Kibera Clean-Up

The slum of Kibera is the largest slum in the whole continent of Africa with a reported one million people living in just over one square mile. Kibera is the slum most ministries and celebrities seem to go to when they are taping video to help raise awareness and support. Shauna and I have been working with and helping people in this slum for right at a year now.

Last weekend, we were involved with a cleaning project that cleaned up about 1/8 of a mile stretch of dirt road that the inhabitants use as their trash pile. In Kenya, there is no such thing as garbage companies coming and picking up the trash. They have to burn it or it ends up like this and the end result is airborne diseases and alot of sickness. There was such a turnout, even from the community, as we were filling up a truck with trash. At the end of the cleaning, we filled a large 17-ton dump truck to the top with waste. The sights and smells were beyond description, but we were happy to play a part in helping them.

Celebration Service

Every six to eight weeks, we have a celebration service at Berith Life Church in Kasarani. The pastor, Vitalis Nasongo, is who I have been working with doing our evangelism and discipleship since February. We have a service where we celebrate all of the people who have given their life to Christ through our evangelism.

When they receive Christ, we give them a book that further outlines the plan of salvation and the decision they just made. If they return this back to us, they are then invited to come to our service where we provide them with a free bible in Swahili, a certificate, and another book that promotes further growth.

In addition to this, I had the privilege of being able to dedicate a baby to the Lord. The father of this child was someone who had recently given his life to Christ through our evangelism. It was truly rewarding to see this take place.

We ended up giving 25 people bibles, books, and certificates yesterday. We also prepared them chai (favorite Kenyan drink) and mendazis (Kenyan pastry). We then had a delicious lunch which Vitalis' wife prepared for us. It is such an honor for us to play a part in affecting the eternal destiny of people's souls.

Heshima

We had the opportunity to be able to take our kindergarten, and pre-kindergarten, to Heshima Children's Center today. Heshima means "dignity" in Swahili and this center was established by an American lady who wanted to provide a place for severely handicapped children to feel loved, cared for, and to also receive physical rehabilitation.

Our kindergarten engaged the children in finger painting, building blocks, and also in making Christmas decorations. All children involved enjoyed themselves.

11th Grade at Huruma

As the community resource developer at our school, I have the privilege of being able to take our schoool, a grade at a time, into the community to build relationships with those less fortunate. Being a Christian school, not only do we want to provide excellent education, but we want them to know what its like to actually walk out biblical principles and not just intellectually know them.

We want the children to experience the fulfillment that comes when one lays aside their own agenda to help someone in need. Huruma Children's Home is an orphange that has roughly 150 children right now that Shauna lived and taught at from July to December 2008. The home is run by a truly amazing woman named Mama Zipporah. She takes all children brought to her and doesn't turn them away even if they're HIV positive. She said they currently have 18 HIV positive children.

I took the 11th grade today and starting in January, I will be taking one to two grades a month through May to further love on these children and just spend time focusing on them making them feel important. I was really proud of our students, they exemplified true leadership, humility, and love. Afterward, they all remarked on how blessed they felt engaging the children at Huruma. I love seeing our children truly begin to experientially know the principle, "It is more blessed to give than receive!" I always feel as if I am more blessed giving than the one who is the recipient of the giving. We had a great day.

Mitumba Food Delivery

Mitumba slum is situated next to Wilson Airport in Nairobi, Kenya. Though this slum is smaller than some of the other slums, i.e. Kawangware (700,000 people) and Kibera (1,000,000 people) the need here is just as great.
There is a school in Mitumba slum that is serving the community by allowing children to attend without paying school fees. This doesn't seem significant, but because the Kenyan government does not give money to any schools, ALL schools have to charge school fees. If a child's parents cannot afford the fees, their child does not go to school.
When the school first started, there were children running around naked because they didn't have any clothes. These children were also eating dirt to stop the hunger pains in their stomachs. God spoke to a monetarily poor Kenyan man to start a school there and a few years later, there are 400 children benefitting from education and a relationship with God who otherwise wouldn't.
Our school has had relationships with this slum school since last year. We take students to their school to spend time with them and we also bring their students to our school to build relationships. One other way we help is through doing a food drive every October and November that results in us delivering buckets of food to them. Through our school really coming together, we were able to raise right at 200 buckets of food. Though there are 400 children, many are siblings and so we were able to give a bucket to every family that has children attending there.Shauna was able to go with me yesterday and she continued to comment on how great of an experience it was. We also took one child from every grade that helped contribute to raising buckets with us also. This is us right before we left.

