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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

"so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.." Psalms 145:12

As some of you know the Kenya Children Project is just the beginning. Throughout these three years it has been a privilege to be partnered with Life in Abundance International. They have been a blessing as they have served as a conduit for funding, as well as accountability, and have served in an advisory role. We have been blessed by the relationship, and I feel fortunate to have been involved with them. Without them, the KCP would have never happened, and I never would have been able to ease my way into the Mathare community.

With that said, we have come to the end of our 3 year partnership. As of January 1, 2010, LIA will no longer be accepting donations for the KCP. In discussions with my co-workers and friends in Nairobi, we decided that it would be wise to replicate the model we have used in the KCP. We also recognized that we have only touched a tiny portion of the Mathare community - Jangwani is comprised of roughly 20,000 people and Mathare as a whole is 600,000+. Therefore, we have a passion to reach out to the rest of Mathare one small community at a time, initiating and developing holistic education projects through the church, and leaving them in a place of self sustainability. We can then move on to new communities once the work in Mathare is brought to completion. Therefore, we have formed a new organization, eduKenya to do this. eduKenya will basically take on the model used by the KCP and tweak it slightly in areas which it was weak to make it an even more effective model.

We will go into communities through the church, and will do as we have done with the KCP - develop a school program, skill training and micro loan programs and home based care programs and help create self sustainability. We have already been approached by a number of churches in Mathare to come and partner with them. So, we will take the next year to develop a relationship with the new church that we are led to.

Additionally 2010 will see us continue in our relationship with the Believers Centre Mathare Church, as eduKenya will add one more year to the KCP. Financially, we are not in a place to leave the KCP self sustainable, and from a management perspective there is still a bit of work to do with the Believers Centre. Therefore we have added one more year to the project.

eduKenya is founded by myself and Pastor Bob Kikuyu. This is very much a Kenyan organization, and therefore our board is made up of 4 Kenyans and 3 Americans. We would like to ask for your prayers...a lot of prayers. We have incorporated in the state of Pennsylvania as a non-profit, and have completed all of the forms we must submit to the IRS and the Federal Government to receive 501 c3 status, which makes us a tax exempt organization. We need this process to move quickly, and when calling the IRS the other day, I found out they are backed up, still working on June applications. So, please pray that God would act in a mighty way and streamline the process for us, so we are able to continue the work that He has placed before us. For any more information on this transition, you can contact me at 724 992 8609 or email adam@edukenya.org or bob@edukenya.org, for Pastor Bob. Our website which will be up in the next couple of months will be www.edukenya.org. There is currently a holder page there.

We look forward to see what the future holds for eduKenya, and God's work in Kenya and here in the US. Blessings on each of you in this holiday season. While Christmas is a festive holiday, we remember the symbolic celebration of Christ's birth, and the purpose his life gives to each of us.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Coming and Going...

I'm sitting here at Apt C7 at Gemina Court in Nairobi, waiting for my friend Davey to come pick me to take me to the Cheges before heading to the airport. I realize, many of you have no idea who I am talking about, but all names mentioned are very dear friends here in Kenya. I have been in Nairobi for nearly a month, and have found little time to post something on here, though a significant amount has gone on.

The first thing being my sister Emilie and brother in law Josh came for a visit in early November. It was a real blessing to have them here. They had the opportunity to see the project, interact with my friends and go on safari. I have been and continue to be incredibly blessed to find the support of my family in the work we have been doing in Kenya.

Well...that was Dec. 2, and now I am sitting in suburban Philadelphia back in the United States, with thoughts still lingering from my recent trip.

To update you on a few things that were the most recent blog items...I am so excited to share with you that Safari, while he has been in and out of the hospital, is doing quite well, and will actually be joining the school January '10. I cannot tell you how excited that makes me - I have had the opportunity to see the transformational power of God in Safari's life. In addition, his mother has become very involved, and is now part of our home based care program. She is taking initiative to care for her children and herself.

