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Friday, December 7, 2007

A Muslim on the roadside and finding life in abundance...


Yesterday I had the opportunity to go back in to Jangwani and do some home visits. I took the American LIA interns with me, which was great. We first went and met Faith and her mother Immaculate at their home. It was a joy to be with them - their home is one I visit every time I am in Kenya. We then visited Mama Naftali, Mama Mwendwe and ended at Sarah's home and visited her mother for a bit. We carried some food to each of the homes.

It is an incredibly humbling experience each time I visit each child's home, because they live with so little, and don't always have a bed, but they have found joy in things beyond what I know. While doing the home visits we ran into some of the other children - Christopher, Diana, another Diana, Agnes, Njeri, Mercy and Sammy. Consolata and Bella (two of the main staff with the project) have such a love for the people of the area and were a pleasure to be with once again.


We then traveled (which took forever might I add) to the Methodist Guesthouse on the other side of town. LIA was having an end of the year party, as well as a send off for the Interns. It was a joy to be around the LIA staff and volunteers. I had conversations with Dr. Muhudhia, Nancy, Muema, Bukachi, Ken and others and I had one thought at the end of the time - These people are living out what their organization stands for. They are living life abundantly and helping others to do so as well. They have found that John 10:10 has more depth than the wealth of this world - the abundant life that is described is simply living in the knowledge and understanding of the grace of God and pursuing a life that reflects that grace that God has bestowed upon us. It was just a great experience, and was another affirming moment as to why I have partnered with such a wonderful organization.

Lastly, I had an interesting experience on my way home. I left the guesthouse to get a matatu to go to Anne and Chege's for dinner. As I was waiting with a number of Kenyans at the bus stop, a man in an old Mercedes pulled up and told me to come to the window. He asked if I would like a ride. At first I was slightly hesitant because this is not something that happens very often, but then I said yes.

The man had a slightly Arabic/Indian look to him, so my first thoughts unfortunately were, I wonder if he wants to chew me out for being an American and how terrible my country was. Rather he asked where I was going and I told him, and he asked if I knew my way around and I told him, yes that I had lived here for a year. He told me that whenever he sees a westerner or Asian on the roadside he generally asks if they need a ride because he figures they are lost. He told me he was a 4th generation Pakistani Kenyan. His great grandparents had come to Kenya to work on the railroad from Mombasa to Nairobi. They now own a butchery in an area of Nairobi called Hurlingham.

I noticed a small porcelain object on his dashboard. It was in the shape of hands holding a book that had Arabic written on it. I asked him what it was and he said it was praying hands holding the Koran opened to a page reminding him to pray. We talked a bit more then he dropped me off. I add this to the blog for this reason...in a world where we hear about so much hate, about bombs blowing up people, about the war on terror and the hate between Christians and Muslims, I had the opportunity to experience a completely different side. My Muslim brother (although I don't agree with his beliefs) out of kindness offered me a ride, and then we sat together in conversation for a bit and headed our own separate ways. Things like that, unfortunately don't get on the news - it is only people committing heinous acts. So, that was my Thursday.



One thing I have forgotten to add - we've had a sad moment at the project. One of the little boys, Elvis who is 4 years old, just lost his mother 2 days ago to pneumonia - it is unclear whether HIV/AIDS or TB had anything to do with it. I have his picture here so you can be praying for Elvis. Thanks...

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Hello Mr. Administration...

I've had a quick reminder of the "holistic" nature of this project - not necessarily the direct holistic approach of different aspects of the project, but rather the highs of last week with the children, to the mundane/eye burning nature of the administrative work that is required by such a project. I have sat behind the computer much of the last few days - restructuring our budget according to the recent Management/Executive Committee meetings we have had.

The budget is now complete in US dollars and Kenya Shillings, and has been given to Nancy, the LIA Kenya accountant to be in place for next year. Some difficulty has come to stay within budget, not because of extra costs, but because of the failing US Dollar within the global community. Nevertheless, I believe we have come to a good place, and we have a bit of a buffer in case George Washington and Ben Franklin continue to plummet.

I now have some flat mates, interns from the US through Southeast Christian Church in Louisville who have been working with LIA. They returned from Ethiopia yesterday. So, it's been good to get to know them a bit and hear about their experiences in Kenya and Ethiopia.

I also had the chance to return to Mavuno Church this past weekend and reunite with some old friends. When I get small blocks of time I have tried to get together with friends. My time in Kenya is gradually coming to a close, but I still have a few things to do before leaving. On Thursday I am going to take the interns and a visiting member from the LIA-U.S. board to Jangwani to do some home visits with some of the kids parents.

I am doing well and very encouraged by this visit, and anxious to get back and get more funds raised and committed to the project. Thank you for the continued prayers. Again, I am blessed to be a part of such an amazing work that God is doing.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

3 days of encouragement and joy in Jangwani...





















Hello everyone...Its been such a busy week, and I'm beat, but God is so, so good. I have spent the last 3 days in Jangwani spending as much time as possible with the children. What an incredible, incredible blessing it is to be around such children - I just love them, and can't get enough of them.


Monday I spent all day in Jangwani with the teachers, children, Consolata and Pastor Isaiah. It was a real joy to see what the kids had learned and just to have the chance to play with them and see all of the progress made - including 2 new classrooms (5 total now), a new office and a new kitchen area. In the evening I had a meeting with Pastor Bob (my representative on the management committee), Muema, and Bukachi (the LIA Deputy Country Director).

