Carol Peirce thoughts on Kenya

                  Upon arriving in Nairobi, it was comforting to see the smiling face of “papa” John Crews greeting us at the airport!  The next morning we began our mission with a visit to the Salvation Army compound on the edge of Kibera slum, where several hundred kids were waiting to meet with us and worship.  I definitely choked back tears (deciding that tears would do no one any good – but smiles would!) as I entered the chapel and saw all of the children singing and praising God.  What a blessing they were to see.  It was my first look at the poverty, and some illness, that are everyday life for these kids. 

                  On Monday our team arrived at the campus and we began registration for Teen Camp.  As I registered the different teens, I prayed that God would send the ones to me that He wanted in my small group.  My group of 6 girls were: Eunice, Eurelia, Anastasia, Maureen, Centrin, and Doris.  At first Centrin wouldn’t stop holding my hand and clinging to my side.  Then as the week went on and she made friends and got comfortable, she was all over the place and rarely clinging to me!  Many of the girls were very quiet and shy, as was the local adult mentor, Beatrice.  I later learned from Beatrice that we were the first white people she had ever met.  I learned to take my time with the girls, and allow them the time to connect with me.

                  For the afternoon sessions with all of the girls, I did the teaching on Forgiveness and Reconciliation.  Of course, my dilemma before I even arrived was, “Who am I to teach these kids, who have lost so much, on forgiveness?”  But I felt the Lord clearly say to me, “My word is true for everyone.”  He just wanted me to teach them His truth, and leave the results to Him.  In the Wednesday session, one of our leaders shared her personal story of pain and forgiveness.  Her openness and vulnerability opened up their hearts to also begin sharing their stories.  As we sat outside in the grass in a big circle, the circle got closer and closer together as we listened to girls sharing.  One of the girls shared that she wasn’t sure she would even have a home to go home to after camp, after being repeatedly abandoned and rejected by relatives.  Another girl told of abandonment, rape, incest, beatings, and more abandonment.  You could have heard a pin drop.  There was an incredible period of time when, as a whole, we just all wept together and released our sorrow and pain.  It was like a wave of sorrow.  This went on for a while as we allowed the girls to take time to just weep together.  Afterwards many of the girls met one- on -one with the leaders, privately shared their own stories, and the leaders prayed for them.  There was a beautiful move of the Holy Spirit in that session, and we believe that it was the start of healing for many of these girls.  

                  On mission trips, you are not always sure if you made a difference, if lives were changed, or if people grew closer to God as a result.  I may not know how many people were impacted by this Teen Camp, but I do know one thing for sure:  some were.  Some were.  I could see it in their faces – and I read it in their private notes to us.  It was a privilege and an honor to meet with the children of Kenya.  They made a difference to me, my life was changed, and I grew closer to God.  Wow, who were the missionaries? 

                  I’ll close with a note from one of the girls: “Lord, I want to say that I love you for your care and for giving us food and for the dream.  Sometimes we can call you our father and I love you.  Lord, don’t forget me because I love you.  I want you to take me to a place where I can eat and have fun.  Lord, I can’t leave you and you don’t leave me.  I thank you father.”

Final thoughts from Rachel Jewett

I was blessed to have the opportunity to return to Kenya for the second time this year.  And once again, God opened my eyes to a group of people who seek Him for everything and find so much comfort in knowing that He is walking with them every step of the way.  

At the camp the second week, we split up into all guys and all girls, and tried to offer insight on forgiveness and reconciliation.  God began breaking down walls that these teenage girls have built up for so many years around their hearts.  As girls began to share pieces of their life stories about being raped, abused, not having money for school, and being homeless, I looked around and the entire group of girls were crying.  They could ALL relate.  They were able to see that they weren't alone.  The walls were coming down.  Finally.  We weren't able to fix anything.  We weren't able to say anything to make their situations better.  All we could do was pray.  And honestly, I think that's all they were looking for from us.  They just wanted someone to listen, and someone to pray.  We gave them the opportunity the next day to begin to forgive the people in their lives who have hurt them.  They spread out and began to pray for the strength to do this.  It

 was amazing to see each of them take steps towards healing.

It's so easy to come back and get into our daily routines, and get caught up in the things of "our" world.  As they left on Friday, several came up and said to me, "Please don't forget me.  Please pray for me and my family."  

I pray I don't forget.  I pray that their stories and their faces never leave my mind.  And I pray that their circumstances and struggles will be a reminder of God's faithfulness as He continues to care for His people.

