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.