A Sunday Challenge

First of all, my hat goes off to everyone around the globe who has done and is still doing a great job giving time, efforts and money to face the famine in Eastern Africa.
Aftenposten published an article the other day on how the famine has awoken the Norwegian people's sense of solidarity, and millions of kroner have been collected in a short amount of time.
In Kenya there is a fundraising campaign going on which has engaged large parts of the population through the slogan "Kenyans for Kenya".

Both people who are affected themselves by the crisis, and people who live so removed from it that they only notice it in the media, have mobilized and come together as a global society to assist our brothers and sisters at the horn of Africa.

Unfortunately the same article in Aftenposten also states that the aid agencies will need twice as much money to be able to keep up with the situation. That's why my challenge to you today is the following: Whatever you have contributed to relieve this crisis, double it!

If you've already donated 100,- to the Red Cross, give them another hundred, and so on. And of course: if you haven't done anything, you're way behind and should get moving! :)

Not only is this a social responsibility which we all carry as global citizens. It's also a great opportunity to challenge yourself: are you able to get through the next month on a tighter budget? Which measures can you take in your everyday life to free up more money for this kind of disasters?

Here are some useful websites:
The Norwegian Church Aid (Kirkens Nødhjelp)
The Norwegian Red Cross
CARE

Harambee - Let's pull together

A letter from Nairobi (pictures coming soon)

Hi, everyone!

I just came back from a two-week trip to Nairobi and it's about time I give everyone an update on how the kids are doing (allthough I don't know if I should call them kids anymore, they've really grown!). First of all I want to thank everyone for the interest and support that we receive in this exciting situation that we find ourselves in. As the big Book says: Paul planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. I hope that this update will give you the impression that what we have sown has been fruitful.
 
Physical surroundings:
Since last fall the guys have been living in a place called Mowlem. It's pretty far from the city centre and is, by Nairobi standards, a quiet and secluded neighbourhood. The house we're renting is big by Kenyan measures and has four bedrooms, living room, kitchen and three bathrooms spread out over two stories. We're renting this house at a really cheap rate, and thank God for that. It's worth much more than we are able to pay. The eight kids stay there together with Charlie P, Antony Macharia and Dominique Malonza.

School:
All the kids have been in school since May last year. The seven "original ones" are in a school a five minutes' walk from the house, while Peter is in a school run by the local church. Simon, Ken, Jacob and John will start class 4 come this August, while Kevin, Peter, Michael and Kim will start class 6. They have all done an exceptional job catching up in school. Most of them have spent less than a year advancing from being the poorest students in their classes to being above average today. Ken has been the top student in his class the last three terms. In spite of them being a bit older than their classmates they have been able to stay motivated and focus on the sense of accomplishment that they feel by continuously improving. I am very impressed by them.

Material conditions:
Even though our budget is pretty tight, the guys have most of the things they need. They have three nutritious meals a day, have most of the school supplies they need and get new clothes from time to time. They have purchased a TV and a DVD player, so like most teenagers they spend a lot of time watching movies. As everyone in Kenya we have felt the consequenses of the food crisis, with food prices almost doubling in the last few months. With eight growing teenagers in the house food is a significant expense and the grown-ups are doing their best to stretch the budget.
Personal growth:

When I got to Nairobi this time around I was surprised at how much the kids had changed. They have always been good kids, but now they are also very reliable and responsible. They take (relatively) good care of their belongings, listen to what you say and do as they're told. This is a remarkable change. At the same time they become increasingly confident about themselves and their talents. They have a healthy take on the time they spent on the street and a lot of dreams about the future.

Spiritual growth:

These are guys who from the start have known very well that God is the one who has brought them to where they are, not us. They are very aware of and grateful for God being present in their lives, and having a plan with them. They belong to a local church and participate in Sunday school and teen gatherings there, in addition to being taught about Christian faith in school. They show a lot of interest to learn about who God is, and it is very exciting to take part in their growth.

