Mission Kenya
As part of Peace’s Year on Mission, we are focusing in on ways to share the love of Jesus to all corners of the world, whether it’s just around the corner from where you live or in the farthest-reaching corners around the world.
Joel and I were privileged to witness and be a small part of a mission school in the Nakura, Kenya area. The person who arranged all our adventures in Kenya, Katherine Wangari, also founded and supports, through her travel agency and other means, a school for elementary-aged children. She and her brother, Paul, saw a need in the very remote areas 2 hours from Nakuru. Children were not being educated as they lived 5 hours from the nearest school. They decided to find a way to meet that need and built a school at a midway point in a remote rural area called Ole Sirwa.
The school was built of corrugated tin. The only light was a window and a doorway. They had a tank to collect rainwater, but most of their water came from a tank 45 minutes away which they had to go and collect a few gallons at a time using a motorcycle and ‘gas’ cans. The conditions at home were even less desirable. Huts were constructed by hand with mud and dung. No running water or electricity. They were so proud of a ‘well’ they dug to catch rainwater (really only a 3’ hole at the bottom of a hill) Yet in these austere surroundings there was so much gratitude and joy. These kids were so excited to learn (both in Swahili and in English). One very small girl (like 5 or 6 years old) walked 2 hours to school and 2 hours home – every day. But she was thankful to be able to do it.
We listened to them sing songs of Jesus in both languages and then they asked us to sing them something we knew. So, we brushed off our Jesus Loves Me and This Little Light of Mine and we joined by the students who sang with us wholeheartedly. How cool to share in this simple praise to a Savior we all believe in.
We then shared soccer balls we had purchased, and Joel played soccer with the kids. They were all excited to get a piece of hard candy and the teachers were clever enough to make them stand in line and go down the slide to get a piece of candy. It was fun to have them crowd in around us and want to touch our skin and hair as we looked a lot differently than people they were used to seeing. And boy, did they love to have their picture taken and see themselves on the screen!
At the end of our visit, they had us plant a tree as a blessing for their future. We then stood in the big circle at the school day closed and sang some songs and prayed for their safe return home.
While these kids live in a very different place and live a very different life than we (or the kids we know) do, we have one thing in common: We love Jesus. These kids had such a pure and innocent faith; it was very heartwarming. And it reminded us that it doesn’t really matter how much you have, if you have Jesus, you have everything. We reflected on some of the similarities between the Ole Sirwa children and children in our church family. They all sing their songs about Jesus ‘loud and proud’. They are excited to hear more about Jesus and the stories of the Bible. Whether it’s in a tiny little schoolhouse ½ way around the world or right here in our corner of the world, we share the same faith in the same God who loved us enough to save us through His Son, Jesus, and still sustains us with His Spirit.
We were blessed to have such an experience. We all are called to seek whatever path God would have us take to share His saving grace – whether it’s ½ way around the world or right in our own backyard.
Dawn Lubker, Director of Ministries
