This month we have been in Nairobi, Kenya, the largest city in the country. We are working with a church called Deliverance Church Southlands in the middle of the slums. It is a sister church of a larger one called Deliverance Church Langata. We are working alongside the pastor at Deliverance Church Southlands and living with him and his family in their home. It has been an amazing month of joy, happiness, growth and restoration like never before.
One bundle of joy we received this month was a new teammate! AIM decided to start a program called “World Race Exposure” this month inviting people from the United States to join a World Race team for one month of the race and we received one! His name is Hunter from Texas and he is one amazing guy. He has been a complete blessing to our team and he has helped me grow in so many ways this month. He brought the fire of the Lord from day one and continues to on a daily basis. He just fits the mold of our team. He has been the final puzzle piece to the masterpiece of our team this month. He leaves our team to go back to America at the end of the month but his presence will live on through us on this team for the rest of the year. He is a part of us and has helped guide us down the path for the journey we are on with God right now.
Team Ridiculous with our new teammate Hunter!
We have also been staying with the pastor’s family and they have been a true blessing to us. They are a definition of God’s own heart and an example to all of us. Their hearts are so pure for the Lord and their daughter, Patience, has the joy of the Lord like nothing you have ever seen before. She is three years old and the happiest little thing I have ever seen. The relationship she shares with her mother is absolutely beautiful and reminds me of the one I share with my mom. It makes me excited to think about the day I will share that same bond with my own child. It reminds of the intimacy God wants to share with us and the way He sees us. They have shown us the best hospitality I have ever seen as a family. We feel as if we are living at home here and it has just been a little gift this month to feel so at home somewhere.
The Deliverance Church Southlands is the name of the church we are working with this month and it sits right in the middle of the slums. It is a one room church and the presence is so strong it almost knocks you over when you walk in. They praise the Lord like nothing I have ever seen and He just dwells in the place. We are in and out of the church all day every day. We do outreach in the mornings throughout the slums, prayer meetings every day at the lunch hour and visit schools to speak to kids every other day. We have also visited Kibera (the largest slum in the world), Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s Home for the mental and physical handicapped), and played some sports with the locals. We preach at every prayer meeting and at the Sunday services. We teach the Sunday school classes and help with hospitality serving tea and biscuits afterwards. We make home visits at night doing cell groups and prayer with families. I feel like I have prayed for people more this month than I have in my entire life put together and I love it like crazy!!
Kibera (the largest slum in the world)
Boy in slums
Slums
We have stayed the night with another family of the church at least once a week and gotten really close to the girls in the family. Mama Margaret’s house is just the place to be and she has raised eight kids on her own who are all college educated or currently in college. We have gotten so close to them and I feel like I would travel all the way across the world again just to see their faces on a regular basis. I love them so much and the girls make me feel like I’m at home. They have made my heart whole again this month.
Margaret’s granddaughter Abby
I truly cannot even explain the impact of this month. God has truly restored and rejuvenated my heart and soul here. Last month in Thailand was one of the hardest months of my life and God promised He would restore me and He definitely has in every possible way. His love just stuns me every time and the intricate detailing of His perfect plans are just so genius! I love letting Him control my life instead of myself because it works out so much better and so much more exciting than I could ever make it on my own. He has just picked up every broken piece of Thailand and molded us back into the perfect mosaics He wanted us to be to begin with. I have felt the joy of the Lord like crazy here. My prayers are more intense and my personal time with Him is more intimate. I know Him more and more every step that I take and I pray for people with power and excitement that He is just going to do HUGE things in their lives. I will never be the same after this place or any place for that matter. The love is just overflowing like a constant waterfall that never runs dry. God is in everything I see and everything we do here. He reveals Himself to me daily and I learn more and more about His people everywhere I look. I love meeting the people and getting to know them and just becoming part of their community. I start to blend into the community so much at this point that I forget I even look different than them which is kinda funny sometimes!!
I cannot believe another month has already passed almost and we are moving on again. We leave for Tanzania next week for another month worth of African love and fire. I cannot wait to see what it has in store and experience every bit of what it has to offer. I am ready to just breathe in more of God’s goodness and experience His people more and more each day!!
