Kenya Elections

It's election time in Kenya. Just six more weeks and citizens of this country will vote on their president and every other elected official in the nation.

A friend and I were out yesterday and took some pictures of some "common" campaigning practices. We were just out driving and saw this...Camels toting election posters with supporters following in a line behind.

Check out this website

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Check out this website: http://www.commissionstories.com/

This will take you to the story package I had you praying about while I was in Uganda.

Hope you enjoy it!

Johnnie

At first, he was quiet and didn’t talk. He strutted around the street, trying to prove he could take care of himself and didn’t need anyone’s help.

The teenaged mothers on this street corner pleaded for someone to take him. He showed up on their street a week ago. No one knows where he came from or who he belongs to. The mothers tried taking care of him, but they barely scrounge up enough food for themselves and their own children. They knew that someone needed to take care of this very independent four-year-old before something serious happened to him.

Four-year-old Johnnie spent the day with me, while my friend looked for an orphanage that would take him. After Johnnie established that the white on my skin did not rub off, he became a chatter box. We played cars and wrestled around my house.

When we got in the car to go to the orphanage, Johnnie serenaded me (at the top of his lungs) all the way to my friend’s house. Once she sat in the car, Johnnie immediately went mute again. But, every time I looked in the rear view mirror to check on him in the backseat, he made goofy eyes at me – ah – four-year-old humor at its best!

This orphanage we took Johnnie to was great. They agreed with us that Johnnie had not been on the street for very long. He looked well fed and cared for – other than some scrapes and bruises. He also had a very large vocabulary that most children on the street do not have.

Leaving Johnnie at that orphanage was hard on both of us. It’s amazing how attached you can become to someone after one day.

From what Johnnie told me, he has a mother, but doesn’t have a father. He doesn’t know where his mother is. Our guess is that they were separated at the bus station near where he was found. Either that, or his mother died and relatives abandoned him on the streets because they could not take care of him (a common practice here).

We filled out a ton of paperwork, so we could not be accused of stealing a child and filed it with the police. This will also serve as a way for Johnnie’s mother to find him.

Please pray that Johnnie’s family will seek him out and collect him at this orphanage. If Johnnie was abandoned, pray that his transition to this orphanage is a smooth one.

Uganda

Here's my first stab at doing a video while on a coverage. This is a story about the Passion Fruit Project. In this project, Ugandan Christians are trying to help their fellow Ugandans who are HIV positive care for their own health through growing fruit, while at the same time, introducing these Ugandans to Jesus Christ.

Saidet's Story

Saidet is sick. To look at her, you’d never know.

She is one of millions in Uganda who are infected with HIV. She knows that one day, she’ll die from an AIDS related illness. She worries about her children and if she’ll live long enough to see them grown or if they will end up orphans.

The clinic where Saidet was tested for HIV offers free antiretroviral medicine. This medicine is changing the look of HIV across the continent of Africa. Uganda is one of the few countries offering it free. Saidet admits that in the past, everyone knew who had HIV because they had “the look” (losing weight, could see their bones, etc.), NOW, no one knows. The new drugs help keep you healthy and living longer.

Despite these new drugs, Saidet still felt sad. She still worried about her kids. She wandered what happened when you die. She went to mosque a faithfully every Friday, searching for answers.

One Friday morning, a counselor from her clinic came to visit. He talked about keeping a healthy diet, checked up on her medicines and talked about God. Saidet was more interested in the “God-talk” than the health stuff and invited them to come back.

The counselor returned. This time, there were several other women gathered from this Muslim village. They also wanted to know about living a healthy life with HIV and about God. A small Bible study began in the shade of Saidet’s tree.

Soon, Saidet asked Jesus to be her Savior. Her whole outlook on life changed. She no longer wondered about death because she knew she would have a new life in Christ. She still worried about her children, but began the task of introducing them to her new friend.

The Bible study continued to grow in number. This caused the surrounding Muslim community to take notice. They sent some women to the study to “spy” on the proceedings. The “spies” took the Bibles they received at the study to the mosque and read them aloud to the entire community.

Saidet was forced to defend herself before the village elders. She explained her new faith flawlessly. She spoke of how Jesus had already made a difference in their community with people learning how to forgive as Jesus forgave.

