WHEW! What a week! Let me see what I can consolidate here for you:
1. On Tuesday we went to a children's Rehabilitation center, called the Rescue House. For those of you who knew me when I went to Brazil, yes, I also worked in a place called the Rescue House, and also for children who were taken off of the streets. It was a lot smaller though, than the one we went to here in Eldoret, Kenya. This one had 176 kids, ages 5 months to 19 years. They had two compounds right next to each other (one for boys and one for girls). So we split our team that way as well (male and female). In the morning, we went into the classrooms (Many of the kids who are here are coming from the streets where they are on drugs or something - so they are not allowed to go to the local schools because they aren't allowed to leave the rehab center. They have classes onsite.) I went to the oldest girls' class, where they were doing practical work - learning sewing, cooking, etc. The head master told me that their teacher was out for the day so I just had to teach them something. haha. But mainly we just answered questions and talked with the girls because it was a short time. We had lunch with them and delighted especially in how the little ones just stared at us while they ate. They were so impressive too - fitting the adult spoons in their little mouths as they fed themselves. SO CUTE. :)
In the afternoon we had a program for the girls. We did a skit about how God loves us for who we are, and then Lisa spoke about how God sees them as beautiful. We also played some games, sang with them, and prayed for them. Two of the girls were sick and we saw how God healed them too, which was exciting.
2. IDP Camp. (Internally Displaced Persons)
So I think I have said this before, but last year, after the national elections, huge riots and violence broke out all over Kenya. Many people were killed just because they were from a certain tribe, and a lot of people were moved from their homes. Eldoret was a pretty hot spot, and so these camps were for people who needed to relocate from their homes. They told us that last year, this camp held around 18,000 people. When we went on Wednesday, there were about 2,000. The conditions were so difficult to see - tents falling apart that were for whole families, people not having enough to eat, sick children, etc. Some of the people told us that robbery, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS were rampant because people were desparate for money for food and survival. The government was providing food for the people, but stopped in December. Apparently, they wanted the people to go back home - but on the ground level, the people themselves told us that they could not yet return, as much as they wanted to. They had a lot of bitterness and despair. One of the women we met with had the pain that her daughter died the week before. It all broke our hearts - and it breaks the heart of God.
So we just went to the tents that we could - not even making a dent with all of the people there. We cried with them, prayed for them, and encouraged them with the hope of the Lord. And hard as it was, we also saw some good - God really moved and healed. The first tent we went o had a sick baby. We prayed for her and she was healed! The third tent we went to had a woman whose middle finger was probably three times as large as her other fingers because it was so swollen and discolored. She could not flex it. So we prayed for her, and as we prayed, we could feel her finger begin to extend. When we were finished, she said the pain was gone and she could fully extend her finger. We marvelled at the work of the Lord. Finally, the last tent we went to had a guy with serious chest pain. He was going to try and go to the hospital, but after we prayed, he said all of the pain was gone and that he didn't need to go anymore. It was good to see that amidst all of the brokenness and pain in this place, God was still working and fighting for these people. And though we could not see everyone, He is still there.
3. Remand House - Juvenile Center
On Thursday we visited a center for children who were imprisoned until their trials say they can be released. We don't know each child's story, but the ones we heard were difficult again to hear. We also don't know if they were all there because of crime. One girl said that she had been hit by a car and so broke her leg. Then her leg was further irritated because she had been raped 3 times. She was 12 years old. Many of the children just wanted to go home. That was so difficult to hear. Some of the kids stole, though we don't know how much of that was for survival.
Despite their pain, it was still a good facility that was really taking care of the kids well. They were learning about the love of God, which was evident in their excellent behavior, and with a few of the boys who spoke for the whole. We sang with them, played some games, and did a skit about their identity. I spoke and then we prayed for them. It was a really powerful time.
4. Home Visits
On Friday and Saturday, we visited more homes around the church we are staying at. We had more powerful times where we were able to see God heal people, and God move in people's lives. My group (with John and Philip) happened to go to a lot of people who were in college, so it was neat to be able to talk with them.
5. Amidst the broken hearts that we saw this week, amidst seeing the Lord move amongst the people, we also were treated with a few things. Hot showers continued (praise the Lord) and we also were treated to a restaurant by a missionary couple that live here in Kenya! We had Indian food (hi dear!) and salad and ice cream!! It was great.
