Good news na bad news

Bad News-

I was the one responsible for seeing a boy get beaten by a police officer. I had to watch it too. I was constantly checking my pockets in the back of my mind so that I wouldn't get picked by a street boy. I was in the busy bus park and boys were all around me. I thought I had my wallet in the left-front and some tracts in the right front. Aparently my wallet was home the whole time. I politely asked three little boys for their toxic glue to spare their little minds for a night. As I was leaving the boys were hugging me goodbye, holding my hand to stay, and really trying to get the sniffing glue from my left hand. I hopped on a Boda-Boda cuz it was getting a little late and I reached for my wallet after about five minutes on the bike. I GOT ROBBED!!- I thought. I went back. I politely asked for my wallet cuz I needed my I.D. and my ATM card. There was no money in it so they wouldn't mind forking it over. There was no wallet and a small crowd was gathering. This can be dangerous in Kenya for reasons I don't want to write. Not cuz its graffic I just want to go to bed. Anyways, the police came and I told some boys about the ones hugging me and pulling on the bottles as I left. I could have swore that Mgongo took it. He was always a shady kid to me, but he actually didn't at all. They let the boys go, but poor Mgongo (He looks fifteen, but is 25) got beaten pretty good. I had to watch. I thought he stole it also and all the little ones were saying he took it as they cried in the police box. I still feel terrible about it. That was some bad news.

Good News-

The boys had five soccer balls today for practice and it was the best soccer practice ever!! We did lots of ball drills. It was great!! I got nice and sweaty. It was some great excercize. We had a Bible study after and some lunch for 30 cents each. That is some good news.

Bad News-

There is a woman and some others that sell that toxic glue to the boys in the bus park. I hate that stuff with a PASSION. It is evil and those poor little boys are so addicted. This woman who has a shoe business sells it. Some bad bad news. Not new news just bad news.

Good news

After lots and lots of ingenius lying from the street boys and many others, I found the place where the glue was sold and I went and talked with the woman. After we got past her lies, the Lord began to open her up a little bit. I told her to stop selling glue to the boys for three days and I would pray for her other business of selling shoes. I told her WHEN (not if but when) God answers that prayer that we will talk on thurday. God will honor that prayer- more good news.

Bad News

thats it, accept for all the corruption here. It pretty much sucks.

Good news

We found Mgongo today. His mind is pretty messed up from years of glue, but there is still hope with God. I used to think he was shady and pretty hopeless, but after today I just love the kid. Since I caused his beating, I treated him to lunch and sat next to him as he made the whole restaurant bust up because of his loud incomprehesible chatter. He almost made me spit out my chapati he was being so funny. He was very grateful. These boys get in fights so much that a beating from a cop really isn't anything to lose sleep over. He got over it the instant he knew lunch was being served. Pray God would do a miracle with this boys brain. He used to be a very sweet little boy is what I hear. Some more good news.

Thank you for reading my blog. I actually don't even know if people read it, but whateva. God bless you my friends.

Kisumu After Dark

One place you don't want to be at night as a white man is in downtown Kisumu. You especially don't want to stroll through fanana park after hours. I spent lots of time with one of our best players named Basil (not BAY-zll Baa-zil) today and he informed me about Kisumu after dark. He said that fanana park is the worst place to be when the liquor stores have emptied their stock of the cheapest and nastiest liquor. Basil told me that women will walk through the park half-naked and drug use is rampant there as well. The irony starts with the fact that this place is where ministry happens every sunday with the street boys. A hundred or so gather to sing and hear the word of God on the very same ground where debauchery and crime flourishes. I asked if I would be okay to come at night even if I had no money to steal and he said I would likely get beaten anyways for not giving them any money. I will just stick to daytime ministry for now.

