International Medical Insurance

For the first time in my life, I've had to shop around for medical insurance.  Now, I see what everyone is complaining about!  

We've been really fortunate thus far to have either Army medical coverage (basically free) or BCBS of Illinois (heavily subsidized by my employer).  Now, that we're paying out of pocket for the whole thing, we've had to shop around some. 

We came across some really interesting things when researching international medical insurance:

• Coverage Models:  It's a whole lot cheaper if you never step foot in the US or Canada.  Because the cost of care is so much more expensive in North America, you'll pay about half as much for premiums if you sign up for coverage excluding the US and Canada.  
• Maternity Riders:  We were surprised to see that you have to sign up for a separate maternity rider, which almost doubles your premium if you're planning to have kids (and you have to wait a year before the benefits kick in).  Yeah, believe it or not, we will probably have another baby at some point.  We ultimately decided not to sign up for the maternity rider after talking to other missionaries who have had babies in Kenya.  It looks like its a lot cheaper to pay out of pocket to have a baby than to pay for 2 years for a maternity rider.
• Preexisting Conditions:  Most of you probably know this (we've been living in a dream world, I guess), but most insurers won't cover preexisting conditions.  
• Convenience Medications:  Who would've thought that Ortho-Tricyclene was a convenience medication?  I guess they do that to promote their Maternity Rider.

Despite all of the surprises with international medical insurance, we're thankful that we have the resources to afford the premiums.  We've been really blessed with good medical care in Kenya, as well.  One of the Kenyan Board Members is a family physician, and she will care for our family while we're overseas.  God is good!

More on Agape Children's Ministry - Remand

Another way that kids come into Agape's programs is from Remand, Kisumu's equivalent of Juvenile Hall.  These kids can be in Remand for a variety of reasons:  the kids might have been abandoned by their parents; the kids could have been involved in a violent crime of some sort.  Regardless of the reason for their incarceration, the kids are all housed together (from ages 3 to 18); so, you can imagine the potential dangers of this situation.  Recently, Agape has been bringing boys from Remand to the main campus, and the Reintegration Team has been working to reintegrate some of the girls in Remand with their families. This has been a really exciting development in the program, as the need at Remand is pretty desperate (as the photos below indicate).

Boys and Girls at Remand

Steven Warn, one of Agape's missionaries, speaks to the kids in Remand

Tammy sits with some of the girls in Remand (the girls really liked her hair!)

More on Agape Children's Ministry - The Farm

Well, we've gone through the 4R's that make up Agape's Mission:  Rescue, Redeem, Rehabilitate, and Reintegrate.  Now, here a little more info on the makeup of the ministry.

In addition to dormitories, dining hall, a soccer field, and a small garden, the main campus has a primary school where the boys receive the US-equivalent of an elementary school education.  Once a child finishes primary school in Kenya, they must take a national standardized test to determine if they will attend secondary school (our equivalent of junior high and high school).  If a boy from Agape qualifies for secondary school, Agape will pay for the boy's school fees and uniforms, but the boy will leave Agape to attend school in his home village.

For those boys that do not qualify for secondary school, Agape has established a vocational training center that sits 4 hours south of Kisumu near Tanzania.  At the vocational training center (or The Farm), the boys attend a 2-year training program to become an apprentice in one of the following trades:  masonry, carpentry, or diesel engine maintenance.  At the conclusion of the course, the boys take a national test to qualify for one of these trades.  The boys also learn agriculture at the Farm so that they can help out on their family plot when they eventually return to their home village.

Stone Masonry Class

Diesel Mechanics Class

Carpentry Class

A former street boy and his carpentry project

The 4R's - REINTEGRATE

We've made it to the final R, REINTEGRATE.  When the boys come off of the street, Agape works diligently to reestablish the family ties that had been severed by the boys departure from home.  Most of the street boys in Kisumu come from rural villages, and it is critical for these boys to return to their villages so that they can reestablish their positions in their families (inheritance, other traditions, etc.).  The goal is for the main campus not to be a long term "home" for these boys.

Agape is blessed to have an incredible team of pastors that make up Agape's reintegration team.  These men act as a Kenyan equivalent of a US social worker, conducting in depth home visits with the boys' families in order to ascertain the feasibility of the boys returning to their home villages.  Is there enough food in the home?  Do the other children bear signs of abuse?  Do the parents want the boy back? These are just a few of the many questions that the Reintegration Team must ask in order to begin laying the groundwork for the boy's return to his home.  In the event that the parent's home is not acceptable for the boys return, or if the boy is truly an orphan, the Reintegration Team works to locate the boy's extended family to determine if the boy could possible live with a grand parent, aunt, or uncle.

