Thank you all for your prayers and support for my KA mission project. We executed yesterday and by God’s grace it was a victorious day. The life of God overflowed in abundance and there was so much liberation and joy. I believe the prophecies God gave us that every single person would be impacted and changed were fulfilled. God literally opened the heavens and poured down His blessings on us.


The day didn’t run smoothly as I planned, but it did run according to God’s agenda. For instance, it rained after the first game, which forced us into the marquee and gave us the opportunity to witness to them early on in the day before we got carried away with all the games. God definitely answered our prayers to soften their hearts as they were so ready to receive the gospel.

We had 93 youth register, which exceeded our hope of getting 75. Of those, 43 received Christ and 31 were infilled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues (slightly more than our mandate or 11!) I prayed for 2 youth who God healed – one had malaria and the other chest pains and a headache. Many people were counselled and healed emotionally too. The talk on purpose was powerful and I believe their minds were renewed with the truth that God has created them for a purpose and they left eager to live to fulfil that purpose.

In fact, the whole day was characterised by such an abundance of life, so I know we fulfilled our vision to ‘liberate the captives to give them life to the full’. Not only did they receive salvation/spiritual life, but there was plenty of delicious food and sodas (provided for free by Coca Cola); every participant got a free T-shirt and notebook printed with ‘my journey to purpose’ and our logo and a free bible. We also taught them how to make soap and print T-shirts so that they can generate income for themselves. One girl stood up at the end and said, now we have no excuse to be in poverty – what a wonderful testimony.

I almost can’t believe it’s all over (apart from writing and handing in the report). It’s been one of the most challenging and stretching experiences of my life leading the group, but by God’s grace I made it and the group finished still united with love and peace.

Thank you all for your congratulations for my engagement. Tom and I are doing well, but keep joking we want to get married tomorrow! I’m meeting his father tomorrow which should be interesting, because he doesn’t even know that Tom is engaged or even that he has an English friend called Sarah! Tom wanted to surprise him and take me to his home in Nakuru (a town about 2hrs from Nairobi) when I’m free one weekend, but his dad just called saying he’s coming to Nairobi for the day on Monday, so we thought we’d surprise him then instead. After watching Guess Who I’m a bit nervous!

I’ve been so busy recently I feel I need a week just to catch up on sleep. The main thing preoccupying my time is the PMP (practical ministry project) for KA. We went on the spy mission a few weeks ago, which went really well. It’s a semi-urban area and most people speak English which is good for me. What was exciting was that we prayed before going and asked God to reveal to us what the deformations in that community were and God said alcoholism, domestic violence, idle men and overworked women, lack of value of education, religiosity (people going to church as a habit but not saved), sexual immorality, single mothers etc. And those were the exact deformations that we observed with our physical eyes and discovered from talking to the local people. Since then we’ve had many long meetings building the unity of the group, hearing God’s vision, mission and objectives for us, deciding on a group name, logo, slogan etc. and starting to analyse what the root cause of all these issues is and brainstorm what we can do to address it. There’s been so much pressure because we have so little time. We have a ‘pre-defence’ on Tuesday where we have to go before the lecturers and present our concept. The purpose is mainly for them to correct us and advice us on how to proceed with our planning, but the stress came when we were only told on Thursday night that the pre-defence report was meant to handed in by Saturday morning, so had just one day to do it (and everyone is at work all day and then rushes to class in the evening). We managed in the end but it was manic.

I am enjoying leading my group, but it is really stretching me. I find it difficult to be strict with people when everyone’s so much older than me, but thankfully they do respect me as the leader. The main challenge is actually knowing what process to follow and how to strategise, because I get zero input or advice from the college. By God’s grace I am managing though and learning to rely 100% on the Holy Spirit to guide me and tell me what to do.

Last Saturday we had another spiritual gifts practical and this time we had to manifest in the power of the Spirit. Like last time it went on for nearly 8hrs without a break, but I didn’t really notice because it was so much fun. People were healed, fell down under the power of God, laughed controllably in the spirit etc. I’ve actually decided I find it easier to impact people with the power of God than to share accurate words of knowledge. E.g. one man I was ministering to I felt the Spirit tell to me put my hands over his eyes so I did and after a couple of minutes he just fell over backwards under the power of God.

