Kenya #3 Pastor Brad

We were in the Mathare slums, in an apartment building where 29 children and 3 adults share two rooms that are about 10X10. The conditions are just horrible, but so much better then the refugee camp and slums they were in. I did the Gospel bracelets with them twice through an interpreter, and that was quite the experience. The kids paid good attention and made bracelets with us. Afterward I quizzed them and they could tell me the different beads. It appears that many of them are already saved, but are in an environment where they are being taught the Gospel often! When I gave them the ball with the same colors they were so very excited, jumping, dancing and shouting. I have a little of it on video of them saying "thank you" which will touch your heart. One child I met yesterday is named Brian. Brian is 12 years old and has been twice abandoned by his family. Once during the riots he was left in the refugee camps and after several months they were able to find his parents so they took him back to them. They would not take him back and they sent his little sister back with them. One day he leaned up against Dave Bell (our missionary) and asked, "Why does nobody want me?" I made special effort to reach out to Brian, to play with him and hug him. And he is only one of 29 kids who all have stories that would break your heart. We are also praying specifically today for George, who is 6. His mom just died 2 weeks ago and he still hasn't accepted that fact. He hasn't even changed his clothes since. What deep deep struggles these kids face. As Nick, the 26 year old Kenyan man who is one of the caretakers of these children, his prayer is that God will help these kids forget the things they have seen and understand His love for them.

Well, I guess you can see that this is an amazing trip. We are being stretched and our hearts are being broken for these children everyday. Today we will be doing a Choose To Wait training with the 11 new teachers, many of whom we will be teaching with on Friday back in the Mathare slums. There is a media/camera crew here from the University of Michigan that has been sponsored by Proctor and Gamble to get footage on this amazing new water purification powder called PUR. It is revolutionizing the conditions that many of the HIV and AIDs victoms are facing by allowing clean water in the dirtiest of places. Anyway, Dave and Jen Bell have been using it for that last 2 years with their work and the camera crew wants to go into the slums with us and make a documentary on it. We met up with them at lunch yesterday and they came to the children's rooms with us. I am praying for them b/c they were all touched. Like us they have never seen conditions so bad and heard such horrible stories, yet the children were so joyful. Many of them heard us sharing the Gospel with the kids. One of the camera guys almost broke down while we were there. The journalist with them, Amber, said, "I want to stay with you guys and share the Gospel bracelet with kids!" They did not bring their video equipment b/c the kids don't use the PUR, but they are going with us into the slums tomorrow as we will be doing home visits with AIDs victims who use it. We are hoping that we might be able to reach this team with the Gospel.Prayer Requests:-Brian and George, and the other 29 children-Today's training-Camera CrewWhat an amazing experience.

I am so excited to share with you more. Pastor Brad