Earlier today, Agape held a Children's Ministry Training class to teach the House Parents, Teachers, and other staff members some practical ways to plan and conduct Biblical instruction for kids. We also had a few members of Calvary Chapel's congregation join us as they begin developing the children's ministry program at the church. All together we had around 30 people join us for the training; a great morning! Here are a few photos of the day:
I taught a class on Planning & Preparing for Children's Ministry.
Eric taught on Child Evangelism using an Evangelism Explosion (EE) curriculum.
Steve always gives the best classes; he's kind of like a prop comic . . . he taught on using different visuals and object lessons with the kids.
Morris and Ann playing out a skit.
Among other topics, Diane taught on the importance of engaging the kids' 5 senses when teaching.
Lisa closed out the morning with a class on principles to follow in teaching children.
Not necessarily relevant to the morning's class, but I had to include little Peggy, Pastor, the pastor at Calvary's youngest daughter.
We had a couple of new boys join us from the streets this week, so without further adieu here are our newest friends:
Edwin Omondi, Age 10
Kevin Odhiambo Onyango, Age 9
Nashon Ochieng Omondi, Age 13
Unfortunately, we also had three boys who chose to leave Agape and go back to the streets this week. Two of the boys, Brian and Hassan, were new to Agape and just stayed a few days, but Collins has been involved with Agape for about two years. Please keep them in your prayers!
Brian Omondi Onyango, Age 13
Collins Omullo, Age 14
Hassan Otieno, Age 12
So, to avoid ending this post on a sad note, here's a picture of a few of the crazy, silly boys at Agape!
Nick Kjeldgaard just put together another video of footage shot on the streets of Kisumu. In this video, he shows an older street boy preparing a meal . . .
Yesterday, I took a trip with Morris and Douglas, two of Agape's Reintegration Team members, to visit some of the children that Agape has reintegrated with their families. As I've mentioned in previous posts, the Reintegration Team conducts around 50 home visits a week throughout Kenya to follow-up with children and families. Yesterday, we set out to visit 10 children at school or at home. Here are a few photos of the trip:
Wycliffe Obukanga with the school's headmistress.
The headmistress' office
I thought this calendar was funny . . . my rough translation is "Great Education: What does it take?" The answer are the three stones holding up the cooking pot: Community, Government, and School.
Chubby Baby
When we visited Fredrick Mamba's home we found out from his uncle that Fredrick had run away three days prior. Fredrick is 10 years old and really small for his age; please keep Fredrick in your prayers!
Another mtoto mchanga (baby) in Fredrick Mamba's home; he's probably Fredrick's cousin.
Backstone Omindo with his school's senior teacher. In speaking with the senior teacher, it was interesting to learn a little bit about Backstone's home life. Evidently, there's a problem in the local community where wives are leaving their families in the rural areas to sell tomatoes in town. The other ladies that are doing this business are not the best influences, and in Backstone's mother's case she chose to leave her husband and rent a room in town. A reciprocal effect of this scenario is that the mother begins to neglect her children, and in some instances the mother finds a new boyfriend or husband in town. The senior teacher has invited the mother to school to discuss the home situation, but thus far the mother has refused to come. Agape's next trip to visit Backstone will include a visit to the mother to determine how we can best help this home situation.
In the rural areas, a mzungu (white person) can be quite the celebrity, so when I visit the rural schools the kids usually go nuts!
This headmaster's office was filled with bags of corn and beans, presumably for the school's lunch program.
Antony Oduor was out sick when we checked on him at school, so we found him with his father in the local town center.
Some of the local kids near where Antony's father was working.
This is Kennedy Otieno. I love this picture, because he was so happy to receive a few notebooks and two bags of rice. When we gave these items to Kennedy, he made a beeline for the school gates, because he was so excited to show his family. We had to divert him back to class and had the headmaster hold his items for him until school was actually released. It's always amazing to see the joy that a small gift can bring someone!
Cutie Pie
This is Brenda Akinyi, one of the girls that Agape rescued and reintegrated from Remand (Juvenile Hall).
Here's another boy we visited, Joseph Ochieng.
More mzungu watchers!
Morris and Douglas were busy speaking with the teachers, so I decided to entertain the kids with some silly songs.
Here's Winnie Adhiambo, another girl rescued from Remand.
This is Jeremiah Oduor, a former Agape boy.
Mzungu + Camera = Chaos
Check out the tidal wave of kids pouring out of the classrooms . . .
Mzungu Madness, Part 3
The last boy we visited was Ibrahim Ochieng, a boy we rescued from Remand.
Ibrahim's little brother was terrified of me. I'm probably the first mzungu he has seen.
Here is Ibrahim's family; he is the tall one in the picture.
Earlier today, I was driving in a rural part of Kenya, and asked one my staff members to record this small length of road. Hands down, this is the worst part of the worst road that I've driven on in Kenya. As you'll see, some of the potholes look like bomb craters!
If you've ever wondered what street boys look like in Kisumu, the Kjeldgaard's oldest son, Nick, just filmed and edited the following video showing life on the street in Kisumu.
Please pray specifically for Tom Onyango, he's the boy in the red shirt at about 1:45 into the video. He jumped the fence at Agape about 2 weeks ago and isn't ready to come back yet.
I know, I know, he's raised the bar for videos on this blog. I think I'll have to get a better camera and a Mac . . . .
We are really fortunate to have an international school in Kisumu that is "homeschooler friendly." Braeburn allows homeschool kids to participate in their after-school clubs and individual sports, which has turned out to be a great opportunity for our kids to get to know other kids in Kisumu. Connor and Sutton were a little resistant to the idea at first (they've never been the "new kids"), but they've started enjoying themselves.
Connor and Sutton line up with the other kids to learn the different "lines" in tennis.
Sutton takes a swing!
Connor looks very graceful . . .
Lyla and her friend, Kenya Grace, who's attending pre-school at Braeburn twice a week.
Believe it or not, this is not dance class . . . actually taekwando!
Our friend, Lisa Kjeldgaard, accidentally got stuck in a ditch leaving Braeburn. You can't really tell from the photo, but her front wheel is levitating!
