tumaini...it's all about hope

It's 2:30 a.m. and I'm awake.  Preparing for our early morning flight that will take us (eventually) to Kenya.  That's where we'll spend the next couple of weeks working with Tumaini International Ministries.  Tumaini, founded by Stanley and Rose Mutunga, is a Kiswahili word that means hope.  Their focus is to come alongside AIDS orphans, through sponsorship, education and encouragement, and walk with them in their journeys toward adulthood.  These kids have lost one or both parents to AIDS, and usually live with grandparents, other relatives or friends.  Life is hard at best, and sponsorship ($35 monthly) makes the difference between failure and success for hundreds of children, both young and old.

We'll leave LAX at 8:00 today and touch down in Nairobi about 7:30 Wednesday night (11 hours ahead of LA time).  All Thursday and Friday morning will be in this capital city of 4+ million, as we will visit different ministry sites in one of the largest slums in Africa.  Then Friday we'll travel 2-3 hours south and east, to the small community of Masii, where Tumaini has its offices.  Doctor Ron Jurgensen (my favorite dentist!) is with us again and we'll pull teeth for a week for those who'll walk for hours just to sit in his chair and find the relief his skills can bring.  We'll also visit some of the children that our church sponsors, as well as meet with the new church there as they are designing strategies for planting a church in the nearby city of Machakos.  It promises to be a great couple of weeks.

Our team of seven includes KACC and Parkcrest Christian Church (7th St. campus, Long Beach), and our desire is to continue to partner with Parkcrest in this ministry of compassion and church planting.  Please pray for us as we travel, adjust, connect and serve.  Pray for divine appointments with those who need to hear good news, and for boldness to share.  Pray for unity within our team a life-changing experience...for Kenyans and Americans alike.

I recently read some words in Psalms that spoke to me in a fresh way about Tumaini:

He [God] raises the poor out of the dust,

And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,

That He may seat them with princes-

With the princes of His people.

                                          Psalm 113:7,8

Tumaini's work has lifted hundreds of children and adults alike from the dust, from life's ash heap, and is even now preparing a new generation to sit with leaders and movers of their land.  Because they're giving an opportunity to those who needed it.  Because they're giving compassion and care to many for whom no one else cares. Because they're giving a vision to many who had lost sight of their futures.

Because they're giving hope.