Lizzy Fort traveled to Kenya this summer on an IWC project. This is her story of what God did while she was there.

I can’t believe it’s almost been a month since I went to Kenya.  The faces of the African people are still so fresh in my mind because seeing them and hearing their stories changed my life.  God is doing an amazing work in the lives of so many there and I was so blessed to be a part of it.  I’m writing this letter, not to tell you what I or our team did, but to tell you what our powerful and loving God did in my life and in the lives of so many Kenyans.   

For the first part of the trip, we were in western Kenya, going into a different village each day to build a new house for a widow. People from the community would come help build the house, which was just a small mud hut with a tin roof. The widows’ old houses were crumbling down, with huge gaping holes in the sides of the walls and the roof was made of thatch that was caving in. Thanks to God’s grace, 12 widows with children now have new homes that will provide shelter from the rain.  God is so faithful!  Each day after building the house, we would hold a dedication service in the new home, praying over the family and sharing our testimonies.  One widow I remember so clearly.  She told us that she had been praying for years for a new home for her and her children and that she never could’ve imagined that God would bring it all the way from America.  She said she was so proud of her new home (which was smaller than my bedroom) and so thankful to God for providing it.  It blows my mind that God would hear the prayer of a widow in a small village in the middle of the bush in Africa and answer it using me, a seventeen year old girl in Richmond, Virginia, along with the rest of our team, and all the people who gave to support this trip.   

One day after we had finished working on one of the houses we were packing up to return to our hotel in Ahero when our team leader, Shem Okello, who is a local pastor from that area of Kenya, told us we had to stop somewhere before returning to our hotel.  It had been an exhausting day in the hot sun, but how could we turn down another chance for ministry?  We arrived at a small hut with crumbling mud walls and a caving-in thatch roof.  A young boy named Jeffery greeted us at the door, which was just a hole in the side of the mud wall.  Pastor Shem translated for us as he shared Jeffery’s story.  Jeffery’s father passed away a few years ago from what they think was HIV AIDs and his mother had died just the week before, probably from the same disease.  Her grave was covered with fresh dirt, and was about twenty yards away from the front of the house.  Jeffery is 9 years old and is now taking care of his 5 younger siblings, the youngest of whom is a 5 month old baby.  Our team sat in the hut, weeping as we listened to sweet Jeffery’s story.  The children had not eaten in 2 days, their bellies swollen because of malnutrition.  They were given a loaf of bread, which they devoured in only a few minutes.  The 2 year old sister sat in my lap as she dug for crumbs out of a pack of crackers.  None of the children had ever been to school because they could not afford school uniforms.  We prayed for the children and packed up to leave, feeling pretty helpless with the weight of this situation.  After we had left, our IWC leader, Rob Cain, told us that International World Changers was going to buy school uniforms, a condition for attending the local school, and materials for a new house for the orphans.  Our team will never be the same after having this experience in Africa.  We continue to pray for these children that one day they will know the grace of God that sent our team to their hut that day.

The last part of the trip, we drove back to Nairobi, which was about a seven hour drive, to paint a youth center in one of the largest slums.  The youth center was run by a local pastor and the purpose of it was to teach children, up to 8^th grade, vocational skills so they could work their way out of the slum.  The youth center also teaches the children about Christ and Christian values even though many of the students are Muslim.  The school is able to provide one meal a day for every student; it is usually the only meal they get.  It was such a blessing to see how God is working in this youth center. 

The last day we went to a church service in the slum.  The members of the church were people who live in the slum; people who have nothing.  Never have I seen such joy as I watched them sing and dance as they worshipped God.  We serve a mighty, loving God who does not forsake His children.  Because of God’s grace, 64 people were saved by the end of the trip.  Thank you so much for your prayers and support because God used it in so many ways!  Please continue to pray for Jeffery and his family and also for the widows who have new homes. 

Lizzy