Wednesday update

Last night, about 11:30, we suddenly lost electrical power, so the day started off interestingly.  Without power, the water pumps don’t work, so there was no water and no power.  We managed through the day and made a “water run” for bottled water for the team (PAC trucked in water for their tanks, but told us not to drink it).  Suddenly, during dinner, the power resumed to simultaneous cheers and praises!  We were especially thankful because a local ministry had offered to show a film to the kids tonight during chapel.  So it was a double blessing to have the power just in time for chapel.  The film was on AIDS, entitled “Your Life is at Stake.”  It was locally produced and filmed here in Nairobi by Brother Andrew, who introduced it to the group tonight and shared insights into the realities of HIV/AIDS.  He was one of the first Christian film makers in Kenya and has a heart to use the medium of film to impact people for Christ.  Even with the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, there is still a great deal of stigma attached, which prevents people from getting tested and receiving treatment.  Even though the Kenyan government has tried to increase education about HIV, there is still much ignorance about it, as we have learned from these teens by the questions they ask.

In our group sessions with the guys and girls, we have focused on forgiveness, what it is and isn’t, the important of it, and how to come to the point of forgiveness and reconciliation.  The girls have seemed to absorb a lot from the discussions, but they have shared very little, until today.  Carol has been leading these discussions, and she emphasized that we must recognize and face our wounds before we can experience healing and forgiveness.  Today the opportunity was given to share those hurts in the confidential setting of our group.  Once a team member shared wounds from her own life, it seemed that the door to transparency was opened.  One by one, these precious girls began to share the most unimaginable wounds; rape, beatings, abandonment, parents dying leaving them to care for their siblings, physical and verbal abuse, total despair.  It was excruciating to hear the deep woundedness of these girls and see the agony on their faces.  It is simply unimaginable to think of these atrocities and realize that even at such young ages, these girls have lived through nightmares.  It prompted an outpouring of prayer and the sharing of grief for all that these girls have faced.  Our hearts were crushed for them as we prayed together for God to work miraculously in their lives.  It is no accident that these kids are at this camp, and we know and expect that God will indeed begin a healing work in their hearts and minds and miraculously provide for their needs.  Reality slapped us in the face today.  It was courageous for these girls to open up and share their lives.  We realize how very, very blessed we are to have shelter, food, clothing, families, people who care about us.  I cannot imagine how alone these kids must feel.  We saw pain today; real pain, but we’ve also seen joy in these faces.  We’ve seen glimmers of hope, a reprieve from the hardness of life in Kibera, and we are confident that the Lord is at work in ways we cannot imagine or see at the moment.

Please pray for these kids; pray for healing of terrible wounds; pray for them to truly understand and believe that they are loved by the only One who will never abandon them.  Pray that they will find hope in the midst of crushing circumstances, and that God will truly make a way where there seems to be none.