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.”