the blessings of visitors!

We are more than blessed during this sweet November. Micah, the president of Vapor, led a men's trip this past week here to Kenya. It was so strengthening to see so many familiar faces and to witness their heart's touched by the teachings here. We spent a week at the project, investing in relationships, and welcoming the men to work alongside the workers at the building site. 

Today we welcome our Ralston 'rents here to Kenya, along with family good friend Tony Miller. We are grateful to be able to expose them to all that our heart is changed to here. We entrust that God will speak ever deeply to them. Pray for their safe travels and their time here over these next two weeks. We are thankful to have them here with us thru Thanksgiving. This time next month, we will also be welcoming our sister and brother-n-law here for Christmas. God is so good, all the time! 

So, today, we are strengthened, encouraged, and blessed. 

October, at a glance.

October has been consumed with many praises and challenges. But, all in all, God is moving and His hand upon the Ngong Vapor Center is evident. Not that we doubted his ability, but to say that we have begun building this soon, really continues to be an abundant praise.

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘one sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”  John 4:35-38

Praises:

• Finished the upper fields for the AIC primary school to use since we are building on their old playing fields. We were able to provide jobs for many families in need. Their testimony of praise in a job has been extremely rewarding.
• We have had 4 workers saved thru the testimonies of our indigenous staff here. Their intentionality to share Christ with all who encompass them is a deep encouragement, spiritually. Daily, unbelievers are questioning Christ’s love and salvation. The fields are definitely white for harvest.
• now beginning on the Vapor fields—grading the fields will happen next week and then the fields will be ready for planting grass and building the track!
• howard and hudson are angels- their presence during this process truly has been a daily blessing for us. We are so grateful to be working alongside them. Their devotion to the cause of Vapor is consistently demonstrated thru every stride of the process.
• We moved into a home that we can open to others- This has been a tremendous blessing for us to have more, intimate time with the relationships we are cultivating here.  The proximity to the slums and to the church has been incredible. Thank you for your prayers! They have been answered.
  

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly, to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go, your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Luke 10: 2-3

Challenges/ frustrations:

• We are encouraged that even amidst challenges, we continue to see God’s Hand that sustains us. We know that without His presence, this center will see no success. Its more than the buildings, its more than the ‘leaders’, its about God’s love pouring out thru the avenue of Vapor into the lives of those who enter its bounds. We know that God has met us here and we continue to be strengthened by his promises that guide us. In studying faithful followers of the Old Test., we are encouraged reading Ezra, Nehemiah, and the like who were used to build for the sake of the Kingdom- Seeing their challenges and their attacks and God’s hand that sustained them and continued in flourishing the harvest, brings us deep comfort.
  

          This month has been attacks of others personal agendas, a lack of vision within a very short-term thinking culture, ‘leaders’ stepping off, corruption, self-seeking responses, and the like.  All in all though, we trust that God is bigger than any attacks. Ha, in fact, we are encouraged by them because we know we must be doing something right and we welcome them:).

- Keep praying for the leadership team. We know that another attack can be for us to ‘focus’ on the numbers. Its very easy to say that initially we need to have a certain number. But, we have all been joined together, praying earnestly to the Lord, for the laborers. We must trust then that God will raise up, within His purpose, the leaders for the Ngong Center. Due to some other opportunities, Eddie and Japheth have stepped off the leadership team. We are now down to 6 guys: Elly, Vinny, Bismark, Peter, Patrick, and Shadrack who we feel are committed. 2 of the guys are extremely busy, so we pray for how God will either continue them on the ministry or use them within another outlet of service for the Lord. We know that we can’t be frustrated with the numbers, but trust in God’s raising up the laborers. We pray for a solid group of leaders who are devoted to the cause of serving Christ.
          we will be starting the break off bible study on Dec. 5th---there are 3 workers at the project who are not believers but both of us have been been drawn to their dynamic, gentle personalities. They were all 3 questioning salvation just today. We recognize that they could be leaders that we have been praying for. So, pray along with us, for how God will speak within their lives- Simon, Gibson, and George.

