So this afternoon (Wednesday) Lauren and I had the opportunity to visit the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp about an hour away from Limuru in the Rift Valley. I’m a little at a loss for how to describe the whole experience. I’ll start with the facts and then share my thoughts/impressions. First, this “village” consists of 145 families who were displaced about 18 months ago due to extreme violence between tribes after a very heated presidential election. These people were professional people who owned property but were completely uprooted under the threat of death. It’s a long and complicated story but in a nutshell there are 42 different tribes in Kenya and there are areas that are traditionally one tribe or another. In the past 50 years or so, the tribes have begun to relocate and intermingle (which is a good thing). When tribal violence breaks out, however, the neighbor who was your friend but is from a different tribe becomes your enemy and the minority tribes are run out by the dominant ones. This is a recurring theme in Kenya and across Africa. So, back to the IDP camp… there were tens of thousands of people displaced after the election and the government and Red Cross set up tent camps. Then, each family received a small amount of money (about $450) to be used to relocate. This small amount, however, couldn’t begin to replace the home and belongings they left behind (and it’s still not safe to return). This group had the amazing idea that if many families would pool their money together, they could afford land and ultimately build homes. 145 families agreed to do this and they purchased 17 ½ acres of land giving each family a 50 x 100 plot. Initially, they placed their tents on their plots, but recently donors have come forward to help pay for structures. 51 homes were built and the families used a lottery system to determine who would receive a home. Let me clarify here – the homes are tin roofs with four corner posts and a center beam. They build stick frames for walls and use a mud made of dirt and water to create walls. Next, another donor paid to have 55 of the roof/corner post structures built. These can’t be used as homes yet because there are no walls. A donor from the US has agreed to pay for the materials to build the walls and on July 27th, we’re bringing a truckload of materials and a bus of volunteers to spend a day working alongside the community to complete these 55 homes. Here’s the staggering part to me… each home will only cost between $40 and $50 to complete and will get entire families out of the tents in which they’ve been living for 18 months. Amazing, isn’t it? They’ve also built a school building that is roughly twice the size of the homes – the cost was about $450. That’s for a school with 2 rooms and desks. The other hard thing to experience today was the limited resources that these people have. There is no welfare system in Kenya, so they literally have no income at this time (remember, these are hard-working people who had homes and gainful employment before the violence). Today, they’d been without water for 2 days. Even when they have water in their community tanks, they are rationed to 3 liters per day – this is for drinking, washing, cooking, laundry, and even watering livestock (many have goats and chickens). I would imagine that most of us use 3 liters of water just brushing our teeth at night or flushing the toilet one time. They have gardens but not nearly enough land to generate enough food for the 900 or so people who live there, so they have to rely on well-wishers for food. We’re hoping to be able to bring huge sacks of beans and maize (field corn) with us when we go back on the 27th.

Okay, so here are my impressions… these are proud people in need of help who have banded together to form a community. At no time did I feel pressured to give or as if I was being taken advantage of. They were simply sharing with us their needs and trusting God to take care of them. They (as are most Kenyans I’ve met) people of tremendous faith in God, and their focus is on living a Godly life that centers around community and fellowship with other believers. Their leader, Christina, had a lot of questions for me about the US. Since 80% of Kenyans are Christian, she assumed the US was that way as well. When I explained to her that it was not, she asked if Kenyan preachers came to the US as missionaries, would Americans accept the gospel. Wow – what a question. It was hard (and disheartening) to explain to her that while most Americans have heard the gospel and believe in God, many don’t rely on God or choose to live Godly lives because they worship other gods such as money, success, or self. Those are precious commodities to give up to allow Christ to lead our lives. Here, where people are dependent upon God to meet their basic daily needs, it seems easier in many ways to live a Christian life. I could go on and on about this, but you get the basic idea. We are so spoiled – it’s rare that we have to ask God for anything, so we learn to rely on self rather than on Him as we were designed to do. I haven’t figured out what to do with all of this in my own life or how to make this fit with my own practices, but I think it’s an important thing to think about.

Tomorrow is a big day for us… we’re loading up the 41 boarders and a crew of volunteers and taking a field trip to Nairobi to do a walking safari and visit the giraffe manor. The girls packed lunches for 50 tonight (including 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches per person, chips, cookies, bananas, and drinks – the kids will think it’s a feast!). Thanks so much to the individual who is making this trip possible – you know who you are – we love you and wish you were here to share it with us!. After the field trip, it’s home to shower and pack for Egypt. We’re being picked up at 1:00 a.m. to head to Nairobi to catch our flight. We arrive at 9:30 Friday morning and have the day to rest and explore Cairo on our own. Our tour starts Saturday morning when we’ll visit the great pyramids at Giza and many other landmarks. We have 2 days of fully scheduled tours and 2 more days on our own. We return home to Kenya in the wee hours of the morning on the 22nd. By that time, the rest of our small team will have arrived from Mississippi to be here through the end of the month.

One thing I forgot to mention is that we hosted another family for dinner at the volunteer house Tuesday night. Jane (who is in charge of laundry at the main branch of the LCC) came with her husband, 6 children, and 1 grandchild. Although their English wasn’t great and there were some awkward moments, it was a wonderful evening. I love Anna’s idea of sharing meals with the staff and getting to know their families. We also give them an opportunity to share prayer requests and spend some time in prayer together. It’s beautiful to hear them pray in their native tongue. Even though we can’t understand the specifics, their spirit of humbleness and worship comes through loud and clear.

Thanks again for your prayers. I can’t wait to share more pictures and stories with you after I get home. It’s often hard to find time for email and blogging but I so want to share this experience with you. I hope that any of you who feel led to do something like this will jump at the opportunity and work to make it happen. It really puts things in perspective… which is a great but difficult thing.

P.S. Just now getting internet access... today (Thursday) was also a GREAT day - we took the boarders on a safari walk and to the giraffe manor where they were able to feed a giraffe. Lauren and I were able to get our picture taken with a cheetah at the safari walk.