Released to Dream

Silas

I’ve met many inspirational people through my job at Compassion. Those who inspire me aren’t always those who have achieved great things as most of the world would see it. Most of the time they’re people who have beaten enormous odds and have then gone back to the place of their greatest challenges in order to help others.

Silas is one of those inspirational people.

He has overcome great challenges and has exceeded the kinds of expectations that poverty placed upon him. Silas refused to believe the lies that poverty told him.

Silas Mwangi Irungu was born and raised in Mathare, Kenya’s second largest slum after Kibera. As the first born in a family of three, he grew up in his no more than 10 by10 feet mud house, wondering why life was so unfair. His family struggled to find their place in the immensely populated, narrow, dark and dangerous alleys of the slum.

Silas’ father survived being stabbed during a robbery attempt, and as a young boy, Silas was rushed to hospital, unconscious, after he was injured during one of many violent raids in the slums. He lost many of his friends to crime and drugs. Even more tragic was the loss of his only brother, who was shot and killed in his neighbourhood.

Yet, there was a tiny ray of light that shone through the rusty iron sheets when he was enrolled into the Compassion program, and sponsored by an American couple, Mr. &Mrs. William Jackson who went on to support him for over 15 years.

Thanks to a sponsor who lived half a world away, Silas was able to not only survive where others didn’t, he proved again and again that poverty doesn’t have to define a person.

SilasandRodney
It was an honour to have Silas in Western Australia to tell his story and to inspire hundreds of people through a number of speaking engagements. It was even more of an honour to spend some time with him and to get to know him a little.

I really don’t know that I would have the kind of resilience that Silas displays if I had been born into poverty. I guess that understanding the extreme privilege of being born and raised in Australia reminds me of my responsibility to speak up for the many millions who have no voice.

While Silas was in Perth he was interviewed by Tim Long at 98five. You can be inspired by hearing his story too. Just click the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

Silas joined Leadership Development Program and studied a Bachelor’s degree in Science (Mathematics). It was a ground breaking occasion for him. He was the first in his immediate family to join university. LDP not only assured him of uninterrupted access to higher education, but also confirmed to him that years of growing up in poverty, and rummaging through piles of life’s uncertainties, hadn’t reduced his life’s worth.

The greatest ‘disservice’ that LDP did to Silas, he says, was raising his life’s expectations. He began to see that he could conquer challenges that initially seemed insurmountable. Compassion gave him hope.

Silas is now conquering those challenges by making a difference in his family and society. He is now supporting his family- who no longer live in the slums, and also educating his sister through university. Silas also works with Compassion Kenya as a Field Communications Specialist, and tells the stories of hope, of children living in poverty.

You can make an incredible difference in the life of a child who right now is facing the kinds of battles that Silas faced. Please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion today.



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More from Kenya

The Brooks FamilyJohnny has published another post about the current situation in Kenya.

Here are a few lines from his post, Nakuru January 2, 2008, describing his attempts to check on neighbours and survey the situation in Nakuru.

I was unable to visit a few neighborhoods. Seems that the residents are stoning vehicles to keep the police out. Fear and suspicion rule the day here. Neighbors have turned on neighbors and armed gangs are running about causing havoc. Of course not everyone has sunk to this cave man attitude about members of other tribes. We hear stories of neighbors banding together despite ethnic differences to protect each other.

The innocent are getting caught up in what I would describe as tribal conflict between Kikuyus, Luos, and the Kalenjin. I have a friend who is Kissi. In his neighborhood he is a minority. Luos and Kikuyus outnumber his tribe, but do not have numbers large enough to oust each other. Each tribe, Luo and Kikuyu formed security squads to patrol at night. My friend was approached by both sides, but he told me he did not know what to do. Joining any of them would pit him against the others, and ultimately endanger his wife and daughter. Rape is common in these attacks, and the assailants do not care how old or how young you are.

Please take the time to visit Pure Christianity and let Johnny, Kate and their children know that you’re thinking of them and praying for them and the people they are serving during this very difficult time.

Please spread the word. If you keep a blog please point people towards Johnny’s blog so that they can stay up to date with the situation and pray for the specific needs that will arise over the coming weeks and months.



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Violence escalates in Kenya

While most of us have had a fairly quiet introduction to 2008, Johnny and Kate Brooks have experienced a troubling start to the year in Kenya.

Johnny and Kate, together with their children, have been bringing healing and God’s love to people in Kenya for some time now but their job has been made even harder by the escalating violence in that country following recent elections. The following comes from a recent post titled Troubled Beginning for 2008.

This past week has been a tense one here in Nakuru, in fact not just here but all over Kenya. Some places have been rocked by serious violence and ethnic cleansing.

The last I heard the official death toll was 145 people, I am not sure if that number includes the 30 mostly women and children burned to death in a church in Eldoret. That is what the officials are saying, however the death toll must be much higher. Hundreds upon hundreds have possibly lost their lives. Thousands have lost their homes and livelihoods.

The end is no where in sight. I am sure we will see the violence in the cities end soon enough, police and paramilitary units are being deployed in large numbers. This past week has left scars that I think will take a generation to heal.

You see this fight is not political. The fighting is about what language you speak. Racial hatred is the root of the problem, the faulty elections were just an excuse.

Our ministry will respond, but the scale of the damage is massive. There are at least 30,000 displaced people. New orphans have been created. Poverty has been intensified. The bottom of the ladder has just become much more crowded, not that there was much room down here before this past week.

We will need more help to deal with some of these people.

Father, I thank you that you have put us in a position to be able to help as many as possible. I ask you for the resources to reach out and feed, clothe, counsel, provide medical care, and reassure these hurt people that you love them. Thank you for bringing us to Kenya for such a time as this.

This report from BBC News has further details on the situation. Many news sources are claiming over 300 dead and that tally is sure to continue rising.

You might like to visit their blog and leave a comment to let them know that you’re standing with them during this time.



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