My dear friends, Rob and Tracey, sent this communication one week after returning from our recent mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya. (see March 10th post: 'the fountain of life...') They graciously allowed me to add this to the Fallen Scales blog. If you've ever been to a place like the slums of Nairobi or if your considering an international mission trip, you may find this insightful.
Michael Vinson
Dear Friends and Family,
Thanks so much for all your prayers, donated items, and financial support to our recent mission trip at the Fountain of Life Children's Home in the Mathare slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The mission trip was incredibly successful in that it glorified our Lord Jesus Christ in many, many ways. We are very sorry that we haven't been in touch since we returned, but we have been through a great deal of psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual stress, growth and self-examination since we've returned. We are still processing everything that we saw and experienced and have not yet fully recovered from the jet-lag, but I did not want to delay further in sending this email to you.
'Rob and Tracey with a warrior...'
One of the most resounding things that we learned from the trip is how naive and self-absorbed that we have been in our lives. The world is oh-so much bigger than we previously perceived, and there are millions of people suffering every day all across the world. In the Mathare slums and throughout Nairobi, we witnessed and experienced poverty beyond our wildest imaginations. Attached are pictures taken in the slums. Never before had I ever dreamed of living conditions the likes of which we saw at times during our trip. We saw a naked, one-year-old little boy run barefoot through raw sewage along with dozens of other children and toddlers who were all caked with layers of dirt, tattered clothing, and mucus running from their noses. We saw thousands of people during their daily walk to and from their jobs where many of them make only about $1 per day. Many of these people walk as much as 12 miles round trip, and many of them cannot even afford shoes. Many of the people who can afford shoes do not have the types of shoes that we would consider appropriate for such a hike. They are often ripped up, too big or too small, no padding or support inside, etc.
Thousands upon thousands of people live in the slums, almost exclusively in 6'x6' shanties made of cardboard, corrugated metal, or whatever other refuse they could use to fashion a shelter. Families as large as ten people often live in these shacks. There is no electricity, sewage, running water, trash pick up, or other utilities in the slums. The city pipes a couple of tiny water spouts into different locations in the slums, which is the only source of water for hundreds upon hundreds of people at each spout. By the way, us Americans would not consider the city water potable. In fact, there was a warning by the city at one point during the trip, because many of the Kenyans were becoming sick from drinking the water.
Between the thousands of rows of shanties in the slums, run trenches where raw sewage and gray water and waste dribbles constantly throughout the day unless, of course, it rains too much and floods the shanties with the toxic mixture. Garbage is either thrown into the trenches or onto the sides of the road throughout the slums. When the garbage piles up too high, it is simply burned at the roadside, releasing toxic gases from the burning plastics, chemicals, and human waste. Toilet paper is a luxury that almost no one in the slums can afford. Food and water each day present enough of a challenge without worrying about the comforts of toilet paper, toothpaste, vehicles, television, or any of the thousands of other things that we so often take for granted.
For me (Rob), the mission trip has made me really begin examining what I've done with the things I've been given in this life. When we die, each of us will stand naked before God and give an account for our lives. The first question that we will answer is, "What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?" If we don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, we will spend eternity separated from God. If we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we get to proceed to the next question, "What did you do with everything that I gave you during your life?" This second question has me very unsettled right now.
Before the mission trip, I was living in a fantasy. I thought that this meeting was going to be 100% ecstasy, as I was finally going to meet Jesus and experience His glory in its ultimate fullness. That's true, but I now know that there is going to be a very painful and uncomfortable part of that meeting as well. Before, I often thought that giving some money to the church, going to church on Sunday, attending a couple of Bible studies here and there, etc. was all that God wanted from me. The truth is, however, that God expects much more than that from all of us. Don't get me wrong - there is absolutely nothing that you can do to appease God as far as judgment is concerned (i.e. "Earn your way into Heaven"). Only the blood of Jesus Christ can redeem us in that regard; only Jesus' payment can give us the gift of eternal life. There is absolutely nothing that you or I can do regarding our salvation except receive the free gift of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and give Him all the glory for His suffering, death, and resurrection because of our sin in this fallen world.
