Please Pray

Last Saturday, it finally happened. After telling the girls in my Bible study week after week that I am here for them, that if they need to talk, they can come talk to me, and all that, it finally happened.

Now I have gotten to know these kids really well already, but an actual “heart-to-heart” is different. I really want to get to know their hearts. To know who they really are. To know how their lives have gotten to this point.

So after our Bible study was over (and by the way, we have been splitting up the guys and girls for Bible Study, and been going through some more sensitive issues with them. Topics like HIV/AIDS, sex, relationships, their bodies, and things like that. It has been really great, and both groups have opened up and asked many questions and we have been able to have many great discussions with them!!!), so anyway, after it was over, I was getting ready to leave the classroom. There was one girl left, and to be honest I didn’t even know her name. She hasn’t come very often, and usually disappears quickly after the study. She asked me if we could talk. I immediately put down my books and purse, and agreed. So we sat down, and she just spilled her story. I don’t feel like I should give any details, especially since she has felt so betrayed by everyone in her life already, and does not feel like she can trust anyone. But I just want you to know that this girl needs prayer. She is in a lot of trouble and bondage. She feels like she is at the end, and I think talking to me was kind of a last resort.

Alice and I

So we talked (or should I say she talked, and I listened) for a long time. I prayed for her. We were both crying. I asked her if I could be her friend. She looked at me for awhile, and then said “yes”. As we got up to leave, she wiped the tears from her face, and asked if she could hug me. Umm, YES! I’m thinking, “girl, I can’t have a heart-to-heart with you like this and then NOT hug you!” It was a wonderful moment, and I know that God brought her into my life for a reason, but I feel so incredibly inadequate to know how to help her. I am asking you to pray. Please, please pray. Pray for Alice. Pray for me as I talk to her. Pray for our meetings together. Pray for God’s spirit to surround this sweet girl. Pray that God would give her courage to do what is right. Pray for her family. PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. We need you to join us in this.

One of our youth, Vinny (Vincent), is in need of prayer right now as well. On Sunday, his older sister was killed. She was electrocuted by the illegal electricity that many people in the slums are stealing, and don’t know that the wire is live. She died instantly after touching this wire.
Please pray for Vinny and his family. Vinny is a believer, and takes leadership with the youth. Please pray that he would turn to God in this time of trouble, and that he would find God to be faithful and true, and learn to trust Him more.

Tragedies like this happen frequently in the slum, it seems. These youth and kids have to deal with horrible things on a regular basis. It’s not right, and it’s not fair.

We are reading a book right now that we got from Marcus and Marilyn in a care package called “Holding on to your Faith Even When God Doesn’t Make Sense” by Dr. James Dobson. Please pray that God will use this book to teach us, and use to it help us help the youth.

Asante sana. (Thank you very much).

Anniversary!!

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on May 14th! I know to many of you, 4 years of marriage isn’t a lot, and you probably think we’re just babies, just starting out! But for us, it felt like a big thing! 4 years!

As we thought back to our wedding day 4 years ago, we feel like so much has changed. We would not have expected that we would be living in Africa. I don’t think we expected that we would change so much. Because we do feel like we are so different from the Trevor and Andrea that committed their lives to each other on May 14, 2005. We have “grown-up” in a lot of ways. We look at the world differently. We look at our future differently. We love each other so much more. We understand each other so much more. We have gone through difficult days together. And we are better for it.

Who knows what the future has in store for us in these next 4 or 40 years?? We know that God knows, and are excited for what He has planned for our lives. It’s an adventure that we love being on, knowing that we are just along for the ride!

Happy Anniversary Trevor!! I love you!

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I have finally managed to put up some pictures for some of the previous blog entries...just so you know! =) We hope these pictures will give you an even better idea of what our lives look like here in Nairobi, Kenya.

Thank you to those of you who have done such an amazing job keeping in touch with us...it means so much to us! And please, for those who have been keeping up with our blog, feel free to leave us comments to let us know you are reading this...we really enjoy getting feedback from all of you who are reading this, supporting us, praying for us, and just keeping up with our lives! It means a lot to us!

Talk to you soon...

Thankfulness

{Since we have had very sporadic internet connections lately, I have been blogging offline, and so now I have numerous entries to post at once! This entry, Thankfulness, is 1 of 7 new entries. Please read oldest to newest, starting first with:
7) The Beautiful Maasai Mara
6) Camp!!
5) Fun Things!
4) Bibles and Tools
3) Elly and Violet
2) Wednesday, May 6, 2009
And then lastly, this entry,
1) Thankfulness

I know it’s a lot, so you can read them bit by bit, maybe one a day, or all at once if you’re sure you’re up for it!! :o) }

How thankful are you? What do you see as an answer to prayer? How different are your wants and your needs? Are you thankful for food? For water?