God is moving. He is speaking into the lives of people. He is building us up for His service in this season and raising up leaders for when we return. We are blessed. We are encouraged. We are daily being sharpened. Praise the Lord! 

a Day to Remember.

An early morning , 6am, welcomed our day to what we thought would be a long, involved day at the project. As we were walking up the hill, it was an all too familiar sound, “Wazungu, howayu?!” echoed from the 10 x 20 tin shanty off the road by the church. Little Ester and Steven were waving as high as their little hands could reach. On most days, we give a big smile and greetings back but normally have to continue on our walk to the church. On this day, I wanted to greet them at their home. We walked to the shanty, and found not only Ester and Steven, but as we walked toward the doorway, 1, 2, 3, and then 12 kids appeared. Yes, this family has 12 kids who all live in a 10 x 20 shanty. These kids have the most beautiful presence about them. Each one serving the other and as we handed out cookies, they each made sure to pass it along to the one younger than them. We have yet to meet the Mom and Dad and they were out for the day, but a 12 year old came out holding a 6mo. And was the “mom” of all the rest- Whew, I wanted to stay there all day. They don’t really speak a lick of English so the conversation grows short real quick. After lots of precious hugs, we continued on to the church. Little Ester and Steven shortly welcomed us later with their water jugs in hand, getting ready to begin their 10 time trek of collecting water for the family.

We were suppose to have Chai with a Muslim guy who works at the site, but he was no where to be found. And we now know why. As we were waiting for him to show, just in front of the slum is a playing field where kids bring their homemade trash soccer balls and play their hearts out. We were blessed to have the privilege of meeting so many kids coming from the woodworks. John’s Mom came out to greet us, holding Bryan and I sat down with little Joyce for the entire time. Ester sat down her water jugs and nestled beside me as well. As I look up, I see John, Steven, and many others who hold labor some responsibilities daily—laughing, playing, and for once I saw the child inside them shining thru every kick of the ball--this is why we are here--not to just build a soccer field for the sake of playing soccer, but to offer a place of refuge for kids to come, sheltered away from the 'storm' and embraced by men and women who will invest in their lives and share Christ with them daily. It was a moment to remember to see these little ones truly having fun.We came back to the church to tend to the work and little John and Francis wanted to come be our helpers- wouldn’t leave our side until we left at 6pm. We did runs with them on the field and you could just feel their joy of having someone focus so much attention on them. I sat there watching Brett love on them so consistently and said days like these will tenderize our hearts when we have to leave this context. 

So, it was a precious day to remember being loved on in the slums. 

the Holiday.

Reflections of the day as I take my steamy hot shower – My time in my hot shower forces me to think about the faces of those whom I see daily, particularly the children who have never experienced warm water to wash off the dirt that they are covered in so often.  It’s a time of reflection and a time that I try to justify all the comforts that I tend to take for granted. 

Today was a Kenyan holiday.  People were off work, and children were released from school to celebrate Jomo Kenyatta day, Kenya’s first president.  When I think about holidays as a kid, I remember my family going to an amusement park, or a free day to play backyard football, or spending the whole day in front of the TV playing my new video game.  I had no responsibility because I was just a kid and kids are supposed to play on their days off, or at least that is what kids in a first world environment expects.  However, today I was not in a first world community, and I saw something quite different. 

This morning I met Esther and Steven.  I saw them throughout my day, but not in a manner you would expect to see an 8 and a 9 year old on a national holiday.  

