Back in Kenya

We're back in Kenya, among our friends, ministering with them in places desperate for hope. Jesus brings hope that grows into fruit shared, fellowship enjoyed, orphans loved, and unexpected blessings of participating in a leadership conference, ordination and baby dedication. Grateful to be found faithful to the call and entrusted with God's heart for the fatherless.  Photo's below of the last couple weeks. Take a peek into what the Lord is doing in Kisumu...

 

Poverty's oppression is thwarted by the DIGGS project as widowed/single mamas commitment to serve God by banding together to read the Bible, pray and 

share their blessings with others.

  

Agnus and Josephine taste fruit from USA, 

something their "tongues longed for."

Fruit of the Spirit is what their lives long to produce. 

 

Giving with generous hearts.

Tavin and Taleah ready for the first day of classes. 

 

 Last weekend we enjoyed fun fellowship 

with families at the first annual school picnic.

 

Mark and Tavin join in the big "futbal" competition.

 

As many of you know, we live in a house with a very small compound - no room for hosting DIGGS training. We prayed for something in a fair price range with a place for widowed/single mamas so they 

could come to us for classes. 

Tada! Photos of the new home of CARE4Nations! 

It's in a secure location, but a block from the slums.

There is also enough room for Mark to work on the evangelistic water project.  Yeah God!

 

 

Our family joy - ministering to the orphaned kiddos

 with special needs. 

They love to tease Tavin. 

 We participated in a two day leadership conference 

on Identity of Integrity.  After the conference, you could find Lisa outside the church with Pastor Mary spending time with the women and children.

 The women work together preparing 

food for the conference.

 Mixing ugali and making chapati.

The children learn about Jesus 

and how our camera works.

 Tom, part of the visiting missions team, is 94 years old!  He wanted to come to Africa before he got to old. 
(Gonna be just like that at 94.)
He's not sleeping.  He's praying for the food.

 Breaking bread and feasting as His body, 

joined by bonds of brotherly love.

 Asante sana for sending us back to Kenya to express 

the Father's love to the "least of these"

who are precious in His sight.

                                                    Matthew 25:31-33

 

hugs from 

the haugers Ooo0

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Carrying Pieces

He pulled his grubby fist from the pocket of dirty, torn shorts.  With pensive dark eyes, he examines his treasure, and then holds it out to me for a look.  It’s pieces from an electrical part he might have found among the trash littering the side of the dirt road.  I think he wants me to identify them, maybe put them together and make them work.  I can’t; instead I smile, rub his head and watch him scamper off, returning the random pieces to the only place in his shorts that doesn’t have holes.

He keeps carrying pieces, wanting to find their value and meaning.  We do too.

We just spend the last six weeks among my family and friends in Colorado and Phoenix.  We ate yummy foods, laughed to tears, talked late into the night hours, prayed, encouraged one another with stories of God’s amazing grace.  I left for Kenya, still needing rest but content with the time spent enjoying those who love me well.  As the plane lifted for the long journey across the world I realized many pieces of me were left behind.  I pondered how many pieces of you I carried with me. 

Carrying pieces.  Like the little boy with his treasure of electrical bits, we carry pieces - pieces of those our lives have rubbed against that find homes inside us.  We might not truly understand what relationships really mean this side of heaven yet I do know conversations with kindred faiths along the San Juan River, in the few houses warming the valley of Rainbow Drive, over grilled burgers and African sideshows, in churches, on decks, in coffee shops, and even the grocery store parking lot deepens my walk with Jesus.  We share pieces of who He is in each of us, like children exchanging treasures, and we scamper off to live, carrying more of Him to into the next encounter.  

Carrying pieces.  We’ve carried pieces of you all from Jesus back to this beautifully challenging place, to the hovels of the poor, to widows and orphans.  We bring the tenderness of lingering embraces, the giggles from clever jokes, the wisdom, the intercession, the help of sturdy friends with resilient hearts, the donation and support, the strong words and belief that our lives make a difference in the Kingdom of God.

Carrying pieces.  Like my little boy with his treasures hidden in a safe spot of his tattered life, we desire the pieces we carry to bring meaning, to reveal value.  We might not grasp how these pieces all fit together to work miracles of redemption in the lives of the fatherless, but we see the One who does.  We’re grateful for the piece of you He entrusted to us, for the peace He gave us to carry.

Asante sana for all your love, prayers and support.

hugs from the haugers oooo

Home

Kenya created our home for 11 months. Tavin and Taleah attended school, birthday parties, participated in clubs and ran with laughing kids to a barrage of activities. Mark and I formed friendships with Africans that celebrated joy, struggled through trials, and felt comfort with each other's presence.  We decorated our white-washed cement house sparsely 

but our heart fully.

We traveled from Kenya back to Pagosa 4 weeks ago and found this place holds the same feelings left in Kisumu - relationships that challenge and nurture us, 
that connect us, make us vulnerable 
but warmly satisfied because we belong. 

In moving back and forth between countries, houses and friends, I've come to realize that neither place is my home.  It's not about Africa's muddy slums, flowering trees or sweet mangos. It's not about Pagosa's mountain views, 

green chili and hummingbirds. It's not about what I can have, what I miss or which place we think suits us best.

It's all about the heart of God.

At the risk of sounding too spiritual, 

I see life through a lens shaped by the orphaned child.  Regardless of where, the filter is passion 

to find family for the forgotten fatherless.

Maybe this focus formed because of my own current
physical limitations. Whether in Kenya or Pagosa, I'm

the penurious person, the one who attracts attention out of my need.  My body is weak. Without help, I wouldn't live. If somebody didn't dress me, I would not be clothed. If somebody did not get my food, I would go hungry. If I fell, there I would lie until somebody came to my rescue.

