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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.

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