Read some of these great first-hand stories of how LifeWind's CHE program is helping people break poverty and embrace the transforming power of God:
- Following the "Leader"
- Battle of Trust
- New Ground
- Brewing Hope
- Weight of the Whole Village on my Shoulders
- Funeral Day
- What Drew You to Christ?
- This is my Husband's Shoe
Following the "Leader"
by Travis Clark on 08/01/06
In Kenya it is hard to do anything without chai. If you haven't had chai before, it is basically just milk and tea. When you go somewhere and meet someone, before you do anything you must drink chai. Likewise, when you are trying to leave, a gracious host will keep you as long as they can by offering you chai, over and over. It is at the beginning and end of almost everything I do, including the twice a week trainings I was running in Mathare.
The most rewarding moments of my whole time in Mathare came this month. Peter Mosola (a.k.a. Toota Lala) and James Blanks (a.k.a. Cha Cha), both on different occasions, completely unprompted and almost chasing me down, told me they wanted to follow Christ. Mosola said, "I want to live a good life and the only way that I can see that happening is with Jesus." It is so edifying to see people turning to Him without altar calls or invitations. We have been just feeding them Scripture and letting God do the rest.
Both Mosola and Blanks were alcoholics and both are changing dramatically. Most of the people in the village are quite surprised at their changes as these guys were very much at the top of the list of people who would never do anything, but drink. James has stopped smoking and drinking completely and Mosola is slowly weaning himself off and dealing with withdrawal in a big way. I made sure they understand that being a Christian isn't about not drinking or following rules, but is simply submitting your own will to that of your Creator (who knows best). This is answering the call of Christ to "follow Me." It is not an easy road for them and they spent months counting the costs to come to the conclusion that there is no other way.
Being a brewer in Bondeni is just about as low as you can get in a slum that is just about as bad as it gets (in terms of living conditions). It means you have no other options in a place full of people with no options. They are looked down upon by their society as well as the local church (not the Church that is the body of Christ). Many of the people I worshipped with would say things like, "Just leave those boys be, they cannot change." It is here, however, among the outcasts, derelicts, and losers that Christ has made His company. He has not come to reassure the righteous, but to comfort the sinners (Matthew 9:12-13).
It is interesting to see "churches" built around a common sense of self-righteousness as opposed to a common brokenness and the differences between the two. Both churches can be attractive. The ones centered on brokenness have everything to gain, everything in common, and work together toward Christ-likeness. The self-righteous ones, however, often have nothing to gain, but the weeding out of evil, which is the cause of much evil in the world (Luke 18:10-14). A Christianity that tries to isolate itself from evildoers has forgotten who Jesus is. Instead we must be very careful that we view everyone as being just as beautiful and just as foolish as we are and joining together as sinners to simply "follow Jesus."
The Pharisees of the Bible were well intentioned, but self-righteous teachers and followers of the law (in letter not in Spirit) who Jesus was adamantly opposed to. This eventually drove them to murder Him. This same trap has been fallen into over and over again all over history and with terrible consequences. Recently it has caused the death of millions of beautiful and foolish people in the Congo and Rwanda, just to mention a few. Submitting our will to Christ means we surrender the right to be right.
Battle of Trust
by Travis Clark on 08/01/06
There is so much to trusting God. I don't think it is one of those virtues that can be obtained by simply trying to trust more. It is perhaps a battle that cannot be won head on. For the more one tries to trust, the more distrust can creep in. I'm thinking that instead, trust comes from experiencing the faithfulness of God while in pursuit of Christ. Here, in looking past the problem to the solution, Christ, we as Christians can truly find the ability to trust, not blindly, but based in a true knowledge of His character.
In the past month the fingers of worry have been steadily darkening folds between my eyes. Slowly but steadily the same hopelessness that I find on the faces of those young men who are brewers was making its mark on my mind. I began to hear people speak the fears of my heart. "I don't know if those boys are serious." "Working with those guys might be wasting your time." Like a hand reaching out in the darkness grasping to find familiar ground I have been treading my course. "I feel God has called me to be here; I am doing all I know how to do and what is in my judgment the best thing." For good portions of my days, thoughts like these have frequently pounded away at my courage in poor attempts to hammer it back into shape.