The village elders warned Saidet that the counselors from the clinic could not come back. But, Saidet held firm and said these counselors would always be welcome on her land. While the elders continued to threaten the counselors, they softened some and asked Saidet to return to defend herself again by telling more stories.

"I will proclaim Jesus until the day I die,” Saidet said.

Pray for Saidet that she will have the physical strength to fight this spiritual battle. Pray that the ears of her Muslim community will open and their hearts will be touched by the Holy Spirit.

Mbarara, Uganda

Uganda is a beautiful country, especially the southwest corner. There are rolling mountains with a zillion and one colors of green. Banana groves are everywhere.

Here are a few daily scenes around this part of the country:

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

Remember the boy I told you about a few weeks ago - Joshua? He needs for people to stand in the gap for him.

Joshua was in a catholic orphanage, then his mother took him out. His mother is addicted to drugs and alcohol. She abused him, so he ran away to Nairobi. When we met him, he begged us to get him off the streets because he was scared and wanted to go back to school.

One of our workers found a home for him. When she went back to get him, he was no longer on his street corner. The other kids told her that Joshua had been beaten badly and ran off. She later found out that he had been arrested and taken to jail.

In Kenya, children are put in with adults. This is not a good thing for a 12 or 13-year-old (we really think Joshua is younger than this age he told us).

Pray for Joshua. Pray for protection from the men, from beatings and anything else. Pray that he can be strong in his new faith and rely on God. Pray that once he is out, we can find him and get him off the streets before it is too late.

Visitors

I had two visitors from my headquarters' office. They came to see Nairobi and to compare it to Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a fast and furious two weeks -- one in Kenya and one in South Africa.

While we were in Kenya, we visited a game park. One of my visitors is a photographer, so here are some of his photos to share with you. You can definitely tell he is a professional.

Monday Morning

Long and bulky mounds of trash cuddled against the dirty store fronts. A shoe at the bottom of the pile moved and whatever was underneath rolled over.

One of the kids sleeping beneath the trash stirred enough to notice us. With one eye open, he gave us a groggy smile. We met him last week and he remembered that we brought milk.

This boy nudged the pile next to him and another head popped up.

We started making friends on a new street in downtwon Nairobi. The ministry is going well on our normal street and it was time for us to venture out to find some of the younger boys and young mothers.

One boy in particular made a huge impression on us. He told us the same story two weeks in a row - an indication that he wasn't lieing. Joshua says he is 13, but is most likely 11. His mother sells drugs and home-made brew. When he was of school age, a Catholic orphanage took him in.

Joshua said the orphanage kicked him out three weeks ago. What really happened is that his mother came to the orphanage and got him. There was nothing the Catholic orphanage could do to keep him. Joshua's mother did not take care of him, so Joshua took off for Nairobi in search of somthing better.

Guess what?!? He did find something better. He prayed to received Christ. Joshua said in his first week in Nairobi, he tried the glue the other boys got high on. He didn't really like it, but did it at night to fight off the cold. After he became a believer, he decided (on his own) that Jesus wouldn't like him inhaling glue, so he stopped.

Joshua said living on the streets is a bad life. He fears for his own life everyday and night. "These older boys murderize," he said to me in a hushed voice.

Pray for Joshua in his new found faith. Pray that we will be able to find an orphanage for him where he will be away from any threat of his mother pulling him out again.

Christ Academy

It didn’t look like much from the outside. A cream walled front with etched letters proclaiming it as “Christ Academy.”

A scrap wood and tin bridge laid across the open sewer flowing in front of the small school.

A tiny head poked out the brown door and smiled shyly. He grabbed my friend’s hand and led us inside to a world of children only found in a school setting.

Christ Academy is a small school that a Congolese refugee set up for kids in his community. He noticed that most refugees could not afford to send their kids to school in Kenya. He began teaching a few in his home, then almost instantly, it grew to 100 kids.

They found a small building and christened it “Christ Academy.” Teachers work here on a volunteer basis – this means they don’t get paid. There are no school fees, uniforms or even book fees.

The school gives the children a cup of porridge for morning tea time (most of the kids do not get breakfast at home). They also serve a modest lunch of rice and sauce or ugali and sauce. (The teachers say they used to break for lunch, but none of the kids went home because there was nothing to eat at home.)

Christ Academy survives on faith.

The founder of the school wants to instill a Christian foundation for these refugee students, while giving them a quality education.

