My Friend's New Ferrari

The other night after a business meeting, a friend who was a participant took me out the street to show me his new Ferrari. I don't know how much those things cost, but it looked very expensive. My friend is "doing well" in his business, and I am happy about that.

But as I looked at the car, I thought about alternate uses for the money that went into the car. Immediately a prayer lept to my consciousness. "Lord, I thank you that I am not like my friend."

Ooops. (See Luke 18:9-14)

As I read Steve's last email, I thought about how much it takes to feed that boy about whom he writes. Probably about what it costs me to park my car for an hour downtown here. I live in the same never-never land as my friend with the Ferrari.

Out of which land the Lord is continuing to call me. Sometimes I listen.

Steve's Most Recent Email

Steve Peifer's most recent email is the following, entitled "Fear." All of his emails are good, but this one really struck me.

Recently Korean missionaries were targeted in a country north of here, and several were killed. All of them were known by our students whose parents work in that country. None of our students' parents were killed, but the game you can play with yourself that it is all ok and you aren't in danger being here, came unglued. The next day you could tell every kid that was from that country; the fear was all over them. Their parents were in danger, and that was the reality of the choices they had made to share the gospel.

I was at one of the schools I work with in the valley, and I was trying to film the students about using computers, and it wasn't coming together. After three tries with three students where I could get nothing but a yes or no out of them, I asked the computer teacher why they were acting like that. She told me that there was no food in most of their homes, and school was ending soon, and that the lunch at school was the only food they got in a day.

Then she asked me, very gently, if I had ever been hungry.

I told her no, I had never been hungry.

She told me that if you had ever been hungry, and you knew you would be again, it was the worst feeling you could imagine. The fear would grab a hold of you and not let go.

The reason the children were not helping was because they were wrapped up in the fear of being hungry.

I thought about this all weekend. On Sunday, my daughter had asked if we could go into town and watch the Hannah Montana movie. (Ben threw up in his mouth when I asked him if he wanted to go) As we sat in that awful movie, with her sitting eagerly at the edge of her seat, I thought about the unusual path that it took for us to have a daughter.

Having a daughter has helped me face all the awful things I've seen in Kenya. Love is the only thing that can help you face fear. And love is the only thing that makes you want to fight for those who don't have a voice or a chance.

I'm so grateful that love is greater than fear.

Your pal

s

More about Steve here.

News from Steve

From Steve Peifer's latest general email:

On Friday I went to Nyakairu Primary School, which is another poor school we have been able to add because of your kindness. It was another school that I hadn't been to in years, and not since we have been able to bring food. The kids were so grateful, and they told me to send `Our happiness to them.'

In the midst of all the yelling and shouting, a little boy came up to me and said `Our lunch is the only food I eat.' Often times, that is a prelude to a request for money.

He just told me and walked away.

There was a lot more to that email, but this hit me.

If you want to get directly on Steve's email list, send him an email and ask: peifer@kijabe.net

And if you want to be one of "them", go here and contribute.

Steve Needs a Little Help

From his latest Email:

The tribal clashes, horrific inflation and the falling dollar have led to the perfect storm: it used to cost us $1.50 to feed a child for a month. Due to the tribal clashes, there are many displaced people who have nowhere to go and have no monies at all. It has led to three thousand additional students at the 34 schools we provide food for. Last term we fed about 15,000 children a day. This term it is right at 18,000, with no additional schools added.

The official government statistic for inflation is 20%. But we are seeing a much bigger rate in almost everything we try to buy. This term, it will cost us $6 plus to provide food for one child for a month. That is close to FOUR times what it was last term.

The dollar has declined against the shilling in the past few years. At one point, we got 80 shillings for every dollar. At this point, we are fortunate to get 60 shillings for every dollar. It has gone from 80 to 60 in a fairly short time.
So, we have more kids, more expensive food and our dollar buys much less. I have had a dozen schools request food in the past two weeks; headmasters are afraid of what is coming.

It could be a time to panic, but I seem to recall a story about a bunch of guys in a boat when a big storm came by. Lots of them were very scared, but one of them was calm and took care of everything.

In the time of a perfect storm, it is such a joy to know the guy in the boat.


How to give.

