Hello there,
So as I said a while ago now I didn’t know what our ministry
in Kenya was going to look like, so now that I have experienced all that Kenya
has to offer (ha not at all) let me give you a little taste of what it’s like.
Africa in itself is a whole new world as those who have been here would attest,
I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing, probably both, but it is unique to
say the least.
One of the first things I noticed when we arrived in Kitale
was the ridiculous amount of children as compared to adults. I mean at home a
good percentage of the population is baby-boomers, but in Africa it would be
almost rare to see or meet anyone over fifty! There are so many kids who have
been orphaned, who just wander around the streets with glue, and begging for
money so they can buy more. The little
bit of money that they do get is better spent on purchasing glue rather than
food because the glue which also lasts longer (cobblers glue) is only a few
cents, while a loaf of bread would be around a dollar.
In talking to some of these kids (they range from about age three
to sixteen) we found that some kids get started on glue at as young as a year
old! This is because their mothers cannot afford food for them; often the
mothers will be on glue to suppress hunger themselves. Instead of listening to
their starving child cry all the time they will give them glue so as to numb
the senses. I can’t really say that I blame them for doing this, but it is
pretty much stealing any chance for that child to grow up and do anything other
than beg. So that is what many of these kids do, beg on the streets, and getting
handouts wherever they can. Really the only thing that can break the cycle is
help from someone outside because they grow up uneducated, with little to no
parental guidance, no money, and probably the worst is with a defeatist
mindset. It’s a very sad situation, but there is also a huge need for people to
step in and make a difference. I have to think that if this was happening in
North America there would be a public outcry, and hopefully there would be, but
then again as we on the World Race say, TIA. [1](This
Is Africa.)
Ministry, back to ministry, right. Well first off my team was living with a local
pastor and his family; also another world race team was living there with us. In
all about twenty people including the kids of the pastor were living in a small
house. Ha Now I know it could have been a lot worse, but this wasn’t exactly an
ideal situation, especially since we couldn’t leave the house in the evening,
but it was just a lot of people to be around all day every day. The ministry varied a lot, from painting
school buildings, to doing door to door evangelism, to spending time at schools
and orphanages to preaching and singing at church services. It really was a
little bit of everything that we typically do on this trip.
It is really awesome the love we receive from the church
here in Africa, how excited the people are to have us, and just how they honor us
and bless us as their guests is really humbling. I’ll share quickly one of the
coolest things we experience. Wherever we go whether we are walking, or in a
taxi or whatever and we see African kids, or rather when they see us, they’ll
run after the van(kind of like a dog will haha) for as long as they can, just
trying to get the attention of the Mizungus.[2]
So as we are going by it almost never fails that we will hear them chanting in
unison the little English they know, “How are you? How are you? How are you?” Or another one of our favorites is “How-a-zun-gu?
how-a-zun-gu?” Ha it’s really funny but is also a pretty cool experience. It
really makes you feel kind of like a celebrity. Anyway, maybe you just have to
be there, I don’t know…
So there’s a few of my scattered thoughts on what’s been
going on since we’ve been in Africa, continue to pray, and pray for these kids
as well that God would intervene in their lives. God is working here, so thank
you for being a part of it!
