December 23, 2008

Santa

Here, billboard Santa is an African man wearing a green-and-white Santa suit. Sometimes Santa wears purple, depending on his mood.

I don’t know what to think about this (as well as many other things).

for me, this Christmas

People ask me about Christmas. Am I going to miss Christmas in the States? Do they celebrate in Kenya? What will it be like?

I put up two tiny, fake Christmas trees and some decorations in the house. It helps me “get into the groove” of Christmas. Whatever that means. Honestly though, a part of me feels excited to begin new traditions. To experience Christmas somewhere else in the world.

Besides, I think,
what is Christmas really and
how can it be truly celebrated
when there are those
without a Christ,
without a redemptive birth
to celebrate?

I do miss family and friends and (some) traditions (I’m not superhuman!), but the love of God compels us into outer darkness. I try not to dwell on my losses, but my gains. My first Christmas in Africa and I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.

“You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and
put miles between you,
but at the same time
you carry them with you in
your heart, your mind, your stomach,
because you do not just live in a world
but a world lives in you.”

- Frederick Buechner in Telling the Truth

into the east

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,
during the time of King Herod,
Magi from the east
came to Jerusalem and asked,

Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?
We saw his star in the east
and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

Just before I left California for East Africa, I would take evening walks almost daily. I was staying in a house on Big Sky Drive, perched at the base of a spectacular mountain ridge (which most of you know) called Wildwood.

Every evening, I had two options: walk west or walk east.
Every evening, invariably, I chose west.

West was the obvious, the natural choice – the choice of my flesh. In the west, the sky absolutely glowed in layers of pink and orange. Palm trees shimmered and reached for the cloudless, impeccable sky. Why would I not walk that way?

But one evening, as I descended the front steps, I felt God’s Spirit urging me, Turn left. Head east.

So I did.

I found myself surprised by the beauty I saw in that direction. A beauty less obvious, but there, nonetheless. A pink glow in a twilight sky. Refracting mountain faces. Blinking stars. And as I resisted the temptation to look behind me, at the burning center of the fiery sunset,

God’s Spirit spoke –

about the Church being willing to go into the east.
about being willing to move away from
the beauty, the glory, the light
about being willing to go into the outer darkness.

Just as a star drew men of wisdom into the east
and a Savior chose the east
for His descent, the east
continues to call forth
light carriers
truth proclaimers
teachers
artists
painters
servants –
ultimately, voices proclaiming …

O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas –

Psalm 65:5

Merry Christmas everyone.

p.s.
winston, churchill

What’s an East African Merry Christmas wish without an orphan story?

The toddlers continue to pass by the PR Office window and say, Hi, Hi, Hi. They continue to go for their Wednesday walks to the Ya-Ya Centre (shopping mall) saying, Ya-Ya, Ya-Ya as they go. The oldest toddler, Ken, says, Jah-Nay and puts his hand through the window like a tiny politician.

But by far, my favorite is Winston. I call him Winston Churchill. He's just learning to walk and so walks sideways and in zig-zag fashion past our window. Gotta love the little guy. There’s a picture of him below to make you smile and consider adoption...

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak;
courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

- Winston Churchill (the real deal)

December 19, 2008

i’m safe
i’m sound
i’m settled

one-way ticket
Well, I’ve successfully used my first one-way ticket.

Day 1, in Nairobi, my luggage never showed up on the conveyor belt. Everyone from my entire flight had already gone. So I asked the attendant about my bags. And somehow they appeared from the back. Then the two attendants sort of stood there awkwardly looking at me like, waiting… So I gave them some Kenyan Shillings. Not sure if that was the right thing to do or not.

Let the cultural blunders begin!

a baraka
Of course, my first e-mail from Kenya would include Barak Obama, who is now apparently the most famous Kenya ever to have walked the planet. I was only in-country six days before a Kenyan brought him up.

My taxi driver, Alex, was asking me about the babies at New Life Home Trust (www.newlifehometrust.org). “How many are there?”

“Fifty-five,” I say, “at this home. But we have 170 in total right now.”

“Where have the parents gone?”

“Some of the moms have died. And some of them have run off and abandoned the baby because maybe they can’t afford to care for them or something...”

“That’s not right,” Alex says. “I believe a baby is a blessing – a baraka.” He emphasizes the word baraka and looks at me.

