Story of Niva

One of my team's favorite ministry spots was at the girls shelter, Shurname, which was started by the main church we worked with.

The girls shelter consists of 17 girls and 3 boys, mostly rescued from abusive situations or from being forced into marriage at a very young age. Primarily they come from a slum called Kibera, the second largest slum in Africa and the main slum we worked in.

When the girls come to the shelter, they are cared for by house moms Caroline and Dido, who were also two of our translators. At the house, the older ones also care for the younger and they work hard to keep the place clean and even cook for one another. They all go to a really good school and most are in the top of their class. In this house is usually the first time they also hear about the gospel of Jesus, and all of them are now Christians.

One of the hardest things about ministering here was hearing the girls' stories. Niva is the girl featured in this picture who has on the pink and blue hat. When Niva was brought to the shelter, she had been sexually abused for at least three years. She walked with a limp and had many infections. At the shelter, her and her sister Sundae (right of Niva), received love, medicine, were cleaned, and started to get an education. As you can see here doing their "monkey faces" with Jessie, they are quite happy now. For the time being the courts have ruled that they can stay at the shelter away from their abusive stepfather.

The goal is to eventually raise enough money to build a bigger home that includes a boarding school. Right now, most of the donated dollars go towards the children's school fees because education is not free in Kenya at any level. With a boarding school, they could provide adequate education and a larger facility to rescue more girls. It will be neat to see how God answers our many prayers about this!!