To Kenya, With Love

"But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13 (The Message)

One of my favorite Canadian ladies, Paulette (granted, I don't really know many Canadians, but I'd like to think that I would enjoy Paulette's company just because she is that cool) said something pretty profound last week. Her and her husband, Bob, have been missionaries since... I don't know, forever. I want to say like 16 years or something. They came and visited Kisumu last week. I think they are Canadian, but they don't say "Eh?" all the time so I think they might be faking their Canadian-ism. I like Paulette because she is smart and she doesn't talk down to me and she always asks me how I am doing and I think she really wants to know. She's good people.

Paulette said something along the lines of, "People get all freaked out and upset when they see kids running around here with no shoes. Who cares? We should be more worried about the fact that these kids are dying because they have no food, or because they can't afford medication and doctor's visits."

You might not think this is profound. But you are not writing this blog. Bear with me. Let's see where this goes.

One of the first things that was shared with me when I got here was the story about the man and the well. A man came here and saw these women walking miles and miles to the lake everyday for water for their household. I don't know about you, but buckets of water can be pretty heavy. Not a fun job. So this man decided he was going to build a well in the city, where everyone could get water and the women wouldn't have to walk as far everyday. He came back sometime later to realize that the well was not being used. I guess he threw a fit or something (I would) and asked, "Why is no one using the well?" The women replied, "You never asked us if we wanted a well. Our daily walks to the lake are the only time we get to fellowship with other women. It's the only time we get to ourselves. We LIKE walking to the lake everyday."

The American in me looks around at these homes and at these people and I think "We should buy them new shoes, or a new mattress or new clothes or this or that." MATERIAL THINGS. Because I think that is what they need. I want to fix things for them, my way, the way I fix things in America. I can't imagine going to school with no shoes. But I also have, like, 20 pairs of shoes to choose from. We sit here and think of ways that we should help, and we end up making it worse. I think that when you come to places like this, it is so important to submerse yourself in the culture, and understand the real problems here. Yes, the boys have crappy shoes. Yes, they have holes in their clothing. But we should be more concerned with getting them off drugs, getting them back into their homes with their families, getting them healthy, keeping them in school, and getting them educated so they have a chance at a better life. We need to teach them to rely on God and not on money, or themselves, or even the white people. That's the hardest part. You have to look beyond yourself, EVERYDAY, to see what these people REALLY need. Not what we think they need. You have to look at everyone through God's eyes.

I can be a cynic sometimes. I can be fearful and hurtful and guarded. God brought me here. And I think everything in me is all kind of changing. We can talk about being compassionate and loving and whatever, but what are we really doing? Are we loving in our sense of the word? Or are we loving the way God loves, the kind of love that sees the big picture, the whole truth, and may hurt a little at first but (in the words of Monk), "You'll thank me later" for it? Sometimes I try to say the things that I think kids want to hear. You can't do that here. It's too important. Too many lives are at stake. This isn't like America where education is free and our young people are encouraged to chase their dreams of rocket science or music or art or medicine. Generally, the education here is NOT free. You have to pay school fees/uniform fees. And generally, parents want their kids working, not in school. Kenya does not value education for young people. Parents don't really encourage their kids to get an education (unless it going to school doubles as baby-sitting.) It breaks my heart that this country barely give kids a chance. This is why I really love organizations like, "To Kenya, With Love." My favorite British people work there (Not that I know a lot of British people. But these guys are lovely). This organization helps kids with school fees and uniform fees. They counsel kids and help KEEP THEM IN SCHOOL.

And that is SO important.

Agape is doing great work as well, reintegrating kids back into their homes so they can function and have normal lives. It's about healing the wounds and dealing with baggage and as difficult and awkward that it might be, that's the best thing that we can do for these kids. (Just to clarify, if the situation at home is unsafe/unstable, Agape doesn't try to get them to stay home. This is just for the kids who CAN go home.) It would be nice to stand here and rattle off statistics about how many kids live at Agape and how great we are for helping. But what are those numbers for? Who benefits from those numbers? Not God. Not those kids. That's the real love that I am talking about. The difficult love. The love that remains even when we leave Kenya. That's the kind of mark I want to leave behind. Not a mark that says, "Marissa was here." A mark that says, "God IS here."

"And the best of the three is love." I read some commentary for 1 Corinthians 13 the other day. It says this: "Love is the root of the other two. Faith and hope are purely human. Love is divine."

I've had a lot of people asking how they can help. That is great. You can donate to places like Agape, or To Kenya, With Love. You can donate things like Bibles in Kiswahili, materials for classrooms, help pay for school fees for kids, or you can donate money to these organizations and they can figure out what to do with it. You can also donate to other organizations, however you see fit. There are great and Godly people doing amazing work for God everywhere, everyday. I ask that you pray about it. See where God is leading you. And follow through.

There is much work to be done here. Greater things have yet to come.

Love and miss you all. Be well.
Riss

For more information on these organizations, or to donate, you can visit these sites:

www.agapechildren.org (Agape Children's Ministry)
www.tkwl.org.uk (To Kenya, With Love)

Also, check out Blood:Water Mission. Because contrary to what I said about wells, some places around here actually NEED clean water. www.bloodwatermission.com