Tuesday, November 25, 2008

What's been going on...

It has been too long, and many things have been going on at Macheo since the last time I have written. From a soccer tournament to painting murals we have continued to remain busy with projects. The kids are finally out of school for about 2 months which is great because they are around the home all day; so, we are all excited to be able to spend a lot more time with the children. Anyway, I won’t spend too much time rambling on, because I am excited to catch you all up on different anecdotes and happenings around Thika.

- “Random Thought”: This is another short entry from my journal that I thought I would share…Sometimes I forget that I am living in Kenya, and that bothers me. I wake up and get involved too much in what needs to be done for the day that I forget to pause for a moment and take it all in. I fear that somehow years down the road I will wake up and forget these amazing lives and people, the joy and laughter, the love and servant-hearts, the fun and the tears. Will I still be affected by the poverty? Will I still remember the children's laughter and songs echoing through the home? Will I still remember their joy despite their unbelievable hardships at such young ages? Will I remember the malnourished children who can’t walk at three and four years old? Will I remember the joy and peace of God shining through it all? Will I remember?...

- “Obamania”: Obama is officially president-elect of the U.S. Being here in Kenya during this time has been eye-opening, fun, and ridiculous. I have never been extremely enthusiastic about politics; I have always been more passionate and enthusiastic about issues rather than any one candidate. That said, it was and is officially “Obamania” here in Kenya. Even before the election-day, people would yell “Obama!” at us as we walked by or ask us if we were voting for him. But, during and after the election was the craziest. There are a few African musicians who have written songs and music videos praising him; one song even included the line, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in the United States of America”. On top of that, there is an unfortunate belief that Obama will do as much, if not more, for Kenya than America. The two newspapers that were printed after he won were filled cover-to-cover with articles: How Kenya needs to clean up its act for Obama, Children need to look to Obama for an example, and How Obama will change Kenya etc. Furthermore, Kenya celebrated a national holiday in his honor on November 6, Obama Day. Everyone got the day off. But, that wasn’t even the most absurd. Uganda actually got two days off, and Nigeria got five days off! All of the absurdity in Kenya aside, I do believe Obama’s election is truly a historical moment for America. That said, I am not expressing my own views of who should or shouldn’t be president. I hope for the best for Obama, and I hope that he does great things both nationally and globally. But, as I said before, I hope to never put too large an amount of faith or trust in any one candidate or government. Instead, like many of us, I realize that my first allegiance is not to a man, a country, or a flag, but to a king and a kingdom not of this world. I am constantly reminded of when Jesus is confronted about Pilate about the claim that he is "King of the Jews"; "Are you?" Pilate keeps asking. And, Jesus replies simply, "My kingdom is not of this world". (John 18 33-36)

- “Jamii Challenge Cup”: Just a week ago, we all organized and ran a large soccer tournament for several local slum-schools in the area. We had to do most of the organization. We figured out dates, schools, teams, times, schedules, rosters, food, and awards. We were also in charge of marking out the field, building goal posts, and officiating the games. It was held at a school down the road, Gatuanyaga Primary School, which hosted the five other schools (approx. 300 kids). It was such a great time. If anyone has ever been to Africa, or any other part of the world outside of the U.S. for that matter, you know the passion and obsession with soccer (football); so, you know the kids had fun. It was also a great opportunity to bring various communities together in one big event for the children. One woman even commented to me, “This is so great for the community. Some of these children have never travelled to this part of town. Seeing every one together like this blesses me”. The event lasted most of the day; it started around 8:30 am and the closing ceremonies were around 4:00 pm. It was touching to see all the smiles and cheers throughout the day. Everyone was rooting on their school, and when goals were scored, the field erupted in cheers. At the end of the day during the ceremonies was even better. Individual children were chosen from different schools to be awarded: best all around player, top scorer, and most disciplined. To see the smiles on the kids faces and how they encouraged each other brought a smile to my face.

