June Update

Orphaned elephants. Yeah, probably not what you would expect me to talk about after returning on a trip from the Mathare slum in Kenya. I mean, I still can’t describe what I saw, felt, thought, smelled, witnessed. It’s all… overwhelming. The need there. The poverty. With a million residents living in a 2 ½ mile stretch of land in downtown Nairobi, 200,000 of which are children living in filth. Many if not most are orphans due to AIDS and malaria. They have nothing. Nothing. Just hope. They love Jesus. They danced to him. They sang to him. They wrote poems about him. They know he’s changed their life. Not their living. Their lives. They are following the one who loves them. Kinda like elephants at the Elephant Orphanage we visited. They have emotional trauma when their parents are killed or they become lost. In fact, elephants can stop eating because of mourning. So, their trainer adopts them. Sleeps with them. Feeds them. Talks to them. Lives with them 24/7. Giving them hope. Kinda like Jesus with the children. Hope is all they have. All they probably will ever have. We could never meet all the physical need of the slums. It’s not stopping the amazing CMF and Missions of Hope staff from trying. Our team of 90 did what they could for a week providing medical care, VBS, soccer clinics and building skylights in the shacks. Jesus is present in the slum. And there are many following him. When you have nothing else, you still can have peace. Like the baby elephants. They follow their trainer wherever he goes. Not wandering or wavering. Always in a straight line. They’ve been abandoned once. Never again. The children of the slum are learning to follow Jesus too. They’ve been abandoned. They will never stop following Jesus. He’s all they can depend on. He’s adopted them.

Dezi moved to Phoenix while I was gone and we are all back together. We had our first Mission Weekend at CCV and had over 600 sign up for mission trips. Recruiting is off the charts. Thanks for supporting the mobilization of more laborers. It’s making a difference. It’s spreading hope. And more are following.