My first game with team Hovic was today. It was a real Kenyan football match. The politics of Kenya and the corruption in this country even manifest in the local men's soccer league. This is disturbing, but true. The Ref was afraid of a beating from the other team so the calls were skewed making for a 2-1 defeat to a wrongly called p.k.. And our opponents must have trembled at a bunch of street boys plus one random white man beating them in the match. They were older and more skilled, but the street boys were a hundred times more daring and brave. They would give their left leg to win one contest for the ball- blood gushing and all. Their bravery is what may make them good football players one day. I knew there was something wrong when my players advised me to not go for the ball because I quote, "they will likely injure you". The street boys knew of the corruption and it made for an intersting match. I looked half African after the match from the dark dirt-sweat combination all down the left side of my body. And I only bled a little, but it was all worth it!

Tomorrow is a turning point for these boys. I hope to purchase eight soccer balls in the morning followed by their first REAL football practice. I am bubbling with excitement, but also cautious at sharing a fortune with boys who have nothing. The balls that I am buying are the best. "Losing" and then selling a ball would mean food, rent, pleasure, and survival. I recognize the temptation presented so the balls must be well gaurded and they will clearly be labeled my property for the time being.

The spiritual aspect is this. The boys know some about the Lord. Their undestand rides along the surface and has never truly been explored. Are they truly born-again going to heaven Christians? I don't really know. Time will tell. The word of God changed and is changing me and I know the same will be true for them. Tomorrow I will have a Bible on the field and continue fulfilling my self-proclaimed role as team pastor. Things may get hairy because the enemy is truly fighting for the souls of these boys, but hakuna matata as they say.

Life is good, God is good. I am fully alive and so happy and content with life. I love being here and may find my way back some time. Thank God today for all He has done for you and all that He has blessed you with. He is worthy to be praised and thanked continually. Isn't it?

The Latest

The past few days have been comprised of numerous great experiences. I preached a sermon, had a sleepover in a village, and worked on a soccer team. I will go into detail for each.

Casa de Mama Milka

Milka is a great lady. Her job is to help tend the cows at the dairy farm. She never speaks english, which makes our relationship a little limited, but I really love her none-the-less. She invited me to her home and I accepted the invitation gladly. I really wanted to see Kano and get to meet all her family and such. The time I spent there was a struggle for me. I usually am such a tough guy and little usually bothers me, but I had some problems being there for the overnighter. Nothing too dramatic but it was really tough to eat the dozens of mandazi (african donuts), sodas, fishy tasting tea, mound of rice, mound of ugali, and kuku (chicken) all to myself. I wanted to puke by the end of dinner. Hakuna matata. I tried to get to know them as well as I could in half a day and I actually really liked one of Milka's sons a lot. His name is Charles I believe. He told me he had just killed an antelope the other day as he pointed to the tail hanging from the ceiling of the hut. If I ever go there again I am going spear hunting with him no matter what it takes. The highlight of the visit was a little girl named Bella. She ran in my arms and smiled to the heavens. Then she fell asleep in my arms as I ate my eight coarse meal. The low point of the visit was the spiritual bondage/ darkness that manifested mostly at night. They pray at night and beat on a drum for the "Holy Spirit" to come into the village, but some sort of demonic presence could be felt instead. The village is run by a Catholic cult called Legen Maria or something like that. I have never felt such clear demonic activity (except for that one time in Vegas) in my life. It was a little hard to fall asleep. Even though there was a little difficulty there, I was glad I went to the village and hope to go back.

Sermon

Bwana asa fiwe (Praise the Lord) I was so blessed to preach. Wycliffe, the pastor, told me 40 minutes to an hour and I went too long. I was nervous I wouldn't have enough to say, but aparently God gave me PLENTY of words. We had to stop it a little short as the kids were getting out of Sunday school and people's bottoms were getting a little sore. Oh well. I think people were blessed by it and God was glorified so that is all that matters. I spoke on "work" and how we need to first know where we sit in Christ and that will enable us to work for Christ. God is so good!!

