Thursday, February 03, 2011 – Gaining Perspective

After morning devotional, our first stop was the Spring Valley Church, where we worshipped together on Sunday. It is located in the Spring Valley Slum area and it exists because a large group of poor people were relocated to this location by a government official many years ago. The people in this community used to live in the Spring Valley area on the other side of town because a wealthy British Kenyan couple had a heart for the poor of Nairobi and invited them to live on their land. They even deeded the land to the poor when they died, but a government official decided it was too nice to give to them so they were relocated to the area we visited and there now are more than 20,000 people living in one square mile. They kept the name “Spring Valley” kind of as a way of getting back the government and so now there are two Spring Valleys in Nairobi but they are worlds apart in terms of living conditions.

We learned today that in 1999 418 children died in the Spring Valley slum. The next year no children died. This is because of Pastor Stanley and his wife Alice who felt called to minister in this community that year. Pastor Stanley was a successful engineer and Alice was a banker and they both cashed in their pensions to start a church and ministry for the children of Spring Valley. What began as a calling from God to serve the people of Spring Valley has turned into a seven day a week ministry that includes a school and a feeding program. Over 300 children are currently enrolled in the school (pre-school to 8^th grade) most of whom would not get an education if it were not for Pastor Stanley and Alice and the other dedicated staff of the Spring Valley Church, but there are 1200 on the wait list. The school provides 2 meals a day to the children, which is often the only nourishment they receive during a day. The church has also built the only restroom facility in the slum and as a result there is no more cholera or other contagious disease outbreaks in the community. Much of this ministry is funded by generous churches in the U.S.

Pastor Stanley shared many powerful stories about life in the slum. One of them was about a visitor who was carrying a donut through an area of slum and it fell out of their pocket. A little boy and a little girl and a dog all went for the donut at the same time. The girl got the donut, but she lost an eye in the process. This experience and many others have propelled Stanley to care for the “widows and orphans and the poor”. Unemployment is 65 percent in Kenya and so most of the adults cannot find work even if they would like to get some.

We did two things in the slum as part of our visit. First, we visited the school. Thomas and I spent time with the 7^th and 8^th grade classes who had received letters from Miller Middle School students in Durango. We had delivered those letters on Sunday. We had time with the kids to answer questions and the kids presented us with letters they had written back to the students in Durango that we will deliver upon our return. We also visited each of the other classes and saw overcrowded rooms and kids with rags for school uniforms. We met a young girl who has graduated from the school but was unable to have good enough grades to go to high school (you have to have good grades AND pay school fees to attend high school in Kenya.) She has learned the trade of sowing and she helps make new uniforms for kids who don’t have any.

Our time at the school also included helping to serve breakfast, which was basically a cup of porridge. This meal, served at 11 a.m., was the first food most of the kids had that day. The food for all 30 kids is prepared in a kitchen with no water and only using wood for cooking. The kitchen is about 15 feet by 10 feet and only has one window for ventilation. The convert the church sanctuary, made with tin walls and ceiling and a dirt floor, into a dining hall for breakfast and lunch.

After helping to serve breakfast we then delivered 16 baskets of food and supplies our team brought with us to 16 families chosen by Pastor Stanley and Alice to receive them. We split into two teams and children from the school whose houses we were delivering to led us through the streets of Spring Valley. At each home we heard their family’s story and then one member of our team prayed for the family and their home based upon their prayer request. It was a humbling experience to sit with a family of 6 living in a tin room that was the size of most of our bathrooms with no windows, beds and old furniture which had been repaired many times. The temperature in each home was probably 100 degrees or more. Their best worldly possessions were usually laid out on a table or night stand and these consisted mostly of cell phones that did not work and old calendars, all of which had been pulled from the trash.

The amazing part of each home was the deep faith exhibited by each family. In one home I asked a single mother of 4 (her husband had died the year before) what I could pray for her and her children. Her response was, “Please pray the Lord will bless us so we can give to others who have less than we do.” It was hard to fathom anyone who had less than this woman and her children, yet you could clearly feel the heart of God in this woman’s life. As we left their house, her youngest child held my hand and escorted me out. She said to me as we left, “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad! Thank you for coming. We will be praying for you.” (This is why I renamed the blog.)

It was a very humbling morning, and all this happened before noon. We headed to HOREC in the afternoon to work on our projects at the orphanage and while it was good work to do, the morning had changed us as a group to re-think our priorities in life.

The best part of the afternoon was getting a phone call from a man in Nairobi who sells well parts telling us he was planning on donating a high end, submersible pump to the well at HOREC. I thought that was nice until I learned that is worth about $10,000! Marty Sheppard, one of the leaders of our team, had made contact with this gentlemen about making a donation and he replied this week. We put him in contact with Living Waters, who will be putting in the well, and they were ecstatic to work with him and lower the cost of the well. It most likely will allow us to provide water for another orphanage nearby in which the children cannot go to school because they have to walk 3 miles each day one way just to get water.

Well, that’s probably enough for today. Please continue your prayers as we wrap up our week of work and then celebrate HOREC’s 6^th Anniversary on Saturday with a part and our last time with the children before we leave. Peace, Jeff