These are some of the questions that have been running through our minds lately. The kids and youth in Mitumba challenge us so much in the way we think, and we have been pondering the way we see life, and in the things we see as valuable. How thankful are we really?

Trevor and I prepared a lesson the other day on the Good Samaritan for me to present to the grades 4-7 during their Pastoral class. My challenge for their writing assignment was to think of a time when someone has helped them, has been kind to them, maybe shown them love even when they did not deserve it…basically when they experienced the love of a Good Samaritan in their own life.
I was wondering if it would be difficult for them to come up with something or to think of something so quickly. But no, they all started writing immediately.

Reading their journal entries later brought tears to my eyes. I have SO many lessons to learn from these kids who are growing up in this awful slum environment. Lessons about thankfulness. Lessons about trusting God for my every need. Lessons about remembering the kindness I have received from my “neighbour”.
Please take the time to read a few of these journal entries:

“A day that I had been helped and loved with my neighbour, is the day that I came to REM school where Teacher Violet helped me by sponsoring me to live in her own home that she had built by her own money. I thank GOD for He has touched Teacher Violet’s heart to take care of me because I am an orphan.”
-written by a 14 year old boy who lives in the Home.

“When our school was opened first day I went to school. I was lonely but there was a boy who came near me and he asked me if I was lacking of stationeries. Oh! I wondered how the boy knew that I was lacking of pencils. He help me with everything that I needed and I thanked him for it. From that time until now he is my best friend and we normally share things we get, example like books and other things. When the time he is in trouble I offered myself to help him, same to me when I am in temptation he always saved me.”
-written by a 14 year old boy

“One day my neighbour with food…when my mother is not having money to buy food that neighbour gives me food even when my neighbour is not having anything. When we have we can give him. I love my neighbour so much and thank you teacher Andrea to give me Bible, may my God bless you. I love you with all my heart and soul. Thank you teacher Andrea may God bless.” -written by a 12 year old girl

“The day that I was helped with my neighbour was Date 1st March 2009. She helped me with some water to drink. We was not having any food or water, even we was not having money in our house. When my neighbour helped me I pray. Sometimes if my neighbour doesn’t have anything we help her with some food. We love our neighbour as we love ourselves.”
-written by a girl in the Standard 4 class

“One day my mother was sick and my father was far away from home. Then in that house there is nothing that you can eat so I ask my mother that what are we going to cook today? And then my mother told me go and tell anybody to help you with anything that we can have to eat. Then I took my bag. At Mitumba I was to see Pastor coming with his car. When Pastor saw me he told me that carry some fruit first and then when I finished he was giving me a packet of milk and some tomatoes and one flour. On that day I was so surprised.”
-written by a 15 year old boy.

“The day I was coming from hospital to home and it was night and I could not see well because it was so dark. As I was on my way home I fell in a hole and I had no one to save me, so I decided to stay there until the help comes to get me from the hole. But the surprising thing the good Samaritan like the one we hear in the Bible had heard me shouting and seeking for help. Help! Help! Help!
He came near the hole and flashed me with a torch and he tried his best to save. The end of one minute he had saved me and I am alive today. I don’t know still for tomorrow.”
-written by a boy in the Standard 7 class

“One day I was very hungry because I did not eat any food. I am very weak so I choose to sleep down on the floor. Another woman came and told me to wake up so that she can buy for me food. When I woke up she buy for me food and brought it for me to eat. I was so happy to see that woman helping me with food and she was not even my friend. I woke up and thanked the woman. From that day I know that neighbours are so good and I love them so much.”
-written by a girl in the Standard 6 class

“When I was coming from school I was not having a pencil to do work and one boy give me a pencil. I thank God because of His beloved.”
-written by a boy in the Standard 4 class

“One day I did not have a pen when the teacher was in class. Everybody was having a pen but me only did not have a pen. The class teacher Mr. Mark was a kind teacher. When he saw me he asked why I am not writing like the others. I told him my problem, that I did not have a pen. Then he asked that do someone have two pens to help me, but nobody answered. Then he have me ten shillings to buy a pen. I told him thank you, also I said thank you to God.”
-written by a boy in the standard 5 class

