Compassion in Kenya
Recently I was so privileged to be invited by Compassion UK to visit Kenya, along with some other UK church leaders. Compassion’s mission is to release children out of poverty across the world. Those of you familiar with Compassion will know that this is done through one-to-one child sponsorship. People from all over the world sponsor children living in poverty, from all across the world. Our own Kerith Kids have been sponsoring two children, Deo and Alondra, for many years now and some of our church community work for Compassion UK. We’ve been in conversation with them about how we could support their work on a larger scales, from the tithes from our building project.
The funds generated through the child sponsorship are vital. However the sponsorship element is like providing a key to unlock a door. It’s the people themselves - both the local church teams (most of who are volunteers), and the participants themselves, who take the key and do the hard work in unlocking the door and walking through it. This is what is required to release themselves from the material poverty they face. Sponsorship is just the initial step in helping to release children from poverty.
During the trip our base was in Nairobi and from there we visited Compassion Kenya Head Office and then three different church communities. The first was in a rural setting about 40 minutes from central Nairobi, another in an urban setting where some of the participants are from slum areas of Nairobi, and the last being in a Masai community which was about a two and a half hour drive from the city. We also were privileged to share a meal with with some of the Compassion alumni, hearing their testimonies and seeing what God has done in their lives.
At the Head Office we were really interested to see the letter room, where letters between sponsor and child are organised, ensuring the correct letter reaches the correct person. I have to say that before I took this trip I thought that the letter was in some ways more for the sponsor, than for the child - but I heard from various participants how amazing it was for them to know there is somebody somewhere else in the world investing in them financially, but more importantly taking the time to write to them to encourage them and to regularly pray for them. As one Alumni told us “the first time I heard anyone say they loved me was in a letter from my sponsor. My parents had never told me this, and to hear that a stranger loved me enough to pray and care for me because they loved Jesus, meant so much”
At each church community we had the opportunity to visit homes of the participants. On the first day I visited the home of Grace. She lives with her husband and children in a beautifully kept homestead. She has been part of a child survial unit (CSU), funded through Compassion and run by a local church. Infant mortality rates are high in rural areas, so the CSU team first gets involved with pregnant Mothers, teaching them how to best look after themselves and in turn their babies, with advice from nutrition to basic baby care skills. The Mums also have opportunity to bring their babies to the baby stimulation room, play with toys and be in community with the other Mums and babies. The Mums have opportunity to learn new skills, whether that’s computing, beauty or sewing etc. Grace was really proud to show us her business that is situated at the front of her home, on the roadside. She makes dresses to order, using skills and equipment she didn’t have before attending the CSU.
As we drove through the streets of Nairobi and beyond we noted how many more churches we saw than we would here in the UK. Many are running schools and health programmes for their communities, as well as places to gather for worship on Sundays. Everywhere we visited we were warmly greeted by dancing and singing by the church teams and participants, and the next day was no different when we arrived at a church in an urban setting in Nairobi. We spent time with the church pastors, most of whom are volunteers and had taken a day off their paid jobs to meet us. All the churches we visited had schools as part of their ministry, and on this day we were privileged to spend time with some teenagers here. This day impacted me greatly. Firstly, because we visited a home in a slum area of Nairobi, where I saw first hand the effects of material poverty. Six adults and three toddlers spanning three generations were living in a space that is no bigger than the smallest room in my home. We met with Grandma Eliza, Mum Martina and her toddler Naomi. Martina is 17 and has been a participant for a while now. We learnt how they had moved to this new home last year and were proud to move somewhere slightly larger, and the fact that it had stone walls was a real bonus to them. Genuine gratitude was something we experienced everywhere we went, and I was also struck by the resourcefulness of the people we met. Whether that’s church teams, participants of the program, or people selling on street corners as we passed them by - people are keen to help themselves out of poverty, keen to use everything given to them and to waste nothing - whether that’s by not wasting anything materially, or by not wasting any opportunity given to them!