Christian Development Trip

On a subject we discussed on the blog recently, I received this email from a friend:

MISSION INJUSTICE 3
"CARING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE SUFFERED UNDESERVING HURTS"
July 10-July 23rd, 2008

Hi,

Hope everything is well with you and your family! I'm
writing this letter to inform you of an opportunity
for you to be a part of an awesome mission trip this
summer. This summer the Miami Vineyard Community
Church will be focusing on serving three different
communities: Rwanda, Africa/ Laos/ and Juarez, Mexico.

I will be a participant on the Laos Team. I am very
excited about this opportunity to go and be the hands
and feet of Jesus Christ by serving the people of
Laos.

Laos: Working in partnership with the Missionary
Family, The Berry's, we will be focusing on building a
long term relationship with the local ministries in
Laos. This will be a mission's experience that will
mobilize members of the Miami Vineyard to help with
the practical needs of the Berry Family and
neighboring villages. Ministries will include: light
building construction, and encouragement and prayer
for local ministry workers and residents.

Estimated cost: $3,000 per person

I want to challenge you in two ways to partner with me
in going to the Laos mission trip.

1. Prayer Partner
Partnering with me in prayer is one of the most
important ways someone can show their support for me
on this trip. So if you are a person of prayer, please
consider being a prayer partner for me.

2. Financial Partner
Another important way to partner with me is through
your financial support for this trip. My total cost
will be $3,000, with a deposit due by February 06th
and the balance due in the following increments: $500
due on 3/5/08, $875 due on 4/16/08, $825 due on
5/7/08, and $750 due on 6/4/08.
I am hoping to get 10-20 people to support this effort
with $50 in support by each deadline date.

PS- I'm still a little short for 3/5!

There are two ways you can unite with me in realizing
this God-given desire:
1. If you would like to specifically help support my
costs in going to Laos, please write "my name" and
"Laos" in the memo line of the check and mail to :

Miami Vineyard Community Church
14301 SW 119th Ave.
Miami, Fl. 33186

Your support contributions may be tax deductible.
Please consult with your tax advisor.

2. If you would like to support the general Mission
Injustice Laos Fund with your tax-deductible donation,
please write, "Misssion Injustice Laos" on the check
and mail to the name and address listed above.

I am so very grateful for your consideration in
partnering with me on this mission trip. I pray you
will hear God's voice on how to best collaborate with
me in this challenging and inspiring mission.

My friend is a layperson.

I certainly like the "encouragement and prayer" aspect. Do you think, then, that this is more than mere Christian tourism? What about the cost? $3000 could buy a lot of school lunches in Steve Peifer's program, not to mention in the programs that the Berrys, the missionaries in Laos, are probabaly conducting. Would you feel more comfortable if the writer added something like, "I know that my participation in this trip will not change the world, and that it is likely more to change me. But I need changing, as we all do, and God is far more than merely capable of taking the mixed offering of my time and your money and making it effective for his kingdom."

Steve Peifer's Lunch and Computer Programs in Kenya

Steve Peifer and the Policeman

I have posted before on Steve Piefer and his ministry in Kenya. Among the things he has done is to have organized a school lunch program for many schools in Kenya. During the recent troubles, getting food to the schools has been a big problem. He reported this to those of us on his email list:

We have been trying hard to get the food to the schools. Margaret, the Kenyan woman who administers the School Lunch program, asked me to go with her to Muchorui, one of the nine schools we have just been able to add to the feeding program; we are up to 34 schools and 15,000 thousand children fed a day. Thank you for what you have done.

She asked me to go with her because, although she is adept at dodging riots and problems, there was one policeman that she couldn’t get past. He was insistent that she couldn’t pass his checkpoint without giving him nine bags of maize.

I’ve had several bad experiences with police in Kenya. Once I was delivering food and they told us they were going to arrest us; they explained that we would need to drive them to the police station, where they would process our paperwork, and then I would drive them back to their checkpoint. Then, I would drive myself back to the jail so they could put me in jail. Another time I picked up a drunken police officer who amused himself by pointing his rifle at the back of my head.

I wasn’t anxious to do this. But sometimes you just need to have a showdown with the worst of yourself and face your fears. I went with her and met the policeman.

