Team,

Where on earth to start? How about in the mountains looking up at the brightest stars since, well, Team Kenya ’08 sat in the same spot between the huts six months ago. One look at this sky and it is difficult to not stand in awe. While this broadband wireless modem is pretty sweet connecting me to the western world, it does not come even close to the majesty and natural beauty of Eburru, Kenya.

So many highs (and a few lows) from today:

Pastor Steve’s Clone: No, not Shaquille O’Neal. Jonathon Nenja, Pastor Steve’s older brother. Think how much God is working through Steve on the pastoral, management and business fronts. Duplicate it with kids, playfulness and hyper extroversion. Jonathan is talker coupled with the same huge heart for service – his calling is removing children from impossible life situations. Jonathan runs two orphanages in Nairobi. He is the brain behind the tedious process of identifying what children are truly the poorest of the poor, as working through that process with the Kenyan government is a walk in the park. Can’t tell you how much of a blessing Jonathan is to Pastor Steve, despite being opposite personalities, me and everyone else. He is one of the people who walk in a room and lights it up with his infectious smile, laugh and genuine servant’s heart. I just can’t believe how much is being done through these two, along with Mary and the Pastor Steve’s entire brain trust. These are some sharp, savvy people with a plan. I even get to meet their parents before leaving Kenya.

“Wassssup” – Julius, circa 12/31/08: Since I know some of you are sick with worry about Rose, John and Julius, I had Jonathan do an assessment of each one. Each is far from in a healthy spot, but they are not considered “destitute” or “orphaned”. Rose was cute as ever, same runny nose, maybe a little more slight. John is the same height, a little skinner and looks to be scrapping by. To me, Julius looked to be in the worst shape. He has a wicked cough, looks skinner and nose ran pretty steady. Darn chilly here at night. Jonathan examined Jules and said he probably suffers from infectious worms which continues to make his head patchy and the standard malnutrition. They have a roof over their head, a parent (took a photo of Rose with her mom) and more food and care than many others nearby. All this means they are not candidates for the orphanage, but possibly for Pastor Steve’s “in-home” program. The genius idea here is take action lifting up the parents (and kids) so mom (and sometimes dad) can better care for and support the children. I took a bunch of photos today of Rose, John and Julius and a video clip that is going to make you laugh and cry….

Seriously, Who Are The Orphans? Hearts were ripped apart today as Jonathan and I went searching for children that fit the profile of orphan or destitute child. Good night… By orphan, it means boy or girl does not have a home. By destitute, it means he or she may have a place to put down their head, but it is a wicked situation of zero supervision, fending for food on their own and/or abuse. Often times, destitutes live with an elderly grandmother who is incapable of caring for herself, much less a young child or group of children. I took photos and video of Jonathan’s work, asking him to walk us through the questioning process and examination with several lives cases. I’ll warn you now. The images are not for the faint of heart. 🙁

Teen Talk On HIV/AIDS: Pastor Steve and I are pretty much hanging with the current AIM team in Eburru until they leave next week. While young, they are a solid group who did an excellent job today with the church teens and young adults at a camp retreat – location: overlooking Lake Naivaisha (we saw hippos, giraffes, monkeys, baboons, buffalo and other wild – all on the way or on the camp grounds). After several hours of social time (over lunch – all were able to eat something), singing started the programming before several testimonies and an interactive talk in smaller groups about purity – i.e. biblical approach to sex, HIV/AIDS, etc. Three team member had relevant life stories that opened everyone up and some really good back and forth discussion was had. Several of the boys said they learned a lot and appreciated the transparency, information, encouragement and practical tips.Good things happened…

OK, I’ll stop there and save exciting updates about Morgan House planning and strategizing until another time. I’m fighting a losing battle with downloading photos and video. We’ll see how that goes in the next few days…

Blessings,
Jeff