What an awesome God we serve!

As we look back over the past two and a half years since first arriving in Kisumu, it is truly amazing what transformations have taken place. We are particularly talking about the work of To Kenya With Love and specifically the Simon Newberry Schools site, situated in one of the poorest slum areas in Kenya; in Africa. But also what God has been doing in and through us.

This is going to be a testimony blog. (And by the way it's over 6 months since the previous blog!!)We will try to be brief and visual.

We were learning to be patient...waiting 27 years to go to Kenya in obedience to a prophecy, "Go to the poor, needy and imprisoned in Kenya." We went in post-election violence of January 2008. We learnt to trust Him.

In February 2008 the TKWL children were to move into temporary classrooms on a newly purchased site (about 1/2 acre). Here it was planned to build a permanent school for Nursery and Primary aged children, (3-14 years).

Patience again was needed as 5 adults (including us) took 6 weeks to get the TKWL office rooms habitable. This was going to be a building filled with God's presence for many years to come.
Massive patience was needed next. Following some torrential rain the main sewage pipe on our site got blocked and started to overflow, covering the site for 21 days with its waste. Eventually after much prayer the drain was unblocked.

The children arrived on the site in May 2008 and have been there ever since. The Lord has provided a great set of teachers, administration staff, cooks, cleaners and askaris (guards) over the past 2 years. The site is seeing massive changes: new permanent buildings. The Nursery School building are complete and being temporarily used by the 3 Primary classes, the toilet block is finished, a dining area can accommodate 60-70 persons, gardens are transforming what was wasteland into beauty and purpose. An adjacent plot of land is going to see the building of an 8 class Primary School; work starts on this as the money comes in - which we trust the Lord will provide, by the end of 2011.

We are delighted to have mains electricity on site, and a well to provide basic water needs...this needs to be dug much deeper...and it will.

Currently we have 150 children on site; by the end of 2015 there will be a complete Primary School with approximately 320 children in all...from the local slums enjoying the presence of God as they learn to overcome the entrapment of abject poverty.

We return to Kisumu in September we hope for a further 2 years of service. Currently we are with family in Manchester. What a joy! Whilst we've been in UK a Banda hut has been completed!

As we look back over the past two and a half years since first arriving in Kisumu, it is truly amazing what transformations have taken place. We are particularly talking about the work of To Kenya With Love and specifically the Simon Newberry Schools site, situated in one of the poorest slum areas in Kenya; in Africa. But also what God has been doing in and through us.

This is going to be a testimony blog. (And by the way it's over 6 months since the previous blog!!)We will try to be brief and visual.

We were learning to be patient...waiting 27 years to go to Kenya in obedience to a prophecy, "Go to the poor, needy and imprisoned in Kenya." We went in post-election violence of January 2008. We learnt to trust Him.

In February 2008 the TKWL children were to move into temporary classrooms on a newly purchased site (about 1/2 acre). Here it was planned to build a permanent school for Nursery and Primary aged children, (3-14 years).

Patience again was needed as 5 adults (including us) took 6 weeks to get the TKWL office rooms habitable. This was going to be a building filled with God's presence for many years to come.

Massive patience was needed next. Following some torrential rain the main sewage pipe on our site got blocked and started to overflow, covering the site for 21 days with its waste. Eventually after much prayer the drain was unblocked.

The children arrived on the site in May 2008 and have been there ever since.

The Lord has provided a great set of teachers, administration staff, cooks, cleaners and askaris (guards) over the past 2 years. The site is seeing massive changes: new permanent buildings. The Nursery School building are complete and being temporarily used by the 3 Primary classes, the toilet block is finished, a dining area can accommodate 60-70 persons, gardens are transforming what was wasteland into beauty and purpose. An adjacent plot of land is going to see the building of an 8 class Primary School; work starts on this as the money comes in - which we trust the Lord will provide, by the end of 2011.

We are delighted to have mains electricity on site, and a well to provide basic water needs...this needs to be dug much deeper...and it will.

Currently we have 150 children on site; by the end of 2015 there will be a complete Primary School with approximately 320 children in all...from the local slums enjoying the presence of God as they learn to overcome the entrapment of abject poverty.

As we look back over the past two and a half years since first arriving in Kisumu, it is truly amazing what transformations have taken place. We are particularly talking about the work of To Kenya With Love and specifically the Simon Newberry Schools site, situated in one of the poorest slum areas in Kenya; in Africa. But also what God has been doing in and through us.

This is going to be a testimony blog. (And by the way it's over 6 months since the previous blog!!)We will try to be brief and visual.

