goodness wins

for starters i just want to assure you that just incase you had any doubts at all: Goodness triumphs over evil. i mean i know we know this to be true because jesus is going to come back and freaking clean house and right this world once and for all but even in the meantime goodness wins!! why? because anything that is bad is only a perversion of something that is good. see mere christianity for more on the subject...i really liked his rational on that one. God is good and this is HIS world and thats just comforting. anyway this is going to be quick because i smell really bad and sitting still like this makes me very aware of that fact (and probably the poor people around me too) plus this key board is a peice of crap so i apologize in advance for any typos:) this last week was good-busy and rainy but good. the youth symposium went really well-there were a lot of last minute changes and a lot of flexibility but all in all i think it was a very good thing. about 60 people came and stayed for the entire thing which is way cool and the money was raised and the youth asked difficult questions and there was good discussion and everything. there was plenty of room for improvement but all in all it was a success. the district office of youth affairs asked us to do more in different areas they have projects in and all these people were saying we should have one at least every month. they kept asking me when the next one was but i told them the torch had been passed and now they have the opportunity to finish what i started! i sincerely hope they will.
i am busy with plans for the competition that is involving five children's homes in teh area as well as continuing to do murals in the new baby centre and work on the preschool sponsorship program (b-trop is a champ for helping with the design) so you should all check out happyafrica.org and sponsor a preschooler for christmas they are each precious and wonderful and in serious serious need...i mean i know all the excuses you might have for not sponsoring a child over seas but let me just assure you that their need is WAY more than yours will ever be. their stories are heart wrenching-literally. mean the things these kids have seen and been through are horrendous and a part of this ridiculous cycle that has no easy answer or solution. i have really been wrestling wtih that lately. i mean this entire country (not to mention the continent) have MAJOR structural changes that need to take place-economic, emotional, psychological, GOVERNMENTAL changes that need to happen. the culture of pverty is stifling and suffocating ingenuity and creativity with the aid of the education system which is a part of a corrupt government which creates/sustains a culture of deceit and corruption which is aided by/created by poverty which results from a complete lack of jobs and misuse of resources which has been perpetuated by decades of microsolutions that do nothing for the future while all along people are having 9 kids that they cant provide for and things just get messier.
thank goodess that goodness wins and that JESUS IS COMING BACK. meanwhile i will continue to love the one in front of me knowing that this is not my kingdom or my home but that my treasure is in heaven. lets not forget that there is enough for everyones need but not for everyones greed.
hopefully that will act as an inspiration to spur you on to good works for the kingdom of heaven rather than depress you into passivity because the latter would be tragic and the former will bring abudence and a transcendent peace to guard your heart!
shalom

pigs testicles and other kenyan wonders

So its time for a quick update…I know you all have been on the edge of your seats waiting…hahah just kidding but I thought the theme of this one should be the wonders of Kenya…just to give you an idea of some of the…eccentricities I come into contact with everyday…. pigs testicular sandwiches being one of them. We took the kids to the Nairobi national museum yesterday because it was a public holiday! It was an incredible day! Truly sooo much fun! After the museum we went to the park and had our picnic of pigs testicle sandwich and soda hahaha the kids looove them and then we just ran around the park playing in fountains running away from strange men with ridiculous money making techniques such as hideous face painting, pushing kids in little miniature cars or making balloon hats (minus any sort of skill or shapliness) like I said it was public holiday so the place was SWAMPED! On Friday I went to this HUGE market to try and track down instruments and costumes for the kids. This is definitely NOT the market that muzungus go to. Haha I now know where alllll our old clothes go….KENYA! there were piles and piles of used clothes from the western world and a whole lot of free spirits. Though I did get a darn cute sweater for 50 shillings (about 75 cents). But the wonder of all the wonders were these backpacks. One booth had all these backpacks exactly the same color, shape, everything except that it had a different brand stamped on it. Basically you could choose whether you are more of a reebok or puma person. Haha I laughed very hard. Also There are no rules of the road here…a trend largely perpetuated by mitatus-the taxi bus. These monstrosities are hardly road worthy and drive like MANIACS. The best part about them (did I mention they are my primary mode of transportation) is the decoration and naming of each unique mitatu. From “redeemed” to “Do me” to “wallz to wallz” these beautiful pieces of craftsmanship are the definition of art and creativity. Hahah its also usually quite clear that the designer did not speak English and so just typed some Swahili words into a translator and painted whatever came out. Or the other common mistake is the misunderstanding of rap lyrics…who can blame them though because I have a hard time myself understanding what they say. On any given day I might get into a mitatu with 37 people (it seats 14), a chicken, a goat, a mattress and 25 kilos of flour already aboard. It’s always an adventure.
Another wonder of Kenya (specifically where I am) are the tea plantations! I have been trying to run some mornings and recently found this back road that leads to the most astonishing, breath taking out of this world tea plantation I have ever seen. I literally rounded the corner and was at the top of a hill and was just baffled by the land that was spread out below me…such green, such blue in the sky such beauty. I really wont even attempt to describe it but let me assure you that there is a God and he IS an artist. Period.
In other news this has been a very busy week with the youth symposium coming up sooo very soon-this Saturday in fact. I am honestly a bit anxious about it. I know that a looot of people are coming ( my phone has been ringing like crazy) but I am just anxious about money, smoothness and whether people will actually think and participate. I would really really appreciate prayer on that account. Also I’ve been planning for the trip that we took yesterday and practicing for the talent competition!! Lots and lots of practicing. Maureen and Lydia spent the night on Sunday to make posters for the youth symposium. That was way fun. I finished my noah’s ark mural at the baby center and it turned out really good which is always a good thing (and certainly not a guarantee haha). Made a newsletter for the center, did bible study –I feel like slowly slowly I am becoming more of a friend and our conversations are getting better though I definitely would appreciate prayer in knowing best how to relate and love them and connect with them and overcome the language barrier, knitted more, spent friday night at the center, watched amelie (such a good movie-I love stories about quirky girls), and Basically that’s whats up. Its been good its been real. Hahah Well soooo much love from my heart to yours!

