Thika and our first trip to Mathare

Well, last week in Thika turned out to be an awesome week. Thursday we went to a church—which serves as a nursery school during the day—and we met up with the pastor. From there we went with him and the local Community Health Evangelist (CHE) to do two home visits. The first family we met was a lady and her husband who have five children of their own, and have also taken in two orphans. It is amazing to see the compassion from people who have just enough to provide for their own family yet also seek ways to help others. The next home that we visited was of a widow named Mary. Mary just lost her husband one month ago and was still having to find ways to provide for her two children. It was truly amazing to see that she was completely trusting in God through these difficult times.

After our home visits we became tourists for the afternoon. We took “boda boda’s” from the church to a local waterfall. We were quickly greeted at 14 Falls by a group of local men who were following us and trying to get us to let them take us on a tour. They finally figured out that Zach is the adventurous one and they were trying to get him to go cliff diving with them. Thanks to mom, Evie, there was no way Zach was going cliff diving at 14 Falls. After our time at the falls we settled in for the evening at our Catholic guesthouse.

Friday was the last day of our time in Thika, so we packed the LIA van and headed towards a local economic empowerment group. This particular group that we visited was a group of women who gather once a week and they each put in 25 Kenyan Shillings, which acts as a way for each of them to save money. Many of these women are saving this money to start up small businesses in their community and some save their money for their children’s school uniforms. For that particular meeting they had planned a home visit for a member in their group whose husband died a week prior. We got to spend some time with this widow in whom we were able to encourage and pray for about her current trials. After a brief visit with another economic empowerment group in Thika we headed back towards Nairobi.

This past weekend was a time of rest. Saturday we did some grocery shopping, watched The Truth Project, and relaxed. Sunday we went to church with Gus and Rose and did some more relaxing. This past weekend was very non-productive but it was a much-needed time of rest.

On Monday we joined the LIA-Kenya staff for a day of prayer. Each week we start the week in prayer and truly search for God’s guidance on the various programs that LIA is doing in the communities. It is also a time in which we seek the Lord’s guidance in each one of our lives. Starting this way truly makes the week better and provides clear direction for the goals of the coming days.

Today, we had our first visit to the Mathare Valley slum in Nairobi. Mathare is the smaller of the two slums in Nairobi but is still the home to approximately 800,000 Kenyans. We had the opportunity to go to visit one of the local churches, which also serves as a school during the week. We played with the children and got to be a part of their feeding program. Each one of us took a separate class and got to serve food to the children. It is amazing to see the work that the church is doing for this community. This particular church was a church that LIA partnered for several years. Last year LIA was able to withdraw themselves, as an organization, from this church and the church continued to provide wholistic ministry to their community in Mathare Valley. The children at this school were so wild. I don’t think there was a single minute that we were there that any of the five of us did not have at least two kids hanging onto us. It was such a great opportunity to be able to interact and show God’s love to these children. The second half of the day was spent at another school in Mathare Valley slum. This school recently had many people in the community donate supplies for them to build a new schoolhouse, and today was their first day in the new building. We each took a different level class and helped teach the children. Evie and I took the nursery/baby classes together and worked with them on the alphabet and numbers. I had an amazing time today working with the children in Mathare Valley.

Tonight we had most of the LIA-Kenya staff that is based here in Nairobi over for dinner. We decided to make them a good American meal and made two huge pots of chili. Although it was a little spicy, everything turned out well. The time of fellowship was great and we really had some time to get to know each other. I am looking forward to spending more time with all of them.

Well, it is officially midnight here and the kids wore me out today so I am headed to bed. Hope all is well for everyone and we thank you for all your continued prayer and support.

Love you all!

Mi2 Team

Jacob