Kenyan Pineapples Are Delicious

...It has been so difficult to put down into narrative all that has been happening. So, for my faithful readers and prayers, I will do what I can to keep you updated. The past couple weeks have seen the same schedule as before. We spent last week in Muthiga, doing work on the land and playing with children in the afternoon. Our pit latrine has reached about seventeen feet deep and is becoming more and more frightening to climb down into. We did do something special: we spent an afternoon visiting houses around the slum, sharing Bible verses, praying, and encouraging those we met. Some were already believers, and our visit focused on encouragement and fellowship. Others were not. There is a fierce on honesty in Kenya that pervades its people, and some that we met were sincere in telling that Jesus means nothing—and has nothing—for them. We shared verses and asked questions of them, and basically laid out the gospel as best we knew. But you find in situations like that, all you can do is pray, pray under your breath that God will speak, God will come shine through, and that regardless of what I say, a seed will be planted. And so we press on, spreading the gospel as accurately and lovingly as possible, pushing on the rock, asking God to move it.
Saturday, we had a fourth of July party at the girls home! What a great time, those kids are the highlight of our week. We prepared bbq chicken, potato salad, and jello to exemplify an American 4th celebration, and with a loud (and off-key) rendition of “America the Beautiful” I think they got the entire experience.
This week we will be back in Kibera, teaching and helping as we can in the school there. Here are some things you can pray for:

-The people of Muthiga, that the believers will be encouraged, and the non-believers will be saved
-The girls of Shunam (girls home), that they will continue to love each other with that love that Christ showed us
-Our team member Josh’s friend Sam, who was critically wounded in Iraq recently
-Me, as I prepare to preach in church on Sunday

Mungu akubariki!

Your Hands and Feet Are Mangos...

So many things! Apologies for not updating, the time has come for some news from the East. Our schedule has changed greatly: All of this week we are working in Muthiga, a very rural, beautiful slum far outside of the city. The morning hours have been spent digging holes, plowing, and weed-pulling on a spot of property that the church in Muthiga owns. They are planning on putting a school up, which will be a wonderful asset to the children of Muthiga, being that the closest school is a 2km walk, and so most children do not attend. We rest in the shade of a mango tree that sits in the middle of the lot, and often find chameleons crawling its low branches. In the afternoons, we have bible club in the slum, much a like a vacation bible school meeting. This has proved to be by far the most tiring work: the kids have decided that much like a jungle-gym that has legs, we are to be climbed are wrestled until we are face first on the ground. But it’s rewarding, the children love attention, and though we can barely communicate and must have a translator, we enjoy it as well.
We had a visit from a new friend recently: A monkey found its way to our avocado tree, and has been spotted pulling the fruit and eating it. We set out some fruit, and hope that we’ll see it again.
Well, off to Muthiga.

Marinatin'

All has become so second nature so quickly. The slow pace of the country has marinated in to the team, and we are enjoying long mornings, slow nights, and lots of hot chai with the locals. In the Kibera school I have been assisting a teacher with her third grade class, teaching English and maths. Last Wednesday around 10:30, the class bell rung, and I, as I am naturally inclined, hopped up and was immediately ready to venture off to my classroom to help students with additions (4 digits). However, my Teacher had noticed that I had only finished half a cup of tea, and told me that if I am to be Kenyan, I need to finish at least two cups before I could go to class. We had a good laugh about it, yet she still insisted that I sit and enjoy the hot drink while she sent the students in one by one for me to look over their work. We were told at Pre-Field training that in the mere two months we have in Kenya, we will only barely begin to break the surface into understanding the Kenyan way of life. How true. But all is still so exciting! We have begun work on developing a plot of land that the church has purchased out in the Ngong hills: 20 acres of green grassland that needs to be fenced in by Thursday! We have so far only dug holes—dozens and dozens of holes—for the fence posts to be set in. How fun could that be? Fun. Uberfun. Like digging holes on the set of the Lion King. And Pastor Makuku’s plans for the land only make us want to work faster: A new girls home for orphaned children, a retreat house for the children of Kibera, gardens to feed the hundreds of expected children that will come to worship and learn about the lord, a new guest house for interns like myself, and many more. Pastor knows so much about the people of Kenya, and has a remarkably heavy heart for them. I look forward to working close by him and his team for the next few weeks, watching the unusual ways the Kenyans worship my same God, listening to them pray in their native languages about thins I have never considered, and of course, marinating in slow pace of Kenya time. We have a familiar saying about Pastor, “A Pastor is never late, nor is he early…he arrives precisely when he means to.”

