Ninapenda Kenya (I love Kenya): Feed my lambs

Elizabeth encouraging Pat

The feeding program ladies praying for Pat

Today we had a wonderful visit to Pat's Feeding Program. Pat (the white Kenyan pictured above) is 80 years old and runs a feeding program for the unemployable - in Kenya that means the elderly and people who are HIV positive. We've helped with this program since our first year in 2007, and it has really grown. We arrived before Pat and helped her unload her car and set up for the program. Then the craziness begins. Hundreds of people line up with their plastic shopping bags and begin to walk the food line. Volunteers hand out bags of rice (Lauren), Ugali flour, maize, and beans (Kate), matches, cooking fat, and salt (Pastor Mbugua), bread and a small amount of money (Elizabeth), empty plastic drink bottles, and kerosene (Caleb). It was a long morning but so worthwhile because we felt exceptionally needed (usually there are other volunteer groups, but it was just the four of us today) and we also got to see a vulnerability in Pat that is quite uncommon. She is quite a tough lady, but is currently undergoing testing for throat cancer and is quite fearful for her biopsy on Friday. Please keep her in your prayers. Elizabeth, a speech pathologist, actually knew quite a lot about throat cancer and recovery. She was able to encourage Pat. Some of the ladies from the feeding program also sang prayers of comfort and healing over her when the handout was over. She is feeding His lambs, and I pray that God gives her the strength to continue this work.

That was the high point of the day. We also went to the market and bought huge quantities of produce for our house and for the big dinner we have planned on Sunday. We will be cooking a spaghetti dinner for all of the kids and staff at the LCC. We paid about $2.50 for 15 pounds or so of fresh tomatoes! And bell peppers, onions, and zucchini were similarly cheap. We also bought 20 pounds of ground beef. Should be an interesting day Sunday trying to cook dinner for about 120 over a wood fire!

Here are some other updates from our week...

Passing out school supplies at Karen Academy

The children at Karen Academy

The school in Kibera

Principal William and the school supplies provided by the Mayor's Youth Council in Columbus, MS

Yesterday (Tuesday) was our day to visit schools. We started the day at the Karen Academy, started by my dear friend Rachel about 13 years ago. She and her sister wanted a way to honor their mother (Karen) who had passed away, so they opened a school that teaches in English only and has a strong Christian focus. The children pay a small fee (about $12) per month to attend. It was wonderful to see so many bright, happy children. We also brought some school supplies with us to give to the school. The teachers were thrilled to see pencils, crayons, activity books, and teacher guides. While we were there, Rachel shared with us a dream that she had in which there was a high school built on the property called The Mississippi Learning Center and that women from Mississippi would build it and help run it. She wants to have a class for special needs students which is virtually unheard of here (they are usually hidden away at home). She showed us the land and we prayed over it - it's currently a corn field adjoining the current K-8 school. Unfortunately, in the middle of the prayer, I was attacked by safari ants (also called crotch ants - named that because they sneak up your leg and bite you in places you'd rather not be bitten). I had to strip off my jeans in the middle of the corn field and 30 minutes later was still picking them out of my hair. I'm the first of the team to succumb to safari ants :)

After Karen Academy, we went with Rachel to St. Michael's School - a small informal school on the outskirts of Kibera - to drop off school supplies. In the past, we've always gone into Kibera to visit churches or homes, but the safety situation is a little worrisome here and there is little security in Kibera, so we chose to just pull up to the edge and leave some things at St. Michael's and quickly leave the area. For those who don't know, Kibera is the largest slum in Africa with over a million people packed into 1.1 square miles. They live on less than $1 per day and live in extreme, extreme poverty. We've seen poverty in some of the villages we've visited but not on this scale and not to this level. It's always a very difficult and moving experience because you want to try to fix what is a huge and long standing problem for Kenya.

On Monday, we did home visits with Care for Aids, a local grassroots organization that meets the needs of people who are living with HIV/Aids. It was a wonderful experience to be in their homes and hear their stories. We brought small gifts of rice, sugar, and tea, and they were very appreciative. That ministry is doing amazing things. They are up to 14 centers now, each serving 80 new clients per year, and they have large waiting lists. We heard a number of success stories, and it was so uplifting. We'll go back next week to help with the spiritual and health counseling at their resource center.

Here are a few more random pictures from our time here...