flip phones & friends
It’s crazy the thoughts I think. I heard Anne Marie’s cell phone ring with the ring tone that my cell phone had when I was in the States (when I had a phone which rang because I had friends) and I think – I should’ve stayed in the States. I had a cool flip phone. Can you make decisions based on stuff? Or I think – I should’ve stayed in the States. I had friends. Can you make decisions based on people?
It’s the temptation of the frivolous (not that people are unimportant) to pull me away from walking out the will of God. Flip phones and friends. I know I’m where I’m supposed to be.
ghetto washer
I was washing dishes the other day and thinking about how my brother, Bryan, used to call me a ghetto washer. He called me that because I would reuse the dirty water from one pan, pouring it into the next. I was saving water, and soap. I was frugal. I wouldn’t do this if the water was disgustingly dirty, but I ghetto washed a lot in my teen years, with my brother on my case.
Ghetto washing comes in handy here. I’ve got no dishwasher and we get our water supply from a well. It’s strange the things in early life that prepare you for later life, isn’t it? And every time I turn on my faucet I am cognizant of the fact that my running water separates me from the majority of Kenyans.
PWDs
Everything in non-profit land has a clever abbreviation. Now I’m learning about PWDs or Persons with Disabilities. There are approximately 3 million of them in Kenya. And Kenya, as a government, has only recently (as in 4 years ago) passed legislation concerning their rights. And they’ve yet to really enact the legislation as far as I can see. So the PWDs remain marginalized. You pass them on the streets begging, legs twisted in a permanent contortion. You feel helpless to help. Not much has changed since Jesus’ day.
About 8% of the children within the care of New Life Homes are PWDs or special-needs children. We want to meet these special needs. Not only do we want to meet their needs, but we feel like God is pressing us to go bigger and to meet the needs of more PWDs, especially the children with disabilities, within Kenya.
We have home/rescue center at Kisumu, near Lake Victoria that is the intended location for a state-of-the-art facility for special-needs children. We’ll begin by caring for children who are diagnosed with: cerebral palsy, SED (Severely Emotionally Disturbed), visual and/or hearing impairments, autism, chromosomal disorders, and microcephaly. Approximately 8% of the children currently within the care of New Life Home Trust are in need of long-term care due to the fact that it is highly unlikely that they will be adopted or fostered into families. There are currently no such special-needs facilities of this kind within western Kenya. The Special-Care Center at Kisumu would be the first of its kind, hopefully leading the way for the creation of more like-minded facilities within Kenya.
kung fu films
The Pruitts had me over for dinner. We watched a movie “Night at the Museum” rented from the video store. Rented from the video store and yet so obviously pirated. Yup, pirated (and annoying!) The words didn’t match the faces. Like watching a Kung Fu film. Apparently there are zero anti-piracy laws. Anne Marie says all the video stores do this. Theft seems to be the “in” thing in all sectors of industry here.
sky
The clouds and sky are so beautiful in Kenya. (Come see! ) Reminds me of England. The British have colonized the skies, too?
short rains, long rains
The Kenyans measure their seasons by short rains and long rains. I guess we’re in short rain season now. I’m tempted to get some big old black galoshes, but my Kenyan friends say that I don’t walk anywhere to need them and besides, I’ll look like a yard worker. I kind of want a pair though…
The sky drops buckets without hardly any warning. Last Friday all of the babies were out on the lawn when the sky opened up. It was kind of funny watching from the office until we realized that the babies were upset and that we really should get out there and evacuate those babies! You should’ve seen the zillions of volunteers and staff picking up crying babies and running for cover with them. And right after the rain evacuation, the rain stopped – like a faucet – just as abruptly as it started.
my plans
OK. So I know more details about my life and career so I can share them with you now. For now, it looks like I will be living and working in Kenya for 6 months out of each year and then living in the States for 6 months. So I’ll be stateside from July to mid-January 2008. They (New Life) want me to focus on National Development Projects. Such as the Special-Needs Center, Schools, Wells, Sustainable Agriculture projects, Rescue Centers/Homes for babies, etc. The list of Kenyan projects in need of development goes on and on. I will concentrate on advocacy, research, networking, project planning and development, funding, etc. As with the four other non-Kenyans on the New Life Homes staff, I will be a full-time missionary meaning that my salary, living expenses, etc. will be fully comprised from churches, individuals, etc.
skilled at mourning
ILO (International Labor Organization) announces 130,000 child laborers in Kenya largely due to AIDS. The working orphans. This kills me. I want to run in a zillion directions. Can’t do enough in a day (ego). Can’t gather enough children under wing (ego).
