Kenya - Busy Week

I almost can’t believe that it’s Saturday night. I am sitting in my room, the team off to bed, and we are what I’ll call “happy exhausted.” We’ve been going hard every day this past week, leaving in the morning and sometimes not returning until after dark (granted it gets dark around 7:00pm, it is winter here). And those long days are filled with great ministry, fun with friends, and deepening relationships with God. Yes, we are all very happy exhausted.

If any of you are following our posts on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve probably been inundated with pictures and statuses of everything we are doing. For those of you who aren’t, let me fill in the gaps.

Monday and Tuesday we did ministry in two schools, one in the morning the other in the evening. Since our program is at least 1 hour (usually more), then time for the students to share after, we are sometimes at schools for 2 -3 hours. Monday we went to 2 local schools (near or in the Korogocho area). The first was a school we had been at last year and I was excited to find out that one of the DICE students was in attendance at that school last year and it was what prompted him to join.

Tuesday we drove out a little further to a town called Banana. Really, Banana. One of the schools we went to was a boarding school for boys that had been living on the street or in other bad situations. I was a bit concerned about how the ministry would go, with our teams being mostly females, but the boys were respectful and overall asked very good questions. A number of them even prayed to receive Jesus.

We thought the pace would slow down a bit since we only had 1 school per day Wednesday through Friday, but that just didn’t happen. Both teams came together on Wednesday to do a bible study and discussion on prayer. We should have finished it that day, but the school we were going to head towards called and said they’d like us to come earlier. So we only finished about half of the planned “teaching.” So Thursday morning we started a bit earlier to finish. Together our teams talked about prayer, shared testimony of answered prayer, shared prayer requests and then prayed together. (Update: We are already hearing testimony of answers to those prayers!) We also took some time before we went to the school on Thursday to get a little exercise by learning a dance from one of the Kenyan leaders. Let’s just say, we tried. My knees just don’t move like his do! ;) I’ll send the short video (try not to laugh too hard).

Thursday evening was a good change of pace by sharing in an all girls school. I think sometimes the boys at the school can get a bit distracted when talking with our girls, so we’ve tried really hard to balance the discussion groups out so that there is always at least 1 of our guys are in each group that there are boys in. We had a much easier time with all of the girls. From the discussions I heard after, the ladies also asked some of the best questions. I know I got pulled into a discussion about why we use youth to talk about Jesus (I gave some soapbox sermon on how most of the disciples were 18, and I am all about doing what Jesus did). And although our guys are very modest, there is something great about the look on their faces when those girls at the school see them for the first time (they tend to cheer and make “oooh” sounds).

Friday morning we did our first street ministry. We went to an open area in the heart of the Korogocho slum, set up our speaker, invited all those nearby to come over, and ran through our performances. Afterward our team, in groups of 2 or 3, spread out to those who had gathered and shared about Jesus. It was a challenging time for them, but it was also very eye opening for some too. Later on Friday, we went to one of our last schools (we maybe have 1 or 2 this week because of exams). It was a small school, but I heard good reports of more students coming to accept Jesus through our team sharing their testimonies. Your children/grand children/friends/whatever they are to you - are brave, loving, and amazing young people.

Saturday we decided to take a break from ministry and visit the elephant orphanage at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. I think one of my favorite moments was when one of the students ran up to me to show me the mud on her toes from being stepped on by a baby elephant (don’t worry, neither the student nor elephant was injured in the incident). I’m pretty sure one other young lady starting to tear up she was so happy to be able to pet the baby elephant as it walked by.

Since originally writing this post, I thought I would have the team write about their experiences so you could hear it from their perspective. I’ll share them all, but I’m going to start with Emily, Rachel, Sarina, Becky, and Morgan.

“I’ve really enjoyed learning about and growing in Christ through my quiet times. Sometimes I feel like Kenya is blessing me more than I’ve been able to bless the people here. Through teaching the students, I find God teaching me.” Emily

“Challenge. When you ask God for things that He says He’ll give you - be ready for challenges. ‘When you ask anything in my name, I will do it.’ John 14:14. I am learning this summer that faith isn’t some imaginary thing. Faith to me is a verb. Teaching 15 high schooler’s a day stretches you in a way you’ve never been pulled. This summer I asked for more faith. You can bet that’s what God’s gonna give me, graciously.” Rachel

“While ministering in the slums, I had the chance to ask a group of young boys about Jesus. These children were dirty and had torn clothes and they thought $0.50 was a fortune. And yet they answered me with smiles and joy because “Jesus is my savior and He loves me!” Sarina

“Hebrews 13:14. Coming to Kenya, I didn’t know what to expect or how God would use me. Talking to people I didn’t know and initiating conversations with people doesn’t come naturally to me. However, I now know that it is not through my own efforts that will bring people to Christ, but it is Christ working in and through me. This trip made me realize my own burning desire and need for God and for the people I am ministering to.” Becky

“I was ministering in the streets to 3 people who straight up weren’t interested. And then a bird pooped on my finger. But through this trip, I’ve grown to understand the character of God on new levels than I ever have before. In this case, I was hurt because I poured out so much of myself to people who rejected me. But for the first time in my life, I fully realized how Jesus feels. He literally poured Himself out through His blood on the cross. The “pain” that I experience from being rejected after 10 minutes of CWG is nothing compared to the pain Jesus feels when being rejected after a life of pouring Himself out on this earth because of the love He has for us.” Morgan

For the Kenyan team,
Margaret