Towards the end of May and the beginning of June, we
spent time with Pastor Wilson and his wife Karen working with approximately 25 boys
ages 16-20 on Osiligi
(Maasai word for “hope”) Rehabilitation Farm in Kiserian, Kenya. The boys come
from Kibera slum in Nairobi and have been heavily involved in drugs and alcohol
in the past. This farm is officially an agricultural education program offered
to street kids, but in reality, it is so much more than that. It is a
Christ-centered home, a drug rehabilitation center, a place to play sports, a
bountiful farm, and a school where students are taught workplace excellence,
ethics, Christian education, cooking skills, and teamwork. The boys know more about farming than
anyone I have ever met their age. It was amazing for these guys to walk us
around their rows and rows of tomatoes, corn, beans, spinach, onions, lettuce
and much more. Once again, I am having trouble deciding on my favorite part of the
trip, because Steve and I agree that this is one of the coolest places we have
ever visited, and we will work our hardest to go back. Right now there are
unbelieving German volunteers there, but they are always searching for young
Christian men to come and pour into the guys. Steve is definitely considering a
summer internship with Osiligi at some point.
We were especially enticed to come back after seeing
their fairly decent outside basketball court and soccer pitch. In fact, one of
our favorite experiences at the farm was a soccer game that went well into the
darkness of the night and actually went into penalty kicks because of a tie. I
was just the photographer, but Steve’s team blew a one-goal lead with about one
minute remaining in the game, and it went to a shootout. The shootout took
place in virtual darkness, where it was impossible for the keeper to see a
fast-moving ball. Steve’s team lost by one goal in penalty kicks, and because
candy was on the line, the boys from the opposing team celebrated like they had
just won the World Cup. They took off their shirts and ran around the farm
chanting something in their local language. And those who are wondering, no,
Steve does not like losing in America or in Africa, but the game and the players’
reactions were priceless for us to witness.
With regard to basketball, the only Africans these
students could beat in basketball would have to be the young children out at
Tumaini who I taught to play in 2008. The Osiligi boys were flat-out terrible.
Could they dribble? Not really. Could they pass? Not at all. Could they shoot?
No chance. They were definitely fantastic at travelling and fouling though. Steve
and I showed them the wonderful game of Knockout that
many kids have played growing up in America. It’s pretty safe to say that
because no one could make a basket, these were some of the longest Knockout
games in the history of the world. But the kids thoroughly enjoyed learning the
game and vowed to continue it at the farm.
We also spent a lot of time simply hanging out with the
kids as we listened to their rapping, toured their farm, and
heard about their families back in Kibera. On one particular day, we went
around a local village to share the Gospel door-to-door. It was awesome because
the majority of these boys are new Christ-followers and don’t often witness to
others or pray with people in their community. We went from home to home,
taking the guys in different groups to see some people come to know Christ and
others who just needed prayer. We heard story after story from moms who were
having some sort of trouble with their children, whether it be with illness or
school fees. In my group, the boys were very involved with praying out loud for
the people we visited.
Once again, God blessed the proclamation of the Gospel,
and Steve shared with a village father who accepted Jesus Christ as his
personal Lord and Savior and committed to follow Him. Steve was with Wilson and
a group of the Osiligi boys, and they approached this man outside of his
tin-roofed, small rectangular home
with his children playing in the yard. They were able to tell the story of
Jesus Christ, and the man surrendered his life to Christ at that moment. The
cool thing about evangelism with Wilson is we are certain that those who come
to know the Lord will be discipled and encouraged by the local church Wilson shepherds.
Praise God that we saw people saved in Kiserian. Your prayers were once again
effective and powerful. And much appreciated!
Finally, one of the most life-transforming evenings of
our entire trip came during our last night on the farm. The boys and Headmaster
Dick wanted to give us an Osiligi Farm unique worship experience before we
left. You will have to watch the video we shot to even get a taste of what
transpired during the time of worship. When you think of a worship service,
don’t think about a Passion or Hillsong concert, or even a Sunday Baptist
service. Remove any preconceived ideas from your mind as to what worship may look
like to you. Let’s just say Steve and I witnessed 25 young men shouting out to
Jesus in song until their lungs were about to burst. We all gathered in a small
cafeteria with the students and the five teachers who live on the farm, and one
of the teachers came up to play on an old, plastic keyboard. The boys were
spread out, standing all over the room with Steve and I among them. As song
after song played, the jubilation and intensity or worship exponentially
increased. By the last few songs, the atmosphere was crazy.