Mwikali, the young girl who had such bad burns, was back at school this time when I arrived. She is fully healed...what a joy it was to see her running around with the other children, not suffering in pain...

Those are a couple of the joys... In Jangwani though, generally joys are accompanied by sorrow...Mercy, one of the little girls in Class 1, who lost her father last year, lost her mother in late October. Her grandmother has taken her in. Keep Mercy in your prayers...

One of the greatest joys, possibly of my lifetime, and I do not exaggerate when I say that was being at the school this year for the end of the year program and graduation...

As I sit here recalling the events in my mind I am absolutely overwhelmed with emotion by it all. As many of you were celebrating the American holiday of Thanksgiving, I was experiencing my own Kenyan version of thanksgiving the same day. It was that day we had the end of the year program and graduation. When I am in Kenya, I rarely wear anything other than t shirts and jeans or very casual button down shirts. For graduation, I wore the nicest clothes I had with me- khakis and a button down shirt and loafers. The graduation was at a church hall next to the slum, as our numbers were too many to have it in our own compound. So, when I arrived and walked into the church hall where the event was held, I was totally put to shame by the parents of the children. They were completely decked out in dresses, traditional garb and nice trousers and dress shirts. There was no hint of a slum that day, just dignified people with pride in their eyes as they watched their children.

I sat down at a table at the front of the room with Pastor Bob (my representative on the exec. committee), Muema (representing Life in Abundance), Pastor Isaiah (Believers Centre Mathare Church), and Anne Chege (trustee for the KCP). Esther, one of our teachers led worship with great vibrancy, and the support of joyful yelps and clapping from all in attendance. Then the students who were involved in scouts did a performance. Then, each class did a performance: Baby Class (3-4 yr olds) recited scripture memory in English and a poem in Swahili; Nursery Class (4-5 yr olds) recited a poem in English; Pre-Unit (5-6 yr olds) recited scripture memory, a poem and individuals recited the role of different prophets in the Bible all in English; Class 1 (6-7 yr olds) recited scripture memory and performed a short play in English about the Birth of Jesus; Class 2 (7-8 yr olds) recited a 2 minute long social justice poem in English and then performed a song and dance.

The Pre-Unit class wore graduation robes and hats, as they were graduating from pre-primary to primary school. Right now we have 120 children in the school, with the expectation of 150 in January. We had roughly 100-125 parents and guardians show up for the event. Awards were handed out to the children receiving top marks in the school, but also to those who were the most active, the cleanest (to encourage parents to take good care of their children), as well as an award going out to the top teacher. Our head teacher/principal, Faith did a fantastic job of organizing and running the event.

Pastor Bob, was the guest of honor and was asked to share a few words. He spoke to the parents encouraging them in what they have done for their children, but also challenging them to provide for their children. He referenced Obama, saying that there could be a president in this group of children, or a musician, an athlete or entrepreneur. The police chief for our area also showed up and shared a few words. She said how excited she was to know that there was a place doing such good things in Jangwani with all of the bad there is around, and that it always brought a smile to her face when she saw one of the little red uniforms walking by her office in the morning on the way to school. She also called out parents about being better examples for the children and not drinking and doing drugs. She too spoke of the potential of the children, and the possibilities that are ahead of them. Then, we had a time of more singing and dancing, as Teacher Joyce played the goat skin drum. I was pulled up on three occasions to show off my dancing skills, I passed (with a C, but I still passed, haha).

As I sat there and looked out over the crowd of parents, dressed to the nines, and looked at our children as they performed I couldn't keep from feeling immense pride and joy at the work God has done in the last 3 years and what He will continue to do. Seeing the children in class two, the ones that were there from the first day I stepped foot in Jangwani, and thinking about their situation then and now, I had to fight back tears. I am absolutely overwhelmed by God's grace and provision. He asked us to step out on a limb in 2006, and at the end of 2009, I can't imagine what life, mine and theirs, would be like without having been obedient at that point. This whole experience has been an eternal blessing.