22nd February
Dear family, friends, and supporters of the Soul Edge Girls!
Since returning from Turkana, February has turned out to be a busy month! We jumped right back into life in and around Kitale and have really seen God at work, both within our team and in the places we are working. Session wise we’ve been looking at leadership, communication, public speaking, women in leadership and identity. Our outreach and ministry has been really varied! We’ve helped with clothes distribution and prayer at a small slum community, continued to lead Saturday Kids Club at the Fireplace, and helped out with building a large chicken hut, aka “Chickingham Palace” to support Oscar, one of the Youth Apart team. Ali and Tanya preached on “loving God first” at church last weekend, we’ve had many great worship nights, we helped out with a music workshop audition day, we’re still teaching at the Kipsongo slum school twice a week, and the girls have even found time to get their hair braided African style! This past week we spent a very long 14 hour day out in the village of Bidii where there’s an orphanage being built…from dawn to long past dusk we raked, poked, and compressed 50 tonnes of concrete for the floor. It was an exhausting day but a lot of fun and so great to be able to serve in such a practical way. Last night we were also able to meet the house parents and the children who’ll be moving into the Bidii home which was really exciting.
It’s not been all work and no play, however…. Last week we spent the day out at Mount Elgon, hiking and exploring the bat caves which was a lot of fun! We also celebrated Hannah’s birthday with some birthday challenges and chocolate cake.
The week ahead is pretty exciting…teaching sessions include Grace, The Father Heart of God, and Spiritual Warfare. The girls are currently down in Kitale on a prophetic prayer treasure hunt, and later in the week we may be helping out again with construction at the Bidii plot.
There’s a lot that’s been going on, but one thing that’s really both challenged and blessed us as a team has been the slum at Kipsongo, where we’ve been teaching the bible classes in the school there. The last few weeks, however, we’ve also been into the slum to pray in the community. For this update, just wanted to share with you a journal update from my (Amy Williams’) experiences in the slum last Friday…
“ We wound our way down a few more streets deep into the slum and found ourselves being invited into someone’s home. The lady inside was called Esther, a beautiful older woman. Her face was lined and wrinkled with years of life….her face told the stories…this was a woman who had lived. But her face also showed pain; struggles and worries as well as physical pain. And so we prayed for Dad to release her from physical pain, fill her home with his presence, to protect her family and direct her steps. She opened her hands to heaven and received deeply from the Lord. As we finished praying, she held my hand and then embraced me tightly. As I pulled back, I looked into her eyes. They were alive and shining. You got lost in them. They were deep and they were pure and they lit up her tired and wrinkled face. As I looked into her eyes, my heart almost skipped a beat and my spirit stirred. I saw Jesus. In the midst of such brokenness and pain, there was Jesus. Where else would he be?”
Prayer points….for continued spiritual growth, boldness, and confidence for the team as we step out in faith….for God to challenge us through the teaching sessions….for guidance as we begin to plan our upcoming time in Uganda…for good health for the team.
Thank you for continuing support.
The Soul Edge Girls 2010
