Action Africa

We have also been following the exploits of the Action Africa team in Chikankata and it was really great to speak to Simon and Jo this afternoon about the various aspects of their visit. You can read more about this at  http://blog.action-africa.org.uk/ Sounds like they had a great time at a great place and we were sad to miss out. It was an inspiring and encouraging conversation and I am really glad that we have friends like Simon and Jo who really care. We still miss Zambia and Chikankata a lot but are delighted to be back in a different part of Africa. These are exciting days for us.  Kenya is very different and much, much bigger. Yet many things are the same. Difficult to explain really but perhaps things will unfold as we go along.  For the little that I have seen so far, urban poverty is something completely different to the extreme poverty of the rural setting; there appears something more desperate and indeed sinister about urban poverty.  Squeezing 3m people into such a small area like Kibera, where we visited last Friday, is completed unacceptable and difficult to believe this place exists in 2012.   For more information on Kibera see http://www.kibera.org.uk/Facts.html

When we were in Chikankata we kind of took on a mission statement / promise / theme for ourselves and our family;

Romans 12: 12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

This time my attention in the lead up to this move was continually directed to the prophet Micah’s question come statement;

“ He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6 v 8 (NRSV)`

In my very humble opinion, God needs his people to seek justice, love kindness, rescue the oppressed, defend our next door neighbours (the orphans) in the children’s home, plead for the widow and help the poor. We really hope to use the gifts, the resources, the relationships, any expertise and experience, along with the power he has given us to fight for and demonstrate all the above. It's a tall order by anyone's standards! However, the reason God gives all of us the gifts, personality and characteristics we have is not just for our own benefit and joy but so we might serve those who lack them. It is our prayer he will use us to do justice and love kindness and that we will walk humbly with our God on this new adventure!