She's Here!

December 8, 2013 (Sunday) I woke up once last night and there beside my shoes was a very big black spider or roach. I’m not sure which. My eyes were blurry and it disappeared under my bed before I could see clearly. I was so tired I just went back to bed without trying to find the creature.

Sunday morning came way to fast and my body was crying for more sleep as it tried to adjust to the eight hour time change and the extra-long trip. I knew rolling over and going back to sleep would only prolong the adjustment that I needed to go through.

It was Sunday and I wanted to surprise the people in the slums and join them for worship. I filled one suitcase with ties, matching baby bonnets and slippers, baby blankets, new testaments and handmade slippers for the children.  There were also a couple big surprises hidden inside for the pastor.  My mode of travel has had to change for my safety.  Using public transportation for quick trips around town and into the slums is now a thing of the past.

The sights, the smells, the confusion and traffic within the slums haven’t changed.  People beyond number fill the road ways along with goats and carts full of produce pulled by men. It is a challenge to maneuver our car around without coming to a complete stop.  Deep within the slums the roadways aren’t really used for vehicles and the condition of the roads deteriorates.

The ditches beside the roadway are running with fluids.  Booths are set up on each side of the road with produce.  There are tomatoes, bananas and mangos but the sun has baked the goodness out of them.  Flies swarm around the baskets of dried fish.  Garbage piles smolder along the way and the dogs that howl at night sleep under the hot sun of the day.  Every bone in their body can be seen and I wonder how they can live one more day. 

I enter through the doorway of the worn out iron sheet fence.  The path I walk is very familiar and I can hear the songs of worship coming from inside the small and well hidden church.

 Some of the little ones are the first to see me and a look of surprise quickly changes to happiness. The feet travel fast and the news of my arrival spreads.

As I step through the door way of the church so many are quick to greet me. The pastor welcomes me "back home" and asks me to join him in his office.

I hadn’t told them I was coming but as we walked together he said “I knew you were coming.”  Friday night they had all night prayer.  During that time of prayer he had a vision and he saw me coming to them and I greeted him.  Seeing me enter through the doorway was not a surprise to him!

The suitcase was opened and it was like Christmas for them.  A computer donated by one of the local churches, Zone Church, was placed in the hands of a very dedicated pastor.  His desire and prayer had been answered that day.   He lives in the slums and has a job in the city that allows him to work a few hours each week. He then sends money to his children in western Kenya so that they can go to school.

Life in the slums is far from easy and he has lived through some very difficult times.  One night he was on his way to the church for a time of prayer but before he could enter the doorway several guys pushed him to the ground.  They beat him, kicked him and used a dirty hyper dermic needle on him over and over again.  They wanted his money but he didn’t have any.  Yesterday he was robbed again.  He was riding the City Hopper bus when two guys entered with guns and demanded cell phones and money.  He gave them all the money he had. The enemy took from him but the Lord gave back with increase!

There were ties for every man and the church was very full even at a time when people travel back to their villages for Christmas. A tie represents at least two days of work for them. It is beyond reach for so many. Having a tie to wear to church is very important here in Kenya. 

Mamas examine the little hat sets and blankets made by Gaile Dufault. They giggle and speak out a name of a baby in need.  They know exactly where each one should go

.

The little children love the colorful slippers that my mom, Charlotte Towne,  makes for them every year.  Her slippers have blessed the children of Kenya and beyond.  They have warmed the feet of little ones in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda as well.  Here in the slums they are experiencing some late rains.  It rains hard and long and the nights are cold. These slippers came at a much needed time!

I met Jackie for the first time in 2005 after speaking at an outdoor crusade in the slums.  She had just given birth and there had been complications.  We were asked to visit her in her humble home and pray for her.  The Lord healed her completely and restored her to health.   Earlier this year Jackie became pregnant. Women never make an announcement that they are expecting but it became very obvious :)  So before I left for the USA this past trip I asked her what she wanted.  I told her to be specific.  She already has two girls so she said a boy would be nice. We prayed together that God would grant her desire and bless her with a son. As we talked together I shared the story of how I just knew my first child was a boy.  I was going to name him “Israel.”   I loved the name Israel but when he was born he looked just like his Dad……so he was given his Dad’s name, Manley.

Today little Israel Manley was placed in my arms! He is strong, well fed and a handsome little guy!  Mama Jackie is doing just fine too.  She shines with happiness as her heart bubbles over with thankfulness for what God has done for her.