Students are squeezed into five rooms. For the preschool and kindergarten aged kids, it was a tight fit. Five kids sat on a bench meant for two people. Six benches filled a room that only had space for three.

The kids didn’t seem to notice the cramped quarters. They were just super excited to be at school – as most kids around the world their age are. When the teacher asked a question, everyone raised their hands – whether they knew the answer or not.

Pray for Christ Academy. Pray the Christian witness they have in the community continues to shine and get brighter with each day. Caring about someone’s child is one of the fastest ways to a parent’s heart.

Nakuru Game Park

It was a sea of pink -- everywhere you looked, there were flamingos! I spent the weekend with some friends at Lake Nakuru Game Park. This park is famous for its flamingos. However, this year -- the flamingos are FABULOUS!

I asked a Park Ranger how many were on the lake this year and he said it was the most ever. They estimate over four million flamingos. Can you imagine?

I tried taking photos of it -- but there's just no way to show the magnitude or the beauty!

Oh - we also saw other animals in the park...Black and White Rhino stood next to our car. One cape buffalo was a little too close and faked a charge at us. No harm done to us, but it sure made our heart pump faster - ha-ha!

I am always so thankful to live in Africa after visiting one of the game parks. Seeing animals in their natural habitat is really indescribable. It doesn't matter how many times I go, it's always like the first time!

Prodigal Son Returns to Village

Mwangi nervously looked out the car window. The terrain became more familiar the closer he got to his home village in Kenya. He wasn’t sure if his family would welcome him back or not. But, he was willing to suffer the consequences.

Two years ago, Mwangi ran away from home. A friend convinced him they should hitch a ride to Nairobi and experience “city life.”

At first, it was a fun adventure. They slept on the ground or street, using cardboard as a blanket. They walked around downtown, wherever they wanted. No one told them what to do.

Then they got hungry, and the adventure went bad. They begged or stole to get money for food and showers. Some older boys taught them to sniff glue. It helped ease the hunger pains, but made them act like zombies. Soon, all of the money they could steal went for getting high on glue. So, they sifted through the trash searching for food scraps.

Mwangi heard he could get free milk and bread on one street corner. He went and liked it immediately. They told Bible stories. The stories reminded him of his family. Mwangi told the missionary he wanted to go home.

As the car pulled up to Mwangi’s village, a woman walked out holding a Bible. When she saw who was in the car, she raised her arms and screamed in celebration. Mwangi’s Mom rushed to the car to welcome her lost son.

For two years, Mwangi’s mother prayed for her son to return safely. Mwangi was embarrassed of his life as a street kid, but no one seemed to mind. They roasted the fattest goat and celebrated in his honor!

Nairobi, Kenya

I took a group of volunteers from Kansas-Nebraska for a WILD ride. Not only did they weave in and out of Nairobi traffic on our bad roads (which they referred to as a free roller coaster ride), but they also rode ostriches.

Fun and work were evenly mixed during a recent volunteer trip by five women from the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists. They ministered to some street kids in Nairobi. They hung out with the kids and administered basic “Mom” first-aid. They learned the stories of some of the boys – their journey from a village to the streets to finding Christ. They saw the effects of sniffing glue and smelled the strong aroma of street life.

The volunteers also worked with Kenyan children at a Baptist Children’s Camp. More than 100 kids crowded on the steps of the camp chapel to say thank you to the five women. The volunteers taught Bible lessons and crafts to the children ranging in age from 7 to 17. They were surprised at how many children have scripture memorized. One teenager, named Roger, had an entire book of the Bible memorized.

While I kept them busy working – and waking up for early morning ministries – we had time for fun. The volunteers really blessed those of us from the Kansas-Nebraska area. They brought us special “American” treats that totally spoiled us!

Personally, the team really blessed me. They were my first volunteer team and proved to be very flexible and easy. On the night they arrived, all of our plans for ministry were canceled. After a few phone calls, I got some things set up for us, but it was definitely not what they came prepared to do. The team didn’t even blink – they just pitched in where ever asked!

Thank you Kansas-Nebraska for coming to Kenya! I hope more of you will visit in the future.

UBC: Boniface and the Street Kids of Nairobi (May 2007)

Watch this video of the Nairobi Street Kids. A group of Baylor University students came to work with us as volunteers. They put this video together so others may see the ministry and vision.

