Our Jua mamas have been working SO hard lately! We have tons of cute new bracelets, bangles, and necklaces.

 

More pictures coming soon....

https://www.facebook.com/JuaProject

If anyone wants to purchase something let me know and I can bring back your order when I return to the states on June 15th!

I used to think that in order to be a missionary you had to be a nurse, pastor, teacher, or just have a special skill. I thought that holding babies and playing with kids was not enough. At least that is what I had heard. When I left for Kenya six weeks ago I told myself I had to start some kind of organization or else I would be disappointing my family.. Especially since I stopped taking classes to come here. I wanted to change the world. Since I have been here I have had my low days where I have felt that I am not doing enough and felt myself discouraged and wanting to go home. Obviously those feelings were not from God. There is so much need here I cant even wrap my head around it. There are so many people who are starving for love and have never experienced Christ's unconditional love before.




There are 109 little ones at Instep Baby Home. All of them have horrifying backgrounds and have individual needs based on what they have been through. Baby Bonnie was dropped down a 20 ft pit latrine by her mother when she was born. Her first breaths were feces. She is a living miracle. Little Tracy's mother would burn her head and then use her to beg from people on the streets. She would continue to scrape the burns to make them raw and infected to get money from people. Finally Tracy was taken to the baby home and is now being cared for. The 107 other children all have similar stories that are just as bad. Just going there and getting to hold these babies has been the biggest blessing. Babies need physical touch. They need to be held and nurtured. Without it they will suffer in the long run and possibly die.

You can read every childs story on Insteps website http://www.rehemainstep.com/


Moses (picture above) was abandoned in a bush the day he was born and was found getting eaten alive by ants a few days later. This is not unusual here in Kenya. It's real life. It's heartbreaking. He is now in a childrens home.




There are mamas like Selina who want to provide for their children but aren't able to because their husbands have abandoned them and left them with nothing. When Lindsay found Selina, Maximilla, and Tabitha in the slum they were living off of rotten fruit. Selina and her kids had been severely abused by her husband. He would come back on random nights just for shelter and force little Maxi to sleep outside. He would beat Selina if she tried to do anything about it.  Tabi is 4 years old and Maxi is 7. She is the size of a two year old due to her severe malnutrition. If Lindsay hadn't had found them Maxi would be dead right now. Selina is now apart of Jua. She is crocheting and making jewelry. She is out of the slum and able to provide for her precious daughters.






 I am learning that I don't need to be a nurse or have a college degree to share Christs love here in Africa. Holding babies is enough. Helping desperate moms find a job and care for their kids is enough. Buying a street kid lunch occasionally is enough. I have come to the painful realization that I am not able to take on the burden of every street kid in Kitale. That is God's job. All I know is that we are all called to love one another just as He loves us and that is what my main focus is going to be from now on.

Over the past few month through meeting Zeporah I've also had the opportunity to meet an amazing woman named Rosemary. She lives with 19 orphans about two minutes away from me. She is a widow and she has been taking in street kids for about 10 years. Her husband was murdered a few years ago during the post election violence. He was their financial support before he past away. Now Rosemary struggles to provide for these kids but she always trusts in God to provide during the roughest times. She gives her life to look after these helpless children. She is an inspiration and a wonderful example of a true follower of Christ.

The orphans that Rosemary cares for are around 9-16 years old besides Zeporah. There are 2 boys and the rest are girls. I usually go there to hang out with them everyday but they are very shy with me. Over the past few days most of them have opened up to me more and I cannot be happier about that! They are amazing kids. They love to sing so that is usually what I do with them. Right now they are learning "Our God" by Chris Tomlin. They are precious. They have the most terrible and heartbreaking backgrounds but you wouldn't even know because they are so smiley!

A few days ago they told me their favorite food is bread or chapati (Kenyan tortilla type thing). I was shocked. I thought they would at least say fries or "sweeties". I later found out that they eat porridge for breakfast and githeri (beans and corn) for dinner. Everyday. I had been planning on having a soda and chapati party with them before I went back to America in June, however, while I was grocery shopping today I realized that it only costs about 2 dollars to make chapati for 23 people. I couldn't help myself knowing that it was that cheap so today I brought flour, sugar, and oil to the childrens home and we made chapati!

4 ingredients that made 19 children SO happy. Crazy.

 

Workin hard!

 

 Happy Zeporah!!!

They tried to teach me how... They kept laughing at me.

I had to (secretly) film their reaction. They were so excited. How many kids in America get this stoked about having BREAD for dinner? We are beyond blessed. I never want to become used to this culture. Everyday my heart breaks for these people. I want to help Rosemary find financial support. Please pray for this beautiful family!

The Jua project is a brand new ministry that my friends here in Kitale have recently started and I feel so blessed to be apart of it! Jua Project's goal is to help single mom's in the slum earn an income to help sustain their families and alleviate poverty. In Kitale, it is very uncommon for a man to stay married to his wife. They usual move on to the next woman when they get bored leaving their wives and children with nothing. It is heartbreaking. Jua means "hope" or "sunshine" in Swahili. We want to provide hope for these broken families and most of all Christs unconditional love. I cannot wait to see what the Lord does with this ministry!

We now have tons of hot bangles available made by the mamas of Jua! You can purchase one online.. Perfect for summer!  https://www.facebook.com/JuaProject

If you would like to financially support Jua Project we just set up a paypal account. The money will be used to provide the children of Jua with school supplies and uniforms. They will be starting school for the first time ever this week!  We could really use prayer and support!

