The Final Tournament

The District sports day didn't turn out the way that I thought it would. We had a good team, but didn't have any time to prepare. The zonal office was unorganized and the money that was paid to take care of the sports teams at district wasn't there! Just one more bit of corruption in the Kenyan government. So the players in all the sports had walked to Mbita; some from as far as 35 kilometers away, but the education office didn't have any money to feed them until the teachers protested long enough and finally at 3:30 in the afternoon they had them walk back to town for some porridge. That left us only about 30 minutes to prepare when they returned around 5:30 pm. The lack of preparation showed the following day when our girls soccer team was thoroughly outplayed in a 2-1 loss. It is the first time this year that any team had scored even a goal against us and our first loss in 11 matches that we had played at different levels. None of the other Mbita Division teams fared very well either.

After losing, I was left with sufficient time to help select the best girls players from all 5 divisions. Today was a preparation day and tomorrow we will be leaving for Migori (about 3 hours away) for the Provencial Tournament. All 23 districts in the Province will be represeneted there in the 4 day tournament. Last year our girls lost in the championship game. This year we hope we will be good enough to win it all. We have 5 girls returning from last year's team and several other good ones that we have added. The goalkeeper and one of our defenders are from CGA. I have enjoyed the first day of coaching them and am looking forward to a fun week full of sports!

Passionate About Sports

I also love coaching in general; putting the right players in the right positions to be successful, motivating them, making the necessary adjustments, and competing to win. I have been fortunate to be coaching some outstanding players. In the 11 matches, we have not yet surrendered a goal. The goalkeeper is an 8th grader from CGA that we have been training for about a year, Dorine Adhiambo. She has done great in the matches and especially in the post-match penalty kicks.

Yesterday was a special day. We played the team from Rusinga Island in the Championship. It was an outstanding match with both teams competing at a high level. There are some incredibly talented girls in this area. Neither team could finish off a goal even though there were some that missed by a hair. On the post-match penalty shootout we won 4-3 as Dorine caught the first two penalty kicks.

Next week we will compete in the District Tournament and then proceed to the Provencial Tournament with the best girls from that tournament.

Tough Circumstances for These Girls

We had another great sports day yesterday. I have been coaching the local girls soccer team through all their different levels (pre-base, base, zonal, and divisional). Each time we play a mini-tournament and then they select the best players from all the different teams to move on to the next level. I thoroughly enjoy the whole process so much. I love coaching the teams and trying to bring out the best in each individual and the team as a whole. I love the opportunity to hang out with students in a relaxed setting where they feel free to open up and talk about things, ask questions and joke around. There are so many chances to impact their lives through speaking words of truth and words of encouragement that are rare in their lives. It has really given me a chance to develop some good relationships with students and teachers outside of CGA.

Some of the stories can be so sad. There are so many around here that have lost both their parents to HIV/AIDS and are burdened with so much responsibility in their homes. Things that 7th and 8th graders should not be undertaking. In some ways they act as parents or the heads of their households for their younger siblings. Phenny has to take her sickly mother to the clinic 5 miles away every morning before school for treatment so she is always late to school. Lavenda lost her father when she was two and her mother last year. As a 14 year old, she is now caring for her three younger siblings in the house as she is the oldest remaining relative. Pauline comes from an island. She has lost four of her siblings to HIV and other diseases. All of her older sisters were married off when they finished 8th grade. I could share many more, but these few give you an idea of what these girls deal with.

Sports give them an opportunity to do something they love and get away for a few minutes from the pressure, responsibility and the difficult circumstances in their lives. I feel blessed to have the chance to know them and try to impact them in any small way that God puts before me.

A Dramatic Win

After totally outplaying the other team and keeping the ball on their side of the field almost the entire match, the girls soccer final came down to penalty kicks since both teams failed to score. It doesn’t seem like a fair way to determine the champions, but it is what it is. The girls from the Mbita Base calmly stepped up and knocked in all five of their penalty kicks while our goalkeeper, Dorine, dove side to side saving one ball after another. The girls took another championship 5-2. This team included 6 girls from CGA and others from the surrounding schools. Our girls remain undefeated in their 6 matches this year at the pre-base, base and zonal levels. Five of the CGA girls were selected to move on to the Divisional level taking place on Friday in Kirindo. This includes Valarie Akoth at Defensive mid-field; Irine Achieng and Winnie Amondi as strikers, Dorine Adhiambo as a goalkeeper and Mourine Akinyi as a utility player.

