As I write this it is Friday night in Nairobi. By all rights I should be hearing all kinds of traffic noise and the thump of the disco bar down the street. But the HEART Lodge where I am staying seems to be an oasis of quiet in a bustling city. It is a reminder that when everything else around us is going crazy, God still hears us and speaks in a small voice! This afternoon I think I heard the pleasure of His voice in the form of 100 children lifting their small voices and singing his praises in the Mathare slum of Nairobi.
I meant to send an email out earlier, but a thousand little details were in the way. I am back in Kenya with an itinerary that includes 10 different flights, 7 different ministry spots, and 6 different hotels in 14 days. I arrived in Nairobi late Wednesday night, (early Thursday morning) and was able to get a good night's sleep. On Thursday and Friday I met with a couple of people who are doing ministry in Kenya to compare notes and look for partnership opportunities. Then, this afternoon I was able to visit “The Miracle in Mathare”, a brand new 4-story school right in the heart of the Mathare slums.
The first time I set foot in the school in Mathare, I had to step over an open sewer that ran through the middle of the property. The classes were being held in ‘iron sheet’ buildings in the sweltering Nairobi summer. The smell of a sewer in a slum is not what a child should have to breathe. But children were being fed and educated and were being taught the Word of God. Pastor Kennedy and his wife Phastine prayed that God would provide more suitable space to teach the children. Most people told him to forget about it. NOBODY builds permanent buildings in Mathare. Others had tried and failed. But Kennedy put his faith to work and started having architectural drawings done. Maybe they were right that a man couldn’t build a building, but God CAN build a building and I walked all four floors of it today!
As I mentioned I have many more stops over the next 10 days. I’ll post some pictures on Facebook from time to time, so be on the lookout. Thanks for your prayers!
Jeff