Fighting Poverty in Nairobi through Education

Now that we are back from Kenya, I thought it would be helpful to show all of you the video slide show that we put together to capture what is going on at Great Commission Fellowship in Nairobi, Kenya. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us during this time. We will never be the same. There is a light that is shining from this humble school in the middle of a very dark place of poverty, disease, etc... With our help, that light will grow and eventually consume all that is dark. Please continue to pray for Great Commission Fellowship, the work that they are doing in Kayole', and the lives that will be transformed as we (Churches, businesses, schools) are work together to affect change in our world. Please remember that God's plan for redeeming this world is us, and He has no backup. If you are interested in helping financially, please see the details of what is needed at http://vineyardwestside.com/2009/02/the-hope-of-kenya-fact-sheet/

Homa Bay back to Nairobi

The countryside of Kenya is beautiful with rolling mountains, green everywhere, tea fields, and so on.  As we made our way from Homa Bay (West Kenya) to East Kenya (Nairobi) we passed through Luhya land through several Kissi villages, through the Rift Valley (where we met our Maasai friends.  We have seen so much this week in terms of the different landscapes, the different socio-economic classes, the beautiful tribes and languages, the different types of food consumed here, but overall...overwhelmed by just 2 things.  The first being the overwhelming poverty everywhere in this country.  Sure, there are a few spots of living above the poverty level, but the sheer amount of people living on very little, working so hard and not being able to rise above it, have shaken us.  The second, and more important to us is this...  the heart of God that lives in Kenya.  These people...no matter what tribe or tongue, love God, love each other and have such a sweet spirit about them that we cannot easily understand it.  Even in the midst of a traffic jam, they don't yell at each other, they joke with one another and seem to have a sort of laid back, cooperative Spirit about everything they do.  I believe this to be a reflection of a nation that embraces the teachings of Christ. 

During the riots following the elections last year, the spiritual leaders of Kenya rose up and placed the Tribe of Christ above the individual tribes that exist in Kenya.  I watched as Pastor Peter stood before a Luhya congregation and introduced our driver to them.  Our driver, Martin, is Kikuyu.  He stood before all of them and said that we are all God's children and we all matter to God.  WE are all a part of the tribe of Christ and there is no room for division amongst God's people.  Then he told them how he loved Martin and that Martin was his brother.  This was perfect example of what it looks like when Jesus reigns over the things that would otherwise divide us.  I have seen Christ yet again in Kenya.

On a lighter note...during our 6 hour drive from Homa Bay to Nairobi, we stopped at what I will call a Kenyan version of fast food.  We pulled through the drive through and ordered chicken and Mangos, and Sugar Cane.  The only difference is that this drive through sold live chickens that Peter would have to take home to his family and friends to be cooked there.  Apparently, he ordered the family bucket because he didn't just by one chicken, he bought the value meal of 3 chickens (coo coos as the Kenyans call them).  It was an interesting ride home for the remaining 3 hours as we would occassionally hear the coo coo's squawk at one another from the front seat.  This has been such a great and interesting trip.  I love Kenya and look forward to returning with some of you so that you can experience what we have on this trip.  

Day 9 & 10 - Homa Bay

It has been a very interesting and intense journey that God has sent us on, but one we are so grateful to Him for.  Our journey to Homa bay took us by road (mostly dirt, sometimes gravel, and always giant potholes) through Kisitown (the Kisi Tribe lives there),into the land of the Loowas (spelling?). 

We were all exhausted, and had headaches at the end of the ride, but after 6 hours, our heads banging the ceiling and the windows, we arrived in Homa Bay which sits right on the banks of Lake Victoria in Western Kenya.  The landscape is beautiful here as it is filled with rolling hills and mountains of tea plantations and villages scattered in every free corner as far as the eye can see.

After  eating dinner and resting on Friday night, we got up early on Saturday morning to attend the “Revival” meeting that was held in our honor.  We drove up a hillside in Homa Bay, through various dirt and gravel roads to the home of Pastor Denis, Mama Denis and the entire “New Haven Church community.”  We were greeted with open arms, a tour to see the needs of the community and THEN I PUT ON THE PREACHING SUIT as Pastor Peter described it.  At the end of the service, there was an alter call and we ended up praying for 50 people over the next hour. 

I have to tell you that the worship was like nothing we had ever witnessed and we found ourselves dancing (for a very long time), sweating (profusely…yes even Carrie) and longing for an extremely large bottle of water to consume in record time.

