Sometimes it's the Little Things

Eva is one of the lovely ladies in our fruit drying project. We've told you about her before. She's the one with 2 young children and husband who walked out on them.

Eva is a pleasant presence in our house as she carries in baskets of heavy mangos, bananas or pineapples. She washes, slices, dries, packages and sells fruit with the energy and commitment of a mom who knows she's making a big difference in the way the future will play out for those 2 little ones she loves so much. Eva also makes us laugh, which is a nice plus since we share kitchen space at this point in the project's life.

At Christmas we decided that Eva needed a simple mobile phone. For work, you know? Also, for life outside of work. The project could afford to buy her one so we bought one and then started her off with the gift of a phone card to get her going with minutes.

Eva's parents live far from our town. I'm not exactly sure how she did it but Eva got a number for a neighbor at home who had a phone and arranged to call her Mother and Father on Christmas Day.

It was the first time Eva had spoken to her parents in over 5 years.

I almost fell over when I heard that.

Byron asked her if she cried.

She smiled really big, nodded her head, and said, "Yes."

A $35 mobile phone and a little bit of credit? That's all it took to be a blessing? This tiny gift made the most precious difference to Eva.

Sometimes it's the little things.

Little Rays of Hope

Mr. Ndetu is our night guard. I like him a whole lot.

I like him a whole lot and wish, for his sake, that he had a better job than guarding our house at night.

That's how security works in many parts of Africa. There is no 911 or 999 to call and security is the responsibility of the private citizen. We hire Mr. Ndetu. He arrives on his bicycle to our house at about 5:30 p.m. and he leaves again next morning some time between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m.

During the hours between, he hangs out. He visits with Byron if Byron is puttering in the veggie garden or in the work-shop. He helps us feed the dogs and rabbits and is generally a pleasant, if very subtle, presence. He brings his pack dinner and every night, before I go to bed, I make him a thermos of chai. I'm sure he dozes off from time to time. He also tells the dogs to stop harassing hedgehogs.

Ndetu takes his work seriously. When Byron and the kids were away and I was home alone, I got a bad flu that knocked me out. He knew I was sick and so he didn't leave in the morning till he saw that I was up, even though that was about 3 hours later than when he would have normally headed for home. "Just wanted to know that you were alright," he told me.

Ndetu's daughter just passed her exams and has been admitted to secondary school. Surprised, he went to see her teachers. A pass is, truly, no small accomplishment and her teachers shocked him further with the news that she passed easily. She's a strong student. He just didn't know it.

Secondary school will cost him. There are all manner of hidden fees that seem small to us, but are overwhelming to a family like Ndetu's.

Byron asked Ndetu if he wanted this for his daughter. We know that Ndetu's own father had not sent him to school because someone needed to herd the cattle. He has told Byron that, sadly, herding didn't take him very far in life. The cows are gone now and here he is, staying up all night to make a living.

"I'm a good worker, " he said.

"People like me. I could have a much better job in life if I could read and write. Yes, I want this for her."

Together, they worked out a way to make it happen.

"You're giving your daughter what your father couldn't give you," Byron told him.

"You're a good dad."

So much struggle in Africa.

One young girl I know is taking a step forward.

Little rays of hope for tomorrow.

-lisa

Advent in Africa

Wednesday mornings are precious to our team as we pray and share life. Recently, we were talking about how challenging it is to quiet our spirits and allow Christmas to permeate our busy worlds.

We’re pretty sure that all of you are just as busy as the four of us and you might be finding this internal preparation for celebration difficult as well.

Mulling this over as I drove home from the shops, the answer came in the words of one of my favorite hymns—an advent hymn, no less.

“Come, though long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free!
From our sins and fears release us, let us find our rest in thee.”

It’s an invitation, isn’t it? And an expectation.

Jesus, come. We long for you. We expect you. We rest in you.

As we move toward Christmas, we wish you blessings of His close company as you celebrate this season.