Kwaheri

Week 1

Arrived in Kenya! After a three day training session at Ridge Haven North Carolina, and a two day flight plan spanning three continents, our team is safely in Nairobi. Pastor Imbumi Makuku picked us up from the airport around 10pm Kenya time on Saturday night, and we took the long, dusty Langata road to Subiaco, a convent in Karen, south of Nairobi, which will be our home for the next two months. Sunday we woke with the sun—not because of our energy to start the day, but because of a rooster that so kindly decided to make it’s morning warblings right outside of our window! Around 11 Pastor Makuku picked us up and took us back to the city for Church at Kibera Reformed Presbyterian Church. Seeing Kibera, a square-mile home to thousands of rickety makeshift huts, was stirring. I was shaken by the poverty; Millions of people lined the mud and garbage filled path that led to the church. We were greeted warmly by some, cautiously watched by others. I have heard that MTW’s missionaries are the only white people that the people in this area of the slum have ever seen, as most humanitarians visit the opposite end, which was the set for the Nicolas Cage film, “The Constant Gardener.” I wish any who read this the opportunity to worship with our brothers and sisters at Pastor’s church: in a small mud and stone building, not much larger than an average classroom, atleast a hundred and fifty people sing praises and read scripture in their native tongue of Swahili. I have never seen such joy, and in their condition! For all of the pain that the residents of Kibera feel, the weight of their struggle daily to simply survive, they still are convinced in the love of Christ Jesus. That says a lot about God’s ability to work in a man, and about those of us who, despite our affluence and comfort, are still unimpressed by the Christian God. The most amazing thing about the church, is that atleast a hundred of its members are children. Many children, who have been left by their parents at a young age, or simply have parents that do not believe what they do, come to the church every day to learn, and sing at the top of their lungs on Sundays. The population of adults is small in the church, which is expected considering the church is only seven years old. Pastor envisions it as an investment: Imagine what the church community will be like in ten years, when the hundred plus children are all young adults. We are praying that they will grow and mature in their love for Christ, and when they come of age, that the Lord will use them mightly in extending the reach of the church in Kibera to bring in new people to the peace that is the one true God. This vision tells the other interns and I what we really are here for: It’s not about our ability (ha!) to save souls, it’s not about our ability even as Americans to provide better medical or social care. It is about encouragement. The church has wonderful Pastors who love their congregation, and a thriving body of young believers who are new to Christianity. All that the Church truly needs it has, and so we are here to encourage those young believers that there are people all over the world that are praying for them. They are not alone. That is to say, however, that encouragement comes with a lot of work: Today is Kenya’s Independence day, and so we will celebrate with the locals. Yet tomorrow the work begins: Building, praying, teaching English, leading studies, tutoring—all yet to come in the next few days. I ask for your prayers and thoughts for our team, and for Pastor Imbumi and his church. I hope I will be able to post pictures soon, but the convent computers are rather slow! God Bless all of you!
Bwana asifiwe baba mungu,
George

Let this be a place you can come to to check out what Mission to the World is up to in Kenya. Hey, you can even stay updated on me while I'm there. I'll be dropping in with stories, events, and most importantly prayer requests for myself, the team, and the Kenyan Church. Well ok. Let the bloggage begin!


If you need any info on the ministry, well then mosey on down here: http://www.streetchildinternational.org/kenya.asp

In Him,
GH