We were learning to be patient...waiting 27 years to go to Kenya in obedience to a prophecy, "Go to the poor, needy and imprisoned in Kenya." We went in post-election violence of January 2008. We learnt to trust Him.

In February 2008 the TKWL children were to move into temporary classrooms on a newly purchased site (about 1/2 acre). Here it was planned to build a permanent school for Nursery and Primary aged children, (3-14 years).

Patience again was needed as 5 adults (including us) took 6 weeks to get the TKWL office rooms habitable. This was going to be a building filled with God's presence for many years to come.

Massive patience was needed next. Following some torrential rain the main sewage pipe on our site got blocked and started to overflow, covering the site for 21 days with its waste. Eventually after much prayer the drain was unblocked.

The children arrived on the site in May 2008 and have been there ever since.

The Lord has provided a great set of teachers, administration staff, cooks, cleaners and askaris (guards) over the past 2 years. The site is seeing massive changes: new permanent buildings. The Nursery School building are complete and being temporarily used by the 3 Primary classes, the toilet block is finished, a dining area can accommodate 60-70 persons, gardens are transforming what was wasteland into beauty and purpose. An adjacent plot of land is going to see the building of an 8 class Primary School; work starts on this as the money comes in - which we trust the Lord will provide, by the end of 2011.

We are delighted to have mains electricity on site, and a well to provide basic water needs...this needs to be dug much deeper...and it will.

Currently we have 150 children on site; by the end of 2015 there will be a complete Primary School with approximately 320 children in all...from the local slums enjoying the presence of God as they learn to overcome the entrapment of abject poverty.

HOW NOT TO KILL A COCKROACH!
(Wednesday 4th November 2009)
I am in pain!
I'm sat at home on a papyrus base settee in our sitting cum dining room, with my right hand resting and elevated above my heart, on its arm.
My hand is throbbing!
It needed the wisdom of a surgeon to manipulate (struggle) my 5th metacarple back into the knuckle socket out of which it was so brutally dislocated and broken!
I would like to tell you that it was worth it. I would like to say that I was being heroic and had warded off some dangerous person or animal, or even that a major event required my sacrificial giving ending up in my being injured and 'wowed' at by the masses for my bravery.
Humbly I must confess that none of these highly esteemed feats were the case. To be utterly truthful, the reason for my painful injury couldn't be further from the above.
The truth is, it was caused by a cockroach! Yes, a cockroach. A creature that is harmless.
'A cockroach,' I hear you say?
'Ahah, that's right, a cockroach.'
'Wow, how big was it that it caused such a painful injury to your writing hand?' 'Well, it was not that big. Maybe 3 inches at most, if you include its feelers and hind legs.' I quietly reply.
'Oh. Well tell me what actually happened?' you ask.
Well before I do, let me say that these creatures are mighty fast at scuttling around. They have such a hard shell to protect their body, such that scientists have experimented with what they thought were dead cockroaches only to find that 7 days later they were still alive!
We have never before had a cockroach in our sitting room. That is until Tuesday night this past week at 10.30pm.
I was just coming to the end of playing spider solitaire on my lap-top when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a creature quickly dart past the settee and hide behind the single seater close by. I assumed it was a large gheko which we love to watch walking in the most impossible ways in order to catch a fly or mosquito...but moments later I realised the worst, for approaching me across the blue rug was this massive cockroach...massive compared to an ant!
My mind went into 'destroy' mode!
But how could I with a lap-top on my lap and the 'Doom' spray bottle out of reach. ('Doom' supposedly kills all unwanted insects and displays a dead cockroach lying on its back on the side of the can.) I decided upon seeing the unwanted creature approach that I was left with only one decision...'crush it'. And because of its massive size and its engendering such 'fear' into me I chose to do something that insect lovers would not be able to comprehend, and for which I was about to learn yet another of life's lessons.
The creature stopped right in front of me twitching. Holding the lap-top with my left hand I twisted my body to gain greatest advantage to destroy the encrustation! With a massive wild swing of my clenched right fist, I came thundering down upon the innocent creature...and missed it as it fled...but not the tiled floor! With a crunch on impact and a crack of bone, I felt my knuckle buckle and 5th metacarple break!
My wife had retired to bed half an hour earlier and realised that my moanings and groanings were not normal so came to investigate. The injured hand lay throbbing and increasing in size under a cold water flow in the nearby bathroom. She was comforting and understandingand wanted to help.
A good 10-15 minutes later, with ice pack surrounding the ever swelling hand, we went in search of the cockroach... this time armed with the 'Doom' spray! As we upturned the settee it darted away, but not to safety! We had it trapped in a corner of the room by the outside door!
10 seconds of spray 'doomed' the little creature and the fight was over. And sure enough, there it lay upside down on the floor, just like the picture on the side of the can.

