Busy Week at Agape

We have had a busy week at Agape!  As we've discussed before, part of Agape's mission is to rescue street boys off of the street, and this past week four new boys chose to leave the street to join the Agape family; Praise the Lord!  Please be in prayer for these boys as Agape begins to counsel them to determine their family background and experiences on the street.  The street is a scary place and some boys have been severely abused, so please be in prayer that the Lord will begin to heal these broken children.  I've added the boys' photos and names below so that each of you can be praying for them; their photos will look a little rough, because they are taken when they first come off of the street.

Brian David, Age 13

Briton Kuzwa, Age 12

Calvins Okoth Otieno, Age 13

Vincent Otieno, Age 12

We are also really excited that one of our prodigal sons has returned.  Paul Ooko chose to "jump the fence" at Agape last week to go back to the street, but he chose a few days ago to come back to Agape!  Please pray that the Lord will work in his heart to remove the desire to go back to the street.  

Paul Ooko, Age 12

Another part of Agape's mission is to eventually reunite Agape's boys with their families in their home villages.  This past week, Agape successfully reunited five boys with their families!  Please pray that these boys will settle back home quickly with their families, and that their families will treat them well.  

Backstone Mungao, Age 10

Daniel Ochieng, Age 10

Duncan Omondi, Age 12

Levis Otieno, Age 9

Richard Oselu, Age 11

Note:  You'll see a whole lot of "O" names listed above; if you'll recall, the Luo tribe in Kenya names their children based upon the events surrounding their birth.  Here's a quick answer key:  

• Otieno:  Born between 7 PM and 11 PM
• Ochieng:  Born between 11 AM and 3 PM
• Omondi:  Born in the morning

Truth In Advertising? Hangover Hotel

Only in Kenya do you find real truth in advertising . . . Hangover Hotel.  "Hotels" in Kenya refer to both traditional hotels, as well as restaurants.  I guess that this restaurant specializes in Tusker beer!

Happy Birthday Lyla!!!

A big happy birthday to our little Lyla who turned 3 years old today!  We had a small birthday party at our house this afternoon with our fellow Agape missionaries.  Here are a few photos and a video of the festivities!

Miss Priss is 3-years old!!!

"Happy Birthday to You . . . "

The Cake Boss

Uh no, we didn't make the flowers . . . they are store bought.

Lyla snoozing before the big party.

Chow down!

Lyla and her new baby doll and stroller.

How do missionaries party?  Uno and Connect 4!!!

Our New Ride

Praise the Lord!!!  After seven weeks in Kenya, we finally have our family vehicle!  As you may have read in some of our posts last month, we were considering buying a mini-van for the family, but after talking to a lot of folks (mechanics included), we were encouraged to buy something a little more sturdy for the Kenyan roads.  Between bad roads, potholes and speed bumps, a mini-van just won't cut it long term . . . so, let me introduce you to our new family friend, Big Red!

Big Red is a 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, and we are so thankful to have it!  I purchased it through a small company in Nairobi that helps missionaries buy and sell vehicles.  Last Friday, Steve Warn and I flew to Nairobi, and drove the 7-hours back to Kisumu . . . quite a test drive.  Well, Big Red passed with flying colors!  A big thank you to all of you who have been praying for us to find a vehicle!!!  (Note:  If you look closely, there's a turtle hiding behind the back left tire.)

African Flu

Tammy and I had our first African experience with sickness this week.  On Monday, Tammy started our with just a headache, which progressed to sinus congestion with sore throat on Tuesday.  Initially, we just thought it was a cold, but by Thursday she was so miserable, I took her to the doctor (Some of our staff said that she had the "African Flu," but I'm not sure that it's the flu).   We're really fortunate that one of Agape's Kenyan board members is a physician in Kisumu, so all of the missionaries in the area go to see her.  Her name is Dr. Ruby Sokwala, and she is a wonderful physician!

