Lives of Hope

My last post was about hope - how the hope of Christ is transforming the slums of Nairobi. Today we visited Pangoni, another section of slums here. Today I heard testimonies of this living Hope, as well as reminders of how God works in such intricate ways.

Mary and Wallis Kamau shared their story with me today. Mary, a Kenyan, grew up in central Kenya in a nice village where there was no real "rich" or "poor" - where everyone was well fed and attended school. She had never heard of Mathare Valley or knew anything like it existed. While she was in college, she attended a prayer meeting where a man led worship and played many different instruments. She assumed he had gone to college to learn music and asked him where he attended. He sort of laughed, the though of himself attending college apparently quite a good joke. He started explaining to her that he grew up in Mathare Valley, described what it was like, and what his childhood was like. He had ran away from home when he was young and became a street kid, sniffing lots and lots of glue. He became depressed and decided to commit suicide by throwing himself into the Nairobi River. On his way to the river, he heard a street evangelism ralley over the loud speakers and heard the pastor calling for "a man here who is depressed and wanting to die." He was shocked, stood there for a few minutes before turning around, and then decided that it was too incredible to pass up. He walked up to the ralley, was almost turned away because he smelled and looked so bad and was so obviously high on glue, and finally pulled on stage by the pastor. He gave his life to Christ, turned his ways around, and introduced a whole new world to Mary through this testimony. She asked to visit, and when he took her to Mathare Valley, her life was forever changed. She had seen how this man's life was changed by the Gospel and wanted to give that hope and opportunity to other kids in the slums. She visited regularly before meeting Wallace, who was to be her husband, and together God has used them to build an incredible ministry in the slums. They've partnered with CMF and opened schools, community centers, started a Child Sponsorship Program, given women sewing machines and classes so they could make a good living for themselves, and more. Because the pastor decided to evangelize (even in a way that many Americans would see as intrusive and unconventional) and preach the Word of God without apology; because the young man from the slums listened to the call of God and used his talents to glorify God and lead others in worship to Him; because Mary and Wallace also obeyed God's direction; because of these things and probably hundreds of other details that we'll never know, hundreds of slum kids have hope. They have food and clothes and an opportunity to go to school and make way for a future of light instead of a future of darkness. Praise the ways of our Creative, Intricate God.Cassie with Mary and Wallace

After hearing this story, we took a tour of the slums. We walked down the streets to the sounds of "How are you" from children, "habari" from the adults, and shook any hand that we passed. We wound our way through little alleys between small tin houses, hopped from rock to rock over the little streams of dirty water, and ducked below clotheslines spread across the walkways and anywhere there was room. We walked until we arrived at Elizabeth's house. We walked in to a house about 7'x7' and all 6 of us squished on the couch and watched her make chipatis as she told us her story, translated by Isaac, our guide.

I had planned on typing her story out, and then found that she was on the front page of CMF's website, so I'm copying and pasting from here.
Because of false promises and broken relationships Elizabeth has two daughters but no husband. As she was about to give birth to her second daughter she was advised to throw away the child after it was born so that she would not have another mouth to feed. When Cecelia was born Elizabeth looked at her and decided that there was no way that she could throw this child away. When the girls were older, and life was still no easier, another friend advised Elizabeth to travel somewhere with the girls and abandon them. Elizabeth was seriously considering this option. When the Missions of Hope school initially opened they asked the community leaders to identify the neediest people in the community, and the students were enrolled from this list of children. Cecelia was picked to go to the school. Elizabeth saw this as a miracle; her daughter was able to go to school for free, be fed at school. Plans changed. Elizabeth saw her daughters as her beautiful children rather than just more mouths to feed.

However, there was a greater problem. Elizabeth drank and was always drunk. Her job was collecting firewood from the forest. She and a few other women would go to the forest, but there were always men guarding the forest. To enter and collect their wood, they would have to bribe the guards. Since they didn’t have money, the women became the bribe.

During an open air preaching meeting in Mathare, Elizabeth came forward and committed her life to Christ. It was difficult to come forward, not just because of the lifestyle change that this decision required, but because she was literally too drunk to walk. Mary, the director of the Missions of Hope, saw Elizabeth make this decision and knew that follow-up visits would be vital. Before Elizabeth left for the forest the next morning, Mary and another lady went to her house. Elizabeth argued that she didn’t remember making any commitments the night before. Besides she couldn’t be born again because of what she did for a job. Mary reminded her that even if she didn’t remember the commitment she made last night, God did. During that time they encouraged her, counseled her, and prayed for her. She said that she would do something different for a job but she didn’t have any money. Elizabeth knew how to make chapatis (flatbread), and she said that she could sell those for a business. By the time Mary and her friend left Elizabeth that day, the other ladies had already left for the forest. Mary left a micro loan of 500 shillings for Elizabeth to buy some supplies to begin making chapatis. That very day Elizabeth began making and selling chapatis; she now lives on that income and supports her two daughters.

Elizabeth knows God as a provider and a healer. He provided a way for her to completely change the direction of her life by providing people who met her needs both spiritually and physically. She has joined a church, become a baptized believer, and is actively involved in the choir ministry of the church.

God moved in her life. I was blessed with the opportunity to meet her and hear her story firsthand, and to watch her at the job that has transformed her life and brought freedom. By the way, 500 shilings - the microloan she recieved - is about $6.50. For $6.50, God gave her a life where she is able to sleep better at night and not dread the coming day. The cost of lunch in America. The cost of 2 gallons of milk. The cost of 2 coffees.

Michelle - I wanted to take her home. She held on to my hand for a long time..

View of Pangoni from the top of the Center. The housing really starts at the top of the picture

The river where men make the local brewed alcohol

God is moving in the slums. God is moving in Nairobi. God is moving in Kenya, in Africa, in the world. God is moving, and He is calling us to be a part of it. Every day, and in every way that we can be.