And will this broken heart be permanent? Worse than any breakup. It will never mend or heal or seal.
I think God wants it that way.
I am trying to prepare for my teaching to the Muslim caregivers and teachers on Lamu Island. We’re teaching about child development and the impact of trauma on the development of the child. The words are blurring – I can’t quite ingest the idea of the sexually exploited child. They have little faces now. They’re not just numbers and statistics anymore. They’re little brown faces with big eyes. Looking at me. And you.
When the Bible talks about going and getting the women who are skilled at mourning, I’m sure it means me. I’ve gotten really good at crying. Crying and praying makes me feel 100% better. Cleansed and released. Though I’ll need cucumbers for my eyelids tomorrow and Jacinta will tell me that my eyes look smaller – I have to not care. I have to be in this humble place and rely and His grace.
“Call for the wailing women to come
send for the most skilful of them.
Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids…”
Jeremiah 9:17-18
Trusting that these tears will be “liquid prayers” for the people and children of Kenya…
Kwaheri na Afrika,
janay
Showing posts with label 2007. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2007. Show all posts
March 20, 2007
Hi friends,
Habari yako? How are you? I know I’ve missed a week in writing to you (some of you probably hadn’t noticed, but in case you had, my reason is this:) I’ve been contemplating whether to tell you my news –
They’ve asked me to stay on and work here full time! And my answer is, without a doubt, YES!
Everything is still in the planning and discussion phase, but I wanted you to know. I definitely feel called to work here, I feel at peace in my heart about this decision, and I can’t wait to see how everything comes together. When Anne Marie asked me, tears sprang to my eyes. I was ready to say yes. I think it was perfect timing. A week earlier, I might not have been ready. But there it is.
From what I’ve seen, this is such an incredible ministry, run by strong, God-filled leaders, who are willing to sacrifice themselves and their lives for these children. I know that I can learn a lot from them and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity at this point in my life.
I will still come stateside at the end of June. I know this much. But beyond that, I need some time to sort out all of the details. I’m hoping to sit down with the leadership team this week.
Other stuff going on in Africa…
Lamu Islands
Two women from the States were supposed to come out and do training in Lamu for the caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children. Turns out they can’t make it. So I’ll be going with Anne Chege (one of our school Administrators) in April to present a four day training called Children in Crisis: Offering Healing and Hope. I’m excited about this. This’ll happen April 17-21.
speed bump parade
My Saturday night fun? Counting the number of cars outside my window that skid to a halt in front of the newly made, umarked speed bumps. So Kenya. No warning signs. So far – three, four, five, six, ten. I stopped counting after thirty. Now it’s not funny anymore. I’m cringing and praying. People’s cars are bottoming out, launching out of control, spinning and skidding. The guys outside on the street are laughing at the speed bump parade. It’s like a live reality tv show, or bloopers and practical jokes, or Cops without the cops, just the moronic events.
It’s quirky things like this that remind me that I’m living in a slightly more chaotic and disorganized “developing” nation.
Good Samaritans
And it just became clear to me what it actually means when they say, “This baby was rescued from the cho (toilet) by a Good Samaritan.” I pictured baby Joel lying sweetly on the floor next to the toilet, waiting for the next person to discover him. But social worker, Grace, explained further.
Things are dawning on me. God is good to increase His light slowwwly, knowing that I can only handle so much at once.
So when they say that baby Joel, this beautiful, perfect little guy, was found in the cho, it means that he was lying and dying in feces and urine in the bottom of a hole-in-the-ground. Someone dropped him in there. The brain doesn’t want to wrap around this one.
Social worker Grace says that many Good Samaritans risk their health, their lives even, to rescue these babies. It costs them sometimes an entire day’s pay because they’re stuck in long lines at the police station trying to report “child abandonment”. Apparently, holding an abandoned infant gives the Good Samaritan zero priority in line. It’s just the way it is. The value of the child…
The staff at New Life Homes uses that expression a lot– Good Samaritan – to describe the people who bring babies into our care. I was thinking about Jesus’ teachings about the man from Samaria who He called “good and merciful” and who was the original Good Samaritan. I was thinking about what this man did in contrast to what the other passers-by did. They were all presented with the same problem – a man badly beaten up and probably left for dead on the roadside. The first person to see the man was a priest. The priest crossed to the other side of the road and avoided the man. The second person to see the man was a person from the tribe of Levi (the tribe that “produced” God’s priests) and he did the same stinking thing – crossed to the other side of the road!
