One of my favorite aspects of our job with AIM is hearing all of the neat stories of what God is doing all over the world. I just wanted to pass along some stories and photos of the way God is moving in the lives of students, leaders, community members, and even supporters who play such a valuable part in God’s work as well. One of the team’s Heather and I are praying for and supporting from afar is the Real Life Kenya team. Here are some of their stories:
“The team has had some sweet times with kids. They are all just kid-crazy which fits in so well here. On Saturday we had the orphans from the AIM house over to teach the team one of the Drimes they know and then to just hang out and play with the kids. It was so sweet. Shaun and I were making pizza for the team’s dinner but I kept wandering out back to check on things and I came around the corner to find Joel sitting in the grass with 7 of my girls huddled around him and Amanda and they were pulling his leg hair and touching his facial hair. He was having them teach him . . . . Swahili. And then they taught them some Swahili songs.
He and I had talked while walking through the slums the day before about how the girls here don’t believe that a husband is ever faithful to their wife and that they girls just don’t have Christian guys loving on them without wanting something back. So he really took it to heart and was so just Jesus in the flesh to them.”
“James was playing soccer with the boys and Safia (one of the AIM House girls who’d rather play soccer than anything else). Well, I guess, Safia tripped or something and James rushes over to help her but. Kim said the look on Safia’s face was priceless…a mix of shock and being totally tickled. The girls need to see how men should behave and James was a great example of that. And Safia had clearly not experienced that before.”
James Safia
Heather has 5 students from here team last year in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. One of her students named Melissa had just about the worst travel scenario possible happen to her last Monday while traveling. To make a long story short Melissa’s passport was lost/stolen on her flight from Washington D.C. to Jo-Berg, South Africa. Ultimately she was deported back to the U.S. and finally after 4 days in airports made it back to her home outside of Calgary, Alberta Canada. Melissa’s heart is to be with the children of Jeffrey’s Bay and she found herself in need of a plane ticket back to South Africa after her travel nightmare.
This past Saturday night I was having a sleepless night. My mind kept finding it’s way to Melissa and her situation. What was strange is God kept bringing to mind one of mine and Heather’s supporters as well. I felt God leading me to share Melissa’s story with this supporter to see if they might be a part of God’s plan to get Melissa back to South Africa. The body of Christ is such a cool thing. Never having met Melissa and feeling they could help her in her need, Melissa will now soon be on a plane back to South Africa.
These are just a few of the many stories of the way God is restoring, transforming, and moving in our world. We encourage you to continue praying for our teams all over the world. In Rob Bell’s new book “Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile” he writes:
“. . . . it is when we are fully present in our pain, when we are willing to sit in our tears, that we are ready to imagine a different kind of tomorrow.”
The world is a messy and hurting place. Thank you for your prayers and support that help bring “a different kind of tomorrow.”
Imagining a different kind of tomorrow,
Chad and Heather