The issue that I'm talking about is, "Once we've been redeemed by the Lord Jesus, what are we going to do with our lives?" Do we really appreciate the gift that God has given us through Jesus, or are we going to simply give Him a head-nod and a hat-tip and say, "Thanks God - I'll see you when I die unless, of course, I get myself in a pinch and need you to bail me out before then." I (Rob) hereby confess to you. I have filled my life with too much emptiness. I have had too much desire for newer cars, too much longing for bigger houses, too much food, too much drink, too much clothing, too much toys, too much retirement, too much entertainment, too much "religion", too much of everything that doesn't matter at the end of the day. What I haven't had enough of is the love of God in my heart and the love of other people in my life. May the Lord forgive me and change me through the power of His Holy Spirit. I cannot do everything, but I can do something with the help of God. May the Lord give me the strength to do what I can to begin refocusing my life on others, rather than just worrying about myself all the time.
On a lighter note, there were many firsts on the trip. Immediately, when we arrived at Fountain of Life, Tracey began teaching many of the beautiful children how to hug for the FIRST time in their lives. Initially, the kids would just stand there rigidly as you hugged them, not sure what you were doing. Then, Tracey would place the children's hands around her back as she hugged them and, eventually, they learned to squeeze back and reciprocate the love of a genuine hug. Many of these kids (from three years old up to eighteen years old) had not been touched in a loving way by an adult in their entire lives. It was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.
Another first occurred when team member Doug Carvan brought a bunch of
sandwiches to the "construction crew" who were digging by hand a 6x10x10
septic tank on the property that was going to be connected to an administrative building on site. The sandwiches had been made for our team by the missionary house where we were staying at night. Doug brought them out to the construction crew, because we were eating with the Fountain of Life children and staff that day. The men looked strangely at the sandwiches, not quite sure what to do, because this was the FIRST sandwich they had ever eaten. Doug showed them how to eat it, and they enjoyed their FIRST sandwich.
The workers were local residents of the slum who had been hired to do the work by hand so that they could have an income, instead of hiring heavy equipment to quickly perform the task. The workers dug through the hard ground with pick axes and broke rocks with sledge hammers and steel spikes with bare hands and no shoes on their feet. This provided another opportunity for a first, as several team members gave these men their boots or the team bought shoes for the men before we left. This appeared to be the FIRST time that these men had worn shoes while they worked in quite some time.
Another big first occurred when the children at Fountain of Life celebrated their FIRST birthday party ever. They wore their FIRST birthday hats, blew their FIRST noise makers, ate meat for the FIRST time since Christmas, and had their FIRST birthday cake with their names written on it. It was a blast of a birthday party, as we had live worship music and plenty of food for the children, staff, and surrounding community members who came and experienced the love of Christ first hand in their lives and in the lives of the children.
As described above, attached are pictures of our team's FIRST visit to the Mathare slums. The older boy in the picture titled "Isaac-Mathare Slum March 2005" is Isaac, as he looks out over the slums near the shack where he used to live with his parents. The trench in front of Isaac in the picture is one of the garbage/sewage/waste-water trenches described above. Isaac had started getting into drugs and running with the street gangs in the slums when he was rescued by Fountain of Life where he came to know the Lord for the FIRST time in his life. "
Thanks so much for all your prayers, donated items, and financial support to our recent mission trip at the Fountain of Life Children's Home in the Mathare slums of Nairobi, Kenya. The mission trip was incredibly successful in that it glorified our Lord Jesus Christ in many, many ways. We are very sorry that we haven't been in touch since we returned, but we have been through a great deal of psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual stress, growth and self-examination since we've returned. We are still processing everything that we saw and experienced and have not yet fully recovered from the jet-lag, but I did not want to delay further in sending this email to you.
