Healing through Hip Hop

So let me just explain something to you. God absolutely and without a doubt knows your heart better than you do. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you will stop fighting His will for your life.

That being said, this weekend was awesome. So, so, SO awesome. There is group called K-Krew in Kenya. Let me tell you about them. 10 years ago, the founders Moz & Njugush realized that there was no gospel music in Kenya so they decided to do something about it. They joined together rappers, djs, dancers, singers...anything and everything musical and started K-Krew. And the rest is history. Today they have a tv show with over 30 million viewers and in the past year, 24,000 people have come to Christ.

How do they get such astounding numbers? They go on what they call "missions" and spread the gospel. A typical mission runs like this, a warm up of dancing for everyone in the room (missions are usually in high schools but can really be anywhere) and then a message from maybe Njugush or Moz or whoever, this then leads to a prayer of salvation. Afterwards they feature upcoming artists around Kenya & East Africa to sing, rap and spread their music to more people. All of their music is Christ driven by the way, representing Jesus in every single lyric. So simple and so effective, why? Because they're not trying to make the gospel glamorous, they're trying to make the gospel known.

We got to participate in 6 of their missions this weekend. Let me rephrase. I got to dance on stage and worship Jesus through hip hop with K-Krew and hundreds of teenage kids. If you know me, you know that this is what Heaven feels like to me. If you know me, you know that I couldn't have been happier to be with these people.

And to top it off, I became basically BFFs (haha) with all of them. I told Moz&Njugush that I would be happy joining K-Krew and being the only white person. They pretended to think I was funny.

God has made me (and you) so intricately. Sometimes I wonder if every desire and passion I have can really be used to glorify God. After this weekend, I will never question that again.

I love Kenya. I love hip hop. And I love dancing. All of those passions can glorify God at the same time and that is so incredibly cool.

What do you love? Just DO that for Jesus. Stop waiting to have the right answer or the right timing, God's waiting for you to remember how perfectly He made you. He really wants you to know that He knows your heart better than you do and He can give you the most amazing life you could ever ask for.

In Him,
Crissy

Joyce.

I stare at Joyce, on of our orphanage girls who is 7 & in 1st grade. She works so diligently on her paper and concentrates on all she is doing. I can only imagine what must be going through her mind as she takes her English exam. Because Joyce doesn't speak english. When I talk to her she just laughs and wants to play with my camera. How in the world is she supposed to take an exam written in English?

I have no idea but girl is trying.

I love Joyce for so many reasons. The main one is that out of my week and 4 days of being with her, I've seen her not smile maybe once. That means she's been smiling 99.9% of the time I've seen her. That is one joyful girl. She reminds me of the joy the Father has for me when He sees me. She is also a beautiful picture of the children Jesus talked about. You know the ones that would enter the Kingdom of Heaven and sit at his right hand? Yeah, Joyce will totally be there.

In case you would like to fall in love with Joyce too -

So who knows where Joyce will go or what she will grow up to be but I know that she has 31 brothers and sisters and a LOT of mom's & dads & aunties (me!!) who will make sure she is successful! We are all cheering Joyce on and everyone chips in to help her with her english. By the way, Joyce took an English reading exam the next day with me by her side to mark her paper. I marked her with 44 out of 50 words correct with reading. She may be quiet but she has the loudest heart I've ever seen. Joyce inspires me and the most conversation we've ev er had was - "How are you, Joyce? - "Fine." Good thing smiles are universal. [sorry that was kind of cheesy, I'm fine with that because it's true].

Reunited and it feels so good.

Jambo! Let me tell you how good it feels to be back in Kenya. Your mind is a funny thing you know. It remembers so much more than just what your eyes see. It remembers sounds, smells and sensations of touch. I've been in Kenya since Wednesday evening and staying with a family that is a friend of mine. They are Joy & Rich Lee, easily the most accommodating & loving family that I've ever met. I've been so blessed to get to share my time in Nairobi with them and their two beautiful daughters, Abigail (5) & Kasi (3). Tomorrow I leave for Naivasha to go to a children's home, which is where I will be spending the majority of my summer. I spoke with the pastor on the phone this evening and he said that everyone was very excited to meet me. I don't think they realize how excited I am to meet them :) While I'm there I will be teaching English, leading devotionals, helping with chores and of course...DANCING! There are many girls & boys in this children's home and my goal is that through this blog I can introduce some of them to you! Usually my blogs will be longer and more in depth but my time here so far has been adjusting to jet lag and catching up with my old friends and making new ones. I have really been blessed with a community of friends in Kenya that take care of me and make sure I'm alright. That is a blessing that I never could have imagined. Other than daily events, God has really been teaching me to let Him speak and stop trying to talk all the time. I really like to plan my life and God is reminding me that when He made the world, He was thinking of me -- so maybe I should stop trying to do his job. In Him, Crissy