“Yes,” I laugh. “A baraka.” And off we go into a mini-political discussion.

I imagine every road will lead there for a while and just when I was grateful to escape the American political scene...here it is. People on the streets are even sporting t-shirts with
Baraka’s face.

neocolonialist
I feel like a neocolonialist and I didn’t intend to be, but I think I’ll enjoy it while I can. I’m living a life of privilege these first two months in Africa. A friend of mine who works as a US foreign diplomat asked me to house and dog sit for her while she’s in the States for two months. Free rent.

So I’m living in a banana-tree, monkey-lush paradise with a chocolate brown lab named Yogi to look after. (Though, admittedly, the dog annoys the heck out of me most of the time, he’s the only real downside to the housing situation. We’ll have to learn to make peace with each other.)

I have house help 5 days a week (my friend wanted to keep her national staff employed while she was gone to help them financially). So George speaks French and cleans the house, does laundry, ironing, dishes, etc. Peter looks after the yard and the dog. Wondering what’s left for me to do? Honestly, not much.

I am blessed.

the morning off-road
Lately, the morning commute has included traffic jams. I hate jams, my driver says, exhaling loudly. Then, at the first opportunity, he turns the steering wheel and drives off the road. And we’re not in a 4x4. So we’re basically trekking through a dry riverbed, bottoming out, scraping, dragging, tilting sideways. I’ve been debating whether or not I should take a sedative before we head out in the morning (just kidding).

My internal dialogue?

Oh, God, please don’t let us tip over.
Can a car this size even tip over?
What if we get stuck?
Do I have the right shoes on today?
I need an Aleve.
I have a headache and the day hasn’t even begun…

On good days, my commute to New Life Home Trust takes 30 minutes on paved roads. On bad days, 40 – 60 minutes, including off-roading.
I’m in the office 5 days a week.

reunion
It’s been a fun reunion to see all the old, familiar faces at New Life Home Trust. It’s gone something like this:

Janelle, hi!
Janette - how are you?
Janay, you’re back!
How was the States?

It’s been fun. And I know only one baby out of the whole crew. They’ve all grown up, gotten adopted, or transferred to another home.

baby Janay
Baby Janay got adopted by Kenyan parents! This is good, according to my co-worker Kyeni, because she was not a nice girl. She was biting the other children, and was generally, quite unhappy.

Apparently, baby Janay turned into quite a little terror.

ode to my airport entourage
A zillion people took me to the airport. OK, not a zillion, thirteen. Thirteen people in three cars. An entourage. I've never had an entourage before. It was amazing! I could get used to this. The guys carried my bags. I didn't lift a little, polished finger. We laughed, we walked, we talked. My entourage made time pass. They took me all the way to the luggage screening. Then it became a spectator sport. Me – a monkey in the zoo. A glass wall separated us, so they pressed their faces against the glass, smiling, waving, mouthing incomprehensible words. I was removing shoes, liquids, and laptops into trays for TSA screening when Thomas and Al began to re-enact that scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where she's in her office and he's outside her window walking like a duck, getting shorter and shorter until he disappears and smashes into an old lady for a purse-bashing.

my entourage brought
joy&levity
to the parting –
what a blessing
are you, peeps!

asante sana.
(thank you, so much.)

jazzercise
At LAX there was a lady doing jazzercise right in the middle of the sit-and-wait & avoid-eye-contact-with-people area. This of course, made me want to quickly make eye contact with someone so that we could share a knowing laugh. The jazzerciser jumped and bopped. She did side bends, arm reaches. And no one in the entire area even batted an eye. I know, because I batted an eye and kept searching for a laugh, but no one noticed.

The surreal world of travel already begun…

October 28, 2008

rocket scientist
I recently took a short vacation with a friend from high school who now works in the entertainment industry. She asked one of her Hollywood producer friends to drive us to the airport. He picked us up in his BMW, threw our bags in the trunk, and off we went. Somewhere in between Sherman Oaks and Century Boulevard, he looked at me in the rearview mirror and asked, “What do you do?”

I said, “I work with orphans in East Africa with a Christian organization.”

He’s driving. His mouth drops open. He looks sidelong at my friend in the passenger seat and then back at me and gapes, “Are you serious? Is she serious?”

My friend giggles. Says yes.