- “Painting murals”: Let me preface this by saying that in no way do I profess to be an artist. I have not been gifted, or at least not to my discovery yet, with a talent in art. However, I love and appreciate art in all of its forms, and I think I will continue to try to produce some of my own after how much fun it has been painting here. Beautification of the home has been one of our projects since we arrived. Just recently we have started painting in both the girls and boys’ rooms. So far, we have painted, two rabbits, a leopard, a huge tree, a giraffe, two monkeys, a bird, and Adam is working on a lion. The kids have been so excited to come into their rooms each day and see where a new monkey is hanging or a bird is perched. We have also dedicated a wall outside to the hands of the children which was both a fun and tiring process to complete. Lastly, we have two large murals outside to paint: Moses parting the Red Sea and a large underwater scene (sea turtles, octopuses, fish, etc.). It has been a lot of fun for all of us to test our skills at painting and to see what new creature the kids want in their room. The boys are currently arguing for a large gorilla roaring and beating his chest. I see a new mural in the making…

- “The last 4 months”: It has been a thoughtful process since we arrived in Kenya to figure out what to do with the last four months we are hear from January until the beginning of May. There has been a lot of prayer and deliberation and research. As of now, it looks as if we are all going to travel up and down the coast, starting in Mombasa, to setup future ministry and church contacts for SIM Kenya. We did a little research and it seems that outreach to the Islamic community on the coast is next to nil. We also talked to several people at SIM, and they said that the greatest need in Kenya right now is to reach out to the Muslim community in love. The largest concentration of the Muslim community is along Kenya’s coast which, subsequently, boarders Somalia. We all discussed it as a group and came to the conclusion that it will be exhausting physically, emotionally, and spiritually; we all decided that we saw a great need and had a great desire to serve, and we weren’t really sure how it would all play out. But, we are all going in with no expectations and lots of love in hopes of making contacts for SIM where there are none and making friends along the way.

It has been quite a month, and there is still so much more to write, and I plan on writing another post very soon. But, just to fill you in a little more, AT and I are still finishing up the solar oven, which has been much harder to build and work on than we originally realized. We have had to search Thika thoroughly to find parts and materials that we need several times. But, it is taking shape well, and should be finished in the near future. Also, our pup Simba is doing well and growing by the day, but he is still being house trained. Unfortunately, he also has one the smallest bladders (pees constantly) and largest bladders (tons of pee) at the same time. He is a great pup otherwise; but, he has now learned that sleeping on the chair is much more comfortable than a cement floor. Lastly, AT and I have decided to live our final month at Macheo over at Joyous with several of the boys he formally worked with while in Kenya. It should be an interesting time and hopefully a great time of growth.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Small things with great Love...

Well, it has been over a month since I have last posted, and so much has happened. We have been to Mombasa and now at Macheo Children’s Home for around a month. Since being at the new children’s home, I have felt over-whelmed, encouraged, exhausted, helpless, excited, and peaceful. It has been quite the ride since my last post. But, to fill you in on a little bit of how life is going over here on the other side of the pond, it's been amazing. It has had its expected ups-and-downs, but nothing that isn't overshadowed by God's grace and peace.

- “Mombasa”: Before heading to the new children’s home in Thika we had a week long break at the beach in Mombasa. I have missed the beach a lot since leaving, and to be back for a week and to hear the soothing breaking of the waves on the beach and watch the turquoise-blue water fade into the distance was therapeutic, nostalgic, and amazing. It started off as a long 9 hour bus ride late at night and into the early morning from Nairobi to the coast. There were numerous attempts to sleep through the night, but it was nearly impossible with the bumpy dirt roads that we took. But, that was all overshadowed once we arrived at the hotel. It was a gorgeous place set right on the beach (Kikambala) overlooking the reef and breakers of the Indian Ocean. We all passed out for several hours once we arrived (6:00 am), and immediately went to the supermarket to pick up all of the essentials for the week. I can’t begin to describe want an amazing week of unwinding, fun, and relaxation it was. We swam in the ocean, swam in the pool, played lots of cards, and rode camels on the beach. AT and I went exploring the reef for several hours one morning and filmed several videos of the sea life we saw there (rivaling Discovery/BBC’s Planet Earth series). To elaborate, the reef was a really long stretch of shallow water, coral, tons of sea urchins, fish, and sand stars that faded out about ¾ of mile to the breakers. In our time of exploring, AT and I also found the perfect spot to set up our hammocks. There was an abandoned house right near our hotel with a gazebo overlooking the ocean. We both set up our hammocks there and read, listened to music and the waves a few times during the trip. All in all, it was insanely beautiful, fun, relaxing, and the perfect break in between transition from Tumaini Orphanage to Macheo Children's Home.

- “Thika”: I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical and worried about the transition to a new orphanage with new adults, children, and places. At the same time that it excited me, I was also hesitant like anyone would be that felt like they were leaving a family at another home only start a new one again somewhere else. The children’s home is run by a man named Marnix from Holland and several other caretakers and social workers. It is right outside Thika and right next to Thika’s own monstrous Del Monte pineapple plantation (the best fresh pineapple I have ever had in my life). The home houses 56 children ranging in ages from 3 to 13. The children’s home also helps to house several boys, originally from the orphanage “Stars for Jesus” that AT worked with two years ago, in a home called Joyous. So far, the adjustment to life in Thika has been a combination of smooth, overwhelming, busy, and exciting.