On the work-front, I got my feedback from the Cambridge lecturer who’s funding me for the research paper I’ve been writing and she said it’s excellent (which is a huge relief because I had no guidance or help with it) and has sent it to the editors who are compiling the book. Apparently it will go to the editors at the end of the year and be out around mid-2011. If any of you are interested in reading it I can email you a copy.

I’m now working on a different research project on why girls stay in school despite the odds. I’m still transcribing the data but it is really interesting, especially the data from the provinces that I didn’t go to do the fieldwork myself.

Anyway, enough about me. Please keep emailing me with your news because I love to hear what you’re all up to

So I have some big exciting news....I’M ENGAGED!
Many of you know that I’ve been close friends with a Kenyan guy called Tom since I first came out to Kenya in 2006. We’ve always just been friends and never thought there was anything more until around April this year when God started revealing to us separately that we were meant for each other. Tom actually asked me to marry him in July, but I said I needed more time to be sure. So I spent the next couple of weeks praying literally all the time and God spoke to me so clearly through a number of scriptures, pictures and visions. I then came back to him and said I was 90% sure so we agreed to separately write out what we believe our natural talents, spiritual gifts and divine assignment/calling are and then compare. So again I spent a couple of weeks really seeking God and he revealed a lot more to me about my calling. When Tom emailed me his I was so shocked at how perfectly mine fitted with his that I almost thought he had copied mine! – (although of course there was no way he could have done that). That made me 100% certain it is God’s will for me to marry Tom. What is strange though (but actually confirms this is of God and not me) is that I only felt I was in love with Tom after God had confirmed to me that he was the one and I was 100% sure. I'm now madly in love and it's different from anything I’ve ever felt before. I can't describe it.

We were then told to arrange to go for ‘proving’ before the pastors so they can confirm we have accurately heard from God. Being Kenya this took several weeks (during which time I was under strict instructions not to tell anyone – which has been soooo difficult!) and finally last Thursday we went for proving. It took 3.5hrs, in which we individually shared our stories and ‘proof’ before 3 of the pastors, who then consulted together for some time before calling us both back in to give their feedback. They confirmed they believe it is God’s will for us to marry and announced we are now officially engaged.

The wedding will be in Kenya, but we're not sure when it will be. At the moment we're thinking maybe early 2012, but it could be 2011 if God directs otherwise. I've been told by the pastors to have an open-mind and not plan when I think it would be right, but follow God's timing. I’ll let everyone know as soon as I know so that you can start making plans to come!

So a bit more about my fiancé – He’s called Tom Vohya (or TV to me) is 27 next month and grew up in Mombasa (the coast) and then Nairobi. He's in the same church as me and serves in the technical department (definitely a strength that compensates for my lack of technical expertise). He works designing websites - he's incredibly talented at it and that's not just me being subjective! We have both heard clearly from God that we are called into full-time ministry and will start in Kenya before God expands our sphere of influence to an international scope. So I will be living in Kenya for the next however many years. (A good thing is the new constitution that just got passed now allows dual citizenship).

I can’t believe it’s been over a month since I last updated you on my news – sorry about that.

On the work front I’ve been analysing the data for the ‘girls against the odds project’, which is really interesting and an answer to prayer because I was only being paid to do the fieldwork but now CCE want me to help with analysis too. I’ve got so much rich data from all the different research projects I’ve been doing that I’ve got several ideas of papers I want to write. Hopefully when I get some more time I will be able to write at least one of them and also praying that somehow I get funding to do so.

Maisha Trust is coming on well. The eviction notice for the land has been given out and the residents have until the end of November to move out so that we can start building the new school. We’ve started designing the new centre and are trying to be really imaginative because God keeps on telling us that it has to be unique and different from anything else in Kibera. Sarah junior opened for last term this week but I haven’t yet had a chance to go.

Some small exciting news is that I was chatting with one of my pastors about music randomly one day and I told her ‘I used to be a musician in my past life’! She then came up to me the next day I asked me to start teaching her daughter the piano. What’s more is they have a piano – a baby-grand piano! - in their house – the 2nd piano I’ve ever seen in Kenya! I’m really enjoying teaching and have also been given permission to go and practise myself whenever I want. It feels so good to be playing the piano again. I didn’t realise how much I have missed it. I’m thinking of applying to some of the international schools to teach music and piano for next term.

