Jun. 15, 2007 - Day 1 - Mombasa, Kenya
Finally a good night's sleep. Waking up overlooking the harbor along the Indian Ocean was a welcomed site this morning. Breakfast out on the patio, reading the Bible and drinking fresh mango juice... can't start the day much better than that.
We set out this morning to find the new location of Joseph's House of Hope. We found Carole (the founder/owner) at her house and after a long visit catching up, she took us to the new property for the school. The structures on the old property were broken down and the materials used to build the new school buildings, which consist of mud, stone and thatch. One of the new buildings collasped a couple of weeks ago in a storm and the remains were scattered along the ground. They have already begun to lay a new foundation, but still have a way to go. The children were excited to see us and all came running to welcome us to their school. They are so proud to have the opportunity for education and the fact that it's free is an added bonus. These children walk for miles to get to school each day. They are assured of 2 things...they will learn and they will get at least one meal that day. Today they were eating hominy. They usually have beans as well, but today they could not afford the $6 (US) or so it cost to provide the beans. On Monday, we will be bringing them beans and sukuma (greens).
We continued to be amazed at Carole's unshakable faith in the Lord to provide for every need the school has. Her outreach in the community is so effective, that she is continually expanding her reach...all in the name of Jesus. Her ministry takes care of so many needs. She told us today, "how can you take care of the children and not the mothers". Many times you must do both. We will go back out tomorrow for another visit with her and take more pictures and video. We are having trouble uploading photos onto the blog, but will keep trying.
We also learned of some sad news today. On my blog from 2 years ago... www.africa.godfocus.com... I wrote about William and Helen and their family. At that time the baby was very sick and we were helping them try to make her well. We bought eggs and vitamins for her and prayed many times for her healing. I guess the Lord loved little Joy so much, that He wanted her home. She did not make it much longer after we left that year. My heart broke with this news. It was overwhelming. The remaining children are up country with family while the parents work. I can't even imagine...
Nonetheless, our day ended on a joyful note. We finally talked to Jackson's grandmother. She will be coming down from Nairobi on Sunday. In the meantime, we found out his aunt and sister are here in Mombasa. This evening, we finally found them and Jackson's uncle and visited with them at their home. This was the first time we had met Jackson's sister and they had not seen each other in 5 years. It was a very sweet time of getting reaquainted and remembering their mother and their childhood. She had some photos of Jackson and their mother that were precious. We had never seen pictures of Jackson when he was young...so cute. His sister is precious...14 years old and a very lovely girl...tall like Jackson. She is not currently in school as she has no support or funds to go to school. We thought she had a sponsor in Nairobi, but we found out the money had not been reaching her. She seems to be happy living with her aunt now, but really wants to go to school. Please pray that God would provide support for her to get an education.
The night ended with a great cup of chai and dessert and a visit with our friends that own the local cafe here in Nyali. It has become quite the hot spot. This is the same cafe I used to use for internet service when we were here in 2005.
God really blessed us today with seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Off to bed for now... it's been a long emotional day. Blessings to all,
