First of all, thank you for all of you who have been praying for us and for the country of Kenya during this time. Since our last email we have been so encouraged and blessed by your emails to us. It’s good to know when we click “Send” it doesn’t just go out into the vacuum of space, but that people are actively following what is going on and praying along with us. Thank you! Secondly, sorry for the long email, we’ve been trying to keep these things short but we have had so many things happen in the past 30 days we needed to tell you about.

Things were pretty tense at the beginning of January, and have fluctuated wildly since then. Threats of riots, sounds of gunfire, and constant visitors to our door from Kibera remind us that this situation is far from over. A lot of forgiveness will need to happen first, and that is a supernatural act that can only come from Christ and his power to transform minds and humble hearts. AIM is continuing to monitor the situation for the safety of all of its’ missionaries in Kenya and we still feel confident in their experience, judgment, and guidance for us during this time.

Lining up for food in Kibera

The Body of Christ in Action

Despite being in this difficult situation, we have been blessed and encouraged to see the body of Christ at work around us and through us. Many churches here have stepped up to the challenge to take care of the displaced and hungry and wounded.We had a unique opportunity to partner our sending church, Dulles Community, with a church in Kibera that was housing 300 refugees but had no way to feed them. At the time Kibera was (and still is, depending on the day and the violence) a very desperate place, because food vendors had been looted and chased out of town (or killed) and it became very expensive and dangerous even to possess food. Dulles Community was ready to give, willing to share (1 Tim 6:18) and provided 3 meals a day for those 300 people for 2 weeks during the most desperate time. We were just blessed to have been a part of connecting the body of Christ to each other.

We have also realized that the greatest way we can make an impact here is to help those whom God puts us in contact with. We have people at our door everyday who are hungry and in need. It has been our goal to give out food to anyone who needs it – as there have been people across the country without consistent food for the past month. Also, just today we were able to help out some Kenyan friends – he was in western Kenya and unable to get home to Nairobi, as there are no buses running right now. We were able to connect him with an AIM AIR plane that was landing nearby and he is home now safe and sound with his family. It’s things like that which help us to know we are here for a reason.

Ministry

AIM AIR Cessna Caravan

The On Field Media team has been busy as well, trying to cover the stories of God at work during this time. From the secular news media, people are left to wonder how a country with such a rich, lengthy Christian heritage could do this to itself. Our current mandate is to declare God’s glory, and get out the stories of how lives transformed by Christ cause people to go against the status quo and embrace fellow Kenyans across tribal lines. Recently we have been in Kibera and in Western Kenya with AIM AIR relief efforts. Click here for more photos from these trips.

Last weekend Lesa spent 3 days at the annual AIM Ladies’ retreat with 70 other women. Since we shipped a portable sound system with us to Africa, she volunteered to run sound for the event, as well as taught 2 workshops on “breathing new life into your daily quiet time.”

Lesa has been serving in a new role at AIM this month, also. She has been helping out with Short-Term missionaries (here for less than one year) who are here to serve within International Services (our division of AIM). Many of these are pilots, mechanics, counselors and their families. She had a group of four new people come two weeks ago and enjoyed organizing their orientation and getting them settled into life here. We have started a Short-Termers’ Fellowship at our house every other week for worship, training, and fun for all short-term missionaries in Interational Services.

Avery’s arm

Last Tuesday night we were having supper at a friend’s house, and joking about how Robbie had broken his arm once, Avery twice, and Andy three times. The very next day Avery tied his dad, and is well on his way to breaking the record at this pace! He and Robbie were jumping off the swings at the playground at Tumaini, and apparently Avery must have won the contest.

In Kenya, getting treated for a broken arm is very different than in the US. We had to pay for everything in cash ahead of time, and it involved Avery having to go by himself to the “operating theatre”, and spending the night in the hospital with Lesa by his side. All told it was about an 18 hour stay in the hospital, and I think it might have slowed Avery down for a day.