This image reflects a bigger picture.

Globally, there are hundreds of millions of children (today - right now) who will not have clothes because no body dresses them, who will go hungry, maybe starve, because nobody gives them food. Innocent young ones falling into places of horror and needing rescued, but nobody is there. 

Imagine a 4 year old on the street, without clothes, 
without food, without a safe place with caring family...

Imagine that child was yours...

Imagine if that child was you...

Literally, these children can NOT get what they need to live.

They need somebody. 

The difference between them and me 

is I have compassionate somebodies -

people that help me to not just live, but to live my destiny.

I want to do the same.

Help the helpless.

Make sure abandoned children, lost, left for death,

move gracefully, become accepted, belong, and fulfill destiny.

I want to find somebodies who know God enough to love Him beyond their comfort zones and risk loving that involves everything.

God's heart for the fatherless is my home. I want to live close to the problem because the Solution lives in me.

God lives in me. He made His home in me. Let my life be making a home for those God wants to father who have 

nothing

nothing

nothing 

and will die of nothing is done.

I'm not talented to paint a pretty house.

I'm not designed to gather trinkets that change seasonally.

I can't feed the plentiful or clothe the rich.

My deepest motivation must match the world's deepest need

and there, I will see God smile.

My home?  

I don't think it's here. Not Pagosa. Not Kenya.

Not of this world.

I'm looking for a better place;

home where orphans are not orphans anymore.

Please pray as we prepare to return to 
Kenya and complete the task the 
Lord entrusted to us.

lov,
~lisa 
because God loves us.

Kwahari Kenya

 This evening, sitting along the shores of Lake Victoria, we munch on freshly cooked chips made in a fire pit by a toothless smiling mamma.  Mark visits with the boat men as the sun sets beyond the hills across Winam Gulf. Tavin kicks the futbal with orphaned boys from Covenant Home. Taleah wanders through the maze of tropical trees, sharing secrets and giggles with barefoot girls.

The sun drops slowly casting an orange glow along the horizon, and it's departure reminds me of ours. I linger, watching Kenya and her life sink deep into me; places and people settling in my heart. I've heard widowed mammas sing God's praises in the midst of certain heartache, then seen their lives transform from ashes to beauty. I've embraced vulnerable children as they hold hope for a better future with eager hands. Friends have died, leaving behind the grieving for greater glory. Joy of salvation prayers overcame poverty's grip. I've tasted the bitterness of corruption, felt anger at injustice, and wondered with awe that my failures are redeemed by God's amazing grace. All this spreads across me in reflective hues burning my memory bright.

We leave Kenya, for a time  We pack up our experiences to carry home along with the African dust on our feet.  Warm welcomes we received surrounds us with peace that stays behind, blessing those we've grown to love. Like the lingering colors of a breathtaking sunset, our lives here set only to dawn again another day.

Kwahari Kenya
until we return!

SPeCIaL DeLIvErY

It came!

It finally came!

The long awaited shipment 

of donated school supplies and resources.

And was it worth it?  

You betcha!

So many of the gently used items are 

very expensive here and very poor quality 

or not available at all.  

The church in Momboleo

is going start THE BEST school.  

Do you know why? 

Because God said 

He would make sure the poor are cared for.

(Do a scripture study on helping the poor!)

Below are photos of the 

SPeCIaL DeLIvErY

and the story of how God brought it all together 

for the least of these.

(Matt 25:31- 46)

Two years ago we sat in a sweltering cafe, 

drinking mango juice with Pastor Jeremiah.

He shared how difficult it was to minister in a needy community when the church itself had so little.  

We discussed an idea...

  

What if we found donors and donations to match 

what the church raised and do a project that would 

bless the community in Jesus name?

We committed everything to God in prayer 

and traveled home.  

It would take two years to see God's plan unfold...

First, Jeremiah's church faithfully gave 

to construct a sturdy tin structure.

People stateside donated funds used to build 

a pit latrine and construct a fence 

(both necessary to start a school in Kenya).

Pagosa Springs students generously filled boxes with 

 books, binders, pencils, pens, markers, crayons, rulers,

paper, erasers, glue, and all sorts of supplies 

left over from the school term.

Friends from various churches gathered curriculum, resources, manipulatives and teaching aids.

More great friends transported the supplies to a safe place 

for storage that was provided by another great friend.

And even more great friends packed the donated shipping crates, counting and catagorizing each and every item.

Then, 

we waited... and prayed... and waited... and prayed.

Scripture says it's a good thing to wait on the Lord so we encouraged ourselves with those words. 

Waiting.. praying... waiting some more...always praying.

FINALLY

after refusing to pay bribes and experiencing daily delays  

the shipment arrived! 

Contagious excitement invaded in the community.  

Masai warriors helped unload the truck.

Different tribes working together for God's glory.

The line of cooperation brings boxes 

into the church.

So many supplies in a place 

that never experienced such things.

Sharing with the delivery men -  a m*slim 

 was in awe of the teamwork and unity.

The value of books... 

Everyone stops to look with wonder at God's provision. 

(Books here, even paperbacks, 

are scarce and usually cost 20usd each.)

Children gratefully embrace something

they don't have - toys.

Because of what God did and the way He did it, 

people asked for prayer in Jesus name.

(Our motto - Kingdom equation: Biblical Development + Evangelism = Sharing the Gospel)

Soon, a Christian school starts in this building by local believers - a blessing to the community.

This SPeCIaL DeLIvErY came through God's people working together - from small town USA to rural Kenya, 

from believers at different churches to believers from

different tribes, from Pagosa students and friends 

to forgotten children.  

And one great Asian in California who helped connect 

it through oceans and continents.

Asante sana.

You all made it a SPeCIaL DeLIvErY indeed!

hugs from the haugers O0ooo