Another Day in Africa

Trevor and I went to Mitumba slum on Saturday for Bible club and to have a Bible study with the youth. There were some things that stood out to us as unique and really cool about that day. First of all, this was our first time driving there by ourselves, and we were not quite sure of how to get there. So Pastor Shadrach offered to come to our compound and we could follow him there…but before he could do that, Trevor got a call saying that an alarm was going off in a car at the TAM shop, so we needed to go there first to take care of that. So we decided to meet Pastor at a fuel station and follow him from there.
So we waited…and we waited…ate some skittles (thanks family for the care package!!)…and waited…talked about how insanely hot it was in the car and how I was glad I was wearing a skirt and Trevor wished he was, haha :) …and waited…chatted with a guy who was changing a tire on the vehicle next to ours, who spoke to us in Kikuyu and was SOOO surprised when we said that we don’t speak Kikuyu!!??…and waited…watched the police stopping almost everybody on the road…and waited…looked at the sign in front of where we were parked that said “15 minutes parking only”…looked at the time and knew that we were well over that!!…and waited…said a couple of times over “This is Africa!!”…and about 45 minutes after the time we were supposed to meet, we finally saw Pastor Shadrach’s car! Yes, that is normal, and we are getting used to it and are able to smile about it! (well, most days!)

So off to the slum we drove, over some roads that made us feel like we were up-country, the car getting jostled and bumped and dragged along…thankfully we haven’t had any rain in awhile, or those roads turn into one big mud hole! We also had to stop for a herd of goats that were taking up the road…!! (and I wished I had brought my camera!!) We get to the entrance of the slum, past the piles and piles of garbage and goats on top of the piles eating the garbage. The car is stopped, and before we even had the chance to get out of the car, we could hear the sounds of little voices saying “Trevor!! Trevor!!” Trevor hasn’t been to Mitumba since the end of November!! These little kids, about five or six years old, remembered his name and were so excited! OH what that did to my heart!! We locked up the car, grinned while Pastor Shadrach took a sharp object from one little boy who was using it to poke our tires :) , and walked through the narrow slum corridors.

We spent time with the youth again…this time we split them up into two groups, Trevor took one and I took one…both groups studied different verses and then after the groups explained to the other group what they learned…we are trying out some different things to try and get some more discussion and interaction, instead of us just standing at the front and “preaching” to them…so we would appreciate prayer for wisdom as we try and figure out what will work best. A lot of the youth are still quite shy around us, so we are also trying to make them feel more comfortable and are looking forward to the time when they know that they can trust us. Until then, we’ll just continue to be their friends, spend time with them, and earn their trust and respect. What a great group of kids though!!

After the lessons were over, we joined in the chaos of serving the kids bread and juice. Chaos, but organized chaos!! There’s a lot of little mouths to feed! A lot of these kids will not get any other food than this for the day…and my grumbly tummy was a good reminder of the hunger that so many of these kids live with all the time. These kids know what it’s like to be hungry. We have no idea. Some of the mothers in the slum will sell their own bodies for 50 shillings (less than a dollar)…enough to put one meal on the table for their children. Oh the pain and heartache these families go through. (these pictures were taken in November, not last Saturday, but I wanted to post them anyway! I haven't taken recent pictures of the Bible club in Mitumba.)

Another one of those heart-warming moments happened as we were getting ready to leave the slum. Well, a couple moments actually. First, let me say that there are often little, little kids coming to the Bible club. Think of your four-year old child (for those of you that have kids) bringing her nine month old baby sister to the Bible club, and this little four year old trying to comfort the baby as the baby is crying…this is very normal to see. Anyway, so we were about to leave, and I see this little boy, only a few years old, just wandering around in his bare feet. He sees me. I smile at him. He comes walking toward me, with his arms outstretched. I kneel down and wrap my arms around his little body. He puts his arms around my neck. We stay there together for awhile. He can’t understand me, he has not yet learned English. It’s time to go. I give him one last squeeze and he lets me get up. We’re both a little happier now. :)
Trevor was chatting with two boys, both probably in grade six or so, Amos and Cosmas. They are still pretty shy, but have big grins on their faces. They tell him they like to play football (soccer!). He talks to them about it for awhile, and finds out that they often play in the field close by. Shyly, they ask him if he will come and watch them play football.
Oh these moments are so exciting! It may seem small or insignificant, but they are starting to realize that we love to be there with them, and it’s so cool when they are the ones inviting us into their lives, and we could not be happier to have those little moments!! So of course we went to the field and Trevor played football with the boys for awhile, (he says they’re way better at it then him!! :) ) while I swung a couple little kids around, played in the grass/dirt with them, and ooohh-ed and aahhh-ed as they were showing me all their cartwheels and other cool tricks that they could do! Can I say it again…??? What beautiful, sweet kids!! Oh we love them!

So that was another day in the slum. How we wish all of you could experience some of the things we are experiencing, and meet some of the sweetest kids you will ever meet. Life has not been kind to them, but they are hearing about the love of Christ, and lives are being changed. And it’s been another exciting day…

Oh, and one more short story…a little while ago, Trevor gave Mark (the Sudanese guy who works at the shop with him), some money to buy clothes. Mark has very little clothing, and most of it really old and not in good shape. One morning for work, Mark shows up, comes to Trevor and says “How do you like the new Mark?”…wearing his new (well, second-hand, but new to him) clothes!! He was so proud! And Trevor made sure to tell him how good he looked!! What a privilege for Trevor to know this young man!! Trevor just really enjoys working with all the guys at the shop and they enjoy working with him. It’s already hard to think about leaving them, and vice versa. They have asked a couple of times.. “What are we going to do when you leave, Trevor??”…and then we have to ask ourselves… what are we going to do when we leave?? Something we don’t really want to think about yet. Letting go will be tough.
Steven and Mark working on a vehicle at the TAM shop.