Wednesday 31 July 2013

Interview With Robin Aim


Robin is the co-founder and CEO of the Afri-Lift Missionary Society, commonly known as Afri-Lift. It is 30 years since they left their hometown of New Plymouth for a 2 year stint in Kenya. Here Robin shares some insights into their journey.


Tell us why you decided to come to Kenya. You had a wife and three young children, your own business and an opportunity to bring your kids up in a nice country town.

Our church (the Assemblies of God) were involved in international missions. We felt that God was laying it on our hearts to go to Africa and ended up with World Outreach in Kenya.
Looks like Robin has been on a bike all of his life
Had you been overseas or to Africa before moving?

Air travel was much more expensive in those days, so no we didn’t come and do an investigative trip beforehand.


You’ve been here for 30 years now. Was it your original intention to come for that long?

Originally we committed to two years and it just kept getting extended.
Did you do any pre-training to prepare you for the international mission field?

Not specifically for missions. I had been to Bible College because Margaret and I felt that God was leading us into something.  Remember, this was over 30 years ago and there wasn’t the training facilities we have now. The Assemblies of God in Australia have a very good missions prep program.


How did your children cope with moving to Kenya?

Initially they missed their friends, which is understandable. Also, we came during the school holidays so they didn’t have anyone to play with for some time. However, if you asked my kids now they would tell you that they had the best upbringing on the international mission field.


Did you know anyone here when you came?

We knew of one couple who were here for 3 days when we first arrived, then they left.

What are some words of wisdom you can give to people who are considering committing to serving on the international mission field?

1.     Be committed to a local church.
2.     If you want people to be committed to you, then you need to be committed to them.
3.     Make a short term commitment on the field – 2 years. If you do that and then get it that it’s not really your thing you can return home and not have feelings of failure.
4.     Once you’ve completed 2 years be open to extending.
5.     In preparation, invest in some else’s calling. Pray and support them regularly.
6.     Have some computer and practical skills. We live in an online world and it’s important not to be weak in this area.
7.     Do some language study before you come if possible. There are many online courses but for those in large cities there are many options of learning a language.







Monday 22 July 2013

A future in poverty

A few weeks ago as my father and I were driving to work in the morning, he pointed out some women carrying big bundles of firewood walking besides the road. The size of the bundles on their backs would automatically make a spinal specialist or rather a chiropractic physician wince out in pain.
“Joy, do you see how difficult life is?” my father said in a sad tone. I could tell that my father was lovingly telling the reality of life. It’s never that easy.
As I write this article, I have a mental image of the three women and their bundles. I keep wondering where they were off to? Were they going home to prepare a meal for their children? Would they sell the bundles of firewood in the market?
Two weeks ago, in this blog, we saw that there is hope in poverty. We also learnt that hope is what keeps us moving even the circumstances around us seem to point out the opposite direction.
Women carrying firewood 

So is there really a future in poverty?
Poverty as we had defined earlier is the state of being extremely poor and also being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount. According to Eric Jensen in his book Teaching with Poverty in Mind, there are different types of poverty:
·        Situation poverty-This is a poverty caused by a sudden crisis or loss and is often temporary. Examples of such cases would be environmental disasters, divorce, or severe health problems.
·         Generational poverty-This generally occurs in families that have been born into poverty. Most of the poverty cases here in Kenya or in Africa in general can be attributed to this kind of poverty.
·         Absolute poverty- This is whereby there no necessities such as shelter, food and also education. This type of poverty normally leads to a day-to-day survival.

Now that we know the different types of poverty that we have around us, it would be great to understand what future means. Future according to the online dictionary means a prospective or expected condition, especially one considered with regard to growth, advancement, or development.
The word future and poverty are quite complex to think in the same line. This is because in most cases of poverty, it’s the now that matters.
What will my child eat?

 What will the children and I eat today? Where will I get an extra coin?  Where will I sleep tonight?  These are just some of the questions that really matters when in such a state.  At that time the future doesn’t really matter.
Does that mean that because of our present circumstances we cannot think of the future? Yes, we can.
The Bible speaks positively when it comes to looking into the future. Jeremiah 29:11 states that  for  I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
This means that regardless of where we are in life, we can always look to the future knowing that it’s in God’s hands.


Wednesday 17 July 2013

Faith - here faith is for day to day things



At the beginning of each year we map out our blog themes to make it easier to write them without having to figure out each week what we’re going to do.
But what does one write on faith? How we all need to have it, hold on to it and give it opportunity to grow?

Faith is this fact:
Now faith is the conviction concerning those things that are in hope, as if it were these things in action, and the revelation of those things that are unseen - Hebrews 11:1

It just is.

You either have it or you don’t. You can’t have a little or much faith, you just do – or don’t.

We make faith this big ethereal thing that is ‘out there’.

It’s simply relaxing in the assurance that our daddy God cares enough about us and holds us in His hands.

‘I gave in and admitted that God was God’ - C.S. Lewis

Afri-Lift is a Christian faith based organisation here in Nairobi. That means that we just have to trust God with provision for all that we do. The money doesn’t come down from Heaven in a bag but through generous people who believe in what we’re doing here, people whose hearts are moved into action. It comes in through spending lots of hours applying for grants, talking to people, sharing on social networks and taking visitors to our projects.