So, I took Tammy to see Dr. Ruby, who gave her a shot of antibiotic and a prescription for an oral antibiotic.  She instructed us in the future not to mess around with sickness in Kenya, but at the first sign of symptoms to come see her.  Because we're in a new country, we've never been exposed to the sicknesses in Kenya, so we are much more susceptible to catching these "bugs."  Evidently, with the respiratory sicknesses, it's easy to get pneumonia if you leave it unchecked.

I caught the same bug Friday night, so I went in and got the same treatment as Tammy on Saturday.  I'm feeling a lot better today, but Tammy is still battling a nasty cough . . . so, if she's not feeling better tomorrow, we'll probably head back to see Dr. Ruby!  Please keep us in your prayers, especially that the kids will stay healthy!

Oh yeah, Americans will get a kick out of this . . . here's a breakdown of the approximate cost for a doctor's visit:

• Medical Visit:  500 KSh (approx. $5.50)
• Antibiotic Injection:  500 KSh (approx. $5.50)
• Oral Antibiotic:  550 KSh (approx. $6.00)

Needless to say, it's going to take a long time to meet our deductible at these rates!

Cowabunga Dude!

Earlier this week, we welcomed six new additions to the Page Family!  No, not kids but turtles.  There are two big turtles (2' long), two medium-sized turtles (18" long), and two small turtles (12" long), so inevitably they became the mommy and daddy turtles, the boy turtles, and the girl turtles.  The turtles used to be at Agape's drop-in center for the street boys to play with, but when the drop-in center closed the turtles have been relegated to a cage.  We thought they would be much happier at our house!

Here are a few photos of our new friends (and a few other pictures):

A local lizard hanging out outside our house.  They are really fast!  Lizards are a good thing . . . it means that there aren't any snakes around.

Seth with one of the medium-sized turtles.

Connor with her new friend.

One of the big turtles trying to escape . . . i don't think he'll be successful getting over the 8-foot wall!

Seth with one of the small turtles.

Seth playing ball with our friend and guard, Moses.  Moses is from the Masai tribe.

Other Turtle Tidbits

• The street boys sometimes refer to themselves as "ninjas."  We weren't sure why until one of the Agape boys told us that the street boys had seen the movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," and the turtles in the movie live in the sewers.  Because the street boys live, sleep, and hide in the sewers, as well, they started calling themselves "ninjas."
• The largest tribe around Kisumu is the Luo.  While many are Christians, there are some that remain superstitious and dabble in old African religions.  We were told that some Luos are terrified of turtles because they are used in witchcraft. So, we decided that we are going to put a sign on our gate: "Beware of Turtles!"

Vonage Works!!!

We finally got internet set up at our new house, and we can now use Vonage!  You can call us for free at (919) 894-7945.  (Note:  I will be shutting off Vonage at noon EST to have full bandwidth to watch Clemson crush Auburn in football, though).  Vonage will be back up in full operation tomorrow!

A Blast From the Past: A Hymn from John Newton

Steve Warn, a friend and fellow missionary at Agape, and I were speaking recently about the deity of Christ, and how he is both "fully God" and "fully man," and Steve shared with me the following hymn by John Newton, "What Think Ye of Christ."  All I can say after reading the hymn is wow!  Mr. Newton hit the nail on the head in that all of our theology begins and ends with what we think of Jesus Christ. (For those of you that aren't aware, John Newton was a former slave trader who came to know the Lord and wrote many famous hymns to include "Amazing Grace.")  Enjoy!


What think you of Christ? Is the test

    To try both your state and your scheme;
 You cannot be right in the rest,
    Unless you think rightly of Him.
 As Jesus appears in your view,
    As He is beloved or not;
 So God is disposed to you,
    And mercy or wrath are your lot.
 
 Some take Him a creature to be,
    A man or an angel at most:
 Sure these have not feelings like me,
    Nor know themselves wretched and lost.
 So guilty, so helpless am I,
    I durst not confide in his blood,
 Nor on his protection rely,
    Unless I were sure He is God.
 
 Some call Him a Saviour, in word,
    But mix their own works with his plan;
 And hope He his help will afford,
    When they have done all that they can:
 If doings prove rather too light,
    (A little, they own, they may fail),
 They purpose to make up full weight,
    By casting his name in the scale.
 