The ones who make it all go around:

I thank God for giving Antony, Malonza and Charlie P a heart for these boys, and for the huge responsibility that they have taken on. They do a fantastic job taking care of everything from money management, following their progress in school, mentoring, devotional life and everything else it requires to be a part of this family.On top of everything, they do this in addition to their own work and studies.

Challenges/prayer issues:
I know that I tend to focus on what is good in every kind of situation, but I will try to put across some of the challenges that we are facing:
- Some of the boys, especially one, still struggle with their relationship to their families. Next week he is going home to try and reconciliate with his father, and it is hard to tell how it will work out. Please pray that he will have strength and wisdom, and that God will open the father's heart.
- There has been a tendency that the kids keep problems to themselves, rather than sharing them with the grown-ups. This is understandable seeing how they have been used to dealing with their own issues, but it is still not a good thing. It affects the emotional climate in the house, at the same time as it prevents the grown-ups from knowing about challenges they should be dealing with.
- In a home of 11 individuals there will inevitably be certain dynamics and people will rub each other the wrong way from time to time. Please pray that anything which might resemble favourizing, "cliques" and such may be resolved. There have been tendencies of this, but Antony, Malonza and Charlie P are trying to deal with it.

In the end I want to share some quotes from the kids with you:

- "When I was living on the street it was just as if I knew that God had other plans for me. I used to come to a new place, and after a while it was just as if a voice told me 'this isn't where you're supposed to be'. Then I would get up and keep moving. Now I know what God wants with my life: he wants me to praise him through song and music. I had to experience what I did in order to have something to sing about." (Kevin)
- "I have a whole collection of exams and test sheets that I found lying around in school, many of them on class 7 and 8 curriculum. When I find these sheets I bring them home and try to solve them to see if I can do it. When I grow up I want to be a police officer, and I want to help other street children to get an education." (Kim)
- "There are a few things I like more than food(!) and one of them is maths. I really love everything that has to do with numbers. But I think English is difficult. What I really want to be is a pilot." (Michael)

Again, thank you for all your support! If you have questions, suggestions or constuctive criticism, I'd be happy if you left a comment. As they say in Africa: it takes a village to raise a child.


Have a beautiful summer's day!
Lots of love from Michael (16), Kim (15), Peter (14), Kevin (14), Ken (13), Simon (13), Jacob (13), John (12), Antony, Malonza, Charlie P and Kristina.

Hurricane - Jimmy Needham

I have built a city here
Half with pride and half with fear
Just wanted a safer place to hide
I don’t want to be safe tonight

I need You like a hurricane
Thunder crashing, wind and rain
To tear my walls down
I’m only Yours now

I need you like a burning flame
A wild fire untamed
To burn these walls down
I’m only Yours now
I’m only Yours now

I am Yours and You are mine
You know far better than I
And if destruction’s what I need
Then I’ll receive it Lord from Thee
Yes, I’ll receive it Lord from Thee

I need You like a hurricane

Thunder crashing, wind and rain
To tear my walls down
I’m only Yours now

I need you like a burning flame
A wild fire untamed
To burn these walls down
I’m only Yours now
I’m only Yours now

And it’s Your eye in the storm
Watching over me
And it’s Your eye in the storm
Wanting only good for me
And if You are the war
Let me be the casualty

‘Til I’m Yours alone
I am only Yours
I am Yours alone, Lord

I need You like a hurricane

Thunder crashing, wind and rain
To tear my walls down
I’m only Yours now

I need you like a burning flame
A wild fire untamed
To burn these walls down
I’m only Yours now
I’m only Yours now

Come be my hurricane



Authenticity is invaluable, originality is non-existent

A quote hanging on the wall of The Dream Centre, Mathare, Nairobi:
(I am in Kenya, by the way)

Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean Luc Godard said: "It is not where you take things from - it is where you take them to."
- Jim Jarmusch

The poem of the day

They named us the Generation Y,
which means we're the ones asking
all the questions that the ones who
went before us didn't care to answer:
Y am I here?
Y is life worth living?
Y do I know what I know (or think I know)?

