Growing As Jesus Did
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,
and in favor with God and men.”
The Blessing of Shoes
Children giving gifts to other children
A year ago, we received an email from a representative at our mission sending agency asking us if we would be willing to receive 400 pairs of children’s shoes that children from Faith Assembly Church in Houston, Texas had collected. During this time we were holding Hope Club over the public toilets in the slum and we wondered how we could distribute them to the children in the community without becoming overwhelmed, but we agreed to take them trusting that the Lord would show us what to do.The shoes were shipped to Annapolis, Maryland where a container of clothing to benefit Hope Anew Ministries was being packed for shipment to Kenya. The container arrived in December of 2013, and through trial and frustration was finally cleared from the port of Mombasa to travel to Nairobi.Through the providence of God, we were now at a location where over 100 children visit the Hope Anew Child Friendly Space (HACFS) on a daily basis including non-formal schools within Mukuru slum.
Several weeks ago we received news that there had been a fire in one section of the slum and homes where families had been living and a couple of schools had been devastated. Deadly fires spread very quickly with intensity within the slums because of highly flammable building materials and congestion. Fortunately, there had not been loss of life but victims had lost everything. We had developed a friendly relationship with the founder of Shalom Academy which was one of the schools that had been burned. Without a doubt we knew that the shoes that we had on hand because of the generosity of children thousands of miles away, were meant for these children who had lost much.
On February 14, it was our deep joy to be able to surprise unsuspecting teachers and children with the gift of shoes! We think that this beats chocolates and flowers any day! (For more photos)