Well it took a couple of weeks to process and work through all the thoughts, feelings, and revelations we experienced living a week in poverty. It was a long hard road and I can't imagine what it must feel like to live on $1 a day... for weeks, months, or years on end. I now know how unbelievably blessed I am and I am thankful for the lessons God taught me during this Challenge. Lacey and I made a video and created another blog to give you an inside look at our week long journey and journal entries. It is my prayer that you too will be inspired to sacrifice on behalf of the least of these.

Okay, so the day has come for Amanda and Lacey’s A-Dollar-A-Day Challenge. We are excited to see what God has in store for us over the next week… so excited that we practiced by walking a mile and a half barefoot today. We would like to share with you some pictures of our new home, all our belongings, our daily food portions, and our pre-challenge feet. We are going dark on this Dark Continent, removing ourselves from everything western. We will resurface Monday February 21^st with an amazing story to tell. Each day we plan to journal our thoughts, feelings, and revelations, as well as video much of this journey. We ask for your prayers and support as we step out in obedience to raise awareness for one of Jesus’ greatest platforms…. LOVE for the least of these.

¹This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. ~ 1 Corinthians 4:1 ESV

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

~1 Corinthians 4:10-13 ESV

I sit here on the eve of a day that might just change my life forever. A few weeks ago I was sitting on the rock at Tumaini reading a book about the millions of people in the world living in absolute poverty. I looked just beyond the pages and across the rugged dirt road into the yard of our neighbors. A grandmother, aged and weathered by years of harsh living, lives with her many grandchildren in their grass-thatched home. These kids were left behind in the wake of the AIDS crisis. I saw sweet Songa innocently running and playing in the yard, knowing his fate had already been decided by the mistakes of his parents. I realized in an instant the reality I was living in as my eyes shifted their focus back to the pages before me. I then began to think about all the comforts I still have within the walls of the compound, even though I live and serve among those in the third-world. Conviction overtook my soul and I knew that I could no longer watch poverty from across the street. In some crazy way I needed to know what it felt like… smelled like… I needed to taste hunger. So as the sun set behind that scene of poverty that night, God proposed a challenge to me. Live 1 week on $1 a day. I will show you hunger, I will show you pain, I will show you what it is to want, and to your surprise I will show you what it means to have plenty. Tomorrow begins a labor of love for my African neighbors and all those living in poverty around the world. How fitting that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I’ve always wondered why we need to set aside a day to celebrate those we love…. Shouldn’t we celebrate the love we have for each other everyday??? This Valentine’s Day I am choosing to show my love to the world by becoming like the least of these. It’s my prayer that this act of love will not just be a day of remembrance, but instead create awareness that one day might change the world. The journal entries that will follow in the coming weeks will document the thoughts and feelings of poverty. As I pen these words in red, may I be reminded of Christ’s love and servant hood… IN RED LETTERS!!!!

A-Dollar-A-Day-Challenge

We look around everyday at Tumaini and see what seems to be an abundance of resources. Fields of sugarcane, greens, and maize; water flowing from local streams. As American’s living at Tumaini Miles of Smiles Centre we never have to worry about where our food or water comes from. When the well runs dry we just get in the car and head to the local grocery for some bottled water and our house helps (maids) prepare lunch and dinner for us daily. Although we are infinitely thankful for our accommodations while in Kenya we desire to experience first hand what it’s like to live outside of the walls of our compound. What is it really like to live in poverty? We’ve all heard the staggering statistics about the millions of people in the world living on less than a dollar a day. We want to know what that really looks like, so that’s where our “A-Dollar-A-Day” Challenge comes in.

Disclaimer!!!

