain for our last meal in Eburru.

 

Phase 3: sharing the gospel and utilizing our driming skills… successful

Saturday morning we pulled up to this little cluster of buildings in the middle of the countryside.

There were 5 round huts; one just finished, one for medical use and 3 for our team to sleep in. The huts were barren except for the very welcoming foam mattresses laid out for us on the floor.

 

Program one: VBS

 

We bypassed unloading and getting settled to start up the kids program.

About 150 kids waited for us patiently as we started singing our embarrassing songs.

The great thing about kids is that you can make a fool of yourself and they don’t care.

We had to alter our original plans because of lack of room, lack of kids, and lack of translators.

 

We had been told to plan for 500… we had about 150.

We planned a game that required space to run… we had many pits and spiky bushes.

We had one translator… we decided to stay in one big group.

 

If any of my previous mission trips taught me anything about kids programs

it’s to expect to deviate from the plan… and we probably couldn’t get further from it.

But that’s alright, cause the message was still delivered and the kids had a great time.

 

For a craft we handed out crosses made of popsicle sticks and crayons.

The words Aroma 10:9 was written on the cross.

Aroma means Romans in Kikuyu… another misunderstanding…

We were told that the kids would only speak Kikuyu but they knew Swahili as well.

 

When we handed out the crayons they just sat there.

It wasn’t till my teammate Brandon demonstrated colouring on the wood that they moved. They coloured till there was no wood showing and had a good time doing it.

 

We concluded by serving them porridge and sat with them on the ground while they played with our hair and fingers.

 

Program two: Women’s Group

 

Just after the VBS we met with the women.

Anna S. prepared a message for them on grace and even played a song for them from an ipod. It was funny watching these ladies tapping their feet to a song by Chris Tomlin. I wouldn’t be surprised if they had never heard this kind of music before.

 

They were quiet but joyful and even after our time with them was done and we sat wondering if they understood it at all we were told that it was too short.

The ladies wanted more and hoped we would share with them again the next day.

 

Program three: Dodging Kamikazes

 

Ok, so it wasn’t really a program… more like dinner and a show.

 

We all ate in this rectangular shaped mud building complete with a tin roof.

With the hum of the generator in the background we settled down to discuss the day over Ugali and beef stew. Delicious!

 

However, the fun times stopped when these crazy fast, nasty big, larvae looking flying creatures crashed our party.

These things make the termites I talked about earlier look like fruit flies!

I would have gotten a picture but I was too busy running out the door.

 

I think I killed about 5 of them just out of pure defensive instinct.

3 of our team members got one each in their food, a couple had them on their clothes.

Me?…. well I just tried to lay low and hopefully not make a big fool out of myself

by screaming or throwing my plate across the room.

 

Those things were definitely not a highlight of the trip… but memorable.

 

Phase 2: entertainment and survival… dominated

 

We arrived home Sunday evening from a ministry trip up country.

Drained physically but pumped in every other aspect,

this 1 night and 2 day trip was a success in every sense of the word.

 

Destination: Eburru

 

Departure time: Saturday morning.

 

The time we were supposed to leave fluctuated almost hourly during the planning stages.

We needed to arrive by 10am to start a children’s program and it’s never easy to tell how long things will take on African time.

The problem was the transport… how were we going to get there?

 

We have two Matatus (15 seater minivans);

both of which have been in and out of the shop since we arrived here in September.

 

Friday evening was crunch time for the mechanics and most of what could go wrong; did.

We received word that one of the autos was having engine failure and would not be able to make it to Eburru at all… leaving one matatu for 15 people and 15 people’s luggage.

One matatu wasn’t an option for the near three hour trek.

 

Our fearless, frustrated leaders set aside plans to blow up the vehicles while they arranged alternate transport… 10:30 pm… the night before we leave… in Kenya.

Amazingly, transport was arranged and expected to show up at 5:30am.

 

Saturday morning we dragged our groggy selves out of bed and awaited our new driver.

6:05 he rumbled up the cul-de-sac and we hopped in completely unprepared for the roads ahead.

 

The drive there was incredible… scenery wise,

but nauseating for some of our weaker stomached teammates.

The roads were completely out of our matatu’s league and more than once I thought we were going to have to get out and push.