'Rob and Tracey with a warrior...'
One of the most resounding things that we learned from the trip is how naive and self-absorbed that we have been in our lives. The world is oh-so much bigger than we previously perceived, and there are millions of people suffering every day all across the world. In the Mathare slums and throughout Nairobi, we witnessed and experienced poverty beyond our wildest imaginations. Attached are pictures taken in the slums. Never before had I ever dreamed of living conditions the likes of which we saw at times during our trip. We saw a naked, one-year-old little boy run barefoot through raw sewage along with dozens of other children and toddlers who were all caked with layers of dirt, tattered clothing, and mucus running from their noses. We saw thousands of people during their daily walk to and from their jobs where many of them make only about $1 per day. Many of these people walk as much as 12 miles round trip, and many of them cannot even afford shoes. Many of the people who can afford shoes do not have the types of shoes that we would consider appropriate for such a hike. They are often ripped up, too big or too small, no padding or support inside, etc.
Thousands upon thousands of people live in the slums, almost exclusively in 6'x6' shanties made of cardboard, corrugated metal, or whatever other refuse they could use to fashion a shelter. Families as large as ten people often live in these shacks. There is no electricity, sewage, running water, trash pick up, or other utilities in the slums. The city pipes a couple of tiny water spouts into different locations in the slums, which is the only source of water for hundreds upon hundreds of people at each spout. By the way, us Americans would not consider the city water potable. In fact, there was a warning by the city at one point during the trip, because many of the Kenyans were becoming sick from drinking the water.
Between the thousands of rows of shanties in the slums, run trenches where raw sewage and gray water and waste dribbles constantly throughout the day unless, of course, it rains too much and floods the shanties with the toxic mixture. Garbage is either thrown into the trenches or onto the sides of the road throughout the slums. When the garbage piles up too high, it is simply burned at the roadside, releasing toxic gases from the burning plastics, chemicals, and human waste. Toilet paper is a luxury that almost no one in the slums can afford. Food and water each day present enough of a challenge without worrying about the comforts of toilet paper, toothpaste, vehicles, television, or any of the thousands of other things that we so often take for granted.
For me (Rob), the mission trip has made me really begin examining what I've done with the things I've been given in this life. When we die, each of us will stand naked before God and give an account for our lives. The first question that we will answer is, "What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?" If we don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, we will spend eternity separated from God. If we have received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we get to proceed to the next question, "What did you do with everything that I gave you during your life?" This second question has me very unsettled right now.
Before the mission trip, I was living in a fantasy. I thought that this meeting was going to be 100% ecstasy, as I was finally going to meet Jesus and experience His glory in its ultimate fullness. That's true, but I now know that there is going to be a very painful and uncomfortable part of that meeting as well. Before, I often thought that giving some money to the church, going to church on Sunday, attending a couple of Bible studies here and there, etc. was all that God wanted from me. The truth is, however, that God expects much more than that from all of us. Don't get me wrong - there is absolutely nothing that you can do to appease God as far as judgment is concerned (i.e. "Earn your way into Heaven"). Only the blood of Jesus Christ can redeem us in that regard; only Jesus' payment can give us the gift of eternal life. There is absolutely nothing that you or I can do regarding our salvation except receive the free gift of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and give Him all the glory for His suffering, death, and resurrection because of our sin in this fallen world.
The issue that I'm talking about is, "Once we've been redeemed by the Lord Jesus, what are we going to do with our lives?" Do we really appreciate the gift that God has given us through Jesus, or are we going to simply give Him a head-nod and a hat-tip and say, "Thanks God - I'll see you when I die unless, of course, I get myself in a pinch and need you to bail me out before then." I (Rob) hereby confess to you. I have filled my life with too much emptiness. I have had too much desire for newer cars, too much longing for bigger houses, too much food, too much drink, too much clothing, too much toys, too much retirement, too much entertainment, too much "religion", too much of everything that doesn't matter at the end of the day. What I haven't had enough of is the love of God in my heart and the love of other people in my life. May the Lord forgive me and change me through the power of His Holy Spirit. I cannot do everything, but I can do something with the help of God. May the Lord give me the strength to do what I can to begin refocusing my life on others, rather than just worrying about myself all the time.