I understand there are two little Manley’s in the slums.  The mother of Manley James Jaminah has traveled to her village with her new born to celebrate Christmas at her family’s home.  I will have to wait before I get to hold this little one!

Today there was an abundance of joy that filled the little church in the middle of the slums. I do believe that the songs of praise almost lifted the tin roof off the church :)   Thank you everyone for giving them a very bright and happy day in such a dark and desperate land.  My heart melts with happiness!

Proverbs 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful,.....

A Blazing Ball of Fire

December 5, 2013 (Thursday)  The clock was ticking and the time to return to Kenya was fast approaching. Bags were packed, weighed, repacked and weighed again.  Goodbyes are not easy and the family knows all too well the miss that is ahead.

Before leaving on my last trip my oldest granddaughter was singing “Joy, joy, joy, down in my heart” while tears of parting rolled down the cheeks of others.  This year however she understands that “Grammie Nana” is going to help other little boys and girls in Africa.  Her heart is big and she packs a bag of some of her favorite toys and puts them in my suitcase.  Even still I hear the words, “I don’t want you to go. I’m going to miss you.”  Time is something that is hard to understand when your preschool age so she watches for the leaves to appear on the trees knowing that then Grammie Nana is soon to return. 

Traveling often has its delays and challenges and on this trip there were many. When we arrived in Boston we were immediately informed that the flight would be delayed as the plane needed repair.  This delay meant I would miss my connecting flight in London.  They were quick to find me another airline to use out of London but it meant having an eight hour layover.  After the long wait my gate was finally open and everyone was loading. It looked like we were finally on our way.  Everyone was seated and ready to leave when once again we were delayed.  Someone on the flight was ill and had left the plane but we could not leave until they found and removed his luggage. We sat in the plane for two hours waiting to take off. 

December 7, 2013 (Saturday) Usually when I arrive in Nairobi it is very late at night but the delays I encountered put me on a different schedule.  This trip I was flying over Kenya as the sun came up. The blazing ball of fire showed its strength even in the wee hours of the morning. It was a sure sign that I had finally arrived.

Once in Nairobi we were taken by bus to the newly constructed building that they have been working on since the fire at the airport.  Usually the process of obtaining a visa and going through customs doesn’t take too long but this time was the exception.  Even though my ride had been made aware of my first delay he was not aware of the others. The flight changes and the delays meant I was in Nairobi much later than planned. I was unsure as to whether my contact person would still be waiting for me once I walked outside of the airport.

With visa in hand and after answering a few questions at customs I was released to leave the airport and enter a land that I love. Once outside the warm Kenyan air welcomed me and my eyes scanned the many faces waiting for people to arrive.  There was one familiar face....my driver!  He had waited such a long time for me.  My body was tired but I had excitement within as I knew God had great things ahead.

Genesis 31:47  ...The Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from the other.

Flies, Raw Sewage, Crime

June 9, 2013 (Sunday) In the midst of the slum well hidden behind rusty and worn iron sheets sits a small church struggling to move forward with what God has for them.  So many times they have had to start over because of theft.  So many times they have had to move because of hiked rental fees but they continue to bless the Lord.

Poverty excels in such a place and praying for jobs is number one on the prayer list. Crime takes over the nights. Jackie tells me of a man that was shot and killed close to her home.  They approached him with guns in their hands and demanded money.  He was not a man of wealth. He was like so many others here in the slum living day by day without anything extra.  Their demands were not satisfied and his life was taken.

 

Raw sewage runs beside the pathway right to the church door.  Flies multiply in the ever growing rubbish that fills the land. It is a land full of filth and disease.  During the week children run the same path as they enter through the wooden church door for school.  They come to school hungry and weak. They are tired because they missed a good night’s sleep because of hunger pains.   Their running noses and coughs never stop nor do the smoldering fires of garbage along the way.

As they play on grounds with garbage and debris they run to us with something they have found.  A hypodermic needle is taken from the little hands that so proudly brought it.  There is no evidence of surprise or alarm of such a find but a pat on the child’s back for doing the right thing.

 

The church is well attended and praise continues to flow upward.  They dream of better days and cry out to God in thanks for all that he has done.  He is the one that sustains them and fills their hearts with joy.

 

 

They have not given up under enormous challenges.  Their land is waste land but their hearts are beautiful gardens.

Psalm 5:11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them,  that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Extreme Poverty

 

 

June 4, 2013 (Tuesday) As I returned to the slums I remembered the hours, days, months that I walked here with them.  The pain and suffering that I had seen within this land flashed through my mind. The eyes of longing and pleading for help that looked up into mine never stopped.  I remembered the needs and distress that extreme poverty brings. 

