Day 1- Slum & PL Center

Waking up today was a bit rough, I'm not going to lie. Many of the team is still adjusting to new sleep schedules. We did wake up to an incredible breakfast however. This is one of the things about traveling with Project Lucas and staying at the Heart Lodge. It is a serene place to come back to everyday after doing ministry. It's a place with great food when you are in a foreign country. They prepare local dishes as well as serve things that we are very accustomed to in the US. It's the perfect blend! 

After breakfast and orientation, we headed out to visit a slum. One of the reason we do this is to expose our teams to the living conditions of the kids we help each and every day in the Project Lucas program. This year, we went to a new slum that I have never been to. We visited the home of a woman who has taken in 41 kids in the slum. She created an organization to help get the kids out of poverty by providing their school fees and getting them an education. 

Education is the answer to poverty here in Kenya. If a child can go to school and get educated, they are FAR MORE likely to crawl out of poverty and become successful. Unfortunately the public education system, much like everything else, is corrupt. Kenya is a country of extremes. You see extreme poverty and then you see extreme wealth and there is not much in between. In order to get wealthy though, many have become corrupt. So, if we can provide education, we can ensure our kids have good jobs that provide good incomes thus changing the world of not only one child, but, hopefully, an generations afterwards. 

This is the goal of Project Lucas: "We help Kenyan children and families living in extreme poverty by sharing the Gospel with them while meeting their needs, equipping them with education, and investing in their communities."

After the slum, we went to the Project Lucas Center to meet the kids. They welcomed us in the sweetest way! We saw presentations from each grade with music, singing, and dancing. Some of us even got invited to participate in the dancing. After the presentations, we got to hang out with the kids. We spent some time with them doing exercises and playing futbol. After this, it was time to pack up and head back to Heart Lodge for the night. The sun rises and sets at 6:30am/pm each day like clockwork. Due to safety, we are back at Heart by sundown each day to make sure we are keeping our team safe. 

Today was an incredible day seeing the JOY of the Lord on and in these kids. In the midst of their situations and circumstances, they have a joy that is hard to understand. Many of our team members talked about this at our debrief time at night. Seeing what we have in North Texas compared to what they have and yet we think we have so much to complain about (at least we THINK we do). Please continue to pray for our team and that the Lord would move and work and open their eyes to ALL that He is doing here in Kenya and wants to do through them over the next nine days! Much love from Magical Kenya!!