Faith without works is dead – James 2:14

Here at Afri-Lift we’re always stepping out in faith. There will never be enough people or financial resources to meet the vision. Yet, we do not simply sit down and do nothing. We advance, we make a stand and take ground.


Faith is a verb.

The team at Afri-Lift are people of faith who take pleasure in working for the bigger vision (check it out on our website).

What steps of faith are you taking today?


Tuesday 9 July 2013

Hope in Poverty



Poverty is the state of being extremely poor and also being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount.  The causes of poverty include poor people's lack of resources, an extremely unequal income distribution in the world and within specific countries, conflict, and hunger itself.
 As of 2008 (2005 statistics), the World Bank has estimated that there were an estimated 1,345 million poor people in developing countries who live on $1.25 a day or less.
Kibera Slums in Kenya
Here in Kenya, 58% of Kenyans lives on less than 2 dollars per day. According to the World Fact Book, Kenya has a 40% unemployment rate. The Rural Poverty Portal states that Kenya’s rural poor people include small farmers, herders, farm laborers, unskilled and semi-skilled workers, households headed by women, people with disabilities, and AIDS orphans.
Part of our work here in Afri-Lift is working with disadvantaged young people and their families in the society. We have programs such as Touch a Family (TAF) that sees to it that families that cannot fend for themselves are well taken care of. In such cases we provide an emergency parcel of food that will hopefully last the family for a month. The parcel includes packets of flour, cooking oil, soap, tea leaves, rice, sugar and beans. 
An example that comes to my mind as I write this article is a family that we once visited late last month, the Aoko’s. The family has been through a lot in the past couple years including the death of the father and leaving behind four children and a mother has no educational background has been left behind to survive. 
Life has not been easy for the Aoko’s. As the mother looks for casual jobs during the day the children go to school hungry sometimes without any meal. The only meal they get is what is provided in school. Sometimes due to the pressure the mother has resulted taking traditional illicit brew maybe to ease the disappointment of life this sometimes leads to the neglect of the children.
The family has also been behind in rent by three months in their mud thatched house in the slums of Kibera. One of the children, Kennedy, has resulted to go without food so as to save enough money for rent. The same child who has been top of his class has started dwindling away in his performance in school.
Typical house in Kibera

Is there really hope in poverty?
Hope is the feeling of expectation and a desire for something to happen.  New research suggests hope may be just as vital to beating poverty as capital, credit, skills or food.
 In life we all have different expectations even the Aoko’s family. The mother hopes to someday to get a job that will provide enough to feed the family and pay rent. Kennedy’s hope is to someday become a lawyer. Hope is sometimes what keeps them moving on with the belief that the next day things will get better.

Mother Teresa constantly emphasised on giving people hope especially those trapped in poverty. “We want to create hope for the person ... we must give hope, always hope,” she once said.
We all need hope in our lives despite of the circumstances around us. When we have given all we can to help those around remember the best the best thing you can give out is hope

Wednesday 3 July 2013

30 years of adventure



Where did 30 years go?

This week we at Afri-Lift are celebrating 30 years of the ministry of our Founders Robin & Margaret Aim here in Kenya.
 
In this blog we would like to honor them not just for the many ministries, schools, support programs and training facilities they have created to change the lives of hundreds of young people. We honor them for their obedience to the Lord.

Many people don’t mind going out of their comfort zones for a short period of time, but not for a lifetime. To leave behind your family, business and friends takes a lot of courage.

Robin & Margaret came to Kenya on July 2nd 1983 with their 3 children Stephen, Kristen and Lindel. What was intended to be a 2 year stint on the international mission field continues through to today and beyond.
Robin and Margret with family (above) and Afri-Lift staff Kenya(below)

They have faced many challenges – finances for projects, the loss of their oldest daughter, creating a new NGO, staffing and health issues. This year Robin went through surgery of remove a kidney and very large cancerous growth. Praise God he’s in the clear.

To ensure the best educational future for their children, they left home to go to boarding school. That is no easy decision for any parent. Now, both Stephen and Lindel live overseas. Thankfully with Skype they get to see their grandchildren. This is the sacrifice that most don’t think of when they know of someone serving on the international mission field. To only physically see your family every few years is part of carrying the cross.

Much has changed since they left their hometown of New Plymouth in New Zealand - there is now the internet. While it is something that we take for granted in the West, here in Africa it is appreciated more. Imagine in ‘the old days’ when it would take 2 weeks for a letter to get back to your homeland. To make a phone call you would have to spend much more time to organize it than now – you’d have to write a letter to make sure the person would be home and then go to the Post Office and get a call connected through an operator. Now, we just use a mobile phone or make a Skype call. You don’t have to set aside a whole day to go to the bank – you just go to online banking.

Some things haven’t changed. The roads and corruption are just as bad, if not worse. The power and water can still go off without any notice – this is Africa!

We are thank God for sending them to Kenya, we are sure that they could’ve gone anywhere but they came here.