God,
as Your people,
give us Your strength
to stay on the right side of the road –
where the hurting people lie,
where the abandoned babies cry.
Don’t let “distance be the enemy of Africa.”
Don’t let us distance ourselves
from the needs we see and feel,
and hear about.
The man from Samaria (this supposedly godless area of the known world at the time) was the man who we know as the Good Samaritan. Jesus says that Good Sam saw the man and “he took pity on him.” (from Luke 10:25-37)
Thank you for being those who take pity on these children, who don’t cross over in avoidance. Thank you for bandaging their wounds, for putting them up in houses. Thank you for entering into their pain.
angel
Jacinta brings a pudgy baby girl named Angel into our office every day. We kiss her and love her for two seconds, then back to work! The other day, as baby Angel is laughing and smiling into Jacinta’s face, Jacinta says, “Gosh, I wish someone would see her soon.”
That’s stayed with me – I wish someone would see her soon.
We wish that for all the babies. Because we know that once you see Angel, you’ll fall in love with her. And always, in the back of our minds, we’re thinking – before it’s too late. Before she’s all grown up. Before she’s raised entirely without a mom or dad.
I’m not saying adoption is for everyone, but for those of you who have this tugging on your hearts, please don’t ignore it!
I was looking at the statistics on New Life Homes the other day. It’s pretty amazing. Seventy percent have been adopted since New Life’s beginnings. Over 500 babies placed in homes.
An international adoption just went through last week and a baby went home with a Canadian couple. We’re hoping and praying that this is a watershed event, helping open up the way to more international families.
These babies could be your little angels…
blogs & chocolate
Everyone loves chocolate here. It's like the universal language of love. I was sharing it in the office, and before I knew it, I'd offered it to the wrong person. She disappeared down the hall with the final one-third of my chocolate bar. She's on my hit list now.
Clive – the founder-director – cracks me up. He came in the other day and said that he tried to go on my blog, but it wouldn’t work. Then he asks in his charming British accent, “Can you believe that? See what you’ve done – blog – you’ve got me saying blog!”
Right now I’ve got to go because the Kenyan sun is setting so that it can rise in your sky. That’s strange to me, living the day before you... Have a great one!
Kwaheri na Afrika,
janay
CCTO Rock the Baby Team Updates
1. Two babies went home with families last week!
2. Baby E(the ACTS 1:8 baby) comes back regularly to “weigh in”. I saw her sporting light-up shoes and blue jeans, her African mama following her as she toddled into our house. She looks so happy.
3. Here’s an idea I had in passing – I’m just throwing it out there. I know that you’re all focusing on “Jerusalem” and local ministry right now. And I was thinking… what if…We started thinking about changing the “face” of the Thousand Oaks/Simi Valley community by literally changing its “face”, its demographic? Picture families coming over in small groups to live and serve in Kenya for 6 to 9 months while their adoptions are being processed. Then returning to the States with new babies, given new lives. Talk about changing our Jerusalem, our world. How awesome would that be? Rock-the-Baby teams morphing into Adopt-A-Baby Teams…
Habari yako? How are you? I know I’ve missed a week in writing to you (some of you probably hadn’t noticed, but in case you had, my reason is this:) I’ve been contemplating whether to tell you my news –
They’ve asked me to stay on and work here full time! And my answer is, without a doubt, YES!
Everything is still in the planning and discussion phase, but I wanted you to know. I definitely feel called to work here, I feel at peace in my heart about this decision, and I can’t wait to see how everything comes together. When Anne Marie asked me, tears sprang to my eyes. I was ready to say yes. I think it was perfect timing. A week earlier, I might not have been ready. But there it is.
From what I’ve seen, this is such an incredible ministry, run by strong, God-filled leaders, who are willing to sacrifice themselves and their lives for these children. I know that I can learn a lot from them and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity at this point in my life.
