Warning: This blog is rated-R and will take at least 20minutes to finish/pray. Amen
Slum-Dog World-Racing…
To know God and make God known!
Mark 12:29-31
Month #8 in Kenya, I was running sprints in the courtyard early in the morning when I saw a pastor preaching the gospel to a man by the gate. Arms crossed tightly, the man shifted his weight back and forth as though dancing or nervous, as he considered the cost of following Christ.
Like many times on the World Race, I bowed low in my heart, knelt down to my knees, placed my hands on the man’s shoes, and pleaded for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ to begin drawing near to the man in truth, love, grace, conviction and hope through the Holy Spirit. All Glory be to God, I witnessed this man celebrate a re-birth on August 7, 2012.
Kevin
I had met a new brother in Christ,
And this Kenyan’s name was Kevin.
From the minute I witnessed him receive salvation,
I knew this was no accidental encounter.
However, nothing could have prepared me for the things
God was planning to show me through this person’s life!
He owns a Kenyan shoe business in Nairobi.
But not just any type of African shoe.
They are gorgeous, hand-beaded sandals.
Making sandals consumes long hours of a day.
The employees work on commission rather than hourly pay.
The employer contemplates closing the shop,
Due to lack of revenue or because of juvenile theft.
The sandals are often sold at economic prices without much profit.
Sounds like a standard entrepreneur struggle,
Right???
This particular sandal business is unique.
Kevin only employs HIV-positive women
That have grown up in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.
After surrendering his life to Jesus Christ,
Kevin plans to share the Love of the Father with his employees,
Helping them find hope and vision for their lives in Christ.
Praise be to God for beautiful ministry in the (shoe) making!
I am blogging about my friend Kevin
Because our WR team,
Soul Beauty
Was invited to visit the shop last week…
Little did I know the shop was located
In the central area of Kibera.
In 2012, I have ministered in the dumps of Central America
San Vicente, El Salvador
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Jinotepe, Nicaragua
And I have witnessed the trafficking streets of Asia
Bangkok, Thailand
Chang Mai, Thailand
Chang Rai, Thailand
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Penang, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nothing could have prepared me for the Kibera slum.
Nothing.
Kibera
The largest slum in Africa,
The second largest slum in the World.
Make a right hand turn out of our ministry site
At Deliverance Church Langata in Nairobi,
And the odor of Kibera will overwhelm you within minutes.
Saturated trash tumbles from the ridge of the hill,
Rubbish burns from inside the shacks
And my lungs tell my mind to leave this
Sickly-polluted, snow-globe of a slum
ASAP.
Feces and urine trickle into a stream,
Flowing continually into the only water supply
This five mile-stretch slum knows.
There are no roads, there are no sidewalks,
There is no empty space between shacks.
To reach the shop, I slip and slide my way
Through the horizon of an alleyway in my
World Race Chaco sandals, vigilantly
Ducking and dodging blood stains and barbed wire
On the tin roofing that shelters the side of the shed
From storms, erosion, and burglary.
The foundation of the Kibera slum
Is the country’s capital’s largest dump,
Which serves as a daily resource for food
In this 1.1 million resident community.
The unfriendly scowls from a rebellious generation
Threaten my presence as a Muzungo in their slum,
Never the less I cannot take my eyes off
The elderly woman who is mixing mud and Ugali
Together for her family's dinner tonight- And they WILL give God thanks for food!
Kevin informs me that sometimes
There’s not enough food in the trash,
So the orphans and widows consume
The “Kigali-Ugali” mix of mud and corn meal.
He says many of the other times food is so scarce
That natives just eat the mud after a fresh rain.
Reports spread quickly that Americans are in Kibera,
And I prayerfully anticipate hundreds of barefoot children
Flocking to my side, as they hope to receive a gift from me…
Something.
Anything.
A hug
Or candy
A handshake
Or prayer
A $hilling
Or smile
A bracelet
Or photo
Something.
Anything.
There are more than 150,000 orphans in Kibera.
Knowing the probability, that one in six children in Kibera
Are likely infected with HIV/AIDS before the age of sixteen.
My heart sank as I realized that it was the children
Who were actually at risk while hugging me…
Children under the age of 20 are unable to safely walk alone
In the slum because of the high risk of being
Beaten, abused, raped, trafficked, or sold into slave labor.
Let me confirm these statistics to be true
With the testimony of my own two eyes,
An iphone, and a cloud of local witnesses.
This weekend, a baby boy was found dead in the trash of the dump.
This weekend, a man was burned alive as a convicted thief.
This weekend, a sixteen-year-old girl was raped and contracted HIV.
This weekend, a girl was stabbed in the heart while being robbed.
The baby boy was found dead in the trash of the dump of Kibera.
This man was burned alive in the central area of Kibera for all to witness.
This girl was recently raped and contracted HIV from her abuser in Kibera.
Thieves stabbed this woman in the heart and left her to die in the street.
I testify that these things did indeed happen,
And I am telling you the tale is as common as a penny.
PLEASE BE PRAYING FOR KIBERA, the largest slum in Africa!
Recognizing the seriousness of the danger that five
American (women) missionaries may encounter in Kibera,
Two armed guards, three intern-pastors, two slum teens,
And four neighborhood street kids accompanied our Team
Into the Kibera slum as Soul Beauty carried on to Kevin’s shop,
Smiling and praying,
Sighing and praying,
Crying and praying.
Tip-toe-ing through the used condoms,
Broken bottles, hash pipes, soiled diapers,
Knotted shoestrings, and second-hand needles,
I was struck with the profound reality that,
Like many of the American societies,
Kibera is just another community that needs God.
My teammate wondered if Missionaries had ever
Volunteered to live among the community of Kibera,
But our host was thrown back at the thought of an American
Living the lifestyle of a slumdog in Kibera.
Could this be God’s calling on our life?
Maybe?
Maybe not.
But maybe??
-We thought out loud with each other-
Who will God call me to serve in the Kingdom?
What will God call me to accomplish in my lifetime?
When will God call me marry a man and build a family?
Where will God call me to live in my future?
How will God call me to minister the gospel?
The most important Question of all
Why did God call me into a relationship with Him???
To know God and make God known!!!
God is giving me a greater perspective of the meaning of
‘Life in the fullest’ during the few days He gives me under the sun.
Understanding, faith, and truth are gently being tied around my neck.
He adorns my heart with compassion, humility, meekness, and hope.
Peace, Purity, and Life are the new names I have inherited in 2012.
And, at last..
I know who I am in Christ,
Because I know who He is.
I am sent to the slums Today,
As long as it is Today,
To tell people who they are,
Because I now know how He loves them.
What are you called by God to do Today?
Do it with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength,
For the Glory of the Lord
1 Corinthians 10:31
Mark 12:29-31
