The investment

Travel delays have got me sitting in Heathrow airport in London wishing I were already back in the US with Anneliese and Titus as originally planned, but the delay has also given me more time to reflect on my experiences over the past two weeks. Here's just a little of what I'm thinking about.

I preached at Victory Christian Centre in Nairobi Sunday morning, grateful to again have the chance to speak to and fellowship with people who have meant so much to me over the past several years. Attendance was a little light, which was due partly to Saturday's wedding festivities (Tom told me before church that usually the numbers go down the day after a wedding) and partly due to the meal served at the wedding, which we found out had given food poisoning to several church members.

Still, the room was mostly full as I began my message around noon. Service in Nairobi runs from 10:30-1 and is actually reasonably on-schedule these days, a change from every other time I've been here. I preached on the greatness found in servanthood, a message I felt needed to be shared since the Kenyan culture devalues serving, implicitly encouraging people instead to focus on gaining wealth, status, and influence without thinking about the needs of others (sound familiar?). But at the beginning of the message I mentioned how cool it was to see how far the church had come since Justin, Alisha, and I first visited it at its former site in a tiny shack in Korogocho slum. Since then I've been reflecting on (and rejoicing in) this fact, and also thinking about just how far I've come as a result of my involvement in God's work here.

I first traveled to Africa in May of 2008, visiting Zambia for Camp Life, an awesome week-long VBS-on-steroids for slum kids in Lusaka. For years before that I had taken an intense interest in the continent and my reason for going was simple: Africa seemed like a poor, desperate, nearly hopeless place and I wanted to do something to help. Wanting to help people of course isn't bad, but my view of the continent itself was extremely immature. Over that trip and the four trips to Kenya that followed, I learned about the continent and what's more, gained data points over nearly seven years that have helped me see not just where Africa is at a given moment, but how it (particularly Kenya) is changing.

As I've written before, Kenya in 2015 is a very different place than Kenya in 2010. It's still a country with more than its share of problems, but it's growing more prosperous and more alive every year. Furthermore, the Connect With a Child ministry is growing even faster than the country itself. Not just in funding, partnerships, and stability, but in maturity, leadership, and the number of lives it changes. What was once a rag-tag start-up trying to figure out how to care for the kids literally dropped off at its doorstep is now a stable, organized ministry that employs over 20 local staff and cares for hundreds of kids and touches thousands of lives in Kenya. And here's what's so cool about that: I had almost nothing to do with it. Sure I've invested time, energy, resources, and trust in the ministry and I pray God has used all that to good effect, but the real growth has come from God's power working through the daily dedication of His people to the work. I myself have received far more than I've given as I've gotten to see God's faithfulness change lives on a huge scale. Seeing all this has changed me for the better in so many ways; simply put, my own return on investment has been huge.

I first started investing in Africa because I thought it was a poor, desperate, nearly hopeless place and I wanted to do something to help. Now things are very different. I now invest because God is at work in Africa and I want a part of the action. I used to invest money as a profession and just like a financial investor looks for where things are moving and puts his money there to get in on the action, a kingdom investor should be doing the same thing. Look at where God's kingdom is moving fast and put your resources there, because that's where the returns will be greatest. Like with any investment, there are risks - a lot could go wrong (and does almost daily) in the ministry in Kenya or in the country as a whole. Earlier-stage investments - like investing in God's kingdom in the Muslim world - carry even higher risk profiles. But any good investor will tell you that where the greatest risks are, there are the highest returns. The only difference between kingdom investments and financial ones is that in God's kingdom the returns are eternal.

I'll be writing more over the coming days about specific things the ministry in Kenya is up to and encouraging people to be part of the action and I hope you all will consider it. Wherever you invest, though, be faithful with a few things and God will entrust you with more, and your returns will grow now and forever.

Congratulations, Jerry!

Jerry Odhiambo is Tom's seond-in-command here in Kenya. Around 30 years old, Jerry does everything - from managing program administration to coordinating mission team visits to helping kids write letters for their sponsors to driving a broken down matatu around picking up school kids each morning. Jerry has grown into this role over the past 3 years and it's been a joy to see him move up and up in his calling and his life. Late last year he told us he was planning to get married and though I didn't plan it, it happened that his wedding was scheduled for this weekend! It was a great and joyful ceremony, and I'm confident Jerry and his new wife Pauline have a great life together ahead of them. And like with anything in Africa, the day itself brought some unexpected, great, and strange things.

