Gachie center opens!

Today I had the privilege of attending a special "launching" service at Deliverance Church of Gachie in honor of the CARE for AIDS center that will officially open its doors tomorrow! We are so excited for our 6th center to kick off, and we would all love your prayers as things get up and running.

Gachie is a community on the outskirts of Nairobi with high levels of poverty and HIV/AIDS infection. It is a unique community, because it is home for a diverse group of people, with several tribes represented in near-equal levels. This tribal mixing is a rarity after the post-election violence in early 2008, which saw many people in Kenya returning to their traditional tribal homelands. It is refreshing to see this kind of diversity in a church, though, and several different tribes are well-represented at Deliverance Church, which reflects the welcoming spirit that pervades the church body and will hopefully make for a congregation that radically embraces people living with HIV/AIDS.

In addition to announcing the opening of the center at Gachie, I wanted to introduce you all to our newest CARE for AIDS's center workers. After interviewing quite a few applicants a couple of weeks ago, we settled on John and Sarah as the center workers for Gachie. John is married with three daughters, and he quickly established in his first staff meeting with the whole team on Saturday that he can be quite the joker - his impressions of Kenyan politicians had the whole room doubled over with laughter! In his introduction to the team John told us, "I have had this desire in my heart - to bring people who are down and bring them hope," and we pray that John would be strengthened in his efforts to do exactly that on a daily basis with CFA.

Sarah is also married and has two daughters of her own. She has an absolutely infection smile which, in the words of Kevin, "stretches from Kampala to Mombasa" - the whole width of Kenya! Sarah is incredibly thankful for the chance to work with this ministry, and she truly has a heart that desires to teach and encourage people living with HIV/AIDS. She told us all on Saturday, "I am so happy to be here with all of you, and though I am just meeting you, I already love all of you." We praise God for bringing Sarah - along with her enthusiasm and joy - to the CFA team!

Please join me in praying for John and Sarah, as well as the rest of the church committee and leadership team of Deliverance Church (pictured below), as they start the CFA center in Gachie this week. Pray that they would get in touch with all of the most needy people in the community, and pray that God would give them courage, strength, compassion, wisdom, and joy in every minute of their work these first months when they seek out people who truly need help. Thank you for your prayers - I look forward to soon sharing with you about how God will move through the CARE for AIDS center in Gachie!