The moment we arrived, we were greeted by hundreds of smiling faces. They were very polite and did not shove and push trying to get at the food. Instead they were incredibly humble and eager to help unload our vehicles. They were so grateful and had huge smiles on their faces. Upon leaving, I couldn't get over how I felt more blessed giving to them than they were in receiving it.

Typical of Kenyan culture, the school performed some songs and dances for us. I then spoke and wanted them to know very clearly that white people are not their providers and their source, but God alone! I told them very specifically that the only reason we were there is because there is a God in heaven who is filled with love for them and He moved on our hearts to cause us to do this for them.

I also told them that though the food will only last a short time, the greatest gift we could offer them was the gift of salvation, which is eternal. We also put a book in each bucket that is in Swahili outlining the plan of salvation and the prayer for salvation at the end. It's our prayer that God will move on their hearts.

We spend most of our lives looking for what will bring us fulfillment and we usually think that the more we possess, the happier we will be. I've searched high and low and I have never felt more fulfilled in my life than when I am able to help change and improve the quality of someone's life worse off than me. Shauna and I are so humbled and grateful that God would allow us to play just a small part in affecting change to a hurting world.

Back "Home"

I am finally back with my amazing wife after being away for two weeks! I arrived in Kenya on Friday night after 21 hours of flying on three different planes. God blessed me in London. When I was giving my boarding pass at the gate, they looked on their computer and said that I had received a free upgrade. I was upgraded to business in the first row with all of the extra leg room for free. This may not sound like a big deal, but on a 9 hour flight its huge!
One of the coolest sights I have ever seen was when we were flying over Sudan. It had just turned dark and as I looked outside I could see little "clusters" of orange among the blackness of the ground. I looked closer and could see that they were fires and you could see where villages were by the fact that there would be 20 or more little fires close together. This was so beautiful and unusual to see in the night. Typically cities are outlined by buildings and street lights, but Sudan was marked by fires.
I have hit the ground running in that we are preparing the Christmas buckets and food to be delivered next week to Mitumba slum. In addition to this, we are going to have a celebration service in the beginning of December for everyone who has given their life to Christ over the last couple months from our evangelism. We will be giving them a free bible in Swahili and encourage them to go through the new believer's class. I will also be preaching at this service.
Shauna is continuing to do an amazing job teaching and is getting involved at our church with taking a class right after the service on Sundays. She is preparing for a Thanksgiving party next Wednesday. I am definitely looking forward to the food and watching Charlie Brown's "The Great Pumpkin Patch" with the kids. Even being across the world, there's nothing like some holiday traditions to make you feel close to home!

Rich's Mom

I took an unexpected trip back to TN where I have been almost two weeks now. One of the main reasons I came was to spend time with my mother. She has always been such a source of strength and encouragement to me even in some of my darkest times. God has really blessed me with the opportunity to spend some quality time with her.
We are still standing and believing for her healing from melanoma (spelling?) cancer. There is nothing that medical science can do, but there is nothing God can't do! She is such an amazing woman and plays a large role in me being who I am today. Please keep her in your prayers!

Nairobi Standard Chartered Race

Yesterday, I had the privilege of being able to run a half marathon along with the best runners in the world, literally! I have run three marathons in the States, but this was my first half. Due to all of our ministry work, and mile high elevation, I did not find it wise to try the full.

We had some friends, who we have worked with in ministry, that also ran yesterday and this is us before the race started.

I was able to run the half in 1:43, which I was really proud of! I was just hoping to break 2 hours. I had no idea how big of a factor elevation plays in running until living here.

It turns out that the guy who won first place in the marathon had just won the Arizona Rock n' Roll Marathon in the beginning of this year. It was kinda cool knowing that the winner had been in our town. It was truly a great day running among 10,000 people!

