Hello,

Another ‘mustard seed’ assignment in January was a missions trip to visit and serve alongside Pastor Chris and his wife Joanna in Kibera Slum, Kenya.  It was my first time in Africa and the fulfilment of God’s word to me in 1985!  The seed for Kibera was planted in March 2011 when I saw a BBC documentary for Comic Relief.  I was so moved that I began a conversation with the BBC that resulted in them sending me the DVD.

As the time approached for this trip, I fell foul of the flu virus, eventually just two days before we left a friend came and prayed for me as I brought the trip before God and asked him if I was still to go.  Immediately I had the scripture “The Lord is my Shepherd, therefore I will lack nothing.”  On His word and promise I made my decision to go ahead.   Imagine a landfill site, on which is built sheds made of second-hand corrugated sheeting and nails, bits of wood and stuck together with mud. These sheds are 10 feet square and crammed together with little space in-between. Put six or seven people in each shed, with no running water and no drainage. Imagine this for a space equivalent to a square mile filled with one million people.  That’s Kibera.

Kibera Slum, Nairobi Kenya


My husband Paul began working with Feed The Hungry in April 2016.  Feed The Hungry is an international missions organisation that collects and distributes aid to Nations, with a particular focus on feeding children.  This is done by raising ‘Rice Meals’ a dry meal packed of rice, lentils, soy and multivitamins which when re-constituted with water provides a hot meal for 6 people.  In addition clothing, shoes, resources for education, medical equipment, packs for mothers and babies, toiletries are also given to those in need.  Feed The Hungry respond to natural disasters such as the earthquake in Nepal, or world events such as the war in Syria and Sudan as well as long term projects in Nations where there is particular need in partnership with Christians in location who are reaching out with God’s love to those around them.  In the last year Feed The Hungry UK has focussed on Syria, refugees arriving in Greece, Zimbabwe, refugees coming from Sudan into Uganda and Kibera Slum Kenya.

Hope grows in messy places

God’s word, The Lord is My Shepherd, Therefore I will lack nothing released faith and sustained me over and over.  Getting the photograph of the flowers growing up in the midst of such deprivation only happened because a road we needed to take became blocked with rubble and our new route took us past that little cameo.  I saw them on the first day and heard Father say, “My Hope grows in messy places.”  Kibera has many dangers so we were not allowed to get out of the minibus and walk around freely.  Father prepared and He opened the way to reveal his heart of Hope.

Throughout the summer of 2016 I served alongside Paul helping to facilitate huge packing events through partnership with Kraft Heinz in Wigan and London and Rotary in Warrington where 300,000 meals were packed.  The meals were bound for Kibera Slum to provide a hot meal for 1500 children in three schools, set up and run by Pastor Chris and his wife Joanna and their church reaching out to children who live in the slum.  This food will sustain them for about 4 months.   Paul then shipped these to Kenya, and they arrived there in December.  As I helped at the packing events a desire grew in me to see this outreach for myself and meet the children, so this was my opportunity.

This building is for Primary children, across the road is another building for 11-16yrs

Sunday morning 8.30am the little church is worshipping.  Wearing my dress I scrambled out of the minibus onto the dry mud of Soweto Academy.  Pastor Chris was so excited to  welcome us that he drove us past the church and down the rough track road to the school.  A man sat on the mud sorting through a large pile of vegetation, the left over husks and peelings they had collected from the women prison were being prepared as food for two cows and several pigs.  The cows produce the milk the babies and small children need and the pigs are sold as income to support the schools.

A hot nutritious meal is served daily
Cooking the rice meals

 

 
As we worshipped I began to feel Father’s heart for this place, my heart couldn’t contain the feelings and my tears poured down.  Then I heard him say, “Here is a city, within a city.”  These words spoke powerfully to me.  When we were called to missions, we were called to cities, and a question I asked God as we moved was “Do you have a new city for me?”  Here in Kibera, I was experiencing His answer to my question a year ago.

Talking with Joanna, I asked what is your greatest struggle here?  a huge question given the size and challenge of life in Kibera.  

Chris and Joanna have seven children, three of whom are adopted from within Kibera.  Joanna is the administrator of the school, she is a qualified teacher and teaches children age 8-9 years.  Chris and Joanna’s simple home with no running water is also the place where ten babies and toddlers are cared for, the first ones arriving at 6am while their mothers work washing clothes.  The babies must leave by 7.30pm each evening.  They also have a health clinic for maternity and other health issues such as water born disease and TB.  God spoke to them about water and asked them to dig a water hole within the site of the primary school.  They discovered clean water there and produce bottled water which they use and are trying to sell to a regular supplier as a means of investing finance back into education.  In addition they also have their cows and pigs and the embryo of sustainable farming such as is possible given the conditions.  While I was there a young Christian farmer from USA they met in a remarkable way was volunteering there teaching them.

The Nursery room in Pastor Chris’s home with some of the babies and toddlers

On the flight over, I sat next to a Nairobi lady called Lorna who works with an NGO focussed on sustainable farming for Africa, India and S. America.  A fun divine appointment, and a  new relationship to help Chris and Joanna.  We had almost six hours together and she welcomed and orientated me to her nation and city.