Soccer Update

I am playing soccer everyday I am in town with the street boys and we have another friendly match tomorrow with another team. We lost last week so we are hoping for a victory tomorrow. The boys are warming up to me more and tomorrow we are going to have a team meeting. I hope that God gives me the right words and it brings us all together. I just found out that my church is donating some money to provide soccer balls to the boys!! I was so stoked and it is such an answer to prayer. Praise God for that. I think that it will really encourage the boys to have team balls and to feel like a real team for once. I hope to lead them in drills as much as I can, but more importantly I hope to soon develop some sort of daily devotional we can have together as a team so that they can come to know God more. We need to have a team first and I am working on it as much as possible. A few boys are very consistent, but some of the boys barely come. I pray that are meeting goes well tomorrow. Please pray for these boys and that God would do more than I could think or imagine because we know that He is able.

Random Travels

Kevin Woodward was on his way back to America and he needed a travel companion during his last week in Kenya. I was his man. I am thankful for each experience and I wish to write a few of them here.

Cham Ge!!

The one word I learned that day from the Nandi language was Cham Ge (hello). The people loved it when they heard a white man utter their mother tongue so I said it A LOT. Nandi is an extremely large village region in the upper foothills of Kenya. Nandi Rock is a little finger of a rock that pokes up into the sky. We could see the rock from the Nehemiah center and I concluded that we must hike up to it. Kevin agreed. Our guide was a security gaurd boy named George. He gaurds the big red gate at the Nehemiah Farm. He is from Nandi and led us up the trail without even breaking a sweat or drinking a drop. The kid was a machine. One of the highlights was the screaming monkey that was shaking the tree as we hiked. I think he was calling for a wife or something. Another highlight was the fairy-tale atmosphere of Nandi. I felt like I was in a dream world. The little round huts with thatched roofs, the green rolling hills, the red-dirt paths, and the maize growing all around. It was so quiet and peacefull and time seemed to stop when we walked through Nandi. After sweating out the near two liters of water we reached Nandi Rock. Little to my knowledge did I know I would be doing some barefoot rock climbing, but I did. Another Nandian man helped Kevin and I climb to the very top. It was a little technical, but enjoyable and worthwhile. After coming down we were met by about a hundred African school children. They were SOOO excited to see us. My guess is that a white person for them was a rare rare treat to see. Greeting one and sitting with one was out of this world for them or so it seemed. After signing autographs and letting them play with my hair a bit we went back. Nandi was great. Praise God for his beautiful creation: the mountains, trees, monkeys, and the children. I am so grateful I went there.

The Creamery

Eldoret was not very exciting for Kevin and I. We stayed with our friend Michael, who is a great man of God and a dear brother. I love him very much. We were mostly bored in Eldoret and just came for a short visit. The best part was the creamery. We went straight to the source when I inquired about getting some ice cream. I went a little overboard with my tub of banana ice cream, but it was worth it. That was Eldoret.

Uganda and the Jew in Jinga

Uganda was great. I didn't want to go because it was rushed and about as poorly planned as possible. I like to know a few things before hopping over to another country, but it all worked out great so who cares. We knew: Jinga, Uganda, in a few hours, and need some money. That was about it. We waited until 3:30 am for our bus and then struggled for some sleep between the potholes on our way to Jinga. We woke up to the bus stopping and Kevin thought it must be a bathroom break. Or was it the border? We reached Uganda and didn't really know the protocall for crossing African borders in pitch dark, but we just followed everybody off the bus. After some confusion and signing a blue card we were walking into Uganda. The bus sped past us as we walked and then we got suddenly afraid. Then we ran after the bus. In short, lets just say we made it safely to Jinja, The birthplace to the Nile River.

The Jews name was Gilad (gee-lad). He was a young guy traveling alone through Africa. We met him while we bought our visa to Uganda. We really latched onto him because he seemed to half-know what he was doing in Jinja. The three of us rode on the back of three motorcyles to Bujagali Falls, a name for a class 5 Rapid on the Nile river. It was Beautifull!!! The Nile far exceeded any expectations I had coming into the trip.

