Written by Annie Sencindiver, MITS intern
If you want to know what Full Life looks like, I advise you to come to Kenya…
Just kidding. I mean, we all know that full life can be found anywhere and isn’t dependent on circumstances or environment but what is within each of us. If the strength within us is from the big guy upstairs, we will understand and view the world with the perspective of this full life we always hear about.
The first person who truly explained to me what full life is, was my young life leader in High School. He shared with us a verse that changed all of my days from that moment on.
That verse was
John 10:10:
The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full.
I shared this verse with some of the men on the streets in Eastleigh.
Full Life.
I became so aware of it and I took notice in those who were experiencing it on a day-to-day basis. You learn to have an eye for it. You can see it in a random stranger walking down the street, even. And you can tell when the gears are turning in the mind of a person figuring it all out until it finally just clicks.
Full life is everywhere. The difference with full life here in Kenya, is that it is more evident in my eyes because the transformations go from a way of life that is foreign to me, to a way of life that is so familiar because it looks like God. The people at MITS are to blame for this radical transformation. They know where it comes from and how to share it…
God is ever-present here and it so evident in the people. He is working in each and every person involved in MITS in some way or another. I look at the team and how they treat the students and I see His love. I see His patience. It isn’t themselves they are working for—it isn’t the money or the authority or any selfish reasons at all. They are working for God. They take on so many roles for the students here: they are parents, teachers, peers, role models, disciples, listening ears, preachers, and to put it simply, God’s vessels.
I have heard so many incredible stories while I’ve been here about how MITS started and the way it was based around both God and intentional love and I find myself sitting here smiling thinking about how they are not straying from that, even 20 years later. The team gets it—they get what they are in for. They get that sometimes the rewards will feel far off because they are rewards that will only come in heaven. They get that they must carry their cross and follow Him (Luke 14:27) even when the going gets tough or the rain is never ending. They love the way He tells us to. And they put God and these students first—even if that means putting themselves last.
The students here in Kamulu are reaping the benefits of this unconditional love they are experiencing. I see confidence in each and every one of them. I see love and I see selflessness. I find myself in awe of them constantly. They blow me away with the way they treat each other and the way they treat me. When it rains, they help wash each other’s and the teachers’ gumboots. Even if that means getting down on their hands and knees in the mud to really make sure they get the boots clean. They treat each other to lollipops and share their birthday cake. They listen without interruption and they love each other even more after bickering. They share a pair of sandals when playing football on the courts so that their kicking feet are covered. They treat me like I am one of their own and they show me such love—love I haven’t really ever experienced before like this. All of these traits may seem small but they come from hearts that are big and overflowing, allowing them to pour out even more. I love to watch the older students spending time with the younger ones and showing them a Godly way to live. I will see a boy about to graduate reading the word and then later that day see a boy, who just joined MITS this year and cant even read English yet, picking up a bible in attempts to read it. This isn’t coincidence—these boys are working off of each other and learning from each other for God.
When I go to Eastleigh and I see the street kids at boy’s program or at the bases, I am constantly shocked and taken aback because I find it almost impossible to envision our students ever in this situation. I can’t picture their eyes glazed over from the glue and I cant picture them stealing from each other. I can’t picture their faces torn and worn and dull because all I see now is their faces glowing with light from within. I don’t know how they are able to love me and teach me so much with so much grace when I look at where they come from. It seems like an impossible transformation. But then again, I guess God’s work is usually unexplainably mysterious in how it works.
My time here at MITS is coming close to the end and it’s hard for me to accept. I never want to leave this village. I never want to leave these kids and I know that is all because when I’m here, I feel God unceasingly. Just the other day in morning chapel, I found my eyes filling with tears because I didn’t want my mornings to be anything other than sitting next to Tobias, John or any of the students and hearing them sing the worship songs loudly and proudly. There is so much I’m going to miss here and I guess that simply means this can’t be the last time I will be a witness to God’s work in Kenya. I’ll be saving up my money for my next trip to MITS the moment I get back to the states.
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