The Bread That Brings Life

By Caleb Acton

Orphans, vulnerable children, AIDS babies, millions living in poverty. The situation is desperate in Nairobi, Kenya, where up to 70 percent of the city”s 5 million people live in slums. One in every three people living in the slums carries the AIDS virus. Can anything be done?

The Christian Church of Thousand Oaks (CCTO) in California, decided it must do something for the urban poor of Nairobi, particularly those devastated by HIV/AIDS. In the Mathare Valley slum, some 800,000 people live in small shanties along the hillside. There are no amenities or paved roads, only a few communal water spigots, and practically no toilets.

CCTO raised $200,000 to help the people of Kenya. Some of that money was designated for business as mission, funds specifically for microenterprise to help individuals in the slums begin small businesses.

Their contacts in Mathare Valley were Wallace and Mary Kamau, founders of Missions of Hope. The Kamaus were introduced to CCTO by resident missionaries Keith and Kathy Ham, who have worked in Mathare Valley for seven years, beginning their ministry by establishing a school for the poorest children. When the school opened, community leaders were asked to identify the neediest people in the community. Students were enrolled from this list of children. As children come to interview for a place in the school, Mary and her team visit each child”s shanty to learn more about his or her background””a fertile strategy for evangelism.

One mother, Elizabeth, was able to secure a place for her child. Elizabeth was a heavy drinker. Her job was collecting firewood from the forest, a difficult job because men guarding the forest required bribes to enter it, which Elizabeth and other women like her could not afford. They were forced to pay with their bodies.

During an open-air meeting in Mathare, Elizabeth came forward and committed her life to Christ. This was difficult because it meant a lifestyle change and she literally could not walk since she had been drinking. Mary knew follow-up would be vital to keep the young woman focused on her decision, so she went to Elizabeth”s shanty before she left for the forest the next morning. Elizabeth said she could not remember making a commitment and could not be born again anyway because of her job. Mary reminded her that whether she remembered the commitment or not, God did””then counseled and prayed with her.

At the end of the prayer, Elizabeth said she would have to do something different to make money. Mary asked, “If you had money to start a business, what would you like to do?” Elizabeth said she knew how to make chapatis (flat bread), and could sell those. Mary loaned her $8 to buy the supplies. That very day Elizabeth began her business, which now provides an adequate income for her and her two daughters. A new perspective and a small loan totally changed her life.

Today Elizabeth knows God as provider. He provided a way for her to change the direction of her life by providing people who met her spiritual and physical needs. She has joined a church, become a baptized believer, and is actively involved in the church”s choir ministry. Elizabeth represents microenterprise and business as mission at its finest.

 

 

Caleb Acton, a student at Hope International University, recently completed a semester missions internship in Kenya.