PRAYER REQUEST

In the aftermath of the recent Kenyan elections, the country is experiencing unrest and instability. Please pray for the Lord's protection over Faith House, and over Gretchen and the girls. Several of the girls have traveled to their "upcountry" homes during the Christmas break. Pray that they would be protected as they return to Nairobi, and that they would be wise in knowing when to return. Thank you for your prayers in this very critical time.

FAITH HOUSE CHRISTMAS TREE

In the week following American Thanksgiving we decorated the Faith House Christmas tree, such a big part of Christmas for Americans, Gretchen (Faith House Director) and Jane (visiting from Texas). To our girls the tree with its decorations, was a fun new puzzle. In the absence of fresh trees on lots in shopping centers, we have an artificial tree in three pieces, bought for around $30, five years ago, not exactly the designer tree so familiar in our American homes. But how do we put this thing together???



To the girls, the tree was a challenge, . . .























the strings of lights were a tangle, . . .


























and decorations were new adventures in classy jewelry.











Jane Mwihaki stood back, watching, and asked, "What is the origin of this custom, this decorating of a tree for Christmas?" I asked her if this activity seemed strange to her. She nodded with her dimpled smile-- "It's my first one!" I tried to explain the symbols to her, the evergreen tree because Jesus is eternal and brought us the gift of eternal life, the lights because Jesus is the light of the world, the stars because a star led the maji to the place where Jesus was. Some of the decorations I couldn't explain-- they are just decorations, somewhat synonymous with Christmas in our western culture.

But when we took out the pieces of the intricate banana fiber nativity which one girl scrutinized carefully, marveling that Kenyans are so creative . . . when we laid out the nativity, at least that part made sense.

Each night we sing traditional Christmas carols that tell the story of the baby Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, and discuss what it means that God Himself came into the world. We marvel and try to understand more deeply that ultimate gift that God gave in sending His Son. And Gretchen and I pray that in meeting some western traditions for the first time, the girls will not forget the miracle of this glorious season.

BEGINNING WITH A HUNGER TO LEARN

From October 22 through November 12,2007, Agnes Nyambura and Damaris Njoroge will take eighteen exams covering everything they have learned during their years in high school, to complete their work in Danana Girls Secondary School and the Kenyan national exams. Reaching this huge milestone has been something of a miracle for these two girls, a dream come true but never really believed.

While they were students at Rafiki Girls' Centre, the dream began to gain substance, but the process has not been easy.

Damaris grew up in the crowded "suburbs" on the outskirts of Nairobi. She is the oldest of eight living children-- two siblings died at birth or in childhood. Damaris has been a stabilizer in her family. Her home is one room or maybe two, in a compound shared with other families around a common courtyard. Private spaces where a growing young girl could study and learn and develop are non-existent. And yet Damaris did well in primary school, and was eager to go on. One of the most crushing blows of her young life came the day she was told by her mother that there was no money for secondary school. Secondary schools in Kenya are not free-- even public schools charge school fees which are prohibitive to a family struggling just to feed the children. Damaris began to search for other ways to continue her education and found Rafiki, which was a pre-vocational program in her town of Mwiki. Training in Rafiki and meeting American missionaries ignited in Damaris a desire to learn more English and so she struck a deal with her aunt: she would work as a house-girl in exchange for money to pay school fees to take classes each afternoon. What began as classes in English expanded into a high school program in a small private school in Mwiki. Damaris' schedule was not easy: she did chores in the early morning for her aunt, then attended classes at Rafiki, then went to classes at Mwiki Mixed Secondary School in the afternoons, then went to her aunt's house to cook and clean until late, and then grabbed a few hours of study before some moments of sleep. And yet, she remained at the top of her small secondary class through Form 1 and Form 2. As graduation from Rafiki neared, the big question loomed, "What would she do next?"
Agnes grew up in a tiny village clinging to the steep foothills across a valley from Mount Kenya, the third of four children. Until Agnes was eleven years old she was raised by her grandmother, her mother living in the town of Nyeri, not present in the lives of her children. Agnes' primary school years were broken by blocks of time when her grandmother, needing help in the shamba (vegetable garden), had the children miss school to work. No one expected Agnes to do well on her KCPE exams at the end of primary school, but she surprised herself and her family with marks that would take her to a good secondary, except that her family was not willing or able to provide school fees. Angry at the lack of family support, Agnes left home when she was fourteen, taking a succession of house-girl jobs, always searching for the path that would take her to school. Before she found that path to school, Agnes found the Lord whose hand was on her, who would personally take her on her next steps. After introducing her to the living God, her boss introduced her to Rafiki. Soon she began a schedule similar to Damaris: matatu (bus) for an hour each morning, studying on the way, Rafiki during the day, late afternoon classes, matatu home, using travel time as study time, then work for her employers until time for sleep. And she also did well in class. As time for graduation from Rafiki neared she was asked what she would do next: "I don't know. . . maybe I will have to go home."