 Some style Him the pearl of great price,
    And say He's the fountain of joys;
 Yet feed upon folly and vice,
    And cleave to the world and its toys;
 Like Judas, the Saviour they kiss,
    And while they salute Him, betray;
 Ah! what will profession like this
    Avail in this terrible day?
 
 If ask'd what of Jesus I think?
    Though still my best thoughts are but poor,
 I say, He's my meat and my drink,
    My life, and my strength, and my store;
 My Shepherd, my Husband, my Friend,
    My Saviour from sin and from thrall;
 My hope from beginning to end,
    My portion, my Lord, and my All.

For further study, on this topic, check out this link from John Piper's website:

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/how-can-jesus-be-god-and-man

God Bless!

Retreat in the Rain Forest

Thursday morning, we packed up the family and headed about 1.5 hours north into the mountains to the Kakamega Rain Forest for a few days of of fellowship and ministry planning at Rondo Retreat Center with the rest of Agape's missionaries.  It was an awesome time of fellowship in one of the most beautiful areas we have ever seen!  One thing that really surprised us . . . the rain forest is cold!  Each of the houses had fireplaces, and we ended up having to use ours the second night we were there.  We had a great time, but are really glad to be back home in Kisumu!  Here are a few photos from our trip:

A huge tree (at the least what's left of it) on the grounds at Rondo.

The house where our family stayed at Rondo.  Later, a huge colobus monkey ran right past where I'm standing.

Gideon, Connor, and Sutton playing chess.  Gideon came to Agape with his grandparents to spend 3 months in Kenya with Agape.

Tammy roughing it while reading an article on poisonous snakes in Kenya.

A mountain lion crawling on our porch.

Lyla, one of the few pictures of her standing still.

One of the houses at Rondo.

Flowers at Rondo.

Lunch at Rondo

Walking back from lunch . . . Seth being goofy, as usual.

More flowers

All of the kids hiking on one of the many trails at Rondo.

Night Shade flower . . . a very poisonous flower in the rain forest.  I told the kids that their arm would fall off if they touched it (a slight exaggeration).

It's us!

Colobus monkeys warming up in the sun after a cold, wet evening at Rondo.

We went on a 3-hour hike into the rain forest up to a small mountain that has an old mine shaft that they call the "Bat Cave."  The view behind us is just half-way up the mountain at the mouth of the cave, but you can see the canopy of the rain forest below us.  Unfortunately, my camera battery died so I wasn't able to get a photo at the top of the mountain, but it was absolutely beautiful!!!

If this is the Bat Cave, then Connor must be the Joker!  We made it to the end of the tunnel (with our guide, Timothy), but Seth got pretty scared because all of the bats were swooping past our heads!

If you look closely, you can see a bat in the middle of the picture, trying to hide from our flashlights.

The whole Agape missionary crew!

Lyla Playing at Church Today

Here's a quick clip of Lyla playing with bottlecaps with some older girls at church today.  Some of the Kenyan children at church haven't had the chance to be around many mzungus (white kids).  We just missed on this clip the girls stroking Lyla's hair; it was really cute!

Kenyan Fast Food

Kenyan Fast Food (ha, ha) . . . picture taken on the way to church today.

A Reintegration Story: Steve Charo UPDATED

SEE THE UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM!

Traditionally in Kenya, when a man and a woman marry, the woman will leave her home and will live with her new husband's family.  Sometimes problems can arise when men and women from different tribes marry due to cultural differences.  

Steve Charo, Age 15

Steve Charo's mother was originally from a village about 25 miles north of Kisumu, while Steve's father was from Mombasa, about 500 miles southeast.  Not much else is known about Steve's parents and the reason for their separation, but when Steve was 5 years old, his mother kidnapped him and his younger sister taking them from Mombasa to her family's home in western Kenya.  