I will still come stateside at the end of June. I know this much. But beyond that, I need some time to sort out all of the details. I’m hoping to sit down with the leadership team this week.
Other stuff going on in Africa…
Lamu Islands
Two women from the States were supposed to come out and do training in Lamu for the caregivers of orphans and vulnerable children. Turns out they can’t make it. So I’ll be going with Anne Chege (one of our school Administrators) in April to present a four day training called Children in Crisis: Offering Healing and Hope. I’m excited about this. This’ll happen April 17-21.
speed bump parade
My Saturday night fun? Counting the number of cars outside my window that skid to a halt in front of the newly made, umarked speed bumps. So Kenya. No warning signs. So far – three, four, five, six, ten. I stopped counting after thirty. Now it’s not funny anymore. I’m cringing and praying. People’s cars are bottoming out, launching out of control, spinning and skidding. The guys outside on the street are laughing at the speed bump parade. It’s like a live reality tv show, or bloopers and practical jokes, or Cops without the cops, just the moronic events.
It’s quirky things like this that remind me that I’m living in a slightly more chaotic and disorganized “developing” nation.
Good Samaritans
And it just became clear to me what it actually means when they say, “This baby was rescued from the cho (toilet) by a Good Samaritan.” I pictured baby Joel lying sweetly on the floor next to the toilet, waiting for the next person to discover him. But social worker, Grace, explained further.
Things are dawning on me. God is good to increase His light slowwwly, knowing that I can only handle so much at once.
So when they say that baby Joel, this beautiful, perfect little guy, was found in the cho, it means that he was lying and dying in feces and urine in the bottom of a hole-in-the-ground. Someone dropped him in there. The brain doesn’t want to wrap around this one.
Social worker Grace says that many Good Samaritans risk their health, their lives even, to rescue these babies. It costs them sometimes an entire day’s pay because they’re stuck in long lines at the police station trying to report “child abandonment”. Apparently, holding an abandoned infant gives the Good Samaritan zero priority in line. It’s just the way it is. The value of the child…
The staff at New Life Homes uses that expression a lot– Good Samaritan – to describe the people who bring babies into our care. I was thinking about Jesus’ teachings about the man from Samaria who He called “good and merciful” and who was the original Good Samaritan. I was thinking about what this man did in contrast to what the other passers-by did. They were all presented with the same problem – a man badly beaten up and probably left for dead on the roadside. The first person to see the man was a priest. The priest crossed to the other side of the road and avoided the man. The second person to see the man was a person from the tribe of Levi (the tribe that “produced” God’s priests) and he did the same stinking thing – crossed to the other side of the road!
God,
as Your people,
give us Your strength
to stay on the right side of the road –
where the hurting people lie,
where the abandoned babies cry.
Don’t let “distance be the enemy of Africa.”
Don’t let us distance ourselves
from the needs we see and feel,
and hear about.
The man from Samaria (this supposedly godless area of the known world at the time) was the man who we know as the Good Samaritan. Jesus says that Good Sam saw the man and “he took pity on him.” (from Luke 10:25-37)
Thank you for being those who take pity on these children, who don’t cross over in avoidance. Thank you for bandaging their wounds, for putting them up in houses. Thank you for entering into their pain.
angel
Jacinta brings a pudgy baby girl named Angel into our office every day. We kiss her and love her for two seconds, then back to work! The other day, as baby Angel is laughing and smiling into Jacinta’s face, Jacinta says, “Gosh, I wish someone would see her soon.”
That’s stayed with me – I wish someone would see her soon.
We wish that for all the babies. Because we know that once you see Angel, you’ll fall in love with her. And always, in the back of our minds, we’re thinking – before it’s too late. Before she’s all grown up. Before she’s raised entirely without a mom or dad.
I’m not saying adoption is for everyone, but for those of you who have this tugging on your hearts, please don’t ignore it!
I was looking at the statistics on New Life Homes the other day. It’s pretty amazing. Seventy percent have been adopted since New Life’s beginnings. Over 500 babies placed in homes.
An international adoption just went through last week and a baby went home with a Canadian couple. We’re hoping and praying that this is a watershed event, helping open up the way to more international families.
These babies could be your little angels…
blogs & chocolate
Everyone loves chocolate here. It's like the universal language of love. I was sharing it in the office, and before I knew it, I'd offered it to the wrong person. She disappeared down the hall with the final one-third of my chocolate bar. She's on my hit list now.