Final thoughts from the Wegner family

Sam’s new hope

            The thing that struck me the most about the teens I met in Kenya was how similar they were to my friends in the States. I spent most of my time trying to get to know the girls. Like most girls, they liked to sit around, talk, do their nails, and sing and dance.  Needless to say, we got along pretty well together. However, it wasn’t until I found what life was like for them back home that I realized that they were truly more alone than most American girls. Many of these girls have only one parent, if any. Those who are orphans usually have younger siblings that they have to take care of and provide for. Many girls I talked to move from house to house because they have no direct family to take care of them anymore. The people they live with don’t really care about them and view them as just another mouth to feed. As a result, they live such lonely lives because they can’t find anyone to love them. As my time with them drew to  a close, I couldn’t bear the thought of returning to my family and friends in Texas while these girls would be returning to lives filled with loneliness and hopelessness in Kibera. I felt so helpless, but then Christ reminded me of who He is. He reminded me that He is Father to the fatherless. He loves these girls so much more than I ever could and He has a specific plan for each and every one of them. With this knowledge, I continue to pray with hope for my sisters in Kenya because I know that God is watching them.

Delisa’s Reflections

                One of the things that was encouraging to me, was the teens hope  and joy in the Lord.   Like Samantha said,  so many of these kids live in desperate situations, but they still have joy and hope in who God is .   One of my favorite things at camp was to hear the teens sing.   They love to sing!! They have motions for every song and it is like an aerobic workout every song service.    You can hear their joy, but also their cry for God and His provision in just about every song that they sing.   It is very moving and powerful.   

               One of the very special  things that we got to do at one of the first church services at camp was to give each teen  their own New Testament.   With each Bible that we gave, we got to pray with each teen.  One of the boys that I gave a Bible to, to take home, smiled and said, “Now when I go to bed, I can read it and have peace and not be afraid.”  It is very hard to pray without crying after hearing that.

                An unexpected blessing of the trip, was God helping me understand more of my own boys culture.  Even though Kenya and Ethiopia are two different countries, there are a lot of similarities.  Sometimes I felt like I was watching my own kids.  It also reminded me of and encouraged me in our call to adopt David, Sammy and Karissa.  God’s plan is perfect and wonderful, and it is truly amazing to follow Him step by step.

Josiah’s Perspective

            It’s hard to sum up everything that went on in the trip. But I think that the most memorable thing that happened was the many talks I had with the Kenyans during the teen week. Before we left for Kenya, I had expected the Kenyan teens to be so different from the teens in America. But the more I talked and hung out with them the more I realized how similar we were. Sure our culture and circumstances were different, but yet I was still able to relate to them. I was still able to talk about personal struggles I had as a teen in America and they were still able to relate as teens in Kenya. It made me think about things with a new perspective. Now when I think about the poverty and injustice being done in Kenya, I realize that these people are not so different but instead are just like me. They need someone to love them. They need to be valued.

            One other thing I got to do while I was there was talk to a Kenyan named Chris. Chris lead the worship for the kids and youth and also did a lot of other random things. He is by far the most high energy person I have ever met. During the teen camp he would come into the room were I was staying every night and just talk to me for like an hour.  It was kind of funny because I was always exhausted and just about ready to collapse at the end of the day and he would come by my room, open the door, and just sit down right beside me and start talking. But I’m glad he did. It was very encouraging to me and I will never forget some of the stuff he said, especially one thing in particular. One night I asked him if he was ever tired and how he had so much energy. He told me that he was tired a lot, but when he is, he prays to God for energy and God always gives it to him. He said he wanted to go all out for God while he was on the earth. He wanted to live the extreme Christian life. One where every second is spent trying to bring God glory. When you are living a life driven by that purpose, how can you let being tired stop you? This was very convicting to me since most of the time all I want to do after I wake up is eat and then go back to bed. It made me realize that time on this earth really is short and I need to spend it wisely by living for God every single second.

Final Thanks

              Thank you so much for sending us to Kenya and for praying for us while we were there.  As a mom, it was amazing to be there ministering beside  Sam and Josiah.  It is a memory that I will not forget.  The people of Africa are capturing more and more of our hearts.  God is doing some wonderful things in Kenya and  the church there.  But the need is so great, especially among the teens, AIDS widows and children  of Kibera.  Please pray for the mentors and the ministries that work with these precious people every day.   Please also pray that we will walk closer  and closer with Jesus and follow wherever He leads us. 

