Mathare Valley & Sweet 16 Birthday Parties

Krystal, one of my best friends from ACU, moved to Nairobi this summer. She is an amazing woman of God, and an inspiration to me by the way she is serving children in Kenya! Even though we are both working here in Nairobi with similar jobs, we live very different lives, and minister to very different people groups. She is working for an organization called Missions Of Hope International in a slum called Mathare Valley.

Houses walking through Mathare

Kids working hard in school

Last Monday I had the opportunity to go to work with Krystal and see how God is using this organization to impact the community in Mathare Valley for His Kingdom in incredible ways. I got to meet all the kids that Krystal is showing Christ's love to each day as she goes to the school! It brought joy to my heart to see how all the children love Krystal so much- It is because they are drawn to her because Christ is so evident in her life!

"No dumping" - walking through the Valley opened up my eyes, once again, to the harsh living conditions and realities facing so many children and families in Nairobi.

My new friend Esther sells bananas and fruit each day next to the school.

While Krystal's primary responsibility is focusing on Social Work in Mathare Valley, she also finds time to love on and minister to 6 of the high school girls from the school. Many of the girls have been sexually abused, physically abused, and have grown up in the streets, among drugs, pain, hunger, suffering, and just trying to make it through. Yet, God is providing hope and redeeming his children through Missions of Hope International, and through Krystal. It was such a blessing to get to go and love on these children for the day! We got to eat lunch with them, play games and talk with them at lunch, and go to a couple of the classrooms and even do a home visit with one of the students!

Fun games at recess!

I am always amazed at the joy of the children, and the Kenyans here.

God is the ONLY sustainer and satisfaction for our souls.

While I am not working with students who live in the slums, I am privileged to serve and love on high school students who are in desperate need of God's love as well. Two weekends ago, I was invited to a friend's Sweet 16th Birthday Party! It was a blast- we danced, played hide-n-go-seek in the dark with glow sticks, had birthday cake and dinner, there was even a station to decorate your own cupcake, paint your nails, play darts, and play card games! (This was very very different from the students I met in Mathare...)

God has taught me in a new way through these very different experiences of walking through the slums of Nairobi, and going to a birthday party of a 16 year old girl, that everyone needs Christ. No matter who you are, where you come from, what your socioeconomic status is- we ALL are in a desperate state and need of a savior.

Paul's words to the church in Ephesus resonate with me loudly after processing these two experiences:

"The mystery is that people who have never heard of God and those who have heard of him all their lives (what I've been calling outsiders and insiders) stand on the same ground before God. They get the same offer, same help, same promises in Christ Jesus. The Message is accessible and welcoming to everyone, across the board. This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities." (Ephesians 3: 6-8)