Great Video

This is a link to a video that Corey Koon made from the footage that was taken in Kenya. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=q6uXH2AMjTc

Possibly Last the Post

Hey all,

            I apologize about not posting anything for such a long time, but we have been quite busy lately and the internet was so slow the last time we went to the café that I did not get anything posted. Life here continues to go well. We did have a bit of a hiccup in the last couple days as everyone on the team, except three members, got sick. We think it was some sort of food poisoning. However, God has been gracious and we are all on the recovering end of it now. We are grateful for God’s timing in our sickness because it would have been annoying to get sick in the last week as we were saying goodbyes. The end of our time here is rushing towards us very quickly as we will be leaving in under two weeks from now. That may not seem like so short of a time, but most things we only do once or twice a week, so we only have one or two more days to do those things, like church in Kibera for example. If you would, be praying that we will be able to focus on the work that is before us and not get too distracted by the prospect of going home. For me personally, the excitement of being able to see Hannah and my family has been hard to keep from my mind, especially after being sick in a foreign country. However, the idea of saying goodbye and possibly not seeing many good friends ever again is very sad as well. We are so grateful for the relationships that God has cultivated between us and our brothers and sisters here in Kenya.

            Every Monday we help with construction on the girl’s home at the compound where we stay. The work is refreshing as it is the only day where we get to do manual labor consistently and as a farm kid that is something I miss. Also, the workers are some of the people that I have grown closest to in my time here. There is one big difference between work in Kenya and that in the states and that is that everything is done by hand. We dig the foundation, mix the mortar, move the bricks, stack the bricks and everything else all by hand. One job that we had to do was move all the dirt from the foundation hole to the fence line of the property, which is a trek made through waist high grass on not-so-smooth terrain. While working on this task, I was reminded of Christ’s teaching that if we had the faith of a mustard seed we could move mountains (Matt 17:21). Well, what am I missing out on that I couldn’t just have that pile of dirt moved by faith? To answer that question it is good to look at the book of Nehemiah. In Nehemiah we see the nation of Israel exiled and the wall Jerusalem destroyed. When Nehemiah learns of the destruction of Jerusalem, he returns to the city and rebuilds the wall, with the help of other exiles that have returned, in an astonishing 52 days (Neh 6:15). Regardless of this feat it still is something that was done with much toil and sweat and work done by human hands, or just one hand (Neh 4:17). The reason some worked with one hand was so that they could be ready to defend themselves from the enemies that surrounded them. God was perfectly capable of assembling a wall or defeating but he chose to have his people complete the task by the toil of their hands. Did this mean that Nehemiah lacked faith? Certainly not. He had tremendous faith and we see that by the way that he relies on the Lord for the strength to complete the task at hand (Neh 6:9). Likewise, we should look to the Lord for our daily strength (Isa 40:31) and realize that even if God does not choose to work through us in a miraculous way, that does not mean that we lack faith or that He is not working through us. Rather, God is choosing to use the gifts and abilities that He has given us to bring glory to Him. Remember that everything we do for and give to the Lord is only by that which He has given us (1 Chr 29:14). God is working out His will for His kingdom, of which we are a part. It started before we were born and will continue after we die (John 4:38). Therefore, trust in the Lord and rely on Him for everything as we move mountains for His glory…one scoopful at a time.

            

No Pot, No Chai

Good day all! Our time in Kenya is now over half-way done. It is hard to imagine that so much time has gone by. God has taught me such a variety of things that I don’t even know how to begin to describe. On Mondays we always work on the compound here in Kiserian and though it is impossible to call one of the days a “favorite” it is probably the day that is most enjoyable and refreshing because of the workers that we get to do construction with because we are able to talk to them in our down time. Today one of the workers actually asked me when I would be coming back to Kenya because he said that he would miss me very much, which made my day to hear. Unfortunately, going to Kenya takes a bit more than pocket change, so I told him I did not know when I would be able to come back, or if I would be able to at all.

The other highlight of lately was involved with the house visits we have been doing in Kibera on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. One lady we visited on Tuesday who had been going to church, but stopped going when she left Kibera for a short time invited us into her house openly and allowed us to encourage her. She was very open to the invitation to start going to the church once again, so much so that she asked us to speak with her neighbor, who was involved in a religion that looked like it combined Catholicism and some sort of local religion. That following Sunday we were about ready to leave church and we noticed that the first lady we visited was just about to leave church as well, unfortunately, her neighbor was not in church with her, but we praise God that she was able to come to church once again.

We actually have a couple visitors from the U.S. this week. One of which is Opal from MTW who has been coming to Kenya for many years and has also visited many intern groups. She could not believe how well things have gone for us as a team, but we can only point to God for that. He alone is the reason that things have gone so well and we pray that he will continue to keep his hand of guidance on us. I do have one prayer request though. I have been fighting a cough for about a week now and since I am susceptible to bronchitis I am thinking that it might end up settling in my lungs. Please pray that will not happen so that I may have physical energy during my time here. Thank you so much for your prayers throughout the duration of this trip. Some people may be wondering if I am homesick at all. That has become a weird dichotomy for me. Every day I spend here I come to love the people and the culture more and more. However, at the same time, I long for going home to see family, friends and most of all Hannah more and more every day as well. It is a strange mixture of emotions for me. Thank you to all those who have sent words of encouragement, even though I don’t respond, I appreciate it very much.  

