Matt: I Can't Think of a Creative Title...It's Late...

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I haven't blogged for a while! That, for me, is quite abnormal. Ready? Cuz I am!

Friday: the day I discovered I'm part Chinese. (Whaaat? Whaat? Matt, whaaat? Okay, okay, I'll explain later, just wait =) haha.)

We began the day with our second visit to Mathari slum. Our job was to finish painting and organize the library (the library where you all donated books to!). On the bus ride leaving the slum, I was telling Bekah how my oldest sister, Carrie, and brother-in-law, Jeff, had given our family special Christmas gifts for advent conspiracy--some were buying animals for families in our names and some were for "a year of learning" for children. As I was sharing this, tears came to my eyes. I was beginning to realize what those gifts really meant. I was beginning to understand what giving meant.

This was also the market day and this is where my "being Chinese" comes in, even though I'm not at all Chinese... The team told me that Erika and Cindy were the super-incredible tough barterers (and Cindy is REAL Chinese). While Trenton kind of rolled his eyes at the thought of Erika's haggling, I was kind of excited. I may be Japanese, but I'm also an American! The first guys that approached me basically were mean to me and thought I was from Japan and touched my hands a lot...my Asian personal bubble go popped a lot this day. But from then on, it was a different story. I was NOT going to be pushed around! But first, I shall tell you about my djembe. Shawn bought one and for whatever reason, I decided to buy one as well. Erika, the professional, bartered the price down from 3000 to 1800 shillings. The djembe was mine. (Later, I bought another one...it will probably be a gift.) Here's where my Chinese side kicks in. The next few hours were spent helping John, Bekah, and Heather haggle their prices down. I'm happy to say that Erika trained me well. I would apparently make comments like, "you think that fabric costs 200 schillings more? I could do this at home!" and..."no, no, no, you will NOT trick me out of the deal we just made. Is that what you're saying? You want to not keep your word with me?" Yeah...so, I kinda had to pull out that language, but it was so I was...a good steward of the Lord's money! That makes sense...right..?

Saturday: Kayaba and Pastor Paul. He called me a..."Choir Master"...? haha.

I was extremely excited to visit the slum of South B. I had seen the video of Dan and Pastor Paul from last year's blog, so I was really excited to meet him this year. The team one by one entered the Kayaba church. Instantly, we hear the sound of voices praising Jesus with all of their hearts. I have never heard anything like that. All of the people in the Church were worshiping truly with all of their hearts and souls. It brought me to tears again. During the worship set, Bekah shared from the song "None But Jesus." By the end of the first chorus, I was crying again. (So, I'm actually not an emotionally unstable person. God's just touching my heart extremely powerfully this trip!) It was truly apparent that the Spirit of the Lord was present. We all felt it.
That night, we had "Trerika: A Program of Relationship Advice" time. We asked them questions and they told us fun(ny) stories about their relationship and marriage. (Trenton was weiiiiiird...! haha. hope he doesn't read this...)

Sunday: Christian Life Center. I wore a tie and gave Trenton a back massage. (Those two things were totally unrelated.)

Today, Bekah and I co-led the Sunday worship set for Church. (Does it seem like I've mentioned Bekah like a thousand times this blog? Sorry...or maybe not sorry, but...okay, nevermind..) Again, I witnessed some of the most amazing worship of our King I've ever seen in my life. Worship with intense passion and without fear. Oh yeah, today was my sharing day. I shared out of "King of the Broken" and basically totally ad libbed the entire thing...It was pretty fun! (Big surprise, right, Dad? Cuz I hate talking...)
When we got back to the housing, Dan made jokes about kissing giraffes and Cindy silenced him within seconds. It was pretty funny.

I feel like this blog was really unorganized and had bad writing. I apologize... I'll try to be funnier the next blog.

I love you all. And family, I miss you so much. I love you so much. I appreciate how much you've done for me. You mean the world to me.

Love,
Matt

"My Mommy Sometime Calls Me 'Moky-popo'"

Josh Chinn Quality Blog Post #5?

So over the past few days, I've heard an amazing testimony, visited the Mathare slum again, armed myself with a Masaai spear/shield/knife set (mom/dad, don't mess with me when I get home.. jk :P) and had a great time at the Kayabe Free Baptist Church.

The other day, Mr. Hyodo brought in a woman who came to share her testimony with us. It was by far the best I've ever heard. Her life story was so touching. She had faced so many trials and obstacles. I felt like after I heard it, nothing in my life that I've ever been mad about was worth complaining about. You can read her full story below, we can't post names or pictures for security reasons, but her testimony was so inspiring to hear and I couldn't believe some of the things she's been through. One thing we discussed at our debriefing session tonight was how some people may complain about God and not care about Him, and how they are able to have the choice of freedom of religion. I've thought about freedom of religion before, but today it's been stuck in my mind. I feel so fortunate to be able to choose my religion and what I believe. As we know, many people in the world can not and are persecuted because of their beliefs. The woman's testimony really made that clear to me.