The presence of God is here as well.  We were a bit unprepared for the amount of need that exists in this little village.  Hundreds of orphans (we were given a list from 2 years ago and found that there are close to 200 orphans in this village.  Unlike GCF in Nairobi, there is a shortage of organized leadership here to take care of these orphans.  I believe they are doing the best they can, but the need seems to be getting greater due to parents dying to HIV/AIDS, Typhoid Fever, and Malaria (very curable with Medicine).  We left after day one, exhausted, overwhelmed, hot and disturbed by the needs before us.

The Kenya government has given some seed money for a medical clinic here.  They showed us the blueprints (of which only 10% was completed).  While we were touring the partially built clinic, a woman whose infant has malaria, rode up on a motorcycle (a piki piki) , and the leaders had to turn her away because there was no doctor there to help her.

Orphans

Widows

HIV AIDS, Malaria, Typhoid Fever.

Devastated.

To top that off, Pastor Peter arranged for us to visit an orphanage in the heart of Homa Bay.  The Director (Morris) showed us around and it was clear to me and the others that He has a heart of gold for the children he is caring for at the orphanage.  This was started in the 1960’s by Finland missionaries and the work continues today.  The average age of an orphan here is 3 years old and they try to place by age 4 with families who can care for these children in the community.  He appears to be successful at this, but admits that it hurts him when they “lose a child”. 

This little adventure to the orphanage really shook us up.  Carrie and Ryan really had a difficult time here.  Please pray for them that God would minister to them as they process what they saw here.

After stopping at an open air supermarket (dead fish with flies everywhere), we quietly made our way back to the hotel.  We all have a lot of processing to do.

Sunday morning brought another round of “REVIVAL.”  We ate Getheri (beans and corn), and had some fellowship with the area Pastors in Homa Bay.  Then the church service started.  It was a packed house with standing room only.  Worship was crazy great but very long…then Pastor Peter preached on giving, I “preached” on Micah 6:8, and then there were several church leaders who got up and spoke to thank us for our coming.  We again were asked to pray for people (probably over 100 today), and then everyone lined ups to shake our hands.  The needs of the community were brought up for prayer one last time and then we were escorted to the home of Mama Denis for lunch (Ric ate a fish head with the brain, eyes on Friday night…I forgot that one…come to think of it, he has been a little wittier since that night).

We just arrived back at the hotel to rest and we all took power naps for at least 2 hours.  Pray for Ryan…he might be getting Montezuma’s Revenge.  I hope he is ok. 

Tomorrow, we head back to Nairobi.  After everything we’ve seen in the rural area, we are ready to go back to Nairobi. 

Tomorrow night, I will be speaking to the leadership at GCF and talking about living out faith instead of just preaching about it on Sunday.  Our time here has opened doors for us to share candidly what it means to be a “go and do” church rather than a “come and see” church.  Pastor Peter is truly a great friend of ours now and he is faithful man of God who desperately wants to Challenge the congregation of GCF to live out their faith rather than just talking about it.

I will try to blog one last time before we head home tomorrow night.  I love all of you and hope that God will help me to communicate what things are like here in a way where you will get it.  Thank you all  for your unceasing prayers.  I know this is why God is opening our eyes to things that make his heart break.  We miss all of you and can’t wait to get home.

A Much Needed Break in Maasai Mara

After 5 days in Nairobi at GCF, we desperately needed to get out of the city and be with God.  I definitely understand when Jesus had to get away to be with his Father after being with the poor, sick, and hurting for days.  

We packed up our things and headed to Homa Bay for stage 2.  As we were sitting for lunch, Pastor Peter and our driver Martin recommended a break for us to take a day and enter the African Wildlife preserve called Maasai Mara.  I can honestly say that I have never witnessed God's creation and this beauty to this magnitude in my life (outside of the birth of my kids).   We spent most of Thursday night and Friday morning in the park.

We met the Maasai tribe of Africa who still live off of the land.  They are herdsman and provide meat for Kenya.  They live in huts made out of sticks and cow/goat poo, and they have multiple wives, circumcise their boys at 16 (tied to a stick in the middle of the cow pen) and then the circumcised boy must go and kill a lion in order to be considered a man in the tribe and be able to marry.  All I had to do was beg Joanne's Dad to let me marry her (at the time, I was freaked out).  We had an incredible time talking with the Maasai warriors.  They danced for us and we danced with them.  Well...if you call seeing who can jump higher dancing.  The kids played in cow/goat poop, were covered with flies, and didn't think anything about it.  They were filthy, but happy.   We also met the medicine man, who delivers all of the babies (most of which are his (without viagra I am assuming).  I asked how many of the children survive and I was told that some die before becoming men/women...mostly from Malaria, and the Maasai are used to that and it is expected.  Can't comprehend, but there is much about this continent that eludes my understanding.  