 

We received word that our second vehicle (the one belonging to us) broke down about 20 minutes out of town and they had to arrange for yet another driver to take them the rest of the way. But, because of good planning, our team was all in one vehicle and we were running very close to on-time… meaning that we could get there and start our first program without any loss of people or materials.

 

Phase one: transportation… conquered.

 

day off today!

we had a visit to the giraffe park this morning

 

there was a lot of kissing

err.. i mean people feeding giraffes from their mouths

and... well that's all they did really... eat

 

so I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

 

p.s. there were warthogs at the park too... adam :P

pardon is a word I will not have to say often anymore.

 

I've been healed of hearing loss and let me tell you it's amazing.

I did end up going to a third doctor

and they flushed out my ears.

5000 shillings later I still couldn't hear

(that's a lot of canadian dollars... especially when one is used to not paying for doctors visits)

*promotes Ontario's health plan*

 

but now, one week later....

I was rearranging my bedroom with my roomate

(which looks awesome by the way... I'll try to take pictures)

and I lay down on my bed on my left side... the side I can hear from

 

it took a few minutes for me to realize but I could hear the ladies out back doing laundry

I shot up out of bed and pretty much ran around our house telling everyone

and I even got some applause

 

I learned something very cool about my lack of hearing that day as well.

I tracked it back to see how long I was "deaf" for

Sept 28 was the day I started to lose it

making the day I regained my hearing day 40

 

40 days of impaired hearing... creeped me out at first

 

The number 40 is mentioned many times in the Bible

from Noah in the 40 day flood

to Jesus's temptation in the wilderness by Satan

it was also 40 days after Jesus rose from the grave when he ascended into Heaven

 

now... I don't yet know what the significance of my 40 days is yet

but I do know that I learned a lot during the time.

maybe the significance was just a 40 day fast from hearing to listen more closely to God

 

I know one thing though

regaining my hearing brought me to a a level of praise that I should have been at since day one

and an attitude of praise is what I am striving for daily

 

Praise God!

I can hear!

Kibera is facing a big drought this year.

There hasn’t been enough rain to keep the tap water running

And we have not had water for as long as 6 days at a time.

In fact I think the water is off more than it’s on… just long enough to fill up our buckets.

 

Being that there are 14 of us, we try to keep 6 or 7 gallon containers full.

We do run out sometimes though and have even had to buy water once because without it

we cannot bathe, flush the toilet, wash clothes, dishes or cook.

We do have drinking water though cause we buy that separately.

 

So technically, we could do without water for just under a week if we conserve properly.

However, the people in the slum, when there’s no water… there’s no water.

Most homes have to carry a jerry can to get water, and for some, it’s a long walk.

 

But it’s finally raining!

Before today we haven’t seen it rain for longer than 3 minutes since arriving in kibera.

This morning I woke to the rain and now 2 hours later it’s still coming down.

This is fantastic news for the slum.

 

There is a down side to the rain though… it brings out one of my irrational fears.

Termites!

Well… not quite irrational cause… I’ll tell you.

 

Ok so in 2003 when I was in Zambia with the ZIM Project

I fell asleep writing in my journal.

Mosquito net up…

Window open…

Light on…

 

I was woken around 12:30 am whit at least a hundred termites flying around my room

and hitting me in the face.

It’s great cause when they fly into something their wings fall off

and their little grub like bodies wriggle around…

wings EVERYWHERE!

 

It was absolutely disgusting and terrifying

and to this day I can’t stand things with wings

cause they always end up flying right for your eyes or ears or something.

 

See, termites live in the ground

and when it rains they come out because they are getting flooded…

we have a HUGE termite mound right outside out front gate

with about 8 holes in the ground

 

This morning when the rain started, these holes erupted

with thousands of termites flapping into the air

and as they scatter there isn’t a place you can go without them being near you.

 

I’ve covered up all our windows in the house

and pleaded with my team to keep the door shut, but I know…

As soon as the rain stops… we are all doomed.

 

They will make this their home and cover our floors with their wings

And ill be screaming, rocking back and forth, in the fetal position, in my bed with my net tucked very tightly into the frame.

 

I’m so grossed out right now...

 

photos below*