Visitng the Mathare slum and the Mcedo school again was really exciting but also very hard for many team members. Driving in, we passed the soccer field and the second kids saw us, they began sprinting to the school waiting for us to arrive. Once we unloaded all of the kids wanted to show us the bracelets we had made for them the day before and they loved seeing our faces again as we spent time with them. It was really nice to see some of the kids again and to reach out to some of the new people.

Right after that, we went to the Masaai Market which is open on fridays only. It was pretty much a flea market with local goods and souvenirs you can buy. The best part about it was that you can haggle with the people, and when you get a good price on something you really want, you feel really victorious. I bought a spear and shield for a measly 900 shillings when the original price was 3500. I got plenty of souvenirs for amigos and I'm hoping that I can fit everything in my suitcase.

A couple days ago, we visited the South B Slum and the Kayaba Free Baptist Church. Right after we got off the bus, we met the uber-enthusiastic Pastor Paul. If you measure his happiness and energy on a scale of 1-10, he'd probably be a 50. He hugged us and shook our haands and then took us to see his church in the middle of the slum. It was a different experience going to the church because this time we had to walk in and in the heart of the slum was the church, as opposed to the schools that we had previously visited which were on the outskirts. The second I walked in, I could hear loud singing and praise. It was such an awesome experience. These people really love praising the Lord with all they have. They sang and danced and had a few performances for us, and after a message from Trenton we got to feed the kids. The "mamas" as they were called helped ready their food. I was surprised to find out that they only serve meals to the community twice a year. They made a TON of food, but it was all gone by the time we were finished. I was fortunate enough to help dish out the food and spend the whole time with one of the mamas. She was so energetic and happy to haev me help and I wouldnt be surprised if we dished out over 250 plates of food to the kids. It was a blessing to meet the people there and so far Kayaba has been my favorite place to visit.

The SYTE kiddos have spent a couple nights during free time listening to words of wisdom from TrErika. Man, they have amazing dating/marriage/relationship/life advice. I'm sure many people would pay good money to have them as counselors. I think they should write a book. We stayed up quite late last night (err.. technically we stayed up early) taking notes (okay that was just me) and inhaling the amazing advice and wisdom they had for us. They're awesome people. We love them.

Oh yeah, and today at dinner at the Java house we were discussing names and what parents call their kids as "cute" names. Sorry mom, but I revealed the fact that you call me Mokus-bee and Moky-popo sometimes. Now John's gonna call me that for the rest of the trip, but Erika thought it was cute (I think thats what she said.. she was laughing really hard). So yeah, now the team is just like family!

Thanks for your prayers and support!
♥ Jawsh.

Jesus in the Heart of One Inspiring Woman

*Frances’s name has been changed for her safety

This morning we heard an inspiring testimony of faith from a brave woman named Frances. She is a Somali mother of two, and was a practicing Muslim. Somalia is one of the most dangerous and unstable countries in our world, and as a woman she had few rights and little power. At a dark period in her life, Frances decided that she wanted to stop living. She bought a bottle of poison, and that night, she went home and wrote a goodbye letter, telling God and Mohammed that she loved them but could not continue with her life. As she was about to drink the poison, however, a great light appeared, and there was a heavenly man seated on a throne with a crown of gold. Frances was startled. She asked this man who he was. He did not speak, but instead wrote in black letters on Frances’s chest, "Jesus." As a Muslim, Frances did not know who Jesus was, but she knew that this was a divine intervention, so she asked Jesus if it was His will for her to live instead of die. In response, the vial of poison was suddenly knocked to the ground. Frances knew that this was a sign that she was to live. The very next day, she found out everything she could about this Jesus. She secretly began to attend church, and asked people about Jesus. They told her that to find Jesus, she needed to be born again. One day in service, a pastor asked Frances if she wanted to accept Jesus as her Lord and savior, and that if she did, she would be born again and saved. She did that very day. And from then on there was a peace in Frances’s heart.

But now that she was a Christian, Frances could not live in Somalia without being persecuted. Muslims call Christians "infidels" and (at least in Somalia) Muslims are not allowed to share a meal with Christians. The more radical Muslim groups seek out to kill all Christians. Frances spent years hiding, and eventually came to Kenya as a refugee. But her love for Jesus was not confined to hiding. She had a burden on her heart to spread the love of Jesus to her Somalian people and bring peace to a warring nation. Her first ministry is to find a safehouse for Somalian women whose stories are similar to hers: a Christian refugee, trying to survive.