I’ve also finally played tennis with a lady from church. She’s very good and is on the Kenyan team. She actually told me I should try out for the Kenyan team! Not sure if that’s possible though seeing as I’m not Kenyan!

We had a KA practical last week on Spiritual gifts which was great fun but quite challenging. We were put in small groups and had to give accurate words of knowledge (a piece of info about someone’s past or present life that you’ve never been told), words of wisdom (direction from God on what to do concerning a specific issue) and words of prophecy (sharing God’s specific plans for the future) about each person’s life. At first we were told to pray for a bit and then just share whatever the Spirit revealed to us, then each subsequent ‘round’ it was made harder and harder. Like from 2nd ‘round’ we weren’t allowed time to pray and just had to share instantly. Then we had to give words on a specific issue the person wanted a word on, but they weren’t allowed to tell us what the issue was. So we first had to hear from God what the issue was and then give the word. In a way it was so easy. I just found myself flowing in the Holy Spirit and speaking such specific and accurate words. IT’s amazing how ready God is to speak to His people if we can learn to hear Him. Having said that the last ‘round’ was so hard. We were brought all back together (40+ people) and the lecturer would make one person stand up in front of everyone and point to another certain person and tell you to instantly give a word to them on the specific issue that God had revealed to him. The pressure was so intense, especially having to do it in front of everyone. On my turn I shared what I thought God was saying and the lady confirmed it was accurate but it wasn’t the issue the lecturer had hear God speak about so I was told to do it again, but couldn’t get it. The practical started at 8am and finished at 3:30pm without a break, so I think I was also getting tired. By the end I felt like I didn’t want to hear anything else from God!

We’ve been given the brief for our first KA Practical Ministry Project (PMP) which involves organising a day mission to a rural community. Every person has to win at least one person to Christ through one-on-one evangelism and get them infilled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. We also have to do a ‘Kingdom impacting event’ to address certain ‘deformations’ within the community, which has to be sustainable/have a long-lasting effect. We’ve been put in groups of 13 and I was selected by the lecturers as one of the group leaders. It’s quite challenging because I have so much responsibility and am leading people older than me. In fact several in my group have children! I know God’s grace is with me though and the two group meetings we’ve had so far have gone very well. We’re arranging to go on a ‘spy mission’ next Saturday to visit the community, talk to the local leaders and discover what ‘deformations’ there are that we need to address e.g. lack of water, early-marriage, witchcraft. The actual execution day is in mid-Nov so I’ll keep you updated on my group’s plans.

Please keep me posted on your news too because I love to hear what you are up to and what I can praying for you. Some of you I haven’t heard from in months!

Sorry it’s been a quite a while since I last wrote. The weeks seem to fly by.

Two weeks ago I did the fieldwork for another research project (in partnership with the Centre of Commonwealth Education at Cambridge) titled ‘Girls against the odds’. I have a research partner for this project which is nice, because we can discuss all the issues we uncover. The fieldwork was so interesting. We interviewed teachers and pupils in 4 schools in different low-income areas in Nairobi and it was amazing how different the issues are that they face i.e. how diverse poverty is. For instance, in one school 75% of the pupils are Somali refugees and come to Kenya having had no education and not speaking any language other than their native one. Having lived in a lawless society they have no sense of law and order or having a structured life. They join the school any day of the year and many leave after a few months again. So, you can see what a difficult task the teachers have - and I’ve just shared a fraction of the issues and cultural traditions they follow. Then, in other schools boys as young as 11 are in gangs and the ‘normal’ way the teachers hear of them after they’ve finished school is to read in the paper that they’ve been killed by police. Many of the girls are forced into prostitution by their mothers etc etc. So, it was fascinating fieldwork but really sad at the same time.

This last week I’ve been writing up the 1st research project on youth’s perceptions of the world. It’s going well and I’m really enjoying writing. I’ve already done over 9,000 words and haven’t even finished the main discussion yet, so I think it’ll need some editing, because the professor editing the book said 8,000 words as a rough word limit!