Two of the boys players also played outstanding at the zonal level. Emmanuel Ogutu kicked a great corner kick that was headed in by a teammate in their 3-0 semifinal win. Also, Caltex Omondi was arguably the best player on the field. Both of them will continue to the Divisional Level.

Other players who participated at the zonal level included Sharon Akinyi in girls soccer, David Ogolla and George Bush in boys soccer, Loice Achieng in girls volleyball and Zechariah Odhiambo in boys volleyball.

Teaching Lessons through Sports

Christ's Gift Academy is busy preparing for the big sports day against other local schools next week. On Friday we had a friendly match with a rival school of ours. There were three starters from the boys soccer team and three girls from the girls team that were being disciplined for various reasons and couldn't participate in the match. When I met up with the kids they were complaining and saying, "How can we play without some of our best players?" I tried to encourage them and told them they had a choice. Either they could just cry and give up or work even harder and do our best for God's glory.

The girls played their best match of all the friendly matches we have played. We were already ahead 4-0 in the 2nd half when the opposing team stuck a skirt on a boy and inserted him into the game. It didn't make a difference as our girls continued to dominate. Eventually the referee noticed the boy and removed him from the match.

The boys had many players in different positions then they were used to because of the three missing boys. They were undersized compared to the 18 and 19 year olds on the other primary school team (most of our kids are the right age for their classes). We got down 1-0 in the first half but kept battling until we finally broke through with a goal late in the game about 1 minute before regulation time ended.

I think they learned several lessons.

Here are a few...

1) No player is bigger than the team

2) Much can be accomplished when people work together and try their best

3) Attitude makes all the difference in the world

4) Keep trying even when you are losing

5) We should glorify God in everything we do

God's Timing

I was reminded this weekend of how perfect God's timing is. I had tried to visit Asumbi Girls High School two different times, but was not able to see the four girls from CGA that are there. The first time was because they were in the middle of exams. The second time was because they had just gone to Mass for two hours (Catholic School). So this forced me to make a special trip on Saturday through the dusty roads that haven't been maintained in a long time for the two hour journey.

After Pastor Amos and I arrived at around 9:00 am we were waiting to see the four girls; three of which I haven't seen since last August before I went to America. A few minutes later Martha came around the corner in her basketball uniform. She greeted me with a big hug and I asked her what was happening. She said they were just getting ready to begin their District Championship Game. She and Cathorine (another girl from CGA) were playing for Asumbi and Maureen Achieng (who just graduated from CGA and joined secondary school) was playing for Ogande against them! So we were able to share some soda and mandazzi with the other two Asumbi girls and catch up on what is happening for a few mintues and then we settled in to enjoy the finals.

Asumbi jumped out to an early lead and dominated most of the game behind Cathorine's aggressiveness and Martha's rebounding and passing. Basketball in Kenya is a little different since it is played on a dirt court and the dust flies everyone; plus there isn't much traction and the officiating may not be considered top notch. They substituted Martha out at the end of the third quarter with a 9 point lead, but Ogande came roaring back with a few steals from Maureen Achieng and took the lead. By the time Martha got back into the game, it was too late. Asumbi only scored one point in the entire 4th quarter and that was on a free throw by Cathorine.

Needless to say I was extremely proud of our girls from CGA. The three of them play the game the right way; very unselfish, hardworking and as all-around players. We try to teach them at CGA how they can glorify God through sports and these three really demonstrated that today.

God's timing is perfect. If I had seen them when I stopped the last two times, I would have never returned to Asumbi today and would have missed the great matchup.

