Chaparty

Large get-togethers are always things that I enjoy back home, a lot of people getting together, talking and enjoying some great food and great music. There is nothing more exciting than spending time with people that you care about. There is really no difference here in Kenya, good food, music great people, and a ton of fun. I guess the only difference would be the timing. Now we all understand the concept of being fashionably late, but 2 and a half hours? Every one here pegs their tardiness on “Africa time”, and that somehow explains it. Hey what can I say? That is just part of the culture that I have to get used to I guess. All of this to say that Lydia threw a great party yesterday to celebrate a number of things, and we all had a great time. The boys and girls of Oasis were amazing as always, and there is nothing better then giving your camera to an African child to take pictures with, they always seem to be a half mile away from the subject.

Today was a typical Sunday, church in the morning and a dinner engagement at night. We went to Oasis church this week, and had a great time fellowshipping with a smaller more intimate church. After the service the preacher came to me and invited me to speak next week, I gladly accepted. Now let me be honest, I am mortified; I have no credentials at all, but I feel like it will be good for me to get out there and just do it. It makes me smile when I think about how God stretches us and forces us to grow at times, and how sometimes he is quite and we have to move in faith. Everyday I am confirmed on being here, and I know that as for now this is where I am supposed to be, and there is no better feeling in the entire world.




David.


Humphrey.


David, Humphrey and I.


Just hanging out.


The pastor and I.

I have always wondered where the deformed barnyard animals of the world are put, like the sheep with three legs, or the cow with four horns. Interestingly enough, yesterday I found out the answer to my pressing question, they come to the Kitale Nature conservancy. The girls and I had the pleasure of escorting the Oasis houseboys who had improved on their school marks the past term on a tour to the conservancy. I have been thinking for around 12 hours how in the world I can explain this place, other then just using the word awesome. It is basically a place where a bunch of nature freaks made a giant science project describing the effects of global warming, with very minimal supplies I might add. There was an excess of plaster that was used to make many of the structures, oh and brightly colored paint. After a short tour of the plaster caves and science project, the tour guide takes you on the “nature” walk, which is basically an aimless hike through some local jungle. Now prepare yourself for the best part of the tour, the field of dreams. There is around five acres filled with barnyard animals that are deformed. Yes the sheep without a leg, and the cow that is gender confused, oh and my personal favorite the cow with three eyes four horns and a very large under bite. All in all it was the most amazing and absurd place that I have been to thus far. I was really excited to be able to be with the boys all day, and have them share this great place with me.

Today the girls and I headed out to the discover to recover center to spend some time with the kids who live there full time. There are around 20 boys and girls who are orphans, most infected with HIV, who live there and have no family to go to during school breaks. As soon as we got there we took them all down to the Kinyozi, which is where they get their heads shaved. It was so fun to take them all down and watch them get their haircut. All of the kids are so kind hearted, and very smart, most are in the top ten of their classes. After they got their haircut we headed back to the center for a tour of their housing, and a lot of playing. We shared lunch with them and then headed home. I really have come to appreciate everything about Kenya, and I know that until God calls me away, I will be working here in some way.

Tonight we were invited to dinner with a family that lives here in town. They are an amazing family, who has a heart for the people of Kenya. They run a non-profit that is called circle of light. The sole purpose of circle of light is to provide electricity in the form of large re-chargeable batteries, to rural villages. The program is community based and is a great way for people to improve their quality of life. I thought that it was worth noting that their son is also the national ping-pong champion in Kenya. They are so nice and loving, I hope that we will be able to work with them more.



This sheep sums up the place.


My personal favorite.


This was a model to explain the effects of global warming.


They are United in grief morning due to destruction of wetlands.


IT is serious business at the nature conservancy.


I thought there was a black mamba behind me.


Just hanging out. (the window)


David is amazing.


I told him to look tough, and this is what I got.

Getting a hair cut


Looking smart.

He Shoots he scores!

I have always been critical of the amount of money that professional athletes make these days; I mean it really is absurd. Few people from our neck of the woods know that the international soccer stars are the ones who really move the absurd money. Players are being bought and sold for 80 million EUROS everywhere you look. Today was the first time that I really appreciated who those sports stars are to boys and girl who look up to them.

