"Therefore we do not lose heart."

Friday, July 10
Jacob led our "rumination" (discussion) time on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.
" 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
It was encouraging to remember that Kibera, poverty, pain is what we see and experience here on earth, but is temporary. There is something completely opposite in extreme that we will one day experience that will be so glorious and amazing. When God returns to make all things new and right, there will be joy and worship of God that will be so incredible, that will outweigh all the pain experienced on earth. We talked about how we had been hit hard with the poverty this week. Yet in spite of the poverty, we have seen how Christ has transformed their lives. They know that Christ is all they need in this life and they are joyful in that hope. While nice homes and clean water would help, eternally, only Christ can give life (that is eternal) and the hope to live in this life. His love is what is sustaining.

Saturday, July 11
Prepared all morning for the Uhuru girls Bible Study with Grace. We decided to talk about the 5 women in Jesus’ genealogy and tie it into 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 where God uses the weak things of the world so that he might receive the glory. I really enjoyed preparing the lesson and looking through the Word to prepare. We left for Uhuru at around 2pm. I spent the first part of the time playing frisbee with a bunch of younger kids. Derrick, from the 5th grade, and his friend Ada, then Paul and Collins joined us. They did not attend the Church, but I tried to invite them, through Derrick translating. They were kind of shy and left a bit after a larger group of boys came to join us. They were a lot of fun and I learned most of their names as I tried to make it a game to say the persons' name you were tossing the frisbee to. Then it was time to meet for the Bible study. We had a pretty large group of girls and Grace, Carol and I taught together. Then we split up into two groups, older and younger, to dive a little deeper and ask questions. It was very difficult and the younger girls with me and Grace were very shy. After the study, we passed out sandwiches and juice. Ended with prayer, and last words of good-bye as this was our last Saturday at Uhuru with the youth. Everyone was so sad and as each of us were given a chance to talk, I told them I'd had fun with them and would be praying for them. Gave hugs and hand-shakes and said good-bye. Most of the girls had been so shy around me and I was surprised when I received hugs from a few of them I hadn't talked to much.
As we drove home for dinner, our van broke down and it took us a while to get it started again. We at at the Karen Blixen House for dinner, and it was amazing. We went with the Makuku's and it was fun to hang out with the boys, Elmer and Isaac. They are about the same age as my cousins and so it was funny to see the similarities in their interests and personalities. Isaac was showing us a "magic trick" and they both made faces with us.
Sunday, July 12
In Church I enjoyed the singing and dancing so much. It was really amazing to experience their joy that they have in Christ amidst the poverty that is here. You can't fake that kind of joy.