 

Evelyn cares for the babies found in the midst of the garbage piles. She loves the babies that others don’t want because they are diseased or looked on as just another burden  She feeds them and makes sure they are have a place to sleep.  Life for them stared with neglect and they struggle to survive.  Today she prepares to bury one of these little ones.

The door has a lock on it but everything has to be removed from the church and taken to one of the members’ homes for safe keeping.  The chairs are stacked and stored close by.  The pulpit is removed and even the clock on the wall is removed for safe keeping.

As I visit the school children at the slum church I learn of someone cutting through the iron sheets and removing some to the children’s chairs, jump ropes and items to cook with. 

 

 

Mama Rosie, the teacher, has one request….if possible can we get more jump ropes for the children to play with.  She knows how happy they were to have them.  In March two men were caught for stealing and burnt to death not too far from the church.

The children are excited to see me and their happy voices fill the air.  When the teacher picks up the “cane” and tells them to be quiet complete silence takes over.

Usually I walk and visit within the homes of those here in the slum but now I must sit and my visitors come to me.  We gather in the pastor’s office and the word goes out that I have arrived. 

The pastor shares with me how the “clean” water truck that carries water into the slums made so many people sick.  He ended up in the hospital for three days and is still being treated.

Pastor Caleb tells me about his church and how thieves removed the iron sheets of the roof one night while people slept.

  

I met Jackie on my first visit to Kawangware slum in 2005. She was suffering from complications after child birth and God healed her completely.  I have watched her amazing testimony as she walks to please the Lord.  She gave birth to healthy beautiful baby girl last year.  I had the opportunity to hold her in my arms before I left for the states.  Jackie and her husband suffered tragedy when their baby died several months later.  The doctor they went to gave the baby an injection that was meant for an adult.  The baby died.   Today Jackie’s face radiates as soon she will give birth to another child. 

Throughout the day people stopped and shared their experiences of life in the slums with me. Much of what I heard was that of struggles, hardships and grief but their hearts are still full joy.  

It was good to be reunited once again with those that mean so much to me here in the slum land of Nairobi.

Psalm 126:3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Garbage Covers The Land

 

June 2, 2013 (Sunday) Confusion and congestion filled the entrance into the slums. Transportation matatus and buses came to a dead lock and each refused to move.  The over populated slum has masses of people filling the road ways. Walking is the number one form of travel as so many cannot afford the public transportation.  The roads are dusty and raw sewage flows beside the roadways and through the back alley pathways.  Today I will not walk these pathways that are so familiar to me as my leg is still healing.  We continue further into the slum, but slowly, as we wait for people to give us room to pass through.  The honk of the horn doesn’t seem move them as these roads are traveled more on foot than by vehicle.

Beside the road are carts of tomatoes, bananas, and other produce.  Shop keepers are starting their fires next to the busy road in hopes to sell what they cook that day. For those that want to celebrate live chickens are for sale and kept in wire cages at the corner. Open air grills are already hot and the all so common chicken feet and cow intestines are sizzling and ready for those that walk by. Charcoal is being sold by the tin can. Garbage replaces the green grass and it becomes a carpet which covers the land.

 

I carefully maneuver myself through the ragged edged doorway and over the rocks that line that pathway. The alley way is a maze to walk through and walled with mixed matched iron sheets on each side of me.

Before entering the church I sit with the pastor in his office which is attached to church. The people are now singing and music from inside overflows into his office as we talk together. 

 The church has grown in the time I have been gone and they have filled the church from front to back. The need for more room is a good problem but for them it means moving.  The church cannot expand here because people have built on three sides of the church. On one side of the church the building is so close they cannot open two of their wooden windows.  The church wall on the other two sides comes wall to wall to someone’s home. Space is limited here in the slums and the population continues to grow.

 

Kenya is now entering their winter months and the temperature is dropping and will continue to drop into July and August.  The natives really feel the temperature change and many get sick because of it.  Their one room homes are generally made with iron sheets which captures the cold even more.

After the service we had all the women gather in the front and we sent them home with a new blanket. This will help keep their babies warm through the cold season that is now upon them.   

As we waited outside for the car to pick us up. I was quickly reminded of the evil the rests in this land. It is midafternoon and the sun has not started to set but still robbery and theft continues to rule here.  About fifteen guys on the run just about knocked me off my feet. They weren't stopping for anyone. It could mean their life if they are caught because mob justice takes over and punishment is usually death by stoning or they would be on fire.

