Faith House Africa

Celebrating Five Years

admin — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:42:09 +0000

Faith House celebrated its five-year anniversary in February with a celebration at the Nairobi home. The event was organized as a scavenger hunt, with various stations situated around the Faith House grounds requiring different group activities, culminating with ice cream sundaes in Faith House study.

Everyone had a great time, and we’re looking forward to many more anniversaries in the years to come! Here are some of the photos of the girls celebrating together.

The Clothesline Relay race (left to right: Pauline, Purity, Esther, Joyce, Liz). Purity was the main cheerleader the whole time!

The Human Knot (holding hands and then untwisting without letting go)!

The Human Pyramid, Kenya-style (Sheila on top, Beatrice & Teresa smiling).

Margaret W and Regina make their ideal men out of modeling clay!

A Faith House Christmas

admin — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:05:00 +0000

The first time we celebrated Christmas at Faith House, the trappings and decorations so familiar to us as Americans were just a bit strange to our girls. Most of them marveled at the lighted tree and decorated themselves as well as the tree. But Jane Mwihaki stood back, watching, and asked, “What is the origin of this custom, this decorating of a tree for Christmas?” I asked her if this activity seemed strange to her. She nodded with her dimpled smile– “It’s my first one!” I tried to explain the symbols to her, the evergreen tree because Jesus is eternal and brought us the gift of eternal life, the lights because Jesus is the light of the world, the stars because a star led the maji to Bethlehem to find the Christ child. Some of the decorations I couldn’t explain– they are just decorations, somewhat synonymous with Christmas in our western culture.

This year the celebration was a bit more familiar. They still adorn themselves with stars as they decorate the tree with stars and angels and sparkling balls. And they learn to roll out and cut Christmas star cookies, decorating them with icing, sampling the sweets as they work. Meals at Faith House are nutritious and delicious, but the Christmas feast surpasses all that they are used to– meat, vegetables, bread, soft drinks– such abundance!

Learning the spirit of giving, the girls draw names and each is given a small amount of money to shop for a special gift for her “secret pal.” Anticipation reigns as each girl waits to see how her selection will be received. Shrieks of excitement and laughter punctuate the opening of each present. Hugs and thank-you’s express the gratitude and sense of fun in the giving and receiving.

Central to the whole celebration, the day closes with the reading of the Christmas story from Luke 2. “And there were in the same country, shepherds, abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. And they were afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not! For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior which is Christ the Lord! And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest! And on earth, peace, good will to men.’ And it came about that when the angels had gone away from them back into heaven that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Come, let us go and see this thing which has comet pass, which the Lord has made known to us!’ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, lying in a manger.”

Prayer Day at Faith House

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 02:51:02 +0000

Between October 18 and November 10, four of our Faith House girls are taking their KCSE exams, as many as 25 different exams, covering all of the high school work these students have done. The results determine what courses they can pursue beyond high school. It is a time of exceptionally high pressure for all Kenyan high school students.

Because of the pressure on the students, Kenyan schools (government schools as well as private schools) commonly set aside a day of prayer during which parents and friends gather to pray and encourage their students before the exams. Catherine and Margaret W. are in school at Danana Girls Secondary School, where the prayer day is part of their routine. But Ridgeways Academy, where Maureen and Elizabeth are students did not have a prayer day this year. Gretchen could not bear the thought that the girls should have to face exams without KNOWING that there were some standing behind them, praying. She scheduled the first annual Faith House Day of Prayer for KCSE exams.

Thirty-two Faith House girls and friends of our work gathered to share in this special time. They sang hymns: “How Great Thou Art,” “What a Friend We Have In Jesus,” and “Guide Me Oh Thou Great Jehovah.” Liz shared about God’s faithfulness in the past and Maureen talked about looking forward to God’s faithfulness in the future. One of our college students who took the exam last year offered her understanding and encouragement. There was prayer from the Faith House members and prayer from the guests. Gretchen closed the program with a message from one or our board members and with a reading of Philippians 1: 9-11 and a selection from Matthew 5.

Then they shared fellowship over scones, chocolate cake, lemon bread, and peanut butter oatmeal cookies with punch and coffee. The afternoon was a huge encouragement to Maureen and Liz, and to Gretchen. Gretchen calls the day the “first annual . . .” expecting it to be one of the important days on the Faith House calendar.

In Need of An Advocate

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:22:20 +0000

Through most of the spring of this year, Damaris, one of our FH girls who lives with us, has been researching and looking for a good nursing school, perhaps a Christian school, in a place not so big as Houston. In May, as soon as she graduated from Lone Star Community College, just north of Houston, we traveled to visit two of the schools that looked promising. One school in particular, Mary Hardin Baylor, threw open their arms in welcome. From our discussions with the nursing school, it appeared that Damaris had been accepted into the school for the fall of 2011.