Why Go Far?

Well, we have now been in Kenya for three weeks and it has been quite a time. God has been gracious and people have been staying pretty healthy. Two of my team members, Jacob and Rachel, have picked up a bit of cough, so if you could hold them up in prayer that would be wonderful. This week was the week that Pastor Imbumi told us that we would “fall like dominoes” because we started to go out into the community of Kibera. By God’s grace we have not fallen, but I must admit that after two days of visiting people in the community, I was thoroughly exhausted emotionally. On Tuesday we visited a woman who was in the AIDS support group and her husband who is almost blind form Meningitis. I really don’t know how to describe the size of their house...probably the best way of saying it would be that the largest bathroom in our house is significantly larger than their entire house. It was amazing to talk to the husband and hear him say that he could not come to church because sometimes he falls into the ditches in Kibera and can’t get out because his legs are very poor, but he is hoping that he will regain strength so that he can come to church again. We will continue to visit him and his wife for the remainder of our time here. This coming Saturday we are going to be doing vacation Bible school in Kibera, which we are expecting 200-300 kids for, so that will be a nice case of insanity. Also, I am preparing to preach the sermon on Sunday. I will be preaching on James 1:22-25, talking about knowing and applying God’s Word, expounding on the Law of Liberty and bringing it back to the Gospel. Christ’s temptation in the wilderness, the parable of the sower and the sermon on the mount are some of the texts that I will be using for expanding upon. Please pray that the VBS will be beneficial for the children, as well as fun, and that God will open my mouth to speak his Word on Sunday. Hope all is well state-side!

God is Faithful

Hello everyone,

Things in Kenya continue to go very well. We are continually blessed by the people that we encounter here, so much so that I feel like I am the one being served and they are the servants. However, by God’s grace, we have been able to be a part of many good things that, I believe, have been glorifying to our Father. It is very difficult to begin to describe all that is going on here or the emotions that come with those experiences, so I will just relate a story of God’s faithfulness that we were able to witness while being here.

At the church that we go to in Kibera there are many children. In fact, the majority of the congregation is children and many do not come to church with their parents; they simply come, which has boggled my American mind. Two of these children are named Alfonz and Wilkens (I hope that I spelled their names right). Wilkens comes from a home in Kibera where his stepmother is very abusive. Child abuse in Kibera, both physical and sexual, is unfortunately common in Kibera and it leads to a plethora of problems. One day, Wilkens could not take the abuse any longer, so he decided with Alfonz to try to get from Kibera to the compound where our intern team was staying. Our compound is located outside Kisiera (once again, pardon my spelling errors). The boys made it all the way to Kisiera and then lost their way. Please bear in mind that these kids are only nine years old and the distance from Kibera to Kisiera is just shy of 20 miles! At that point they were picked up by the police and held till the parents came to pick them up. By the time we arrived, Alfonz had already been taken back to Kibera, but Wilkens parents did not come by the time we arrived. We would have taken Wilkens back to the compound with us, but custody belongs to the parents, so we were unable to take him back with us for the night. He stayed overnight at a shelter for children and apparently was absolutely loved by the workers and other children there. They actually said that they were sad to see him leave. The father came to pick up Wilkens the next day, but they would not give up Wilkens without the stepmother there and she was not willing to come. So, through a bunch of work by the Pastor, his wife and other members of the congregation, custody has been obtained for Wilkens. He is now is part of the Pastor’s family and will be dearly loved, receive an education and grow up freed from the bonds of Kibera slum. God is so good! We have been able to see him the past two days and he is a wonderful child. I am excited for what God will do in his life! 

First Week!

Hello all!

It is officially the week-iversary of our internship here in Kenya. Everything has gone very smoothly thus far and we have begun to have a bit of routine. We have done a variety of jobs so far and learned an incredible amount from the people here. Kenya is a beautiful country with warm and welcoming people, especially in the church community. We have gone to the Kibera slum a couple times already, once for church and another time to help with teaching classes and to assist at an AIDS support group in the church in Kibera. The worship at the Kibera church is incredible and very humbling as we consider the challenges that the people of Kibera face. I really do not know how to describe it. Besides going to Kibera, we have also been to a girls’ home for girls who have been taken out of really bad, usually very abusive situations. The girls there are really fun to be around and have a great sense of humor as they continuously laugh with, or usually at, us interns. We also have been able to help with some construction and landscaping around the compound where we are staying, which has been a nice way to be of service to the people that we are living with. Usually, it feels like the people are serving us because of their open hearts and hospitality. Please continue to keep the team in your prayers as we are starting to see some very challenging sites when we interact with the children of Kibera and other communities and come to know there stories. Also, please pray for the church in Kibera as the people seek to bring God’s Word to the people there. 

This blog is created for the sake of those who wish to follow what I am doing during my internship with MTW in Nairobi Kenya. I will be posting updates with stories and photographs. Thank you all who are supporting me through prayer or financial means.