The wedding was scheduled to start at 9AM sharp (lol). Tom and I left the house about 10:15 to make sure we got there in plenty of time. The church was decked out in a beautiful blue and yellow fabric backdrop, and the cars they had borrowed to transport the wedding party were sitting outside tastefully decorated with matching ribbons and streamers. Of course none of the wedding party had yet arrived and there were just a few guests (including the 30 kids who live at the Centre) already there. The groom, his best man, and 5 other groomsmen showed up around 11 and we went back to the waiting area together for the next hour or so. I was very impressed with Jerry's wedding party, all lower to middle class guys aspiring (as far as I could tell from our conversations) to elevate themselves to the next level.

Around noon we went into the sanctuary where a band was playing bright Kenyan music. They led the guests in worship song and dance for another 30 minutes until finally the bridal party arrived. The groomsmen then danced their counterparts down the aisle to their seats to a Kenyan cover of I Will Follow You and finally the bride came down the aisle. She wore a traditional wedding dress and walked in to her seat unaccompanied (the "giving away" part of the wedding came later). I was then asked to come forward and share a brief word and pray to open the ceremonies. I had been told I was doing this so I was prepared. I wasn't prepared for the other two times I was handed a mic and asked to pray later on in the ceremony.

Pastor Tom got up and gave a brief but very meaningful message comparing marriage to a school in which both spouses are students for life who get to work together to advance further and further. Another pastor then got up and gave a longer message, which to my western ears seemed to not have quite the same depth. Some (by no means all) African preachers focus mostly on repeating simple truths charismatically, which all in all isn't a bad way to go I suppose. After that Tom's dad, known in this church as Apostle, officiated the ceremony part of the wedding but made sure to include some preaching and advice of his own. The more formal parts of the ceremony were, shall we say, less formal...many things here are more about fun than getting things "just right" and Apostle I don't think had officiated in a while. No matter though - all the vows were said sincerely, rings were exchanged, the marriage certificate was signed, the bride was kissed, and the hall was filled with exuberant prayer, worship, and cheering at intervals throughout. All in all the ceremony took about 3 hours with several "not sure what's supposed to be happening right now" moments...I'm fairly certain wedding rehearsals are not a thing here.

Afterwards guests made their way in overcrowded cars, rented moto-taxis, and on foot to an outdoor reception a half mile away. It was also brightly and tastefully decorated in the same blue and yellow, and guests sat under two big tents on either side of two center tents, one holding the wedding cakes and the other with seats and tables for the bridal party. The band lugged their instruments and PA system over and re-set while the bridal party went somewhere for pictures and the guests sat and waited (waiting around for long periods of time is definitely a thing here).

Finally the food was served even though the bridal party hadn't yet arrived. Everyone ate lunch and as we were finishing, the bride and groom showed up and (of course) danced their way onto the scene, the bridal party in line behind them, and anyone else who wanted to join forming a long train, grand march-style, that danced around in circles for 20 minutes or so before everyone took their seats. Unexpectedly, this was the only dancing that happened at the reception. The rest of the time was dominated by a hilariously drawn-out cake cutting ceremony, in which the bride and groom, egged on by a female emcee, basically play house and welcome each other to their new home, talking about what their house looks like (for our couple it was a one-room hut with a digital key pad for entry). I couldn't help but wonder how this ceremony would go over in an American wedding, especially the part where the first part of the house the groom shows his bride is where the cooking is to be done.

When that was all done, the bride and groom toasted, and the guests were served cake, everyone presented their gifts, alongside some speeches which were encouraged in vain to be brief because (surprise) we were running out of daylight. Just like the wedding, the whole reception took place as the band played African music, an exuberant background track that gave the whole thing a light hearted party feel rarely accomplished at even the most laid back of American receptions. A great day, but like with everything here it would have been far greater if I could have shared it with Anneliese and Titus...next time!!

