We hope you had a wonderful Easter. We sure did! We had the chance to slip down to the coast with some good friends to celebrate and enjoy a weekend filled with camel rides, snorkeling and sun!
Upon returning from the coast, we had to go to court to settle a fine for a faulty brake light. What we thought would be a normal exercise of the legal system, ended up being a day fighting it. You can read about it on Tyler’s blog.
This was only the start to what turned out to be the roughest week we’ve experienced here in Kenya. Residents of the Kibera slum rioted everyday for a week because the Kenya Power and Light Company removed all illegal power lines in the slum and also in response to Kenya’s leadership seemingly doing nothing about a disputed fishing island in Lake Victoria being occupied by Ugandan forces. Many of Kibera’s residents are from the same tribe as the Kenyan’s living on the island and surrounding shoreline. To show their solidarity and to disrupt commerce with Uganda, the rioting mob tore up the tracks of the rail line that leads to Uganda…and borders the school where Lydia works. It took the Prime Minister coming to Kibera and pleading with them to stop attacking the workers repairing the railway and the police accompanying them. Lydia wrote about the week in her blog -http://www.lundline.com/lydia'slundline
Amidst the craziness of this last month, God still shows himself in amazing ways and the smiles of Kenyans are a small but powerful encouragement. There were plenty of smiles and giggles during the weekend Lydia had a sleep over with six of the high school girls from Kibera after seeing the play “The King and I.” The girls were surprised that the actors and actresses were also in high school. Several were inspired and would like to put on their own school play.
Laughter is also never missing when spending time with the kids at the First Love Girl’s Home. Energy is also in good supply so during this April holiday Lydia has been leading the girls in aerobics and short runs on various days. Lydia also taught the girls how to cross stitch with materials donated by Tyler’s mom, Cheri.
When we prayed the prayer “God, use our home as a tool in ministry” we didn’t know what that would like, but I suppose these pictures were the answer. That one weekend we had ten overnight guests. That includes our friends (Daphne Truong and Suzanne) who flew in from Dubai. They helped us distribute chickens as a part of a project to help orphans in a nearby village remain in the homes of their grandparents, aunts or family friends – a great alternative to being put in an institution. Each child is starting with three egg laying chickens. We have opened savings accounts in their names and encouraged them to save profits from selling the eggs to start other ventures or save for further schooling. Obviously, the family will be eating some of the eggs too. 3 chickens x 1 egg per chicken per day x 7 days = 21 eggs a week! It began by a gift from the family of our Pastor in Washington, DC - http://evotional.com/2009/04/holy-chicken-dance.html
In order to learn more about Kenyan agriculture, Tyler met with the manager of the largest farm in Kenya using conservation agriculture practices. He had a lot of great insight about how agriculture in Kenya is being affected by changing weather patterns, current political problems, and new technology. It seemed funny to discuss ways to scale down what he does. But the increased yields, reduced soil and water loss, and labor reducing properties of conservation agriculture are not reserved solely for the wealthy farmers. It can also help small scale farmers.
One of the ways we hope to introduce conservation agriculture to farmers is through an upcoming trade fair that Partners Worldwide is hosting. Local businesses involved in our partner business groups are invited to exhibit their businesses in a hall we have rented. At the trade fair, businesses will have the chance to market their products or services, network with other Christian business owners, and hear stories shared by successful business owners. The manufacturer of conservation agriculture equipment will be demonstrating his new tools. There will be a diverse group of businesses exhibiting at the trade fair. In one day, Tyler visited three provinces (states) recruiting businesses to participate. All of them impressed him with their ingenuity and resourcefulness. To read more about local businesses Tyler is working with, please check out his blog post Taking the Next Step.
Please pray for us this month as we prepare for a team of 17
from our church in D.C. (National Community Church www.theaterchurch.org) to come and do
ministry here in Nairobi. They will be
here May 23-31. We are so excited to
have them here! Please pray for safety
and for the Lord to do some great things through the team and through the
Kenyans interacting with the team. We
look forward to a fruitful time of ministry!
Please pray for peace at the school in Kibera now as there have been tensions between the staff and the principal. We are praying for the principal’s heart to be especially softened as the NCC team comes and does life skills training with the secondary students.
Please pray for all of the preparations for the trade fair, that many small business owners would benefit from and learn much from the fair.
We praise God for keeping us safe during the riots and other things going on in Nairobi lately.
We are also so grateful for our time right now with Tyler’s brother Andrew and his wife Melanie.
They have been such an encouragement to us and it has been fun to share life and work with them.
Thank you so much for your continued support and for reading these updates! We love you and look forward to seeing some of you in June when we travel back to the States for Lydia’s sister Bethany’s wedding.
With Joy,
Tyler and Lydia