On Wednesday we had the referendum for the new constitution which has now been passed. It was surprisingly peaceful. Apart from a bomb attack on a large gathering of Christians for the ‘no’ camp a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t heard of any violence. I was told by my friends in Kibera not to go there this last week, so I didn’t, but I think even in the slum things were fine.

Everything else in my life is going great. I still love KA. There’s not one single day when I don’t look forward to going to class. We’re doing ‘new creation realities’ at the moment, which is incredible. It’s all about who we are in Christ – if even 10% of Christians knew who they really were this world would be a different place.

I have just come back from a 4 day mission trip to Nyeri, a rural area in Central Province. I went with a group of 7 friends who I do Christian ministry with in Kibera and we stayed at one of the guy’s, Martin’s house who grew up in Nyeri. It is such a beautiful place. Having spent months in polluted congested Nairobi I was in awe at all the vegetation, plantation fields and farm animals. Martin’s grandparents run the shamba now and are subsistence farmers. They grow maize, coffee beans, sweet potatoes, green vegetables and have avocado, banana, guava and macadamia nut trees. They also keep cows, goats and chickens.

The sleeping arrangements were quite civilised, as we had beds in wooden huts. It was freezing though. The whole trip I wore 6 layers and was still cold and it was drizzling the whole of the first 2 days. Thankfully Martin’s grandmother heated up water for us to wash in the morning, but it was still a painful experience! It was quite funny trying to communicate with her, because she knows less Swahili than me – she only speaks Kikuyu! She was delighted to have me though (the first white person to ever stay there) and brought me tea every morning.

On the first day we just met the locals and settled into Martin’s place. It took us hours to cook dinner using the ‘3 stone’ method, because the fire kept on going out! Then the next day we explored the shamba and picked lots of maize and fruit and milked the cows - I drank so much milk, because it was delicious and there was so much of it. We walked around the village and Martin’s uncle gave us a tour of the coffee factory where they sort, ferment and dry the beans before taking them to the miller. I never realised producing coffee was such a long and complicated process. We then went to see Martin’s other grandmother who had a bad fall a few weeks ago and hasn’t been able to walk or move much since. We prayed for her and God completely healed her. She started doing all these movements she hadn’t been able to do before and then walked us down the road and after about 20mins said ‘I forgot my walking stick!’

The 3rd day we went to a primary school to minister to and teach the children, although we were very late, because there were no buses. Eventually after waiting on the road for a bus for an hour we decided to start walking and prayed for God to send a vehicle to come and take us. Within 2 minutes a pick-up truck came and stopped to give us a lift! However, it shortly came to a stand-still because it had run out of fuel. I realised the only way we were going to get to the school was by faith, so I told everyone to start praying in the Spirit and miraculously the truck drove for another 20 mins (with a lot of stopping and starting) until we reached the school. It literally stopped for good just outside the school and we got out while the driver went to fetch fuel from a garage. We got our miracle! The school we incredibly hospitable and served as tea and bread before the school meeting and then a huge lunch (with 4 different carbohydrates in each person’s bowl!) after we had finished teaching. 26 pupils gave their lives to Christ which was wonderful. We then went on to a Christian fellowship meeting in the next village, but again there were no buses, so we had to walk and arrived just as it was getting dark. So, all we had time for was to drink tea and quickly encourage the believers there.

On the last day we had prepared to preach at a youth meeting for all the youth in the village but after a couple of hours of waiting no-one had yet turned up, so we went with the local pastor to visit a lady in a nearby village who was sick. We walked quite far, but it was worth it because we just laid hands on her and God instantly healed her. She had pains all over her body and it completely went. She was so grateful she gave us a chicken! We then walked back to the church and taught the Word of God to a group of about 10 youth who had come. All in all it was a wonderful, refreshing and fun trip.

