Today, we visited the second largest slum in Nairobi, Mathare Valley. Well, the previous night, I had asked God to reveal His heart to me and He would show me on this day. To be honest, the team's day in Mathare was so emotionally raw and powerful that the only way I can share with you all is by sharing specific moments in time that I wrote down in my journal. So much happened that day that I will split today into two blog entries. So here are my entries exactly as I wrote them that day.
Scene I: Driving into Mathare Valley
Tin houses and roofs. Six hundred thousand people living on $2 or less in a 6 square mile plot of land. Trash is everywhere. The water is brown and dirty. People walk around (seemingly aimlessly) and lounge around. It's trash-burning day and so some areas are full of smoke as piles of garbage burn. There's a sense of hopelessness and despair-at least, one would think...
Scene II: Daycare Center at Mathare Valley Church
We're inside the daycare center where children are fed brown porridge and taken care of. The kids here are so joyful and energetic despite the realities of their lives. Most children come up to us yelling, "How are you?" They smile and play with reckless abandon. Yet inside, I try to greet a young infant boy with the customary "Sasa?" I reach out to shake his tiny hand. His head has been facing downwards the whole time and he refuses to make eye contact with me. As I reach forward, he recoils from my touch...Most of the children smile and play with us "wazungu" (foreigners) but some are like this little one. I'm filled with sadness that nothing seems to give joy to this little boy. Jesus loves him so much and I feel completely incompetent and sad that I can't share this fact with him. I hope and pray kids like this who have experienced so much physical discomfort and pain will come to know God's love. I think it might be the only thing that will lift up their little heads.
Scene III: In Mathare Valley
We're in Wanja's "house." It's tiny: a couch, mini coffee table, and bed. My bedroom is twice as large as her tin room. Wanja is telling our group her testimony: she's a single mother of 4, is HIV-positive, and serves at Mathare Valley Church (MVC). You can tell she's been through a lot. She tells how her husband left her after she was 2 months pregnant with her (first?) child, how her youngest child is HIV-positive as well because she had to breastfeed him so that he wouldn't starve...Gosh, what an impossible choice. There has been so much pain and heartbreak in Wanja's life; yet she has been a huge blessing to other women at MVC. She's so courageous and God has performed a miracle by keeping her alive through her illness. How does she do it after she's gone through so much? I'm a coward compared to her...God, watch over Wanja and her family as they go through their struggles. Please strengthen them so that they can testify of Your goodness. God bless you, Wanja...
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