Filming and Job Introduction in Mombasa
March 22-27, 2005

Parakeets jumping from coconut palms to date palms and chirping. The morning sun is scorching hot. The turquoise ocean is looming from behind the tree branches. That is the view from my hotel room. The air conditioner inside eliminates the humidity almost completely and cools the air down for comfortability. I have been here in Kenya already for three weeks. Today is the day of departure and it feels very melancholic.

For the week past Vesa the cameraman and Mikko have been working industriously with the cameras around Camp David Centre and in the homes of the slums. They are making for Hope for Tomorrow a film about life in the slums that will be used for school visits in Finland. We received from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs a grant for the cameraman's travel expenses. The camera did not work very consistently, but apart from that the making of the film came along well.

On one day we went to a government owned hospital aids-unit to visit a mother sponsored by Hope for Tomorrow. (She, who also has aids, is the mother of a little girl who died of aids last summer.) The mother is skinny, but she manages to sit and walk. The hospital was tidier than I had expected. From many beds the scared eyes between skinny cheeks were watching.

We talked and prayed. The mother we visited was a Christian. We talked about Jesus being the Healer and how He carried everything on the cross - including aids. We also talked about heaven and that each day the Lord wants to use us to call others to Himself. The taxi-driver and the patient beside her gave their lives to Jesus!

At Camp David Centre, the women of the aids-support group make health soap. The beneficial substance of the soap is extracted from the bark of the neem-tree. The whole process was shot on film. The mothers sell the soap to support their group.

Since January, a little child day-care group has also gotten together at the centre. Upstairs in the centre over forty happy toddler sit side-by-side on little wooden benches. They are the children of the area's poor families. These kids without question need larger space for their day-care. We discussed with the centre's headmaster David about constructing an outbuilding to the centre's yard for children's activities. In January, the centre got a new addition to their staff, a young woman named Maureen, who is now the administrative manager. She has a lot of experience with the HIV/AIDS work. Maureen really seems to be the right person at the right place! I went with her to the institute of teacher education to speak at their spiritual convention. I really admired her courage to speak about aids to young students. After that it was easy to preach about forgiveness and healing: 14 lost teacher trainees wanted to return to Jesus.

The schools here are on spring break. Mikko, Maureen and Onesmus had arranged for the weekend an excursion for the high school students sponsored by Hope for Tomorrow. We were at the beach the whole day. The outdoor recreation at the beach was healthy for us all. In the end of the day we teamed up into a group of girls and a group of boys and spoke openly to the youth about dating, sex and Jesus. Two boys wanted to give their lives to Jesus. All the girls prayed into their lives forgiveness and purity. The young people suggested that a Youth Mission youth group be established at Camp David Centre. They said they wanted Bible teaching and prayer so they could go out and tell others about Jesus. I pray from my heart that the activity will begin very soon!

It has been a wonderful three weeks here in Kenya. The days were filled with much joy and many victories, but also with something sad. Two days ago we heard that one woman who was sponsored by the centre had died in the hospital. Telling about Jesus is our first priority in all our work. Many weeks of labor for the evangelism campaign was not futile. Our trip and our being here was confirmed to be in God's will!

In just a while Mikko, Norah and Catherine will take us to the airport...

Grateful for the three week mission,
Outi Välimaa

Pictures from Filming and Job Introduction