One of our group members drank himself to death a few weeks back and I am sure he was not a Christian. The momentum of the group had begun to wane as a result and meetings continued to be canceled due to funerals. The counselor of the village, who at first was excited about the group and wanted to be involved, began to give the run around to our members for no apparent reason. Our chairman stepped down because he said he could not make the time. And the seed money that the group was trying to collect from its members left their business goals deep in the land of unrealistic. On top of all this, the weight of my leaving for the Congo at the end of July began to sink my shoulders as people who were trained to be replacements began to drop off the map for various reasons. It seemed all that had been done with the group was to be just a good learning experience, but not changed lives.
I finally broke down a bit from the constant bombardment of requests for visas, money, school fees, etc., and went out to buy a random girl school books she needed for her current term. I knew that it didn't solve the problem of her not having enough money for books and it would probably get around that I had given books out to some and not others, but I was at a point where I didn't care any more and just wanted to feel helpful. Not a good ministry model, but God can use this to. I decided that instead of just handing her books I wanted to make it seem like they came from the school so I found a teacher from her school and took him to town with me to buy them so he could give them to her. On the way he started to tell me of a business plan involving an LCD projector and the World Cup. He proceeded to ask me to be involved in the "getting the projector" part. Rolling back my eyes, painfully deep into my head, I listened to how easy it would be to make money off the people I had come to help. Something inside me however, told me to hear him out, so I did. His idea was well planned and feasible, with the only problem being finding people to man the operation. Eureka! It was an opportunity for the Bondeni group to get their seed money! So I asked him to come to the meeting and propose the idea to the group.
Shortly after the meeting had begun he exclaimed over and over, "Why didn't you tell me it was this kind of a group." It turns out that Fredrick (the teacher) is a pastor who has helped three similar groups get up and running in Mathare valley. He is also trained to be a trainer in CHE. In short order he explained the way to get the counselor and chief of the village to work for them and before I knew what was going on we were with the vice secretary in downtown Nairobi registering Bondeni Hope Self-Help Youth Group (formally The Uprising) as a self-help group. Fredrick excitedly told me that he wanted to take over the group when I leave. Amidst all this the chairman of the group decided that he didn't want to leave and that he could make time for the meetings.
As I am writing this, the group is collecting their seed money by hosting the World Cup on a big screen; Fredrick is paying off a small loan and I am learning to trust. The group has asked me to design ID cards for them and of course I was glad to as long as they paid for the printing so they could continue when I am gone. Most of all, the Bondeni Hope Youth Group needs to follow the leading of Christ. Falling into that category most of the members are seriously addicted to alcohol (even the Christian ones). Everyone has expressed a desire to quit, but there is the general sentiment that it is impossible to do so and live in Bondeni. Please pray for God to show you how to pray for these people.
New Ground
by Travis Clark on 04/01/06
The last two months have been hard, but good, gifting me with many reasons to rely on the Lord for my strength. Many of my man-made plans have fallen to pieces, and it seems that the plans that God has for me are coming to light. During my initial filming in Mathare, I was shooting the brewing process as seen through the eyes of one of the brewers. It was during the shoot that my presence created an opportunity to explain what Community Health Evangelism (CHE) is to many of the brewers in Bondeni (a village in Mathare). They all were interested in it and demanded, almost forcefully, that it come to their village. So with dreams of changing the world, we decided to have a meeting to explain in depth what CHE was all about and asked everyone to bring their friends.
The seminar was a flop. When we arrived to the place where the meeting was supposed to take place, we found that another group had also reserved the hall we were to use. Of course they had paid and we hadn't. So we tried to tell the few guys that showed up what CHE was all about, but largely the meeting fell apart. So we then scheduled one for the next week and no one came this time. This can be discouraging, but it is by no means grounds for moving on, but was grounds instead for trying harder.
I decided that they probably just needed a bit of coaxing and prodding to come. So I went about coaxing and prodding both the guys brewing and my fellow trainers. We found a church we could be sure was ours to use and regularly went down to the river to talk with the guys as they brewed Changa (bootleg liquor). The meeting day came and I rose at 5:30 to go wake my fellow trainers at 8:00 so we could make our way to the river and remind everyone the meeting was right now. We did this and went to the church to wait to see if they would come. Although it took two hours, about ten of them showed up and Willis and I began teaching. The boys were animated and really appreciated a venue in which to speak and be heard, and they loved doing the skits that we were using for our lessons. They were very quick to understand the concepts of relief vs. development and how God has called us to carry each others' burdens yet commanded us to carry our own load (Gal. 6). When we asked if they wanted to meet regularly they all resoundingly responded yes. "Could you commit to one day a week?" I asked. After discussing they said that they should instead meet twice a week so that they don't forget what they have learned during the rest of the week.
