“How are you? How are you? How are you?” That is the chant of the African children that we hear anytime we walk down the streets here in Kibera, the biggest slums in all of Africa. They practically sing it in unison, skipping down the muddy, trash-filled streets. These kids are precious. Their big beautiful eyes stare up to you, dirty hands extended, waiting for you to greet them. This place, though full of love…even the love of Jesus Christ, is hurting. Sickness, germs, AIDS and HI
V, poverty…these are the problems surrounding the million or so people in Kibera.
We arrived in Kenya without most of our luggage. Having decided to live our lives as simply as possible in Africa, God was just giving us the extra push to start it all out. I had Casey braid my hair to cover up the frizz and I borrowed clothes for church that first Sunday. The service was amazing. The people praised God will out their being, and I don’t think there was a soul in Kibera that couldn’t hear that outrageously loud sound system. Apparantly they have played all their music that loud for some time because the speakers were definetly busted. None the less, these people praised God. It was youth Sunday, and the yound people of the congregation had taken over. Testimonies, songs, Scripture readings… they did it all. What a great introduction to the hearts
of the Kenyan people.
We are staying at the AIM base here, and have been welcomed by three Canadians who work with Drime, a drama group from Vancouver. Those Canadaians make for great hosts and friends. I’ve been able to work with DRIME through AIM on other trips, but these three are new friends and I’m glad to have met the hospitality of Mark, Shelly, and Lillian. Basically, I love them already. Pray for them as they work on and build DRIME Kenya’s ministry. The Brown Team and the Red Team are finally together for ministry. We are missing Sarah Rinn and Jessica Sission because they chose to go to Tanzania with the South Africans.
We met up with Pastor Mike, and he told us that we would be doing lots of door-to-door evangelism, open-air outreaches in the streets, ministry in the schools, and hopefully some orphanage ministry. For the first couple of days we got together and had drama practice. We know that the people here love to see them, and it will be a vital tool in our open-air ministry. Laura has written some dramas, and I have written some, and we have the old faithfuls as well (ironically, they are DRIME dramas!).
On Tuesday we did our first door-to-door evangelism. Three pastors, Mike, Levy, and Jackson came to lead us to their neighborhoods. Before we even got to the places where we would start, Gary had led a lady to Christ! It was quite awesome to just stop and talk to this woman on the side of the road and have her accept Jesus Christ into her heart. As the day continued, 4 more people got saved! We prayed for people and blessed the homes of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Kim K and I went to one house and the mother was really sick. She had twins that were still babies. One of them had been burned really badly when a bowl of hot porridge had spilled all over his chest and neck. The baby was in terrible pain, and with the mother as sick as she was, there was little joy in the home. My heart was broken for this family.
On Thursday we went into Kibera to visit Pastor Mike’s pre-school. It’s a Christian school with about 20 kids. The building is a one room shack
. The alaphabet, shapes, numbers, and colors are all painted onto the metal walls. Pastor Mike told us that many of the kids come from poor families, and even though the school fees are the lowest in the area, they can’t really pay them. One of the boys comes from
a single-parent home where the mom is unemployed. The only meal he gets is the porridge that Pastor Mike prepares and brings the kids in the morning. We were able to sing songs, do a little drama, and play with them at school. Afterwards w e went to every kids home and prayed with their families. It was a great day, but quite exhausting. The needs in Kibera are great. I’m glad we serve a great God. Nothing is impossible for Him.
Today we hope to go out and do some more door-to-door evangelism. The harvest is truly ripe here, and many of the believers need some encouragement. Pray that the Lord works in the hearts of the people we visit and that they see the amazing hope that they have in Him. We are also practicing all our dramas because we doing an open-air outreach tomorrow afternoon, complete with testimonies, singing, dramas, and a message br
ought from the Word of God. There is so much work to be done here. The Christian community is strong though. A ll the pastors we have met have a huge heart for their lost neighbors and a passion for the Lord. They are encouraging to us! This month in Kibera will break our hearts in a new way… it will make a special place for Africa on our hearts.
Oh, and on a special fun note… our Canadian friends threw us an amazing Girl’s Night In. It was complete with roses, invitations, and lots of great snacks. We sat around and talked the night away. We were able to share about God’s grace in each of our lives and make some awesome friends with Shelley and Lillian. Though Mark didn’t stick around for girl’s night, he’s a good friend too. It was a blessing indeed.
In Him – Ashley