A few days ago I was reading in the book of John. I came across a few verses that I had read before but never really thought about. Jesus says to his disciples in chapter 14 verses 12-14 "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Jesus promises His disciples that they would do even greater things than He did and they did. It is crazy to think about. That morning I prayed that God would start using me to glorify Him the way that the disciples did.

I didn't have anything planned to do that day so I decided to walk down to Shimo (the local slum) and visit some of the kids I worked with over the summer. The first person I saw was my little friend Mercy. She took my hand and brought me to her home because she wanted me to see her mom, Gladys. I walked in and Gladys was laying down barely able to move because she was so sick. She told me a few weeks ago she had been collecting firewood in the forest and 3 men attacked her. They strangled her, beat her, and took all of her things. She was left unconscious for a few hours until someone found her and brought her home. Ever since then she had been very sick with chest pains and she was unable to walk because her legs were beaten to badly. My first thought was to take her to the hospital but then I remembered what I had just read in my bible that morning. I felt convicted to pray over her instead of rushing her to the hospital. She looked at me like I was crazy but I laid my hands on her and just starting asking in Jesus' name for a miracle. After I prayed I asked her how she was feeling and she said nothing had changed. I was a little discouraged but I told her to give it time and if nothing happens I would take her to the doctor. That night I prayed over and over again that God would show me whether to take her to the doctor or to let Him do the healing.

Over the next few days I continued to go back and pray with Gladys. People would come in and tell me that she needed to see a doctor and I continued to tell them that God wanted to heal her. I brought in a few more mamas from the slum to pray over her with me. After I prayed I was expecting them to pray but they remained silent. So we did a bible study on John 14:12-14 and I asked them all if they believed that Jesus could heal her and they all did. After doing the bible study we prayed with Gladys one more time. This time all of the mamas laid hands and cried out for Gods healing over Gladys. The Holy Spirits presence was SO powerful in that little mud hut.

Today I went back to see Gladys with my friend Priscillah to see if she wanted to join our beading group for widows. When I walked into her home she was standing on her own and totally energetic. She was stoked to tell me all that God had done for her through our prayers. She woke up this morning completely healed and healthy. Gladys' healing brought glory to Christ through out the slum. Gladys' faith has grown through this and so has mine and the women that were there that day praying. I am so excited to see how these women learn from this situation and start to pray for each other. Praise God! He is doing awesome things here in Kitale.

Meet Zeporah. The Lord has completely broken my heart for this little girl.



Last Saturday I met Zeporah while I was visiting a childrens home down the road from where I stay. She had just been taken there after a woman found her laying on the side of the road outside of a local slum. Her mother had died and her father didn't want her so he gave the woman permission to take her. She been staying with her aunt who was abusing and neglecting her. After hearing this news all I wanted to do was hold her in my arms and take her home with me. It was heartbreaking. The father didn't even know how old she was. Just looking at Zeporah was painful for me. She looked so unhealthy and so traumatized I didn't think she was going to live. She was so malnourished and so tiny. Her legs and feet were extremely swollen and her neck was so bony and weak that she couldn't even hold her head up.

I tried everything to make her feel loved. I just wanted to be able to tell her how much she means to God. I could tell she had never experienced any kind of affection before because she just stared at me with a blank face as I held her in my arms and kissed her over and over again. Whenever I would stop holding her hands she would put them back on my lap waiting for me to hold them again. I prayed over Zeporah the whole time I held her in my arms. I prayed that she would feel the Fathers love and that the Lord would heal her emotionally and physically. I went back everyday that week to check on her. My first question when I would get there was if Zeporah had smiled or spoken yet and every time I asked they told me not yet. They said that it would take at least a month. On Monday we took her to the hospital and found out she had malaria and worms. The doctor gave us the medications and said to keep feeding her every two hours and she would be okay.

Yesterday I went to visit Zeporah again. After sitting with her, painting her nails, tickling her and making all of the ugliest faces I could make she finally smiled!!! It was one of the happiest moments I had ever experienced in my life. I could feel the Lords presence and comfort whenever she smiled.

Zeporah looks completely different now. She is so beautiful. Her smile is gorgeous. Not only is she smiling but she can hold her head up AND walk. Also, when I play music for her she bobs her head and tries to dance. Its the cutest thing.

I feel so blessed to be a part of this childs transformation. It is amazing how the Lord can bring glory to Himself through prayer and healing. I cannot wait until she starts talking!

Prayers answered!

God is so good! On Thursday I found Elizabeth after searching hopelessly. Her family moved to Cheringani which is about 25 minutes outside of Kitale. I am blown away by the Lords faithfulness and the power of prayer. There were no cell phones, internet, or addresses involved. Crazy. I was finally able to hold Elizabeth in my arms again.. Thank you, Jesus!

I also got the approval from Elizabeths parents to put her in boarding school so today I did research and went around to different schools to compare prices. To put her in one of the bests boarding schools in the country it only costs 395 USD per year. For Americans, that is definitely affordable. It is THAT easy to make a difference in a childs life. Education in Kenya means everything. Without an education you can end up living on the streets or living like Elizabeths family- 7 people living in a tiny mud hut in the slum, sharing one bed and struggling to pay for even just one meal a day. I am so excited that Elizabeth is going to live with a hope for a brighter future that wont look like what she has grown up in. I encourage everyone to pray about this opportunity of putting a child through school.

God bless!