My thoughts on the second trip

For some of us this was our second trip to Mathare. For others it was the very first. For Ron, it was his third trip. This was my second trip to Mathare. Wow, what a change! Last year, there was no "formal" greeting. This year we were greeted with some singing and dancing! What a change.

As we entered the school, I noticed right away the guard shack. Then we went in a little more and there was a kitchen, then as we walked a little more, there were two new school rooms going down the hill. So now there are 6 rooms and the kitchen. One room of course is Rachel, the headmistress, office and one is the teachers lounge and the others are the classrooms. There are over 100 kids now enrolled in the school. I was flabbergasted.

The children were amazing. My little girl Doreen has come such a long way. Last year, she was a little girl who didn't even know her own name. This year, she was dancing, singing and responding to questions we asked and responding to her name when the teacher called. I truly knew that she understood that my family was her sponsor and we loved her so much. She blew me kisses and pinched me every time she walked by me or I walked by her. It was so much fun to watch. Whenever I walked by her classroom, I was greeted with a "Jenn" by both her and the other kids, especially this little boy named "Crispin". They were such a joy to work with. The first year students were exactly like the ones we saw last year, learning their names, the english language, proper swahili, singing, dancing and such. It will be such a joy to see what they have learned and such this next year. Missions of Hope (MOHI) is an amazing ministry. What they have accomplished is changing so many lives in the Mathare Valley. It is so fantastic to watch how the transformation of the lives of these children is changing the lives in the Valley. Believe it or not, the Valley looks somewhat "cleaner". It is hard to imagine that one day it will be clean, but it will. The lives of all are being transformed. They are coming out of the Valley of Darkness and being transformed into the Mountain of God.

Quick update

I've been asked to post a quick blog update on behalf of the Kenya team. Their Internet connection has been down for the past few days so they have been unable to update the blog. But the team wanted everyone to know that the team is safe and doing well.

October 6,2010

VBS has been amazing. The team work is incredible. We all work so well together. The kids love it. Yesterday was our first day doing VBS, Healthy Homes (CHE project) and BTL (Bring in the Light). We started off our day doing VBS and taught the kids our VBS song from the summer Chase the Light. They loved it. As the kids were doing their different rotations, you could hear them come in and say "Chase the Light". It was so neat! They loved the whole day and we so enjoyed it. Even in all the heat, God helped us get thru it and He gave us the strength we needed!
In the afternoon, there were 11 of us that broke off and went to New Life Home. I hope they will blog about their experience. Then the rest left in Area 2 divided into three groups. 2 BTL and 1 healthy Homes. I (Jenn) went with LaSaundra, Brian and Andrea to do the Healthy Homes. I will share my experience. You wouldn't think that something as simple to us as knowing how to boil water and drink sterilized water is very foreign to them. So we taught them how to sterilize their water. They can use a simple plastic bottle with a 1 triangle and PETE to get sterile water. We walked them thru this. We also talked to two families about the importance of proper ventilation for cooking and that it is best to do it outside or near any ventilation areas. This also was foreign. We explained how it is best for their health and their children's health to keep the smoke and cooking outside. One grandmother told us that if she did that she would have to do it before it was dark because people would steal her cooking stuff and her food. This is reality in the slum. We talked about that for a little while and she understood that it needed to be done. We also explained the importance of lighting in the home. It is necessary for the children's growth and their health. She also understood this. Unfortunately she is not able to BTL because her home is hard steel and mud and it isn't possible. Her landlord would just tell her to move.
:-( Last, we did the evangicube and she and her neighbor both came to Christ that day. It was amazing. She is a mother to 6 children and many grandchildren (she doesn't know how many) and there were 5 of them living in the home. Then we went to Regina's home. Her daughter Mwende is a student in the Area 2 school. When we went into her home, there was stagnant water buckets all over. Then because of this, there were bugs all over. We explained the importance of not having stagnant water and how it attracts mosquitos and they carry malaria and also other insects that would come in. Then we went over the proper water sterilization and cooking. One thing I got to do was share what is called the HIV cube. This cube explains HIV/AIDS to people in a very profound way. This was awesome. You can find out more about the cube at http://www.hivaidscube.org.za/ It is an amazing tool. The items that we taught the two homes about are CHE programs. This is an amazing program. The CHE trainers are so competent, loving on the people of Kenya and just all around fantastic. It was a great day and I do believe that we are making a difference. From last year to this year, I can see the difference. Miss you all!

First Day on the Job

Today we held a Medical Clinic in Area 2. There were many patients that came in today, adults and children. Many different illnesses but by the grace of God everyone who came in was seen. There were only a couple of cases where we could not provide complete care due to their sickness needing to be treated at a hospital. Considering the number of patients that came in and to only have a couple of cases we could not treat was truly a BLESSING. There were 4 of us (Tim, Chris, Ana and myself – LaSaundra) who spent the day visiting homes with children with disabilities. This was more difficult than I could have ever imagined it to be. We went into several homes, but the one that stays on my mind the most is Julia (mother) and Brian (son). Julia has been diagnosed with HIV and Brian is paralyzed due to having contracted Meningitis. Julia has to work to take care of Brian and her family so she cooks food and sells it. When we got to the home Julia was out working so a neighbour called her to let her know we where there so she would come home and visit with us. While waiting for Julia to come home, we were informed that a typical day for Brian was that he is left at home alone from around 7am to 4 or 5pm while his mother works. While she is out working there is no one in the home to care for Brain, this was definitely a hard pill to swallow. The bright side of this is Julia believes in Christ and knows that through Him all things are possible. Please continue to pray for us and ALL the children and families we come in contact with. Love and Miss You All!!

First full day

Our day started off at the Pangani church. Ron delivered a wonderful message to the Kenyans. Then we went to the center for lunch consisting of a meat stew, cabbage and rice. We were then briefed on what our week would entail. We have a very busy week! Tomorrow we will be doing a medical clinic in Area 2. Hopefully we will be able to post some pictures of that. It is going to be amazing! After we were briefed, we did a walkthru of Mathare Area 1. We split up into groups and in my (Jenn) group, we went into a home of a woman named Frieda. Frieda is a guardian to 7 children. She also has some of her own and there was a total of 11 children living in her home. Amazing. We were filled with emotion and tonight at our debriefing, we will be sharing those emotions. We also spent about an hour at the Masai Market which can be very overwhelming! Some left the market and went across the street to get a coffee and do shopping in the mall like area! Too overwhelming! Those of us who came last year had a somewhat easier time shopping. Please keep us in your prayers as the next few days are going to be difficult. We miss you all. God bless you!

Team has arrived

The team has all made it safely to Nairobi and made it through customs. They are currently heading, by bus, to the Grace House where they are staying.

It's night time in Kenya so the team will get a good night sleep tonight after their long journey and will attend church in the morning. Where Ron will be delivering the message.

Please continue to keep the team in your prayers for strength, good health, and safety for the next two weeks.

Also pray that the Kenyans get Ron's sense of humor and laugh at his jokes as he delivers his message.

Kenya Bound

After meeting at the church this afternoon the team said their farewells to their loved ones and family and left for their first destination, Logan Airport. They are now flying through Amsterdam towards Kenya. Please keep the team your prayers for safe travel.



From left to right: Jenn, Kym, LaSaundra, Chris, Melody, Tim, Kellen, Ron, Andrea, Leann, Denise, and Brian