Sydney

Sydney’s surgery and trip to US

For those of you who have kept up with our blog, it may not come as a surprise to hear Lesa and Sydney will be back in the US by this Friday night. And for the rest of you… surprise!

We knew before we came here that Sydney would need eye surgery at some point to correct her eye condition, strabismus. We had seen several doctors in the US before coming here, and had some recommendations. We were able to follow up here in Nairobi with another highly recommended expert in ophthamology who concurred that waiting till our next furlough (summer 2009) could cause permanent vision problems. We decided that Lesa would take Sydney, leaving Andy and the boys at home, so they could continue to work and to attend school.

They will be in the Dulles (VA) area the weekends of the 3rd and the 17th, and will be in Kansas with Lesa’s family in between for the surgery and recovery. They are looking forward to connecting with many of you in these places, visiting Dulles Community Church, and having some special time with Lesa’s family.

Vehicle fund

Our Land Rover?

We have been praying for the right opportunity to purchase a vehicle that is a better fit for our family’s personal and ministry needs. Our current vehicle is a station wagon that seats 5 and we need to drive more people around than just our family when we have visitors and when Lesa is driving around new Short-Term missionaries. We also needed a vehicle to drive outside of Nairobi, where the roads are REALLY bad – an SUV that is made for the type of roads you find in Africa. A vehicle has become available for us to purchase – our friends are willing to sell us their old Land Rover (you can see us with it on our little safari in pictures on our website). It can seat almost double what our current car can seat! We would like to purchase it as a second vehicle, to only use when needed, as our station wagon gets great gas mileage and is much better suited for city driving. In order to get it, we need to raise $7,000 for the purchase and necessary repairs by the end of February. If you would like to give to our vehicle fund, click here. Type in our name, select “project” and enter “Vehicle” as the project name.

Prayer requests

• Please pray for the still volatile situation here across Kenya, for our new Kenyan friends who are all affected by this, for the Kenyan church that it would be a light in this darkness, and for the leaders who need to come to a solution quickly. Thousands of Kenyans have lost possessions, homes, and loved ones in this senseless violence.
• Please pray for safe travel for Lesa and Sydney, for a successful surgery and recovery for Sydney, and for the guys and they stay in Nairobi for 20 days without Mom.
• Please pray for our family and other missionaries as this past month has been extremely stressful. All of the missionaries are feeling the strain of grieving the loss of this once peaceful country, concern for the Kenyan friends, and concern for their own family’s safety.
• Please pray for our ministries here – OFM, Short-Term missionaries, and our efforts to help our Kenyan friends and neighbors – that they would be able to continue, to bless others, and to bring glory to God.

In closing

Wow… sorry again for the long email. We just had so many things in the past month we had to talk about, and many more that didn’t fit on the page. We just wanted to close with saying despite the situation here, we are confident God has us (and other missionaries) here because we are needed. Maybe the things we are needed for are not part of our official assignment with the organization, but we feel confident that when times are tough, that is exactly when we are needed here the most. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be here and serve this country.

In Christ’s love,

Andy, Lesa, Robbie, Avery, Sydney

Politically, as you have probably heard, attempts are being made at mediation between the two parties.  There has still been some violence in different parts of the country, but mostly now everyone is realizing what terrible consequences they must face now.  The tragic part of it is that the consequences are being paid by innocent by-standers – women, children, and peaceful people who have lost possessions, homes, jobs, schools, churches, etc.  Many will not be able to return to the areas where their families have lived for generations because of tribal conflicts.

Andy is going on an AIM AIR flight tomorrow to Kisumu, one of the most affected areas in Kenya.  The plane will be taking three trips, carrying food and supplies to one of the camps there filled with those who are displaced.  He will be doing photography and videos for AIM.

For our family, life is slowly returning to “normal”.  Though it is a new normal for us because we are in a new house, which we very much enjoy.  We are so grateful for what we have – safety, food, and a loving community here and at home.  The boys start school next Tuesday and Andy has been glad to get back to work this week.