We have had five meetings since then and all of them have been hugely successful. Surprisingly the guys are less interested in the physical lessons and when given an opportunity to read the Bible and discern its meaning for themselves, they are ecstatic and ask so many questions. Often after meeting, one of them would come to talk to me and tell me that he wanted to leave brewing so badly and would ask if I would please provide him with another source of income. "I would do anything just to leave my job at the river and still have food to eat."
Brewing would be such a profitable business if it were not for the law and corruption. Every day the police that are assigned to stop bootleg brewing come to collect their bribes and in doing so ensure that their bribers stay poor and have few other options in life. It is not uncommon for them to go for two or more days without eating. I keep on telling the boys that all of these problems are too much for any one person, but if we all collaborate and trust God there will be good things ahead for us.
I have been asked to stay in Mathare for two more months to continue this work and to help with other CHE programs in the area. My visa to the Congo is missing and may not be found for some time and the work here in Mathare is growing, so I have decided to accept the invitation and stay. Please pray for the Bondeni brewers to take an active role in changing their lives physically, spiritually, emotionally, and socially. It feels strange to be in the position that I am in and I need much wisdom and discernment for the task of training that lies ahead.
Brewing Hope
by Travis Clark on 03/05/06
I have spent the last three weeks in Mathare, a slum in Nairobi, Kenya, and every day has been characterized by both joy and pain. My first day, I received a startling introduction that set the tone for the rest of my time there. Upon entering, I saw things I expected to see; sewage pouring down the street, half dressed children relieving themselves on sides of houses, tin-roofed mud and cardboard huts. Then I saw some screaming and running soldiers and guns, which was very unexpected. I was hurriedly squeezed through a door and down a pitch black corridor with slimy walls into a five by five foot room with three chairs, a television, and an oversized poster of Jean-Claude Van Damme ready to Kung Fu the room to pieces. Eventually the cloud of frantic Swahili settled and David and Mary, my guides, told me in English what was going on. The slum was being raided by the riot police who were looking for the leaders of the local mob called Mongiki. After waiting in the room for an hour we decided to venture out for a look. It was agreed that I should go first because no one would dare shoot a "son of Bush" (George W). So I shuffled back through the corridor and peeked out the door, only to see a rifle when my eyes adjusted to the light. The gun remained steady although it was attached to a soldier who was shaking like he was naked in the Arctic. Slowly and silently we went down the empty street back the way we came, passing a wide-eyed armed guard every ten paces. The splat of our feet in the sewage almost drowned out the yelling of people being dragged from their houses.
Mathare is the kind of place that turns the pockets of the middle class inside out from guilt. Of the many things its residents are up against, in my estimation, the worst problem is not physical. Living in the slum people are constantly reminded of their inability to do better for themselves. Over and over I would meet people on the street who were hopeless and just trying to cope with their situation. The easiest way of coping is through drugs or alcohol, which is why the biggest and most profitable business in Mathare is brewing.
During my three weeks in the slum I had the privilege of spending time with many of the brewers in one of the villages. The brewing process is done mainly in the river where sewage from the whole slum cascades in black showers across mountains of plastic bags and dead animals. The water is taken from the river in petrol barrels, mixed with brown sugar and heated over coal filled buckets. The steam from this concoction is funneled through a hose and distilled into cartons in the river. The result is flammable.
Brewing is a dirty business and it is not something that anyone is proud of, but they say it is the only way they can eat. This is not true, but it is a lie that they themselves believe. This lie is reinforced by those who will quickly empty their wallets with the intention of helping the needy. Unfortunately many times such giving tells the recipients that they can't do anything about their situation and that they need outside help. The CHE (Community Health Evangelism) program in this village is beginning to empower people to stand on their own two feet. Many who, through brewing, used to contribute to the mess of passed out fathers lining both sides of the street every morning are instead selling food, cutting hair, baking bread, cutting meat or whatever they see fit to do for a living. They are starting legal businesses for themselves and owning them 100 percent. How is this possible? Only through the power of Christ are people banning together to not just better themselves, but better their community as a whole. They are teaching others by example that there is a way out and it is not found in handouts.
