One of our friends Jenna spent her summer in a small slum in Kenya and was willing to share her story and reflections. I think you’ll find this story certainly worth taking the time to read.
At times it is hard for me to express my emotions about my time in Mitumba; and then there are days when all I want is for someone to listen to my stories for hours. I don’t want to hide everything I am feeling inside, because there is a fire in my heart that cannot be silenced, as hard as I may try.
Often, I recall my last day in Mitumba. The tears running down my face, the tears of two of my most cherished girls there bring me back to the emotion of that moment. I didn’t expect to form friendships with the children the way I did. I didn’t expect to feel like a part of the church’s family. And I didn’t expect to see the Lord in so many new, refreshing ways.
I spent five weeks this summer working in a small slum in Nairobi called Mitumba. When Kenyans hear the word “mitumba”, they normally think of its Swahili definition, meaning “a second-hand person”. But what I found in Mitumba was so much more than a second-hand group of people; I found children who are full of joy, unlike that of any other children I have met. I had the privilege of working with a group of teachers who have sacrificed a normal teacher’s salary in order to serve the children. I came to love a Pastor and his wife who have been faithful to the Lord’s call to start a ministry to “the least of these”. I saw God work in miraculous ways; and through all of this, the Lord opened the eyes of my heart.
Their faith challenged me to gain a better understanding of the power and might of the Living God. I realized that the Lord did not bring me to Mitumba to give some money and to prioritize needs for the organization I was working with; He brought me there to teach me that the greatest thing I can give to the people is my heart. They are yearning for people to share life with them, to love them, to hold them, and to offer a listening ear. One of the best ways to share life with people is to rejoice when they rejoice and mourn when they mourn. Some of my biggest joys came when I was having fun with the children–singing with them, laughing with them, dreaming with them about their futures. Some of the most difficult moments were spent holding a child who had been told that morning that his mother wanted to kill him, and crying with a mother who had just lost two of her children in the last month.
The joy runs deep, the hurt is heavy; and they are both equal realities for the children and people of Mitumba.
Now that I am home, I know their joy and hurt continues on. I know that life is hard and challenges continue daily. Before I went to Mitumba, our lives were more than 8000 miles apart; but now I carry the people and their stories with me in my heart. They are stories that challenge me to respond with prayer, generosity, and a desire to be united with them again.
-Jenna
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