By Samuel Taylor
Productive day today. We spent it meeting with the leaders in the region of Busia. We heard updates about how they’re going, testimonies of God’s faithfulness, and the biggest struggles they are currently facing.
For those that aren’t aware, the whole point of what we’re trying to help with here, is poverty alleviation. Now, when you hear poverty, your mind may first jump to financial and material needs, which is certainly part of it. But poverty is most fundamentally a breakdown of our four key relationships: our relationship with God, ourselves, others, and creation.
(When viewed this way, we can see that Kenyans are not the only ones struggling through poverty. The West is riddled with relational brokenness, and don’t we know it! Alas, though it is comparable, the kind of material and systemic poverty going on here is on a whole different level, and I won’t pretend it’s the same.)
Poverty is multifaceted and nuanced, and therefore requires a multifaceted and nuanced approach. Our approach is less about thinking we know all the answers, and coming in as the Western saviours with our God-complex. Instead, it’s a partnership, as we learn together the way Jesus redeems each of these four relationships (for us and for them).
We will fill you in more over the coming weeks about this approach, but for now, please pray for wisdom, discernment and inspiration as we begin day one of the first conference tomorrow!
“In him we have redemption through his blood…”
- Ephesians 1:7