Small Gifts for our Football Club

This weekend our 25 primary school football girls came for another weekend of training. They report on Friday afternoon and stay with us until Sunday afternoon. There is much time for training, studying, guest speakers, watching some football videos and spending time together. We had a great speaker this weekend who shared with them about how to take good care of their bodies, personal hygeine and how God has created them.

On the last morning a Junior Boys team from Rusinga Island came to play a friendly match with us. They thought they would be able to dominate a girls team, but were a bit embarrassed when our girls defeated them 5-2. We played two full 45 minute halves so it was good conditioning and good competition playing against fast, agressive young boys.

Because of a generous donation our madam teachers were able to buy a couple pair of underwear for each girl. That is a big blessing as many of them only own one or two pairs. We also got each girl a mosquito net to take home with them to help protect them from getting malaria. CGA had bought a large order for our students last month and they had some extras that we purchased from them. We also were able to give almost half of them old half-deflated basketballs that they could use at home to kick around a little and play with in the village (I never imagined I would give basketballs away to be kicked- don't tell my former basketball coaches).

The girls received the gifts with big smiles and sincere thank-you's.

Challenges

I don’t know if the following story is what is really supposed to go in a blog from a missionary, but this is what I am going through and some of the battles that we face here. God is at work and doing mighty things, but there will always be opposition.

I think I have experienced two of my lowest points since coming to Kenya 7 years ago.

In July, one of our third year secondary students decided to leave his school. He had been having problems for several years now and we had been trying to counsel him and advise him. He had finally had enough and thought it was best to leave. When he returned to Mbita we were very kind and gentle towards him even though we were upset at his poor decision. Our Kenyan Principal, Mr. Gwalla, and I sat and talked with him and tried to help him think about his future and the right way to move forward. We reassured him that we were committed to supporting him in the future. After our conversation ended with prayer we left the office. The boy returned quietly a few minutes later and stole our principal’s phone. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! By the time we noticed, it was too late as he was already across the lake and well on his way to Kisumu. Fortunately his family helped us to recover the phone, but it was damaged by the time it was returned.

Over the next few weeks we heard some stories of how over the past couple of years he had been trying to involve some of our younger girls in sexual relationships. I was greatly disappointed because of all that I had invested in this young man, but was satisfied that he was far away from Mbita and wouldn’t be coming back any time soon to cause more problems, or so I thought…

After a few weeks he returned to town which worried all of us because of the girls being in danger. I decided to go find him one day and when he saw me, he started running… so I decided to start chasing him. I knew I wouldn’t catch him with my heavy boots on running through the bushes in this rural area he knows so well, but I thought that at the very least, I could put a little scare in him.

It was difficult to understand what was happening. This is the same boy that I taught for three years in primary school, helped him get into one of the best high schools in the country and visited him regularly in his school. Now he is running away from me. How did it get to this point? I didn’t catch him, but I found his mother and requested her to make sure that he leaves Mbita and returns to his family in Kisumu or his father in Nairobi.

They didn’t think I was serious and he decided to stick around. So a couple of days later we had the police arrest him and put him in jail. Our principal, Mr. Gwalla, and I were able to go to the assistant police chief and spend a few hours with the boy and his mother. The policeman had the boy read aloud the minimum jail sentences for breaking and entering and also for defiling a minor.

The following day the policeman brought the boy up to CGA to do a practical lesson for all the secondary students who had come for extra teaching that week. He led the boy, handcuffed, in front of the awaiting students and was met by a lot of shocked faces and long stares. It was a good lesson that the others will not soon forget.

A few days later they let him out of jail with a strong warning that he should find a new school as soon as possible and told to stay away from Mbita. Even though we will not be able to continue to help him, we are praying that his eyes will be opened and he will turn back to God before it is too late.

A few weeks later something else came up. Another boy that is one of the main leaders among our secondary students had some problems. He comes from a very poor home where his elderly grandmother has raised him along with his brothers. The boy was the school leader while he was in primary school at CGA and always comes back to volunteer at school helping with anything that is needed during the holidays. He is hard-working and has a very outgoing personality. We have shown a lot of confidence and trust in him. There were some inconsistencies we noticed on the report form he handed in when he came back to Mbita over the holiday. We asked him questions about it, but he had some excuses. Because of some other issues we decided to bring him back to his school to start the new term. After arriving we quickly realized that he had changed his report form, not only this time, but he had been doing it for three years now. So this student who we had thought was doing so well in school has been struggling throughout, undetected by us. We also realized he had been deceiving us about other things also. The worst part is that even when he was caught red-handed he still wouldn’t admit it. He continued to try and make-up stories and acted like he hadn’t done anything wrong until finally at the end he was able to speak the truth. It was painful to witness.