Blume, Kansas City, Missouri

The stage lights were bright and almost blinded you, but it didn’t matter – I could FEEL the energy of thousands of teenaged girls in the arena. They were there to celebrate Jesus and his mandate to “Go and Tell.” (missions)

Girls from all over the United States gathered in Kansas City for a fun time of learning and fellowship. I had the opportunity to be a presenter. My friend Margie and I hosted an interactive booth where the girls ran our video cameras and interviewed people. We taught the girls about a different kind of missionary job – the one that we do - media. I also taught a workshop and spoke in worship service.

The one word that sums up this event was “energy.” Girls were so excited to try every missions experience put in front of them. A group of college girls spent the night in a homeless shelter all in an effort to understand that life and how they could minister. One night, the teenagers focused on the Middle East. They ate Middle Eastern food, put on henna tattoos, visited with Muslim-Background believers, and watched a movie outside on the grass. It was great fun!

Pray for the girls who attended the event. God will call out many of these girls to be missionaries (International and North American), as well as involved in local ministries. Pray for their continued growth in their relationship with Jesus.

Prayer Card

Here's my new prayer card. Feel free to print it off and stick it some place to remind you to pray. Thanks!

Amboseli, Kenya

The mountain peaked out from behind the cloud. Mount Kilimanjaro is a beautiful sight, especially when animals are in the foreground.

I spent the weekend with a group of volunteers from Kirby Wood Baptist Church, Memphis, Tenn. in the Amboseli National Game Park. We saw a LOT of animals. It was the first time to see wild animals in their natural habitat for all of the volunteers. We saw a zillion elephants (my favorite animal).

It's migration season, so there were a lot of zebra and wildebeast in the area. There were also alot of young babies - zeba, wildebeast, elephant.

We watched one group of elephants for at least half an hour or more. This group has elephants of varying ageas. One of the baby elephants was probably about two weeks old. He still didn't know how to use his trunk. He'd try to grab grass like his mother and the others. He'd practically fall down as he pulled and pulled. Then, he'd raise his back leg in impossible angles to scratch himself -- kind of like the flexibility that human babies have. We watched him try to trumpet, but he couldn't keep his trunk from flopping all over the place. It was soooo cute and fun to watch.

The volunteers were truly introduced to life in Africa...bad roads, animals and constant break downs. On the trip to the game park, we broke an axle on one car. The other car ended up with a hole in the gas line due to scraping over the rocky, bumpy road.

We came home yesterday and several came down with a bad case of food poisoning. (Me included.) Most of them leave on the plane tonight, but some are not well enough to travel. Pray for them to recover quickly. Pray that I recover quickly, too.

God’s working in Zimbabwe

Every time you see a story about Zimbabwe, it’s depressing. The stories talk about a government being oppressive to the people; people starving; people dieing from AIDS or hunger. Yes, all of these things are true – but there’s so much more going on in this country. God is at work!

I met a pastor who had been arrested for leading a prayer meeting. Government officials contend that the prayer meeting was anti-government. Those attending the meeting say they were praying for their country. Their prayers were answered as the pastor sat in jail, witnessing to other inmates and jail officials. By the time he was released, 50+ people came to know Jesus as their Savior.

Another pastor I met had a totally amazing story. He grew up in an African Traditional Religions home (witch doctors and voodoo). He said from the time he was five-years-old, all he wanted to do was go visit the church, but his father never let him. By the time he was in his teens, this pastor was living on the streets. One day, a missionary stopped to visit with the street boys. This pastor gave his life to Jesus. That day changed the path of his life. The missionary helped him finish school and this pastor went to seminary.

This pastor became not only the first known Christian among his people, but also the first trained in church planting. He went back to his village to tell them about Christ. At first, he and his wife were ridiculed for their faith. They had two miscarriages and were told this is what happens when you turn on your ancestors. The young couple persevered and a few women came to Christ. They visited hospitals, giving out oranges during this time when food is sparse.

One day, a policeman brought an orphan to them. The pastor asked what he was supposed to do with this orphan. The police said, “You are the Christian, are you not?”

The pastor said he knew that was the test from the community. So, he and his wife began taking in orphans. Now, there are more than 60 orphans living with them. Through this ministry, the community saw Christ’s love in action and accepted the Christians. Many started asking more questions – even this pastor’s family.

Now, two years later – there are 20 churches among this people. Around 1,000 were baptized last year alone.

