Global Mind: Friends in Kenya (3)

Here is another story from a friend of the Crossing in Kenya:

Matayo’s (Kenyan translation of Matthew) comes from one of many broken families in Kenya. His father became an alcoholic after loosing a good government job as an accountant. Matayo’s father was blamed for the embezzlement done by more powerful men from a more favored tribe. This is a common tale especially among less favored tribal groups who suffer accusations & suspicion due to Kenya’s lingering tribalism. When Matayo’s family became destitute, his parents took the kids back to their home area, far away from Nairobi. In the busy street market of this distant city, the father sent the kids on errands to get a few small things. While the kids were busy and dispersed, he pushed their mother onto a bus and left them all behind. (Matayo learned this part of the story many years later when he was able to locate his mom & his still very drunken father. He says their life is terrible & he would not want to have to live with them. He has pity on them & has forgiven them for what they did. He also took his youngest sister from them because she was not getting educated & was mistreated.) When they were abandoned the kids were very young (ages 3-14 years old). They thought their parents accidentally got separated from them and must surely be searching for them. Fearful and without resources, the kids searched the town in vain. Thus began their struggle to survive. The oldest brother died not long after their abandonment, leaving them grief-stricken & less protected. Eventually, they begged their way back to Nairobi, the only place they knew to look for their parents. Since they found no trace of their parents, they lived in the streets of the slums, begging, eating trash & scattering to survive however they could. Eventually, one brother got a small job delivering cans of water. He was given a little food & a corner where he could sleep. Since he was no longer transient, he became their point of connection, a place to check-in and hear news about one another.

Matayo’s path of survival led to joining a street gang. He doesn’t talk much about the gang but he says, “You would never want to be near such things. We were terrible.” During his time on the streets, he earned the nickname, Tati, which means boxer or fighter. Eventually, Matayo heard the gospel through missionaries. He was taken in by them and he began to have a better life & education & worked his way up in their ministry program. But like the seeds in the parable that fell among thorns, the gospel message was choked in him & he was persuaded by his gang brothers to betray the trust of the missionaries & return to gang life. Accused of being an accessory to crimes the gang perpetrated, Matayo spent time in prison. His time in prison brought home to him how much he needed God. He repented & sought forgiveness putting his hope again in Christ. When he was released He praised God for working on his behalf but still his walk of faith was sporadic and disjointed with much contradiction remaining in his life. Through the help of different missionaries he was given a second chance & was able to gain entrance into college. On campus, he came into contact with a group of sincere Christians. He grew greatly in the Lord through his friendship with them & their Bible studies. As he got into deeper friendship with these believers & grew spiritually, he became involved with New City Fellowship church. Now he helps with their youth and soccer programs. As his faith has grown his burden to help his family has also grown. Most of Matayo’s siblings suffer deeply from mental illness & addiction. Some are incarcerated for stealing & prostitution. He has only two brothers who are able to work & who take care of their families. Matayo now helps his nearest brother care for the teenage sister he brought away from his parents’ farm. They had her attending school until she became pregnant last year. Now she & her baby live with the brother’s family. Matayo also helps them support & educate the abandoned kids of another brother who is abusive, mentally ill & addicted. Matayo is thankful to be able to rescue them so they won’t go through what he faced on the streets. He sees this as part of God’s blessing of his life. Whether sharing a new bit of understanding about a passage of scripture or dividing his meager funds to provide for someone else’s tuition or shoes, everything Matayo gains he passes on to his family members. He has also become an eager volunteer helping with orphanage & school projects funded by members of The Crossing.

Matayo is a growing follower of Christ. His family experienced much trauma during the recent post election violence. During the riots, Matayo’s brother was badly injured in a machete attack while defending his family & preventing them from being burned alive inside their slum dwelling. Matayo got a call about their peril & walked far from his small college room, around the violence in downtown to reach his suffering family members. Then, he carried the small children as the family carefully made their way back through the violence convulsed city to his place. All in all, 12 of them stayed in his small place for several weeks. They did not have adequate water or toilets for so many but at least his place was in a safer neighborhood near campus and they all survived. Matayo was able to help his family because he has been helped by members of The Crossing. Matayo lives sacrificially so he can share with his family and keep the young ones in school. He does this because he knows he’s been brought up from the lowest place by the love & grace of the Lord. He readily confesses it is not because he is worthy that God has shown him grace.

Matayo in his own words from recent emails:
Early January (2008): “Over here it has not been a happy new year for Kenyans. Things have been so bad there has been blood shed everywhere. One of my brothers had been cut on the head several times, but he is doing fine. I had to go and get the rest of my family from [the slum] and bring them to my place. They called me and told me that they were surrounded by a mob that was burning houses in the slums. It was a very horrible experience for them, were it not for my injured brother they would have been burnt in the house. But I thank God for protecting them. I went and took all of them out. They are at my place at the moment. It is safe there compared to [the slums.] Now I have 12 people in that small house of mine. We hope and pray that things will become calm. The past 5 days have been so terrible for everyone here. Please pray for Kenya that God’s will prevails.”

Middle January: “Over here things are a little bit tense at the moment. I have been struggling the past few weeks trying to maintain a big family at my house. I thank God that somehow I managed and also I thank God for [missionary friends] who were there for me. They really helped me through prayer and everything else. It was a very difficult and trying moment for us here, things are turning back to normal and we are praying that God will see Kenya through these trying moments. We have already opened College but I have not yet reported back, as I am very down at the moment in every way. I have also found a new school for my sister she will be joining soon and continue with where she left before she got pregnant. This has also exhausted every penny I had.”

Early February: “It is good to know that God is taking care of me because sometimes things seem to be very difficult, especially when almost everyone in my family looks at me in times of trouble. These past few days have been so hard but it is good to trust in God. I am still learning how faithful God is every passing day. My family went back to my brother's place and I have already resumed back to college. My brother is getting well, the wounds are drying and he can work. Their place is peaceful at the moment but there is still some tension and people are yet to recover from the trauma. [A member of The Crossing] has passed on some cash to help us live this month, I am so thankful and may God bless you all in every way. I sincerely don’t know how to express my joy. I am also very happy that some of the cash I have been saving has helped me put my sister back to school. These are miracles that God is doing to me. My sister has been doing well & her baby is also fine. She is 4months old now... God bless you so much and may he keep you well.”