| Jambo! Habari zyano? (How are you all?) I hope you’ve all been able to check out our team blog. We posted a lot of updates while we were in Kenya and even some after. http://kenyalove09.blogspot.com/ Next Wednesday, our team will have a more formal sharing time at the Joint Fellowship located at Chinese Church in Christ – Cupertino: 10455 Bandley Dr., Cupertino 95014. It’ll start around 7:30, so if you’re around I hope you’ll be able to come! Kenya was altogether an awesome experience. It’d be difficult to give you a glimpse of what Kenya was like without being lengthy, but here it goes (at least I included pictures this time!) … As soon as we arrived in Kenya was already felt a great amount of fatigue from the travel. We spent 10 hours on a plane, 10 hours in Amsterdam (when we should have been sleeping according to our home time), and another 8 hours on a plane to arrive in Nairobi Monday morning local time. We spent that day touring the Kibera slum and visiting First Love’s Children’s Home, and preparing for our VBS at Raila Education Center that would begin the next day. The first few days of VBS were rough for many of us because of our lack of rest, but also because we felt that it was difficult to connect with the kids at the school. But by the end of that week, we were often surprised how much these kids valued having us around and what they said they had learned throughout the week. Philip, one of the staff members at the school, said that the students’ demeanor had changed drastically compared to the previous weeks, that smiles had returned to these kids’ faces because of what God had done through us.   By the last day the kids could hardly be contained Please pray for these children. Hope runs shallow in Kibera, but the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. We spent the majority of the second week at First Love’s Children’s Home at the Karen property. This home currently houses 21 girls, and provides fresh water for the surrounding community. (Fresh water is scare in Kenya.) Our team divided into groups to help around the home, from gardening and landscaping, to painting, to even building a stone path. Wednesday afternoon we held a makeshift kid’s club for about 50 kids around the neighborhood, complete with crafts, music, a Bible story, and games. On Thursday we spent the afternoon with just the girls that live in house with a similar plan, except it rained so we stayed indoors and continued to sing as the girls decorated frames for their portraits. This afternoon was by far one of my favorites. The girls knew a lot of songs that we sing, and the fellowship was beautiful. Everyone on the team wished we had more time to spend with these girls, but unfortunately (or fortunately) school got in the way.  Jean sharing Daniel and the Lion’s Den with neighborhood kids  Very meticulous painting!
 We had to wheelbarrow all these bricks from another location, very wearisome!
 The girls introducing themselves, and Charity, who is a one of the mom’s at the house.
One of the most awesome and encouraging things was the way our team bonded together and became unified under one Love. I remember when we first arrived in Kenya and basically jumped into ministry and preparation and all things, there was great compassion and encouragement for each other as we struggled with fatigue and not feeling connected to kids and all kinds of hardship. Everyone was willing to do whatever needed to be done and help each other out in any capacity, and it was an awesome sense of the Spirit’s moving among us. On the 2nd Monday, we held a “youth rally” for about 250 kids, which consisted of music, testimonies, 2 body worships, and a skit. Everything about this rally was extremely hectic and rather last minute, but 20 minutes before we started the rally our entire team just stopped and prayed. I kept telling everyone on the trip how much I felt God move in our team--through the testimonies of suffering and redemption and the performances that turned out so well--and I was so encouraged. When the body steps out in faith together, awesome things happen.   Our team with some of the First Love Staff: Phillip, Patrick, Ann, and Chris I did mention that Kenya was an awesome experience right? I spent most of the week since coming home just resting and thinking, and missing the simplicity of life and the beauty of following my Father, and loving people and being loved by people. On the last night before we left, I was sharing with the group how going on the trip was an easy decision for me, because there was basically no reason for me not to go. And everything in Kenya was rather simple. I could wake up each day and know that I would be following Christ, having the chance to love people and experience love and there was no doubt and no fear. Bob and Bobbie Clinton, First Love staff and our personal team leaders, love and give in such simple and amazing ways that are everything inspiring. All of God’s truths that you read about and want to understand in the Bible, you actually live and breathe it through such trips. And I hate, I hate, how hard it is to live like this in my daily life here in America. In Kenya I had no second thoughts about saying yes, and just did it. Whatever God asks or however He leads, I just did it. There wasn’t any need to analyze or prepare or consider what the “right” option was--you just say yes and you live by faith and you go for it. In my first letter about Kenya I had written about experiencing doubt amidst the complicated and busy life I have here in America, and asking the question where do I go from here. I wanted to see how God moves in my life and how He delights in me at all times. Kenya was awesome in this way, because I saw His Spirit move and I experienced His delight: through the kids, through the First Love Staff, through Bob and Bobbie Clinton, through our team, through the grace of nature, through the honest struggles and joys of a broken people--and I was immensely blessed. And again I find myself asking: where do I go from here? I’m a little surprised at the amount of culture shock I feel, not because of materialism or any feelings of ingratitude or common forms of culture shock, but because of the lack of direction I feel and the lack of willingness. I have plenty of opportunity to serve and love and give here at home, but I find myself reluctant to say yes in faith, and I think about how far I have to drive or whether or not it’ll cost me money or how much time it will take--all the complications that were missing in Kenya suddenly seem to revitalize themselves. It’s been a little too easy adjusting back into my daily routine of games and movies and living within my control. Where did my faith go? But I am grateful for the way God works, and for His sovereignty. I’m not looking for some other place to run off to, or some proof of how I might live by faith, so there’s really nothing to complain about. Truth is, my faith exists here as well as in Kenya, or Nepal, or wherever I might be. And God continues to move in my life and delights incredibly in me, for which I am grateful. I am amazed that my Father has led me to this point in my life, where I feel confident and ready to say yes to whatever’s next. That is to say, I have found the type of inspiration that makes me want to live, and my heart swells with love. During the trip, Bob asked me if I would like him to look into teaching jobs for me in Nepal. This is the 2nd time I’ve been asked to go to Nepal (the other was during last year’s trip to Nepal) for an indefinite amount of time, and I wonder if God is leading me this way for a couple reasons. One is I’m currently unemployed in the States anyway and would only substitute teach for the next year or so; the other is I actually feel less attached to being at home after this trip, and I’m always frustrated with the way I live through the daily grind. Earlier this year I thought God wanted me to stay around home for the church plant that I’m a part of, so I’m not sure what doors will open in the coming months. I’d greatly covet your prayers! When I returned home, DCB had just introducted a new song that completely captures my current state: How He Loves In His unceasing grace and love,
Jon Shieh |
