Wish you could see this

Shaking off the jet lag from our 36 hours of travel, we made the 30 minute drive to Beacon of Hope on Monday morning. I'm going to describe much of what we are seeing, but what I really wish is that you could be here to see it yourself.  Amazing things are happening here in Rongai, the suburb of Nairobi perched on the edge of the enormous Kware slum.

I spent most of the day picking my jaw up off the floor.  I had visited here 2 years ago, and Beacon is already hardly recognizable. Since 2011, Beacon has constructed a 5-floor primary school, a huge, beautiful church/multi-purpose facility, a 2-story youth center, and quarters for both short-and-long-term staff and volunteers. All of this construction comes on the heels of 5 years of equally staggering construction. When we visited in 2011, Bill Stevenson, who had last seen Beacon when it was a storefront in Rongai, had also spent most of the trip agape in wonder. These guys at Beacon don't play around!

Many of you already know how Beacon of Hope got started and what its aims are.  For those of you unfamiliar, here's a quick summary.  Nairobian Jane Wathome, responding to Jesus' clear teachings, began working with the women of the Kware slums in the early 2000's.  As she spent more time with some of the women, she began to learn more about their specific needs.  Kenya, especially in the early part of the millennia, had been ravaged by the AIDS epidemic; at one point, it was estimated that 20% of the population had the disease.  AIDS disrupts communities comprehensively, derailing people economically, socially, psychologically, and, of course, physically.  Jane began by setting up a small facility to offer free testing for the virus. When it became clear that many people avoid getting tested because of the stigma of being seen going into an AIDS testing site, she expanded to offer other basic medical services, which allowed people to get tested discreetly. 

Getting to know the people of the Kware slums more fully, Jane came to see that their needs went far beyond the medical.  The disruption caused by AIDS is particularly devastating economically, as families, particularly the women find themselves ill-equipped to provide for themselves after the loss of loved ones. So Jane began to developed vocational training, equipping women with sewing or weaving skills that enabled them to provide an income. The children of these families faced some of the biggest challenges, and, with the acquisition of the huge property near Kware in 2005, Beacon had the space to start a primary school, which is adding a grade-level per year. The ministry has continued to grow in size and scope.

The staff of Beacon, by the grace of God, is facilitating holistic healing and growth, helping thousands of Kenyans every year. As we toured the different ministries, we marveled at what God has done through such simple beginnings, and so quickly!  His love and the scale with which it has been unleashed in such a short amount of time is staggering. 

On Tuesday, we will visit some of the homes of the families Beacon serves in the slums. Please pray that we will continue to learn and be inspired, and also please ask God to keep causing His face to shine in Rongai and to bless Beacon's work.  Now that we're oriented, we'll start doing the work we came to The health-care providers on our team will head off to a remote camp 2 hours away to provide some basic medical care for a population that rarely gets access to it.  The educators will start assisting in the school today as well.  

Again: it's nice to describe all this, but words don't do justice to the good work we're seeing here. We're honored to have a chance to contribute.