Life and hope in the village

We flew back into Nairobi this morning and had a fairly slow-paced day, but I still haven't mentally or physically recovered from our time in Siaya. Each time I've visited I've had different experiences, but a few things are always the same - the hot equatorial sun, the dusty roads that cake everything in red dirt, and the stories. The sun and the dust can be tiring, but what really wears me out is trying to process or even to remember all the things I've learned and all the snapshots I've seen of the lives of people in Siaya.

For now I'll focus on the orphans residing at the Connect With a Child village. 31 kids live here with two house mothers, widows paid to live here and chosen because of their ability to manage and raise the kids at their new home. 30 of the kids are orphans (one is the young son of a house mom), who are carefully chosen and background checked by the ministry. Only those with no parents and no other able caretakers come to live at the home, because that's what it is - a home. The kids are not here to be part of an institution or fostered until something better comes along, but rather to grow up here with their new family and together to take on the challenges of growing up in the poorest region of a poor country.

It's easy to see that the kids have adopted this mentality, even though some understand more than others what it means to live here. The older kids look out for the younger ones and they play and eat and argue and laugh just like siblings in any family. The children are divided into 5 families of 6 kids each, with those kids sharing an even closer identity with each other than the overall home. My church in New Mexico sponsors Celebration House, a group of 4 girls and 2 boys from about 6-13 years old.

Laurine is the oldest, a sweet albeit slightly shy and awkward 13ish year old trying to figure out how to be a teenager and lead her younger siblings. Next are Emma and Zena, more outgoing and rambunctious kids about 11 or 12 years old (most kids here don't really know when they were born - their sizes and grade levels in school are the main clues to discerning their ages). Next is Joshua, a smart 5th grader who seems pretty self-assured for someone with 3 sisters close to his age who are all so much taller than him. Next is Jesker, a 3rd grader who told me she wants to be a truck driver, which doesn't seem quite natural given her quiet personality. Last is Oliver, a 6 year old who's the baby of the orphanage. He is a tiny kid with gigantic eyes who doesn't talk much or speak any English yet, but he's always happy to see you.

I haven't yet heard the specific backgrounds of any of these children, though I do know that their pasts were often defined by struggle and desperation. Whatever their histories, I have great joy knowing that where these kids have been matters far less than where they are now and where they're going. God has taken hold of these 30 children and given them life and hope, and as I dwell on that reality my heart fills until it overflows with gratitude for what He's done.

From Siaya

I'm sitting at an internet cafe in the dusty town of Siaya, a town about 30 minutes' drive from where we're staying that is comprised of a few blocks of shops, banks, and restaurants. Despite the definite backwater feel of the town, it's not at all stagnant. I thought this part of Kenya was the land where nothing ever changes, but I guess I was wrong about that - the Chinese have funded work on a new road connecting Nairobi to Kampala, Uganda, and Siaya sits right along the road, as do Tom's family's village home, the Orphan Village, and the under-construction high school. Celebration Church is in the area too, a little further from the main road. I've gotten to visit all of these projects and I'm so excited to bring back a report! Here are a few quick highlights:

The Orphan Village is a great place. It feels safe, joyful, and welcoming. The 30 kids living there clearly identify with their family groups and look out for each other like brothers and sisters should. They were also respectful towards me when I came - I felt they really saw me as a person, rather than just a bringer-of-stuff which has been my experience in missions at times in the past. Look forward to spending a lot more time there today and tomorrow to get to know the kids on a more personal level.

Celebration Church is an exuberant little community of believers in the Sidundo district. About 65 adults packed into service yesterday in the tin-roofed mud hut where they meet, some walking 3-4 miles to get there. The church owns about 2 acres of land and has a vision for the campus to grow and accommodate more people (the mud hut by western standards would max out at about 40 people). The a capella African worship was so joyful it made me cry...I so wish that worshipers in the west would rediscover the passion and joy in worship that our African brothers display!

The high school project is really beautiful in its scope and vision. The campus is currently just over 5 acres, with neighboring properties slated for purchase soon. The first classroom building is underway with hopes that classes can start next January when the first large group of sponsored children is ready for school. There is a lot to be done, but the vision for what this high school will become is great - will write and share more on that soon; this is a life-changer.

