Convenience & Comfort

Convenience and comfort....words that are sometimes synonymous with the American culture. And maybe even things that we take for granted in our own culture. If we need to make a quick trip to the grocery store, we hop in one of our cars and quickly drive down the nicely paved road to the 24 hour supermarket and peruse the aisles for anything you might want or need. If you are sitting at home and find yourself bored you can quickly get on the home wifi with one of your several wireless devices, or flip on the T V with its endless choices in channels or turn on the X-box, playstation or Wii and quickly lose your- self in a game. And nowadays if you don’t feel like going shopping at the mall then you just get on the internet and order whatever item you want and have it shipped directly to your house. We    now pay our bills online, interact socially online and do everything from the comfort and convenience of our own homes.

In comparison, Kenya has some of these conven- iences but not quite to the standard that we find in the states. Kenyans have and drive nice cars. There are some very nice, paved roads ( Thika Super    Highway and the different bypasses to name a few) but they are quickly balanced out by the many
terrible roads. There are many nice homes with wifi, good security and all the comforts you would find in the states. Kenyans can also do some things online that can save time and effort that would be spent doing some- thing else. For instance, there is an online bill pay service called m-pesa that Kenyans can use to pay bills

online without having a bank account (look it up online . . .one of the top app son the market). They are also about to convert all of their public transportation vehi- cles (buses & small vans . . . called matatus) to a card pay system called beba pay. Instead of paying a conduc- tor the fare from one desti- nation to another (which routinely he charges some people more than he does others because they don’t know the fare price), you will now load up a beba pay card with credit and scan it as you enter and exit buses and will always be charged an accurate fare.
Kenya, on a daily basis, continues to become more and more modern and con-
tinues to grow its middle class. Despite these im- provements there are still many living in poverty and without    hope. Two of the largest slums in Nairobi, Kibera and Mathare, which house together about 2, 000, 000 souls,  abound in mud and filth, reek of petrol, smoke and decay, over- flow with illicit drugs and alcohol and give their inhabitants an over- whelming sense of despair and hopelessness that life is too difficult to live. Amidst all of this modernity that springs out of the utter hopelessness of the urban sprawl of Nairobi, comes the joy and hope of our Savior, Christian churches and ministries overflow all over the    city ,full    of    people    who want to rejoice in their Savior and bring hope to the hopeless. Our kids here at MI TS continue to learn about how God has a plan for them and wants to use their God-given talents for a greater purpose. About how he wants to use their hurts and struggles to teach others about the power of God in people’s lives to help them overcome their cir- cumstances and see the plans that God has in store if they will only trust God.

My journey to arrive at MI TS was full of far    fewer surprises and struggles as many of these kids that I currently teach. My background is much like that privileged existence I described in the states. A background of affluence, of love, of convenience in stark contrast to what I find with many of these kids I work with. And even though I may be the Bible class teacher for many of these kids/ students, I find a paradox at work in my life. I find that in many ways I am the student struggling to understand life from a different perspective that only these kids can teach. I see God at work in ways that I could never imagine in the states, not necessarily because it doesn’t exist there, but because I was blinded to see its existence. Despite my many advantages in education, knowledge, technology, health and numerous other areas these kids teach me daily about God’s love, about joy in tough circumstances, about living abundantly with meager possessions, about faith in the midst of hardship, about friendship, about true wealth and
they help me to see the Savior on a daily basis.
Despite these differences and the different ways we teach one another here at MITS, I feel like God was constantly involved in my life to bring me to this place. That he had a plan in bringing me here and he continues to use me to be an exam- ple, a teacher, an encourager and a friend to so many of these kids. That plan extends to those same people who support me in this work. I feel like God put it in your heart to bless me in this ministry and to partner with me as I share the blessings that you and God so richly shower down on me.
I look forward to many journeys with staff and kids in my “new” car as we travel to new destinations and continue to talk and learn from each other’s faith on these journeys. I look forward to meals shared over my table with staff members and visitors as we continue to challenge each other, pray with each other, share our struggles with each other and just encourage each other. As you can see in the attached pictures
I am lacking in nothing that I need to pursue my work here in Kenya. I want you to be encouraged to know that you helped to make this possible and I am thankful for your support and gifts and I am hopefully able to pass on the support and gifts to the kids and staff here at MI TS.