Living In the Here and Now.

Too many times I find myself focusing about what is to come instead of what is happening right now. This continues to ring true here in Kenya. At times I find myself focusing on what will happen in a few months or even after my time here is complete. It's not that I don't like being here or like what I'm doing here, this is certainly not the case. I am learning that focusing on what is to come instead of what is happening now is certainly not a good approach to life. We are not promised tomorrow, but I don't seem to live like that as much as I should. How would my day to day interactions with people, my walk with Christ, and my ministry here in Kenya look different if I lived focus on today instead of tomorrow? Having said all that I am very grateful for the opportunity that is before me right now to be here and experience the work God is doing in a setting that is very different than home.

I have been here two and a half weeks now and feel like I am adjusting well to my surroundings. I have a fairly regular schedule now and am beginning to have a set role at the center. I work with three or four people for about an hour each morning and help them with their English. This continues to be an area that is bringing me great joy. After I finish up my last session I have a Kswahili class with some other students. I certainly don't know much Kswahili yet, but hopefully by the time I leave I will have a basic grasp of it. The afternoon is when different groups come in to play basketball. This has been slow going as not many people show up sometimes, because of this it is hard to set up a consistent program. It seems to be picking up the last couple of days and the director keeps telling me that soon we will have a lot of people showing up.

On Wednesday I went with a couple of friends from the center to Mathare, which is the second biggest slum in all of Africa. We went there to visit a local school (check out the pictures below). I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the school and seeing the children. They certainly are not studying in good conditions as you can tell from the pictures below, but they are doing the best with what they have. After leaving the school we walked through the slum to see the type of living conditions the people there face. Every time I visit an area of extreme poverty it is overwhelming in the sense that I want to help but have no idea where to start. I'm hoping to be able to help the students at the school in some way before I leave.

On Thursday I went with my friend from the center again and this time we went to the outskirts of the city to another very poor area and visited a young pastor and his wife. We had some Sunday school materials to deliver to him which he seemed very thankful for. I really enjoyed visiting with them and was encouraged by their faith in God  their obedience to go to that area and plant a church. It was also fun explaining to the wife what snow was.

I am really enjoying my time living on the guest house grounds. I am beginning to interact more with my next door neighbors, which ha been great. There is a watch dog here named Serious that I am quite afraid of to say the least. I don't think he has figured out that I live there and am not an intruder. When he sees me he barks and growls in a tone that suggests that he is not man's best friend. Hopefully over time Serious and I will be able put our differences behind us and become best friends.

   

Me with the kids.



The children were very much crammed into this very small building.



They were drinking their porridge.



The toilet.

A little boy along the street.

They certainly liked getting their picture taken.

This is right outside the school's door.

Walking down into Mathare.

You can't really tell but she has her doll baby on her back.