He says, “It’s like the joke when you’re meeting someone for the first time – ‘I’m a rocket scientist. No really. I’m a rocket scientist. Here’s my card see – it says rocket scientist.’”

We all laughed and he went on, “And here we are talking about useless Hollywood b.s….and you…”

I’ve never gotten that kind of reaction before, but I hope it can only point to Jesus. It’s only because of His grace that we live and move and have our beings.

no mascara days
Don’t know why I applied mascara today. It’s gone and run off.

These are no-mascara days.

Most days I’m excited, I’m ready to leave. I tell myself – Janay, you’ve done your grieving. Don’t go there.

But then there are days like these in which I find myself savoring my “last suppers” with all of my friends and family. It was strange watching some of my friends bond over cheesecake last night knowing that I won’t be there to walk alongside them in the near future. I won’t be in their daily lives. I won’t know what’s what and who’s who anymore. Outta the loop.

And who do I leave my best friend with?
And who will be my mother’s daughter
or my father’s girl?
And the “repatriation of remains”?
Why must there be
such an ugly term
in my health insurance paperwork?
And who will sit in my office chair
and laugh with the church staff?

Who will fill the
hole that I am
leaving?

I’m cleaning out my desk. Shredding some files, packing others. Prepping to go.

Gideon’s girl
To Gideon, God appeared. His angel said – The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. (The angel said this to Gideon while he was hiding from his enemies in a winepress. Not exactly acting the part.)

I can totally relate.

God asked Gideon to do something risky and Gideon gave the excuse of being “the least” and “the weakest.” The words from his lips –

“But sir –”
“But Lord – ”

Excuses. Buts.

Then God said –
Go in the strength you have
and save Israel out of Midian’s hand.
Am I not sending you? (Judges 6:14)

The strength I have is next-to-nothing, but I have the Lord. As I go in my next-to-nothing strength, God will supply my lack. For He wants His children saved. These orphans, these beautiful little ones, are His. He will save the children out of the enemy’s hand. Not me.

Is He not sending me?

He is.

Come up
out of this hole
in the ground wine
press, meant for pressing
grapes, not men,
not me, and
go in the Name
of the Lord.

one way tickets
I purchased my first one-way ticket. What a strange experience. No return date? You kidding me? What am I doing?

One way tickets, a sign of life relocation. Your life is not your own, you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your bodies… (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

(Though, as many of you know, my best friend is planning on getting married next spring/summer, so I will definitely be back for that!)

November 19 is my official depart date.

... I’ll be serving in East Africa for an initial 3 years.

October 15, 2008

I just returned from my final training course in Virginia. This is really, truly, the final one. I promise. I am so well-trained now, I just don’t know what to do with myself except go to Africa!

the green light, finally blazing
This week I got the official green light from our US Base that I can go ahead and purchase my plane tickets. I can’t believe it is finally here. I am so excited and ready to go. I am looking to depart toward the end of November! Thank you for all of the financial and prayer support that literally flooded in, making my launch possible. Thank you for sending me.

hostile environments
Day One of HEFAT - Hostile Environments and First Aid Training (run by former British Royal Marines)

Pulling up to a farm tucked away in the Shenandoah mountains, the games began. There were 13 of us in the car, pleasantly visiting, getting to know each other, still digesting our breakfasts. There were journalists from the NY Times, Associated Press. There were military engineers headed for Iraq to set up systems. It was an interesting group of people. I was the only “aid worker,” as they called me.

So our driver got out of the van to “open the gate” when a loud explosive device went off. Our five trainers came running up, holding AK-47s, camouflaged from head to toe, masked, yelling. Pulled us out of the van. Pushed us face down on the ground in the mud. Put black bags over our heads and cinched them tight. I could hear myself breathing. This did not make me happy. They walked us in a line, laid us face down on the grass and searched our persons. Then we heard the van being loaded up, its doors slammed, and it drove away. Quiet descended upon us.

So what do you do then?
I waited a while.

But you know, I’m not the most patient person. I began to move my hands slightly. Nothing happened. Then I moved my arms in a big way to see if anyone would yell at me. No response. So I tried to take off my black head bag and guess what happened?

They shot me!

First one dead, so the last one to get her head mask removed.

What a way to start the day.

