Chewsday

Habari!

This Sunday, the group realized that we will be going to church in Kibera only four more times. The reality that this summer is half way over is starting to settle in.

Here are a few facts about Kenya:

They were a British colony, so a lot of British influences are still in the culture. They drive on the left side of the road. This actually seems very natural to me now. I will have to adjust once I return home. I naturally get in the van on the left side and the driver’s seat looks normal on the right side of the vehicle. Kenyans also have several tea times throughout the day. They call it chai and make it by boiling milk and steeping Kenyan tea bags. It is very good. Starbucks has nothing on Kenyan and Ethiopian coffee. I usually start my mornings with one or two cups.

The Kenyans are divided into 43 tribes. Each tribe is usual found in a specific geographical area; also each tribe has a distinct language, traditions, and meals. Each Kenyan learns their tribal language first, then they learn Swahili and English as a 2^nd and 3^rd language. In the past, the different tribes have caused political conflict, but they are starting to marry into different tribes to try to create unity throughout all of the tribes.

When most people think of Kenyan tribes they think of people dressed in colorful clothing, facial piercing, and spears. This is the traditional Kenyan culture and there is still one tribe that follows these traditions. The Masai are the traditional Kenyan tribe. They are seen herding cattle, wearing traditional Kenyan clothing, and sporting the traditional Kenyan ear piercings. Lucky for us, we are staying in a rural area in the middle of the Masai land. Everyday, we get to see them herd their cattle in the traditional Kenyan garments.

Yesterday we went to the local market in Kisarian. We definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. The majority of the people there are Masai, so everywhere we went we heard the word “mzungu” (which means foreigner). We got a good dose of the local culture. The girls did the grocery shopping and the guys walked around getting a feel for all the local stores.

The VBS went great. It was very tiring, but it was great seeing so many kids show up to learn about God on a Saturday. I helped out with the “games” which turned into putting the kids into a circle and throwing a soccer ball into the middle… they took care of the rest.

The guys on the trip have started developing strong relationships with the Kenyan men we are working with on the construction site. The men are starting to open up more and more as they get used to us.

The team is starting to get tired, but we have worked so well with each other so far. I am amazed at how well everyone works with each other. It is evident that God put together this team.

One of Mumford and Sons most popular songs is “Awake My Soul.” One of the lyrics of that song is “Where you invest your love, you invest your life.” This summer I have invested my love to the kids of Kibera and in doing so I have invested a piece of my life. God is quickly developing a heart for Kenya within me.

This Friday we are planning on hiking a mountain close to our compound. We have grown tired of spending our off days doing nothing but getting internet in a coffee shop.

Today, instead of teaching, I did home visits with pastor Wycliffe. I had the opportunity to meet one of my student's mothers. Victor is his name. He is very smart and the head boy of the school. His father and brother both have TB. One of the ladies we met today came to know Christ as her savior. Praise the Lord! It was a very eye opening experience to see the homes of the kids I am visiting.

Continue to pray for the team, pastor Inbumi, the children of Kibera, and the workers we are working with on the construction site.

I will be giving a sermon to the church using a Swahili translator within the next few weeks. I think I’m going to preach on 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Justin

Habari!

The weeks are starting to fly by. This week the team spent Monday and Thursday working on the construction site and Tuesday and Wednesday teaching in Kibera. I have been teaching class 4 English and class 5 social studies. This week’s English lesson was on prepositions and how they can be used in reference to time (ex. I have been in Kenya since May 28), but the jokes on them. I barely know what a preposition is and I’ve never been that good at grammar. The social studies lessons I’ve been teaching deal with Kenyan geography, so I’ve been learning the lessons the night before. Despite not being the most qualified teacher in the world, I have been having a great time with the kids. It is such a blessing to be able to invest in the lives of these children. Many of them are clinging to their education as a way out of the slum. They realize that not getting an education means not having a steady job and therefore being stuck in Kibera.

Yesterday Jacob and I went on a run down a dirt road close to our compound. As we were running we came across one of the Kenyans that we are working with at the construction site. He lives about a mile from the compound. It was really cool to be able to meet his family. He has a family of about 8 people all living in a one-room shack. He is also one of the happiest people I’ve ever met. He is the same guy that asked me last week what “swagger” means.