I have some very exciting news – we have finally found a suitable plot of land in Kibera to buy for Sarah Junior School and are signing the contract for it on Tuesday! We abandoned the other place we wanted because that plot was too contentious, so since then I have been to see lots of different places. The chief has been so helpful and was actually the one who found us the place we are going to get. The plot is comprised of 28 ‘houses’ or rooms, so is more than adequate in size. It’s in a safe area of Kibera and has good accessibility by road, so those and other criteria we had are all met. So the process is that after signing the contract with the owners they issue an eviction notice to the tenants, who are given 1 month to vacate the property. The owners than have to demolish the buildings and hand over a completely empty plot to us by 31st August. We can then set to work building a new school for Sarah Junior. I’m so excited! What I’ve been wanting to happen for 3 years is finally taking place.

Some other not so great but now ok news is I finally went to the doctor last week (after suffering with a bad stomach for months) and got diagnosed with 2 tropical diseases – Giardia and Helicobacter pylori. One is a microorganism that sits on the stomach wall and irritates it and the other is a parasite that lives in the small intestine and takes all the nutrients from the food before your body can absorb them. I had such high levels of them the doctor was shocked I was still working and he said it looked like they had been there for months. I was given 5 different medications to take twice a day for 1 week, which I have now finished. I’m already feeling so much better. My stomach is getting back to normal and more than anything I feel so strong and full of energy. I think I had got used to operating on no energy, so hadn’t realised how weak I was – I’ve lost 8-9kg in 4 months! I’m now on a mission to eat and for about the first time since I’ve been here actually feel like eating. I and other people have been laying hands on my stomach for weeks and I’ve been studying and meditating on healing scriptures in the bible for 20mins every morning and evening for about a month now, which I believe is making a huge difference. I think the fact that I had such high levels of these diseases and still continued with all my work, study, ministry etc. shows that I’ve literally been living off the divine life of God within me.

KA is still wonderful. We’ve just finished the salvation course, which I have loved so much. I never realised that the Greek word for salvation – soteria – included things like health, soundness of mind, prosperity, success, deliverance etc. as well as being spiritually reconciled to God. From the bible we’ve learnt principles to apply to achieve full salvation in each of these areas, so that no-one should have to suffer poverty or sickness etc. The course finished with counselling and we have a practical for that on Tuesday which is quite scary. The mock scenarios are those ‘hopeless’ cases and what’s more is the lecturer said the marking is very strict. I’ve then got the salvation exam on Saturday.

Ministry in Kibera is still great too. By God’s grace every week He is using me to lead people to Christ and heal them of sickness, diseases and pains.

I’ve finally finished the fieldwork for my research project! By God’s grace, I eventually got breakthrough with the city council and the international school that I wanted to go to. It was amazing actually, because at each school I was granted my every request, so it went very smoothly. I really enjoyed the fieldwork and it has been very interesting seeing the similarities and differences between the participant’s views of Kenya and the wider world, according to their different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. I know have hours of data analysis ahead, but it’s going to be fun.

I had my 2nd KA exam two weeks ago, which went well and last weekend we had a practical on manifestations of the power of God, which was amazing. Using the wisdom of God and the power of the Holy Spirit we found ourselves being able to do things we’ve never even imagined were possible.

Things with Sarah Junior School are ok, but we’re encountering quite a few challenges, especially in trying to buy a plot of land. We almost signed a deal on one, but then got death threats from a man in the community so had to drop it. There are some other possibilities though, so I’m really praying God will guide us to the right place.

Keep your news coming. I love hearing how you are all doing.

Lots of good news:
1. I finally got the letter of authorisation from the city council to do my research and went straight to the school I had identified and the headmaster granted my every request. So, I’m doing the fieldwork there in 2 weeks time
2. The other private school have also granted me permission and I’m starting the research there tomorrow.
3. God has used me to heal 6 more people this week
4. I waded through water over ankle-deep for 30mins to get to bible college on Thursday and made it alive!

I am doing well and still loving life out here (despite the rains). I have completed the analysis of the data I collected from the research in one primary school in Kibera, but have reached a lull, because I still haven’t got permission to do research in the other two schools. One in particular is proving very frustrating, because it’s a city council school so the Head-master wanted a letter of authorisation from them first. I’ve now been to the city council 6 times and still don’t have the letter! The bureaucracy is ridiculous. I am one step further though (managed to get a letter of authorisation from the Director of Quality Assurance and Standards at the Ministry or Education today), so I’m praying this week I’ll have everything I need to proceed with the fieldwork. They’re just very sensitive about what data is elicited and for what purposes it will be used, especially when it’s being published outside of the country. If they read what the students at the school in Kibera said they definitely wouldn’t let me do the research! Young people are honest and blunt so I have wonderful quotes like ‘the government don’t care about us’, ‘the Minister of Education just eats the money’ etc.

