“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,...For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”
1 Thessalonians 4:1-4,7 (NIV)
One of the sad facts of working in the community we serve in Mathare is that many of the children in our care are often exposed at a young age to sexual promiscuity in the community or experience improper sexual contact themselves. This is due in part to lack of supervision, the extremely close living quarters in the slum, and exposure to numerous vices prevalent in the community such as gang activity, prostitution and alcoholism. Starting with our youngest learners, our teachers and counselors are vigilant in monitoring the children under our care and seeking to protect them as best they can in partnership with our student’s parents/guardians and other concerned members of the community. In 7th and 8th Grade during our ROPES program, we teach that sex is a gift from God that is reserved for marriage, and that sexual purity is an important way to honor God and live a life that is pleasing to Him. We encourage the children that despite the potentially poor examples and circumstances in their wider community or family, they too can cultivate a lifestyle of Christian purity through abstinence, while also proactively guarding their hearts, minds, and bodies against impure thoughts and actions.
During the month of April, our Guidance Coordinator, Collette Mwende, had the opportunity to have a targeted mentorship session with the girls of Chelezo High School. For some of the girls, especially those who joined our eduKenya community in high school and who had missed out on our ROPES program, this was the first time that they had experienced an open and Christ centered discussion about the God-given gift of our bodies and sexuality. As Colette shared, “I had a very open and enlightening session with our girls… while Mr. Ngumba (our Kenya Director's husband) engaged with our boys. The session was quite informative as we discussed the emerging issues that our girls are experiencing in this changing world; the challenges and temptations that they are facing in society. We talked about purity and the importance of maintaining it and we made a pact to ensure that they maintain their purity as God’s temples. We also agreed to practice secondary purity for those of our girls who have fallen…” After the open teaching of traditional Christian values on modesty and purity, our high school girls shared their appreciation for the open discussion, which they felt was very freeing. They felt cared for, loved and supported. Our students requested that Collete would hold more mentorship sessions to continue to discuss purity, and have open discussions about the real issues affecting them.
We are grateful that the students under our care are thirsty for truth and open to guidance. Despite their overexposure and too often poor examples in their community, they yearn to be different. Please pray with us. Pray that our students would walk the narrow road of purity in their generation. Pray for strengthening of their wills, protection of their minds, and shielding of their hearts. Pray for a generation transformed by Christ.