Christ's life

i was thinking about this concept of "it is no longer i who lives but Christ in me." What a tremendous difference....me living and then Christ living. i think i have a long way to go before i truly understand and live in that truth but there are certainly striking evidences of that in my life now. for example-this week end i just did not spend the time with the Lord that i personally need for basic functionality and it was so evident. i was easily frustrated, tired, stressed and pessimistic about the outcome of several events/programs i am working on. I had to step back last night and deconstruct my behavior until i realized that whoa this was all in direct corralation to the fact that i was not full...i had not drunk from the well of everlasting life-for two days!! thats all it took for me to fall into the trap of self, schedules, and success. what a struggle i am. i totally evaluate my worth according to how much, and how well i DO. its quite pathetic really...if i feel i have not accomplished the things i wanted to in a day i literally start to beleive the lie that i am nothing...not in the freeing Christ-loves-me-and-will-use-me-in-my-brokenness kind of way but in the self pity, self (loathing is too strong) disliking kind of way. i definately need to be free of that if i am to be fully Christs servant and soldier. This quote has been tremendously meaningful to me lately: "We mostly spend our lives conjugating three verbs: to Want, to Have, and to DO. Craving, clutching, and fussing, on the material, political, social. emotional,intellectual-even spiritual-plan, we are kept in perpetual unrest: forgetting that none of these verbs have any ultimate significance, except so far as they are transcended by and included in the fundamental verb, to Be: and that Being, not wanting, having and doing, is the essence of a spiritual life." Evelyn Underhill especially cocnsidering that God's real name is I AM it makes sense that we are closest to him-perhaps even ONLY close to him when we are BEING-allowing actions to flow from the BEING rather than the DOING to define the BEING.

in other news...this week flew by-like whoa. its hard to believe that i have been here nearly a month. we started working on our play this week and that has been a LOT of fun...the kids now all officially think i am crazy because i yell (not AT them- just in general), and do their lines with more flare than...well than i dont know what. haha they were sooooo pumped at first but the enthusiasm has waned a bit as they have begun to realize how  much work this is going to be. the play is called "The Rabbit and the Well."  its super cute-an african folk tale. we also started choreographing a dance for the talent competition that is going to be happening on November 8th. i dont know if i mentioned this before but i am trying to put together a talent competition between all the children's homes in the area. there are five homes currently planning on participating in the four categories of: Song/Dance, Poetry, Debate and Drama. its hopefully going to be a great thing for unifying the children's homes, developing a sense of ownership over the homes for the kids and building and affirming the kids in their unique giftednesses. 

The other major project is the Youth Symposium with Career Fair, Identity Finder activities, hot topic discussion and art exibition. i would REALLY appreciate prayer on that. its coming up sooner than i can beleive on Oct. 25. there is SOOOO much to do between now and then it blows my mind and makes me stressed out.

it has been an incredible week in terms of community. i feel i have really started to develop close friendships with the people who live at the house-especially Brioni. She's a passionate australian and just such a remarkable woman of God. also i feel i have started to finally break through in starting to form real friendships with the older girls-not just you know surfaceyness. well i am growing weary of typing and i can only assume that you have to be more than weary of reading so i shall spare us both and stop here. 

to God be the glory for ever and ever...

shalom and chocolate kisses  

this week was similar to last though maybe a bit less packed. the highlights were going to the elderly home with the kiddos and taking all the knitting we had been working on. i spent the night at the center on friday and that was a blast!!  the kids didnt have school on wednesday so we had the whole day to have fun (and wear me out). we made sock puppets and did puppet shows. 

sunday we had a debate. that was a struggle because the kids are simply NOT TAUGHT to think at ALL!! its very frustrating because those are the skills that cause change in a people-the ability to think critically, outside the box!! so we are going to be doing debates every sunday. the kids just stared at us as we tried to ask them the WHY question to whether boys and girls should recieve equal education and whether the kenyan education system is efficient, excellent and adequately prepares them for their future careers. even the teacher (Kenyan) who was helping with the activity couldnt comprehend the concept. he just wanted them to memorize the reasons we wrote on the board and i was just dumbfounded. i started yelling and jumping up and down-no writing no writing just THINK!!! we dusted off our thinking caps (literally) and put them on and TRIED TRIED TRIED to think. it was a start. a bit of a struggle though

i am feeling a bit loopy this morning as my sinuses are funky and its rainy, cold and misty. 

oh one really fun thing that we did was on saturday night my house mates and I went to the movies and out to this cRAZY indian food court. it was a blast though my bowls did not appreciate it. hahah too much information?? probably but thats the glory of blogs i dont have to mind. 

another highlight was going to Kibera to teach a bible lesson on prayer at this school called New Adventure Primary School. (i wonder if the kids there are more excited about learning) 

no profound thoughts this morning maybe tomorrow.

shalom