As we said in our last blog, we have been blessed to partner with a church in Kibera feeding 250+ people who are living there – through the generosity of one of our sending churches, Dulles Community.  Today we had the opportunity to go and visit the Kibera church and greet the pastor.  We were amazed to find that there have been 3 babies born there, at the church, in the past week!  It is truly amazing how God has provided for these people.  We don’t feel that we made it happen as much as we feel used by God – a small part of His plan to provide for His people.  The church will be able to provide 3 meals a day for a total of 2 weeks for those staying at the church (around 300) and those who come to the gates for a meal.

What is so heartbreaking is that most of the people have lost everything.  You can see the confusion and sorrow on their faces about what they will do next and how will life ever return to “normal” for them?  Most living on less than $1 a day, they have lost items they may have worked a long time for – a radio, a bed – all burned or stolen.  We are so glad that these meals could be a beacon of light in this otherwise dark time.  We were also so glad to meet them face to face and hear their stories.

This was Andy’s second time in Kibera and Lesa’s first.  It is an experience like no other – smells and sights you will not forget for a lifetime.  And all through it, we shared the same feeling that this is what it is all about. This is why we are here – so much need, both physically and spiritually.  This is the Africa that compelled us to come here.

For some reason, in Kibera, more than other parts of Nairobi, we find our hearts drawn towards the people.  How we wish we could somehow solve all of their problems.  We’re sure they wish we could, too – as they see us walk by, the only white faces they will see all day long, we represent the resources they wish they had.

We don’t have the answers to how they will replace their homes and belongings, or how they will survive the hatred of another tribe – but we do know a God who wants to give their hearts peace and hope and who wants to share with them an eternity of all they wish for.  Let us all continue to pray for the people of Kibera, of Kenya, and all of Africa – that they would know the true King and place their trust in Him alone.

We love you all.  Thank you again for your prayers and e-mails.  They have made all the difference in the world to us the past couple of weeks.

We proposed to them sponsoring a Kibera church with whom we have a relationship through some Kenyan friends (James & Truphena) by helping this church to feed the >250 people who are sleeping on the floor there. We were blown away by DCC’s quickness to respond and their generosity in wanting to being involved.

We’ve been working on the details of this project for a few days, and today it all came together. Below are portions from our email to the DCC mission committee we sent earlier this afternoon.

Our hearts are overflowing right now as we just returned from the grocery store and have successfully been able to hand over the first bunch of vouchers to the church. Please forgive us for this very long e-mail, we just have a lot to say! We want to tell you what transpired today and how God opened the doors – to give Him all the glory for His constant provision for His people.This morning, when we got up, we checked the news and found out that the opposition party is planning to rally every day until Kibaki steps down. This made things look pretty grim from our point of view. We were set for yet another day of “lock down” status with AIM. Starting pretty early, our doorbell began ringing, also. People whom we know – those who come to our door occasionally for money or food – were all coming today, desperate for food. We were out of items that we could give and felt very down that we were still not allowed to leave our house. Then we heard that the grocery store (Uchumi) wasn’t even open and that James had to work today, so he was unavailable. We began praying that God would open doors so that we would still be able to make everything work today – so that the people could have a meal by the end of the day.

Truphena came over, and as we talked with her about the dilemma, we were able to flesh out our thoughts about what would be the best plan of action, when and if we were able to go to Uchumi. We finally decided to recommend to the Kibera church that, instead of giving individual families a voucher for Uchumi, that the church should prepare food for the people staying there to all eat together. This would be the best way to make the money last for a long time. We talked to James and he decided, since he had to work, that Truphena should go to the church herself and assess the situation and speak with the pastor and those in leadership.