Adding insult to injury… after discovering these lies, the deputy principal at his school told us that the boy needed a new mattress before they could readmit him to school. So Lillian (our orphan overseer) and I had to drive to the nearby town and spend more money to buy the boy (who had been deceiving us for three years) a new mattress because the grandmother had no money to assist. Lillian used the opportunity when we gave him the mattress to tell him that it is a picture of God’s grace with us. He blesses us and does so much for us that we don’t deserve, but he does it because of his love for us. I still believe he will learn a lot from this experience and change for the better. He knows right and wrong. Maybe this is a good “wake-up call” that will help to put him back on the right path.
To be totally honest these cases really got me down for a while. Through prayer and scripture God continues to remind me to not focus on the problems, but to focus on what God is able to do, which is much more than we can ask or imagine. All of us are “works in progress.” Sinners saved by grace.

CGA has 90 students in secondary school and most of them are doing so well, working hard and being a “light” in their schools, but it is easy to get focused on the few negative ones. Without God, there wouldn’t be much hope, but as believers we continue to be faithful to what God has called us to do and leave the results in His hands!

Secondary Students Being God's Hands and Feet

This past week we have been hosting around 70 of the 90 secondary students we sponsor in various schools. Each of them completed 8th grade at CGA before moving on to the next level of education. We call it a reunion because they are reuniting with their former classmates. It happens during each of the three school breaks during the year (April, August and December). The students enjoy catching up with close friends and learning from each other.

This time around I let the students plan the schedule for the week and lead the program. They set aside time for worship and prayer, testimonies, small groups, guest speakers, crazy games, and sports. The testimony time this week was very powerful as many stood up and openly admitted some of the mistakes they have made in the past and urged the others not to do the same. One boy talked about his struggle with lust and sex. Another discussed her bad choices when it came to cheating on exams. Others have talked about stealing or just being lazy. It is good for them to hear from one another. I have been impressed with their honesty and sincerity. Several mentioned how grateful they are for the opportunity they have been given to attend secondary school through their sponsorship by CGA.

On Wednesday the entire group walked to the home of one of their classmates who was having a funeral for his older brother who passed away last week. They are a poor family with an elderly grandmother and then all of the grandchildren. As soon as they reached, they began helping. Some started carrying buckets to the lake to fetch water for cooking and washing. Others went to the local primary school to get chairs and benches, others helped in cooking and washing the plates. It was awesome to see the kids being the hands and feet of God. The community was so impressed and were really giving a lot of compliments to the way the CGA secondary students were serving. It feels good to hear the community talking well of the teenagers for once instead of just speaking ill.

The reunion ended on Thursday after the students watched a great movie, Faith Like Potatoes. It had a wonderful message about having big faith and sharing that faith with others and how God can transform lives. The kids enjoyed it and took home a lot that they can apply to their lives.

On Monday and Tuesday, all of the 90 students will be returning to their various secondary schools to finish out the last 3-month term of the school year.

Our Boys Can Also Play

Over the weekend the Suba Laker Boys competed in the Omit Pile tournament on Rusinga Island. It was an under 17 year old tournament for local teams. The boys sailed through the preliminaries with 2 wins and a draw. They dominated their semifinal game winning 2-0. The finals on Saturday afternoon were hotly contested playing against the home team from Rusinga. The locals didn't want the trophy to leave the island, but the Suba Lakers wanted to take the trophy back across the causeway to Mbita.

The Lakers scored two goals in the first half, but both were taken away by the referee. The first one was because of off-sides and the second one because of a push. In the second half the Rusinga team gained momentum and put a ball into our goal, but their goal was also disallowed because of off-sides. The game ended in a scoreless draw and went to penalty kicks. As the sun was setting, our goalkeeper saved the first three kicks and we quickly converted our chances to lift the trophy.