Fall on Your Knees...

Listening to clips like THIS from a BBC interview make us think. We like being challenged to understand words like “charity” and “giving” better. Many times what we think we know is not true in the “real world.” It’s interesting to consider the types of “handouts” and their effectiveness, especially when living in a town/country/continent all too familiar with this type of response to needs.

For too long, we have been searching for OUR place, for OUR role, for THE position for our family to serve here.

Our God is just not like that, He's far too creative.

Once we started getting out of our own way, we realized that we have been placed in the center of a LOT of really DIFFERENT and really amazing people and organizations.  We wanted to stop here and marvel at all we've been exposed to so far. To share what our friends are up to, to invite more people into this special community, to widen the circle. (Disclaimer: Nairobi is a hub for “charitable” groups, mainly due to its size and location as a gateway to the rest of eastern Africa. The groups we list here are a mere drop in the bucket of such organizations. However, each one listed has a personal connection to our family and we can personally vouch for their integrity and impact on the communities they serve. Many are faith-based, but not all.)

This year, we’re digging in. We’ve made it a priority to get involved. In our neighborhood, in the school community, in these groups, as we can. We are here to support, encourage, and help as we are able. There is no one magic answer, when things really start to change it's on a personal level as each one of us does their own unique part.

Rosslyn itself is a very special place where people can send their kids to get an outstanding American education. Many non-American and non-religious families send their kids here, too-for the quality of teachers, programs, and character of the school. The school itself officially promotes important service-work through the Christmas Project, CFS trips for 5-12th graders, and various opportunities throughout the year (book drives, collecting soccer gear, etc.). CFS offers kids a glimpse of life totally different from their own and a faith that is surprisingly similar.

Yes, there is a time and a place for all types of aid/donations/giving. But the most lasting impressions come through relationship. Knowing the names of the people in need, working beside them, understanding their lives, not just seeing a solution to a problem. Many people we know do this well. They listen and learn and empower. In short, they love well.

Here are just a few of the people and organizations making a difference here in Kenya:

• Immanuel Afrika:  Claire's preschool teacher from last year works here now. Here's another blog post about the amazing work that they're doing with street boys in Nairobi.
  
  
• Rehema Home:  Our neighbor's parents run this kids home. They currently have around 65 kids living there with them.
  
  
• Mlango Farm:  An organic farm that's trying hard to teach sustainable and healthy ways of growing food.
  
  
• The Cymbaluks:  A couple that encourages people wherever they meet. They're currently involved in teaching and supporting an organic grocer.
  
  
• Blue Sky:  An organization that provides camps, a climbing gym, trips, and more. They focus on serving young people.
  
  
• Rothem House:  Some good friends of ours aim to provide missionaries (especially missionaries from East African nations) a place to be refreshed after being in the field.
  
  
• Convoy of Hope:  Convoy of Hope provides humanitarian relief, particularly in times of crisis.
  
  
• Faith House:  A friend of ours currently runs this home for teenage girls, and she will soon be turning the reins over to a local Kenyan family to continue encouraging these vulnerable young women.
  
  
• Kampala Fair:  A clothing company that uses East African fabrics to create beautiful clothes to employ women in Uganda.
  
  
• InnerCHANGE:  A family we know is sponsored by this organization to manage a sports center in one of the rougher neighborhoods in Nairobi.
  
  
• Jacaranda Designs:  They train and employ women from slums to create all kinds of sewing projects. They donated 10 beanbags to one of the Christmas Project recipients.
  
  
• Amani Ya Juu:  A local job training center that teaches handicraft skills to women who have escaped from conflict zones. It's also an oasis of calm in a busy city, both for resident employees and for customers.
  
  
• Village Project Africa:  A children's home in Western Kenya that offers education and healthcare to vulnerable children in remote areas.
  
  
• Jon and Amanda Fielder (African Mission Healthcare Foundation):  Jon is a traveling doctor who goes out into the bush to train other medical personnel. They've lived in East Africa for many years and saw the needs of remote clinics. They returned to the States, formed their own organization to address the needs, raised funds, and returned to Kenya.
  
  
• Matt Elmore—Global Youth Ministry:  Matt trains youth pastors all around East Africa, mainly in Kenya and Uganda. He's also has great stories about living in Kenya.
  
  
• Dunnings:  The Dunnings are a Rosslyn family who are involved in many different humanitarian outreach projects throughout Kenya. They were also here before teaching at Rosslyn, but they saw other needs that they wanted to focus on, so they recently returned after raising awareness and support back in the States for this new venture.
  

These people we've met are each playing an important role, and showing love through their work. The ways they do this are so varied, they can only be complementary pieces of a very large puzzle. We each have our own set of talents, preferences, history-the world benefits when we each play our own role. Recently, I came across a new book, Bandersnatch by Erika Morrison, and these same ideas were so well explained, I had to share:

"Contemporary Christianity seems to be suffering from an epidemic of sameness. Uniformity. Monotony. Those trapped inside are often afraid to step beyond established norms and innovatively express themselves, or they simply don’t know how. And those on the outside of Christianity often see very little that attracts them. Yet God, out of the abundance of his own artistic force, made each one of us unique. Peculiar. Irreplaceable. So why so much pressure to conform?"

What does your piece of the puzzle look like? There's a reason we don't all get the same shape. Maybe you are an innovator, like some of our friends. Maybe you are a teacher, like others we know. Maybe you open your heart and your home to the unloved-or maybe you can help someone do that.

Us? We're still working out the shape of our pieces, to be honest. But we do know that we love these people and we love to practice hospitality. So for now, we'll be there with a hot meal, a table of love and crazy little girls, and open, listening hearts.