Thursday, January 5, 2012

12/9/2012 Day 1 in Africa

We woke up at 7:45AM this morning to the sound of an African Horned Devil named Pastor Dean.  He woke us up every morning in a very good mood and ready to go.  I was very impressed by his discipline to get up every morning and exercise, read, etc.  It has motivated me to consider it...hmmm...well we'll see.
We had a team meeting every morning.  This was a nice time to discuss the plans for the day, our observations, our prayer concerns, etc.  This morning we talked about Matthew 5 and being a positive Christian Role Model. This would be important as we were heading into the slums of Nairobi for day 1 and we didn't know what to expect.  After prayer we headed to breakfast.

I was pleasantly surprised to find breakfast to be nice.  The conference center where we stayed, BTL, is used to accommodating westerners.  They had an omelet making guy every morning!  I was not happy with the coffee, so I switched to tea.  Little did I know that this would become such a small thing to be concerned about.  

After breakfast we headed to Pastor Kennedy's church in Kariobangi, one of the slums of Nairobi.  The drive in was an eye opener for sure.  First the driving in Kenya should be made into a video game.  There are no lines of the roads, there are speed bumps everywhere (to regulate speed), and people walk along every road.

I can't begin to explain the conditions in Kariobangi.  To say they are awful would be an understatement.  I have seen many pictures from other groups, tv commercials for non-profits, and have read about these places.  When you get to go to these places you get the 3D effect.  Sight, Smell, Sounds....Above ground sewers, trash heaps everywhere, unspeakable poverty and hopelessness.  It makes one wonder "Where is God"?  I believe we were there to share a bit of "Heaven on Earth" with these amazing people who live in Hell on Earth.

The women in the sanctuary doing fitness!

The soccer pitch in Kariobangi!
Upon arrival at KAG-Kariobangi (Pastor Kennedy's Church) we went into the sanctuary and had introductions.  We were then split into groups based on our activities to begin the day.  The women stayed in the sanctuary to conduct fitness classes, Pastor Dean went to work with a group of young men on basketball, and Aaron, TJ, Jeremy, and I went to work with the youth on soccer.  The soccer pitch was quite a place.  Not a blade of grass to be found on it.  It was very uneven ground, lots of exposed rock, broken glass, nails, and all sorts of other items were scattered everywhere.  There was also a large puddle on the field.  The kids would play in it, relieve themselves in it, etc.  However, it did not deter play.  At one point a local goat herder led a herd of goats across the pitch during a game.  We didn't stop play at all.

The other field...notice the bare-feet and slant on the field!
Aaron Litke and I stayed at this pitch while Jeremy and TJ went to the other "pitch."




We had quite a few amazing experiences that day.  Handing out candy and stickers to the kids became quite a challenge at times.  The kids are quite aggressive.  It was unbelievable how fast the kids could mob us for even some stickers.  I learned that you have to be careful and watch out for some of the smaller children.

We had a long day in Kariobangi.  Refereeing was fun and lunch was nicely presented to us in one of the classrooms.  Jeremy and I learned that one must clean their plates in Kenya before they will take them from you.  The other lesson was to ask for small portions first, then ask for more if you are still hungry.  I went on to clean my plate that first day and was glad I did.  We had rice and meat in kind of a stew.  It was essentially the same lunch everyday.

Returning to BTL (the conference center) each night was an oasis in a rough land.  My room was nice and I was able to take a shower.  The water turned red from the clay dust all over me.

Right before taking some melatonin and writing in my journal I thanked God for a safe day and prayed for all my new Kenyan friends and for my family back home that I missed terribly.


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