Many of you may think highly of us already for giving up our cushy lifestyles in America. DON’T!!! Many of you may be saying better her than me, or I admire your willingness to give up so much to go. We’ve heard all of these things before, and don’t get us wrong, they are encouraging words. Yes we did quit our jobs and leave our homes and families behind, but the truth is we still have access to so much more than the people surrounding us. That being said, we would also like to note that not everyone in our area lives on a dollar a day. Some families are business owners, teachers, drivers, doctors, and lawyers. They are doing quiet well for themselves even according to American standards. Many others are middle class families who work hard to make ends meet. They look much different than our middle class families, as they may only have 3 or 4 changes of clothes, no running water, and a bicycle instead of a car. Nonetheless, these people are NOT living in poverty by Kenyan standards. Another misconception is that a dollar goes much further in a third world country. Yes this may be true for some items such as avocados that go for about a nickel, but in most cases items are much more expensive. An example of this is gasoline that goes for about six dollars per gallon. As you can see a dollar won’t get you very far.

Okay so back to the challenge. In honor of our love for the nations, beginning the morning of February 14^th and ending the evening of February 20^th we have committed to live on 80 Kenyan shillings per day. This is the equivalent of 1 US dollar. We want to fully embrace the lifestyle of those who actually live on a dollar a day. This means we will not be allowed any of the luxuries that currently surround us. This includes toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothbrush, or toothpaste. It also includes electronic devices such as cell phones, computers, ipods, etc. We will only have the clothes on our back, 1 other change of clothes, and we will be barefoot for the entire week. Finally, no flashlights or electricity, only oil filled lamps and candles. Extreme you may say???? Tell that to the millions to whom this is a reality.

We will be using our money to seek shelter, buy food, and of course tithe. Check out our budget for details:

Amanda and Lacey’s A-Dollar-A-Day Challenge Budget

Item	Daily cost per person	Notes
Tithe	8 ksh	Ten percent of our income and this is the most important to us.
1 Room Mud House	17 ksh	(Average cost 500 ksh/month) for this type of accommodation
1 Bar of Soap	4 ksh	One full bar = 48ksh we will cut in half for sanitary purposes J
1 Roll of Toilet Paper	2 ksh	This is not a necessity to others but it is to us… again for sanitary purposes J
Food	49 ksh	This amount will have to sustain us daily

** Special Note: We will be walking to the well or spring daily to fetch our water for drinking, bathing, and laundry, however we will be drinking bottled water during this time to prevent serious illness.

We would love to share our journey with you and you better believe that we are going to need some serious prayer support. After our challenge we will be posting our journal entries as well as a video blog that will allow you to see both the physical and emotional struggles and obstacles associated with extreme poverty. We are filled with mixed emotions as we enter this challenge and pray that it will enlighten us and challenge others to get involved in the fight against poverty in a tangible way… More details to come...

FUN STUFF AND HEART STRINGS

So much has happened since I posted my last blog and I’m not really sure where to start to catch you up to speed with God’s activity here at Tumaini and in my heart. So I just wanna tell you some fun stuff and some things that pulled on the strings of my heart! Enjoy ☺

FUN STUFF
Just to keep things consistent I wanted to first of all give a Leroy update. For those of you who are not followers of my blog you may want to refer to the 2 previous blogs… for those of you who know who Leroy is, we did find his grandfather in the shower the other day. We’ve also seen several of his relatives still lurking around the house. His cousin the cricket really liked the movie we were watching the other night as he would sing when the movie was on but as soon as we stopped it to figure out what and where the sound was, he would stop singing. I finally found him behind my laundry basket and we disposed of him and continued our movie in peace. Fun times!!!

Recently I had a photo shoot with my girls and Moses with our Tennessee shirts on. I brought them back for all the workers at Tumaini, plus baby Sara, Moses, Sophie, and Sylvia… We are still working hard to get everyone together for the full photo shoot so I will keep you posted when this happens… Fun times!