Also, Pastor Rick from the church has a cousin in American with a Korean son. So 17 year old Bruce joined us on Thursday and Friday and it was fun to have another Asian American on the team. He reminded me so much of my brother - gosh how I miss you Bryan!! It was good to talk to some family on the phone this morning too. :)
Today we went to a cheese factory in Eldoret town (yes Julie! cheese!). I had cottage cheese for the first time in SO long and LOVED it. I think that was one thing that was really difficult to give up in my lactose intolerance days. So I enjoyed that. :)
6. We say goodbye tomorrow. We already said goodbye to some of the pastors who left for a trip to Pokot yesterday morning. They met with us on Friday night and told us some really difficult stories of how people are really dying of hunger in other parts of the country. One of the pastors was our speaker in the last week of lecture phase in Mombasa, and urged us to really pray and think about where God wants us - the needs around the world are so vast and so deep. He told us of how one team he worked with was working with street children after they had been in Trucana, where daily people were burying their children because of lack of food. He said that one girl pointed out the difference between the children - the ones on the street were at least able to eat something every day - even if it is something from the garbage can. The ones in "the bush" literally had nothing, and were going to sleep and not waking up in the morning.
What can I say after that?
Well we head to Vipingo tomorrow (Monday) evening. We will travel by bus and arrive on Tuesday morning. I am not sure when I will get to email again, though I can't believe it is almost August and I have less than a month left here. It's difficult to leave every place we have been, because more and more people keep asking us to talk with more people. But we leave them in the hands of the Lord.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Exquisite Eldoret
haha.. that is the teacher in me.. using alliteration when I can. :)
But truly, truly, Eldoret has spoiled us so much this week.
Saying goodbye in Kitale was super hard. We had really come to love Pastor John and his family. But we exchanged a lot of contact information, and already have talked with them. Even now, I am emailing from Kitale - Lilian and I left Eldoret very early this morning to take the matatu here. And though we are enjoying the lavish luxuries in Eldoret, we do very much still miss all of the children. It's so quiet!!
Anyway, we got to the church in Eldoret last Tuesday morning and were in shock with how amazing it was. We are staying at a huge church, on an amazing compound, with a huge grassy field, a beautiful river next to a rock wall (it looks like the wall in the recent movie "The Secret Life of Bees"), and even a basketball court! It is beautiful!
Even more amazing is when we got inside. Hardwood floors! Real windows! Doors! Mirrors! Electricity! Toilets!
And the best is that they have hot showers. I almost cried. haha. I haven't had a hot shower standing up since I have been home. (Do not be alarmed - we just have bathed in a bucket, that's all.) It is a bit different since the water is not heated with a water heater - the water is heated over the fire and then put into the system. So the times to take a shower are limited if you want hot water... but still.. to have hot water coming out of a shower faucet over the head - it really is a luxury! We also celebrated Judy and Martin's 31st wedding anniversary and had cake and yogurt!!! I was so excited!
When we arrived and were amidst such luxury, the only thing I could do was worship. So I sat down and immediately turned to this passage in the Bible, from the book of Ephesians. The writer, Paul, is writing about the riches we have in Jesus Christ, that He took us from the depths of sin and death to His riches. There is no comparison, but somehow, going from cow dung floors to hot showers reminded me of His riches.
"Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-7
Aside from the physical luxuries, we also had a pretty quiet week. We did ministry in Baharini, which is a little suburb of Eldoret, and rode on the crazy matatu's to get there. There are a lot of speed bumps, and the roads are not in such good condition anyway. And, I think I blogged about this before, but the matatu's themselves are jam packed with people - the norm is to have over 20 people in this vehicle that was supposed to have 14. The whole bumpy and crowded ride makes the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland seem like a cakewalk. ha.
Anyway, back to the ministry in Baharini. On the first day, we met with a pastor in the area and really spent a lot of time crying out with him with all of the issues going on in that area. Eldoret was a really hot area in the post election riots last year. Actually we found out that over 3,000 people were killed at that time. On the second day being there, we experienced so much of the Lord's favor, as we met with one guy and listened as he struggled with being hurt by people in the church. We eventually got his contact information so we could help him find a church, and then the very next place we went to "happened" to be a pastor of a church in the exact same village! It was amazing! We were so excited. Other groups experienced God healing a guy with a broken rib, and another baby with malaria. It was good to see.
We also did ministry in the area of the church, which is called Sirikwa. It was also very exciting to see the Lord move. A few people also came to play soccer later on Saturday. :) I couldn't keep up with the Kenyan boys, but it was still fun. :)
Sunday was another lavish day as we did ministry in two churches, and then had an amazing lunch at the pastor's house. The pastor and his wife are originally from Chicago, and their oldest daughter went to school at Berkeley!! GO BEARS!! I was so excited because when we went in their house, he changed into his Berkeley shirt. haha. :) Pastor Rick and Carole have been in Kenya for over 30 years - it was really neat to hear their story and what God has called for them to do. They said that they are not really missionaries - they still want to be missionaries - but right now they are pastoring that church and God has good plans for them. Last year, they said they were hosting about 100 people during the riots, and it was a really crazy time. I loved their stories.
