“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the word of Christ - the Message - have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives - words, actions, whatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.” Colossians 3:15-17, MSG

Each day here, there are so many opportunities for us to cultivate thankfulness and it continues to be a rich time together. We are loving getting to hear stories from the students about their last few weeks in different parts of Kenya and helping them to process all that they have seen and heard.

Anna happy in a tree here on the grounds at the Saint Francis Retreat Center

Anna and Dani (new big sister from Montana)

Anna and Taylor leading devotion on Friday morning

On Thursday, we had the chance to go visit two Hindu temples and we learned so much there. One of our guides was a friend of Brian and Debbie’s named Nita who was raised as a Hindu in India but then became a Christian about 25 years ago here in Kenya. At the end of the day, we gathered as a group to process some of the things we had seen and learned. Taylor was in the back of the room kicking around a ball he had made out of duct tape and I was not sure he was really listening. But then Taylor raised his hand to share. He said, “One of the posters that was in the exhibit about Hinduism said that radio waves are all around us but you need a radio to be able to hear them. In the same way, you need a guru to be able to hear from God.” Taylor commented about how this was so different from Christianity as we believe that we don’t need one person like a guru to tell us what God says. Taylor also noted that because Hindus believe in karma that the whole idea of forgiveness was foreign to them and he thought it was really sad because we have been forgiven by God as a gift. I was struck with these insights because during the day as we toured the temples and listened to a few presentations, Taylor was a bit restless. But then he pulled out these two really great insights (so much so that we all were a bit taken by how profound it was and Brian joked, “Whose child is this?”). My point in sharing this story is that this experience of Taylor and Anna marinating in this community here in Kenya this summer is really making a difference that I can see happening right before my eyes, and I am so thankful for these windows into their hearts with conversations like these.

Friday, we headed to Huruma (a slum area here in Nairobi) to the Mother Teresa Sisters of Charity Children’s Home. We got to spend the day there with some of the disabled children playing, singing, helping with feedings, doing some laundry, and finding small ways to be a part of the work the sisters do every day there.

As I walked into the ward with the children, I knelt down to interact with one girl named Elizabeth. She had severe cerebral palsy and was not able to sit up on her own. I began to sing to her the song, “Jesus loves you” and had tears welling up in my eyes seeing Christ in her. I was reminded of the verse from Mark 10:16: “And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” It was humbling to be there seeing so much need and seeing the incredible devotion of the sisters who care for these children who are seen as the “least of these” in many people’s eyes.

This quote from Mother Teresa and this song from Michael Card speak to some of the things that we got to see on Friday at the Children's Home.

Mother Teresa writes, “Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, all the time, and his hand in every happening; This is what it means to be contemplative in the heart of the world. Seeing and adoring the presence of Jesus…. in the distressing disguise of the poor.”

picture taken from a post from Colleen Briggs who adopted from there--

(as we are not supposed to take pictures there)

Distressing Disguise by Michael Card

He is in the pain, He is in the need
He is in the poor we are told to feed
Though He was rich, for us He became poor
How could He give so much, what was it for?

In His distressing disguise
He waits for us to surmise
That we rob our brothers by all that we own
And that's not the way He has shown

Every time a faithful servant serves
A brother that's in need
What happens at that moment is a miracle indeed
As they look to one another in an instant it is clear
Only Jesus is visible, for they've both disappeared

He is in the hand that reaches out to give
He is in the touch that causes men to live
So speak with your life now, as well as your tongue
Shelter the homeless, take care of the young

In His distressing disguise
He hopes that we'll realize
That when we take care of the poorest of them
We've really done it to Him

Songwriters: MICHAEL CARD