My time in Mathare was spent as an assistant teacher at a local school, spending time with the wonderful folks in the community, and doing what is called home visiting with CHE volunteers. This has been one of the most rewarding times of my life.
Village 2 of Mathare is charged with energy. People who have lived lives of crime are putting their faith in Christ and being transformed spiritually and physically. There are even two women whom the Lord healed of AIDS. "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:14).
Weight of the Whole Village on my Shoulders
by Travis Clark on 03/02/06
I was on my first of many long walks to the village. While passing a school playground I was spotted by one hundred school children all wearing green sweaters. They swarmed around me like locusts, all chirping, "How are you? How are you?" Ocoth, who was serving as my guide, told me it was probably the first time many of them had seen a white person, confirming for me I had no idea what I was getting into. This feeling continued as I was brought before the committee of a village and presented as a guest of honor. "My name is Travis. I am from the States and I take pictures." I sat nervously looking to Ocoth for social clues but came up empty. The community proceeded to sing a song in Swahili, only a few words of which I was able to pick out: "Bwana wa ma Bwana," which means "King of Kings." (I had learned this earlier that day.) Before they sang another song one of the women said, "Take out your camera and start filming before we move on with your program." Indeed, they had my whole day planned out for me: what I was going to eat, who I was going to see, and what I was going to film. The rest of my day and the next were spent visiting the houses of everyone in the community who was involved with the project. I filmed them standing in front of their houses, telling me what part of the project they were involved with, how they became Christians, how many kids they had, and what they wanted me to do for them. Some wanted me to put their kids through college, some wanted a water project for agriculture, and some wanted Bibles in Swahili.
VI went to the guest house that night perplexed and heavy with the weight of the whole village on my shoulders. Staying with me in the guest house was a short-term missions team coming back from a work project. After social graces I shared with them the struggle of my day. They quickly agreed and said that many people in the area "Mizungu" (white folks) with handouts. They also told me what they do in those situations. If they can, they give them what they ask for. I heard story after story of how they had done good for people through wells, school desks, roofs, candy, even just by handing out money. Were these people not well intentioned and used by God? Of course. But all their stories had one thing in common . . . themselves. Relief work (giving) may be good for people with more money than time, but is not always the best thing for the people it is supposed to help.
VRight off the bat I was struck in the face with the reality of development work and its contrast with relief work. I had enough money in my front pocket to buy a well and irrigation system for the village. I would have felt great about myself had I bought them one, and they would have praised God for it. But is that the best thing for them? What happens when the well goes bad? Who will be there to buy them a new one? What about all the surrounding villages - will I buy a well for all of Africa? And what does buying a well for someone tell them about themselves? I think that it is safe to say that it doesn't tell them they are capable of building a well themselves. It was in seeing the project the village was working on themselves (concerning hygiene, agriculture, fish pools, and fellowship) that I was affirmed that Community Health Evangelism is a strategy that can bring about lasting change. Granted it takes longer, is more gratifying for the served than the servers, and requires control by the community instead of by the missionaries; but it is working, and isn't that the point?
Funeral Day
by Gil Odendaal on 02/10/06
Saturday is funeral day for the people of South Africa. A thousand people die there every day of AIDS-related causes. Most are buried on Saturday. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw at the cemetery-graves as far as the eye could see and hundreds of funerals. Rows of graves stood open to be filled over the course of the day. We watched hundreds of mourners come and go. They prayed and sang about a promised land free from suffering. The reality was inescapable. No life in this community is untouched by AIDS.
After more than five years and an influx of $130 million from the Gates Foundation, the United States government, and the U.N., South Africa's main AIDS prevention campaign, Love Life, has proven to be ineffective. The official 2005 report states, "The HIV infection rate among young South Africans remains disturbingly high" (Singer 2005). Likewise Parker, a researcher and director of the Johannesburg-based Center for AIDS, stated at their International AIDS Conference on October 7, 2005, that the massive HIV and AIDS campaigns that South Africans are continually exposed to, have no effect on the pandemic's prevalence rate, but only on condom use (Development GATEWAY 2005). The prevalence rate continues to grow and is now about 40 percent for the country.
In order to change this dire situation, the Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Collaboration (SAHAC) has been formed and LifeWind is one of the lead agencies for this collaboration of 14 South African and United States ministries that are launching this effort. I have also personally accepted leadership for implementing this bold, faith-based initiative in which Community Health Evangelism (CHE) is the platform upon which the whole effort will be built.