It was the final day of the abstinence bible study today, so Lydia had all of the boys and myself over to her house for some fun and the promise ring ceremony. I got there around 10 only to find an amazing game of soccer being played in the front lawn of Lydia’s compound. I watched as 20 or so former streets boys played soccer on a half dirt half grass field. It didn’t matter to them that they didn’t have shoes or uniforms, or even that they had never even had formal training. It didn’t matter to them that they had never been on a real team; all that mattered was that they were playing at that moment, and that they were among friends. I am positive that they could have been at any field in the world at that moment, and still had as much fun as they were having playing with sticks as goals.

I must note that today was the day that they all made a vow to be abstinent until marriage. I know that the Lord has amazing things in store for these boys, and they now understand why being abstinent is so important for a man of God.

These guys are my friends.  

Go ahead and test me.

Today was the day, the day that we found out that all of the boys in the oasis houses are negative for HIV. I thought that it would be more dramatic to write the results at the end of this blog, but then I decided that I am no author, so I should just let you know straight out of the gate. Yes, thank God, that even through all of the hardships these children have been through living on the streets, they all tested negative for HIV. I must say that I was bracing for the worst, while trusting that God had a plan for everything, but the Lord is an amazing God and all is well. I was tested as well, and as expected I came out negative, but it was mostly for support of the boys. I really feel like these past couple days have helped me to grow closer to these boys and I really do look at them like little brothers. It was amazing to hear some of the stories from the boys regarding their sexual pasts when they were on the streets. All day my stomach was in a knot as each boy was tested. The Negatives just kept coming, and although that was amazing it made it harder to think that there might be that one boy that would test positive. The end of the day was one giant exhale as all the boys gave hugs to one another, and just praised the Lord for being alive. Lydia Monroe is one of the strongest people I have ever met. I could not imagine having all of the boys that I consider my children being tested on the same day for HIV. I didn’t have words to comfort her as she sat in the testing room with each boy, but she trusted the Lord, which makes all the difference. I love these boys with every ounce of my being, they teach me more and more everyday on what it means to be a good person in a bad world, and I praise God for all that he has done, is doing and will do in my life.



We were all negative.


these boys wear skirts becasue they were just circumcised.


Just hanging.


This baby is 5 months old.


Me and gangster freda.
OHH richard.

HIV. We all have some understanding of what it is, or at least we think we do. I have never really paid attention to it, nor have I been to exposed to it. Even being here in Africa I have not really thought about it much. Sure I have heard it exponentially more here then I ever did back home, but I still must say that it is something that lingers in the back of my mind, that is until today.

All of the boys in the Oasis bible studied rose their hand the first week when asked if they had been sexually active, and in a place like Africa, especially on the street, that is not a very safe thing. Amazed at the idea of all of the boys having been sexually active, Lydia thought that the only logical thing to do would to get them all tested. Today was supposed to be that day. We all know the stigmas, and myths that have been tagged with HIV, and even with that being said, I personally feel like there is little being done to eradicate these myths in the youth culture. I spent all day at Oasis today with the boys who live in house one two and three, waiting for them to be tested. Sr. Freda was unable to do it so we decide that we would have Patricia from discover to recover come and do a little session on what HIV actually is. Patricia runs discover to recover, an HIV, Aids center for orphaned children, and she personally has had HIV for ten years. Patricia travels all around the world speaking on HIV, and just recently got back from a trip to Mexico City with Kay Warren. Patricia knows how devastating the stigmas of HIV are to an infected person and it is her life mission to free the world of them. There are few times that you will witness a person so skilled in their trade as Patricia. The Lord has blessed her so much in being able to talk about her disease in a place where it is something that no one wants to talk about. The boys sat for two hours listening intently and even interacting. Granted everything she said was in Swahili, so I ad no idea what was going on, but at the end of the talk when she revealed that she herself was HIV positive to the boys, they laughed and said that she was lying to them because she looked so healthy. There is nothing greater then someone seeing what God has planned for them, and going through 100%, even if it means living with a terrible disease. Patricia should be an example to us all.


Tomorrow is the day that all the boys are going to be tested. These boys are so amazing, and they need lots of prayer. I have grown to love them over the past weeks as if they were brothers, and I know Lydia thinks of them all as sons. God is awesome, and I know that he has amazing plans for each of these boys. Tomorrow is a scary day for them all, as well as Lydia and even I, but I know that the Lord is with us through everything, and that is what makes it all worthwhile.