Thanks all for your prayers and support - you all the world to me! For all the amazingness that's going on, things can be slow and frustrating at times in the village so prayers for clear vision, for patience, and for God to guide our path during these next few days would be super appreciated. Can't wait to tell you all more about how God is changing these kids and this country!

Some quick stories

Tomorrow morning we leave around 5AM for our flight to Kisumu, so in all likelihood I won't be blogging for a few days since that part of Kenya doesn't have much in the way of wifi. Wanted to write out a few short stories at least before leaving...

Story 1
Last night we went back to the Centre around 8:30PM to visit the 30 kids who live there. When we walked upstairs we found the kids either doing laundry or back in their classrooms studying together. School for the older grades runs from 7AM until 6PM or later (with lunch and recess breaks), plus homework afterwards. Not a lot of time for these kids to wander or get in trouble and it shows in their grades. Our visit was a little unusual, so the kids put down their homework and went to their rooms to show us around. All the girls sat on their bunkbeds and I asked them some questions, including their career ambitions. Lots of great answers, but in particular these:
Me: who else wants to tell me what job they want?
4th grader: I want to be a pilot.
Me: oh cool, you can fly to America someday! Who else?
6th grader: I want to be a nutrologist.
Me: nutrologist? You mean nutritionist, like with food?
4th grader (the one who wants to be a pilot): No, with the brain. Neurologist.
...what kind of 6th grader wants to be a neurologist?? And what kind of 4th grader even knows that word?? Amazing...

Story 2
Today we drove through some of the "other" Nairobi, the slums and semi-slums housing millions of people including most of those the ministry works with. This particular road is slated to become a 6 lane highway and they've begun clearing some of the right of way. In one traffic jam, a cop pointed to us and motioned to Tom to pull over. The cop, a young slender guy, told me to get in the back seat and got in front with Tom. We then drove around to nowhere in particular for 45 minutes as Tom and the cop talked in Swahili. I didn't pick up everything they said but I knew he was trying to negotiate a bribe price; the common code is the cop asking the supposed offender to "buy me lunch." Later on Tom (and Jerry, who was with us), filled me in on some of the conversation. This isn't word-for-word, but here's basically what went on:
Cop: I thought I saw you talking on your cell phone. And your winshield is cracked. The fine for that is 10 thousand shillings (about $120).
Tom: We don't have that with us.
Cop: Instead you can buy me lunch. 5 thousand.
Tom: 5 thousand shillings for lunch?
Cop: Maybe another price is better?
(they continue to talk, apparently just making friendly conversation, as they drive down the congested road that is supposed to become a highway)
Tom: When is this highway supposed to be finished, anyway?
Cop: Maybe not for 5 years. (shaking his head disapprovingly) The government is so corrupt.

Story 3
As you guys may know, Tom employs several young men part-time for roles at the church and school. In addition to Jerry, a man named Dennis is also a key guy, leading worship on Sunday, managing equipment, and serving wherever needed. Dennis is a great guy who has served consistently for years. He got married in 2012 and had a son in 2013, so he needed to increase his income somehow. He and Tom talked last year about how he might come up with more money. Rather than ask Tom for increased support, they discussed other ways forward. In the end, Tom found an anonymous one-time donor in the United States to pay several hundred dollars to help Dennis start electrician school. Dennis completed the program, got certified, and started to get jobs. He also wired the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Centre for Tom, something that would have cost much more without a ministry partner who was trained in the trade.
I happened to talk with Dennis today, and armed with his new, marketable trade skill, he is a confident husband and father moving forward in his calling. This is why we do what we do.

My date with Ruth

I promise I'll post pictures on facebook soon, but there's so much to write about and I want to get at least a few things out while they're still fresh in my mind!

My parents sponsor a brother and sister here, Joseph and Ruth. 11 and 7 years old, they live in a Nairobi slum near Victory Christian Centre with their grandma and two cousins. Joseph is a quiet, studious 6th grader and Ruth is a 2nd grader with the biggest little kid smile I've ever seen. As always, my parents were excited to pick out some special gifts, but this time my goal was not only to give the gifts, but to get to know the kids that have been on pictures on my parents' fridge for over 4 years now.

