Little BlueSky

last week we had a "break" from camp. but, don't you worry, we weren't resting too much. we spent monday and tuesday with Made in the Streets in Eastleigh and at their farm in Kamulu. what an encouraging organization. they are storming into hell and bringing bits of heaven to some "hopeless" children. we walked around the streets of the Eastleigh slum visiting the "bases" where the street children live. these aren't houses or shacks like you might think, but they are homes. most of them are just spots on the street. some of them have a tarp or plastic piece covering a spot where a young person might sleep. we walked around visiting these homes with some of the staff at Eastleigh (many of whom are former street children). we talked and prayed with people learning about their life and struggles. poverty and homelessness are complex social problems. it was good for our camp staff to learn more about all this. it's also very encouraging to know and be a part of an organization doing something about it and doing it well. MITS provides services to help young people break their addiction to drugs, provides education, a safe place to stay, food to eat, and job training. there is a system and a process and it seems to be successful. find out more about MITS here.

after our two days there, the rest of the week was spent doing a day camp for younger campers aged 4-7. we also had a "high functioning 3 year old." maybe not so high functioning. but oh so cute. :)
we did almost the same activities as big BlueSky, but catered to younger children. we only had a few melt downs each day. i'd say that was pretty good. the campers LOVED it and asked us to do it again and again. we also had several thank you phone calls from parents. we're excited and hopeful to do it again!

half of our staff did a Little BlueSky program at a nearby school called Uzimatele in a local slum area. it was also VERY well received by the children, staff, and community. and greatly enjoyed by our staff.

now we are in session 2 of camp. I LOVE CAMP. i was drinking my ethiopian coffee this cool morning while walking through camp and could hear "the duck song" echoing from a distance. couldn't help but think, 'how can i live without this?' i sure will miss days of weird lukenya breakfast foods (spicy meat pies today), delicious coffee brewed in my room, cool mornings and blazing hot days and nights, and sweet children singing about Jesus. but i know there's a bigger plan in play here and my next move is to go away from here for a while. i trust and believe it will be good. even sweeter than it is right now.