I don't

I can most likely count the number of weddings that I have been to in the states on one hand. That being said I have lived in Kenya for about a month and have already been to two weddings. Now hear me when I say weddings here in Kitale have no resemblance to weddings in the U.S. First of all I was supposed to have been picked up at 9:30 in the morning, so I waited, and waited. Finally I thought that I had been forgotten so I decided to change out of my wedding clothes, when I heard a honk at around 1:15. Yes, it was around 4 hours after I was told that I was going to be picked up and it was time for me to go. Luckily the wedding had already started so I didn’t have to wait around while the wedding was set up. The pictures do a better job of explaining the wedding then I ever could, which seems to be the case with many things here in Kenya. Personal space is non-existent here in Kitale, so when there are around a thousand people crammed into a small church you can imagine how comfortable a wooden bench in between a bunch of African dudes is. It is funny to think that I am considered some sort of VIP here in Kitale because, well lets face it I look a little different then most of the population. That being said I was asked to move up to the front of the church with the Groomsmen. While there does seem to be a lot of people at the church, there also seems to be plenty of lace gloves and sleeves at each wedding. There is also plenty of Swahili, which, by the way I don’t understand. I feel like I am in some crazy dream whenever I go to these weddings, a lot of people dancing around, synchronized no doubt, and singing songs that I don’t understand. I spent about 4 hours being confused until I called a taxi and got picked up. All in all I can’t say that I LOVE going to weddings here, but experiences are what makes life interesting. Plus I always keep my promises.

This is for your dad Di.

Weds?



Happily married.


The reception.


There was a lot of dancing there.


There was a lot of people there.

Mercy me

What is there to blog about when you are on a mission’s trip and you take a couple days off of ministry? Well not much, at least that is the conclusion that I have come too. On Thursday we had a couple girls from Purpose Driven Academy who were living in a terrible orphanage that Pastor Steve rescued them from. Yesterday we had some guests as well. There is a family that lives just behind an orphanage named Tumaini who have become friends with Steve over the years. They have four children Gigi who is 9, Jacob who is 14, Lilac who is 15 and Sharon who is 19. Jacob, Lilac and Sharon who were over for most of yeserday playing horseshoes and ping-pong with us, and just enjoying their time off from school. I really enjoy their company, and I think they like being here as well.

Considering there has been no ministry to speak of for the past couple days I think that I will start something called CAST OF CHARACTERS. For the next couple weeks I will write about some of the Kenyans who we are working with us, and who are in our lives while we serve here. I was debating on who I wanted to start with considering that there are so many people who we have met, but I came to a decision today, I will start with a man that has been a great help to us while we have been in Kitale. His name is Ayub, and he is the caretaker for the compound that we live on. The compound is around Five acres and has a lot of upkeep. Ayub is in charge of everything from hiring people to run the gardens, to fixing the water pump when it goes down. Ayub is an unexplainable person, which makes one wonder why I would attempt to, but never the less you should know about him. Ayub has a servant’s heart, and would do anything for any of us at the drop of a hat. Today was the first time that I even knew that he was married, because he lives here on the compound alone. Ayub is one of my favorite people that I have met here in Kitale, and everyday holds a new discovery with him and his amazing personality.


This is a stump that I helped take out.


These are the Mercy girls. I gave them those hats.
Hello Ayub.

Hello there

I have never seen poverty like I did yesterday. Kipsongo is a slum outside of town that houses over 300 families. There is no way to describe what Kipsongo actually looks or feels like, but I can tell you that there is nothing like it where I come from. There is a bright spot of this slum, and that is the church. The pastor that runs the church in Kipsongo was born and raised in the slum, and now he has a heart for the children that live there. Like most of the children who live in the poorer areas of Kenya they are either raised by single parents or they are orphans. Everyday the pastor at the church in Kipsongo feeds all of the local children in the church. He is a good man, in an area filled with alcoholism and disease and poverty.

About two weeks ago we went to Purpose driven academy to do a street kid washing. We round up a bunch of street children and we provide soap and water for them to wash. The ages range from 3 to 19. There was a boy that was around 3 years old who came in for us to wash. He had a blank look on his face that I have never seen in a child. He never looked at me always through me. I fell in love with him and hung out with him all day. While we were waiting for everyone to be done, someone stole his shirt so I gave him mine. It looked like a dress on him, but it was better then him going back to the streets without a shirt. When all was said and done with the street washing I let him go back onto the streets and never thought that I would see him again. God has a way of working people back into your life. Yesterday, when we were at Kipsongo, I saw him again. He recognized me and I took him in my arms, and his face changed immediately. His whole attitude changed. I am not sure what God is trying to show me yet, but I know that there is a point for me running into him again. My skills in the realm of writing are not nearly good enough to describe my feelings about today but hopefully these pictures will help me explain.