We picked the two up from school around noon. Joseph had an afternoon exam, but Ruth was allowed to go with us for the rest of the day. On the way to lunch at a Java Cafe located in a new, modern shopping mall, they read the letters my parents wrote them, Joseph helping his little sister with the words she didn't know, but at first I wasn't able to get them to say much else. Soon I started quizzing them on their math though and Joseph was excited to show off his knowledge of arithmetic, fractions, and decimals. Ruth used her fingers to add 5 and 3 (8, for those of you following along at home) and grinned and put her hands in front of her face when I told her how well she had done.

At lunch, we found out that Joseph aspires to be a banker and that Ruth likes smiling and the color yellow. We gave them the gifts and had just enough time to finish lunch and give Joseph a quick tutorial on his new Uno game, which I expect will be getting a lot of mileage with him and his friends. Tom then took Joseph back to school leaving Jerry, Ruth, and I to fend for ourselves for the afternoon.

We played Ruth's new memory game a couple of times (she's great at memorizing, which will come as no surprise to those familiar with developing world education systems) then headed up to Funscapes, essentially a Kenyan Chuck-E-Cheese, on the 3rd floor of the mall. We played bumper cars, rode a merry-go-round, jumped on a giant trampoline, and played on a *legit* playground. Ruth stayed quiet at first, but couldn't control her laughter on the trampoline and when we hit the playground we finally got Ruth to match the excitement she always has on her face with some words. And like most kids, when she gets talking she really gets going. "We are going over here next!" "You take picha of me!" "Now I take picha of you!" It's magical to see a kid come out of herself and really come alive!

Our playtime came to an end around 3:30PM and we took Ruth back to the school to be taken home. Spending this time playing with her was truly special, made me realize how extraordinarily blessed I am to be a dad and get to do this with my own son anytime - I pray I never take that blessing for granted. It also made me see how blessed Ruth is to have sponsors who would make a time like this possible for her. For all of you who sponsor kids, you're changing their lives forever. Don't ever forget that.

Day 1 in a new city

Long haul flights are where you finally watch the movies your friends have been recommending but the screen is so small and you're so tired you have no idea if they were any good or not. After about 28 hours of travel I arrived in Nairobi just after midnight local time last night. Pastor Tom picked me up at the airport, and we caught up on the 30 minute drive to his house. "You will see that a lot of things have changed here," he told me, smiling and shaking his head. That would have to wait a few hours of course - after the drive home I had just enough energy left to login and chat with Anneliese and Titus for a few minutes before going to bed around 2AM local time to sleep off the jet lag.

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed and ready, and headed down to the Centre with Tom for a quick tour and visit. And Tom was right - so much has changed! The building is now finished at 3 floors high, an impressive accomplishment after the setback they faced in early 2013. The first floor houses the church sanctuary and administrative offices for the school and the over-all Connect With a Child program. The second floor houses tidy classrooms where kids from K-8th grade study diligently (the school is significantly outperforming the national average), and the third has a few more classrooms as well as bunkbed-filled dorms that house about 30 of the neediest students that don't have relatives or other families able to take them in. We're planning to spend the day at the Centre tomorrow and will take pictures and videos so stay tuned!!

We spent the afternoon driving around town running errands and purchasing supplies for the kids at the Children's Village in Siaya. Driving in Nairobi is totally different today than it was on my first visit nearly 5 years ago. What was once an experience of clogged roundabouts and crawling traffic is now a much faster and less frustrating ride on a growing network of modern highways (and clearly marked road signs...what country are we even in?!). The city's Manhattan-like energy is still superseded by its developing world-style chaos, but it's modernizing quickly. And while there are still millions impoverished in Nairobi, there more and more roads (literally) to success here - a child with a good education and foundation of integrity has a chance to go much further in Kenya than was once the case.

On our shopping trip we focused on rural Kenya's everyday essentials - mosquito nets, solar-powered lights, and soccer balls - which we'll add to the gifts you all sent along with me when we head out there Friday. I can't wait to bless these children and let them know, one by one, that they are not forgotten and that God created each of them to fulfill an amazing purpose. He is so good!