Hey everybody, Micah here with an update from the Greene group.
Since our last update, we've had a full day to settle into African lifestyle and time zone. Our home base, the Amini Centre, has been a good place to call home and very comfortable. Resting on a nice piece of property just off the major Nairobi highway, our quarters are located on a campus that also has classrooms, offices, a cafeteria, and church building with green spaces and a garden tucked in between.
We spent the majority of Saturday visiting the Mercy Care Centre and working out plans for our upcoming teaching, construction, renovation, and medical projects. Despite being on Holiday, there were still several dozen children at the complex to greet us with smiling faces and boundless energy. It's going to be a real blessing to see and work with them on a daily basis while we're here.
The Mercy Care Centre is located in one of the back corners of the Methare Valley slum. Composed of seven (I think) small to medium-sized stone and concrete buildings, the school is a sanctuary for the children living in the slum. Methare Valley has a population of approximately 1,000,000 people, all crammed together in a tiny area in horrible conditions. We're excited about being able to help, but realize we could stay here for years and still have to so much to do.
Between visits to the MCC, our group also spent time at an elephant and giraffe reserve just outside of town. Seeing these animals up close (and personal for a few of us) was quite the experience. It was nice to have a little bit of fun time before we get started with our projects; it doesn't look like there will be much down time in the next 10 days.
This morning we had the privilege of visiting Patrick's home church in Nairobi. For those who haven't read the blog before, Patrick is the headmaster of the MCC and a truly amazing person. Having dedicated his life to helping the people of the Methare Valley and surrounding areas, Patrick has become an influential and highly respected figure of the community. His church, the Nairobi Pentecostal Church, had a beautiful and lively service for over 2,000 people. While quite a change from the typical Southern Baptist fare we're used to, it was quite moving and fun.
Tomorrow will bring our first full day at MCC- stay tuned for updates on how the projects get started. I'm going to try to profile all of our team members and what they're working on as we get going, in addition to getting some pictures on here. Until then, take care!
-Micah
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Micah, you make me feel as if I am there standing beside you seeing everything!! And I wish I was!! I'm so glad you have given the visual picture of the Amini Centre...and the mention of the nice piece of property, green spaces and garden were written true to form for a landscape architect!! Ha!! I'm sure the "up close and personal" with the elephants and giraffes was interesting, to say the least. Breanna said the message you heard at Patrick's church was in English!! How cool!! The school sounds as if it is a haven of love for the children of the valley and I know you will all be blessed while you are there. God has mighty things planned for each of you while you are there...and I can't wait to hear all about them!! Love to you all and give my girls special hugs from mom and dad!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Father's Day to Steve, Mark, Lee Ray, Jim and all the fathers there with you!!
Lisa
Hi Micah,
ReplyDeletethanks for the update. We'll share it at GBBC this morning. Have a wonderful day and we know you'll touch many lives in all the things you and the team will be doing. I look forward to more of your blog.
Kathy
Love you all and praying for you here!
ReplyDeleteTell the tHOMPSON CLAN HELLO FROM THE MB CLAN GLAD YOU ALL MADE IT FINE THOUGHTS AND PRAYS WITH YOU
ReplyDeleteFriends, it has been a wonderful journey thus far. We have had a few "bumps" in the road, but all is great and the children are blessing our lives as well. We were greeted by the children in the valley by the road side yesterday as we drove into The Mercy Care Centre. What a blessing they were. They they also presented us a wonderful program. The clinic has been very busy and the men have really made many changes to the buildings. We have handed out the surprise bags, the flip flops and started handing out the undies this afternoon. Tomorrow is "sports day". Today I went with a group to see the choir compete locally at a competition. Yesterday, I had the wonderful priviledge of teaching one of the grades, one of the "His Hands and Feet" songs which we have done over the years. They learned "Grace Like Rain" very quickly. By today they were loaded on the bus and headed to competition with that song. They did great and will compete with this song at Nationals. These children are such quick learners and we are so excited about what God intends to do in their lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the prayers. We have a great team and we will continue here for the next several days. We do not have internet services where we are stay so we can communicate only occasionally on the blog.
Our love and best wishes to all and we will talk again soon.
Love
Beth <><
PS. Everyone is healthy and has not had any sickness. We are grateful <><
Just want to say a quick hi and God bless. We're holding down the fort here. Micah, I have to say that you are doing a wonderful job helping us to feel like we're right there with you hugging those beautiful children. Please, you all be safe and keep up the wonderful work.
ReplyDelete