From Geoffrey to you: Dr. Stanley

Wednesday May 6,2009

Dr. Stanley

First and foremost I want to give a praise report. The drought this past year for Kenya has been pretty severe from what I have heard. The prices for food has gone up, water prices have increased which means that the basic needs became more and more difficult to attain. It has been raining every few days, and Californians have no idea what rain is. My living room flooded a little last week! I have been able to see a HUGE difference since I have been here. At one point the price for filtered water was twenty dollars for those five-gallon water jugs that are used for the water coolers and regular water quadrupled when our well broke. I have about thirty liters of water stashed in my room and it cost me about six dollars. The terrain is becoming green and luscious. The fruits and vegetables that are sold in the market place aren’t shriveled anymore, we have papaya the size of watermelons instead of baseball sized ones. God has heard the cry of his people and the rains have begun.

I met Dr. Stanley Mutunga a few years ago and before I came here my information on him was quite limited. Nothing but good reports about him were brought to my attention and I had a couple of nice discussions with him but I never really got to know him. All I knew was that he founded Tumaini International and tricked me by giving me some Kenyan food called Andazi (I think you spell it that way) and told me it was giraffe meat.

It wasn’t until I came all the way to Kenya that I was able to see how big of an impact he has made in the lives of so many people and how incredible of a person he is. Within days I began to understand that Stanley is far from being your average Joe. In the town of Masii it seems like almost everyone knows Stanley or has heard of him, nothing but praises and fond memories come from their mouths. “I used to teach with Stanley,” “I was his student,” or it seems like everyone says “I have known Stanley for ten years!” I can walk through Masii and mention someone’s name and I am sure a few people will know them, but Stanley’s reputation and popularity is outstanding.

I have been fortunate enough to hear small pieces of his story growing up and was blessed enough to have a sit down with him to hear more. His story BLEW me away, I can’t even explain to you how encouraged and inspired I am by what God has done in his life and through him. He is the epitome of perseverance and being humble in my eyes. I would love to write out the different things I have learned about him but my words wouldn’t do him the slightest bit of justice, besides I don’t want to ruin it for you because he is writing a book and will hopefully be able to include his biography or part of it within it. God used him in such a powerful way one night as he spoke during the youth camp. He looked hundreds of underprivileged children in the eye. Some of these children were absolutely poor, others maybe had food in their stomachs but had emotional wounds and I think that almost everyone there, including myself, held a pretty low self-image which has a crippling effect.

Stanley was the perfect speaker for these children because he was there, and instead of being just another statistic he took the initiative and God gave him the strength to overcome. When I hear about what God has done in his life, even without starting Tumaini, I am forced onto my knees in awe and adoration of how incredible God is and what God can do in someone’s life. The words spoken through Stanley left us all encouraged and equipped with a new thinking mentality that through God the impossible is possible (which we all “know” but few of us really “know”). I doubt that anyone left that facility thinking that the mistakes of yesterday or today would ever shatter their future.

When we had our “one on one” and throughout the length of his stay I was able to hear more about how Tumaini begun. The intention was never to grow as big as it did, change as many lives as it has, or become as successful as it is. Apparently him and his family originally wanted to help out maybe five or ten children that had been orphaned by AIDS, but like all great ideas word got out and people wanted to get involved. Here we are a few years down the road with almost a thousand children who have been assisted, a medical facility has just opened, a church has been built and the lives of hundreds that have been touched by playing a part in this. It seems like incredible ministries, organizations and movements all start by someone taking initiative. Instead of talking and planning out details and coming up with a ten year plan these associations begin by someone taking action. Stanley started by helping a few people and look at the ramifications.

If anyone can gloat or brag about “how much they have accomplished” it would be Stanley, but his humility is something I strive for. In all things, whether words or deeds, he gives God the glory; not by his strength but God’s. His actions and words away from the crowds are what I want I am working towards.

I have a new name to add to my list of heros

Asante Sana,

Mwendwa

Prayer Requests:
My family: my grandma died a few days ago and my aunt had a stroke and isn’t in the best of condition right now. It is a little tough being so far away.
The medical facility
My speaking on Sunday
The funds for a generator
The travels of the group from America
I just started feeling sick a few hours ago. It is either a cold or the flu… I’m not sure what the difference between the two is.

Randoms:
Instead of saying that someone looks nice you say “you look smart”
I saw a herd of wildebeests running by the side of the road
Apparently you can’t carry your washed and folded clothes outside. I’m not too sure about it. I had some shirts and jeans in my arms that had just dried and I was carrying them to the hotel. I got stopped by some friends and they were appalled.
My friend watches Mexican soap operas
I never knew that black women wore weaves… I always thought that hair was real… until everyone’s hair started to change dramatically every couple of weeks. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was fooled, some of the Americans thought the SAME thing. We were driving around in Nairobi and saying “real” or “fake” to each woman that walked by.
Everyone is amazed that I know how to cook… when people found out about my moving into the hotel they were worried about what I was going to eat. “You cook?” seemed to be everyone’s response.
One of my favorite things to do is hide behind a corner and jump out and scare my friends.

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