KA is amazing. I’m loving each course more than the previous one. In the last few weeks we’ve learn about Citizenship in the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of darkness, Kingdoms at war, the ministry of angels, the Path of Righteousness and are now doing Kingdom Technology. The latter is brilliant, because it teaches us that nothing is magic, but simply technology. It’s about knowing, understanding and applying the principles of God to bring about blessings for yourself and others e.g. healing, prosperity, deliverance, peace.

The evangelism I do in Kibera is growing from strength to strength. Every week a dozen or so people accept Jesus into their lives and eagerly start the lesson booklets we give them. We’ve now given out lots of bibles too (which they only get once they’ve completed the 20 lessons). By God’s grace I’ve also been used to heal many people and from diverse sicknesses and diseases, like malaria, pneumonia, fever, flu and stomach pains. I’m still not completely healed from IBS myself, but I have no doubts God is healing me, because I’ve witnessed time and again that it’s God’s will to heal everyone.

The New Adventure Church is so exciting. They keep coming back week after week and are so hungry to learn more and grow in their faith. There are so many wonderful testimonies, like one lady who was experiencing problems in her marriage, but now says her home is peaceful, a carpenter has had lots of clients after we prayed for his business to do better, one guy has stopped smoking and drinking, another has stopped sleeping around, one was healed of pneumonia...

Last week one young man, Ibrahim proudly announced his wife had safely delivered a baby girl and that he had named it Sarah after me! I went to his home to visit the mother and baby. She was 4 days old and sooo adorable. Ibrahim has a very emotional story. His father is a drug dealer, so he literally grew up smoking weed and is still struggling to get over the addiction. In the post-election violence in Dec ’07 his father’s property in Kibera was forcibly taken away by the rival tribe and all their belongings were taken. His father went upcountry, but Ibrahim and his wife were left in Kibera with absolutely nothing. He sells old goods found in dustbins and has gradually managed to get a few basic items and a room to live in. They had a little son who died last year of ‘sickness’ and so are over-the-moon with their baby daughter. He’s so determined to change his life though - to be a perfect husband father, be free from drugs, get an honest and respectable job etc. He told me he wants to be so different that his friends don’t even recognise him and then he can tell them about Jesus. I almost can’t believe it’s the same guy who 2 months ago I was told by someone to be wary of, because he’s the ‘son of the devil’!

Visioning the future

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter and a good rest.

I started my social research job this week. It’s a project titled ‘Young people visioning their futures: Cross-cultural perspectives on their goals, strategies, beliefs and values’. I did 3 days of fieldwork at a school in Kibera slum, which involved working with 8 students using a number of different techniques. They engaged well with the research and really seemed to enjoy it. They were excited by such simple things, like being given coloured pencils and pens to use (15-16 yr olds!), being taken out for lunch each day (which cost me 30p per person!) and just having someone interested in their life, concerns and dreams, and having the opportunity to voice their opinion. It’s a such a privilege to be able to offer that to them.

It has been quite a tiring week though, because I discovered that the voice recorder I’ve been lent has a very small memory, so it got full before the end of the first day. So, each day I would rush straight from Kibera to KA (Kingdom Academy) for my studies, get home after 9pm and then start transcribing the interviews and focus group discussions. I did really enjoy it though.

KA is still great. It’s amazing how many misconceptions of the bible I have from children’s bible stories, songs and pictures etc. – like Adam and Eve ate the ‘apple’ or Satan is the ruler of hell.

Some exciting news is that I’m starting to see results when praying for the sick. I’ve been praying for nearly every blind, crippled or sick person I come across for a couple of months now, in the firm belief it always God’s will to heal (as much as it is to save every person on earth). This last couple of weeks I’ve seen 4 people healed, which is so encouraging. One had a bad tooth ache/rotten tooth, another had IBS for 2 years, another had severe chest pains and one had an upset stomach. God is good!