But why hadn't I used a cheaper form of death knell? The heel of my right foot?
Or better and cheaper still, open the door to our veranda and let it escape?
The following day was spent forking out loads of dosh and receiving further painful reconstruction of the injured hand.

Let's hope the 'Doom' really has worked and that it doesn't come alive next Tuesday evening, 7 days from the event!

THE RAWNESS OF KISUMU

Hi Guys!
It's been ages since the last BLOG.
Sorry if you've fallen asleep wondering are we still alive on planet earth, or in Kisumu to be precise? Or anywhere for that matter. We are.
This is written from Wythenshawe, Manchester, as we experience the changeable UK weather...where's the sun gone?!
We are thrilled to be home (UK) experiencing the delights of having just become grand parents! Keziah is absolutely gorgeous. Her parents have done a brilliant job so far. We have also needed this break which will last for 4 weeks. Our previous one in April was quite tiring visiting many friends and family - but so worthwhile.

Kisumu can sap the strength out of you without realising it; day-in day-out commitments to some of the most needy people on planet earth - and yet the most rewarding job God in His great wisdom has given us to be & do.

Since our last BLOG we have attended yet another wedding - called a 'prayer meeting'! As a result we really have said this will be our last one!! Due to start at 11am, it began at 4pm (the time it was meant to end!) and went on till some time after we left at 6pm! It really was a mess and badly planned...that is according to our western bias, culture and prejudice.
You know we can be so 'more godly than thou' and get on our 'high horses' thinking we know it all! How rude and improper. We are in Kenya to serve not to criticise. We are their guests not their lords!!
Crucify colonialism and bigotry.

Every day we say, 'God teach us to be more patient and loving.' And you know what? He gives us loads of challenges to be more patient and loving! Do we stop praying? NO! But, hey Lord it's tough at times...and yet so rewarding - deepening character and appreciating we have so much.
We can escape when the going gets tough - not a reality for 1000's of locals..they all pitch in and make life work & death.
During the 1st 2 weeks of July (when Keziah was born) we were privileged to have 6 fine young people come and serve the poor in the slums of Manyatta. They came from our home church in Fareham, Hants. None had been to Kenya before, two had gone on holiday last year to South Africa.
They came to be practical, to touch and handle, to paint and cuddle and say 'You are worth me coming out to this desperately needy city and embracing your weakness.'
They visited the tiny terraced mud built home (10'x8) of a sponsored child at Simon Newberry School, discovered poverty 1st hand, made music and musical instruments, heard children read, dance and sing rhymes, played football, taught English lessons, art lessons, coaching football skills, did practical tasks on the school grounds, painted a giant mural of the Serengeti, went for a boat trip on Lake Victoria, visited the Equator Line...and held hands with children who need to know that they are loved, and heard them say, 'How are you, I'm fine?!'
They left genuine love behind and took a piece of African reality back to the surreal UK. What this experience will give birth to in their hearts, God only knows...but they certainly aren't the same people they once were.

Life out here in Kisumu can be very raw and heart searching.
And yet it's the very rawness and simplicity of this life that is so appealing and worthwhile serving.

'Simon Newberry School' and 'To Kenya With Love' ministries are doing a brilliant job - we are so impressed with their levels of care, teaching and integrity. Clearly God thinks so too. As the work develops it clearly reflects His heart to the needy - to those imprisoned by the poverty trap.
New building work is going ahead this summer holiday; a second well built permanent classroom, the completion of a permanent toilet block, the digging of a good well - the last attempt was poor! We've learnt now how not to do things and we are pressing on forward with hope in our hearts and faith to believe we serve an awesome and generous Father interested in the minutest detail. Every child precious in His sight - and ours!

Even the poor are affected and suffering from the 'Credit Crunch'. Food today costs 2x what it did last year!!!! The cost of living rises by 30% each month. The average daily wage is around £1 for 1000's. It's not what a family of 5 -10 can easily manage on...try it for a week in UK! Touch reality, even if it's for a limited period. Out here in Kisumu there is no 'limited period' - this is it!!

