Ambition

Stephen Mbogo is a very ambitious fellow. It's for this reason that there are so many ongoing projects at the ByGrace home. I'm inclined to say that while the vision is clear, the glasses are quadrafocals. The construction of the living quarters and school rooms, the wash area concrete pouring, the greenhouse project, the building of the chapel, and the boring of a water well that have all been in process this week only represent a small percentage of the larger ByGrace picture. Stephen and Rosemary have set their eventual goal at the boarding and schooling of 2500 kids from the greater Nairobi area. Using this ByGrace Home as a model, they plan to establish nine more homes all around Nairobi, in hopes of providing for 250 kids at each of the ten facilities run by the organization. Hearing Stephen outline the action plan cuts the rather daunting task down to size, and makes it seem quite practical.
This type of ambition pervades nearly everything Stephen does, down to the planning of our weekly schedule. Today we had planned to do construction at the ByGrace Home, visit Amani Ya Juu, run a UW sports camp, and listen to one of the Mathare slum pastors give an introductory talk about the slums before tomorrow's first visit. Of course, breakfast, tea, lunch, tea, and dinner were also on the docket. Especially considering the minimum driving time of an hour between each activity, we may have been over-stepping practicality just a bit.
Our busy day began with the transport of yet another primary earth component: sand. Apparently as one graduates from dirt to rocks to sand, one also graduates from wheelbarrows to group passing, to group passing up a three-story scaffold. We were tasked with moving a pile of sand from the ground to the roof of the primary structure being worked on, the living quarters and classrooms. There is a huge scaffold made out of stripped tree branches and two-by-fours, providing enormous stairs from the ground to the roof. We formed a line, as we had yesterday, except this line was staggered vertically up the scaffold. Shovelers on the ground deposited sand into sacks, which we passed up to the roof. I still have no idea why sand is needed on the third story.
After lunch, we hopped in the vans headed for Amani Ya Juu. Amani is a business ministry founded by one of Granada's missionaries, Becky Chinchen. Its mission is to take widowed or battered women off of the streets and provide them with an income and a support group through the crafting and vending of beautifully ornate textiles. Amani Ya Juu means 'higher peace' in Swahili, and that is truly a blessing imparted to these women. The Nairobi facility is where the ministry began, but Becky has expanded the organization into other countries across Africa, having just opened one in Liberia where she now lives and works. We weren't expecting to see her, but felicitously, she was there engaged in some business meetings, and was able to take some time out of her schedule to come and meet with us while we toured the facility. We met women from Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, D.R.C., and perhaps more, all working together at their sewing machines or tie-dyeing stations, all joyful and thankful for the opportunity to grow in the Lord and support their families. The Biola team was able to stick around a bit longer, but our team had to hop right back in the van to get back to our sports camp.
Out on the field today, I discovered that I am now capable of running once again. Of course, I bypassed the recovery evaluation phase, wherein a prudent recovering invalid spends a few days determining the physical limits mandated by his recovery. Instead, I jumped right in and started playing soccer (on a ridiculously uneven field). Perhaps my aspirations were lofty, but I'm glad I did. For an athlete, there's nothing like getting back on the field after an uncomfortable forced hiatus. Now that I know I'm destined to be a short white guy unfit for the NBA, I have to satisfy my athletic ambitions by playing soccer with school children. I've no doubt that my ankle will disagree with my decision tomorrow morning, but I've had the last laugh today.