A few years later, Steve's mother got sick and passed away.  Steve's mother's family began to push the Steve and his sister to go and find his father's family (because they didn't want to care from them anymore).  As a result, both children ended up on the street.  Steve eventually ended up at Agape, and it is believed that his sister ended up with a "Good Samaritan" in Nairobi.

As I've indicated in previous posts, Agape works to find and reintegrate former street boys with their families, but trying to find Steve's family was a little tougher.  It was known that Steve's mother's family did not want him, so Agape began to try to determine a way to reunite him with his father's family.  The problem was that Steve was only 5 when he left Mombasa and could remember very little about his father's family.  This is an excerpt from the reintegration report detailing the story of Steve searching for and rejoining his father's family near Mombasa:

Trip from Kisumu to Malindi, via Mobasa (~600 mile trip)

It was a day just like any other day.  That I decided to take Steve to Mombasa to search for his parents in Mtongwe where he (his father) was working as one of the marine officers that was according to Steve told me so I started the search.

We went to marine office with Steve and at this point he could not remember his father's name at all neither could he remember his home area.  The only thing Steve could remember was that his father was called Charo.  In the office the officer's search for anybody by the name Charo but was all in vain.

We gave up the search and decided to leave the office as we were approaching the gate the guard who was at the gate saw the disappointment that were on our faces and asked us if we succeeded I told him no and he was ready to help us.  I told him that we were looking for someone by the name Charo.  That's when he started giving us various names with Charo as the first name and fortunately he mentioned a name and Steve remembered that his father was called Katana and that's how he used to hear people call him.  He also said that people were calling his father Katana Ngala Changamwe (Member of Parliament-MP).

The guard was surprised and he asked us why we were searching for this man.  So I started explaining myself to him and as I was still talking and explaining where we are from, the guard interrupted and asked Steve if he was son of Nyamalo.  (Nyamalo means a woman from the western part of Kenya) and Steve responded by a strong yes!

The guard went silence for a long time as if he was thinking deeply about something we could not guess.  After that silence he told me that the man who happened to be Steve's father was no longer working at the marine office.  He asked us if we were interested to know the home and I said yes.  He explained to us how we could reach that home though it was very far away.

OUR JOURNEY TO MALINDI

From Mombasa to Malinidi is almost the same as from Kisumu to Nakuru (75 miles).  When we reached Malindi we boarded a Matatu (van) to a place called Mida, as we were instructed by the guard.  When we alighted at Mida we asked someone where the home of Mzee (old man) Katana Kharisa was and he immediately called a motorbike who took us to the exact home.  It was amazing how things were working for us.

MZEE KATANA KARRISA'S HOME

Immediately we alighted at the motorbike we could see an old man gazing at us from a distance.  he was staring as if he knew us and was also surprised.  When we approached him instead of talking to us he run back into the house.  He came back after a short while and was accompanied by an old woman who was very shocked on seeing us.  The old woman was shocked beyond words that she never said anything.  So the old man gave us a warm welcome in the house.  

As we were just about to sit, the old woman broke into prayers.  She shouted so loudly in their own language that brought the neighbors to come witness what was going on.  As the woman was praying the old man was shedding tears.  After the prayer the house was silent.  

THE BREAKING NEWS

I introduced myself, my name and my mission there.  I asked them if they knew the boy who made the old woman broke into tears.  As the woman was still crying the old man recognized Steve as their grandson which was good news to me.  

FINDINGS IN MOMBASA

I found that Mr. Charo Katana who was Steven's father died in 2004.

Steve has two uncles:  Ngumbao Katana and Ronald Katana; who are financially stable and loving.  They were so happy to see Charo back home after a long time.

CONCLUSION

We (I and paternal family) decided that Steve was to remain with them back in Mombasa to continue with his education.  I promised to visit them after two weeks to see him again and to see how he is fairing on with his new home and with new family.

What an awesome story!  With the help of our Reintegration Team, a 15-year old boy was able to piece together enough information to find his father's home 600 miles away and 10 years later.  I'll ask you, "What do you remember from when you were 5 years old?"  I can honestly say that only through God's help did the Agape team find Steve's home!