Today was a nice day of rest. I woke up and did a little work with some video that I had shot, and then lounged around for a while. Steve and I went into town to get a couple things, and I said hi to the usual suspects in Giga-mart. I love walking around town and seeing people that I recognize, and shaking their hands. Tonight we went out to dinner at a resort here in town. It was interesting, if you want to find out more about that head over to Allison’s blog. I love this town.


We fed her.
This Little girl broke my heart.


Houses in Kipsongo.



These are the children in the church at Kipsongo.

Here is Derek and I.


Derek.


There we are again.

Here I am

Missing home seems like such a waste of time when you are working for the Lord. This whole trip I have tried not to think much about home, but today I discovered a new philosophy. The lord has blessed me so much in my life, and today he made me realize that a huge part of this trip is to be reminded of the opportunity that the Lord has given me by allowing me to grow up where I did. I have always been gratefull for the amazing family and friends that are in my life, but today I realized that to give any less then 100% of my love and energy to the people that I love, and even those I don’t, would be a complete waste of the blessings that the Lord has given me. The lord tells us to pray for our enemies, and last night was the first time that I closed my eyes and asked the Lord to bless some of the people who I have had nothing but contempt for. Sometimes when we follow the words of the Lord it takes time for us reep what we sow, but as soon as I prayed a prayer for my enemies my heart was broken. The Lord has given me so much, and I am posotive that he is asking me to give my life to people. I know that that may be impossible to interperate, and trust me I don’t see the whole picture yet, but as of now all I know is that I am being asked to enter a life of service to people. I feel like a sap letting this out of my mind, but I know that if you read this you care for me, and I for you, so I guess it is the right thing to do. The Lord is my Shepard, and for once in my life I know what that looks like.

Today we went to a slum that houses around 300,000 people. A couple of years ago a team from saddleback built a well near a school in the slum that provides clean water for all of the people living in the slum. Before the people had this well they were forced to go down to the “river” to get water, which caused countless water born diseases. It was amazing to see the children drinking from and enjoying the well, not to mention the mothers who were able to rely on the well for safe drinking water for their children. Every time that I fill up a glass of water from the tap, I will thank the Lord for all of the ways that he has blessed me.



There we are.


I have been doing some filming




He wasn't that mean.

Friday’s are usually days that a kid my age looks forward to as a little time to spend with some friends, and maybe go out for a nice meal. It is awesome to experience the contrast of a Friday at home and one here in Kitale. We started off the morning as we usually do, eating a little breakfast. Lately I have been enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every morning, and sometimes I will enjoy it with a delicious hardboiled egg. We walked to oasis again to hang out with the kids, and maybe teach a little something. When we got there we discovered that Fridays are a short for the kids because at lunch they clean out the classroom so that they can use it for the church on Sundays. Having discovered that, we decided that we would stay and play for a little while and then head to the market to do some shopping.

Before I tell you about me Market experience I have to explain a boy from Oasis that I have really connected with over the past couple of weeks. Joseph is a boy who is 15 and lives in one of the group homes run by Oasis of Hope. He is a former street boy, and was rescued by Lydia and Geoffrey’s ministry. He has such an amazing heart that has taught me a lot about the children here. Joseph had asked me earlier if he could come along with us when we went to the market, so of course I told him that he could. He decided to invite his friend Stuart, who is also at Oasis, and in my bible study as well. Just the simplicity of walking and talking to them really was amazing, they are both so kind, and loving. As we were walking into the store Joseph told me that he didn’t want to go in. I didn’t understand and just told him that he wasn’t going to wait outside and that he had to come in. Later when were alone I asked him why he didn’t want to come in, and he gave an answer that really altered my view about life. He told me that he didn’t want to see all of these nice things because he didn’t want to want them. Basically he told me that he didn’t want to think of things that were meaningless, even if they did look like they were worth having. It really made me thing about times that I just go into places and almost lust over a computer or a new ipod (lust may not be the right word but you can get the picture). I just Love the perspective that these kids give you not only on life here in Kenya but also life back home. After we were in the market it started to rain so we had to stand with the boys under an awning to wait for the rain to cease. As we were waiting in the rain a little street boy came up to us and just stood next us. As he was standing with us I Realized that all he wanted was to be close to us and have me shake his hand and pat him on the head. I told Joseph to tell him to go to Oasis on Monday so that he could get a nice warm meal. We had bought Joseph a coke and he had drunk about half of it when we had met the street boy, and he decided to give it to him. I can’t explain how amazingly happy that made me. Seeing a former street boy be kind to a current street boy even though he had no obligation to do anything kind for him.

