The Last Christmas Gift

These pictures were taken by my dad on one of his trips to
his "second family" in Kenya. His first family would be jealous
except that we have caught the vision and can't eat an
American meal without thinking of them...

If you are a mom who reads much around these parts, you've heard me mention Kristen. (She has yet to mention ME but I'm sure it's coming soon.)

Anyways, not too long ago, Kristen went with Compassion International to the Methare slum in Nairobi, Kenya. She refers to it as "hell."



This just happens to be the exact same place where our church has been serving for the last few years. You can read more about that here. Every year, at Christmas, our local body of believers is given a challenge that directly relates to our Methare brothers and sisters. One year, we paid for new shoes for all of the children being served by the Methare Community Outreach. Another year, we paid for food for families. There's also a medical fund now in place for teachers should they need medical care, and an entrepreneur program set up to get small businesses started in the community.

This last Christmas, our church collected funds to send many of the children to summer camp. We have waited until now to finally watch this Christmas present be unwrapped.

For the first time, most of these children saw life outside of their slum city. They ate well-rounded meals, heard great teaching, rode on a bus, saw God's creation up close, and for many, were introduced to showers (so much so that the camp administration had to limit the shower access!).

How exciting to watch Christmas gifts being opened this summer!

The following is a video put together by Pastor Joel Weaver who runs Camp Lukenya. How can these faces not move us?!



Rejoicing in Him who pours out His love like a first-time shower,
Karen

And just for kicks, I'm linking this to Kristen's Works for Me Wednesday because what could work better for me than the transforming love of Christ in the Methare Valley?