Clive – the founder-director – cracks me up. He came in the other day and said that he tried to go on my blog, but it wouldn’t work. Then he asks in his charming British accent, “Can you believe that? See what you’ve done – blog – you’ve got me saying blog!”
Right now I’ve got to go because the Kenyan sun is setting so that it can rise in your sky. That’s strange to me, living the day before you... Have a great one!
Kwaheri na Afrika,
janay
CCTO Rock the Baby Team Updates
1. Two babies went home with families last week!
2. Baby E(the ACTS 1:8 baby) comes back regularly to “weigh in”. I saw her sporting light-up shoes and blue jeans, her African mama following her as she toddled into our house. She looks so happy.
3. Here’s an idea I had in passing – I’m just throwing it out there. I know that you’re all focusing on “Jerusalem” and local ministry right now. And I was thinking… what if…We started thinking about changing the “face” of the Thousand Oaks/Simi Valley community by literally changing its “face”, its demographic? Picture families coming over in small groups to live and serve in Kenya for 6 to 9 months while their adoptions are being processed. Then returning to the States with new babies, given new lives. Talk about changing our Jerusalem, our world. How awesome would that be? Rock-the-Baby teams morphing into Adopt-A-Baby Teams…
New Life Home Trust, Nairobi
Vanloads of volunteers, well-wishers, and church-goers pull into our parking lot each day. We have an average of 20-40 volunteers and visitors coming through here every single day. I wonder what they will take away from their experience … a fond memory? A heroic story to tell? A burdened heart? A new direction in life?
What we pray they will take away: the faces of the children burned into their retinas like the face of the sun (Son)…their vision forever changed.
I continue to research and write letters of inquiry to foundations (mostly) seeking funding sources for this work. We’ve had one rejection so far and one “hit”. A large international organization wants to fund some of the equipment we’ll need for our special-needs unit (for long-term care for HIV positive children and children with disabilities), as well as monies for medicines, furniture, etc. This is a huge blessing!
But this nagging part of me, the human, fleshly part, feels as if I can never do enough. Like a parent, who wants to provide the best…
When I returned from Lamu, after being gone for 5 days, the sound and sight of the 53 children was so wonderful. Esther toddled over to me, grinning from ear to ear and threw her chubby arms around me. She knows how I love her, the little queen.
Lamu Islands: The Second Mecca
Lamu islands were a trip. Stayed in an 18th century home in an 18th century world filled with pregnant donkeys roaming the dirt roadways and Muslim calls to prayer. I’ve never experienced a place quite like this – Arabic, British, African, Muslim. The place is so slow and relaxed. No cars. Even Meleckson (the New Life Home leader/pastor/director) communicates at a pace and tone consistent with the island – slow and quiet.
Braying donkeys break the pre-dawn silence here. I don’t think that donkeys should speak before dawn. Nor the Muslim Imams (leaders) on loud-speakers for that matter. The 5:30 a.m. call to prayer on a failing P.A. system is like the Muslim equivalent of the flag salute in junior high. (No disrespect intended.) All kidding aside though, the Muslims on Lamu were so wonderful, hospitable and fascinating. I found myself loving them and desperately wanting to ask them about their world, their feelings, their thoughts…
In the middle of Lamu Island’s town square is a fort-like structure which used to be a holding place for slaves awaiting their ships to sail. The Muslim women in burkahs (the head-to-toe black dress) and ninjas (the face covering with a slit for their eyes) are a disturbing and fascinating image for me. One night, we walked around the island with complete freedom from fear and crime. Everyone knows everyone. Meleckson said it’s safe. The violence done on this island is not against strangers, but sadly against one’s own family members. At the New Life Drop-In Center, they have a “Rescue Room.” It’s a small room with 3 beds, a forlorn stuffed animal sitting on each, awaiting a child to comfort. The Rescue Room receives children who’ve been victimized (usually, sexually) for as long as two weeks. A “mama” or “dada” (depending on the child’s gender) stay with them and care for them until other, safe arrangements can be made. They receive children as young as 3 years old in the Rescue Room. We went into that little room and I just felt like weeping – the Rescue Room.
