It’s not exactly like it sounds. We’re not being lazy and we’re not just chatting our afternoons away. Last week I went to the primary school (NAPS) with half of the team. That is where they are tutoring sixth and seventh graders. It was great to see our group interacting with them and helping them learn. Throughout the conversations I overheard it was obvious that this team has a passion to teach and educate these kids. It made me think of how Jesus must feel when we are learning something new. He’s willing to take the necessary time to teach it to us with patience. Not only that, but I’m sure he enjoys the process and rejoices with us when we get it right.
After some relaxing time at the AIM house for lunch, I joined the afternoon Bible Study group. We walked through the deepest part of Kibera, through tiny “alleys” and over open sewage, past dried fish stands and booming music, down steep, rocky walkways, and past meandering goats until we finally came out on the other side. It was a peculiar site when we finally reached the small church. It was literally one of the last buildings within Kibera, and just beyond it stood enormous apartment buildings–freshly painted; bright colors; modern looking with their mulit-levels. What a contrast it was to the dingy tin roofs, mud-walls, and stick beams of the slum-houses. Apparently, the apartments had originally been built for residents from that area of Kibera, to help begin to diminish the slums. However, government workers purchased up the inexpensive apartments and started renting them out for much more–making it unaffordable for the slum dwellers to rent.
The Bible Study group consisted of five team members, myself, our translator Toto Nono, a friend Helen, the pastor’s wife Lydia, and the attendees. They put on a basic children’s program for the first forty-five minutes, complete with an acted out version of David and Goliath and several children’s songs. In the Bible Study they shared about Christ’s love for us, and brought grace into that. I was there to help as needed, but mostly just to observe and see how things functioned. I actually had the luxury of holding an adorably one-month-old (Elisha Obama) during the whole study. It is really great to see this team stepping out and pursuing God’s word. It is even more encouraging to see them teaching others in it and sharing what He has done in their own lives.
