Welcome to Kenya Woodlands UMC

A team from Houston Texas came to do ministry in Kibera for a week. They set up a “laypeople’s eye clinic,” without the aid of a doctor, but with some training and good equipment, were able to give out 100’s of prescription glasses to needy folks in Kibera who can’t afford an eye doctor or glasses. They were an inspiration to the Slingluff’s and a gentle loving presence in the Kibera slums. Our partners in the slums were very encouraged to have them. Here they are in our front yard, preparing their suitcases for the journey home.

Watch your step

The Woodlands UMC team, 12 senior high students or recent graduates and 5 adults, visited schools and churches in Kibera. Along with the eye exam ministry, they did VBS activities with children and visited some homes and businesses in the slums. As one who moves through the slums regularly, I was struck by how they brightened people’s day by simply greeting them sincerely as they passed. A big part of ministry is just BEING THERE!

Where’s the wild animals?

The team from Texas treated the whole Slingluff family to a 3 day and 2 night safari in the Masaai Mara game reserve. We stayed next to a hippo pool. At night the grunting and snorting of hippos and the barking of wild baboons made for light sleep, so it wasn’t too difficult getting up before the sun for the early morning game drives. I think the boys really enjoyed just being tourists.

Whispering with Horses

Thanks to some super missionary friends that share home school activities with our children, Bethany participates in a ministry of providing horse rides to disabled children in Nairobi. Bethany loves working with horses.

When there's too many goats

Our neighbor Gwen recently found herself with what most Kenyans would call a “good problem,” what to do with an excess supply of goats. They were munching her garden to a nub. Kenyans love goat (nyama ya buzi) that is the meat, especially roasted. Hense few of them would ask what you do when you have a few goats too many!

New Friend in the family and ministry

Pastor Kurea, an intern with Nairobi Chapel has recently been assigned by Nairibi Chapel to work with me in Kibera. With a quiet and gentle spirit, Kurea has been a blessing to our family and our ministry in Kibera. Here he’s posing beside a traditional hut like his ancestors the Meru people used (before Kurea’s time). Kurea chose the “Marriage Hut” because he will be married in early September of this year.

Joining the Over 50 club

Kenya is a young country. The average life expectancy here is 47. So when they say that I’m now over the hill, what can I say. The fact that all the old age jokes sound more like reality than fiction just make them all the more funnier. As Paul Simon sang, “Still crazy after all these years.”

Growing Good Things in the Slums

Gardens are springing up all over the slums largely inside these large grain sacks. There may not be much room to grow a significant amount of food in the slums, but I think such projects are good for the soul and every little bit helps.

Bearing one another's burdens

I met Enoch about 6 months ago and was amazed at his courage, raising 4 children on his own with little help from the community after his wife died. Enoch succumbed to AIDS just a week ago. He was a gentle and humble pastor in Kibera. AIDS is claiming the lives of some very precious people and leaving many homeless children in its wake.

Bling Bling Jesus

These are the young men from a church we effectionately call “Bling Bling” a name given to one of the businesses run by one of these young men. Bling Bling is a popular slang phrase that desribes people who where big flashy jewelry. Bling Bling is a moving business that transports all sorts of things about the slums and backroads of the city by hand pulled carts. Bolo Job, second from the left has no parents and has essentially raised himself. His brothers in this emerging church are his only real family and they are real family.

Ni Barka Church -- "The Church is a blessing"

When this bike passed me in the slum, I had to run behind until I could get this picture. When was the last time you saw a bumper sticker saying so much in so few words? “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.” Ephesians 1:22-23

When there is no doctor

We were required to read “Where there is no doctor” as we prepared for mission service. Actually we could have taken Josiah over the mountain to a doctor to have his cast removed. But as we considered the difficult journey and the huge crowds with whom we’d have to wait to see a doctor. How eager Josiah was to be free. Well, one thing led to another and we just took it off. He’s doing fine and we are comforted to see him much more careful these days – at least for now!

Children of Abraham

Many of the faithful in Nairobi, gather beneath tents, all over the city each Sunday. True children of Abraham! Our family has been blessed in many unexpected ways through the ministries of Nairobi Chapel. Timothy will be going through a “Rite of Passage” called “ROPES” as he enters his 13 year. Debra and the children are engaged weekly by the effective relevant teaching. Pastor Oscar has been a great strength to Rick, guiding him and helping him to organize for greater effectiveness in ministry as he participates with the staff and works with Oscar to develop outreach strategies to Kibera.

Africn engineering says "Never Die"

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Family Retreat Refuge

We found a cottage near Lake Naivasha that charges about $15 a day. Run by a kindly retired MD, a Kenyan of British decent. We visit here often – it’s our retreat home away from the city. We talk to the animals, Flamingos, giraffe, zebra, hippo, gazelle, monkeys, antelope, storks, vultures… yes its Noah’s back yard!

The peep found a peep

Bethany’s gone native. But not for long. She found braided hair a bit painful. Women the world over suffer for beauty’s sake!

Blessings from a Rock

On the edge of Kibera is a small very toxic stream because it receives the sewage from the slums. Yet out of such a stream comes a prayer of profound blessing! Kibera is often like that.

Acrobats in Kibera

These boys can flip and twist and flip into a hard clay pit. I was amazed at their agility, courage, and vitality. The children of Kibera are as talented and diverse as you’d find in any city of one million people.

Wilson Onyango - Our partner in Kibera

Wilson visited The Family Church in Gainesville Florida recently, representing our ministry in Kibera. He’s the pastor on the left in this picture. Wilson grew up in the slums, has returned with his German born wife, Karen, to work in mission in the slums. He is proving to be a valuable partner to us.

Where has the basement gone?

A member of Pastor Frank’s church (our partners) in Kibera lost the floor of his bedroom one night as flood waters washed the ground out from underneath his home. Fortunately no one fell through and the family moved into the living room. Most homes in kibera have only one room.

Kibera Pastor's Fellowship

These pastors who work in some of the poorest parts of Kibera have become dear friends to me. We have helped establish about half a dozen cell groups that help pastors who have little or no denominational support. These pastors call me "teacher" – but I believe they are my teacher.

Busy Youth Baptism

We baptized 16 ex gangsters recently. One of these young men is helping me baptize a boy from our partner’s church Nairobi Believer’s Mission pastored by Frank Nyemeche. The “Busy Youth” as they call themselves are becoming a church. We meet Sunday and Thursday afternoons. They range in age from 15 to 35 – all young men.