Weekly Reflection - 5/26/2023
Mission Trip to NMS
“We cannot change global injustice today if we isolate ourselves … in places that are safe and removed and disconnected. To change the world, we are each going to have to find ways to get closer to people who … are living on the margins of society. It’s actually in proximity to the poor that we hear things that we won’t otherwise hear, that we’ll see things we won’t otherwise see.”
-Bryan Stevenson
On June 19, 14 youth and 3 adults from St. Mary’s and Christ Church Los Altos will board a plane, their final destination being the Nambale Magnet School in Nambale, Kenya. This will be the second time St. Mary’s youth have visited the NMS, and the first time we have partnered with CCLA on a mission trip. We will spend 10 days at the school doing whatever service they have in store for us: painting, organizing, building, and - of course - lots of time spent with the students.
The Nambale Magnet School was founded in 2009 by the Rev. Evalyn Wakhusama, a Kenyan priest who felt called to open a school for some of the most vulnerable children in the world. Nambale is a small market town in rural western Kenya, one of the poorest parts of the world. Poverty is rampant, and there are thousands of children in the area who are victims of that poverty. The Nambale Magnet School is a pre-K through 8th grade school that boards vulnerable students, educates and feeds them, and gives them the opportunity to life and an education that they would otherwise not have. The school educates over 350 students, over a third of whom are from that most vulnerable population. The love, joy, and hope that radiate from the school are palpable, and we cannot wait to be with them.
We are excited and honored to be able to partner with the Nambale Magnet School this summer, and to experience and share Christ’s love with the children and staff there. Jesus demonstrates to us through his own ministry that being physically amongst those in greatest need can transform our lives, their lives, and subsequently the world. There is so much injustice in the world, and we are called to stand up to it with that same love, joy, and hope that the Nambale Magnet School provides for its students.
We are so grateful that so many St. Mary’s parishioners are participating in the trip with us, by supporting us with prayers and financial donations. If you would like to make a donation to the trip, please visit the St. Mary’s website: https://www.smvsf.org/. You will also be able to follow our daily blog about our trip at http://stmaryonamission.blogspot.com/
If you would like to get some insight about what awaits us in Kenya, please watch the documentary we made in 2016:
Mike Stafford,
Youth Minister
