Wednesday, September 22nd

I have way to much to say. . . Today was such a crazy mix of feelings and emotions. After yesterday's mellowness it's crazy how much we did.

First thing this Wednesday we headed to the Agape drop-in-center. It's crazy, out of your comfort zone chaos. Why? There's over a hundred boys there coming in from time off the streets for a short break from their stressful lives. They are ALL in survival mode. Stick a white teenage girl in there and everyone wants to touch you, stare at you, ask you questions. Lucky for me I'm used to living with brothers. [see boys, all that craziness will pay off!] Talk about out of your comfort zone, but hey, God is good to us, and never calls to be in our little boxes while serving him. That said, I'm glad my dad, "Big Joe" was right next to me. I'm sure it feels completely different to be a guy there. God's cool to make people like Steve & Diana that feel so totally called to work in that environment 24/7.

You have no idea how easy or hard you could make your life over here. Go to a restaurant and you can order a coke, cheeseburger and fries ("chips") then walk across the street and get some ice cream for dessert. Everything tastes almost exactly the same as to what you'd be use to. The opposite? Mushy cornmeal (Ugali) with green leaf looking things (skuma wiki) served at a compound sitting next to a bunch of kids. Just something to think about...in our time here we've had quite a variety. It's just crazy to think you can run down the street and go into a Costco like store...while passing little shanty shacks 6x6' that people actually live in.

We visited this priceless place which is pretty much Kisumu's Juvenile hall. Well. The kids there are priceless but their situations are devastating...Recently, the Kenyan police have been just sweeping the kidos off the streets and turning them in there at Raymand. Just because they're living off the streets. Many of them haven't actually done anything wrong, their just stuck there. No family. No schooling. The little girls were just swarming around me. LOVED IT! The sad thing is, the boys there can sometimes get an out by Agape getting them into their program. The girls, really don't have anything. Sucks big time.

Just a side note for those who wouldn't know.
"How are you!?" with this super cute tone in your voice, is what every other person you see asks you. The normal answer is. "Fine", and then you smile for a while. It's really funny.