 I spent my day at our church planning and preparing for our future Vapor soccer field and running track. I arrived to the church this morning and as I was in the field, these 2 little ones came walking up, each carrying 3-liter jugs in both hands, bare foot and barely covered from the cold.  They stopped, sat down their jugs, and greeted us with a smile and a big hug.  They asked for a biscuit (cookie), and they waited around until I checked my bag for any forgotten candies or goodies.  Unfortunately, neither Trishia nor I were in stock.  They picked up their jugs and continued on their journey to the nearest water point, which is about 300 yards down the hill from where we were standing.  We continued on with our work in the field and in about 30 minutes the 2 of them came back through, with the jugs full.  They were visibly struggling; the jugs looked quite heavy as their frail little bodies swayed back and forth to keep their momentum going forward.  About every 50 ft. they had to stop and take a rest and I would catch them turning around and curiously watching us.  When they saw us look at them they would wave and pick up the jugs and keep going.  A few minutes later they appeared with their gear of yellow jugs on their way for more water.  We greeted them again and received the same smiles and hugs as we did earlier.  They moved onward on their trail as they headed to their all to familiar water station.  They came back up that hill with the jugs full and carried out the same routine throughout the day.  I actually started looking for them to come into the gate as I realized that this was their duty the whole day.  I grew more and more interested in them as the day went on because we developed this friendship as we met so many times today.  I could not believe that children at this age were this disciplined and hard working.  Little Esther must have been getting tired because her last 2 trips she only carried one jug and it had been rigged to go on her back to ease the stress on her skinny arms. 

As I was leaving the church and the sun was setting I met my new friends coming for one last trek.  I couldn’t resist one last hug from them both. As I walked out of the church gate I turned around to see the brother and sister I had grown to love heading back down that hill. 

 What would seem like an exhausting day to us is a normal day by day routine for these two supporters for their family.  We are grateful that God reveals His strength and His sustaining power thru varying context: in this day, it became visible thru the hard-working presence of an 8 & a 9 year old.  Meetings such as these truly shed perspective on the importance of life and the means of survival that so many face within a third world environment. Our resources and our means in the States is abounding and we pray that as our hearts are stretched within this context that our lives will be centered on the perspective and the importance of a life spent following after Christ. 

and his name is John...

Proverbs 31: 8-9 “ Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute, Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

What seems like should be a man aged and weathered by life’s almost paralyzing pursuit, is actually a nine-year-old boy named John. Our first impression of John consisted of our hearts stretched by the obvious malnutrition that has taken over himself and his three younger siblings. His behaviors outstretched as both father and mother, a boy timid from the proximity of wazungus, “white man” spoke out of a grave protection over the little ones he tended after. If you remember our blog, “Tension of a Grasping Hand”, we witnessed the breaking of bread between two very small children and the visible ability of God’s sustaining hand upon them. Since that day, God has drawn us closer into relationship with John and his siblings: Francis (5), Joyce (3), and Bryan (1). About two weeks ago, we were sitting in church when we glanced back to find the family of four standing between the doorframe searching for a place to get settled. When they saw us they came and nestled their way in between us. About 10 minutes later, we were both fighting back tears as we noticed Joyce’s white dress tainted from its lack of care and her constant itching from a rash that found its way all over her body –Francis appeared as if he had been thrown in every mud hole around- Bryan’s eyes spoke of his malnourished body- and John was dressed in his best pair of shorts with coat jacket. His tender care upon them speaks measures of this little boy who is raising his family. God has placed this family right in the deepest parts of our hearts that we feel will be ever present with us. On that particular day, John approached us pleading to come and live with us. If you can imagine our great difficulty in trying to explain to a nine-year-old why this would not be possible—lets just say that it continues to be a propeller for our spontaneous tears every time we see him. God has taught us measures on His ability to sustain, on his abounding love for the poor and the needy, and on His promises to lift their burdens as they seek after Him. It was a special moment for us that day to walk hand in hand with these little ones to the local corner store and fill every hand with maize, fruits, rice as we witnessed their quick swallowing of both bananas and oranges. This vastly demonstrated the lack of food that they had endured over the past weeks. Shortly after, we were walking them to their home when Joyce stumbled upon her little white dress and hit the floor sliding. With tears welling up John immediately ran to her cry. Brett picked her up as she squeezed as tightly as possible to find the safety of his arms holding her. This spoke of the survival that God brings to these kids thru the life of John- a nine year old that without us there would have had Joyce in one arm, Bryan on his shoulders, and Francis holding his other hand. “Rich and poor have this in common; the Lord is the Maker of them all.” Proverbs 22:2