Our trainers said that they get the “kidnap and abduction” training out of the way right away, otherwise people agonize and hypothesize all week about when and where and how it’s going to happen.

first aid training
Day two we put on dark blue, zip up coveralls. Looked like Jiffy Lube personnel. Strapped on “bum bags” – what our British trainers call fanny packs – full of first aid materials and trekked off on the farm to hypothetical traumas.

We would find our Royal Marine trainers lying on the ground under fallen boards, or in car accidents, or burned up next to fires. Fake blood all over them. Wounds looking too real for me to touch. They were moaning and groaning. I wasn’t sure how to react.

At first, I just laughed a lot. Got giddy.

angels of what?
During our second round of real-life first aid scenarios, our instructor began calling my partner, Katherine, and I “angels of death.”

She’s pretty, feminine, and more girly-frail than I. So imagine the two of us at a trauma scene. It was comedic, really. We discussed ad-nauseum how we should address the compound fractures on the leg. We discussed it so much so that the “casualty” lifted up his head, barked at us, and asked whether we were going to “Talk it to death or do something about it.” Then he put his head back down and continued moaning.

Then Katherine wasn’t strong enough to lift the victim’s leg up high enough for me to pass the gauze under it. I burst into semi-hysterical giggles and could hardly contain myself (stress reaction?) In the meantime, the “casualty” – Al, our tough marine instructor – is shooting fake blood at me, simulating an arterial bleed. It’s landing all over my Jiffy Lube coveralls. I’m not too happy about this.

Mayhem. Stressful. Fun.

I make light of it, but the training was invaluable. Well worth the time, money, and energy. I know I will be better-equipped to react in situations of trauma and disaster now, should I encounter them in East Africa.

bruised
Knees and elbows, bruised. Trained in arms, ammunitions, booby traps, fractures, arterial bleeds, cold and hot environment survival, CPR, land mine awareness, kidnap and hostage procedures, compass navigation, etcetera, etcetera. Information overload.

On day three, we took a pleasant walk through the woods where we were shot at, mortared, and booby trapped. We did a lot of dropping and crawling. Hence, the bruises.

By mid-week, the instructors began calling me “trouble” and picking on me (lovingly, of course). One day I wore a pink hat while everyone else was in earth tones. Probably wasn’t my smartest move. And when they needed someone to model a 40-pound bullet-proof vest, who’d they pick on? Me.

Standing there in this bright blue, crotch-covering vest labeled “Press.” Hilarious. It’s a miracle I didn’t fall over. (Though I think that’s what they were aiming for. Comic relief.)

four weeks
I leave in four weeks.

Surreal.

-----
“True mission is the weakest and least impressive human activity imaginable,
the very antithesis of a theology of glory.”

- David Bosch in A Spirituality of the Road

“When the resurrected Christ appeared to His disciples,
His scars were the proof of His identity.
Because of them the disciples believed (John 20:20).

Will it be different with us?
Will the world believe unless they can recognize the marks of the cross on us?”

–Bosch

September 20, 2008

cardboard

I am surrounded by boxes. My life in cardboard. The majority say “pack for Africa.” Hangers, DVDs, Costco-sized Sour Patch Kids, and baseball hats to give away. Kenyans love baseball hats. I had one hat for Koros. He was New Life’s chief accountant in Nairobi, Kenya. From the Nande tribe. He told me he didn’t wear shoes until he was fifteen years old.

Every morning Koros would enter our office in Nairobi with a huge smile on his face and say – “Mwende (my Kamba name), chamge.” That was the greeting in his tribal tongue. And I would reply “Msing” (which I have no idea to spell) – I would basically say “missing.” Everyone would laugh.

Our directors in Kenya recently sent word that Koros was killed in a car accident – a head-on collision with a matatu (public minivan for transport) while driving his daughter back to boarding school. He was 42 years old. The life expectancy in Kenya is 53. Imagine.

The loss is deeply felt. He leaves behind his wife, Rachel, and two children, and many others who loved him.

darfur now

Watched Darfur Now, a documentary on Sudan. Overwhelming – the issues that reside in Africa.

The World Food Programme had to send armed men and armored tanks with the grain just to get the food to the people. The Janjaweed – “devils on horseback” – are a government-funded militia trying to destroy the people for racial, spiritual, and economic reasons. The civil war in Sudan has been raging since 1985, leaving 5 million people displaced and two million people dead.

five million refugees.
two million dead.