This past weekend Lacey celebrated her 24th birthday in Kenya and we decided to have a girl’s weekend in Kisumu, about a 2 hour matatu ride from Tumaini. We arrived in town and found the cutest little tuktuk driver named Sadik who provided stellar transportation all weekend. He was precious! We stayed at this cute little Bed and Breakfast near the lake. We were pleased to find comfortable beds, fast free internet, a hot shower, and the icing on the cake… air conditioner. It was fabulous!!!!! After we checked in we called our driver Sadik to take us into town for lunch. I took Lacey to my favorite restaurant and we had pasta, pizza, and MILKSHAKES!!!!! Need I say more??? After that we walked to the immigration office to renew her visa… YES, she has decided to stay and come home when I do in March. Woo hooo…. Anyway she renewed her visa with no problem and I finally got my alien card… that expired Dec 16th, 2010. But hey, at least I now have a cool souvenir right???? From there we walked to the Maasai Market and visited with my friends there and bought some more souvenirs. It was an awesome day where we just got to be tourist. I am so thankful for a day to just be “normal”, with no agenda about how to minister to the people. When we arrived back at the hotel we realized that we forgot to buy hair dye for Lacey… yes she is a brave woman for trusting me to dye her hair with Kenyan hair dye. So we went back out to make some final purchases for the evening. We came back to the hotel just in time for dinner and there was this precious man named Abraham who was serenading us with a variety of songs including You Raise Me Up. This lead to Lacey joining him in song. It was too cute. One thing led to another and several hours later we found ourselves singing with him and the hotel manager. We covered everything from country, to Kiswahili songs, to John Denver, and finally praise and worship. We had a blast and as much as it was nice to get away from ministry that day, we realized that the call to take the Gospel to the nations is not something you can take a day off from. The Lord gave us an opportunity to encourage our Kenyan brothers with scripture that night and we too were encouraged by their kind words. When we returned to the room that night we realized we still needed to dye Lacey’s hair… Let’s just say it was a late night and if you must know her hair turned out well… Fun times!!!

This past Sunday my favorite taxi driver showed up at Tumaini and wanted to show me his new car. He actually wanted me to drive him, so of course I said Yes!!!!! I got behind the wheel… on the right side of the car ☺ and laughed as I heard the song, Amanda The Light of My Life, playing on the radio. I think he played that song just for me. Fun times!!!!

The stars have been so beautiful lately and I’ve spent many evenings just admiring God’s creation. Our night guard, Ezekiel, came and greeted me as I was looking up at the stars and I started to point out some constellations to him. He asked me why wazungu always like looking at the stars, and then he said that Kenyans never really pay much attention to such things. I told him that I liked it because it reminds me of how big God is and how amazing His creation is. Then I accused him of being an angel because he never sleeps… I see him guarding us all night and then working on the compound all day. He assured me that he was very much human and then we laughed together…. Fun times!!

Heartstrings

On the way to Kisumu for Lacey’s birthday, we stopped in Mbale to wait on more people to board our matatu. It was a crazy busy Friday and I was just observing the hustle and bustle of town. I looked over to my right and saw a lady in the distance just sitting out in front of a shop. She had her head down and looked to be sick. As I continued to watch her I noticed she could hardly hold her head up. It broke my heart as people just passed her by and did nothing to help. As I sat in the front of the matatu God began to stir in my heart to take some kind of action. The lady was far away and the matatu was about to leave the stage, so I grabbed this man who was standing outside my window and said… do you see that lady over there? The one that looks like she is sick? She is sitting down over there. Can you take this water and just give it to her. The guy looked at me kinda funny and this other guy stepped forward and said yes I will do it. I handed him the bottle and Lacey was able to look back and see him place the water in her lap as we drove away. I’m not sure if that lady lived to see another day. She looked like she could die any minute. I just said a prayer as we pulled away that she would know that the good and perfect gift of that water came from her Father above and that she would know that she was loved. God pulled on my heartstrings!!!!

It’s been over 2 weeks since we have seen a drop of rain and people are going without water and food. We have a well here at Tumaini but it has been dry and someone is suppose to come and repair it… I think they are on Kenyan time. In the mean time we have been dealing with water that is brown and undrinkable. Unfortunately many do not have a choice but to drink and bathe in this water. Just the thought that we don’t have to struggle with this in the US pulls on my heartstrings. We take so much for granted!

I’ve been teaching life skills class and the kids seem to love it. I love it too. I’ve notice that the kids write about me in many of the assignments I give them. Today I was teaching the kids to encourage each other with positive words and we went around the circle saying good things about one another. The last student, Ruth, stood up and I told her that I still hadn’t gone. Do you have something good to say about teacha Amanda? She said, I love you. Need I say more… HEARTSTRINGS!!!!