Went to the farm today to see how things are going. Since we prayed at the farm a couple of weeks ago there has been so much rain every hole in the ground is full of water and the whole place is green again. All the mums are attributing the rain to God, Jackie said ‘we are so happy because God came’.
When I asked them what we should pray this time, the first thing they said was to thank God for the rain. Other than that they asked for…
1. more rain! For a bumper harvest
2. their health as many of the mamas and children have been sick recently
3. for the kids to do well in school
4. for peace and unity and grace at the farm
So if you are up for praying for the mums please get involved.
Because the land is so good, when it does rain potatoes and peas pop up everywhere. The mamas who have taken care in planting and cultivating their acres should get a great harvest but even the mamas who only planted part of their land will be able to harvest loads. A nice farming example of grace, we harvest what we didn’t even plant.
A lady who was renting the bit of land next to the TP farm has just moved house because she finally saved up enough money to buy her own piece of land. It is achievable, it took years and loads of hard work but it can be done and the mamas have the advantage of a rent-free house.
The verse that kept popping into my head as we squelched around the farm today was Philippians 4:19 ‘and my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus’. Sometimes I find it hard to fit these verses with the reality of poverty in Kenya, the mamas were asking me for blankets today because its cold and they can’t afford to buy them. But I guess that’s what faith is for, believing for things you hope for but don’t see yet.
Thursday 28 May 2009
Tuesday 19 May 2009
Seen from the sky
Jambo sana. Walking through the slum from the Kianda project to the Mashimoni project you basically follow the railway line (except for the parts where it goes into a ravine as its like the Jericho road, very conducive to muggings). Anyway at other parts the railway is up on a mound and you can see over Kibera. The first time we walked it we noticed some paint on some of the roofs, looking closer we realized it was eyes and faces looking up out of the slum.
This required some investigation, after some googling around I discovered the artist goes by the name of JR and this ‘piece’ was part of a bigger project called women are heroes. He has taken pictures of women from Kibera and printed up their photos on huge tarpaulins to cover the roofs of the shacks. He also covered a train in photos so when the train passes at one point the eyes line up with the smiles on the side of the mound. This guy likes taking pictures of people who otherwise go unnoticed then he sneaky sneaky plasters their photographs massive somewhere it can’t be ignored. Inspired. You can see more photos on his website www.jr-art.net or www.28millimetres.com/women/. He’s done a lot of other interesting projects across Africa, India, South America and on the Gaza strip. Check it out!
This required some investigation, after some googling around I discovered the artist goes by the name of JR and this ‘piece’ was part of a bigger project called women are heroes. He has taken pictures of women from Kibera and printed up their photos on huge tarpaulins to cover the roofs of the shacks. He also covered a train in photos so when the train passes at one point the eyes line up with the smiles on the side of the mound. This guy likes taking pictures of people who otherwise go unnoticed then he sneaky sneaky plasters their photographs massive somewhere it can’t be ignored. Inspired. You can see more photos on his website www.jr-art.net or www.28millimetres.com/women/. He’s done a lot of other interesting projects across Africa, India, South America and on the Gaza strip. Check it out!
Wednesday 13 May 2009
Slum domination
Turning Point is taking over. The new Kianda project opened on Monday this week, 43 kids rocked up on the first day for tea and mandazi, teaching, stories, songs and games. It’s a really simple project for now, just a couple of hours in the mornings to start feeding the kids and getting to know them and their families. It will be a while until we understand what the needs are in the area and how to develop the project in a relevant way, so it may end up looking different to our project in Mashimoni.
Mary is the project mama on that side, its great to watch her with the kids she so loves them and she is not still for a moment she is always looking to who needs help, what needs doing, taking every opportunity to get alongside the kids and get to know them. Not to mention spending a lot of time cracking up. Mary is heading up a team of two other staff, Benson who helps with teaching and caring for the kids and Jane who cooks the tea and mandazi.
We went to visit the project again this morning, there were a few less kids than Monday but already the need for us to be there became evident in a kid called Daisy. She is maybe eight years old and had been beaten by the aunt she has lived with since her mum died. She was so upset, her arm was swollen and had also been burnt. So when we left this morning Mary was planning to go and find the aunt with Daisy once the program had finished and try to sort something out.
Jesus was evidently in the room as we prayed with Daisy for her protection, that His perfect love would push out her fear, that He would heal her arm. I kept thinking of how throughout the bible God calls us to speak up for those who don’t have a voice, to stand up for the powerless and that’s exactly what Mary is able to do for Daisy. God is all about redeeming situations, setting them right, putting families back together as He intended them to be so please be praying for this family. God is in the slums.
Also you may have heard that the long rains have taken their time about starting and the mamas at the farm were really struggling. We went up to the farm last week and did a prayer walk around the land, I know loads of people (probably the whole of Kenya) have been praying for rain so Pastor got soaked when he went to check up on the farm yesterday!
Mary is the project mama on that side, its great to watch her with the kids she so loves them and she is not still for a moment she is always looking to who needs help, what needs doing, taking every opportunity to get alongside the kids and get to know them. Not to mention spending a lot of time cracking up. Mary is heading up a team of two other staff, Benson who helps with teaching and caring for the kids and Jane who cooks the tea and mandazi.
We went to visit the project again this morning, there were a few less kids than Monday but already the need for us to be there became evident in a kid called Daisy. She is maybe eight years old and had been beaten by the aunt she has lived with since her mum died. She was so upset, her arm was swollen and had also been burnt. So when we left this morning Mary was planning to go and find the aunt with Daisy once the program had finished and try to sort something out.
Jesus was evidently in the room as we prayed with Daisy for her protection, that His perfect love would push out her fear, that He would heal her arm. I kept thinking of how throughout the bible God calls us to speak up for those who don’t have a voice, to stand up for the powerless and that’s exactly what Mary is able to do for Daisy. God is all about redeeming situations, setting them right, putting families back together as He intended them to be so please be praying for this family. God is in the slums.
Also you may have heard that the long rains have taken their time about starting and the mamas at the farm were really struggling. We went up to the farm last week and did a prayer walk around the land, I know loads of people (probably the whole of Kenya) have been praying for rain so Pastor got soaked when he went to check up on the farm yesterday!
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