Nairobi
ANSWERED PRAYER
Guess what! My stolen Chevy Tahoe was found this morning. It was messy, but in good condition. The thief was using it for his construction business and left tons of personal items, some with his name and address on them and the car was parked right outside his house. Not too smart! My son Isaac got a call from the police and rushed over in a Taxi to pick it up. He also found, 22 king sized white chocolate Kit Kat bars (make that 21, since he ate one on the way home), fishing gear, tools, a gas powered razor scooter and 400 samples of some energy drink. The whole thing is so humorous to me but I do thank the Lord for having my back. God is so good!
Wow! We had some day today. We spent the morning at Lenana School with 265 of the greatest kids in Kenya. I am so proud of the teachers and principle of this school. In the seven years that we have been partnering with them they have done amazing things with the school. They were forced to move two times and yet each facility was better than the next. I told the teachers this morning that they were truly sons and daughters of God. God created everything out of nothing and so have they. In spite of being grossly underfunded, undersupplied, understaffed and over-crowded they are in the top percentile of schools in the district and the kids are district champions in soccer and volleyball.
All the kids who are above the 2nd grade know Valerie and I by name, but the younger ones don’t have a clue, so when I went into the kindergarten class and asked them who I was, they looked at me for a long time and finally one cute little girl blurted out “Father Christmas” (their name for Santa Clause!). Perhaps I am like Father Christmas to the school, but I am totally aware that God has done it all and all the glory goes to him.
I got choked up as I introduced Kathy Lambert, because she has done an extraordinary number of good things for this school; installing electricity, a water retention system, new computers, new curriculum and a library of good books. It really touches me when I see someone who is so kind and generous to these children. I feel like they are all mine! Thank you so much for sending us and giving us the resources to serve these precious children. I want to say to you what they say here in Kenya “Be Blessed”.
THE WORLDCOMP CHILDREN’S HOME
After Lenana school we went to view the site of our new Orphanage and Children’s rescue center. I have to say that I wasn’t at all prepared for what we saw in this place. I had seen some pictures and they made me think the place was shabby. But in this case “a picture was not worth a thousand words”. The place is a fabulous place for an orphanage. It has a large block house with lovely rooms which can house up to 50 kids. In addition there are many rooms in an outlying facility that will serve as classrooms, playrooms, storerooms or whatever. All of our Worldcomp Kenya leaders were there and all of them are 100% involved. For the last two weeks they have been preparing the place for kids. They fenced the whole compound, painted all the rooms, had little bunk beds made, and groomed the grounds to get them ready. We are building new restrooms with 6 toilets and 4 showers. Our team will provide caregivers, medical attention, pastoral guidance and facilities maintenance for the orphanage.
We had a chance to meet the elderly owner of the compound who has leased us the facilities. His name is Nicolas Ndungi and his wife is Consolata. They truly have a heart for caring for orphans. Both Valerie and I cried as we thanked them and blessed them for opening their land for this vital ministry.
This home will serve all of our ministries in the slums by providing a place for the abandoned children that we come across in the world of poverty. Dr. George Matimbai shared a proverb with us that described the importance of ministering to a little child. He said “You can count the number of seeds in an orange, but you can’t count the number of oranges in a seed”. Each little child is like a small seed which seems insignificant in itself, but when it is planted, watered and cared for it will produce an unlimited supply of fruit.
The team actually picked up 25 orphans from our work in Kibera and Dagoretti and brought them to the dedication. Many of them will be living in the orphanage when it opens in two weeks. They sat like little angels in front rows while we dedicated the facilities. Mesheck Lwenya, one of our staff told me that an interesting thing happened with the orphans. When we picked them up they didn’t know each other at all and while many kids take time to connect with new kids, these kids immediately became friends. They laughed and played with each other all day as if they had known each other from birth. Every person who travels with us to Kenya for any reason will tell you that their favorite thing about Kenya is the kids.
They bought a cake for the dedication and Valerie, Selma, Kathy, and Britta all held the knife together to cut the first piece. After that Valerie and I, and the owner and his wife, planted Cyprus trees in the front yard to commemorate the launch of the new ministry.
Again I have to tell you how impressed and proud I am of our Worldcomp team here in Kenya. They all are working with all their might to serve the poor and the needy. They have marvelous ideas and they are a great team. It’s an honor to serve the Lord with them or as I like to say “It’s a pleasure doing business with them” (God’s business that is!).
For the last 4 or 5 days each member of our team, including me, has returned home and said “now I’ve seen it all”. But each day tops the next in wonder and amazement. We are emotional wrecks, but what an incredible blessing.
We’ll it’s long past the bed time for an old man like me, so I’ll write some more tomorrow. Thanks again for following us in our travels and for keeping us in your prayers.
Richard