“One day my neighbour help me when I was in the house and my mother was caning (beating) me but my neighbour helped me. He tell my mother that to cane the child is wrong. That day was on Sunday when we want to come to Church that day. I feel happy and I thank my neighbour but that day was my first day to be helped by my neighbour.”
-written by a boy in the Standard 5 class

“When I was young, my mother send me to the shop. At that time I didn’t know the way to follow. I just started to walk everywhere. I got a good Samaritan and I asked him the right way to follow and he took me where I was supposed to be. When I reached home I thanked my God and that man for God had used him to show me the way. I became very happy that day and from that time I know God more than the other day.”
-written by a boy in the Standard 7 class, who has since been orphaned.

“One day I was a bad boy. I was stealing things of other people but one day they catch me and took me in the prison. When I was in prison I remembered one thing and that is if you trust in God He will help you the way He helped Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego.
When I trusted Him the time I was in prison, He heard my prayers and helped me and I got out of the prison. I thanked Him for what He has done for me. I became a good person and I stop stealing things of people!”
-written by a boy in the Standard 6 class

These are just a sampling of the stories that these children and youth wrote. Reading them put me to shame…to be so incredibly thankful for a pen. To know how it feels to not have food or water, and to see how God answered their prayers. To remember these events, and to thank God for helping them. To use these times in their life to grow closer to God, and know Him more.
So I want to ask you again. How thankful are you? Do you remember the ways God has answered your prayers? How often do we confuse our needs with our wants?

Let’s learn from these kids living in Mitumba slum. Let’s not forget those answers to prayer. Let’s be thankful for the abundance that we have, especially when so many people are struggling to survive.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless His holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all His benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Last Wednesday was such a fun and rewarding day for both Trevor and I! I can’t wait to tell you about it!

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 Reuben

While 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 I

So 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.

Elly and Violet

One last thing I want to tell you about Mom and Dad’s time here in Kenya was the chance we had to go to Elly’s house again. If you remember from previous blogs, Elly works on our compound as a gardener, and Trevor and I have gotten to know him and his family, and have taken the opportunities to help them whenever we can.
We drove to Kawangware, the slum here in Nairobi where Elly and his family live. He and his wife, Violet, and their two sons, Wesley and Timothy, welcomed us enthusiastically, and we walked through the corridors of the slum and entered their home. One of the first things I noticed was a picture that they had enlarged and framed and put up on the mabati (tin) wall. It was a picture of Trevor and I, holding Wesley and Timothy. They have also made another one to take to their up-country home to show their families. What a humbling feeling it gave us to see that.

They served us delicious chai, and we had the chance to visit with them for a few hours. What a wonderful family! I had mentioned in one of the blog posts from February how sick Violet has been since last year. I am happy to tell you that she has improved so much, and does not look nearly so frail and sickly as she did the last time we saw her!! She is now able to cook and take care of their children…the only thing that she still has trouble with is lifting heavy things as she is still gaining her strength back slowly. We were so happy to see her looking so much better!

Something that Elly has been mentioning to us for awhile, and something he mentioned again when we were at his house, is that he is looking for someone to sponsor his youngest son, Timothy for his school fees. He has a sponsor for Wesley, but needs one for Timothy. Both boys go to a private school (the thing you do if you value education for your children here…the government/public schools are not good for many different reasons.), and so there are many costs involved. Elly would like for someone to pay for the school fees, then Elly covers the costs of books, uniforms, and food for the day. If you are interested in helping out with this, please let us know and we will give you more information on this. There is no pressure, and we do not want anyone to feel like they have to, but we just told Elly that we would get the word out and see what happens.

Visiting with Elly and Violet and their children is always a joy, and we always leave feeling so blessed and encouraged. I was glad that my parents got to meet the rest of Elly’s family and get a better idea of some of the challenges of a family trying to make it here in Nairobi.


So as you can see, we were able to show my parents a lot of things during their 2 ½ weeks here in Kenya. Besides doing these things that I have already written about, we enjoyed going out for meals at different places, for Chinese food, Indian food, good old Java House, and a new place that we went to for an early birthday lunch for Dad, called The Simba Saloon. (not an actual saloon, don’t worry!)
We also enjoyed taking them to different markets and introducing them to the wonderful world of bartering!
It was nice, too, to take them to our Church here and introduce them to some of our new friends.
We spent a morning at New Life Home as well, and enjoyed spending time with some adorable babies and toddlers! Even Dad got to feed a little boy, which he was not expecting! :o) It was a good time!