They were very hospitable to us and opened there homes to us (homes where goats sleep in the hut with them and they sleep on the poo.

After that, we left for the park.   I can't explain the majesty of this land to you.  But I will tell you this.  After 5 days in Nairobi, seeing and experiencing what we saw...Our hearts were numb, cold, and empty of all emotion.  We simply were broken open, poured out, and left laying in our own tears over the people of Kenya.

As we stood up in the safari van, letting the Serengeti wind blow in our faces and wash God's breath over us, we found ourselves coming back to life.  Breathing again, our eyes were open to what God has made.  Indeed, I see what God meant when He looked at all He had made and said that it is VERY GOOD.  He has such a sense of humor. 

We saw 2 sets of lions (one with a young male present).  We were only 10 feet away from them.  We saw my giraffe all over the place, a black rhino (which is the rarest citing in the park), along with hyenas, hippos, gazelle, Wildabeasts, Waterbuffalo, zebras, warthogs, crocodiles, elephants (all within feet of the van).  I am attaching pics for everyone to see.  These will never do justice to what you see when you are there in person, but hopefully you are blessed to see what we saw.  

I want to thank everyone for their prayers.  Please keep them coming.  God has us in His hands and we are refreshed and renewed and ready to take on Homa Bay now.  We arrived tonight (Friday Night) and found ourselves needing rest for the next 2 days as we will be visiting a well, an orphanage and I will be "preaching" (stop laughing) at least twice.  

OK...I love all of you.  Ryan, Carrie and Ric are all doing great (Ric makes all of us laugh...A LOT), and I am grateful to be on this with them.

We will be praying for all of you as well...I will write again tomorrow.

Nairobi - Day 5 (Light in a very Dark Place)

Each day I write to you, I feel like I have run out of words to explain to you what we have seen since we have been here.  Today I feel more like that than ever.  However, we made the suggestion to the leadership team at GCF to “Trust Us” and let us buy some water and juice (200) and give them away freely to the people of Kayole. 

Without any hesitation, they agreed.  We went to the store, spent 2000 Kenya Shillings and loaded up the van.  We drove to a busy “intersection” that was more like a crowded dump with people everywhere.  We got out of the van opened up the back and showed people the love of Christ in a practical way.  This concept was brand new to the people of Kayole and to our partners at GCF. 

So….I don’t want to fail with words so I thought I would just show you the pics.  Again (and I know I say this everyday), I have never experienced anything like this before in my life.  Tears turned to laughter, anger to joy, hopelessness to hope, rejection to acceptance,  and…how do you say it….LOVE WINS.

Besides Carrie almost getting mobbed in the back of the van, and a kid on inhalants taking our whole team for a journey through rapid fire talk and “say it, don’t spray it” mantras, we had a blast and so did the team from GCF.

We are on our way to Homa Bay in Eastern Kenya tomorrow and would love your prayers as we travel.  I will be blogless for a couple of days, but please don’t stop looking.  You never know when the next story will find its way across the pond.

I love all of you.  Thanks again for all you do and who you are.

Nairobi – Day 4 (Taking it to the Streets)

This day would be one of the most challenging for our eyes to see.   Yesterday, we spent the day around Great Commission Fellowship and got to spend plenty of time with the kids that are part of the school.   We knew however, in order to gain a better perspective of the crisis in Kayole (the village that GCF serves), we would need to go beyond the gates of the church and school into the streets.  Kayole houses ½ a million people in a 1 mile radius.  For comparison, there are 190,000 people living in the most crowded part of Cincinnati in a one mile radius.

WE WEREN’T PREPARED TO SEE THE THINGS WE SAW AND EXPERIENCED…

The day started with an impromtu dance with the baby class at GCF.  This was unadulterated childhood at its best as they came out and did several African school children classics.  We began the day with giant smiles on our faces and it’s a good thing because the rest of the day brought us the reality of daily life in Kayole.

We set out on foot from the school and soon found ourselves in buildings and houses that would be considered the worst slums in America.  Children were everywhere because the public school teacher in Nairobi are on strike.  All I can say is “there were children EVERYWHERE!” 

The housing can be anywhere from 1 to 4 stories tall where a mom and 3 kids might live in a room that is literally the size of a walk in closet in a house in America.  It was about 8X8.  Each floor of the complex had about 20 housing units and all of them shared a 2 toilet bathroom that was appalling and again the smell can’t be explained…the closest I can get is when your drains get clogged up and you have to use a snake (magnify that smell by 20 and that is everyday life in Kayole).

