a people of hope

living amongst poverty is so wrenching. hunger is everywhere here. there are areas of large slums in nairob. marthari valley is one of the biggest. it is near where i am staying. there is really no official way to count all the people that live there, but they say there are anywhere from 500,000 to 700,000 people living in about 3 miles! imagine that large amount of people jammed into that tiny piece of land. the number is insane. as you drive through this community tons of people are walking on every side of your vehicle, close enough to reach out the window and touch them. goats and cattle huddle in groups here and there. sometimes they get confused and freeze right in the middle of the road. its quite comical…but then you look and see dark, skinny faces starring back at you. their brown eyes are so beckoning. needing hope. houses are made of old scraps of tin. most of the tin displaying some sort of past advertisement. most likely taken from broken down buildings. it looks as if these homes are put together, one on top of another. they are so close. the streets are dirt. during the rainy season they say that the mud flows through the roads. trash is everywhere. kenya does not have a “no littering” policy like america. there are carts and carts lining the streets. most selling vegetables and fruits to passerby’s. dozens of people sitting around watching cars go by. children playing tag with one another. women talking with women. people bartering and people waiting for local buses (called matatu’s) to stop. these people are so desperate for something more. i wonder if they sense something deeper than just the deprived life they have lived for so long. i was talking with Jesus about this, He made me realize that there is nothing that would turn Him away from these people. these people with dirty hands and feet, these people who have virtually nothing, these people who’s souls cost Him His life. just as He died for the rich, He has died for the poor. He has loved us all the same. my mind explodes with this reality. He gave His all. a library could not hold all the reasons for Him to stop loving me. yet Jesus keeps on loving. and He lets us know day by day just how much He wants us. i wonder how many of those people can feel the Lord pulling at their hearts. how many of them have yet to hear of His incredible, unending love? deep inside i know they search for something real, something to save them. we all do. these lives are so valuable to the kingdom of heaven. our Lord has planned a future for them. a plan of hope. a plan that leads to places of truth and everlasting life. oh what a sweet chapter of love and hope awaits people who have nothing. whether they have an abundance of wealth or two pennies. it is a heart thing. for the desolate hearts. this is a promise from our faithful God, our faithful Father. He is mighty to save. He is so in love with the unlovable. He is the creator of galaxies and father to the fatherless…He beckons us to Hisself. come and listen. from isaiah 55 -

¹ “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

² Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

³ Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,

my faithful love promised to David…

12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

¹³ Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
which will not be destroyed.”