One Sudanese woman interviewed in a refugee camp said – “The white people will come and help us.”

Will we?

“Righteousness and justice
are the foundation of Your throne –
love and faithfulness go before You.

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim You,
who walk in the light of Your presence, O Lord.”
- Psalm 89:14-15

Learned to acclaim God. He must be taught. He must be preached. He must be revealed and explained. Those who walk in darkness have seen a great light…

One of my first journeys in East Africa will be into Southern Sudan, where Pioneers partners with Harvesters – an organization working to realize a world where children are living as disciples of Christ, free from spiritual, economic and social poverty. Check out their inspiring story and YouTube video at www.htrn.org. (You must watch the video - amazing!)

the nutshell

A phrase I keep hearing – I still don’t understand what you’ll be doing… can you please explain a little more… So here’s, in a nutshell, what I anticipate doing:

Reaching Forgotten Children –
Children are the most forgotten people
within every Unreached People Group across the globe

The Challenge
According to UNICEF, there will be 20 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa by 2010.

The Vision
To rescue Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) from abandonment, abuse, and neglect. This project will have, as its DNA, a holistic call – meeting the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual needs of the children and communities in which it is established. We will seek to create sustainable projects to disciple, educate, rescue, house, feed, clothe, and nurture orphans and vulnerable children. We will seek to partner with and establish the local church within each community.

The Region
East Africa - Sudan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda

The Role
I anticipate serving with Pioneers-East Africa in two capacities: 1) Strategic Coordination and 2) Writer /Photographer for CommNet— a Communications Network

1. Strategic coordination – visiting several countries within East Africa over a 6-12 month period of time, networking with local organizations, identifying partners for development, and praying about the way forward in order to cast a wider net for orphans and vulnerable children.

2. Writer/photographer – telling the stories of the ministries, partners, and orphans and vulnerable children of East Africa. Being a voice for the voiceless.

the campaign finance trail

The campaign finance trail, as I’m lovingly calling fun-draising, has its ups and downs, but overall, it’s going quite well. I’ve been blown away by the almost 100 new faces that I’ve been privileged to meet over the past 3 weeks. I am slowly-by-slowly, as they say in Kenya, headed toward the financial minimums that Pioneers has set for my departure, however there’s still a bit more to go.

departure

My tentative departure date for East Africa has now been pushed back to “November,” contingent upon financial goals being met. So if you are considering partnering with me in this work, now is the time.

“I am carried on the shoulders of those
who cannot see the landscape I describe.
I owe them far more than my weight.”

September 8, 2008

boot camp

I just survived three weeks in Colorado for this training called SPLICE at Missions Training International – designed to prepare people for foreign missions. Our instructor, a heaven-sent, hell-bent provocateur led us through 8 hours a day of intense cross-cultural training.

o We wrestled with practical issues like – Is it OK to bribe or take a bribe while living in a corrupt country?
o We identified losses in safety, identity, and family. Grown men openly sobbed. As a “sent out” community, we grieved over what we were leaving behind.
o We crammed ourselves into a tarp-covered, cardboard box while trying to “survive” a simulated rebel attack. We had to decide who would be air-lifted out by the MAF pilots and who would be executed.

We wrestled.
We grieved.
We counted the cost.

It was like spiritual boot camp – breaking you down in order to build you up. They said if you still want to go into missions after this, you must either be insane or really certain. Or maybe a little bit of both.

(Am i still going to east Africa? I am.)

hoops

That training was my last official hoop to jump through. So my sights are set on raising up the final spiritual and financial partners needed to minister to the children in east Africa. The departure date that I am aiming at is October 22, 2008. (of $3,600 per month and $15K more in one-time departure gifts), so….

the sent

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
And how can they preach unless they are sent?”

Romans 10:14-15

the rope

I recently heard a missionary from Papua New Guinea speak. He compared a missionary to one being lowered on a rope into the pit of hell.

Who’s holding the rope?

You are.

The rope holders are the people back home. The senders. The ones who pray, the ones who give, the ones who write letters, the ones who don’t let go.

Because I have to say that I am quite certain that I will fall apart in east Africa if you let go. I desperately need people to pray for me, for the ministry, and to not let go. I need people to partner with me in this.

This holding the rope is no small thing.

for the children

“Sometimes we don’t think hard enough about the business of being a witness. Sometimes we think there are two choices: being witnesses or not being witnesses. This is not true.

