Kibera Slum

Today was our first day doing ministry here in Nairobi. We drove to the other side of Nairobi...which was really far because there are lots of traffic jams. We went to the International Christian Center. The international christian center is located in a heavily muslim and hindu populated area of Nairobi. We went to this center to pick up some books. These books are called, The Book of Hope. It is a childrens evangelistic tool. They are used all over the world, but are changed and updated depending on the area and made adaptable to that particular culture. Here they are written in swahili and english. We picked up about 400 of them and we are going to use them next week when we visit schools. They are really cool. The group we visited explained the books to us and how to use them. They did a lot of research about youth in Kenya. I have a big book full of the research they did and what they found out. I will probably use it to write my paper at the end of the summer. The people at International Christian Center were very happy to see us and to give us the books. Oh, there are also like four different books because they have different ones depending on age too. I think they will be great for Africa and you can already see the difference they are making. They have given these books out to every school in Rwanda. They are almost done with all the school in Ethiopia. The books are being used everywhere and the children in Africa are being given the Word of God. 51% of the Youth in Kenya believe that the word of God is true. 80% believe that once they found God they found satisfaction and it made life worth something.
Then we went with Daniel and Neddie to Kibera Slum. We really felt like we were on a safari, ha...because the road we took to the slum was really really bad...it was dirt and very hilly and lots of holes...and it was surrounded by a forest...especailly the flat top trees taht you always see when you think of Africa. So, we really felt like we were in Africa, ha. We came upon the slum and you could see it stretching for miles and miles and miles. I had seen pictures of it before, but it was different to actually be there. There were tons of people around. We parked out car at the top of the hill and locked it. Vickie was not about to drive into the Slum because we didn't want to run the risk of someone purposely running into us and then taking us to court because that happens a lot in the slum...its how some of them get money. Anyways, we were at the slum to visit some Widows. Neddie is heading up a program to help widows who are in the church here. Neddie said she had known these ladies attended church but had no idea that they were widows. It was really funny because when you enter the slum as a white person, all the children run up to you...and the little english they konw is "How are you?" that is there way of saying hi. So...all we would here was a bunch of "how are you" "how are you" ha it was funny. It reminded me of the seagulls in Finding Nemo. When entering the slum, I was thinking that I had no idea how people found their way around. I would get totally lost. It smelled awful! It smelled like trash, human feces, and animals. After being there for a little bit you kind of got used to it. The houses are made of mud and sticks and sheets of metal for the roof. We enterd one house of a widow named Miriam. Her house was as big as my bedroom at home. She offered us a place to sit and she cooked us food. It is their way of welcoming you, and if you don't eat it then you offend them.
Miriam's story is sad. She lost her husband three years ago. She has 7 children. She hasn't seen her oldest son since 2007. Her oldest daughter is in bording school but has been out for a week because her mother couldn't afford it. Her husband died of TB. He got sick one day and then two days later died. She attends the church here in the Slum and is a leader among other widows. She is an encouragement to other widows and sees that as her ministry.
I have to go, but I will write more about the other widows later.