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Community Corner

Team Agape Connects Kenya, Sumner Through Compassion

Sarah Josten, a Sumner High School graduate, helped found Team Agape, a nonprofit that specializes in fundraising for a Kenyan humanitarian organization.

Alice is a 90-year-old woman eking out a life in the slums of Kenya. Stooped with age, her face lined and wrinkled, she lives in an improvised dwelling of metal paneling awkwardly supported by cinder blocks and sticks. Her environment is overflowing with trash and rank with the vile odor of raw sewage.

Sumner resident Sarah Josten asked Alice, “Is there anything you need? Is there anything we can get for you?” Alice gave her a toothless grin and replied, “I got my bed, I got my fire, I got my roof. I’m fine.”

"[Kenyan] people may have a material poverty, but they have spiritual richness," said Josten. "Some are absolutely joyous; most are always smiling.”

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It was Josten’s 2009 senior project at that resulted in two trips to Kenya and the inspiration for Team Agape, a 501c(3) nonprofit organization Josten founded with her friends. "Agape" is a Greek term for “love as a verb,” or showing love towards others through action.

It all started in a classroom, where mentors Lyndsay Slater and Kelly Fitzpatrick helped Josten and her classmates plan a mission trip to New Life Mission (NLM), a Christian organization in Kenya.

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Founded in Nairobi in 1978 and located near a sprawling Kenyan slum, NLM's objectives include training and equipping people for service to the needy in local hospitals, prisons and streets. The organization’s undertakings have been many; they have established Samaritan Children’s Home, schools, a medical clinic, a girls’ tailoring school and a drip irrigation/shallow well system.

More than anything, Josten was impacted by the slums.

“Never before have I seen so much poverty. It's amazing how many kids were living there. They all had runny noses, ripped clothes and hand-me-downs," said Josten. "It was mind-boggling to think that my digital camera alone is worth more than most of these families own."

After working closely with NLM, Josten knew that Team Agape’s mission was to be their American ambassadors. Team Agape helps NLM through online marketing and networking; NLM receives 100 percent of the money raised and Agape members are responsible for their own travel expenses.

NLM founded the Samaritan Children’s Home, originally established for children whose mothers are in prison. The shelter provides refuge for children who have been abandoned, are out on the street, have been sexually or physically abused. It's meant to be a temporary home, and NLM often works with family members to figure out what's best for the child long-term.

The organization has a kindergarten, equipped with four benches and a chalkboard. Pens and paper are scarce; small children merely write their lessons with their fingers in the dirt. Children can participate in job training classes, for careers in auto mechanics or carpentry. It is part of NLM's mission that every child receive one meal a day.

NLM also started 17 community gardens with drip-irrigation systems. In a land where it rains only one week out of the year, communities are able to grow and sell their own produce. Micro-loans are granted so families can start their own small businesses; most loans are repaid. Individuals can earn a sustainable livelihood, rather than relying on bead and craft sales.

The organization also started a house for girls who have been rescued from illegal tribal traditions, like early marriage and mutilation. Older girls are taught a trade. Josten remembers visiting the girls’ tailoring school and was appalled that they used paper, not fabric. When she asked why, they responded that textiles are too expensive. Josten plans to bring some cloth with her on her next trip.

“One life touches another life and potentially both lives are changed," said Josten. "One life touches another life and potentially the entire world is changed.”



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