We are always witnessing to something. The only question is to what are we witnessing.” – Bryant Meyer

God, make your church
a witness of Your Goodness & Grace
to the orphans and vulnerable children
of Africa.

July 18, 2008

“I am the bread of life.”
– Jesus in John 6:35

I recently returned from another week of training at the PI base in Florida. Turns out, there were so many missionaries and missionary kids that there wasn’t enough room to house all of us in the main area. So I ended up in the overflow camp grounds – housed in a log cabin, right on Lake Wippoorwil, complete with a dock, an occasional alligator sighting, a front porch and a porch swing. Oh, and the most important feature? Ducks.

Would you believe that God used three ducks to speak to me?

three ducks

“A missionary is simply a beggar showing other beggars where to find bread.” – Bosch

Three ducks would approach our porch daily, quacking and looking at me expectantly. They stood there on orange, webbed feet, waiting patiently. I knew what they wanted and they knew what they wanted, but every day I told them the same thing: “I have no bread, little guys. I have no bread.”

That’s a sad thing to tell a duck who thinks you should have bread. I began to feel bad. Guilty, almost.

Because the reality was, I did have bread – or access to bread – I was just choosing not to access it.

“Ducks,” I was essentially telling them, “You’re not worth it.” Translation: I don’t want to rearrange my life to get you some bread. (That porch swing was mighty comfortable.)

But the darn ducks continued to beg. One duck was more patient than the others. She would wait long after the other two had left. On my last day there, at dusk, she was getting sleepy, and closing her eyes.

Church, I wonder if it’s not dusk for us and the hour of Jesus’ approach near?
Church, are we living our lives for God’s global plan of redeeming the world?
Church, are we accessing the Bread and showing others where to find it?

It’s not about maintaining the status quo. It’s about getting to those with no access and helping them to Life itself.

I do see them standing there, waiting.

I can’t keep swinging on the front porch. I’ve got to get up off my butt and go.

bringing bread

“Do not work
for food that spoils,

but for food
that endures
to eternal life,

which the Son
of man will give you.”

John 6:27

So God used those three ducks to speak to me about moving further out of my comfort zone and into places where children have no access to Jesus – the Bread of Life.

Within the next 3 – 6 months, I will be phasing out of my current work with New Life Homes in Kenya and transitioning into a new position with PI-East Africa (PI-EA). Pioneers has a heart for pioneering – bringing the Gospel where it has not been before. PI-EA desires to develop and partner with ministries to orphans and vulnerable children in a wider region, to reach the children who are currently not being reached. I feel called and excited to be a part of this.

I have loved the ministry and work of New Life Homes. I continue to believe strongly in its mission and vision, but I feel that it is time for me to take a step of faith into a different role. I feel that the Lord is calling me into a place where my gifts and strengths can be used to “cast a wider net” for children at risk in Africa.

move further

“Our hope is that,
as your faith continues to grow,
our are of activity among you will

Greatly Expand
so that
we can
preach the gospel

in the
Regions Beyond
you.”

2 Corinthians 10:15-16

What I am realizing about PI – about their DNA – is that they are pioneers. (I know, it’s like a big “DUH, Janay.”) They are constantly looking to move into the regions beyond, to greatly expand.

I like this. This is exciting.

One of their taglines is Move Further.

It seems a lot of training is required in order for me to move further  so I am off to Colorado for three weeks in August for this training called SPLICE – it’s a pre-departure program that will prepare me for better integration into new cultures.

perspectives:
where are you headed?

“Christ doesn’t call us
to a prudent life,
but to a God-centered,
Christ-exalting,
justice-advancing,
counter-cultural,
risk-taking life
of love and courage.”

- John Piper, Author & Pastor

May 22, 2008

the poor wanderer
Kenya is starting its “resettlement” program after the recent post-election violence. There are Kenyans living in Uganda, the neighboring country, who don’t want to go “home”. Can you blame them? Their neighbors turned on them, wielded machetes, and burned their houses.

The CWS (Church World Service) says we live in an “era of displacement.” There are 40 million displaced people worldwide. Fourteen million of those are refugees (living in other countries) and the other 26 million are displaced within their own countries. How many of those are children? And women? i don’t know the answer, but i imagine – the majority.

i try to picture their faces. And imagine their feelings. How must that feel to be displaced or uprooted from your home?