So in the midst of such overwhelming challenge, what was Joanna’s greatest struggle?

“Her heart is broken and torn over the teenage girls.  She said that their cultural worldview is that girls don’t need education beyond the basics and as a result have a very low self image and identity.  Many are ‘married off’ at the age of 13/14 yrs.  Within Kibera, many are given to Prostitution as a means to support the family.  When this happens the nurture that has been given and the investment made is stolen and another generation is lost to a cycle of hopelessness, poverty and destruction.”

Joanna asked me if I would come and share with the teenage girls the next day.  I asked Father what He wanted to say to them and he showed me a seed which he called a seed of dreams.  The next day together with Joanna I spoke about this seed and told the story of how God had nurtured this seed in my own life; how that meant going against expectations of my own family, community and culture.  Then Joanna told her story which was so powerful as a Kenyan who had grown up in Kibera.

Joanna asked if we could spend time with the girls again, and Father asked me to speak about something without which the seed of our dreams cannot grow, Hope.  So I quickly pulled together some thoughts on Hope to share with them.  I also prepared something on Forgiveness because without forgiveness we remain locked in the prisons of our wounds and cannot receive Father’s Hope.  The next day was very full and I almost didn’t get the opportunity.  I lifted the girls up to God and asked Him to make a way if this was something He had for them at this time.  In an amazing story, He did just that!  It was 5pm and the girls were finished school for the day, but Joanna brought them all back and we were able to share this precious message.  I have no words to describe what an honour and privilege this time was and trust that Father has sowed and watered this seed He prepared for these girls through me.

So happy with her lunch
Children excitedly wait for their food

Meanwhile our visit continued with a visit to the Primary School.  The Head Teacher and his staff were so thankful to have us with them.  We sat in his tiny simple office and I saw many paper charts on the walls displaying lesson plans and results.   The school was basic – just desks and chairs with no computers – but the level of education was higher than you’d expect. Soweto Academy is doing very well academically – the best school in the area. They also have a volleyball team which is the best nationally. And yet these are children who live in incredibly poor conditions.

The food is having an impact on several levels. It’s providing the children with a meal – often their main meal, and for some, their only meal of the day. The meal helps them to concentrate in school, and indeed attracts the children to come to school. Last year, there was a period where we couldn’t get a container to the school fast enough and they ran out of food. As a result, school attendance dropped; the students instead of coming to school, went scavenging through rubbish to find food.  Since Feed The Hungry got the container through,  the number of pupils attending are growing again.

This little girl was totally absorbed in her writing
One of the many things I love about mission is ‘the unexpected’ which however many plans are prepared always happens.  On this occasion I had woken early with a stomach upset making frequent trips to the toilet.  After taking Imodium and holding tightly to my tummy our minibus made the trip across the rough bumpy roads.  The city was busy as ever and it took almost ninety minutes.  The power of prayer and praying in tongues literally kept me as we arrived to the school.  Pastor Chris prayed for me as we began our day.  I felt weak and standing up took considerable effort.   Then the head teacher asked if we would come and meet the children.  Myself, another couple from Rotary Club and a wonderful Kenyan called Edna accompanied him.  Me first, I said hello and introduced myself.  Then came the others, as I was standing there, Holy Spirit gave me the message about the seed of dreams, I felt ready to burst and knew he wanted me to share with the children.   The head teacher agreed and as I spoke the message formed.  These younger children were delightful, excited and attentive and full of dreams!  What a joy.  Then we were led into another classroom, where he asked me to speak again, and another, and another, and another until I had shared this message with five classes.  As I did my body was strengthened and so a whole morning happened in this excitable fashion!  Don’t you love The Grace of God, as we follow him and obey he ministers his life to us so that we lack nothing.
 
selling clothing on the roadside

 

The smell of Kibera; Charcoal for sale

So myself and Rich our documentary film maker left Kibera in an unexpected huge storm.  It took almost two hours to cross the city, many times devoid of power.  Our return to Nairobi airport was, ‘super fast’ after our driver arrived an hour later than arranged.  Kenya is still on alert regarding terrorist attacks so as we arrived the vehicle had to go through a security booth, while Rich and myself also had to go through security necessitating us to run across several lanes of traffic to the shed like building at the side of the road, then once through we ran back across the lanes to be reunited with our vehicle.  We made our way through the airport as fast as possible and arrived at our gate just as boarding was beginning.  We took our seats on the plane, then began a series of announcements from the captain regarding an engineering fault.  We eventually ate breakfast on the tarmac and 3.5 hours later we took off.  Connecting flights were lost and re scheduled, transport in Birmingham was cancelled and re-scheduled, and we arrived home 24 hours after we got up in Kenya.

Oh the adventures!  I come alive in such as these!  I knew God had accomplished all he had in his heart for this trip.  Yet I also knew that He had shared his broken heart with me, for a city called Kibera, for Chris and Joanna and their part in restoring and reassigning the desolate inheritance there.  And when we experience God’s heart there is no other response than, “Here I am send me.”  

A seed I nurtured that has multiplied into 8 delicate glorious flowers

Let’s start a conversation!  As always, I love to hear from you, so any thoughts, any questions please email me at karenway64@gmail.com  

Karen 

 
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