In Christ,

Delisa, Samantha and Josiah            

All of our pictures from Kenya trip 2008

Below are all of the links to our camp in Kenya this month.  I hope that you enjoy them

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnacrews1/Kenya2008Camp1

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnacrews1/Kenya2008Activities

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnacrews1/Kenya2008Camp2

Join us on a trip next year somewhere around the world and experience this for yourself first hand.

God bless.

John 

Our final thoughts on Kenya

Our entries for the Kenya blog were a bit disjointed due to sporadic internet access and travel situations, but I do want to share some overviews of our time in Nairobi.  

Camps are always challenging, with the non-stop activity,long hours, on top of tiring travel. But when you see the joy in a child’s eyes, hear their laughter, and see smiles of hope, you know it’s worth it, especially for young people living in the Kibera slum.  It is an unbelievable world of one million people living on 600 acres; the dense population and depth of poverty is hard to conceive until you see it.  The challenges of life were great enough before the post election violence ravaged the area and other parts of the country.  Fear, hatred,increased violence erupted, taking its toll on everyone, but always children and young people become undeserved victims.  Education is minimal and hard to come by; most “homes” are supported by a single parent or even by children themselves, as with one of our mentor/helpers from Kibera. One teenager, is responsible for six younger siblings.  She had to drop out of school due to lack of funds and having to somehow take care of her family.  This is everyday life for so many.  There are additional challenges of the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, creating more orphans and vulnerable children.  Poverty, disease, lack of education:  a deadly combination.  

As difficult as life is, we see God at work!  Homecare Fellowship continues their outreach to AIDS widows, orphans and vulnerable children through their caring for a number of widows and their families, as well as the ongoing children’s program where 300+ children learn about Jesus and are fed every Saturday.  When you hear the testimonies of the widows, you realize how truly vital this ministry is!  Each one’s story has a common thread:  I had no hope, could not afford to feed myself or my children, couldn’t work, and felt totally abandoned and ostracized.  In this fellowship, they are fed, provided funds for shelter, school fees for their children, are generating income through their jewelry making and soap production, have found acceptance and support from one another, and most importantly, they have come to know the unconditional love and acceptance of Jesus!  They now feel that they have value, hope, a reason to live, and are increasing both in physical and spiritual strength.  The power of God!  The same is true in the testimonies of the Masai women, who through PACWA, are going to school for the first time in their lives, and for village women who through the provision of goats and bees, can now support their children and see them go to school.  

In these camps, children and teens get to hear about the God who created them, loves them, so much so that He sent His only Son to die for them so that THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE, true, eternal life, not only hope after death, but life now!  Their circumstances may not change; they still face huge challenges, BUT they do not face them alone!  They have the opportunity to understand that their lives have value because they are created in His image, and they’ve been bought with the ultimate price.  They are valuable!  They are indeed precious in His sight!!  

Perhaps the most impacting time of the trip was with the teens, especially the girls, as we explored what it means to truly forgive and experience forgiveness.  As Carol shared about how to face our wounds, bring them into His light, huge healing began!  These young women who have already endured more abuse than any of us can or want to imagine, feeling totally worthless and ashamed, were able to face the hurt and begin to find true healing that only Jesus can provide.  

When ever you think of going to minister in another country for a short term, it’s inevitable to question, “Is it really worth it to go for such a short time?  Can anything really be accomplished that has lasting results?  Will this truly benefit the people we minister to and with?  Does it really matter???”

I can tell you unequivocally, the answer is YES!  Yes, we are only there for a brief moment in time, but even in that brief moment, God works!  He plants seeds in the hearts of children and youth, even allows us to see some harvest and uses us to be hands, feet, and mouths for Him.  We come for what time as visible extensions of Jesus; how extraordinary; how humbling.  As fallible and “human” as we are, He wants and allows us to express HIM…….and it does make a difference. 

It makes a difference to each child, teen, widow, man, ministry helper we meet; it makes a difference in each of us who get to have this personal experience for ourselves.

So what now?  We are back home, back in our comfortable surroundings.  It can seem rather surreal that just days ago we were walking the red dirt paths of Kenya. We have left behind the poverty, filth, stress and heartache….to a degree.  As a measure of it is forever with us in our hearts.  Now we know the reality of life there; now we can pray with understanding.  Now we can pray by name, seeing those faces, knowing their stories.  We can encourage others to do the same. We can support these ministries who are serving day in and day out, our brothers and sisters.  There is MUCH we can do.  We can tell their stories, speak for those who have little or no voice. We can have confidence that as His Word will never return void, so anything offered in His Name will be used for His glory…..for eternity.