However, when we went back to UMHB in early July, for Damaris to register for fall classes, we were told that indeed, she had not been admitted into the nursing school after all. We had misunderstood. I watched Dama’s face and saw what a crushing blow this was—I felt it too. And I knew that in that moment, she needed someone who would stand up for her. She needed an advocate. I told our story and explained what we had been told and made clear the time we had wasted while trusting those promises and planning for that school. My words seemed to wash over the dean, and leave her a bit distracted from the needs of the Kenyan student in front of her– or perhaps she was simply puzzled over how to solve the problem. Dama has an advocate in the international advisor who heard the same promises that we had heard, but she was out of town. And we believe that God sent an advocate in the person of a university vice president who saw us in a hallway and asked how he could help and promised to look into the situation. Such gentle compassion! I did so long for an effective advocate who could work effectively in this situation that looked impossible.

Two thoughts: First, on Sunday, as we studied Job 16: 19-21 (NIV), I was reminded that our Lord Jesus is our true advocate, “pleading with God as a man pleads for his friend.” I have felt like I held Damaris’s hand in one of mine and reached to hold my Lord’s hand with the other, drawing them together—few words, mostly clinging, hanging on. And I know that truly He is the One who hangs on more tightly that I can.

Second, sometimes God calls a person or persons to be advocates on the ground. I know how very many times I was an advocate for my children as they grew up, and I can’t even count the times that Gretchen is an advocate for our Faith House girls as they meet doors that are slammed shut and face challenges that we can’t imagine. And, early Tuesday morning, after a long holiday weekend, the international advisor called from Mary Hardin Baylor. She had explained to the dean of the nursing school exactly what we had all understood. The dean will honor that understanding and Damaris is accepted to begin nursing school at Mary Hardin Baylor in the fall! God provided the right person to be His advocate at the right moment.

When you pray for Faith House and for the girls and for Gretchen, you are part of that holding on, clinging prayer for His advocacy. And Gretchen, in the daily challenges in Nairobi, is a constant advocate for our Faith House girls.

Trained and Ready to Teach

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:21:54 +0000

In July 2011 Juliah graduated from Bunks Early Childhood Education College in Nairobi with a diploma in Montessori Early Childhood Education. She is currently interviewing for a job and hopes one day to take further courses in special education. During her training she was especially moved by a few children with cerebral palsy, and wants to focus her attention on helping children with those special needs.

Juliah was in the third class at Rafiki Girls’ Center. She was living with an aunt at the time, having suffered the loss of both her parents to AIDs. When asked what her goals were for her life, she replied, “I want to help orphans because I am one.” The death of her mom especially , and the fact that she had to live in a relative’s home, feeling little love, weighed heavily on her. She struggled with relationships at home and among friends through her vulnerable teenage years. As she struggled to find a place where she belonged, she changed high schools several times, finally graduating from Mountain View Academy.

God gave her the home for which she hungered with Hellen who was, at the time, our Faith House National Assistant. Juliah became a member of the Faith House family by extension. And after finishing high school, she found the calling that holds her heart.

We always knew that Juliah is truly gifted with children. She loves her younger siblings and her nieces and nephews. And during clinics and some training times we watched her joyfully playing with the little ones who needed attention. She truly lights up around children.

She smiled with a new radiant confidence as she showed her mock classroom and demonstrated the teaching tools she had created, explaining how she had used materials that were easily accessible because her teaching assignment might be “in a place where we can’t get paper and other supplies easily!” Juliah seems to have found her place.

Where Juliah would be if there had been no Faith House or no Hellen to stand behind her and encourage her when life seemed so dark?

Photoblog – 2010 Grad Safari

admin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 03:48:51 +0000

In November 2010, Faith House took its six graduates from Danana Secondary School and Wiltrue Secondary School on safari in Sweetwaters game preserve in central Kenya. The area is home to lions, elephants, rhinos, and many other animals common in the breathtaking preserves throughout Kenya.

This was an unforgettable experience for Faith House students who have worked so hard to achieve their goals. Here are just a few of the photos taken by the Faith House staff during the trip…

[Show as slideshow]

Agnes

admin — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 02:40:26 +0000

Agnes graduated from Danana Girls’ Secondary School in Kenya, and completed two years at Lone Star Community College in The Woodlands, Texas. She is currently a senior nursing student at Texas Women’s University in Houston.

Ashley

admin — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 02:39:19 +0000

Ashley completed Danana Girls Secondary School in 2010. she has been accepted into a program at Nairobi Women’s Hospital to become a community health assistant.

Beatrice

admin — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 05:10:43 +0000

Beatrice is a form one student at Ridgeways Girls’ Secondary School. She came to live at Faith House in January, 2011.

Catherine

admin — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 03:29:07 +0000

Catherine completed her KCSE at Danana Girls Secondary School in November, 2011. While awaiting her scores she is taking computer classes. Her dream is to study elementary education and to teach children.