We are driven by a vision of a flourishing, post-AIDS Africa in place of graves as far as the eye can see. SAHAC's primary objective is to develop a community-based, comprehensive, Christian approach to AIDS prevention.
We seek to qualify a sustainable, replicable process that dramatically reduces the rate of infection within communities and can be multiplied across communities and cultures. We fully embrace the fact that prayer is not preparation for this battle, it is the battle.
We need your prayers as we seek to catalyze, equip, and encourage existing resources in the community to work in concert, all at once, until HIV is no longer widespread in the general population. Pray we can be in step with what God is already doing there and we will be bold in obeying Him and empowering nationals to take ownership of their own relationship with Christ, their neighbors, and themselves.
The SAHAC initiative will begin with a pilot test in a single community, Orlando East Township in Soweto, adjacent to Johannesburg, South Africa. The goal is a 30 to 50 percent reduction in the rate of HIV infection in the community within five years. Expansion will begin as soon as there is evidence we have an effective, replicable model.
In year one, we will endeavor to engage community champions in assessing and beginning to address priority community needs (physical and spiritual), mobilize and equip churches to expand their responses to HIV and AIDS in their congregations and communities, explore youth morals, develop messaging, and lay the groundwork for conversations, events, groups, and mass media directed to youth, and develop programs to enhance employability skills and extend employment opportunities.
What Drew You to Christ?
by LifeWind Field Staff on 02/10/06
"What drew you to Christ?" I asked. The husband, a retired military officer, began to describe in a very animated way how the CHE group had shown love and concern for the family; had taught them useful lessons relating to health, home gardens, and appropriate technology. His son had come to Christ first, and after marrying a young Christian woman, the father was so impressed with her love for Christ and how she shared it and her unusual boldness to "advise" him not to drink, smoke, and gamble - to live a good life - that, he said, ". . . I had no option but to eventually give my life to Christ." He told us, "Realizing a bit later that these things weren't honoring Jesus, I asked God to take away any attraction and desire for them. He answered me overnight, literally. From the next day, until now, I have had no yearning for those things. How incredible is our God!"
His wife accepted Christ at the same time and told us, while grinning, that Jesus Christ had changed their family dynamics; ". . . there is much more gentleness and understanding between my husband and me now." Another son and his wife have also chosen to live for Christ. They pray the same for two remaining sons. One daughter-in-law is interested, ". . . and close."
This is my Husband's Shoe
by Travis Clark on 02/09/06
Doris was the mother of five children when her husband took a mistress in the nearby city of Kisumu. Gradually he spent more time in Kisumu and less time with his family. Sometimes when Doris and her husband would leave the house, he would tell her not to introduce herself as his wife. Sometimes he would take out loans and spend them on entertainment for himself and his mistress, leaving his family hungry. Times were hard, and with the provision of her children her top priority, Doris was at a loss about what to do concerning her neglectful husband. It was then that she heard a nagging voice in her head that told her to go to Kisumu. After debating with herself, she decided to go. When she arrived, she began conversing with someone she knew when she heard a loud crash not far down the road. It was from a Motatu (public transport van) that had collided with a cyclist whose shoe flew through the air landing at Doris's feet. Looking down she said, "This is my husband's shoe."
With her husband now dead and with hungry children that would likely starve to death, Doris decided what she would do. She went to the store and bought poison for herself and her children. With a candle in one hand and a vile of poison in the other, she trudged into her children's bedroom some time after dark. While she paused at the foot of the bed, a large gust of wind blew through the house even though all the doors and windows were closed. The wind blew out the candle, but instead of covering the room in darkness, it was suddenly bathed in inexplicable light. Doris said she knew God was stopping her from killing her children. The next day she began looking for a way to provide for her children.
Not long afterward Community Health Evangelism was introduced into her community. Through its teaching she learned practical ways that enabled her to continue to put food on the table. She also learned about God and how to commune with Him. She is now active, healthy, providing for her kids, and putting them through school. It is with a smile on her face that she faces her next crisis. "I am not afraid to tell anyone that I am HIV positive," she said to me. Doris now has supernatural hope.
Spending a day talking with, filming, and praying for Doris has been hugely encouraging for me, and I think her as well. Please pray for her.