Internally Displaced Peoples – or IDPs – is the international euphemism for homeless. No government wants to say they’ve got a problem with homelessness. But displacement? Sure. Displacement sounds like a temporary problem with a quick fix. But is it?

Sudan – Kenya’s neighbor to the northeast – has the highest number of IDPs in the world with 5 million. Imagine half of Los Angeles – homeless. That’s the situation in East Africa today. And current reports from Kenya estimate that there are now 250-600,000 IDPs.

This disturbs me.

God asks –
“Is this not the kind of fasting
I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice…
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter –
when you see the naked to clothe him,
and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

from Isaiah 58:6-7

God watches the poor wanderers. He doesn’t turn away from them as i’m tempted to do. He’s mindful of their comings and goings. He sees the camps they squat in. He sees them fleeing from conflict. He sees the stagnant water breeding malarial mosquitoes. And He says to those of us who are not a part of the 40 million poor wanderers – Dive in! What’re you waiting for? You want to experience true worship? Fight injustice. Feed the hungry. House the homeless. Clothe the naked. And watch your light break forth like the dawn…and your healing quickly appear…

Here are the latest prayer requests from Kenya for the humanitarian relief efforts being carried out by New Life Homes/Barnabas Ministries Africa:

Pray for:
● The displaced children being supported by NLH/BMA at Ruiru, Webuye, Burnt Forest, and Kikuyu.
● Finances for displaced children programs. It is estimated that over 500,000 people have been displaced through the Kenya crisis. This is an on-going problem that will not be solved in a few months.

baby Jacob
Those of you who traveled on the last few Rock the Baby teams will appreciate baby Jacob’s progress. The “little lump of love” has grown! He’s now moved from the Crawlers to the Toddlers. i’ve attached some recent pictures from a team from Ft. Wayne, Indiana who just visited our Nairobi Children’s Home in April. Their senior pastor, Kelly Byrd, loved Jacob, too. Easy to love.

As always, thanks for remembering our friends in Africa.

With Love,
Janay

March 21, 2008

path to peace
Kenya seems to be “formally” on a path to peace as government parties are signing “power sharing agreements”, but I don’t hold my breath anymore. Our friends in the Nairobi office say that the country seems to be settling down. It’s safer now to travel around the country and things are going back to normal “slowly by slowly” as they say in Kenya.

Nakuru Children’s Home
As well as being engaged in distribution of relief funds to the projects (please see attachment), New Life Homes has been engaged in rescuing and assisting through its children’s homes. Twin 14 month-old boys, malnourished and sick were admitted into our Nakuru home while the mother received care at a psychiatric hospital.

Kisumu Children’s Home
Our Kisumu home has taken into its care a pre-mature baby whose mother had died and the grieving father was unable to give the necessary care. A nurse at our Kisumu home had her home destroyed and had to flee the area that had been her family home. Now her family is re-settling in Nairobi and she has joined our Nairobi Home team.

my plans
I really should stop using that pronoun "my" - as nothing seems to be within "my" control in this life of ministry. I am still “up in the air” as far as my future return to Africa goes. Don’t know when, don’t know where, don’t know how… many questions still left to be answered and plans to be sorted out. I am in the process of looking for a partnership sending agency to work alongside me in my work for New Life Homes/Barnabas Ministries Africa. I am traveling to Florida in the beginning of April for a 1 week candidate orientation program with Pioneers (www.pioneers.org), a potential sending agency and partner. We’ll see how that goes…

So I am “parked” stateside for now, working on behalf of Africa from here. You can still find me in the offices of Christian Church of Thousand Oaks if you want to find me. 

With Love for Africa,
janay
-----
kibera

kenya coddled
&created
&boasted
of africa’s
second largest
slum. kibera.

those in power
stealing voices
and choices
and hope

the monster kibera
her tongue
caught in her throat
for so long
now screaming &writhing
&thrashing like
a great monster
emerging from the deep
and suddenly we see –

we see the surface
has become the deep.

a people formed for passion
move in rage
because rage gives voice
to the deep, the things
of the heart submerged
for too long.

the soul of Kenya
no more tribal
than the soul of the so-called civilized.

for man is made to reveal the passion
and the shekinah glory of a God who
loves justice
and righteousness –

a God who is, ultimately, good.

and deprived of these truths?

a man-made world
unbearable.