 

Praise filled the small little church in the midst of the slum today. When one looks around and sees the conditions in which they live you might wonder how can they rejoice in such a place? They live in the slum but the slum does not live in them. They have found love, peace and joy. They have found Jesus.

 

Psalm 63:4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Esther's Uniform

 

 

May 27, 2013 (Monday) In Kenya there are so many obvious needs around me and they all could use help in some way.  In memory of my sister, Debbie, I wanted to be able to take care of a very special need today. 

 

 

I worked all day at the children’s school.  Before I left the village I heard of a woman who had been robbed during the night several months ago.  She had been in the hospital for four months because they had attacked her with a machete and almost cut her leg off.  Her husband had died a few years earlier and had left her to raise their six children alone.  This woman cannot work because of her injuries and faces many challenges.  She was without food and had not been able to feed her children for the past four days.  She had nothing in her humble little home.  Before the day was over we delivered maize, cooking fat, potatoes, salt, sugar, tea and charcoal to cook with to her house. With a big smile she said “God has remembered me.”

After talking with the parents of the children my eyes have been opened to the daily struggles they face. The green gardens and the tall maize tell me that they have plenty and that is so untrue.  They don’t own this land but only rent a very small piece of it for a home.  Hunger is a problem here and children cry themselves to sleep at night because of lack of food.  When asking if they have ever gone to bed hungry it was a matter of fact “yes, of course.” If there isn’t any work there isn’t any food.  They know and their children know the pains of hunger.

May 28, 2013 (Tuesday) Today’s newspaper headlines are “Kenya Hit by Nationwide Power Failure.” We did sit in the dark last night but that’s not unusual.  The power here is constantly going on and off.  Candles and matches are placed in various places throughout the room. We didn’t realize that the all of Kenya, the whole country, was lighting candles at the same time.

May 30, 2013 (Thursday) Once again we travel the roads dodging cows, donkeys, head on traffic, motorbikes, people and pot holes.  There is a saying here that goes like this: You know you’re in Kenya when you ride on the side of the road because it’s smoother than the road!  Sometimes we are driving in the road and sometimes we’re driving in the road beside the roadJ 

My driver, Moses, doesn’t like to spend money of fuel.  His tank is always on empty and every hill we come to, even the smallest of hills, he shuts the car off and we coast as far as we can before he turns it back on.

The children are seated and in class when we arrive.  Everything seems to be running in a smooth and orderly fashion.  We notice that a few are missing and hear that several have scabies and have been sent home. 

The school is open from 8 am to 3 pm and sixty children are being taught.  Aggie, our teacher and her two helpers are doing a terrific job.  Those within the village are singing louder now as they walk their paths. They know God has heard their cry.

It’s time for me to say goodbye to some very dear friends.  Mama Rhoda is a woman of strong faith and she has such a big heart.  She has been a widow for years and works hard to see that her children are cared for.  Her family and responsibilities increased when she welcomed four orphans into her home.  Even with the hardships she faces she continues to reach out to those around her.

 

The trees overshadow the dirt road and we travel ever so slowly through the pot holes on the way out so that we don't leave any car parts behind. Up ahead a mama waves at us to stop.  Beatrice is Esther's grandmother and her guardian.  Beatrice was walking to school to see if there was room for Esther.  We were leaving and it was my last trip to Taito for some time but we had "one" extra uniform.  We had Esther's uniform!  We had room for one more.

May 31, 2013 (Friday) It’s a quick look around my room to make sure I have everything and then it’s time for hugs and goodbyes. 

 

 

The little guy didn’t disappointment me. He gave his Auntie Linda a nice smile and then there’s my friend Calvin who loves a “big” bowl of popcorn in the evening.  I think we bought all the popcorn they had. The last time I went to buy some they were sold out!

 

The wheels are rolling by 8:30 and we are on our way to Nairobi.  I have a seat up front which allows me to stretch out my leg and to have a view of all that is going on around us J  Doc Cathy was traveling today too and was quick to give help any time I needed it.

The Great Rift Valley is beautiful to travel through. The volcanic mountains line the sky around us and enclose the primitive life style of the Maasai.  Large numbers of Zebras are grazing on both sides of the road and their confident attitude isn’t shaken as we ride by.  We pass by gazelle’s and baboons sitting near the edge of the road.   A quick glimpse of a couple rhinos makes the trip! 

We cross over the equator line and soon the country life is left behind and the big city is ahead.

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,  since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.