Saying goodbye to them at the airport was a little more difficult than I had anticipated, but we are okay! We are still not wanting to go back to Canada yet, it’s just that goodbyes are never fun. We are very thankful that we had as much time with them as we did, and were able to share a part of our lives here with them. Now it’s back to normal life (well as “normal” as life gets here in Kenya!), but we are thankful for that too, and looking forward to making the most of the rest of our time here.

Bibles and Tools

One of the great things about being a missionary and serving in a foreign country is the amazing support of friends, family and Churches at home. We see so many needs out here that are impossible for us to fill financially, and it’s been so cool to see how the Family of God works together to fill those different needs. We have mentioned different things through our blog and other communication with friends and family, and through that God has worked in people’s hearts and lives to give of what they have to help people out here in Kenya.

One of those things was the tools that my parents brought out here for the men that work with Trevor in the TAM shop. Family, friends and Churches from home put money together, and this was one of the ways they were able to help out. These tools have been such a tremendous blessing to Benedicto, Mark, and Steven, and have been able to go a long way in helping them earn a living and support their families. They are so appreciative of the gifts of these tools, and will never forget that our family and friends care about them in this way. So on behalf of Steven, Benedicto, and Mark…thank you to all who have supported this project!!

Dad giving Mark his tools.

Benedicto

Trevor with Mark and Steven

The group - Me, Steven, Trevor, Benedicto, Dad, Mark, and Mom

A couple of months ago, after one of our youth Bible studies in the slum, Trevor and I really sensed the need for all our youth to have their own Bible. They are so hungry for the Word of God, and hungry for truth, and yet only a handful have their own Bible. They want to grow in the Lord, and yet it’s very difficult when they can’t read His Word on a regular basis. Our Bible study group has been growing by leaps and bounds…we started with an average of about 20 youth, and at our last Bible study we had 52 youth come! So we felt like this was another project that we could not do on our own financially, and would be another great way for people at home to be able to help out if they felt led to do so.
Two days before our Saturday study in Mitumba, we went to the Bible Society of Kenya with my parents to purchase the Bibles. We looked through different styles and study Bibles, and decided on a simple NIV study Bible, and with the money sent by supporters at home, purchased 64 Bibles. It was an exciting day!!
The following Saturday we brought the boxes filled with Bibles to Mitumba. We asked some of the youth boys to carry them from the vehicle to the classroom. On the way, one of the boxes that one of the boys was carrying fell apart and some of the Bibles fell out onto the muddy ground. They hurriedly picked them up, and I could sense that the word was being passed along to everyone who had not seen what was in the boxes! Excited voices speaking in Swahili were all we heard for awhile, and our surprise was not a surprise anymore! It was pretty funny!! One of our youth, Dennis, carefully wiped all the Bibles that had gotten dirty, his face all smiles. We had all the youth come up one by one and wrote each of their names in their own Bibles and presented it to them. We then had a study on the importance of Bible reading, and then went through the different study features in these particular Bibles so that they know how to use them and how to best use the resources that this study Bible has to offer.
They have been praying for their own Bibles for a long time, and now their prayers have been answered!! These youth are so thankful! One of the teachers told me this last week that last Sunday in Church, some of the youth had gone up and testified about how God answered their prayers in this way and that they finally had their own copy of the Word of God! Please pray with us that God would continue to help these youth to be diligent in their study and reading of God’s Word, and that they would grow in their relationship with the Lord!


I want you to hear their thankfulness from Dennis’ perspective. He is one of our youth who is very dear to our hearts.

“One day I was looking for the person who can help me with a Bible. I prayed for many days but I didn’t lose my hope. One Saturday it was on 2nd of May at 10:25 I saw my teacher with some boxes. I didn’t know what was inside, then she told us that “Help me carry this box to youth.” Without wasting time we carried until where she told us. We sung, when we finished singing she told us that “everybody to come and write his name or hers inside this book.” I was the sixth to write my name then she gave me a Bible. I prayed that day and I thank God because He answered my prayer. That day I was very happy.”

So on behalf of the youth in Mitumba slum, thank you so much to all of you who have supported this project! And also a huge thank you to so, so many of you who have helped out in so many ways…By giving finances, by asking about specific needs and then filling them, by praying, by encouraging, by sending us, by being concerned, by showing your love for us and for the people out here that you have never even met. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Asante Sana!! (Thank you very much!)

You are making a bigger difference than you may ever know.