So it’s no secret that I love my company. Almost 6 years ago, I responded to a random office assistant job on Craigslist so I could pay the bills until I figured out what my “real” job would be. It’s pretty crazy that it led me to the most amazing company and people I could have ever imagined. One of the many incredible things they do is offer a sabbatical for employees that have been with the company for 5 years and are planning long-term growth. In addition to the 4 full weeks they give you, employees can add an additional 2 weeks of paid time off.
I’ve been eligible for my sabbatical since May, but hadn’t been able to land on what I wanted to do. Some of my co-workers have taken amazing trips around the world and I had a few ideas, but I could never make a decision.
Over the summer, I reached out to my friend Dorothea to get her thoughts. She and her husband, Jason, are career missionaries in Kenya and I spent some time working with them a few years ago, when they were in Senegal. I knew my heart was being pulled towards spending my sabbatical doing missions overseas, so I thought she may know of something. And I was right – she was actually in a “cluster meeting” with some other missionaries when I reached out and one of them just happened to be a woman named Kristen who is the co-director of the Naivasha Children’s Shelter for homeless boys in another part of Kenya. They have a need for someone to come support and train their staff and facilitate some individual and group therapy for the boys there. I can’t even explain how thrilled I was when she told me about it. It felt like the perfect blend of my skills and my passions, and I just knew that God could use me to help meet their need.
So I started praying about it and a few weeks later, I spoke with Kristen. The more she told me about the shelter, the more excited I became. Their main mission is to rescue boys off the streets and give them a safe place to stay while working toward reunification with family and getting them back in school. The staff spends several months of the year going out into the streets, meeting the boys, befriending them and learning their stories, and then they do two big “rescues.” The boys come to the shelter and spend about 9 months there, where they have a safe place to stay, hot meals, drug rehabilitation, counseling, and job training. The shelter staff also works with their families with the ultimate goal of reunification if possible.
I’m still working out the details with Kristen and the shelter staff but it looks like I’ll be spending a good part of March/April there, training on a variety of different things, particularly working with children with trauma-related disorders. I’ll also get to spend time with the boys during their initial weeks on campus after the rescues and help with that transition as much as possible.
This is a dream come true for me and I am so excited for the opportunity. I’ll definitely keep you all posted as I find out more. Please pray for the Naivasha Children’s Shelter (and like them on Facebook if you want to keep up with what’s going on out there!) and for me as I prepare to be a part of the amazing work they are doing.
Let Go, My Soul 