January 25, 2008

up in the air

People have asked me to write. To blog. Forgive me for writing so infrequently while i’ve been in the States. i need to tell you that my plans are –

up in the air –

Yes, my plans are up in the air, where i imagine the hand of God holding them there. The Book of James says not to brag or boast that tomorrow you’ll do this or that, but say, God willing… tomorrow i will do this or that… (Js. 4:13-17). The political and social situation in Kenya has resulted in a temporary postponement of my departure date (originally Feb. 4). i think of myself in a holding pattern at this point. Sort of like a plane circling its touch down point, waiting for clearance from air traffic control.

i’m up in the air.

In the meantime, i’ll continue to work for New Life Homes from the States, working out of the offices at CCTO.

What follows are some snippets from articles i’ve been reading on the current situation in Kenya -

quick stats

o Around 60% of Kenya's population of 37 million lives on less than a dollar a day
o Life expectancy in Kenya has fallen (WHO)
o Kenya is seen as one of the 20 most corrupt countries in the world

(source: Transparency International)

the slums of Nairobi

“In Kibera (the largest slum in Kenya) it is a matter of degrees. Those who have nothing are looting those who have a little bit more.

More than 50% of the people who live in this slum are unemployed. It has a child mortality rate that is between five to seven times the national average. There are tens of thousands of AIDS orphans. And there is no proper water or sanitation or electricity.

All this in a place with nearly a million people. As Walter Kibet, clinical officer with the charity Afrem put it to me: "You see the children getting sick and it affects every aspect of their development."

This population has seen successive governments rob billions from the public purse in well-documented scandal.

Add all this together and you get a sense of what might be driving the rage. It certainly isn't a simple issue of tribalism.”

(source: BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7205762.stm)

ethnic cleansing?

On Thursday (Jan. 23), Human Rights Watch issued a report accusing opposition officials of helping to organize ethnic violence in the Rift Valley region.

For the full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7208421.stm

rape

“Battles are fought on women's bodies as much as on battlefields.”

- Kathleen Cravero, UNDP (United Nations Development Program)

“Staff in the Nairobi Women's Hospital - one of Kenya's leading centers for the treatment of rape and sexual violence - say they have seen double the number of cases affecting women, teenagers and girls since January.

"Since the beginning of the month, we have had 140 cases of rape and defilement," said Rahab Ngugi, patient services manager at the hospital.

"We were used to seeing an average of about four cases a day, now there is an average of between eight and 10."

Almost half of the cases at the hospital's specialized clinic are girls under the age of 18, Ms Ngugi said. One case was a two-year-old baby girl.”
----
“(A Nairobi-based rape counselor) worries that although the gangs are not yet targeting makeshift, unregulated camps and shelters - in schools, churches and community centers - the women and their children sheltering there are increasingly vulnerable.

The UN says that in the capital alone some 12,000 people are living in public buildings after being driven from their homes.

These shelters should be the focus of concern.

"Many of the internally displaced are not living in formal camps. They are just gathered around a school or church. Then you have the worst-case scenario - where you don't have that level of law and order and you have people living on top of each other."”

(source: BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7204680.stm )

what’s happening to the children?
“The Ministry of Education, which ordered schools to reopen this week, had no immediate estimate Thursday of how many children were still out of school. But the U.N. children's agency said the conflict has displaced 100,000 children, and some 75,000 are still living in camps that have sprung up in churches, police stations, schools and show grounds.”
(source: Associated Press - http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KENYA_SCHOOLS_OUT?SITE=CACHI&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT )
mindful

My mind is too full of late. i’m ever mindful of Kenya.

It’s raining outside. i’m sitting on a leather couch peering out of a double-paned glass window, a fire beside me, the heater heating my house. The rain outside doesn’t touch me.

i’m mindful of Kenya.

i’m watching
the rain rush
down our paved streets
through pristine gutters

and i’m mindful of Kenya.

rain like this, there,
doesn’t rush clear –
it rushes raw
sewage and hope
like run-off
never to return.

Thanks for caring about our friends and family in Kenya and for the people whom we’ve never met who are suffering.

Janay

My work address if you’d like to know more about New Life’s humanitarian relief efforts and outreach during this time of crisis – jgarrick@newlifehometrust.us