The ones with the answers are long gone,
and as if that's not enough
their answers are at best really improbable
if not probably not real at all...

So this is where the Generation X has left us,
the 68'ers who happily erased all certainty
from the face of our minds.
Didn't they know (or want to know) that after A follows B and so
their X would give birth to a new little letter
trying to confirm its existence by shouting «Y!? Y!? Y!?»

Y did you bring me here?
Y did you create this world for me?
Y do I have to provide the answers?
Y do I bother?

All to his glory

I woke up today feeling less than extremely motivated. This doesn't happen very often, seeing how (and I know I've said it before) I have the most awesome job I could ever ask for. Today, however, there was no escaping that I wasn't particularly looking forward to climb out of bed and go to work.
The reason is simple. My task for the day was the following:

Cutting trees.
Lots of trees. 

(My view most of the day today, photo from the internet)

And so as I got up this morning, I was preparing myself mentally and trying to find all the advantages of being outside the whole day with a pair of oversized scissors as my only weapon against trees, spines and bushes. After all, it did come with lots of health benefits, fresh air, getting in touch with nature, it shouldn't be so bad. But somehow I didn't quite manage to convince myself.

(My life motto? Photo from the internet)

That was untill I sat down to read today's chapter of "The purpose driven life" by Rick Warren. I guess most of you guys have already read it, or don't know what it is, one of the two. In short it's a book which in 40 days tries to give you an answer to the question: What on earth am I here for? Today I had reached chapter 7, which is called "The reason for everything".

"Worship is far more than praising, singing and praying to God. Worship is a lifestyle of enjoying God, loving him, and giving ourselves to be used for his purposes. When you use your life for God's glory, everything you do can become an act of worship. The Bible says, 'Use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God'.

(Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, page 70)

(Haven't read this book yet? Please do. Photo from the internet)

So there you have it! That was just what I needed to hear. I pulled on my janitor's jumpsuit, turned on my mp3-player and headed out to cut a bunch of trees, all to the glory of God.

(I've noticed that most blogs have this "outfit of the day" thing going on, so I thought I'd add mine. From: the addic at Hald. Price: free, as it's a donation from someone to Hald. Thank you. :-) Photo from the internet)

And you know what? I ended up having quite a lot of fun with it. :-)



To Kenya and back again

This month Hald gave me a chance to attend Infield Africa (a follow up course for our students having their internship in Africa) in Nairobi. Like I have already told several people, the fact that I actually receive salary for traveling to Kenya goes on the now pretty long list of why God has blessed me with the most awesome job I could ever dream of!

(Picture taken from the internet)

Being the horribly irresponsible blogger that I am, I headed for Africa without a camera. That means that I don't have a single photo to document my two weeks spent in Kenya, but what I do have is a whole lot of good stories to tell. They could not possible fit in this blog post, so I'll just jot down a few key events here. If you know me you should however know that the next time you meet me I will be more than happy to tell you about everything that I saw and experienced, thought and learnt.

Here are some of the highlights:

- Farewell from Norway in my Bolivian friend Silvia's house; together with Julio and Fabian from Peru. Lots of gløgg (Norwegian Christmas tea or something) and "La Familia P. Luche" (Mexican family sitcom) on the TV. Thank you guys so much for really letting me have something to look forward to come back to in Kristiansand. :)

(This hilarious show used to be on at dinner time everyday in Mexico. Picture taken from the internet)

- The plane was 13 hours delayed from Amsterdam, which resulted in a night spent in a really fancy hotel, free food and lots of free soap. I got to know a crew of Danish TV producers, a sweet lady from Connecticut and three nice chics from Mexico.