Last Sunday, something happened that will forever stick in my mind. Just before pastor Inbumi started to give his sermon, a 10-year-old boy started crying for no explained reason. He then ran out of the church. Pastor Inbumi left the pulpit to go see what was wrong. A few minutes later pastor returned holding the child. Pastor calmed him down. It wasn’t until after church that I learned why the child started crying. He had not eaten since lunch on Friday; it was then 12pm on Sunday afternoon. The hunger pains were hurting him so badly that he began to cry just before the sermon at church. Here I was sitting with a bag of peanuts in my backpack just incase we had a “late” lunch. The child attends the school at the church during the week. The church provides a lunch for all the children while they are at school. This is his only meal everyday. This is the reality of the slum outside the protection of the church. Children are starving, people are dying of AIDS, single mothers are trying to feed their children without a source of income, and wild pigs are eating the sludge and filth in the middle of the allies. I will never get used to the unimaginable poverty and I will never cease to be humbled by the great joy and faith that the Christians of the slum demonstrate. Their faith isn’t just an hour on Sunday, a few half-sung worship songs, a bible verse once a week, and an occasional prayer before a meal. Please pray for the starving children, the people dying of AIDS, and the students trying to obtain an education.

Also, last Sunday was our first time in the slum after it rained. It was a very “slushy” experience to say the least. I also gave my testimony to the church using a Swahili translator. It was an exhilarating experience.

The cokes here use natural sugar instead of corn syrup, making them a lot better (or actually drinkable since I usual prefer Pepsi).

Last Saturday we went out to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant with a couple that graduated from Auburn University (War Eagle). They have been in Nairobi for two years and are about to move to a remote area in Uganda for five years. Pray for their preparation. Also, Ethiopian food is very different from Kenyan food.

My favorite Kenyan meal is Chapati and kidney beans. Imagine a Kenyan Joey from Moe’s. It is delicious.

I’ve been reading through the New Testament since April. This week I read a verse in 1 John that stuck with me.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” – 1 John 1:5

Kibera is such a dark place, but God’s light is shining through Kibera Reformed Presbyterian Church. Continue to pray for our team, pastor Inbumi, and all of the teachers at the school.

Mungu akubariki sona!

“He must increase, i must decrease” –John 3:30

Happy 2nd weekaversary!

Today marks the group’s 2^nd full week in Kenya. Our routine is starting to settle in and we are functioning on all cylinders. We again spent last Sunday at church in Kibera. I will never get used to the smell and the unimaginable poverty that these people live in. The group spent Monday and Tuesday working on the land this week. The Kenyan workers are fascinated by American culture. I brought my ipod out to the work site to play music for everyone while we worked after lunch on Tuesday. They kept asking me “do you like Snoop Dogg? Do you know 50 cent? What does swagger mean?” Their pace of work and the American pace of work are completely different. Kenyans have a very relational culture and it can be seen while we are working on the construction site for the new girls’ home. They would rather ask questions about America and stories about our lives instead of getting as much done as possible. Wednesday we went back to Kibera to work in the school. I received lessons to teach last week, so I am now getting to teach the children English, science, and social studies. The majority of the children that I’m teaching are in the 11-13 age range.

Happy Story: Last week there was an 8-year-old boy in Kibera who was tired of being beaten by his stepmother. He decided to run away from his home and go to where we (the interns) are staying. We are living on a compound in a town called Kisaryian. There’s about 20 miles that separate our compound from Kibera. He came within 3 miles and was intercepted by the Kenyan police. Pastor Inbumi tried to get custody of the child while we were with him in his van. We drove by the child center and Wilkens sprinted towards the van to come see us. Inbumi was forced to tell the child that he was not able to get custody and he would have to spend the night in the children’s’ home. Wilkens began to weep right in front of us. I was broken at this point. Our team spent the next few days praying for Wilkens. On Monday afternoon, Pastor Inbumi let us know that Wilken’s parents released their custody rights and Inbumi and Mrs. Martha are now the legal guardians of Wilkens. His life will forever be changed. It was amazing to see how God was working through this entire story and to see an answered prayer. Jehovah Jireh!

I still fall asleep just about every night to the sound of hyenas. We’ve seen a herd of Zebras twice this week. Also, if you’re ever in Nairobi at a Java House Café, order a mango smoothie. 

