When Kristine met Ellen

Mcedo School, Mathare

Today we drove into Mathare, and surprisingly it was not as scary as I had dreaded it would be. There were a lot more kids than there were last year because they were still in school this year, and the atmosphere just seemed more friendly. We were told not to take pictures in dangerous places, especially by the river, because illegal brewing occurs all along the banks. Last year they threw rocks at our bus when they saw us taking pictures, and that sank the mood of our group for the rest of the day. But God set a different mood for our team today. Almost immediately after we got off our bus, Dakota and I were drawn to a cute little girl named Ellen. She was so beautiful and just a little bit shy, but throughout the day I found her four or five more times because we were always looking for each other. Unfortunately Dakota and I had to let Ellen go the first time when Pastor Benedict was going to take us on a tour though the streets (if you can call them that?) of Mathare.

Sadly, the living conditions of Mathare are much worse than Mukuru Kwa Njenga, which was bad already. The streets were just wide enough to fit one person, sometimes maybe two, and most of the time we were straddling a dirty stream that is basically the sewage system for all the people living there. While walking through Mathare, we had a chance to visit three homes. They were all very small, hot, and dark. These people’s houses were smaller than my bathroom, and one of them housed a family of six. These dark and cramped spaces are people’s homes, and it is so sad to know that these people are stuck there and must go back each day to live in those conditions with no hope of social movement or a brighter future.

Eventually we returned to Mcedo school to paint a few of their classrooms and later to perform a worship concert/share a message. We had no electricity so we did our concert unplugged. I feel horrible for saying this, but I was secretly glad because I forgot to bring my microphone and I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. But the concert went very well. The students especially loved “I Am Free” and we sang it like, three times and by the last time they knew the words and all the hand motions. The students there were very inspiring to me. Pastor Benedict is truly a man of God, and His devotion to Him is reflected in the students’ display of confidence in Christ. The older ones especially paid close attention to Trenton’s message and they were intrigued by the sharing of God’s word. True to my promise to God, I overcame that silly and irrational fear of speaking to kids my own age and I reached out to the older students after the message. I was still scared and I had to swallow a lot of my fear and pride to do so, but it made me happy that I did and I think that it made the older students happy to be spoken to like adults instead of simply being greeted with the smiles and waves that little children customarily receive.

And since I am behind on my blogs…. Let’s pretend it’s the next day, Friday. Yay!

We returned to the Mcedo school to finish painting the classrooms and organize the library that Lighthouse helped build. I was actually very glad to return. Last year I remember being disappointed that we never got to return to any of the places we visited because then those relationships that we had begun to build were limited. Dakota and I were reunited with Ellen, who again sought us out. I’m pretty sure she is the cutest person I have ever met and I wish I could take her home with me.

ADD moment #2 because I don’t want to forget this: this morning during devotions Pastor Mike shared a personal story from his life that really challenged me. He talked about how one day he was evangelizing on the streets of Seattle to the homeless, and how the experienced evangelist he was with told him that he was a natural. Pastor Mike asked why, and the evangelist told him that most people who went with him would talk to the people on the streets while standing, but Pastor Mike would sit next to the people and talk to them on their level. Jesus did the same during his time on Earth, preaching to the sick because they are the ones most in need of healing.

As we were about to leave Mcedo, two teachers pulled me aside and asked me to teach them how to use my camera. One of them was named Frances, and the other was a teacher who actually attended Mcedo school, scored high enough on the 8^th grade exam to attend high school, and came back as a volunteer teacher to Mcedo. She cannot teach for pay, however, because she does not have a teaching certificate since acquiring one requires one to attend college, which in turn requires one to have money. God willing, I think that some of us would like to sponsor her to attend college to return to Mcedo school to teach officially.

Pastor Benedict told us about a need of one of the families that live near the Mcedo school. The father died of AIDS, and the mother was bedridden, trying to support her six children. Most of the kids are being sponsored by people all over the world to attend school, and one of the boys is apparently very smart. He has been to a few schools now, and in each and every school he has been to, he has been the number one student in his grade. Pastor Benedict has high hopes for him, but his family was short on food for the week so he asked if we could buy his family food for a week. For one kilogram of maize, which would feed his entire family, it would only cost us 1000 schillings, which is only $14 or $15.

It’s crazy to learn more and become more aware of the lives of the people who share the earth with us, and to see how different our lifestyles are. But our God is the same God everywhere on earth and He loves us all despite how often we break His heart. I think it gets overwhelming for every one of us, because it is so easy to just feel a sense of hopelessness and uselessness when we see the extent of poverty that has overcome our world, and at the same time it seems like the solution is to throw our resources at the needy and believe that it is enough to solve a problem through wealth. But that is not the case. I do not know what the solution is, but I do know that it starts and ends with God's love, and all we can do now is follow Jesus and fulfill his wishes for our lives in expectation of the life that is promised to come for those who trust and believe in Him.

Love,

Kristine