Monday lunchtime is for us one of the high points of the week at school. All the staff choose to gather together (more like squeeze together) for 1/2 an hour to pray and praise the living God in their lunch-time. They always begin their words of thanks like this..." Thank you God for my life and that I have lived to see another day..." Why? Because life is so fragile out here...every breathe is precious, every day a gift needing to be lived to the full.
Just as we were about to leave for UK last week, our house maid was in tears. Her 21 year old nephew living in Nairobi had fallen down a well and had drowned. They had to wait over 24 hours for help to arrive to take his body out...earlier in the year another nephew of hers in the same family had died of a sudden illness...and the maid had also been asked to take in her 6 year old niece earlier in the year, from another area of Kenya, whose alcoholic father had turned to drink following a coach accident killing his wife.

Life and death situations are having to be faced every day in Kisumu on a much higher scale than in the UK. They can be so raw at times.

Two books we strongly recommend you read if coming out to Kenya/Africa...they set the cultural background and history so clearly...
1. 'The Shadow of the Sun' by the Polish writer & journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski and published by Penguin books
2. 'African Friends and Money Matters' by David Maranz see Amazon books for copies

Please Pray for God's provision and protection of the children and staff at SNS, for the finances to pay staff, feed the children and continue with the building programme.

God is on His throne - He rules and we have much more to learn.
For His Highest
Peter & Paula

A Kenyan Wedding! 14th February 2009

Dear Bloggers,
We (Paula & I) have just attended our 1st Kenyan wedding! The reception was very interesting! When we arrived just before the bride and groom (who had come to our home and compound to have photographs taken) we discovered nearly all the food had been eaten, the speeches which were to be given by many members of both families were in local mother tongue, and I ended up in the kitchen drying up all the dishes and cups.
It sounds like a moan - it isn't - it was an experience!
The Wedding...a success...
Having been generously invited to the wedding at Christ Church for a 10.30 start, the bride and groom arrived at 12.40pm! It was a huge affair! The 3 flower girls followed by the 5 bridesmaids entered first, swaying to some pop music, which lasted forever! They were followed by 2 pageboys, best man and 5 groomsmen who also swayed at twice the speed!! The bride had to dance (sway) with her parents up to the front which must have taken 10 minutes! earlier she had had to be physically removed from her aunties who had tried to hold her hostage at her parent's home!
It was apparent that the bride's family was ginormous in number and we were asked to vacate our seats 4 rows from the front and were reallocated seats on the opposite side of the church (the groom's side).

The service went vey well. Worship followed by Eric Swenson leading the ceremony, which included the vows, communion for the couple, and the pronouncement they were man and wife...and allowed their 1st ever kiss as a married couple!!!

The procession out of the church took a shorter time!

The bridesmaids and groomsmen were immaculately dressed and well matched in burgundy/gold dresses and charcoal grey suits with matching burgundy/gold ties.

Kisumu is hot and sticky for weddings to take place I've decided especially when you have to wait hours for things to happen! But hey ho this is Africa and we are their guests and they love to keep us guessing what's next!!

Love to one and all!!!

Kisumu in Summer

Hello bloggers,

It's been 9 weeks since I did a blog and this will be a short one - based in an Italian Coffee place with a free 'hot spot' internet access - for the price of an expensive Milk Shake (£2) but the air conditioning and leather soft seats are great.

We have decided to stay in Kisumu for Christmas, having hoped to go to the coast but we are skint to put it simply.

Kisumu in December is HOT! Life is more realxed now that schools have closed and many are in holiday mode til the beginning of Jan 09.

Paula and I are in good order, covering for Chris Wheat whilst he sun's it down under in Perth with friends from Gosport.

They say that here in Kisumu Christmas is no big deal, except for there being no work done on Christmas day - a bank holiday. We have been invited by American friends to a Christmas eve party where we have to bring 'soup' and 2 'white elephants' in old stockings. Can't wait to open my white elephant. I am looking forward to everyone coming up with a unique response to their 'white elephant'. "Oh my what a wonderful trunk", "Wow what solid legs", "Gosh, these ears are quite something", and so on - all with that American twang/drool. We will need to practice before going! OK I'm only joking. It should be a great event. Our 1st Christmas without our beautiful family being with us or we being with them. Nostalgic!

Christmas - now just think for a moment - Jesus is in heaven one moment and then the next He is incarnated inside a virgin teenager in some backwater place very few had ever heard about. Wow! As i am writing a couple we have met up with out here are going through labour (well she is - so the text says). I wonder what labour pangs did Mary have to go through - no room in the inn and no room for any miscarriages.

Anyway that's enough ranting from me-oops us! We must now go as the waiter has given us the bill...not the normal way things happen here - we have outstayed our free internet service,

Have a look on the new web address www.tkwl.org.uk

Have a great Christmas.

Peter & Paula

INTIMACY

BLOG 9

Dear Surfing Bloggers!