Today is Saturday, and boy was it fun. The oasis boys all had a soccer game that Lydia had planned for them. The boys who live in the group homes were up against the street boys who attend the school everyday. Lydia had brought uniforms for them all, and it is amazing what a uniform does to bring kids together. The street boys won in penalty kicks, but both teams played their hearts out, making it a successful day.

I really do love everything that God is showing me here, and I see myself really growing to love this place more and more. I apologize for these blogs being nothing but play by play days, I will try and think of some other things to talk about, but for now that is all I got for you. I love you all and hope that the Lord is blessing you in unimaginable ways. I pray for you all daily, and I can’t wait to see you all!



This is the road we take to Oasis.


They were good sports.


This is Joesph.

No, not that Bosnia.

Well it has been a couple days but, ALAS, I am here again. It has been a sweet couple of days with the Steve and the team. On Wednesday Steve took us to an I.D.P. slum Called Bosnia, of all names. I.D.P. stands for internally displaced people, and that is exactly what the people are who live in this area. There’s an area not far from where we are staying that is know historically as an area of conflict, called Mt. Elgon. This is where much of the tribal violence that occurs in Kenya takes place. The people who live in Bosnia were displaced in 1992 in some of the earliest clashes on Mt. Elgon. All of their homes were burned to the ground, and much of their livestock was killed in the process. Luckily the Member of Parliament that represented the people of the destroyed area had purchased a 5-acre parcel of land for the 100 families to live on while they were displaced. Well it has been sixteen years and it is still not safe for the families to go back to their homeland, so they have been forced to live in terrible conditions, in a foreign part of their country. Although the people of Bosnia live in conditions that are not even common to Kenya, and they have no schooling for their children they are so faithful to the Lord. They kept emphasizing the fact that they knew that if they put their faith in the Lord he would provide for them, and they would return home. Many of the children who lived in the village were raised by their grandmothers, which created a sort of patriarchal society. I will never forget the smiles that we experienced when we were talking and praying with the people of Bosnia. As we were leaving we knew that God had led us to these people for a reason, so when we got home Steve and I headed to the Giga-mart to buy a “few” supplies.

Now I know that I have explained the Giga-mart before, but I had no idea that on the other side of the building there was a wholesale part. Steve of course knew what he was doing when he invited me to come with him and watch him purchase things for the people in Bosnia. There are four stories of everything from coffee to blankets, and Steve walked up and down the isles like a skilled surgeon knowing exactly how to work the salesman, moving quickly but efficiently to keep the workers on their toes, allowing him to get the price that he wanted. I personally enjoyed the line, “fine, let the little orphans starve”. That one really seemed to get the right price. After spending about $1,000 in supplies for the camp we packed up the Land rover and headed back to the compound.

On Thursday we headed back to Bosnia to give all of the supplies to the village, Sr. Freda and her clinic crew also came along to have a clinic for all the people in the village. I struggled finding a place in all of the madness, which was kind of discouraging, but it allowed me to spend time with some of the children that were waiting outside as their grandmothers collected the supplies. We handed out 100 blankets, some wash basins, lots of pots and plates, rice, sugar, some salt, detergent, and some other essential things. It was amazing to see a whole community come together and be faithful to the Lord. I was so encouraged by these people, which is kind of ironic considering that we are the ones who are supposed to be encouraging. Just when I thought I figured out why God is calling me here he surprises me again, he always seems to find some way to amaze me.

There is one issue that I have not addressed as of yet. And that is, there are no males my age on this trip. I understand that the girls on this trip are reading this blog so I must say that they are not being difficult, or giving making me miserable, but sometimes you just need to hang out with a dude your age. I have really been praying about it and God has really given me an awesome ability to just accept my situation, and really have a great time. I understand that the for mentioned issue is random, and very out of place, but it has been on my mind, and is a huge part of my life here in Kenya, and this blog is for you to understand my situation here, right?



I Enjoyed his company



We both had hats on.

This is what we gave them.



No, these kids don't live in the corn.


I forget his name.

I made friends with these dudes.



These ladies loved their new blankets.