Our Compound:

One week in Africa

It is hard to believe that I have already been in Africa a week. This place already feels like a home to me. I have fallen in love with the people and this beautiful country. The team is staying at a compound about 30 miles outside of Nairobi. The scenery is amazing. Every time I brush my teeth, the mirror I am looking into reflects one of the most stunning views I have ever seen.  The compound is a fenced-in 60 acres overlooking the mountains and the grassland. There are two boy rooms, each with 3 beds and one girl room that has 6 beds. There are Kenyans living on the property with us. George is working on the construction site. When he isn’t doing construction, he is playing soccer with us. George loves to talk about Jesus and is one of the most joyful people I have ever experienced. Winnie, Dorothy, and Purity are the Kenyan women that help us prepare meals and do the gardening on the property. They love “sarcastic” humor… which is right up my ally.

The team is associated with a Presbyterian church located in the Kibera slum. The pastor of that church is named Pastor Inbumi. He is the one that takes us from place to place in the 12-person van.

The church sponsors a girls home that houses girls who have been rescued from sex slavery. The compound we are staying on will one day be the new location for this home, so they can house more girls. It breaks my heart every time we go to the home. Some of these girls are 8 or 9 years old. Knowing what these young girls have been through makes me sick, but seeing the joy that the Lord has restored in them brings tears to my eyes.

The church in Kibera also sponsors a school for grades kindergarten to 5^th grade. I am teaching the 5^th grade class. I have already grown so attached to these children. They are extremely smart despite living in one of the biggest slums in the world. Their education is one of the only ways to get them out of the slum, which is why the church sponsors a school, to free these children from the chains of poverty. The school provides an outlet to spread the Gospel to lost homes in Kibera. Most of the children speak 3 languages fluently by the age of 10 (Swahili, their tribal language, and English).

Here is our schedule through the week…

Monday – Work construction on the compound property

Tuesday – Go to Kibera and work in the school and an AIDS clinic sponsored by the church

Wednesday – Go to a different school sponsored by a sister church in a smaller slum called Mothiga

Thursday – Same as Tuesday

Friday – Off Day

Saturday – Go to the girls’ home

Sunday – Church in Kibera

            It took 21 years of living but I finally learned what a sacrifice of praise looks like. When we are walking to the church in Kibera, we walk past shacks made of mud, sewage flowing through the streets, wild pigs rummaging through garbage, and people searching for their next meal. We arrive at the church and the people there are dressed in their finest clothing. During their worship songs the people cry out with joy for all the Lord has given them. In our eyes these people have nothing, yet they find completeness in the Lord’s grace and mercy. It is a very humbling experience. The team came here to serve these people, but so far they have been the ones serving us.

Please pray for the team, the girls in the home, the children in the Kibera School, Pastor Inbumi, and Kibera.

I ate an ostrich burger today for lunch. I still have not seen a zebra, lion, or elephant.

5/28/11

I woke up this morning to the sounds of a rooster. It wasn’t a dream. I am in Kenya. The stars are more clear and vibrant here than any other place that I can think off, even Starr Mountain. We spent most of the morning relaxing and hanging out with each other. I walked around early in the morning in a dense fog. After breakfast Several of us walked all the way around the compound property. This place contains a beauty that I have never seen before. I still haven’t spotted a zebra or a giraffe.

The afternoon consisted of me, Courtney, Corey, and Rachael playing spades. This is going to be a great summer. Pastor Inbumi picked us up and took us to the girls home to see the place where so many girls have been rescued from sex slavery. It is so emotional to see the smiles on the girls’ faces despite the fact that they have been through a tragedy. After our time was done there, we sang praises. I teared up watching the girls sing with such passion in Swahili. We had to make a pit stop at Pastor’s house to change a flat tire. We then ate dinner and shared each other’s testimony’s with each other. We serve such an amazing God. This place is so beautiful and it has already stolen my heart.

The girls celebrated travis’s birthday by throwing water on him.

 5/29/11

I listened to a pack of hyenas as I went to sleep last night

We went to church in Kibera for the 1^st time today. I was blown away by the poverty of this slum. I had tried to prepare myself ever since I found out that I would be spending time there. This is the worst place and situation I have ever seen or been around. I will never forget the smell….. I will also never forget the passion and joy I saw from those people as they worshiped amongst so much poverty. The children loved just an ounce of affection. We went to their version of “walmart” to get a refill of a water jug. It blew my mind at the huge difference in wealth just a few blocks away from the slum. After church pastor Inbumi took us out to eat at an Italian restaurant. It was extremely nice. After lunch we went over the schedule for the summer and what we will be doing each day.

The group really seems to be getting close. The family aspect that will be necessary this summer is starting to form.