Over the years, the two New Life Drop-In Centers have become an advocate for the children at risk on this island of 30,000 people. Meleckson says that people are beginning to come to their center and turn people in for abuse, rising up and saying, “This is not right.” Ironically, there’s a hospital on the island for sick donkeys – the Sick Donkey Hospital (not kidding!). A cart actually goes around the island, picks up donkeys, and carts them back to the hospital. But there’s no such “watchdog” or “care group” for the children, or for those dying of AIDS. Meleckson says that the people are in denial about AIDS, saying, It has not come here.
I hadn’t expected to love the Muslim women so much or to want to sit with them on the floor and try to connect with them. I hadn’t expected my heart to want to reach theirs. My heart is so curious about them – what life is like for them, how they survive, how they thrive, what they think and feel about their beliefs, what they think and feel about Jesus – one of their prophets, my Savior. Though New Life’s project on the island is Christian, they employ Muslim teachers, staff, and involve Imams and strong female leaders from the Muslim community. I love this because it’s such a picture of partnership. It’s such a picture of Jesus getting out of the walls of “church” and hanging out with everyone. At dinner, I sat next to Amina, one of the female leaders who supports New Life. We talked about Islam, about how it means “Peace” and she even joked about her clothing being cause to call her a terrorist at the airport. Meleckson says that some people throw stones on top of the roof of the Christian church on the island and say bad things, but other than that, there’s no animosity. “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mk. 9:40).
the old man
From Lamu Islands we took a “speed” boat to mainland Lamu, then got into a matatu (read: old, decrepit minivan with balding tires) and drove for 90 minutes across country to arrive at a small church in Mpeketoni. Inside the hot, tin-roof church sat 36 church, community, and health workers eager for leadership training. Meleckson says they’re “hungry” for knowledge. Most have not been educated past high school equivalent. Anne Marie (New Life associate director) taught so honestly and powerfully on HIV/AIDS. Lee taught on how to transform communities through empowering the people to initiate and follow through on projects. I sat and listened and learned.
I was humbled, and again, felt like crying (have you noticed a pattern with me?) Some traveled as far as 200 km. (5-7 hours) on horrible roads to be there. I was just so encouraged to meet those leaders. There was one old man who kept falling asleep in the front row. Meleckson says that he has helped to start 17 churches. When the old man managed to stay awake, you would see him leaning over his Bible until it was just a few inches from his face, straining to see the Word of God. How precious that must be in God’s sight!
a call to educators
Every parent and guardian wants their child to have the opportunity to be educated. But the educators here need education. Especially the educators in rural Africa (Tana River District). Teams of educators could travel out on a semi-annual basis to run week-long workshops on basics such as classroom management, childhood development, all subjects, etc.… and bring educational resources. Training is especially needed in the areas of early childhood and primary education …
Doo-Doos
I’ll leave you with my doo-doo story: while in Mpeketoni, this crazy looking bug got into my hotel room. I spotted him standing on my wall, looking far-too-large for a bug. I stepped toward him and he just kept hovering on the wall like a black spaceship. Huge wings. Long legs. I was terrified! Could he fly? What would he do if I got a shoe? Wait – no way was I getting a shoe – that’s not big enough for this creature! Too big for a shoe smashing, I sprayed him with bug spray. This put him on the run (he couldn’t fly!) I threw my towel over him (as any good bug coward would do) and stomped on him then went running out to tell Lee. (Wonderful Lee cleaned up the bug guts for me.) The African hotel workers laughed at me and called it a “doo-doo”, which just means “big bug with no name.” I killed a doo-doo. The doo-doo walked off the mango tree and into my room, big mistake.
Don’t forget to be on the lookout for doo-doos throughout your day.
Kwaheri,
janay
Random Facts:
White skin is also known as “inflation.” The minute they see white people (mzungus), the price spikes upward.
Ladies, rinsing with well-water creates many consecutive “good hair” days. And cold showers invigorate the skin! Come experience it for yourself at the New Life Spa & Resort. J
If you put your money in your underwear (because you’re scared to carry a purse) it will fall into the toilet to be peed upon. I’m not saying I did this, I’m just saying it could happen…
Rock the Baby Team updates:
Baby E (ACTS 1:8 baby) went home to be with her new adoptive family! She cried and cried and cried being carried to the car. But she now has an older brother, a mom and dad. I can’t help but think how the zillions of thoughts and prayers coming out of CCTO affected this child’s destiny since she was spoken of by Karen from the pulpit and prayed for by the children of SonTime for so long. Prayer changes the world.