Truphena left and, not long afterwards, we received notice that our travel ban was lifted and we could go out of the house! We also heard that someone had been to Uchumi and there was plenty of food there! Truphena contacted us a while later and I was able to talk with the senior pastor of the church on the phone. He said how timely this gift is because there are 250 people staying in the church right now and all, including children, are very hungry. He said this is what will help carry them through the ordeal. He agreed that the food should be prepared and served in an organized fashion by the church. I asked them to give us the figures for exactly how much per day would it take to feed all of these people. They got back to us with the figures and after doing the math, we realized that DCC will be feeding 250 people 3 meals per day for 2 weeks!! Is that amazing or what!?

As I was standing there at Uchumi, waiting for them to arrive, I was overwhelmed by the wonder of God’s hand in this. I have never felt more like DCC in Africa – we are living out the vision that the elders had two years ago when we started down the road towards missions. That DCC would have its members spread out across the world, doing the Lord’s work.

I don’t know if you all remember the dream I had when we were praying about going into missions. In the dream, I was in a hospital or something in Africa, and people were dying there of AIDS. Then the scene changed to my grandmother’s house (!?) and there were dying Africans all over her yard and porch. I thought they were dead and I was extremely sad, then I saw one of their eyes open, and I realized that they were all alive and needed my help. I ran inside and was rummaging through the cupboards, trying to find something to give them. I opened the freezer and saw all of the food I had stored in there, and thought, “why is it that the Brown’s have so much and they have so little?” Then my boys came in and got a glass out of the cabinet and said, “Mom, all you need to do is give them a glass of water!” Ever since that dream, I’ve been trying to see what “glass of water” God wants me to give them.

In Mark 9:41, Jesus is speaking to His disciples when He says, “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” This is what DCC has done in helping out this church in Kibera and what it has done for us in supporting us in our ministry here. Thank you so much for reaching out to these people at this time. The mood is truly one of despair amongst the entire community of Kibera. It is sometimes a fine line to walk with giving to those in need here, and still allowing them to keep their dignity. I feel we have been able to do this, by giving the ability to the church to feed its own people. With no “wazungu” (white people) in the middle of it in Kibera. Also, with the Kenyan church doing the giving, it will not create a reliance on an outside source of aid for the individual families. This will help to get them through this time and then they will be able to continue on with their lives as before, or so we pray.

Speaking of prayer, please be in prayer for the safety of those purchasing and transporting the food – that they will not be mobbed. Please also pray for the security of the church building itself. Last night it was almost attacked and burned. The pastor called James and he was able to locate a security officer to diffuse the problem. This is actually a big church, come to find out. It has a school for children, a college for teachers, and an orphanage, among other ministries. This is a big building and the church has an extensive outreach to the Kibera community. Please pray that the church will be safe – both its people and the building. Also, please pray that we will be able to return to get the rest of the money and vouchers over the next two days. Please also pray that this all remains confidential, that our house will not be targeted or any other person because of this ministry.

First, we want to thank you all for your prayers and your notes of encouragement.  We have truly felt your love holding us up here.  It has made this all much more manageable and less stressful to feel so connected to you.

UPDATE

Just a quick update on life here in Nairobi today.  We were all set for everything to fall apart – and it really didn’t (at least from where we are at).  We were told to be ready to evacuate, if the situation called for it.  So we spent the day finishing up all of our packing and deciding what we really couldn’t leave behind.  The plan would be to drive to a safe place outside of the country.

However, the rally that was set to occur was thwarted by police.  We could hear activity not far away, as the police were shutting down the advance of the protesters towards the city center.  Even though the protesters were actually making an effort to be peaceful, the government canceled the rally.  The rally is set to occur again on January 8th.

We don’t think that everything is cleared up, by any means.  We continue to ask for prayer for this situation.  Specifically now that the international community will be able to successfully influence the leaders here and that those committing violence will see that it will not change anything and in fact is hurting their county.

We had a bit of a change tonight.  We were able to join the other missionaries in our neighborhood for an impromptu cookout.  It was so wonderful and relaxing to be out of our house and with other people.  It was truly a blessing.

