We had an amazing, heart wrenching experience as we absorbed the entire experience.  We walked into the slums of the Mathare Valley, population of 500,000.  We drove into an area where we witnessed some of the most horrific conditions you could ever imagine.  Small dark rooms with dirt floors, tin roofs, and sewer streams flowing by the front door openings. Little children bare footed and walking through the filth. The smells and sites are almost more than you can bare to see and nearly impossible to comprehend.

But there is HOPE!  In the middle this there is a small church with little children gathered and they perform a dance for us. They welcome us with smiles and with the only phrase they know in English, "How are you?" Here they feed the children a bit of food and teach them about Jesus.

We left this area to visit a place of light in a very dark place--Mathare Child Development Center. Here we witnessed a school for over 400 children. They are wearing the shoes that have been purchased by Convoy of Hope - an outreach ministry partner of Capital Christian Center. Most of the children had not owned a pair of new shoes or socks until the day they received these. They have uniforms, a school, medical center, and feeding program. The children come here 6 days a week. Many are orphans and without this place, they would be starving to death.  In a very touching moment captured on video, the children united in saying, “Thank you Capital Christian Center!”  Wow, what a God moment connecting our hearts.

They sang and danced and then danced with us. You can see the hope in their faces and they expressed thanks for all that we were doing to help them. You can't help but feel very insignificant when the need is still so great around you. Even the conditions of this school are below our thinking of poverty in America. 

Then off for an hour drive to another small town outside of Nairobi. What a ride on the very rough roads and in the exhaust filled bus.   We were able to see a water development site and a farm that has sprung up to help feed the children of Kenya Kids Home.  This is a united effort supported and staffed by the Kenya Assemblies of God. 

So...what an experience. We walked in the footprints of some of our great Assemblies of God missionaries who paved the way years ago for us to be able to partner today.  We are home now, but our minds and hearts are thinking of the beautiful people of Kenya. There are many that are living in dark dirty places with hungry bellies. What can we do for them? Oh...so much!  We can give them hope in Jesus!  Keep praying, keep giving, and keep going -- the joy of global partnerships.