How to do a full roll in a Kayak:

Get fully secured in your Kayak and make sure no water will get into your leg chamber. Hold your paddle on your side along the length of the kayak and have the paddle-head flat and parallel to the water. Roll over and stay very calm. Slowy move the paddle accross your body and reach out with it to the side of your body. With a great thrust push down on the water and you will pop up like a duck. Only try this with the supervision of a trained professional or a random Ugandan kid you meet at the bank of a swimming spot on the Nile River.

Rafting and my new sisters

I told my new sisters that I would write about them on the blog. They were an hodgepodge of five girls from VERY different places. Three were from Delaware (I still don't know where that place is) I think it is a city in Alaska or something. One girl was one of about 15 missionaries from Dijibuti (Ji-booty). Fifteen missionaries and about one million people (that is sad). It is on the North-east coast of Africa and is completely Muslim. It is the Bakersfield of Africa. And the third girl was a delightful girl from the Netherlands. I now like the Dutch after meeting her. Anyways, Kevin and I had a great time with our guide Henry, these five girls, and the Nile River. The water was warm and the rapids were enormous. They were class 3-5 rapids. We only flipped one time, which was unfortunate. That was everyone's favorite part. The Nile was a hit and I am so thankful to God that I was able to go there. I am glad Kevin dragged me there. It was a great adventure and it gave me a lot of time to think and pray for the street boys. God keeps throwing things in my plans that force me to rest. Rest is Gods idea and we can't forget it. Rest was made for us and we were made for rest. Praise God!!!

Hey Roonie!

Hey Roonie! was the first thing I heard as I arrived this morning at the "soccer field". Roonie is a freckly guy that plays for Manchester United. I bare a resemblance to him aparently. I went to play soccer with the street boys today. There were about twelve boys and we had a great time. I helped run some drills and then we played a little scrimmage. I was a little embarassed for getting tired due to the high altitude. I don't think that I am in that bad of shape, but oh well. I feel like I am already gaining their trust after the first day, which feels so good. I am learning Kiswahili so fast and I praise God for it because it is helping me so much connect with the boys. As we were eating afterwords at a shack they call a hotel they asked me why I came to Kisumu. I was able to open the door just a little about why God has placed me here. I really like these boys. These boys are hated and rejected by many of the people in the city. I am so glad that I can be their friends. I explained to them that we can learn from eachother. They can help me with swahili and I can help teach them the Bible and some soccer. I hope to engage in Christian fellowship with these boys in the near future. I don't know where many of them stand spiritually, but I think that we will talk about that soon. I mostly want to genuinly love them as God enables me to do so. I think that the most loving thing we can do in introduce somebody to our great God. There is nothing better!!

How to milk a cow?

Well, the first thing that I learned is that it is all in the fingers. You need to get the cow into the holding cell for milking first. Then after you have secured the cow you want to apply some lubricant on the teets. You start high up on the teets and then squeeze firmly. You then pull down and aim the milk into a clean bucket. you repeat this process many times until each teet has been thoroughly milked. Milking cows by hand is really hard work. If I ever own cows I will need to gets some milking pumps. Anyways, I had the best time at the farm. It was good to walk around with people who are comfortable with Kenya and have adapted wonderfully to the lifestyle of a Kenyan. It has allowed me to not fear the adventure that God has for me here.

Kibuye Market

I walked around the big market here in Kisumu. I was the only white person there, but it was so cool. Sunday is the big day for the market. There was so much produce and so many people. I got enough strange looks for one day and I was ready to go home after a little while. I learned that sometimes men will pretend to be drunk and then try to hug you as they rob you in the process. I had a man try and then I quickly got him off me and went my way. I bought a pineapple from a friend and his family and a bag of onions because I was persuaded by some lady who saw dollar signs when the Mizungu (white man) walked by. I paid a good price though. She didn't rip me off.

Anyways, I hope that you are all doing well today. Thank you for all your support and prayers.

Karibu Sana!!