Our "Visitor"

We were "greeted" with a visitor last night at our place. As we were getting ready for bed, Shauna went to brush her teeth and found this pleasant surprise. I'm just going to be honest and tell you that I freak out more than her over stuff like this. When I heard her scream, I knew it was bad. I almost didn't want to check it out because I was thinking it was a snake.
She was the one that took this picture. I wasn't about to get close enough for this shot. Our Kenyan help came in and killed it. I freaked out...

Community Development Project

One of my responsibilities here at the school is Community Development. We had our first outreach this week and I was pleased with how it went.

Our 12th grade hosted the 7th grade of Mitumba Slum School. There was some concern that the Mitumba students would experience some "culture shock" being at our school because their entire campus can almost fit in our multi-purpose room. I spoke with the director, Pastor Shadrach, and he told me that these kids have a "slum mentality" from living there their whole life. He says that because the slums are all they know, they don't dream of attaining more. He thought it would be beneficial for the children to come to our school in hopes of causing them to develop greater dreams so they can achieve them.

The Mitumba students had a great time and were almost constantly smiling and laughing. I went with our driver to pick them up and almost immediately, they were laughing and fascinated with leaving the slums and travelling somewhere. You would have thought they were at DisneyLand. Their teacher, who also came, said that most of the students had not left the slums in many months.

I was concerned with how our day would go because this is something different I am trying this year than what the school did last year. This is more comprehensive and engaging. There were good results and feedback from students and staff. We are going to be hosting them, one grade at a time, with our students twice a month in hopes of creating relationships and encouraging them in the Lord. This is also the school that we are doing the Christmas Bucket Drive so they will have a bucket of food to eat during Christmas. If any of you, State-side, would like to give to them just let us know. Each bucket costs 1500ksh, which is the equivalent of $20. Please keep them in prayer.

Mitumba Slum School

Earlier this week, we were able to visit Mitumba slum, which is located close to Wilson Airport. It's not nearly as big as some of the other slums, i.e. Kibera-one million people! but the need is still just as great and the conditions are just as desperate!

God directed us to an amazing man in this slum named Pastor Shadrach. He runs a school in this slum for almost 400 children and doesn't charge them anything. This doesn't necessarily sound too generous, but there is no such thing as free education in Kenya. Even in the slum schools, if the parents can't afford the fees, their children do not go to school. I can't tell you how often we will be doing evangelism and see children everywhere playing because they are not in school. As part of my job as Community Developer, I will be taking our high school students to do various activities and form relationships with them.

These children come from the poorest of the poor and most don't eat anything outside of what they are fed at school. Through donations, this monetarily(not spiritually!) poor pastor, is able to feed them TWICE a day! He gives them a porridge at 10 o'clock that consist of a day's worth of vitamins and minerals that is even more expensive than feeding them lunch. I have just initiated the Christmas Bucket Drive at our school where we will try to get enough buckets that consist of maize flour, beans, rice, etc. to give them so they will have something to eat at Christmas. Please pray that our students and families will give generously!!

Mrs. Key's Kindergarten Chapel

Here at our school, elementary has chapel every Friday. Some weeks there will be outside guests and speakers, while other weeks different grades at the school will lead it. This past Friday, Shauna and her class did chapel and they did really great. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that they have an amazing teacher! Here is a picture of them before any of the other classes got there.

They sang songs and cited a verse that had to do with creation. There was even one child brave enough to pray.

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. We have been busy with work and are doing many things on the weekends, some ministry and some recreational. We are developing many friendships here which is so important living cross-culturally. God has been really good to us. We love you guys and thank you for your prayers!

Video of Crescent Lake

Thought I would include just a short video of some of the zebra and giraffe we were around. It was really windy that day so the audio isn't the best.

Lake Navaisha

Over the last couple of days, we have been at Lake Navaisha which is in the Rift Valley. Our school has a faculty retreat every year and they took all of us to stay for a couple of days. Its really nice because it only takes an hour and a half drive, its quiet, and there is alot of wildlife.