Diane for the entire team in Kenya

Saturday morning early

We are now in the Zurich airport since 6:15 a.m. today waiting for our 12:00 noon flight to Washington D.C. and then on to Houston and California.  We are a bit tired but doing ok, ready to get home for a LONG HOT SHOWER and sleeping in our own beds plus our favorite foods and some great Diet Dr. Pepper hopefully we will find some of that in D.C. and make most of us happy.

Dan, Carol, Frank and Steve left this morning for a safari in Masai Mara and 7 of the California team left Friday for Safari after their trip.  We are hoping that they see some incredible sites, maybe the Wildebeest are migrating.

More later after we get home.  We will miss our wonderful team mates from other parts of the country.  Have a great weekend.

Friday departure heading home

We are heading to the airport shortly as our final day is coming to a close with the youth.  It has been a great time and we will miss these young people.  Many have shared some incredible stories that is hard for any of us to understand how this can happen to such young people.  Please continue to pray for the kids and families in Kibera.

We depart tonight at 11:45 p.m. Kenya time and arrive back in Houston and California around 8:00 p.m. Saturday night.  Pray for good health on our flights back and all connections will be made in Zurich and D.C.

The team appreciates all of your prayers during these two weeks.  We will update the blog more next week with lots of pictures for you to see.

Thursday

It’s been so interesting to see how God has woven so many details together every day! From Bible lessons, songs sung, scriptures shared, personal testimonies, it is a script that only He could write. We appreciate so much everything that each team member has contributed to this ministry; it wouldn’t have been the same without any one of them. Our youngest members, Josh, Josiah, Samantha and Steve, have been outstanding and such good role models for these teens. Carol’s teaching on forgiveness has impacted not only the teens, but the leaders as well. Each day has held its own special moments, and we praise God for that. We looked at the life of Joseph today, an excellent example of forgiveness and not giving into temptation. It is possible!
Tonight was the final night chapel, and each team was asked to make a presentation. Most groups created skits depicting themes of love, forgiveness, exposing common abuses seen here, and the overall theme of hope in Jesus. The US team presented a medley of songs with African themes and references to our home states (aka, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Hakuna Matata, Deep in the Heart of Texas, The Audabon Zoo, and Wish They All Could be California Girls). Not sure they quite grasped the significance of each, but it was fun anyway.
Tomorrow is our final time together; we’ll conclude midday and the campers will pack up after lunch. Our team has talked a lot about how much these young people have understood, wondering if it has penetrated, how much it has impacted them. We’ll probably never know this side of heaven, but we do know that His Word does not return void. We aren’t asked to be “successful;” we are called to be faithful as messengers, communicators and demonstrators of the gospel of Christ. The results lie solely in His hands; we are trusting Him to complete His work in the hearts of these teens. Even if only one life is changed as a result of this week, it will have been worth it, but we believe there are many whose hearts have been genuinely touched. We’re praying for those who will come after us to water seeds planted, and for the Lord to reap His harvest.

Kids having fun even in Kenya

Together

African and American working and sharing together, what a joy to be a part of all of this.

Cool girl

Even in Kenya we are still pretty cool.

Working together

Cecilia working with another mentor on the local Homecare team.

Special time

Kelly and Dianna are sharing some special time together and are praying for each other.  This is a lot of what this camp is about, forgiveness and reconciliation.  You would not believe the stories that the team is hearing for these precious young girls.  the things that they have gone through no one should have to endure this.  Keep praying for these young girls.

Rachel and her boys

All the guys hanging around Rachel, her following.

The Guys

Here are all the boys at the camp this week, about 35.  Good group of guys, we are having fun with them dealing with some big issues.

New Bibles

Dan sharing with his boys and their new Bibles

Happy to have a new Bible.

Getting our new Bibles and praying over them

Kelly with some new friends to share God's word with.  The Salvation Army of Kenya donated 100 Bibles to our camp that was written specifically for Africa and issues that they are facing like HIV/AIDS.

Worship time

Delisa in the middle of the kids during morning worship each day.

Enjoying the sun

Rachel is enjoying a time of rest between activities at camp.  What a great way to enjoy the nice sunny days in Nairobi lying on the grass.

Oh course about 10 kids are getting ready to jump on her so this will not last long.

Sometimes we get tired of rice and potatoes

Feeding a cheetah

This is what it looks like when you pet a Cheetah while they are eating a slab of fresh meat.

These are real risk takers.