The next day I went in early to spend time with the children, then we had a 7 hour meeting with the management committee to hear reports, then discuss going forward - a bit wearing to say the least, but it was a good time of assessment and looking forward.

Today was definitely one of the highlight days for me, and I am getting a knot in my chest and teary eyed as I sit here typing about it. It was closing day for the school - so there was an end year program for the school and all of the parents were invited. Anne, my Kenyan mother joined me in Jangwani to see the project for the first time and was so excited about it. The kids were presented with their grades for the year, and the top ones in the class received a small gift. Each child recieved a piece of candy and their own personal photograph (which I had taken of each child in May.) They were so excited about it. I sat in that program in awe of what had happened in the past year.

Pastor Isaiah asked me to give a brief speech. As I stood up and began speaking to the parents, I looked down at the children and looked into their eyes, and at their smiles and was thinking to myself what an incredible amount of potential there is in these children. What an incredible amount of hope there is because of each of these children. It was just a beautiful scene. I was looking out at the parents then and saw pride - as each child received their end year marks, the parents were so proud. I saw wide smiles on the parents' faces as I spoke - I have been accepted. After the program was over, the kids were hugging me and wanting me to take their picture - a smaller group of kids stayed for an hour after school was over. I swung them around on my arms, they sat on my knee and we made funny faces at each other. It was very hard to leave Jangwani today - I will be back next week, but the kids are out of school now and I won't see them until next year.

One other thing that I was able to see briefly was a particular aspect of the homebased care program. Those in the homebased care program have taken the initiative to start making beautiful floor mats and jewelry (which I will be bringing home to sell to help them out). It has been a very neat aspect of the project. I am looking forward to seeing what happens through this.

I am so happy, encouraged, extatic - put in any positive word you want. I am so blessed to be involved with this project. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to raise the funds and awareness about this project - to enable others to know about these remarkable children. Praise be to Jesus Christ, who is the author and perfector of all things good!

Monday, November 26, 2007

Back in Kenya...

Hello everyone! I arrived in Kenya yesterday. I left on Friday from Newark, NJ and arrived in London, England Saturday morning. I had a 10 hour layover, so I met a couple of friends, Mercy and Tim, who live in the UK and we spent the day walking around London to all of the various sites. From there I Had a second overnight flight from London to Nairobi. I arrived at 7 am Kenyan time. Bob and Yoland were there to pick me up and when I got to there house I laid down around 9 and didn't wake up until 4:30.

It's really good to be back in Kenya, to see everyone and just be back to my second home. I head into Mathare tomorrow to spend some time with the kids at the project. Then Wednesday we have a committee meeting to assess this past year and look forward at the year to come. So, that's it for now. Will write again soon. Cheers...

Monday, November 5, 2007

Myrtle Beach, SC

Yesterday I spoke at Celebration Presbyterian Church in Myrtle Beach, SC. things went well and I had a good response afterward. A decent number of people took information on the project, so that was good. A highlight for me was getting the chance to be back with Gary Lowe, a former youth pastor at my home church in Grove City. It was great getting to see he and his wife Lisa and their kids, Carter and Sarah Jane.

I head to Atlanta, GA this morning to meet up with "Shack" and his family (one of my dad's friends from Westminster). I will meet with a foundation tomorrow at 4 pm, so for the few of you that read this, please keep me in your prayers at that time. Well, I need to get on the road. Cheers!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Up and coming in the life of Adam...

I figured I would give people an idea of what is going on with me, so you can be praying fo things specifically, but also just have an idea of what I'm up to. So, here it goes...Saturday, November 3 I will be driving down to Myrtle Beach, SC. I am preaching at 2 services Sunday at my old youth pastor's church. Then Monday morning I will be driving to Atlanta, GA. I will be meeting with a foundation in Atlanta either Monday or Tuesday and staying with one of my dad's college buddies.

From experience I am guessing you are ready for a new paragraph...Tuesday night I head to Rome, GA to meet up with the Carvers. I will be staying with them, then speaking at their church Wednesday night. Thursday morning I head to Nashville to stay with my sister, brother in law and niece (oh and Bailey, can't leave him out). Friday morning I drive up to Louisville, KY and will be in a number of meetings. There is a National Medical Missions Conference at Southeast Christian Church, whom we have partnered with on the project. Saturday morning I will drive from Louisville back to my new home of West Chester, PA.

New paragraph - It will be a busy time. I would ask that you pray for God's hand to be upon me as I travel and as I speak - that I would represent the Kenya Children Project well.

So, a few meetings that following week in the Philadelphia area, then I head to Kenya the day after Thanksgiving. I will be meeting with the Management Committee so we can discuss what has gone well, what hasn't and any changes we need to make to the original budget.

By the way things are going incredibly well in Kenya. They are doing an absolutely amazing job! So, that is it for now - I will try to be more regular with my blogging, and pop in some of the kids stories when I can. Cheers!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

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An extension...

Hello, this website is simply an extension of www.matharechildren.com. I will try to keep this blog site up to date with what is going on with me personally - in terms of my fundraising efforts, travels and will present different prayer requests for both the project and myself. I will also try to highlight some of the kids from the project and their stories. Hope you enjoy...