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.