First of all…about Trevor’s day! At our last Bible study in Mitumba, he was talking to one of the older boys, Reuben, who is 18 years old. Reuben wants to be a mechanic and has been going to school for it. He really looks up to Trevor, and mentioned that he would love to see where Trevor works and what he does. Trevor then said that Reuben was welcome to come to the TAM shop to spend the day with him sometime in the following week. Reuben immediately jumped at the chance, and they made arrangements for Wednesday. This was an exciting thing for us…things seem to be going to the next level in our ministries, and this really was a great opportunity, and brought the two main ministries that Trevor is involved in together!
It was a really awesome day for both Trevor and Reuben! Trevor was able to show him around the shop and hangar, show him all the planes and the cool things that are happening there. Reuben was amazed at all that they were doing there! (keep in mind that Mitumba is within sight of the Wilson Airport, and the planes fly right over top of the slum every day, but most people in the slum will never see what Reuben saw yesterday!!) Reuben was able to take part in the chai and devotion time that they have at AIM every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and thoroughly enjoyed that as well. Trevor introduced him to Steven, Benedicto, Mark, and Steve Harding (another missionary who is helping in the TAM shop for a few months) who all completely welcomed Reuben into the shop and made him feel really great. He was able to do some work alongside Steven for the day…later when asked about what he did, he was so proud, and was talking about the work that he had helped with… “WE did this.” and “this is what was needed on this vehicle and so WE did that…” and so on. He looked like he was on cloud nine!! He also said later that he had learned more working with Trevor and the other guys that day than he has in all his schooling yet. Trevor invited him to come back for the rest of the week, which he immediately agreed to do! What an exciting opportunity! Please pray for Trevor’s relationship with Reuben, that this will just be the start of the ways in which he can help him. I love how God uses opportunities of all kinds to help those in need, and if we just make use of those opportunities, we will be so blessed in return!
Trevor and ReubenWhile Trevor was busy at the shop, I was having a great day as well!! It was opening day for the new school term, so I went to lead the Pastoral class that I lead on Wednesdays. I had missed the kids so much, and was so glad to go! After that class was done, I worked in the clinic for a few hours, bandaging many, many cuts, scrapes, and other bloody messes! I must say that that is one of my favourite times during the day…I just love the chance to help in such a practical way and take care of these precious ones.
I spent quite a bit of time with the class sixes as well…they are a very rambunctious group of kids, who are known as the “notorious class”!! But they have stolen my heart! I now have another name to add to the list of Teacher, Pastor, and Doctor in the slum. The kids in class six have now adopted me as their Mama. And they will fight over me, and have become quite the protective group of kids! To Stephen, I am “Mama Stephen”. To Amo, I am “Mama Amo”. To Kamau, I am just “Mommy”. It really breaks my heart…these boys are all 14 years old, and are all true orphans with no mama. They are looking for that mother-figure in their life, and have decided that I will be it. I spent a lot of time with all of the 6’s, and made sure to tell all of them how very much I love them, and how beautiful they are, and that God has created them for a purpose. They asked me if I liked Kenya, and I answered that I liked Kenya very much. They asked if I wanted to go back to Canada, and I said that I was not looking forward to going home because that means that I have to leave them. Their next question was said in a hesitant tone… “because you love us??” And I said “yes, because Trevor and I love all of you so much.” That response got cheering from the class, and I heard a couple of them say “they love us!!!” in an excited tone. And boy, do we ever.
They all spent time styling my hair…I had about 8 pairs of hands all over my head, making braids, examining the color, feeling the smoothness, or just plain rubbing until I had a frizzy mess!!! It was hilarious! Amo said to me “when God made your hair, he blessed it. When God made my hair, He cursed it.” I took his face in my hands, and told him that God had NOT made a mistake, and that He has made him a beautiful creation. That our hair was just different, and that’s because God is creative. One is not better than the other. It was just sobering for me to spend that time with them and to hear some of the comments from these sweet, sweet kids.
Amo and I
Stephen and ISo there’s another look into our lives and ministries here in Nairobi. We have said before that if we were to come back to Africa, we would not want to live in Nairobi…but then we look at the people around us, and the ministries that we are involved in and feeling so fulfilled in, and may have to take that statement back. We love what we do here. We love the people here. We feel like our hearts are so involved, and the ministries are so amazing that it’s worth the busyness of the city life and the irritating traffic and the reality of always having to live behind walls and gates and locked doors and barred windows. We need wisdom.
We are absolutely dreading the thought of leaving these dear ones. Please pray for us in our last four months here. Pray that God will show us what to do, and that He will give us peace in the leaving process that is coming up far too soon.
2 comments:
Andrea, can you tell the kids for me that I think they are the most beautiful people in the world, with the most beautiful hearts. They put me to shame. I am so excited to see how God is using you in ministry there, and how things are changing in the places you work as you are letting God use you, even when it's hard. We are so thankful we could come and witness it first hand. They have stolen your hearts and you have stolen theirs!!
Wow! Again I'm sitting here with a lump in my throat. It's heartbreaking that they have not had the chance to have a mamma and yet what an incredible blessing you are to them. It's neat how they are calling you mamma. I can only imagine how difficult the decisions about your future will be. We are praying specifically for God's direction for you in that.
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