'God put me here'

A Hillsboro High School graduate is hoping to “stir up” interest in missionary work in Hillsboro and beyond, as Emmy Lakes is set to begin her third year in Africa by leading a new ministry program through Missionary Ventures International.

Lakes, a 2006 graduate of HHS and 2010 graduate of Wilmington College’s education program, has worked in Nairobi, Kenya for the past two years through the Network of International Christian Schools (NICS), teaching at West Nairobi International Christian School. The school features an American curriculum and enrolls students from a number of different countries.

While at West Nairobi, Lakes taught students from Korea, Finland, Switzerland, Nigeria and Canada, along with Kenya and the United States.

When asked why she originally went to Kenya, Lakes said, “God put me there.”

“Two of the biggest factors, though, were my inability to find a teaching job in Ohio and my dad’s sudden death,” Lakes said. “It was a really difficult time for me.

“I began poring through Scripture and listening to sermons and praying, and God embraced me. He gave me a strong desire to tell others how great He is, so I decided to look into teaching overseas as a missionary teacher.”

Lakes said that she found an opening for a teaching position in Kenya on the NICS website and applied, “not really expecting to get hired.”

“A month later, I signed a contract to teach in Kenya for two years,” Lakes said.

During her first year as a teacher, Lakes volunteered on weekends at a rehabilitation center for “street boys.”

“There are a ton of orphans everywhere, and the government considers them a nuisance,” Lakes said. “City council sends people to get boys off the streets, and they put them in ‘rehab centers,’ but there’s no real rehab offered.”

Lakes said that most of these boys are orphans or runaways, and once they are placed in these “very corrupt” centers, they are subject to physical abuse as well as being robbed.

Because the centers are “a very dark place,” Lakes said the boys often run away from the center, only to get picked up again.

The total number of boys at these facilities changes from day to day.

Lakes said that most of these boys have never been to school, so she worked with them on weekends during her first year in Kenya, teaching English.

Last year, Lakes said she was so busy working as a teacher that she didn’t have time to volunteer, but she still felt drawn to the boys in these centers.

“I really felt God pulling me out of full-time teaching to work in the slums,” Lakes said.

After finishing her second year at West Nairobi, Lakes switched from NICS to a different mission organization, Missionary Ventures International (MVI), and is set to begin work as a field coordinator for the organization.

She will be facilitating mission teams who will come to help her and other volunteers at the Joseph Kangethe Rehabilitation Center in Nairobi. There, Lakes will continue her work as an educator, but in a different role.

Lakes said that the goal is to get boys committed to staying at the centers so they can raise funds to enroll them in school, and 27 boys have been successfully enrolled thus far.

“For the boys who are not in school, I will be teaching them everything until we can get them in public school,” Lakes said.

“I will also be tutoring those who are in school.

“A lot of them really want to learn and work hard and are excited about learning English and learning in general.”

Lakes will also continue to substitute teach at West Nairobi and assist with discipleship groups and chapel services there.

Lakes said that she will be working in some function with another organization, Girls With Vision, that helps women in the slums maintain a regular source of income through jewelry-making.

Lakes has a visa to work in Kenya “for at least two more years” and plans to stay there “until God tells me to leave,” she said. She is currently staying in Ohio through the end of July and is available to speak to small groups with information on her ministry work through MVI.

“I want Hillsboro to get stirred up about missions and be excited about the work God is doing all around the world,” Lakes said.

Because Lakes’ new role is volunteer-based, she is looking for monthly supporters. She said that she is not looking for people to donate out of obligation, but she encourages people to give if they are looking to help “exchange temporary money or treasures for eternal treasures.”

Lakes “wants people’s hearts to be drawn” toward supporting missionaries – “if not supporting me, then someone else,” she said.

Information on how to make a donation to help Lakes’ ministry through Missionary Ventures International, including credit card, automatic withdrawal and check donations, is available at her blog, emmylakes.wordpress.com. Donations are tax-deductible.

Checks written to Missionary Ventures International and marked “preferenced for Emmy Lakes” in the memo line can be mailed to Missionary Ventures International, P.O. Box 593550, Orlando, Fla. 32859.

“God has people planned for my support team,” Lakes said. “I really want people to see God working and doing this great commission all over the world.”

Lakes also said she is looking for people to pray for her and other missionaries across the world.

“I want people to gain a lifetime excitement about missions and spreading the gospel to every tribe, every nation and every tongue,” Lakes said.

Anyone interested in following Lakes’ working in Africa can follow her Facebook group, “Emmy In Kenya,” read her blog or sign up for her monthly newsletter through her blog or by emailing emmyinkenya@gmail.com.

For more information on MVI, visit www.mvi.org.