(No problem being stuck in Amsterdam when you get all this for free. Felt kind of out of place though, but hey, that's what exposure is about. Picture taken from the internet)

- Almost being denied the visa to enter Kenya, seeing how I overstayed by a week last time. When I finally got it, I payed with borrowed money which unwillfully became stolen money (my German friend from the airport, if you read this: please give me your account number and I will pay you back!). When I finally got out of the airport a whole welcome crew was waiting, and they had even rented a car! We got in, then got back out to push it, then got back in when the engine started running. When we're finally driving along the wonderfully bumpy roads of Nairobi I remember: "Where are we going, really?"

(Oh, I smiled. Picture taken from the internet)

- Seeing the kids again! It was truly overwhelming to be outside the door, knowing the boys where just inside. I was sure I was going to fall through the floor when I saw Ken standing in the door. It was late, and some of them were already asleep but they soon woke up. We jumped, shouted, laughed, cried, and ate lots of banana cake. They told me about how they'd been, showed me school assignments, report cards and made fun of my rusty Swahili. Since last time another guy has joined us, Peter. He is a quiet, but social and friendly guy, who has found his place in this original family.

(This is going to be a long post!)

- Arriving at MWC, being attacked by known and unknown kids, plus four Norwegians whom I like to refer to as my team junior. After some minutes of catching up with the people at church, I am invited to town for pizza together with the wazungu crew and the oldest kids in the primary school. We get into a loud mat, local hip hop blasting at a level I am no longer used to, and head for town.

(How I had missed these death machines. Picture taken from the internet)

- A haywire trip to Western Kenya. Every three months the kids have four weeks of holiday. Both we and the kids themselves want them to spend their holidays with their biological families. And so it was that Antony, Charlie P, the eight boys and myself found ourselves in the back seat of a Matunda Bus, some on top of others, some on the floor etc. Eight or nine hours later we had arrived in Kitale, tired but excited. The entire day was spent traveling up and down the rurals outside of Kitale by mat, tuk tuk and motorcycle, leaving the kids with their parents and receiving avocados, mangos and other treasures in return for the effort. Especially memorable was it to visit Peter's home. His parents had not heard from him in a year, and knew nothing about how he was. His father turned out to be a pastor, and blessed us thoroughly before we left. From Kitale we went on to Webuye and finally we arrived in Kakamega. By the time we got there and had sent Ken home, there was no other bus back to Nairobi until next morning. And so we ended up spending the night in a 24 hour cafe at the bus station. We arrived back in Nairobi a noon the next day, after 48 hours of not seeing a shower, a toothbrush, clean underwear or a bed.

(We really got to explore the roads of Kenya during these few days. Picture taken from the internet.)

- Seeing the Hald students again! It was great to catch up, see how they are doing so far and how their time in Africa is shaping them in all kinds of different ways.

- Taking the Hald students to visit the Lepta Community, who had prepared an awesome program for the day (you guys never let me down)! First we divided into groups of three where each group got two guides from Lepta. We walked around Mathare, visited the homes of our guides, talked about our lives and shared experiences with one another. After eating at my favourite place in Eastleigh we went back to "The Dream Centre", Steve and John talked about Lepta and MI Faya sang two of their songs. It was in that moment it dawned on me that I was actually back in Kenya, back in Mathare, back home. 

(The Recreation Factory is part of the Lepta Community, picture taken from the internet)

The greatest highlight of all was of course to see all my friends again, talk, share and spend time together. The love that I was met with was overwhelming. As I told Antony the night I was leaving: considering how much I move around, I am extremely grateful to be remembered and loved in the places I have called home so far. It would be understandable, myself coming and going as much as I do, that people would forget me or at least not be willing to involve themselves in my life to a great extent. However I have experienced time and time again that I am remembered and even missed. This is what it means to be a part of God's kingdom, and can't stop thanking God for it. I can't wait for the day that we will all be united at His table, having finished the race well to His glory.   

(And we get to take part in it! Picture taken from the internet)

    Have a wonderful new year, may all your dreams come true!