We went on Saturday to a place called Crescent Lake. The pictures of the wildlife are taken there. This was over 200 acres of property that went along Lake Navaisha that is actually privately owned. This property is where much of the filming took place for the movie "Out of Africa." These are impala, which are similar to gazelle that were also there.

What was really cool about this place is that we were able to walk, with a guide of course, instead of being in a vehicle like you have to at most safaris. I think one of the main reasons is that there are no predatory animals, outside of hyena. As we walked, we saw many different bones and skeletons. A couple of guys got full gazelle skulls that still had the horns to take back to the house. I only came out with a jaw of a zebra and some bones of a wildebeest. I'm suprised Shauna let me bring them to the house, of course they have to stay outside for now.

We found out that hippos sleep in the water during the day and are on land all night awake. We accidentally stumbled onto one that was on shore and fortunately he was more scared of us than we were of him. A little further along a friend found a boa constrictor that was laying out in the sun on a rock. We eventually saw it in a crack in a rock. It was huge and different seeing one in its own native surroundings and not in an aquarium. We had a really good time.

Sunday in Kasarani

We were finally able to get over to Kasarani yesterday and spend time with our dear friends and Kenyan "family."

I was able to preach and then we did a baptism for the people who had given their lives to Christ through our evangelism and had also completed our discipleship material and class. We went over to Moi Sporting Facility where their olympians practice to do the baptism.

It was really rewarding and humbling to know we played a small part in affecting the eternal destiny of many souls!

West Nairobi School (Our School)

We wanted to add some pictures of the school where we will be working. Quick information of the school: This school was created so that missionaries would have a school to place their children which would not only give them a quality education, but teach them according to biblical principles, values, and multiple biblical classes. In addition, the school also has the vision to reach out to the locals of the area. This is a private school so only the more affluent Kenyans attend. The parents of these children are the "movers and shakers" of Kenya. Currently, we have about 60% Kenyan student body. What is exciting about this is that we are playing a part in shaping the future of Kenya by teaching the children, who will have major roles in the government and marketplace of Kenya in the future, according to biblical truth. Shauna is playing such an incredible role!

The main building to the right is our library, with the administrative building (where I work) on the left.

These are the "bandas" where the kids and faculty have lunch. There are more to the left. We have lunch that is catered from an outside company.

These are a series of classrooms, with Shauna's being the furthest down hidden behind the trees.

In addition to this, I will still be continuing our work of evangelism and discipleship in Kasarani on Wednesdays. Upon accepting the positions of Athletic Director and Community Resource Developer, my one stipulation is that I got every Wednesday off to still work in Kasarani and they agreed. We want to thank everyone for their love and prayers!

Moving..

Rich and I have been very busy moving the last couple days. We were blessed to be able to spend a few days with Chris and Lindy but now we are living in our new house. It has taken some time getting everything that we need for our house. Things in Kenya take longer and are more complicated than in the US. Moving is no exception. We have had to arrange a truck so that we can get some furniture and bigger items. The school has blessed us with the use of the school truck and with some major appliances. Moving has been fun but it takes a lot of time and money when you set up a new house. It is nice to not be living our of bags, but I still don't know where everything is, that will take some time.

Next week I will be working on arranging my classroom. I have a lot of work to do in there. I wanted to get my house set up before the classroom. Rich is going to help me to move furniture because I can not move it myself. I brought some items from home to decorate and make the classroom look nice. I am excited to get everything settled and for the school year to begin. I think that this year is going to be great!

Back in Kenya!

We are back in Kenya! We arrived late last night and woke up at 5 in the morning wide awake. Our bodies and systems are out of whack with the ten hour time difference. We still "hit the ground running" today. We are going to be moving into our new place tomorrow. We also went to our school and made it up to Huruma today. It is really nice being back and being around the children again. Please pray for us and that our adjustment would go smoothly.

London

We had a 24-hr. layover in London so we were able to get into the city and see several places. We were able to catch the Underground to the Picadilly Circus. We then walked over to Buckingham Palace, Westminister Cathedral, and then went over to the Thames River. London was beautiful and we were happy to be there, even if it was just for a day.