Please continue to pray for Steve in his new home.  Tribes vary considerably throughout Kenya, and he is in a new place with new customs and a new language.  Some of his new family is Catholic and some of the family is Muslim, so Agape will continue to visit Steve every few weeks to check on him, as well as to continue to share about Jesus with his new family.  The first follow-up visit was conducted earlier this week, and Steve is doing well!  Praise the Lord!

UPDATE:  We just found out that Steve's father has 19 living brothers and sisters (originally we thought that Steve just had two uncles); his grandfather had two wives.  Now, here's the really cool part:  In this tribe, the firstborn son inherits the lands and possessions of the father when he passes away; not too unusual right?  Well, here's the kicker, if the firstborn son passes away, then the inheritance goes to the firstborn son of the firstborn son.  I know, I know, kind of confusing.  Here's what it means:  Steve is the heir to his grandfather's lands and possessions (not the uncles or aunts)!  Also, within this tribe all of the sons of the grandfather (Steven's uncles) are required to live on the lands of the grandfather, which means that technically all of Steve's uncles' lands and belongings will eventually belong to Steve.  Steve is a pretty wealthy kid!   One of our staff said, "Who knew that Steve was a king!"


One other quick note; in the report above, it reads that the grandfather ran away when he first saw Steve.  The reason why is because, he thought that Steve was a ghost.  A local witch doctor told Steve's family that Steve was dead, and that they would never see him again.  Praise God that the folly of this witch doctor was exposed!!!

Take a Ride Down Rut Road

Here's a quick clip of a drive down my favorite road, which I've named "Rut Road" due to all of the potholes in the road.  WARNING:  Not for those prone to motion sickness!

What to do on a Muslim Holiday?

Unbeknownst to us, yesterday was Eid, the final day of Ramadan, an official holiday in Kenya.  Someone mentioned that it's the Muslim equivalent of an American Christmas, as far as holidays and celebrations are concerned.  Muslims fast throughout Ramadan, and I guess this is their first chance to eat a bacon cheeseburger, so they're pretty happy.

There's a fairly large population of Muslims and a handful of mosques throughout Kisumu.  It's a little strange to see so many Muslims around, especially in full burkas and robes.  It's also a little disheartening being that radical Islam is not too far to our north.  You've probably seen on the news about Al Shabaab, a radical sect of Islam in Somalia (northeast of Kenya) that has prevented any foreign aid from being brought into Somalia to help with the famine there, or you might've heard about genocide by radical Islamists in Sudan just to Kenya's north.  Everyone's pretty friendly here in Kisumu, but it's hard not to feel slightly awkward.

Anyway, it just so happens that there is a mosque fairly close to Agape's main campus.  If you've ever been overseas, you might've heard Muslim prayers being played from a mosque.  Well, yesterday morning I was reading my Bible at Agape, and all I could hear was Muslim prayers and preaching from the local mosque.  It was pretty distracting and a little frustrating, but then I was reminded of a Chris Tomlin song:

Our God is greater, 
Our God is stronger, 
God you are higher than any other, 
Our God is healer,
Awesome in power, 
Our God, Our God . . .


And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us,
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?

What an awesome song pulled from Romans 8!  Praise the Lord for reminding me of such an awesome truth at such a time!  The remainder of the day, I couldn't help but feel pity for the Muslims that I saw.  Please be in prayer for the Muslim world that is so lost in darkness!

Despite the Muslim holiday, we had an awesome day at Agape, here are a few pictures and videos:

Kevin and one of his buddies (not sure of his name)

Two Lego Artists

Chris leading worship with the Agape Boys

Tammy lending a hand . . . 

More Lego Art!

Kevin and Jack (we have about 10 Kevin's at Agape)

More Kevin and Jack (and another boy, not sure of his name!)

Tammy teaches some boys to play "Around the World."  Sorry for the shaky camera!

The "Around the World" Team

Tammy with Brian, the "Around the World" winner.

Lyla was just a "little" tired after an afternoon at Agape.