The other way this day impacted me was by seeing how the church team fully embraced this mission opportunity. I was struck that I saw no Compassion branding while I was at any of the churches. They may be funded by Compassion - but it’s the local church communities who are making it happen. The leaders here challenged us on the use of the word ‘project’. As they said - projects can end, projects can fail - they prefer to call it a ministry. And a ministry it certainly is. Their whole church are commited to helping children, young people and their families release themselves from a life of material poverty. Not as an offshoot that is done by the social justice team alone, but the whole church who are making this happen. They are passionate about this - but they are even more passionate about alleviating the spiritual poverty in the communities around them. At every church we visited, participants of these ministries told us how grateful they are that through this, they’ve been introduced to Jesus. People introduced themselves with ‘Hi I’m John - and I am born again’ I was so struck by the ownership by the local church on the mission that Compassion is helping them to outwork in their local setting, and so challenged by their love of - and reliance on - Jesus. They really are being His hands and feet in their communities, bringing the gospel to all.
On our last day we drove two and a half hours to a Masai community and received a traditional Masai welcome. Again the local school children were excited to see us visitors arriving, and we got a chance again to visit local homes. I visited a local homestead where an extended family live. They grow maize to both feed themselves and sell to others, they keep goats for milk and chickens for eggs. We helped the eldest child of the family, Compassion participant Paul, to do his chores of weeding the maize fields, clearing out the goats’ manure and milking the goats - safe to say he was much better at this than I was! We were glad to be able to bring a gift to each of the homes we visited and in turn received gifts from them, on this day it was jewellery they had made for us, beautifully crafted by hand.
I have so many take aways from my five days in Kenya. The country itself is beautiful, we drove through lush green fields and saw landscapes of mountains and valleys, with the beautiful striking red soil. We saw the bustle of their capital city, people with their businesses and shops on the side of the road. I originally thought the trip was to take us to see the work of Compassion over there - while I did, what I actually saw mostly was the work of the local church, who Compassion are empowering. Faith filled, faithful people who love Jesus and want to see lives changed for the better, helping their local communities. There is material poverty in Kenya that I’ve mentioned here, but there is also material wealth - many people living as you or I do in the UK, albeit in a warmer climate! There is also of course spiritual poverty in both countries. The work of the local church in Kenya, funded through Compassion, is helping to release people from both. I met people who were once themselves living in slum areas, some also in relational and spiritual deprivation - who have been released from this and are now giving back to those in need, perhaps through their own not-for-profit organisations, or through working for their local church, or Compassion Kenya. Not only have the participants of Compassion ministries come to know Jesus, but their family member have also.
I was reminded of the quote from Bryan Stevenson, CEO of the Equal Justice Initiative, when he says; “the opposite of poverty is not wealth, it’s justice”. This week has reminded me that the world is a very unjust place when it comes to material poverty. Many of the people I met are doing the hard work to release themselves from it - however that doesn’t necessarily mean they are in spiritual or relational poverty. So many of the people I met love and lean on God and they work together in community to support one another, to share their collective resources so nobody is left behind. I wonder if I have sometimes got that wrong in the way I live my life here in the UK.
It is a real cliche to go in a trip like this and say it ‘changed my life’. But this trip will definitely impact me forever. I have returned having experienced a wealth of creativity, resourcefulness and strong work ethic. I experienced the warmest of welcomes, authentic joy and gratitude. I learnt so much from the people I met both on a personal level - and also on a strategic ‘how to lead a church’ level. Most importantly I have returned closer to Jesus, and with a fresh insight into how He loves us.
So how does this impact us in Kerith Farnborough? Well, I’m still processing some of it. God is speaking to me and this won’t be the last you’ll hear from me on this I’m sure! In the meantime, you may wish to consider sponsoring a child yourself. You can visit compassionuk.org and find out more about their work. Perhaps you may be in need of some help yourself. Or perhaps you feel a call on your life to get involved and find out more about what we are doing through our local church to help those in need. We’re still building up our presence here in Farnborough, but you can request help, or find out more about Kerith Revive here. Please be praying for the work of both Compassion and the ministry of the local church across Kenya, as well as for our ministry to the communities where we live.
(All names from Kenya have been changed for privacy)