God is Faithful

so here's what's been happening...saturday i was at blue house teaching the bible class. i read the Elmer book and had them make their own elephants. and we tied this into psalms 139:14 (i think) where it says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. so we discussed what God made unique about each of us. this lesson was so much more successful than when i read the story at sara junior. and these kids made beautiful drawings of elephants. they get so excited just seeing markers. and something about being there with them made me totally at peace. i felt like this is my calling in life...i'm supposed to help kids make art and tell them about God at the same time.

afterwards i went to dottie's. she lives on the outskirts of mathare, another slum here. i can't decide if her house is better or worse than i thought it would be. it's actually a real building, not just built of mud and sticks like most houses in the slums. victor was telling me today that it's illegal to build any permanent type house (meaning concrete, cement, drywall, etc) in the slums b/c it's technically gov't property. so that's why everything is built with mud. anyway, dottie's apartment building was made of concrete. but it's just so dirty with kids running around and screaming. she has one room to herself. she has a bed, and that's about it. but funny enough, she doesn't want any other furniture in the room b/c it would be too cluttered. we got cereal and milk to eat there and i bought her bowls and spoons b/c she has none. imagine not having anything to eat on! truly we are blessed my friends. i had a lovely afternoon just talking with dottie. we talked about all sorts of things and she was telling me about these out of body experiences she's had and seeing an angel. and i know you're getting skeptical now b/c i would be too. but the way she explained it all, i believe her. and i think God is so strong and present in her life b/c there is nothing else consistent for her to cling to. so despite all her hardships, in a way it is a blessing b/c she is so focused on following christ. she has all sorts of ambitions plans to start a daycare. right now she's teaching first grade. i gave her lots of kid stuff/art supplies that i had b/c she has kids just come over to her house to hang out. it's sort of her own ministry.

sunday i went to a salvation army church with popo. they're very into drumming, which was pretty loud and fun. they have this part between sunday school and the service where a lot of the people go out and march around the area beating these big drums and preaching. i didn't get to experience this but i've seen other salvation army churches doing this. they carry this big flag and they all wear white. during the sunday school, popo insisted that i get up with the kids and young adults to dance. he had this whole choreographed thing to this 8 minute song. nothing too complicated though. but everyone started peaking in the windows staring at the white girl dancing. i thought i was off the hook after this. but no, that was the practice, and they performed again during the service. so of course, they made me come up and do it again in front of a packed church. i felt a little goofy, but mostly it was fun. the pastor seemed impressed/surprised that a muzungu would be bold enough to do that.

yesterday i was teaching again at the juvenile. we gave out shoes to these kids...we gave them to different people last time. i felt so much joy in doing this. but the afternoon was really chaotic with the art activity. the head principal guy wanted me to make these collages with them for this contest. and the theme is this galatians verse about being one in christ. they totally didn't get how to put this into visual terms. and they stole some of the scissors. so it became a huge ordeal. i finally got all but one back. but it's so hard to teach them not to steal...i mean what would you do if you had nothing? it's like the robin hood story you know? i'm realizing how bad the message of that story is.

sometimes, it's things like the scissors being stolen or just being so discouraged from the poverty, or feeling like i really am not doing anything lasting. and i just cry out to God, that i'm tired and exhausted and feeling so powerless. and i pray, God, please, just give me some bit of joy today that can bring me back b/c i'm so discouraged. and you know what??? He always does. like today, i didn't want to go to sara junior. i tried to make myself sleep since i never can here. but i woke up, went running, and told myself, no you need to go. and as i walked in the door, they were so happy, high fiving me and remembering my name. and as i was reading the chicka chicka boom boom book they were able to chant along. and i know the little coloring activity we did wasn't anything great. But, they seemed to like it. and even if it's so not how i would teach something at home, i like to think that it gave them just a small piece of joy for the day. so yeah, God is carrying me through the difficult time and blessing me by these people.

by the way, please pray for PoPo, he has malaria.

love you guys.