On a lighter note, there were many firsts on the trip. Immediately, when we arrived at Fountain of Life, Tracey began teaching many of the beautiful children how to hug for the FIRST time in their lives. Initially, the kids would just stand there rigidly as you hugged them, not sure what you were doing. Then, Tracey would place the children's hands around her back as she hugged them and, eventually, they learned to squeeze back and reciprocate the love of a genuine hug. Many of these kids (from three years old up to eighteen years old) had not been touched in a loving way by an adult in their entire lives. It was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.
Another first occurred when team member Doug Carvan brought a bunch of
sandwiches to the "construction crew" who were digging by hand a 6x10x10
septic tank on the property that was going to be connected to an administrative building on site. The sandwiches had been made for our team by the missionary house where we were staying at night. Doug brought them out to the construction crew, because we were eating with the Fountain of Life children and staff that day. The men looked strangely at the sandwiches, not quite sure what to do, because this was the FIRST sandwich they had ever eaten. Doug showed them how to eat it, and they enjoyed their FIRST sandwich.
The workers were local residents of the slum who had been hired to do the work by hand so that they could have an income, instead of hiring heavy equipment to quickly perform the task. The workers dug through the hard ground with pick axes and broke rocks with sledge hammers and steel spikes with bare hands and no shoes on their feet. This provided another opportunity for a first, as several team members gave these men their boots or the team bought shoes for the men before we left. This appeared to be the FIRST time that these men had worn shoes while they worked in quite some time.
Another big first occurred when the children at Fountain of Life celebrated their FIRST birthday party ever. They wore their FIRST birthday hats, blew their FIRST noise makers, ate meat for the FIRST time since Christmas, and had their FIRST birthday cake with their names written on it. It was a blast of a birthday party, as we had live worship music and plenty of food for the children, staff, and surrounding community members who came and experienced the love of Christ first hand in their lives and in the lives of the children.
As described above, attached are pictures of our team's FIRST visit to the Mathare slums. The older boy in the picture titled "Isaac-Mathare Slum March 2005" is Isaac, as he looks out over the slums near the shack where he used to live with his parents. The trench in front of Isaac in the picture is one of the garbage/sewage/waste-water trenches described above. Isaac had started getting into drugs and running with the street gangs in the slums when he was rescued by Fountain of Life where he came to know the Lord for the FIRST time in his life. "
"Isaac back home in the Mathare Slums"
After being rescued by Fountain of Life and giving his life to Jesus, Isaac went back to the slums and witnessed to and prayed for his old neighbor who was a raging alcoholic. The neighbor has now received Christ as his Lord and Savior and is getting his life back together. Praise God! Tracey and I and many of the other team members spent a lot of time with Isaac, and he is one of the kindest, most gentle, loving and intelligent boys I've ever met. I dare say that any of you would be proud to call Isaac your son. It was really hard to say goodbye to Isaac when we left, and it was also heartbreaking to say goodbye to all the boys, Pastor Mbai, Mami, Lameck, Clara, and all the staff and teachers at Fountain of Life. Attached is a picture of our team (minus Herb who was taking the picture) with the boys, the Mbais, and the staff and teachers at Fountain of Life.
If any of you want to hear more stories about the mission trip, please let us know. We would love to share with you the things that the Lord revealed to us in the midst of unimaginable tragedy and poverty amongst the beautiful people of Nairobi, Kenya.
Mungu akubariki sana kila wakati, Asante sana (God Bless You Much and Always and Thank You so much),
Rob & Tracey
Dallas, Texas
April 1, 2005
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