What are we up to?

Monday july 14

juan:

it's cold. we are both wearing multiple layers. I am using the laptop to warm up. today we did something called Visitations for the first time. We visited a part of town called Lenana. This is where a small group of us go to the slums to share the Word of God. The boys go to one part of the slums to hang out with the local boys who don't have jobs. The girls go to another part of the slums where there are mostly single mothers. The slums are as I expected. Houses made of corrugated metal, dirt streets, garbage everywhere, goats and dogs walking around, and lots of people. Father Moses (aka Abouna) has been coming to this part of town for 6 months. There is a small following of about 25 boys and men. We found some rocks to sit on and then Abouna began sharing. He told a true story about a young boy who was swimming in a lake and was attacked by a crocodile. His mother ran to help him. The boy was caught in a tug of war between his mother and the croc. This story is a vivid example of how we are constantly being pulled by our Heavenly Father and by the devil. And just like the mother would never let her son go, our Father will never let us go either. No matter what, He will always have his hands reached out for us, and we have to be willing to accept his invitation. Abouna spoke about the biggest thing that stops us from accepting this invitation - FEAR. Fear of being judged by others as 'not cool' or as a coward, even though it actually takes great courage to accept His invitation.
At the end, we handed out sandwiches. Abouna also has this program where if the boys attend 4 times in a row, they get a t-shirt. On our way out, there is a lady that Abouna pays to make samosas for the little kids. There used to be a small amount of kids waiting in a line for the somosas, but now there are about 80. The somosa lady knows when Abouna will be there, and has all the somosas prepared. The kids all wait in 'line'. When Abouna gives the green light, the line turns into a mob, and we become shepherds, trying to keep the kids in line and from getting back in line once they've gotten their samosa.
When we got back to the compound, we had a prayer meeting, consisting of singing songs and praying. There is a guitar and a keyboard player and I played the drums - it was fun. Our flat was freezing when we got back, so we made some tea and went to bed.
Oh, we have hot water now! Also we have people fixing our windows that won't close. Last night, a mosquito must have gotten into my shorts at night because I woke up with about 15 bits on my thigh. They don't itch though. I can't wait for warmer weather.
Oh, and for a while there, we thought Christine might be pregnant, but it is not so. I was scared to have a baby right now, so I am relieved, but Christine was looking forward to it.
Truthfully, I kind of like it here and kind of don't, and this is expected seeing as how we've only been here a few days, and this life is the complete opposite of our old life. I don't feel like a stranger here, but I don't feel at home. The visitations intimidate me a bit, but I'm sure I'll get used to them because we'll be doing them 3 or 4 times a week. I wish Christine and I didn't have to split up during the visitations, but this is the way it happened today. Also, Abouna is great, I mean, wow. He is so charismatic, like a child, yet such a force for God. After only a couple of days, it is easy to see why he is so loved.

Christine:

YES! it's freezing. We came here thinking that it'll be so hot with Kenya being right on the Equator but July and August turned out to be their winter month so...for better or worse...we're here. I have been learning so much from spending time in Egypt and from the few days that we spent here. Yesterday, the girls went on visitations and i went along with them. We got to the houses and like Juan said, they were all tiny run down spaces. We went in to one of the houses and the lady that owned it (whom we all called Mama) welcomed us all in, including me. After a few minutes more and more girls started coming, young and old. The little room couldn't hold all the people that came. We started by singing songs, they were all in Swahili so I was just clapping and listening, they were beautiful. Then I was asked to talk and share something with everyone. Ofcourse I couldn't say no...but I started getting really stressed. Giving lectures and talking is not one of my strengths. So I did the only thing I could do, I prayed and asked God to guide me and let his words flow out of my mouth. I then found myself looking for a passage in the Bible about deeds vs. faith. I found it in Romans 2. We read the passage and I started talking about deeds vs. faith and what the fruits of the spirit are. God really really helped me but even so, I felt that these people should be giving me speeches not the other way around. They are so loving and are true Christians. I thank God for allowing me to be a part of that. We will be going on visitations tonight as well in a different part of town called Kawangware. I'm looking forward to that experience (but hopefully no one will ask me to talk again).
Being in Kenya has been really emotional for me. The first day or two we arrived, I felt EXTREMELY homesick. I just wanted to be with family and friends again in our nice warm condo in Canada, that's all I could think of. But with God's help, I'm tring to get used to this new place...and this very uncomfortable temperature. I am also so lucky to have Juan with me. I feel so strengthened by him, he gives me so much courage and love that I just don't care where I am as long as he's here. Without him, I could never have enough strength and courage to be here.

Tuesday July 15

Today was a busy day. At 9:00 we helped our friend Magdi to cleanup/arrange one of the storage rooms. It was in total disarray. The storage room had 4 smaller rooms: one for medical machines, one for medical supplies, one for medical waste, and of course, one for kids toys. After that, we rewarded ourselves with tea. Then we went for lunch. All the servants have lunch together everyday at 1:00. Then Abouna took us downtown. He had some business to take care of and we tagged along.
We visited a part of town called Kawangware. Today's visit was really nice. We visited a lady named Beatrice. She has 3 kids and they all live in a very small house made of wood and metal. Her husband recently left her for another woman. She asked us about forgiveness. We read to her from the Bible. My Bible has an awesome blurb about forgiveness. It says that forgiveness is choosing to live with unbalanced scales and letting God take care of things. In my experience, forgiveness is not easy. Sometimes we have to ask God for help in forgiving others. After visiting Beatrice, we went to another lady's house. After the chat, she served us chapatis and chai, but not before washing all of our hands! That's right, she wahsed our hands. And I learned after that they have to travel long distances to get water and carry it home, so this is nothing small. In Church, the deacons wash Abouna's hands in the same way. I was humbled by this.
Today was warmer than yesterday, which made the day more enjoyable. We spent the evening at Tamer and Sherry's. They are very nice and welcoming.