The Team's presence in these rural villages has also led to a number of parents and family members coming to Christ, and small home groups have been established in some of these villages so that these pastors can continue to disciple these new believers.  It is incredible to see how the Lord is working through these men to reach the lost for Jesus!

Four of the pastors that make up the Reintegration Team

The 4R's - REHABILITATE

Thus far, I've explained the first two R's in Agape's mission.  Next is REHABILITATE; the universal drug of choice for street children is cobbler's glue.  Yep, you heard correctly - shoe glue.  The street boys in Kisumu walk around all day with a glue bottle hooked into their teeth so that they can freely breathe the glue's fumes.  The glue numbs feelings of hunger, cold, and fear, making life on the streets more bearable.  The long term effects of abusing glue is devastating, with boys dying of kidney failure or experiencing some form of brain damage.  A secular organization recently filmed an award-winning documentary a few hours from Kisumu called Glue Boys; it details the travesty of the abuse of glue by street kids.  Here's a link to a preview of the documentary; this documentary does a great job of explaining this horrible problem:

http://www.glueboys.com/default.htm

Street Boy Sniffing Glue in Kisumu

In addition to a chemical addiction to glue, the street boys in Kisumu also have a psychological addiction to living on the street.  While on the street, no one tells the boys what to do or where to go, and the street boys enjoy a level of freedom that most kids do not have.  Our prayer is that the Lord will work in these kids' hearts to help them to realize that He created them for a much greater purpose than that of life on the streets.

I love the picture below, because it really characterizes one of the goals of Agape.  This is a picture of empty glue bottles turned in by street boys, hanging from a bamboo cross.    The picture really describes what we've been called to do as Christian's, as well - to lay our burdens at the foot of the Cross.  Psalm 103:12 states, "As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us."  Amen!

The 4R's - REDEEM

While working with the boys on the streets in Kisumu, the Outreach Team begins to minster to the boys teaching them about their Savior Jesus.  Some of these boys have seen, experienced, and been a part of some pretty terrible things, and its critical that these kids understand that they have a Savior that is so much bigger than anything that they may have done or experienced.  Jesus' sacrifice atones for any of their sins (or our sins, for that matter) - a message that the Outreach Team carries to these boys on the streets.

Once the boys make the decision to move from the streets to Agape's Main Campus, this process of redemption continues.  At the main campus, the boys attend school, but more importantly the discipleship process continues, as Agape's staff and missionaries work to teach the boys about the Bible and their Savior, Jesus.

Children at Agape's Main Campus

School Building at Agape's Main Campus

Morning Assembly at the Main Campus

Dormitories at the Main Campus

Chris & Tammy speaking to street boys in Kisumu

Chris & Tammy speaking at Sunday morning service at Main Campus

Agape staff speaking to street boys in Kisumu

The 4R's - RESCUE

Agape Children's Ministry is a Christian mission organization focused on rescuing at-risk children living on the streets of Kisumu, Kenya.  Agape's mission in reaching these kids can be summed up with the 4 R's:  Rescue, Redeem, Rehabilitate, and Reintegrate.  Within this post, I will focus on the first "R", RESCUE.

Agape's Outreach Team goes to the streets daily to minister to the boys there.  The boys end up on the streets for a variety of reasons:  some are truly orphans; others have left their home villages due to poverty or abuse; some are simply runaways.  Regardless of the reason for being on the street, these boys live in constant danger of violence, sexual exploitation and abuse, and drug abuse. Some may wonder if there are any "street girls" in Kenya, and while they do exist, finding a girl on the street is rare.

The Outreach Team spends time getting to know the boys on the street, and over time endeavors to win the boys' trust and confidence in order to try to convince the boys to come off of the streets.  In January 2010, Tammy and I had the opportunity to visit Kisumu to work with Agape and took the following pictures of the street boys there.  Usually, there are around 1,000 boys living on the streets of Kisumu.  Please pray that God would move in these boys hearts to give them a desire to come off of the streets!

Welcome to the Agape Pages

Welcome to the Agape Pages, our family's blog.  This is the first of what we hope to be many postings journaling our family's journey serving Jesus Christ as missionaries in Kenya with Agape Children's Ministry.

Agape Children's Ministry is a small, non-denominational ministry that works to reach street children in Kenya's third largest city, Kisumu.  Since making the decision to join Agape as missionaries in March of 2010, our family has been spreading the word about Agape and the work that the Lord is doing through this ministry, and we are thrilled to be making our big move from North Carolina to Kenya on August 3rd.  For those of you note familiar with the ministry, here is a link to Agape's website:

www.agapechildren.org

You can also see a brief video about the ministry via YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1hKtIRUP4