I am thankful for what sports can do in a student's life. It teaches things like perserverance, hard work and teamwork. It also helps them to feel like a big part of their school. It also helps to develop good friendships and be exposed to other parts of the country as they travel. It also gives them time to relax a little from the stressful academic environment in these secondary schools in Kenya.

February Update (a little late)

Speaking the Truth

As I have begun visiting the various secondary schools our graduates attend, I have been encouraged about two things. First, I have seen an openness that was not there before. Many students are willing to admit some of their past mistakes and even ask for help in overcoming their weaknesses. Some are realizing they are tempted to lie so much and have to battle daily to speak the truth. Others know that there is not accountability in their homes and so they end up doing whatever they want when they return during their school breaks. Still others are admitting they don't spend time studying unless they are forced to. And many are struggling when they have free time at home and spend much of that time wandering aimlessly and trying to get involved with unhealthy relationships. Most of these came directly from the students, even before they were asked. Admitting their problems is a huge step and the beginning of sweeping change in their lives. Some of them are approaching another stage in their life and realizing that the opportunity God has blessed them with to attend secondary school is soon reaching its conclusion. They want to make changes before it is too late.

Leaders

The second thing that is encouraging to me is that so many of our students have been chosen in their schools to be leaders. Over 10 of the 65 students we support in secondary school have been selected as leaders. This shows that other people are noticing the difference in the products that CGA produces. Their teachers and fellow students see specific characteristics in them that set them apart. These children are the future of Kenya and the hope of a new generation rising up to make a difference.

Transforming a Nation

We are busy planning on improving our program for when these secondary students return home from school in April. Our goal is to spend at least a week with all 65 students so we can take time to be around them, counsel them, do some formal discipleship, study times and tutoring times as well as time for sports and other fun activities. For specific ones that are struggling academically, we will give them study times during all four weeks of their holiday and even hire some teachers to come and help tutor them in certain subjects like Math, Physics, Biology and Chemistry. We want to do everything we can to impact each of these children's lives for God's Kingdom and also to provide them every opportunity to succeed in this life. This past week the results were released in Kenya for the National Secondary School Exam from last year. Only 70,000 of the 300,000 students who took the exam scored a C+ or higher and only 30,000 will get chances in Universities (10%). CGA is only one year away from having our oldest students take that same exam. We hope that many of our students will have success and earn the opportunity to continue their education and get good jobs. Then we can see them give back to their own community and invest in the lives of other orphans and needy children. This will help to break the cycle of poverty in their own families and help to transform an entire nation!

Salvation is Here!

The best news of the month was from a student that just began secondary school a few weeks ago. Seth reported to me when I visited his school that he had chosen to give his life to Jesus. He is from a difficult home situation and has had discipline issues throughout most of his time at CGA. His older brothers have had so many problems and were eventually released from CGA. Seth is excited to return home in April and share with his brothers and his aunt who has been caring for the three boys since the death of their parents a long time ago. This was an encouragement to me as it reminded me that we are just asked to be faithful in fulfilling the role God has given us each day. We can plant the seed and water it, but we never know when the timing will be right for that plant to bloom and begin bearing fruit.

For more information on the leaders in secondary school, our safari and other reports, please visit my blog at http://www.joekenya.blogspot.com/

A big thanks to my brother Steve for his years of help in putting together my e-mail updates and sending it out to the list and dealing with all the rejected/returned ones and forwarding on the messages to me! What a blessing he has been!

And another big thanks to my brother Sam for setting up the new format which should make it look first class and will make things easier for adding new e-mail address and changing preferences!

Prayer Requests:

Pray that the secondary students and the younger ones also would be willing to open up and share freely about their struggles so that they can be helped. Pray for strength in the face of temptations and for a desire to live according to God's Word.

Pray that CGA would continue to develop leaders of the future, and that this generation would be a generation of change in Kenya. Pray for the ones in secondary school and the ones at CGA to grow in their leadership positions and do it in a Godly way.

Pray for Seth's decision to have come from deep within. Pray that he would grow in his newfound faith and that God would use him to share that message with his family back at home and with his classmates in secondary school and his friends from CGA. Pray that each of our students would also come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.