In a country where there is little to be thankful for, this pastor and his wife thank God for the miracles He’s working in their community and among their people.

Walking with Lions, Zimbabwe

I felt like an old explorer with my walking stick as I set out across the African Savannah. Bouncing playfully alongside me were four lions, each were nine-months-old.

I took time to visit a research center on the African lions while I was in Zimbabwe. It was the coolest thing! I got to play with some lion cubs that were around four-months-old. They were as playful as kittens, but MUCH bigger and a lot stronger. Their coat is not as soft as it looks. It feels like really coarse hair. The cubs love to play and chase strings, just like kittens.

This research site is trying to breed southern African lions with east African lions. The southern lions are dieing out due to a virus. The east African lions are resistant to this virus, so they are breeding the two.

We walked with the older cubs through a small game reserve. The purpose is to get the lions interested in other animals. It’s preparation for when it’s time for them to hunt and kill. Right now, stalking is just a fun game for the cubs.

Believe me, while these were just nine-month-old lions, they were still really big and STRONG. You couldn’t turn your back to them, or else they would playfully attack (to them playing, but they are so strong that it’s not playing to us). I watched my four young companions stalk a large kudu. It was very surreal to crouch with them in the tall grass and scope out a possible kill.

After the lions reach 18-months, they begin to learn to hunt and they go out at night with the researches to do this. At two years, the lions will be released into a sort of “half-way” park. Here, there are animals that they can find to feed on, but the park is not huge. This allows them to get the confidence in making their own kills – but allows the researchers to keep track of them. After they turn three years, the lions are then transferred to a large game reserve. Animals are still fenced in, but it’s pretty wild.

The goal is that the second generation of this cross breed will be born in this large game reserve. These second generation cubs will be wild and able to survive in game parks all over the southern African region.

So, if you are ever in Zimbabwe – take a walk on the wild side!

Thanks for praying!

Thanks for praying for me during my recent trip. I made it in and out of the country safe and sound. I didn’t even have problems while I was roaming around. While I was in Zimbabwe, there were three journalists arrested, beaten and jailed. I thank God that I wasn’t one of them!

While Zimbabwe allows Christians and missionaries in the country, the government does not like journalists. Journalists have to sneak in and out to write stories about the oppression going on in this country.

The purpose of going to Zimbabwe was to write some stories on how God is at work in this down-trodden country. At one time, Zimbabwe was the “jewel of Africa.” It was the most advanced country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Now, instead of feeding most of southern Africa, the country depends on foreign aid. A recent report lists Zimbabwe’s inflation at 4,000 percent this year. Here’s an easy way to put this in perspective: Let’s say a loaf of bread costs 50 cents. With inflation rates of 4,000 percent that means the loaf of bread now costs $2,000.

This picture is of money I exchanged on the black market (where everyone exchanges money, even government officials). At the beginning of the week, it was worth $50. By the time I left it, that same pile of money was only worth $20.

You are only allowed to take $1.5 million out of the bank each day. That means people live on less than $15 US dollars a day. Can you imagine a family of six (average size of a Zimbabwean family) living on less than $15 a day?

The poverty line for an average family of six is reported to be around $5.5 million a month. This is an impossible salary for most people, even teachers and policemen do not make this much money a month. Because of this, the country is suffering greatly.

Pray for Zimbabwe!

Nairobi Street Kid

I love hanging out with the street kids in Nairobi. You'd be very surprised at their sense of humor. Every time I visit with them in the mornings, they have me laughing so hard. They are especially good at doing imitations of people. I haven't convinced them to show me their imitation of me yet.

I'm posting some photos that my friend Justin, a photographer, took while going to work with the street kids. The picture of the young girl is of an American sixth-grader who lives in Nairobi. She goes with us early in the mornings to work with the street kids, too. She wakes up at 4:45 a.m. She plays with the kids and helps hand out food. The older boys on the street are all very protective of their "little American sister." We finish up with the boys around 7:30 a.m. and then this sixth-grader heads off to school.

One day I asked this sixth-grader why she did this when that meant a super long day at school twice a week. She looked at me pretty surprised and said, "I like to tell people about Jesus." Her unspoken look continued with, "DUH! Don't you like doing the samething? It's what we are supposed to do."

Guess this sixth-grader shows that no matter what your age is, the Children of God are to tell of His Great News.