Keep your news coming in.

Love you all so much

Just had my first KA (Kingdom Academy) exam, on the course called Godhead - beliefs of other religions/worldviews, Theology and Ministries of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was actually a lot easier than I expected - the first section was just ticking the true or false statements! In typical Kenyan style some people turned up after the start of the exam even though it started 15 mins late!

My mum arrived on Tuesday and it's been wonderful to spend time with her. We spent this week at Sarah Junior School and she told them the whole Easter story (in parts!) and did some very creative and fun activities with them. I've never seen them so happy and excited!
We're off to buy some 2nd-hand clothes (shipped from Europe) in the market. It's brilliant; you can get a top for £1 and a pair of shoes for under £2! Since it's the rainy season now, I'm constantly getting covered in mud, so more clothes will be useful.

Before I forget, have a very HAPPY EASTER. Yay, Jesus died to pay the penalty of our sins so that we can be reconciled to God and have a relationship with Him.

8 hours later...

I love hearing you news, so keep it coming and for those who haven't emailed yet, please do!

I got my hair braided. It took 8hrs, but fortunately a lady came to the house so I just sat there working the whole time. I've attached a picture for your amusement!

The New Adventure Church (see pic) is going on well and more are coming each week. In case I never fully explained, it was formed a few weeks ago when I was evangelising to a large group of young people who had so many questions. They've all since given their lives to Christ. But, one thing that's really concerning me is a few of them won't admit they're saved, because their business is hassling (selling stolen goods and electronic items found in rubbish tips). They won't give up their business coz it's their only means of survival. I really need to think of a business initiative for them, but I'm not business-minded. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

God's been so good to me; I've been praying for a job and I've now got one, and far better than I could have ever imagined. I'm doing social research for an Australian professor who's writing a book about youth's perceptions of life and visions of the future. I'm designing, conducting and writing-up the research by myself for a Kenyan chapter within the book. She also wants me to write some articles for some top academic journals . At first there was no funding available, so I wasn't sure whether to do it, but then the Centre of Commonwealth Education in Cambridge said they would fund me. The only condition is my work will be published as being co-authored by me and one of the Cambridge professors, but I think that will actually work to my advantage, because no-one in the academic world will have heard of Sarah Shucksmith! I'm finalising the research strategy this week and then can hopefully start the fieldwork next week. I'm really excited!

One thing I can say is when you're following God's will, everything fits into place perfectly. My friend has started calling me Favour, because I just seem to walk in abundant favour from God and man in every area of my life!

All my love

Sarah

Habari zenu?

Habari zenu? (how are you?)

Hope you are all well and not too swept off your feet with work. I’m v. good and just want to give you an up-date on everything this end:

I started bible college, Kingdom Academy, on 9th Feb and am really enjoying it. The first week was orientation and we were taken through the rules, domestics and standards of the Academy. All the different lecturers introduced themselves and gave us their views and tips for the course. They stressed it’s not a bible school per se, but a school of discipleship and a school of the Spirit.

The first scripture we were given was Luke 14:25-35 – if you’re not prepared to give up everything you cannot be Jesus’ disciple. It’s certainly not going to be an easy ride! The common themes in their advice were that it is only be God’s grace you will be able to complete - determination and will-power are not enough, maintaining a pure, right and good heart is what determines success or failure, and you will love the experience if you allow God to transform you, but not if you resist changing.

Before class starts we have to do domestics for about 30-45mins (cleaning, watering etc.) and then pray in the spirit for about 15mins (or 30mins today!) The first course is called Godhead and so far we have learnt about the main different worldviews and the Kingdom response to them i.e. Christian apologetics. At the moment I’m researching about Buddhism for a class debate on Friday, which should be fun.

The rest of my time is divided between witnessing to people in Kibera, co-leading the new hasslers’ church (which they have now named New Adventure), managing Sarah Junior School, bible teaching in a Juvenile Centre and spending time with friends. I’ve got a social research job starting soon (not sure when though), so some of those things might have to go if it all gets a bit too much. The research project is a cross-cultural study of young people’s perceptions of their lives and issues in the world and their vision of what the world of 2020 will be like. It is being done by an Australian educational/geography professor and I’ve been sub-contracted the Kenyan chapter.