“INTIMACY”

Now there's a word. This is going to be a more personal BLOG. Hope you are awake. May it bless you deeply.

I went to bed listening to BBC World Service. USA are in big trouble. Wall Street has just had its worst day ever! The worldly kingdom is looking on in fear! What will happen next?

The following morning (today) I awoke to a brilliant blue sky, sun bursting through mature Jacaranda, Flamboyant and Royal Palm trees. Smaller Banana Palms lightly sway in sensitive response to an unseen fresh morning breeze; it's as if Someone has gently touched their tips, their response is to wave with tickling delight.

Last night, in a semi-conscious state, I lay in bed. My right eye began to hurt as an intense 'light' beamed upon it and I heard a familiar gentle voice – one that I now delight to hear – saying, 'Peter, this is My light. This is My presence in part. If I were to take you now into its fullness you would not be able to to withstand its intensity. You would be blinded. I am pure white light. Powerful light.' I fell into a deep sleep.
Some hours later I awoke to read my/our 'Daily Devotional' passage and thought for the day. The subject was 'Intimacy'. Wow, I love intimacy for so many different reasons; its secure, deeply personal, reassuring, bringing hope, joy and a purpose. Above all I love intimacy because it is love in its deepest sense and meaning. It costs, but there is nothing as valuable as intimacy with my creator, my lover!
The passage we read together came from one of my O.T. Favourites, Song of Songs/Solomon (one we were forbidden to publicly read at boarding school – the staff couldn't cope with it – too real for their liking!). In chapter 3, verses 1 to 4 things get intimate! As I dwelt on the passage I 'knew' that I am the beloved and my lover, Jesus, found me as I have wandered.
As I continued to meditate upon these words, they change me inside; from 'logos' to 'reality'. Tears well up inside me and flow freely down my cheeks as once more I allow God to love me. Again I hear His beautiful clear voice confidently say how much He delights in me and in Paula; in our relationship with Him and with each other. I want to talk, but calmly give in to His presence. It's His presence I long to remain in, give time to. It's far more important than anything else or anyone else.

We are not on a practice run here on earth for that which is to come. The Truth is that eternity has already begun and we need to exercise daily in the practice of 'intimacy'. To lay aside all other things; distractions and worries the enemy wants us to legitimately consider as more important.
Help me Lord to remain 'intimate' with You 24/7. Thank you for helping me repay the carpenter.

Kenya is a beautiful country, with outstanding scenery, sights and sounds! The people continue to fill our hearts as we develop deeper relationships. The friendship with a Kenyan (precious as it is) is generally 'shallow' with us westerners. Friendships with other 'missionaries' tend to be more real. Our two cultures (Kenyan & European/American) are very different. Our ways of doing things are different. The Kenyan meaning of time is 'abstract'! Our outlook on what is and what isn't important are very different. Our weather systems are decidedly and wonderfully different.

The Kenyans we associate with; at school, church, home group, and in our compound are gentle, calm and friendly. We are growing to love them. As we have begun to build deeper friendships with a few, so they have begun to 'open up'. However this is mainly brought about as we ask appropriate leading questions. There is one exception...David (a synonym). When he knows we are relaxed about time, he has told me (Peter) some amazing true stories. He is genuinely concerned about others, protecting them, yet asking for advice and support. He is an upright man, young and intelligent, with a teachable spirit. We recently received a text from him saying '...God has called you here for such a time as this to be involved in peoples lives, to help make a difference.' What a word of encouragement.

Sometimes I (Peter) want to be effective to the masses and help change their poverty into riches. However, it seems most likely that He has called me/us to the 'ones' and 'twos'. I am reminded of a saying as I write this: - “You may think that you are only one person in the world. However, you may be the world to one person.”
Jesus put it even better, 'In as much as you did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you did it as unto me.'

I hate 'religiosity'! It stinks!!
I love the 'reality' of 'love'.
I hate 'performance' ('They have their reward already!')
I love 'serving'.
I hate 'judging' others. (Don't you?)
I love being 'merciful'.
Lord help me/us to be 'loving', 'serving', and full of 'mercy'. Not to use people, culture or climate as a feeble excuse to avoid what I/we were created for – to be 'INTIMATE' with you and one another.

Our 'honeymoon' period in Kenya has long gone. We have now been granted 2 year work permits. Let's get my/our hands dirty and keep my/hearts pure. It's so awesome when you know you are where He has planted you and positioned you for His service.

Hope you all stayed awake, got inspired and want to get more intimate.

Peter & Paula Phillips ( serving To Kenya With Love – www.tkwl.org )