Families are interested in adopting baby R (Crawler).
Baby Y (Crawler) took her first steps!
Clive (New Life Founder/Director) hung the plaque that CCTO donated above the main entrance door. Apparently as he was up on a chair nailing the plaque onto the wall, he was caught sporting his shorts, his lily white, British legs out and about, by first-time visitors. He just laughed his jolly good laugh and greeted them.
“When you make a vow to God,
do not delay in fulfilling it.
He has no pleasure in fools,
fulfill your vow.
It is better not to vow
than to make a vow and not fulfill it.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5
Vanloads of volunteers, well-wishers, and church-goers pull into our parking lot each day. We have an average of 20-40 volunteers and visitors coming through here every single day. I wonder what they will take away from their experience … a fond memory? A heroic story to tell? A burdened heart? A new direction in life?
What we pray they will take away: the faces of the children burned into their retinas like the face of the sun (Son)…their vision forever changed.
I continue to research and write letters of inquiry to foundations (mostly) seeking funding sources for this work. We’ve had one rejection so far and one “hit”. A large international organization wants to fund some of the equipment we’ll need for our special-needs unit (for long-term care for HIV positive children and children with disabilities), as well as monies for medicines, furniture, etc. This is a huge blessing!
But this nagging part of me, the human, fleshly part, feels as if I can never do enough. Like a parent, who wants to provide the best…
When I returned from Lamu, after being gone for 5 days, the sound and sight of the 53 children was so wonderful. Esther toddled over to me, grinning from ear to ear and threw her chubby arms around me. She knows how I love her, the little queen.
Lamu Islands: The Second Mecca
Lamu islands were a trip. Stayed in an 18th century home in an 18th century world filled with pregnant donkeys roaming the dirt roadways and Muslim calls to prayer. I’ve never experienced a place quite like this – Arabic, British, African, Muslim. The place is so slow and relaxed. No cars. Even Meleckson (the New Life Home leader/pastor/director) communicates at a pace and tone consistent with the island – slow and quiet.
Braying donkeys break the pre-dawn silence here. I don’t think that donkeys should speak before dawn. Nor the Muslim Imams (leaders) on loud-speakers for that matter. The 5:30 a.m. call to prayer on a failing P.A. system is like the Muslim equivalent of the flag salute in junior high. (No disrespect intended.) All kidding aside though, the Muslims on Lamu were so wonderful, hospitable and fascinating. I found myself loving them and desperately wanting to ask them about their world, their feelings, their thoughts…
In the middle of Lamu Island’s town square is a fort-like structure which used to be a holding place for slaves awaiting their ships to sail. The Muslim women in burkahs (the head-to-toe black dress) and ninjas (the face covering with a slit for their eyes) are a disturbing and fascinating image for me. One night, we walked around the island with complete freedom from fear and crime. Everyone knows everyone. Meleckson said it’s safe. The violence done on this island is not against strangers, but sadly against one’s own family members. At the New Life Drop-In Center, they have a “Rescue Room.” It’s a small room with 3 beds, a forlorn stuffed animal sitting on each, awaiting a child to comfort. The Rescue Room receives children who’ve been victimized (usually, sexually) for as long as two weeks. A “mama” or “dada” (depending on the child’s gender) stay with them and care for them until other, safe arrangements can be made. They receive children as young as 3 years old in the Rescue Room. We went into that little room and I just felt like weeping – the Rescue Room.
Over the years, the two New Life Drop-In Centers have become an advocate for the children at risk on this island of 30,000 people. Meleckson says that people are beginning to come to their center and turn people in for abuse, rising up and saying, “This is not right.” Ironically, there’s a hospital on the island for sick donkeys – the Sick Donkey Hospital (not kidding!). A cart actually goes around the island, picks up donkeys, and carts them back to the hospital. But there’s no such “watchdog” or “care group” for the children, or for those dying of AIDS. Meleckson says that the people are in denial about AIDS, saying, It has not come here.
