Andi

And is the one smiling at the camera.

God put Andi on my heart the first day I met him. After his father died in October, I started to really pray for him asking that God would build this young adult into an incredible young man who is a wonderful member of his society, a good husband and father, and a man who seeks after God's own heart. If you have had any conversations with me about the rehma boys, I am sure I have told you about Andi. His real name is Andrew but we call him Andi or Andrea. 

He recently told us that he wants to be a mechanic one day. His father died in October leaving behind two wives (yes two!) and many children. None of his siblings have attended high school. Andi completed primary school in 2006 and hasn't done anything since. His family struggles daily just to eat. He does some small business to help feed him and the rest of his family but it's not enough. So once we found out he wanted to be a mechanic, I immediately started looking into programs, found someone to sponsor him and am now in the process of getting him into a local college in Mombasa. 

However, we have hit a few speed bumps. 

The deadline to apply for the program is on Wednesday. To be admitted to the program, he has to have a birth certificate. The boy is 21 years old and doesn't have a birth certificate or even a national ID (which you are suppose to have after the age of 18). The ID is free in Kenya. You do not have to pay! So why didn't he get this ID? He was also missing a leaving certificate from his primary school in 2006. We assumed that he had a balance to be paid that's why he wasn't given it. He went to the school and found there to be no balance and was able to pick it. So why wasn't it picked in 2006??? 

I started asking Kelvin these questions and his answer was "ignorance." The boy just simply doesn't know. He never had someone to guide him, take care of him, push him to get these things done. His father only died recently so he must have been around so why didn't his father guide him to do these basic life things?? I started getting really frustrated (mostly at the father who is deceased so really my anger is useless). I cannot blame his father's neglect on ignorance. To me, that is stupidity (ok, now I am using harsh words). Why would you have two wives and many children without being able to give them decent lives? to train them in the way they should go? to provide for them and give them an education? or help them to be productive members of their communities? Why!?

God has been teaching me a lot about justice and His righteous anger towards the injustices in the world. I am understanding His heart towards people like Andi and so many others. The injustices I see daily are overwhelming. I can only imagine how God feels. 

I am so proud of Andi. He desires to DO something with his life. He said the other day, "I don't want to just be a street boy. I want to be a student, or a worker, or a family man." 

Pray with us. Tomorrow we are heading to apply for his birth certificate (we were suppose to today but some forms needed to be signed by some officials who weren't at the office i.e. more frustration) and then going to apply for the school. We are praying that they will have favour upon Andi with the promise that his birth certificate is coming soon. If he doesn't get into school this week, he will have to wait till next year. I want him to be in class next Monday. Will you pray for Andi? Pray that he will be back in school in a few short days. A chance at a good life.