The contrast between the refuge of Great Commission Fellowship and the rest of Kayole’ is night and day.  The kids inside are happy, excited about learning, and their future.  The children in the streets of Kayole are fighting hunger everyday, going to the bathroom in the streets and letting it run through the open air, uncovered sewage system toward the Nairobi River.  This sewage ditch is usually rendered ineffective because it is littered with trash from the lack of sanitation in the city.  As a result, you have, basically, a dump being constructed as people survive.   The work set before Great Commission is HUGE.  The leadership and the people here are saints and they truly love what the world would call the unlovable. 

For the first time in my life, I see true AGAPE Love in the hearts of the leadership and teachers at GCF for a community that looks impossible to help because of the sheer number of poor people in the area.

They don’t see it that way though…they have dreams of being a lighthouse, a refuge, an oasis to this community.  Never do I see them doubt whether or not they could change this community from the inside out.  The level of respect that the community has for Pastor Peter, Joel, Justin, and of course Pastor Denis is something to be witnessed.  Because of their efforts, they have won over this community.   If you take this kind of proven leadership to the next level and resource it, you will truly see a “City on a Hill” in the midst of the worst poverty in the world.  They are helping me see their vision of True Religion.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this, to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.   James 1:27

I could go on writing about this, but I am truly shaken from this day.  THIS IS NOT OK!!!  NOONE SHOULD LIVE LIKE THIS!

I love all of you… thank you for your prayers and support while we are here.  Please know that when I get back, we have some work to do.

Nairobi Day 3 - Monday (At the School)

I am sitting in my bed, in a hostel in Nairobi, under my Mosquito net. In the dark…trying to figure out how to put words to this day.  As our trip continues, I find that each day shows me glimpses of God that I have never known.  As non-manly as this sounds, I cried at least twice today (once was a slight knot in the throat and a bit teary, if that increases the man factor at all).  Today was all about the kids.  We started our day at 9:00 am when Martin (our driver) picked us up from the hostel and took us to Great Commission Academy to tour the school and to see the land that we (VWS) purchased last year. 

We were able to go into the classrooms with every grade from the “baby class” as they call it all the way up to the 6^th grade class.  The school currently enrolls about 160 students.  As we went into the classrooms, I was overwhelmed by these children, the things they knew, their joy for learning, their pride in their accomplishments, and quite frankly the Spirit of God living in them.

In the baby class, the teacher was showing pictures of cookware and utensils on a poorly constructed chalkboard and having the student state what each shape was.   When they did well, the whole class sang a song and celebrated their accomplishent.  As one little girl got to the shape of a knife, Ryan clearly couldn’t stand the anticipation, so he shouted out in a loud, “KNIFE”  to which the teacher looked at him and told him to “let the student answer.”  Haaaa….busted! 

After the class visits with each grade level, we were given a tour.  The classrooms were overcrowded and in very poor condition.  Most of them get very hot when its hot and cold when its cold due to the fact that they are made out of wood and tin.  We also got to see the bathrooms that we paid for sitting there still needing a roof and interior finishing.  They were still inoperable so that they school of 160 students is still using 2 toilets.

Two very sweet ladies cooked the food and drinks for “tea time” and the kids came in one by one and took their food back to their classrooms.

After seeing the needs for expanded space, insulated classrooms, toilet constructions completion, painting, a scholarship program for kids who can’t pay school fees, and a place for the teachers to have a break once in a while (they work very hard with these kids and they love them deeply),  I was overwhelmed and knew that this could be fixed easily.

We were then wisked away to the church “auditorium” really an open air assembly area where each grade performed a song from their music class for us as their “special guests.”  We heard songs about how much Jesus loves them and who they are in Jesus.  We also heard songs that were used to teach them about HIV/AIDS and a song entitled “Diseases.”  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but it makes sense when you stop and remember that many of these children have lost their parents to AIDS…many of them recently.

The day ended with a meal amongst Pastor Peter, Pastor Jo-el, Martin, Ryan, Ric and myself.  We sat and dreamed about the “City on a Hill” that God is building through GCF and VWS.  We talked about what they needed, what we needed, and how with each others help, we would be a light to the world through our ministries. 

I LOVE THIS PLACE…AND I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!  It is really as simple as that.  God is here!

Tomorrow, we interview the staff, conduct a water outreach in the heart of the community that surrounds the school, and hang out with families in the neighborhood.  Man…can it get any better than this? 

I am such a rich man who can see more clearly each day what the “Kingdom of God” looks like.