A Little Bit of Aesop and A Lot of Love

Tortoise and Hare. Turtle and Rabbit. The Great Race. Each of these a title to the same of Aesop’s most well-known fables about a tortoise, one of the world’s slowest moving creatures who by means of slow-and-steady triumphs over a hare, a swift mover who runs his race in sporadic bursts, but with ‘full confidence’ of his victory before he even begins…

We tell this story to children and help them to ‘see’ the value in never giving up. “It doesn’t matter how slow you are, keep going, never give up and you’re bound to cross the finish line triumphant”, we say. All true, but I believe there's more to it than that. On a random Wednesday morning, as I sat down to write lesson 9, ‘Let’s Start Dreaming’ for our “Can’t Be Bought” campaign here on the Kenyan coast, where sexual exploitation, child prostitution and sex trafficking is prolific; it suddenly hit me… It wasn’t Tortoise’s stamina, his ability to endure through fatigue and thirst, which gained him the victory. It was his refusal to believe what the onlookers thought about his, “yes” to the proposed race against Hare. It was his security in who he was and his belief that anything was possible that prompted his “yes” in the first place. Can you imagine the laughter at the start as Tortoise inched from the start line as Hare became a speck in the distance?

Often the world looks on and balks at the idea of shutting down one of Kenya’s largest brothels and seeing a shift within a culture in which sexual exploitation and abuse of women and children is accepted, recognised as a problem, but accepted. The women and children themselves, rendered voiceless through abuse and poverty, and hopeless to any idea of change, have heard the laughter at the start line and been frozen. And right here, at this very start line, we’re beginning to watch the frozen, thaw and the afraid, prepare themselves. We hear the laughter subside as this bride prepares herself for the race of her life, the race into life through love. What a JOY it is to partner with Jesus as we cheer this bride on!! All for Love.

“Can’t Be Bought”, a campaign we’re launching in three of Mtwapa’s schools next week is part of this ‘cheering on’ process! Birthed out of Papa’s heart to see His favourites rescued from the belief that their bodies are worth no more than money enough for a bag of popcorn or that a young girl’s body is her family’s answer to their next meal… We’re excited to journey with close to 1000 young girls over the next 14 weeks as they discover their value and worth as daughters created in God’s image and as they begin to dream for a life more than that which they’re currently living… Games, object lessons, stories and role plays are just a few of the keys to unlocking the truth about who each of these young women are as individuals created with purpose and destiny.

Raising up a generation of children, secure in their identity, who understand that they’re valuable apart from anything that they do (or don’t do), apart from their appearance and their talents is something which burns on my heart. Raising up a generation that know what is means to dream and believe that anything is possible, excites me to the point of awkward dance parties in the living room on my own. Though Aesop neglects to mention the crowd’s response to Tortoise’s victory, I am certain it was loud and wild and joyous… I see it! I hear it! Right here! In Mtwapa as this brothel shuts down and a generation who understands their royal status rises up… with such clarity that it is as though it has already happened.

I invite you to partner with us as we embark on this journey of justice through love…