Policeman: You must give me nine bags before you are permitted to pass.
Me: Why?
Policeman: Because you have stolen it.
Me: Here is the bill of sale.
Policeman: I will not allow you to pass until you pay me nine bags of maize.
Me: I will do it if you do one thing for me.
Policeman: What is it?
Me: You must go with me to the school and pick out 40 children who will not be fed because of what you have done. You tell me which 40 do not deserve food, and I will give you the bags.
Policeman: I will do it.
At this point, he stopped and said `I cannot make that choice.’
Me: Neither can I.
Policeman: You can go.
So we went and the children were so happy. Prices have increased so much that many of these kids will only eat what is provided at the school.

(Want to help? Here's the link to Steve's website that deals with the food program.)

Way to go, Steve!

Steve Peifer won one of CNN's Heroes awards on December 6. There's a lot at the CCN site about the show, the process of selection, video, and photos of Steve and the other winners and nominees. I would start here.

Steve Peifer's Computer Ministry

Macon and I have posted about Steve's work in Africa before, and I am going back and label those posts "Steve Peifer". His computer ministry, to which I made oblique reference when I was suggesting Father's Day gifts, is now featured on the AIM website. (Mary sent me the link.)

I Have Never Gone to Class on a Wooden Floor Before

May 5, 2007

It was a sobering Easter. We were enjoying being together, and it began to dawn on us that it was the last Easter we would be with JT for many years. Watching the twins find their eggs put us back in the spirit of the day.



After Easter, we took a train to the coast for our last vacation together. The way it is supposed to work is that the train would leave at 7 in the evening and you would arrive at 9am. They provided bedding, and it would be a fun way to get down to Mombassa. The way it was supposed to work didn’t; the train broke down in the middle of the night and we didn’t get to Mombassa until 2pm.

What was great was that the car that was supposed to pick us up at 9 had broken down and was still there, so we managed to push start it and get to our hotel. It was a sweet time, with lots of walks on the beach and just enjoying being together.

It got a bit old on the way back, when the train broke down again and instead of arriving at 9am we arrived at 3pm. When I asked someone on the train about it, he said `It could be worse; it was last week.’

JT has made his final decision on a college. He is going to Wake Forest, which was always one of his top choices. They have the highest pass rate of CPA’s of any college in the country, my sister and her husband are only a few hours away, and they gave him a wonderfully generous aid package. He also made the varsity rugby team here at RVA, which was a huge thrill for him.

I’m proud of my oldest son, but in some ways he has been a huge disappointment. When I was a little heathen kid, the only prayer I ever remember praying was that God would make a Spider-Man movie. Usually, movies arrive in Kenya after the DVD has come out. But, in an effort to combat piracy, the Spider-Man 3 opened on Friday in Nairobi, just the same as the states.

And JT says to me: `Dad, I really think I should wait until I’m done with my Calc and French AP on Wednesday.’

Blowing off Spider-Man to STUDY? This HAS to come from Nancy’s side.

The sixth computer center is done and we have moved into a new area. This is the poorest school we work with. It is completely Masai, a tribe that still lives in mud and dung huts, and so the contrast between the center and the school is striking:


(The newest center in Namunja)


(The kitchen in Namunja)

The contrast to how they live is even more striking:

(A nearby home)

When I told one of the teachers what we were planning to do, he just started laughing and saying `Here? Here?’ And he just laughed again.

It is the furthest school because the roads are non-existent, and I blow a tire every time I go. It is the furthest place from any civilization, as I understand civilization, that I have ever been. It isn’t to say that I don’t respect the Masai and love their culture, but it is so different than anything I know.

At all the other schools, none of the children had seen a computer before, but they all knew what they were. At this school, many of the students had no clue what a computer was.

School starts up on May 8th, and our teacher tells me that the students come everyday to peer inside and look in wonder at what they will learn. One student told me `I have never gone to class on a wooden floor before.’ All their classrooms have dirt floors.

This school has tripled in size because of the food you have provided, and now they are going to learn computers.

Thank you for the computer center, and for the wooden floor.

Your pal
Steve Peifer
Rift Valley Academy

Two Cousins and a Grandfather; Mornings with Addie

This is an email from one of Mary's colleagues at RVA.