We sang one song called “Higher” which contains the
lyrics: “Higher, higher, higher, Jesus, higher” and “Lower, lower, lower, satan,
lower.” During the “higher” section of the song, the boys yelled out to the
heavens with all their might, the headmaster took off his shirt and started
waving it around like crazy, and several people (including Steve) got on top of
tables and started jumping around. Throughout each song, the boys danced all
over the room and even raised chairs to the air. In this particular song,
during the “lower” section, everyone in the room got on the floor and smacked
their hands and feet on the ground, stomping out satan and driving him lower
where he belongs. The emotion and passion in the boys’ eyes and voices were
out-of-this-world. Steve and I have never seen people worshipping with all of
their hearts like on this night. I wish you could all experience it in person,
but you will just have to watch our videos later and take our word for it. God
is moving at Osiligi Farm, and He is training and bringing up young disciples
and warriors for Jesus Christ. Please keep praying for these boys, as we
believe there are still a couple of new students who don’t know our Lord, in
addition to the German volunteers who have no relationship with God.
After Tumaini, Steve and I spent an epic day rafting the
Nile River. We were in awe of the sheer size of the river and the “oh my word,
we are actually going down those” types of rapids. We loved recalling how at
one point in history, baby Moses was actually in a reed basket in this river,
although he was quite a bit more north, in addition to the Nile turning to
blood during the plagues of Egypt. From the Nile, we went to Tumaini, for a
wonderful reunion with the orphans of 2008 and myself. I was sick most of the
time and stayed in bed a lot but was moved to connect with the children I
hadn’t seen for nearly four years. It was crazy seeing some of the 2-year olds
like Doro from 2008, now at the age of 6, and how much they had matured, yet
remained as cute as ever. One night when I was sick, Steve was called on to
preach to the orphans and evidently did a wonderful job teaching 1 John 3:1,
which talks about Christians being sons and daughters of God. I have to believe
that hit home to this group of children without any parents to call their own.
Thanks to all who donated to our trip, as Rose and the kids were ecstatic to
see all of the much-needed gifts we brought them. Without you lovely people as
supporters, none of this could have happened.
I will close with the week’s wackiest from Osiligi, the
Nile, and Tumaini: (1) This may not be wacky, but I continue to have diarrhea
on and off out here. I bet you're glad I told you. (2) Oh, there was just a
bombing in Nairobi near where our bus was going to be dropped off an hour
before we arrived from Tanzania. It’s safe to say we got off at an earlier
stop. (3) I mean, seriously, the Osiligi boys couldn’t beat Sis’s dog Norman at
basketball. Or her daughter, Peyton. (4) We spoke at a girls’ school while at
Osiligi. The girls were craaaaazy. Pretty sure they haven’t seen boys in years,
as they screamed at the top of their lungs when everyone was introduced. At
this appearance, one of the Osiligi boys rapped during his introduction. Yea,
that’s right. (6) The rims at Osiligi were about 9 feet high, so I felt like
Patrick Ewing out on the court. So fun. (7) I wrote in my journal about how
good one gets at killing mosquitoes and flies out in East Africa. They were
constantly around us. (8) We went to a college outreach service in Nairobi, and
at one point I freestyle danced and did the worm in front of the whole group.
The crowd erupted. White boys CAN dance, but we still can’t jump. (9). In
Uganda, we heard a lot of American music, and our theme song for the rafting
trip was “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson, because that is what we heard blaring
from the speakers as we fell asleep at camp. We sang it a lot going down the
river. (10) Our bus ride from Kakamega back to Nairobi was kind of on a “road,”
if that’s what you want to call it. It’s as if asteroids, and I mean a lot of
big asteroids, neatly fell on the “road” we were on going back to the city. I
think the potholes (aka craters) were so big our bus disappeared in them before
coming out the other side. Ok, not really, but it was the worst bus ride of all
time.