Dry Fruit Goodness

A couple of posts ago we mentioned Wild Hope's new income-generating project for women.

Safari Snacks is the new initiative that employs 2 local women in need. The ladies are busy drying fresh local fruit (mango, banana and pineapple) and selling it in our neighborhood grocery store. It’s a very popular product with tourists and locals alike and, at this point, we can't always keep up with the demand. We are being approached to expand and grow this project into a larger industry.

We would love for you to be praying for this project. We need wisdom as to HOW and WHEN to expand so as to benefit more women through training and employment. We need wisdom regarding our role-- when we stay with something and when we let it become its own thing alongside of Wild Hope. We want to see the project include some level of spiritual nourishment as the number of involved women grows. We already know that these 2 lovely ladies share their hearts and lives and encouragement with each other as they work and laugh and pray together.

We are so pleased to be a practical help to women in need. Thanks for your prayers.

Ibrahim Speaks Up

Liz Roddy (bottom right of photo), shared with us one of the highlights of her time here with the Christian Assembly team that helped us launch our on-going English classes with the young men in our football/soccer club.

Above, she and some of the others on the team are seen with the trainers they trained to carry the classes on. Below, you'll find her highlight story. Enjoy!

"We started the English club on a Monday and some of the students were very timid and afraid to speak up in front of the class. A lot of them had not had much opportunity to practice their speaking, so I think they were a little intimidated. One of the boys, Ibrahim, was particularly shy. He had a hard time understanding, and whenever we would ask him a question, we could barely hear his response...everything came out as a whisper.

Then on Thursday, our second to last day of class, we were teaching about "CAN and CAN'T." The boys had to do an activity where they walked around the clubhouse and asked each other what they can and can't do. They were to write their classmates answers down, so they could share with the class. Then, as we went around asking each person to share, we slowly made our way around to Ibrahim.

We were expecting another quiet response, when all of a sudden, Ibrahim, shouted in a loud, clear voice,

"I talked to David, and he can play football, but he can't swim."

We were shocked! And so was everyone else. All the other boys began applauding for him; they knew this was a big moment for Ibrahim. We gave him a prize for a job well done.

When Ibrahim spoke up, my heart was overjoyed. I could feel God in that moment, I knew English club was making a difference and that it would mean a long term change for these kids. I was so excited because of how much Ibrahim and the other boys had improved over just 4 days. Think of what we could have done in a month!"

Great Teachers/Eager Learners

Our first 10 week session of English Club is under way in the tiny little club house of our Nyota Football Club!

The wonderful team from Christian Assembly (who were with us at the end of August) poured their hearts into a full week of classes that included the training of trainers to take the English lessons on.

Wow! You've never seen such eager learners :-) Those Nyota guys hardly let us pause after the team left before they were insisting that they were ready to get the 10 weeks of follow-on classes under way.

We really could not have gotten this lasting effort off the ground without the preparation, training and materials that our friends from Christian Assembly brought with them. Thank you, CA!!



Team member, Christine Kim, reflected on the photo above, which she took when she arrived to teach one morning.

"When I arrived on the second day of English Club, I saw our students sitting on the grass reviewing and studying their books. It was such a blessing to see their eagerness to learn and acquire English. I remember sharing with the team that in all my years of teaching, I have never seen kids treasure education and the opportunity to learn so much. It gave me excitement each day to teach."

The team filled our 40 students with encouragement and the excitement to learn. Their impact carries on as these young men, aged from about 8-18, continue to come in with a hunger to improve their language skills.

Visiting Team

We have a wonderful team from Christian Assembly in LA visiting with us right now. They are here to work hard during their 2 week stay and we're excited about the ESL type training they'll be doing so that English Club can carry on even when we don't have volunteers around.

If you're interested in what types of adventures they're up to while here, check out their
BLOG

We're thankful for their great hearts and willing hands :-)