It is very difficult for Frances to worship the Lord publicly. She has known many people who were attacked by a Somali Muslim terrorist group. They are infamous for pretending to be refugees who have converted from Islam to Christianity, getting the trust of Christian Somalians, and then betraying that trust by bringing in the rest of their group and murdering all the Christians they have discovered.

One woman she knows also came to love Jesus and His message, and she converted to Christianity. When she returned home, her husband beat her and drove her out to a deserted area and contacted the terrorists to come and murder his infidel wife. They tied her hands and feet with rope and beat her again, leaving her to suffer. She would not renounce her devotion to Christ, and they were going to kill her. But this woman prayed to God and asked if it was His will that she die there or continue to live. At that moment, the ropes binding her hands and feet were cast away, and the terrorist guards were not around her. She escaped with the Lord’s grace and continues to tell her testimony today of the miracles of the God she loves.
Frances’s faith and trust in the Lord is strong and unwavering. She is known in Kenya as the Somali Pastor who helps women. But when people ask her on the street, she tells them that she is not this woman. The Holy Spirit informs her, and she is able to discern who is a genuine refugee and who is not. She has picked out members from terrorist groups before and has saved her fellow Christians from persecution.

Frances lives an incredibly difficult life. She is devoted to Christ, but must be intensely careful at all times. She never lets anyone into her home except her two children, who are also Christ followers, and she wears a wig to disguise herself so that people will not know she is a Somalian. Whenever she picks up the phone on the streets, she cannot express herself and proclaim her love for the Lord. Frances and her fellow Somali sisters cannot attend church in Kenya because Kenyan churches do not allow Somalians to worship with them because they fear the same terrorist group that plagues Christian Somalis every day. But Frances is a wonderful servant of the Lord. During her time with us, she spoke the name of Jesus with the highest praise every chance she had, and she praised God for the burden that He placed on her heart to help women like her.

Old and New Friends

In the afternoon we drove to the South B slum to visit Pastor Paul and his church. Three years ago, Pastor Paul had a vision: to start a church in the middle of the slum to share the love of Christ to these poverty-stricken people. The original Lighthouse team were touched by his calling, and provided the financial means to allow Pastor Paul to rent one small room for his church, the Kayaba Free Baptist Church. A year later, Pastor Paul needed more room as his congregation grew. He wanted to purchase the adjacent room to expand his growing church, and so Lighthouse helped him once more. And again this past year, Lighthouse funded Pastor Paul’s church to knock down the walls to expand the church ones more. The floors of the church were cemented and plastic chairs were bought, and an altar for the Lord was built. And today the church is thriving, the people worshipping in such a genuine and passionate way as to shame us conservative Americans back at home. The people of this church are so joyful and loving, and their worship inspires me.

During Trenton's message, Pastor Paul helped translate, and he did it with as much passion and energy as last year. During the altar call, eight women dedicated their lives to Christ. What an amazing God we have! He is truly at work in South B, and His presence is strong in the people of the Kayaba Free Baptist Church.

Unfortunately, with me being sick, I had to drink a lot of water, and consequently had to use the restroom. Leoneia (sp?), one of the women who helped guide us from our bus to the church, led me to the outhouse, if you can even call it that. It was basically a stream, and there was a wooden board you could stand on. I was so confused! It took me a while to figure out how to go in this new bathroom, because last year I refused to use any public bathrooms and successfully made it through while only using the restroom at our guest house and at clean restaurants. When I was finally done, Leo laughed at me, and we laughed together at my struggle. At one point, after laughing at how different our worlds were, Leo said, "This is our life." And it made me embarrassed and sad. Last year I did not use any of the restrooms because my own sense of personal hygiene would not allow me to, and it was simply unfathomable to me. But what Leo said is true. That was how all the people in slums live, and here I was, albeit unconsciously, thinking that I was better than them in some way, not allowing myself to experience their world.
Praise the Lord, Leo wasn’t angry with me. She just thought I was funny. She liked me enough to make sure that we got a picture together and to hold my hand while walking back to our bus after we ended our time together with the Kayaba Free Baptist Church.

While some of the team helped serve food to the people in the slum, I had a chance to talk to four girls. I said hi shyly at first, and just as I had passed them one of the girls, Monica, reached out and said I was cute. We all laughed, and then got to talk more. Monica’s sister is Agnes, and their two friends were Cynthia and another girl whose name I can’t remember, probably because I couldn’t pronounce it either. I didn’t get a chance to ask how old they were, but I would have guessed they were my age or older. They all attend Kayaba Free Baptist Church and were all very sweet. One of the girls, Agnes, had an email address, so we exchanged, and we plan to be facebook friends soon! Haha. Even better, I got to take a picture with them too! It’s crazy how connected our world is through the internet, and while many look down on sites like facebook, I think here it has proved to be a blessing.