Today we found ourselves in another heart stretching embrace with our little friends. Joyce and Bryan stayed back home with their Mom as we welcomed John and Francis to take their spots nestled between us. Either El Nino or random rains have covered over the land here and all its people for the past few days. Francis was very much attacked by El Nino’s hand as he came stumbling in with shorts, a drenched hoody, and shaking from the coldness he had probably felt for days. We have grown to treasure and to savor these moments that we have with them in church—able to witness John released momentarily from his responsibilities of playing both mother and father, as he eagerly participates in singing worship songs and reading along in Scriptures during the message. After the service, John informed us that his dad has been hoarding money from his job and using it on alcohol. He proceeded to tell us that when his dad comes home drunk that he will beat the kids and then the kids would go stay with neighbors until he sobers up. Again, you can imagine our difficulty in explaining to a nine year old boy why we can’t just rescue them all from the situation. “The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” Prov. 15: 3

Pray for the wisdom, the discretion, and the understanding that we need to be a mouthpiece for this family, especially as we seek out the validity and the magnitude of this situation.
Proverbs 2: 6
“For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

Pics to prove it:).

So, the physical work has began at the property!! It has been so amazing to witness many lives changed because of a job. Smiles fill the workplace as people come together and shovel the fields for a greater purpose. The men took initiative and every morning they switch off sharing devotions with all the workers. It is a blessing to see all gathered together because of the provisions of God's abundant hand.

Posted some pictures of the 1st week of work on Facebook: Here is the link below. If you want to keep checking it from time to time we will track the progress thru this photo album. 

 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=325265&id=611190289&l=603abf7e87

Also, we have moved into our Ngong home. The reason we first chose to live here was because it is less than a 5 minute walk to the church and nestled in between both slums of Ngong. It has been a blessing to see how God provides even the things that we don't really 'need' but can use to create a comfortable home. Thank you Les and Michael for allowing us to use all the curtain and a kitchen table (sharing meals with others is huge in this culture so we are thankful to have a place to open a table for them). Also, our Pastor gave us cups and a cooker. People donated to us a coffee pot and furniture. It has allowed us to have a comfortable and inviting environment for all who enter. It is a perfect place for us to open our home for the purpose of establishing closer relationships with the community here. Now that we are here, we also see the investments needed with the Kenyan family on the property. Be praying for the opportunities that we have to share our lives with them and to share Christ's abundant love. To name specifically for prayers: Meshack (father), Rose (mother), daughters Faith, Eve. Granddaughter: Mam Housegirl: Lily  Caretaker: Fred.  

You can check out pics of the place at: 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=325923&id=611190289&l=4d7eba8be6

Praises.

Today, we were walking up the Ngong hills to the church's property with such joy. Almost 4 months of planning (not including the months of preparation States side) and today was our ground breaking celebration. We had 30 men/women show up to begin shoveling the red soil in order to prepare a playing ground for the kids at the AIC school. This will give us the red soil needed to use on the Vapor fields below. It was so rewarding and a constant encouragement to witness so many families blessed by work- They all thanked Vapor for allowing them the opportunity to provide for their families. Hard work continued on all day and will carry out over the next few weeks (this portion of work). We were able to share our purpose for being here with the workers as we praised God for the blessings He has graciously given us to come this far. Today was an incredible day for us! 

Another praise. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are MOVING into our Ngong home!! It is finally ready and after viewing it today, we are more than excited to open its doors for all who enter. Its proximity is a central location to the church, the slums, the town, and the leaders we are discipling for the Vapor team. It is a great home nestled amidst the Kenyan people and we are thankful to have this opportunity to expand our territory even further. Our homes this far have all been a providential blessing: Bul was an inviting embrace for us-- time with our friends has been a constant support and encouragement--our prayer is that Ngong can be our home that is open to all, allowing us close relations with its people.