Two Cousins and a Grandfather; Mornings with Addie

February 26, 2007

When I walk Ben and Kate to school, we frequently have Addie walk with us. Addie likes to talk to me, and I always look forward to it, because anything goes. The other day she was quite animated:

Addie: This morning when I got up to go potty, I went and went so long I thought I would have to be there ALL DAY.

Me: (With the alarm born of 5 year old twins when they talk of going to the bathroom and imaging having to run for a toilet) Why are you telling me this Addie?

Addie: (Gives me a look that wonders why anyone wouldn't WANT to know her personal habits.)

Friday we were walking and she warmly hugged me and told me:

Addie: I love walking with you and Ben and Katie.

Me: We love walking with you Addie.

Addie: I love it because it reminds me of walking with my cousins and my Grandfather.

And it had started as such a NICE day.

Fortunately, I could take comfort that I was raising the twins RIGHT.

(Katie and Ben and their favorite team)

(My favorite picture in the world)

I've written about it before, but one of my favorite traditions at RVA is the Senior Banquet. The juniors write the play, construct the sets and cook and serve the food to honor the seniors. Last year was exhausting and exciting; this year all JT had to do was pick up his date and enjoy the evening.

The guys pick up the girls at the dorm, and they walk across the campus. JT was pretty relaxed this year, but Nancy told me that when Erin walked out, he just shook his head and said `Wow.' When they got closer to where the dinner was to be held, it looked like this:

There were lanterns that lit the path for the last few hundred yards, and the whole campus stood in line to cheer each couple as their names were announced. It is such a wonderful alternative to limos and all the excesses that seem to go with big events in the states.

(JT and Erin)

The rains have let up, so we have been able to go to the valley more often. There was so much good news this week that it filled a part of me that had been so dry. One of the schools, which had been rated the lowest in its zone, had increased to the named the best school of the year.

(The trophies for being the most highly rated school)

The kids were going after it so hard, and it is amazing the progress they are making. One of the problems with the Kenyan educational system is that it elevates rote memorization above anything else.

So it was so heartening to run over to Kenton and meet Gerald and Grace, the top students at the computer center there. I asked Grace what her favorite part of computer class was, and she had a wonderful answer.

`I like computers because they make me think.'

(Grace and Gerald)

There was a church group from Texas visiting, and I instructed the children to say `We love Texas the most!' I also tried to teach them to feel sorry for people loudly who aren't from Texas, but for some strange reason, they didn't believe me.

You see so much sad stuff in Africa. Sometimes, it just is good to remember that if you plant good seed, sometimes good stuff comes up.

Your pal

Steve and Nancy Peifer

Rift Valley Academy

Website: http://peifer.kijabe.org/index.html?intro.html&1

Foundation: http://www.solutionbeaconfoundation.org/programs.htm

Webcam: http://www.kijabe.org/longocam/

Hello on Sunday. I have been wanting to post something for days. I hate to look at that Tancredo post the first thing. I almost took it down. I find him and his message that disgusting. Sorry.

Carol and I went to a Christmas dinner at the Dewhursts last night. Van and Juliet were there, as were Hank and Marti Spence. Hank's been coming to our Friday morning breakfasts, and he reads our blog. He told me about the many missionaries in his family. There are even four martyrs among them, men who were murdered in Brazil in the early 70s. His family includes Rob Spach, the chaplain at Davidson College. Rob's father is a former moderator of the PCUS. (Another connection to the Spachs: my lawyer friend, Paul Louis, a giant of a litigator, knew Bob's father. They were in the Army Air Force together in WWII.)

I have been wanting to post on what we learned about the schools in Kenya, particularly in the area around Kijabe. The availability of a lunch makes a tremendous difference in school attendance. The government does not supply the lunches, but outside people may, and missionaries connected with RVA are doing so. It is so cheap! Fifteen dollars will buy one lunch for one child for an entire school term (3 months). One of Mary's friends on the faculty at RVA is ramrodding a program in Old Kijabe, and I will post the details when I get them. Another missionary there who has a large program going is Steve Peifer, and here is where he describes it. How can one not save his loose change and feed a little one over there for three months!