"You are very welcome" was something I heard a lot of today. I made a little trip just out of the city of Kisumu to visit a compound called Nehemiah International. It is a Christian Farm that welcomes orphans and widows. Their hope is to have a completely sustainable farm and they are currently opperating at around seventy or eighty percent self-sustaining. I woke up this morning before the roosters and walked around in the dark on the farm. I came without a watch and I didn't want to miss chapel so I think I may have woke up before five. Chapel was at seven. So many people love God so much here on the farm. It is a great community of about sixty people. "You may be thinking, How odd?? A farm. How did I get there?"

I just happen to have two friends that both go to Cal Poly and are currently staying at Nehemiah. One is Anna Schuler and the other is Kevin Woodward. Anna has spent nine months of her life here in the rural parts of Kisumu teaching children and living on the farm. I was so glad to go with her and Kevin today and say some goodbyes. Anna will be leaving shortly so she has to tell all her friends goodbye. I ate a couple of dinners in huts and stopped at a "hotel" as the Kenyans call it. I waited for some transportation, helped with a Bible lesson, played an impromtu part as the young david fighting Goliath, walked though corn fields, played with children and greeted many wonderful Africans. People love Jesus here so much and they are not afraid to talk about it. It is not like America, but I really like it.

I am so glad to have come here and take time praying for the street boys and seeking God as to how I can best minister and befriend them. I want to see break throughs in the barriers that are built up with them. I am thinking about starting a soccer ministry and getting to know the children through that. I love soccer so I hope that is what happens. I hope to pour into these young men and see great fruit as the Lord changes them. I want to learn what it means to love people and genuinely befriend them. I can't wait to get back to the city and see God knock down social, physical, and spiritual walls that will enable His love and His Word to come in. I am so thankful to be here and very interested in what will come of me being here. I will go one day at a time.

I am in Kisumu

I have just arrived in Kisumu and I had an amazing day today. I left the group of Americans from thousand oaks after spending a few days with them in Mombasa on the east coast. We had a great time visiting an orphanage there. I was so sad that the time there was so brief. I envy those orphan children. On average they are filled with more joy than any American including myself much of the time. Many of them seem to have vibrant walks with Jesus. Their singing was INCREDIBLE!!

There are approximately 42 tribes in Kisumu, which each have their own language/dialect. In the region of Kisumu is the Luo tribe. I have been practicing so hard to learn Swahili and now I want to learn some Luo so I can communicate to people in the language where they are most comfortable. The national language is Swahili so everybody can understand that.

I rode on a boda boda (back of a bicycle) today. Actually, I rode on one and my luggage rode on another. I arrived at Steve and Dianne's (Americans) house this morning and then we went straight to go do outreach with the street boys. Outreach days are wednesday and sunday. I just happened to make it at the right time to go do outreach with Steve. I ended up meeting some of the street boys and practicing my Swahili with them as much as I could. Then they started a soccer game out of nowhere and handed me a whistle. I instantly became the Ref. It was a team from the street boys against a team from the Hawkers (local young vendors). The street boys won 2-1 and they were actually very talented. With some coaching and cleats they have serious potential.

A lot of the street boys sniff glue and get high all day long. It is so sad to sit there and watch a seven year old nurse a bottle of glue, which smells so awful. I almost cried as I held the hand of a little boy named John, who was so cute and small and yet he is hooked on that garbage. It made me angry and hurt at the same time. Many many many street boys have this addiction. I want to see it stop. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". Pray that God would use me mightily in reaching these boys.

I then went to a local juvenile hall. The kids didn't seem to be very juvenile. A lot of them love the Lord and are there for various reasons. We taught them some scripture and played with them a bit and then were on our way. They are really bright as well.

I will probably go see my two friends Anna and Kevin tomorrow. They live on a Farm run by a ministry called Nehemiah International. They are my friends from Cal Poly. I hope that it goes well with them. God bless you whoever is reading this today. Praise God for His love and mercy!! God wants our worship and our lives. He is worthy of it all.