Please keep emailing me your news because it makes me so happy when I receive emails from you.

All my love,

Sarah

My new home

Hope you are well. I’m doing really good.

I moved into my new home on Sunday. I’m still overwhelmed by how good God has been to me. I’m seeing more and more how He’s a loving Father that wants to give the very best He can to His children. I’m sharing a very nice new flat with another young lady from church. She seems really nice and we’re getting on well. She’s joining bible college at the same time as me, which means we can travel home together at night, which is such a relief. The location is perfect too; it’s a short bus-ride from bible college, about 1/2hr bus to centre of the city and 45mins walk to Kibera (where my charity school is).

I’ve been doing some evangelism in Kibera, which has been great. Today I met again with about 14 young people who I shared the gospel with last Thursday, because they had so many questions. A local pastor and another guy came to lead the group and after a couple of hours 6 of them gave their lives to Christ. I could tell (unlike last time) that they were serious and really understood what they were doing. What’s even more amazing is that the pastor believes at least 3 of them are in the Mungiki (a terrible sect that are responsible for taking control over parts of the slum, torturing, raping and murdering people across Nairobi).

They are so keen to keep having discussion and bible-study groups, so it’s going to become a weekly thing. They’ve decided our new ‘church’ is going to be called Pamoja (united) Hasslers!

Please keep me up-dated on your news so I can pray more specifically for you.

Love Sarah

The adventure begins!

I hope you are well and surviving the cold. Is there still snow around?

I arrived safely in Kenya last Monday and praise God my flight wasn’t cancelled or delayed. My host family seemed very happy to see me and I now feel settled in their home again. I am hoping to move soon though, because for a number of reasons I don’t feel it is right to stay with them for the long-term. I’m praying to find a young lady from church who I can co-share a flat with and in a location near the bible college.

From Wednesday to Friday last week I attended a Gender Workshop organised by the Centre for Commonwealth Education in Cambridge. They are doing a research project across E. Africa titled ‘why girls stay in school against the odds’. In the workshop researchers from Cambridge, Uganda and Kenya shared their findings from the pilot studies and we discussed the issues arising, adapted the methodology and planned the main research which will take place over the next 2 years. I found it all so interesting and even managed to contribute to the discussions, despite being exceedingly under-qualified to even be there (everyone was a Dr and academic professor with decades of research experience).

They were so kind and generous to me too, paying for my meals, taxi home and even tried to pay for a room for me at the hotel but there wasn’t one free. The best news is that on the last day they asked if I wanted to conduct the research in Nairobi’s slums (1 of 4 case study locations within Kenya)! They said they already have funding available to pay me and I would also get to write a paper of the findings and have it published in the top development journals! As my Kenyan friend said when I told him, I seem to have a special grace for attracting favour from people! It probably won’t start until about May and I’ll just be paid on a day-by-day basis, but it’s a good start.

One of the Cambridge lecturers (who invited me to the workshop in the first place) is also following up some potential research work for me with a colleague of hers. She’s got a contract to write a cross-cultural study on youth identity and I will hopefully be doing the research for a study in Kenya and will have a chapter in the book.

I’ve managed to catch-up with all my closest friends here now, which is really nice. It’s amazing how it just feels like normal, even though I haven’t seen them for 18 months – which gives me hope for when I come back home.

On the Christian-front things have been brilliant too. We had a brilliant church home group on Wed night talking about our identity as spirit beings in oneness with God. On Sunday, church went on for 5hrs! It’s amazing though how you don’t notice how long the service is, because you’re so wrapped up in the presence of God.

I have my interview for bible college on Wednesday and hopefully they’ll accept me! I had a good chat with the pastors after church and they joked I must have a lot of faith to come all the way to Kenya before even knowing whether I’ll be accepted.

I went to Sarah Junior School today and had a good time catching up with the teachers and taught the kids about God’s love (with a teacher interpreting). Exciting news is we’ve finally found a suitable plot of land to buy in the slum, so things could really start moving forward now.

That’s more than enough from me for now. Am looking forward to hearing what you are up to. I bought a modem today so can use the internet at home, so let me know when you are free to chat on skype.

All my love

Sarah