A Church Committed to Community

It feels later than it is so I'm going to have to keep my comments brief tonight. It was a good day. We did a lot of traveling to see three different schools. We saw a lot of need, and the need seemed the become greater as the day went on. But we also saw a lot of hope in the realization of big dreams. Kenyans know how to dream big and move forward in any way they can to make the dream a reality. The thing I have been impressed by is that everything we have seen- every school, orphanage, every clinic we have visited has been sponsored by the Methodist Church. And every school is connected to a local church. The church is meeting the needs of the poor directly. They are there in the middle of it all. It's hard to not compare it to home because the culture and circumstances are so drastically different, but the churches here have got a lot of things right. The last school we visited was St. Matthews and is the school this team has worked on for years. This was my first time there, but I got to hear about what the school looked like a few years ago and even a year ago and to see what it looks like now....they still have so many needs, but they are much better off now than they were before this team started coming. So in honor of all the hard work and dedication he and Anna have shown this school, Wayne got to plant a tree there on the site. It was a very speical moment. The teachers of the schools are dedicated to educating these children in such a way that they flourish. At each school Isaac encouraged the children that their future is not determined by where they start, but where they are headed. These schools are committed to bringing up children of faith in Christ in hopes that's these children will rise above their life circumstances and be all that God has created them to be. What a message all our children need to hear!!
Another site we visited today was the synod (district) office. There we heard about the program the church has to help educate children and families about AIDS and help care for children with AIDS. Again, another program directly effecting people in great need in the community.
Our day ended with the celebration of a birthday. Today is Lewis's 76 birthday and we celebrated wtih music (and some dance in good Kenyan fashion), cake and ice cream, a poem, and speech. It was a wonderful celebration! Tomorrow we are going to be working at a medical clinic. Last year I think they saw 700 patients in a day so I'm sure it's going to be a busy day for us all. Thank you for following.
Be blessed,
Katie