In Africa, In Kenya, In Nairobi, In South B, In Kayaba Church!

At our church I believe we do community really well. I'll start there. :) But I think that Kayaba Free Baptist Church is really giving us a run for our money.

After being at Mathare for two days and experiencing some hard conditions, it was a welcome sight to see the people around the Kayaba Church so joyful to see us. Some people in Mathare tried to show us the way out. Kayaba has developed such a mothering nature to the people that live around their church and to the entire South B slum, that when they see us with Pastor Paul, they smile widely and say, "Kariba!"

We walked into the church smack dab in the middle of praising and worshipping. What a treat! It was a thrill to see the newly expanded church, now twice the size it was last year! We worshipped with them, watched the children's choir perform, led worchip for them, Trenton preached, all the team shared why they came on this mission trip, and witnessed 8 women give their hearts to the Lord! WHEW!!!! 5 hours at Kayaba went by in the blink of an eye.

Kayaba is by far my favorite church to visit here in Kenya. The energy and the spirit present there is hard to miss. I loved seeing the kids line up with their bowls and spoons, ready to eat. Although I noticed a few saved there food to take home later and others finagled a second helping. Then they all lined up along "the river" to eat. I was able to talk with some of the ladies in the kitchen afterwards and hold one of their babies as they ate. I understood nothing of what they said, but I loved sitting amongst them, listening as they loudly talked with joy in their hearts.

They Lord has used Lighthouse to bless Kayaba and Kayaba has blessed us by allowing us to serve them.

Erika

Brennen, Sydney, and Gabriel- Mama loves you and I am praying for you. Please pray for our team.

Seeing old friends...

Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit Pastor Paul and the Kayaba Free Baptist Church in the South B slum. The team has visited this church the past 3 years, and has seen the needs of the people there. They were impressed with Pastor Paul’s faith and his vision to grow this church in the middle of the slum. The first team chose to use mission funds to purchase land to build a small building. Last year’s team funded the expansion of the building, purchasing plastic chairs for the church and helping them cement the floors.

It was such a blessing to return to Kayaba this year, to witness the joy in the people’s faces at seeing many of the team again, and to share a day of worship and fellowship. It was exciting to hear how the new building has given them the opportunity to expand their congregation and provide a “haven” in the middle of the slum. You could sense their pride as Trenton was asked to dedicate the new altar to the Lord.

Then Mike asked each team member to share something about themselves and why they felt called to be a part of this team. Having to get on stage and share in front of a group of people, without preparation, is out of the comfort zone for most of our team, but the Holy Spirit was definitely leading. Everyone shared, in their own unique way, how much they had been blessed by the people there, how impressed they were with their faith and commitment to the Lord, and how joyful it was to worship together.

Even though we provided a food outreach for the community, this was the most meaningful part of the day. Having the team share their love, encouragement, and prayers for the people seemed to offer more encouragement and hope than the meal. It has been such a blessing to watch our relationship with the Kayaba Free Baptist Church grow, and realize we truly have sisters and brothers in Christ living halfway across the world. I know our team will leave Kenya with Pastor Paul and the people of the Kayaba Free Baptist Church, firmly implanted in our hearts and prayers…

Mungu aku bariki (God Bless you!)
Heather

I came with 100$

It has been a while since the last post and SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED!!! We went to another slum and visited Kayaba Church lead by Pastor Paul. Three years ago the entire church was inside of an alleyway and today they have an entire building with a concrete foundation with walls and a roof. Praise God!!! Just amazing. Their worship was also an amazing blessing to me. They praised the Lord in their own unique style and yet full of energy and joy. Their love for Jesus was clearly present and I couldnt help but be happy with them. I was also blessed with the opportunity of meeting Pastor Paul. The way he translated and elaborated our words really spoke to the rest of the Kenyans and he was so funny. He had the power to turn one word into an entire speach. The Church of Kayaba is just in love with God and their joy really shows it.
We listened to an amazing heart wrenching testimony. The struggle of one women who has turned to Christ is truely horrifying. She was banished from her home because of her love for Christ and is at risk of being killed. She and other women have to hide and arent even welcomed in local churches because of the danger. It is sad that they have to hide who they are and praise the Lord in secrecy. But what is so amazing is that God is intervening and protecting these women. His hand of protection is over them and God is doing great things with these women. Super natural miracles are taking place and God is evidently working within the Muslim community.
On Friday I went to the Masai Market. A special even that takes palce on Fridays where items of African culture is sold. The people there will try to swindle you and boy, are they good. The Market is a battle zone and your ability to bargain and walk away is your strongest weapon. Mom...Dad.... I'm not coming home with any money.

Thank you everyone who is praying for me and please continue your prayers. Love, Brendon