Pure Christianity

Rearranging

Irene seems to be fitting in just fine. She is the newest arrival here at A Future and a Hope. This past Wednesday her Aunt dropped her off, and we have been rearranging her life ever since.

Already she is in school, she had missed the beginning because her school was closed due to the violence in Nakuru. Kate took her to the school uniform shop and she was outfitted with uniform, shoes, socks, and some school supplies. We still need to buy the text books, but she has already spent one full day at the school.

I believe she has been incorporated into the other girls dance routines. She has her own bed, and has enjoyed good hearty meals since she stepped through our doors.

This is another orphan that can be hopeful again. I thank God that we are allowed to care for such children. In His eyes they are the most important young women on the planet. When He looks down at us, people such as these girls are the ones His eyes search the Earth for. They are blessed, and that makes me proud to be a part of their lives.

 

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Quote of the Week

"What do I love when I love my God?"

Augustine

Value

I think a lot about value. In particular the value of human life. Much is said about that value, many pontificate about human rights. I even heard that Steven Spielberg is not participating in the Olympics because he values the people living in Darfur.

Now don't get me wrong, I am happy to see Darfur get some attention. The people living there really need help, I am just not sure Spielberg can give them what they need.

Every week I visit with people here in Nakuru, Kenya that, according to society, have no value. There is no place for them amongst the people of Nakuru. They are a nuisance that many want to completely ignore or worse get rid of.

They lack food, shelter, clothes, proper education, and well really they lack everything that is needed. Even when they are assisted with food, clothes, and other stuff they still lack something. What is missing is value. The poor have no value in our current world system, unless we count their value as consumers which is no value at all.

I see Jesus has valuing people. No matter who he encountered he gave them value. He spoke with them as an equal. He gave his time. Jesus loved even the unlovely.

I pray that we can take up this same attitude, and not just boycott the Olympics, but instead go to places like Darfur and give value to the poor there.

 

Johnny Brooks

Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Irene

Irene will be moving into our home, A Future and a Hope, tomorrow. I met her this past Saturday and we all agreed that she should come stay with us.
Hopefully by Friday we will have the full story along with pictures up on the blog.
Irene is a beautiful, bright, young girl who needs a stable home environment in order to be able to attain her dreams.
After Irene moves in we have one more spot to fill, then it is on to house number two.

Johnny Brooks
Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.

Spoiled Rotten

A couple of days ago, we woke up to a delightful surprise! Four beautiful ducklings hatched during the night and were waddling about gleefully in the morning.

They are as adorable as critters can be! Fuzzy, yellow, balls of fluff with the same actions as their grown counterparts. Just cute!

The sad news is that there were 12 eggs altogether and only 4 hatchlings. The mother no longer sits on the eggs so today I decided to remove the eggs from the nest.

My maternal and scientific sides came out when I decided to ever-so-gently crack these abandoned eggs with a small stone to unveil their contents. With my young audience peering on, I began to crack egg number one. Tap tap tap-- YUCK. Rotten. The stench could make a fly puke.

Egg number two, again--rotten.

Perhaps, the third egg? I decided to give it a go for the kids' sake. Tap, tap, tap... I bent in to get a closer look. I still hadn't pierced the shell...Hunched over the egg like a mother over her new baby, I ever so carefully tapped one more time...

...BOOM! Pressure inside the rotten egg caused the egg to EXPLODE like bomb ALL OVER MY FACE! It was in my hair, on my arms, everywhere! And to make matters worse, we don't have any water!

Let's just say, now, I am spoiled rotten, literally.

I fed the rest of the eggs to the dogs without hesitation.

~Kate

The Faith of a Child

                                                           

On Valentine's day, last week,(a very windy day) the kids were cutting out hearts and making valentines.

Hannah, our five-year-old, made a large one for a friend of hers that lived about 20 miles away.  When she was done, she went out the front door with it, and then returned empty -handed and informed me that she had sent her Valentine.  I asked her if she didn't need an envelope, stamp and address.  She replied,"Nope, I prayed over it, and threw it in the wind for God to take it to her."  I was deeply touched, and of course, thought it was very adorable.
( after about the 7th one to different friends, however, we had to have a talk about littering.)

But, what the Lord impressed upon me about the matter, was how quick we are to immediately turn to the world's system and our natural reasoning for everything that we do and for most decisions, before consulting God.  How many times would He save us time, money and energy if we would only  acknowledge Him first about everything.  It was fitting that the verse we studied that week ( which the Lord had given us as a key to walking in the Spirit, or abiding in Him) was Proverbs  3:5-6.....

" Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding: in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path."

Heather

                                                         

Picture of the Week

Not sure what is going on here, but thought it would make a good picture of the week.

Safe and Sound (Well safe anyway)

I am back from my trip to Nairobi. No one tried to hack me to death on the way, and I encountered no riots in Nairobi.

In fact the city was not even tense. Of course that is not to say that things will not change rapidly, but anyhow things went o.k.

I did not accomplish what I went to do, no surprise there. At least I did sign a few papers so the process is still on going.

Quote of the Week

"Mommy, does this sink have water?"

~Butterfly, age 4, asked this question yesterday when she wanted to wash her hands in my bathroom.

Nairobi Calls My Name

Well for the first time since the post election violence broke out here in Kenya, East Africa I will be heading to Nairobi. There is some business that must be attended to there, and well the time has come for me to brave the highway.

Seriously though there has not been anything going on on the Nakuru - Nairobi highway for a while now, so I should be safe.

 

Johnny Brooks    Missionary to Nakuru, Kenya. Co-founder of A Future and a Hope, a home for girls.