Some good friends of ours (next door neighbors), Steve and Jamie, have been over a lot, hanging out.  We want to lift Steve up in prayer, also, as he has been a part of an AIM AIR evacuation of Kenyan refugees from Eldoret.  For two days, he has been the person choosing who will get to get on the plane and who stays behind.  It has been a difficult job for him.  We are so grateful for our AIM AIR friends who are risking a lot to continue their work during this crisis.

FOOD FOR KIBERA PEOPLE

On a final note, we are working with a Kibera church here and our home church in Virginia to organize a way to get food into the Kibera slums, to the people that are displaced and sleeping in the church.  The people in Kibera have no way to get food right now.  Many have gone without any food for several days.  This is quickly turning into a humanitarian crisis, and we hope to make a small dent in it.  Please pray for the safety of the Kenyans we are working with, who will be getting the food to the people – this will not be safe for them.  Please pray for wisdom as they decide the best way to proceed.

WE MADE IT!! We got our financial clearance from AIM yesterday and we are on our way to Kenya at the end of June! God has been in the middle of this whole thing – we basically just sat back and watched. The other highlight of this past month was our Commissioning Service at Dulles Community Church, where we have been on staff for the past almost 5 years. It was such a beautiful time where we really got to see the body of Christ in action as the local church sent out its own to serve.

As we write this, we are about 3 hours outside of Virginia, driving to Ohio – the first stop on our June tour of the country! Here’s our travel schedule, in case anyone wants to pop in to see us when we are out your way:

May 31 – June 2: Cedarville, OH at Grandma Stormont’s

June 2 – 9: Aledo, IL at Andy’s parents (we will be getting away to Chicago from the 5th – 8th for our 10th anniversary)

June 10 (am): Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church, Kansas City, MO. We will be speaking specifically at the 9:15 service about our upcoming ministry in Africa

June 10-20: Hutchinson, KS at Lesa’s parents’

June 20 – 22: Kansas City (Robbie wil be attending camp at Heartland while we spend time seeing friends in KC)

June 22-27: Aledo, Illinois

June 27 – 29: Pearl River, NY at AIM headquarters to meet up with the other new missionaries who will travel with us to Africa

Once we get to Kenya, we have a very exciting schedule, too. We will be staying at a guest house for a week to rest and acclimate to the time change. Then we will be at Africa-Based Orientation school for 3 weeks in Machakos, Kenya. There the whole family will be trained and prepared for our new life and ministry. Then we will go to stay with a Kenyan family in their home for a few weeks (not sure how long exactly). This is where we will really get to know how Africans live and experience the culture first-hand. FINALLY, after all of this, we will get to settle into our new home in Nairobi. Hopefully, our shipment of stuff will have arrived and we can finally have a place to call “home” again.

At this point, we are actually OVER our monthly pledge target (106%). This is perfect for many reasons. The extra monthly money goes into our “work funds” account, which will serve as a safety net should we dip low on any given month in our monthly support. We can also pull money from this account for ministry expenses, so we’re not spending our salary on video tapes and camera lenses! Also, our hope is that we could use this money for possible travel to lead worship at missionary conferences and such. We thank you all for how much you helped to make this happen. It is so crazy that God has so clearly made this happen – it makes us really wonder what He has in store for us over there!

We have also raised money for some vital equipment necessary for Andy to function on the media team and for us to lead worship at events. We are still hoping to take a few more items with us for the media team, such as more camera equipment, recording equipment, and software. If you are interested in making a donation towards this equipment, the easiest way is to go to the AIM website at www.aimint.org. This donation should be towards the project named, “Andy and Lesa Brown Media Equipment.” You can also make other donations there and/or join our monthly support team.

If you sent in a pledge card and/or a check to us and you have not yet received something in the mail from AIM, could you please send us an e-mail and let us know? We are trying to iron out a few details with AIM this month and want to make sure everyone is set up with AIM for receipts and monthly pledges.

We’ll keep the website up to date throughout the next 2 months and probably send out another e-mail sometime later in the summer when we are in Kenya. We love you all and thank you for all of your help and support! LOOK OUT AFRICA, HERE WE COME!