Missions Update: Day Three of VBS - January 23, 2013

Day 3 of VBS

The children of Gitathuru have captured out hearts. Today after song time they had children raise their hands with questions. The first question was “when are you coming back?” Our time with them has gone by too quickly.

Buddy has become a celebrity…the kids made paper bag puppets today for their craft and most named them "Buddy". We had lots of Buddy puppets singing with us during music time. Liz Gardner brought a battery powered boom box and she taught the kids “Freeze Tag” and “Red Light Green Light”. She would turn on the music and the kids would dance around until the music stopped and then they were supposed to freeze…but once an African starts dancing it’s not so easy to get them to stop. It took several rounds before the kids got the idea that they were supposed to stop and freeze in place when the music stopped…some of them never got the idea.

This afternoon we were privileged to “Bring the Light” into a home in Gitathuru. Missions of Hope has done these projects in many of the other Mathare neighborhoods. We made our way to the home and squeezed all nine of us inside a house that is 12ftX14ft with no windows and no natural light. It takes a minute or two for your eyes to adjust to the darkness when you step inside. A family of six lives in the home. The mother’s name was Monica and she has 3 children enrolled at Missions of Hope. She has a 3 year old at home and is expecting a baby in a few months. Her husband is a casual worker who goes to the employment office and seeks work on a daily basis. They pay 1500 ksh (approx. $20) per month to rent their tiny home, their monthly income is probably around $90. There is no running water, no electricity, no toilet or bathroom. 

They have lived there 10 years.

Alan and a MOHI worker climbed on the roof and cut a hole about 8 inches square out of the corrugated tin and replaced it with a piece of translucent fiberglass. What a difference this tiny project made. The inside of the home suddenly looked alive. We took a few minutes to pray with Monica and bless her family and then we left. On the walk back to the school the social workers told us this was the very first “Bring the Light” project in the Gitathuru community. Evidently the community has been very skeptical and it has taken more than a year to convince anyone to participate. We hope this will be the first of many homes that benefit from “Bring the Light”. We feel so blessed to have been part of this.

We feel your love and prayers. Tomorrow we will have a farewell. There will be singing, dancing, hugs, gifts and probably tears as we say goodbye.

Blessings,
Elizabeth