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.”
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