I hadn’t expected to love the Muslim women so much or to want to sit with them on the floor and try to connect with them. I hadn’t expected my heart to want to reach theirs. My heart is so curious about them – what life is like for them, how they survive, how they thrive, what they think and feel about their beliefs, what they think and feel about Jesus – one of their prophets, my Savior. Though New Life’s project on the island is Christian, they employ Muslim teachers, staff, and involve Imams and strong female leaders from the Muslim community. I love this because it’s such a picture of partnership. It’s such a picture of Jesus getting out of the walls of “church” and hanging out with everyone. At dinner, I sat next to Amina, one of the female leaders who supports New Life. We talked about Islam, about how it means “Peace” and she even joked about her clothing being cause to call her a terrorist at the airport. Meleckson says that some people throw stones on top of the roof of the Christian church on the island and say bad things, but other than that, there’s no animosity. “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mk. 9:40).
the old man
From Lamu Islands we took a “speed” boat to mainland Lamu, then got into a matatu (read: old, decrepit minivan with balding tires) and drove for 90 minutes across country to arrive at a small church in Mpeketoni. Inside the hot, tin-roof church sat 36 church, community, and health workers eager for leadership training. Meleckson says they’re “hungry” for knowledge. Most have not been educated past high school equivalent. Anne Marie (New Life associate director) taught so honestly and powerfully on HIV/AIDS. Lee taught on how to transform communities through empowering the people to initiate and follow through on projects. I sat and listened and learned.
I was humbled, and again, felt like crying (have you noticed a pattern with me?) Some traveled as far as 200 km. (5-7 hours) on horrible roads to be there. I was just so encouraged to meet those leaders. There was one old man who kept falling asleep in the front row. Meleckson says that he has helped to start 17 churches. When the old man managed to stay awake, you would see him leaning over his Bible until it was just a few inches from his face, straining to see the Word of God. How precious that must be in God’s sight!
a call to educators
Every parent and guardian wants their child to have the opportunity to be educated. But the educators here need education. Especially the educators in rural Africa (Tana River District). Teams of educators could travel out on a semi-annual basis to run week-long workshops on basics such as classroom management, childhood development, all subjects, etc.… and bring educational resources. Training is especially needed in the areas of early childhood and primary education …
Doo-Doos
I’ll leave you with my doo-doo story: while in Mpeketoni, this crazy looking bug got into my hotel room. I spotted him standing on my wall, looking far-too-large for a bug. I stepped toward him and he just kept hovering on the wall like a black spaceship. Huge wings. Long legs. I was terrified! Could he fly? What would he do if I got a shoe? Wait – no way was I getting a shoe – that’s not big enough for this creature! Too big for a shoe smashing, I sprayed him with bug spray. This put him on the run (he couldn’t fly!) I threw my towel over him (as any good bug coward would do) and stomped on him then went running out to tell Lee. (Wonderful Lee cleaned up the bug guts for me.) The African hotel workers laughed at me and called it a “doo-doo”, which just means “big bug with no name.” I killed a doo-doo. The doo-doo walked off the mango tree and into my room, big mistake.
Don’t forget to be on the lookout for doo-doos throughout your day.
Kwaheri,
janay
Random Facts:
White skin is also known as “inflation.” The minute they see white people (mzungus), the price spikes upward.
Ladies, rinsing with well-water creates many consecutive “good hair” days. And cold showers invigorate the skin! Come experience it for yourself at the New Life Spa & Resort. J
If you put your money in your underwear (because you’re scared to carry a purse) it will fall into the toilet to be peed upon. I’m not saying I did this, I’m just saying it could happen…
Rock the Baby Team updates:
Baby E (ACTS 1:8 baby) went home to be with her new adoptive family! She cried and cried and cried being carried to the car. But she now has an older brother, a mom and dad. I can’t help but think how the zillions of thoughts and prayers coming out of CCTO affected this child’s destiny since she was spoken of by Karen from the pulpit and prayed for by the children of SonTime for so long. Prayer changes the world.
Families are interested in adopting baby R (Crawler).
Baby Y (Crawler) took her first steps!
Clive (New Life Founder/Director) hung the plaque that CCTO donated above the main entrance door. Apparently as he was up on a chair nailing the plaque onto the wall, he was caught sporting his shorts, his lily white, British legs out and about, by first-time visitors. He just laughed his jolly good laugh and greeted them.
“When you make a vow to God,
do not delay in fulfilling it.
He has no pleasure in fools,
fulfill your vow.
It is better not to vow
than to make a vow and not fulfill it.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:4-5
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