Both girls longed to continue their education in a real boarding school, where learning was the focus, but they could see no way. Prayers were offered, "What's next, Lord?" . . . "Where?" . . . "By what means?" . . . And the Lord drew attention to a small inheritance in a trust department in the US and whispered, "Use this . . ." With the Lord's gentle pressure, and with the kind acceptance by Anna Ndonye, founder of Danana Girls' Secondary School, the education component of Faith House Ministries began.

HOW DOES A WORK OF GOD BEGIN?

The facets of Faith House Ministries actually began in the dreams and needs of three Kenyan young women, with the ministry bearing the name of one of those girls.

Faith was one of the first group of students in Rafiki Girls’ Center, Nairobi, nineteen years old, a very talented young painter and a deep, sweet Christian. During the three years she was in Rafiki she had shared her heart’s desires: she wanted to get her Kenyan ID so that she could get a job (“Any kind of job, Mrs. Jane, even cleaning or being a house girl!”) so that she could have a house of her own, a BIG house with many rooms so that maybe she could take in girls like herself. She did not want anyone to have to live as she did.

Faith was an orphan. When her parents died, she lived first with an older brother and his wife, but found herself locked out of the house many nights. She was not a particularly welcome resident in their home. She next moved into the home of another brother-- a ten-by-ten corrugated metal room shared with her brother, his wife, and their two children. A curtain down the middle divided “living room” from “bedroom/kitchen.” The toilet and shower were down a walkway, shared with I’m not sure how many other families. Many days, Faith’s only meal was the lunch with fellow students at the Rafiki Girls’ Center. When it rained their place flooded and Faith arrived at school soaked through, always smiling. I once asked if she were warm at night . . . She said “no” and I dreamed of gathering blankets for her family.

From the rainy season in April, Faith had struggled with persistent laryngitis and cough, which Dr. Dan treated in one of the Rafiki clinics. She seemed to be much better, but just could not stop herself from singing and praying. She said that when she prayed her voice got stronger.

As the June/July break approached, Faith reported that she wanted to go “upcountry” to see if she could find the documents that were required to prove her citizenship and get her ID. That would not necessarily be an easy or straightforward task. Faith’s mother had two husbands, one of them twice. Proving identity in Kenya requires that some of the names on the documents match each other. No two of Faith’s documents had matching family names. In fact, Faith had become so frustrated with her background that she had chosen her own last name, Faith Mercy Awour, and that name appeared on the baptismal certificate.

Her journey was to take her first to the family home near Kisumu in western Kenya, and then to Eldoret. In one place she would get parent documents, in the other, the school-leaving documents and test scores. Apparently she arrived in Eldoret, still very sick. She died the night before she was to return to school. At first the diagnosis was “malaria” but we were later told that she had taken her own life.

Perhaps her lingering illness had her down. Perhaps she was overwhelmed by despair over her living conditions. Perhaps she just could not face returning to that one room. Perhaps the dreams seemed like exercises in hopelessness. But Faith’s death magnified a need that had become more and more evident to those who worked with and loved the girls of Rafiki: single young women in Kenya simply were not safe.

In John 14, Jesus told His followers, “In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . “ We trust that though Faith did not live to see the dream of her big house, a place where she would not be trouble to anyone, a place where she would be safe and loved, she how has a room in her Father’s house. At present Faith House itself does not have MANY rooms, just enough for 14-18 girls if bunk beds fill the spaces efficiently. And the home of which Faith dreamed now bears her name, Faith House, offering shelter to other young women who need hope.

EIGHT GIRLS IN BOARDING SCHOOL

In Africa, school fees often prevent students from completing high school, or sometimes even elementary school. Faith House Ministries
is presently sponsoring eight girls in boarding school at the secondary level.
From left to right:
Margaret WW is in Form One (Freshman) and is #3 in her class.
Juliah is in Form Two.
Jane is in Form One and is #1 in her class.
Damaris is in Form Four and will complete her exams in November. Agnes is also in Form Four, finishing in November.









Tabitha is in Form Two























Zipporah is also in Form Two



























On September 1 Grace joined the other girls in Form One.

THE GIRLS WHO LIVE AT FAITH HOUSE

Currently there are 10 young women who live at Faith House, though the number swells to 15 or 16
when the boarding school students are on breaks.
Pictured from left to right,
BACK ROW: Jael, Susan Nderitu (a dear Kenyan friend and advisor), Perpetua (in catering school but not in residence at Faith House), Anne, Catherine, Margaret W.,
Sabinah, Ann (aka "Anna Banana"), Jane Pope (USA advisor);
FRONT ROW: Gretchen Bartlett (Faith House Director), Ann Mumbi, Mercy, Julie, Violet