- “Non-stop”: Since arriving in Thika and at the Macheo (sunrise), we have been non-stop going and going. Marnix has the children’s home involved in a myriad of projects and is always thinking/analyzing new projects for the home to get involved in. Just to name a few of the things we are doing: we are working/researching green energy for the children’s home, working on funding for several projects, working on self-sustainability for feeding programs in different schools in slums, working with a malnourishment program, and trying to build a greenhouse at the home. It has been really exciting to be working in this type of environment, and a lot of the projects really speak to many issues that I am deeply passionate about. It has been amazing to see how God is working through us and the home to get these projects moving. On top of this, at least one of us works/shadows a social worker called Patrick. He is an amazing man: full of humor, insight, and love. He travels daily all over Nairobi, Thika, and Kenya visiting the boys that he works with to make sure they are doing well and have everything they need. It is inspiring to see his drive and love for people and how God uses him to reach others.

- “Malnourishment Program”: The malnourishment program has probably touched me the most. The program is run by a Catholic hospital known as Mary’s Immaculate Heart in conjunction with another local children’s home known as Watoto International. It treats severely malnourished children that live in the local area slum. It was difficult to watch as starving parents brought their starving children and waited for hours for a bag of uji (porridge, cornmeal and flour mix). Each of the children was weighed, and records are kept weekly to monitor the progress made. Most of the children, ranging in ages from just months to five, weighed less than half the expected weight at their age. It was a sad and helpless sight: baggy clothes , skeleton frames, and kwashiorkor (swollen bellies). We all helped pour the porridge until it ran out. Although it was extremely tough to see the abject poverty and malnourishment, it was encouraging to see all of the dedicated families and workers that participate in making this program work. However, we are currently working on raising funds to start a farm for them, to pay for health insurance for over 100 families (which is extremely cheap in US dollars), and to make the entire program self-sustainable.

-“Animal Orphanage and baby cheetahs”: The animal orphanage is located in Nairobi. AT and I took a day trip with Patrick and several of the boys from Joyous to the orphanage. Basically, the orphanage keeps injured and abandoned animals from the wild for a few years to rehabilitate them and prepare them for release back into the wild. There were so many animals there: monkeys, baboons, lions, cheetahs, birds, and jackals. It was great to walk around and see all of the animals up close, but sad at the same time to see such amazing and beautiful creatures in containment (but, good to know that they would be released); we were even able to pet large cheetahs through the fence (almost got to go into the cage with them!). But, by far, the highlight of the day came when we were near the lion (simba) cage and AT and I wanted to go around back behind the fence to get better pictures, because we saw some other wazunguu doing the same. So, we made our way to the fence and tried to sweet talk one of the workers into letting us back there, but he wasn’t easily convinced. He kept refusing us and saying that it wasn’t allowed and that he would get in trouble. We argued that he had just allowed some other people back, so we didn’t see the problem. After a few minutes of this, Patrick came to our aid and convinced him to let us back. As we walked behind the fence we started walking towards the lion pen, but the man kept leading us to a small house, eventually inside. As we stood inside, confused because we thought we were just going to get closer pictures of the simba, we looked around and saw several empty cages and we were even more confused. Soon, I heard someone walk in and I turned around to be met face to face with a purring baby cheetah that was immediately being handed to me. I was so shocked and excited I almost wet my pants. I couldn’t believe I was holding a baby cheetah! AT quickly got the camera and started filming a short video to catch our amazement and the baby cheetah purring and licking us. UNREAL! After this experience, we got our pictures of the samba and not too long after paid the man a bribe (kitu kidogo) for the experience….well worth it!

I know that was a lot to read, but there were so many important and exciting things to write about. Did I mention that we also have a German shepherd puppy living us? And, AT and I are in the process of building a solar oven? Haha…crazy! I can’t begin to tell you how excited and encouraged I have been and how eager I am to continue work on these projects. I am so amazed at what God is doing, has done, and wants to do. I feel kind of like Nathanael, in John 1:43-51, when he is amazed that Jesus knows him because he saw him under a fig tree. I can just see Jesus chuckling when he says in verse 50, “Because I said to you, I saw you under a fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these”. Not to say that in any way we have done great things; as Mother Teresa says, "We can do no great things, only small things with great love". That is what we strive to do, and we recognize that God can only do great things, and may he use us all in the process...