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.

I have to share a few individual stories from this weekend, especially concerning the junior tournament...

1) One of our returners from last year's champions was Linet. She is small in stature but big in heart and she is like the energizer bunny on the field. She is a student at CGA and I have taught her for the last 5 years so we know each other well. She can be moody at times and it rubs off on her teammates. And sometimes she thinks she knows everything and doesn't accept correction very well. She displayed both of those bad characteristics in the first game, especially towards my assistant coach. So I substituted her out of the game and had a private talk with her on the sideline letting her know that her attitude better change very quickly if she wanted to play in the upcoming matches. For the rest of the weekend she was such a great leader and dazzled on the pitch. She was the defensive stopper that no one could get past (we only allowed 2 goals in 6 matches). She was encouraging her teammates and helping every chance she could get.

2) Winny was our goalkeeper. She has some good natural ability, but she is a 6 foot tall 13 year old still trying to figure out how to use those long arms and legs (I know many of you are wondering why I am not teaching her basketball). She lacks confidence and experience, but she gained both this weekend playing in five of the six matches and only allowing one goal. My favorite part was the semifinal game on Sunday morning with a goalkeeper box filled with mud from the rains overnight. She doesn't really like getting dirty, but she was diving around in the mud all game to protect the goal. We eventually lost the game on penalty kicks, but I was so proud of her.

3) Our Junior captain was Alicent. She just turned 13 last week and is such an impressive young girl. She had lost both of her parents by the age of 6, but is fighting to make something of her life. On the field she is like a coach during training, constantly talking to the other players, encouraging them and running drills if I am not there. She is tiny, but has the heart of a lion. During our third place game I began breaking out in tears watching her fight to the end. She had been sick the night before and hadn't eaten anything that night or the next morning, but she was still willing to go out on the field and give everything she had for back-to-back games. She could barely walk, but that didn't stop her. Working with teenage girls, sometimes one will show up at the field and unexpectantly start crying because they are sick or scared or because of some other problem going on in their life. I couldn't help but appreciate the effort that she was making on the field that day. The great part is that she makes that same effort in school and in everything that she does.

Juniors Finish Third

In the Junior category (under 14 years old), we were the defending champions. We had three players returning from last years team and some new younger girls we added on. These games are played with only 7 players on each side and on a small field with small goals. It is actually a dirt field used for field hockey.

It took a few games for them to get going, but once they did, they were very impressive. The referees and spectators quickly began admiring them and the way they play. All the other teams were just kicking the ball down the field and chasing after it. The Laker girls were passing it back and forth all over the field and playing "their game." They managed to reach the semifinals where they played the host team, Galactico. That was the same team they had defeated in the championship game last year. It had rained hard the night before which left the dirt field pretty muddy. Both teams battled so hard and our girls grew stronger as the game went along, but despite getting many chances, they just couldn't find the back of the net of the small goal. The game ended in a draw and went to penalty kicks where we lost on the final kick.

The girls were devastated about not going to play in the finals on the main football pitch with a big crowd, but they quickly got excited when they learned they would have one more game to play to compete for third place. They took control of that game from the first seconds and thoroughly dominated the opposition in winning 3 to 0. They were overjoyed to take home another trophy, medals and sh. 200 each ($2.50).

It is so much fun to see the youthful enthusiasm and joy from 12, 13 and 14 year old girls. These ones are a special group of girls. Three of them, despite their young age, are a major part of our senior team because of their talent, work ethic and leadership. The Suba Lakers have a bright future.

Galactico/KYFA Tournament

The Suba Lakers Girls Football Club travelled to Kisumu this weekend to compete in a 3 day tournament. We took an Under 14 year old team to compete in the Junior Tournament and an over 14 year old team to compete in the Open Tournament.

This is the third straight year we have competed in the Open tournament against some of the top teams from around the country. Our senior team is comprised of school going children from the ages of 15-18 and we compete against teams full of seasoned veterans mostly around the ages of 18-25. Each year we have seen a remarkable improvement in our level of play as a team. This year we played so well in our four preliminary games, winning one and losing three (all by the score of 1-0). It was a good showing considering that we ended up losing close matches to the three teams that finished the tournament in the top three positions. We held the hosts and eventual champions, Galactico, scoreless for the entire match until they scored in the final minute. We have made big strides with our girls and I am convinced that if we continue to train and play together that much success is ahead for the club.

I was proud of the girls "fighting" spirit, good attitude and overall character they displayed on and off the field during the tournament

Final Pictures from Nairobi