A trip to Hope Center Kenya is different for every traveler, and it is different every time you return. However there is one constant. As our travelers walk through Kawangware slum, there are few words that describe it better than darkness. Yet, as they leave the slums and walk up the path to Hope Center, lightness is all that can be seen, a light of HOPE. The most recent trip to Kenya was a first for so many of us at World Hope. The first time to Hope center for many of our travelers, first time with such a large group, the first time bringing a Chiropractor to one of our medical clinics, and the first time having our partner band Cloverton join us. With so many travelers, a record 42, sacrificing time, talents, and finances to work on a medical clinic, construction projects, and teacher workshops this trip was successful beyond our wildest dreams.
The Medical clinic saw a record number of patients, nearly 1000. However our VIP guests at this year’s clinic were our Hope Academy students. At the opening of our clinic all 385 students of Hope Academy received a full physical. Something our students in the states may take for granted, needing at the beginning of each school year. The student’s pictures were documented, height and weights were recorded, an ophthalmologist checked their eyes, and then they were seen by a doctor, all of which was recorded into a new permanent file for each student. Not only was this much needed for the school, but also seeing these joyful, amazing, healthy, students was precisely the best way to kick off our clinic. The next two days the clinic continued, the days were long, the work was both mentally and physically taxing, and some of the stories were sad enough to move our travelers to tears. However there were many moments of joy these days. Moments of sharing the gospel, where over 75 people were saved over the entirety of the clinic and moments of breakthrough as simple medical problems were properly diagnosed, and patients left knowing there was hope.
Another first for this trip was the first time seeing the Hope center for many of us in over a year. It is amazing all the wonderful changes being made. Right in the middle of the medical clinic we had a team of men both travelers and Kenyans working side by side to complete the next phase of the Hope Center. Stones were cut and fit and concrete was poured to complete the columns around the perimeter of the Hope Center up to the second level. This is one of those thankless jobs that has to be recognized, the work of the construction team was irreplaceable.
Another huge first for this trip was the joining of two schools. Orlando Christian Prep, an Orlando based Christian School, who have been long time partners with World Hope, sent 13 members of faculty and staff to Kenya on the trip. Their goal was to partner with Hope Academy, having seasoned teachers offer some workshops, and support, and allowing members of the administration staff to work with their Kenyan counterparts. However the real partnership came between the teachers outside of the classroom as much as in. The staff of Orlando Christian Prep were overwhelmed with a since of love for the work the teachers in Kenya are doing. Seeing teachers give all they had to the students of Hope Academy moved them to bless the school with an abundance of much needed resources. One of the teachers of Orlando Christian Prep fought the sounds of joyful cries from the student body, to narrate the parade of travelers walking through the courtyard of Hope Academy, bringing boxes bags and armfuls of gifts. It was something that moved even those of us who have been to Hope Center a dozen times over the last 10 years. Then as the students respectfully gained their composure and took their seats, it was announces that the blessings would continue, with new Hope Academy pull-overs for all the students who’s were worn and tattered, and new socks for every single student. It is a moment none of us will soon forget.
We began our trip in Kawangware slum, a place of sadness and despair, a place where amazing people live, and struggle to find more. We ended our trip at Hope Center among people who are filled with Hope. As we literally lived out the analogy between dark and light, our travelers truly got it. They understood World Hope’s vision and partnered with us in seeing it to fruition. There is a sad reality about Kawangware and that is that many there have no hope. However with that reality comes a great a mighty truth, without that slum there would be no Hope Center Kenya. A place so abounding with hope it seeps from the walls, and is heard across the fields in laughter and love. It exudes from Hope Church and Hope Academy. Hope is Alive in Kenya and Hope is alive at Hope Center.