Anyway, it was such a nice home - we sat on a carpet in front of a fireplace!! And saw a washing machine for the first time being in Kenya. We walked in the bathroom with no shoes, and there was an American style kitchen. Then they gave us an amazing lunch with salad!!! raisins! raw carrots! pineapples! and the chicken was really good too.. (we have had chicken here - it is actually a high form of hospitality to kill a chicken for guests - but usually it is really tough meat. This was the first time it was tender.). And then they gave us cake and ice cream and chocolate syrup! Martin and I enjoyed doing the dishes in the sink with hot water too. :)
We were so blessed. It was so close to home, yet still far as the most important of all - the people - were not there. As much as I love my Kenyan friends, there is no place like home. Anyway, we were so thankful and so spoiled. Again I think of the riches of His grace and how it feels to go from such death to such abundance of life that Jesus wants to give.
As I sit here, I have again been blessed. I went with Lilian to see the field of dreams that God has given her and her fiancee Dalton. It is amazing. They have a piece of land that they want to develop for their children's home. Such vision! We had another amazing lunch provided by the hospitable people who sold the land to Dalton. They made us mokimo, which is mashed potatoes with beans and corn. yum!! Again I am "nemasheba" which means, "I'm full." I feel like I have been saying a lot of that lately. haha. I am full in multiple ways!! so, so blessed.
Next week we will have some different things in store. Tomorrow we are headed to a rehab center for street kids, then the next day we are going to the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps, and then the following day we are going to a juvenile prison. I will be speaking there, so you can pray for that! thanks!
But truly, truly, Eldoret has spoiled us so much this week.
Saying goodbye in Kitale was super hard. We had really come to love Pastor John and his family. But we exchanged a lot of contact information, and already have talked with them. Even now, I am emailing from Kitale - Lilian and I left Eldoret very early this morning to take the matatu here. And though we are enjoying the lavish luxuries in Eldoret, we do very much still miss all of the children. It's so quiet!!
Anyway, we got to the church in Eldoret last Tuesday morning and were in shock with how amazing it was. We are staying at a huge church, on an amazing compound, with a huge grassy field, a beautiful river next to a rock wall (it looks like the wall in the recent movie "The Secret Life of Bees"), and even a basketball court! It is beautiful!
Even more amazing is when we got inside. Hardwood floors! Real windows! Doors! Mirrors! Electricity! Toilets!
And the best is that they have hot showers. I almost cried. haha. I haven't had a hot shower standing up since I have been home. (Do not be alarmed - we just have bathed in a bucket, that's all.) It is a bit different since the water is not heated with a water heater - the water is heated over the fire and then put into the system. So the times to take a shower are limited if you want hot water... but still.. to have hot water coming out of a shower faucet over the head - it really is a luxury! We also celebrated Judy and Martin's 31st wedding anniversary and had cake and yogurt!!! I was so excited!
When we arrived and were amidst such luxury, the only thing I could do was worship. So I sat down and immediately turned to this passage in the Bible, from the book of Ephesians. The writer, Paul, is writing about the riches we have in Jesus Christ, that He took us from the depths of sin and death to His riches. There is no comparison, but somehow, going from cow dung floors to hot showers reminded me of His riches.
"Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms, in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-7
Aside from the physical luxuries, we also had a pretty quiet week. We did ministry in Baharini, which is a little suburb of Eldoret, and rode on the crazy matatu's to get there. There are a lot of speed bumps, and the roads are not in such good condition anyway. And, I think I blogged about this before, but the matatu's themselves are jam packed with people - the norm is to have over 20 people in this vehicle that was supposed to have 14. The whole bumpy and crowded ride makes the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland seem like a cakewalk. ha.
Anyway, back to the ministry in Baharini. On the first day, we met with a pastor in the area and really spent a lot of time crying out with him with all of the issues going on in that area. Eldoret was a really hot area in the post election riots last year. Actually we found out that over 3,000 people were killed at that time. On the second day being there, we experienced so much of the Lord's favor, as we met with one guy and listened as he struggled with being hurt by people in the church. We eventually got his contact information so we could help him find a church, and then the very next place we went to "happened" to be a pastor of a church in the exact same village! It was amazing! We were so excited. Other groups experienced God healing a guy with a broken rib, and another baby with malaria. It was good to see.
We also did ministry in the area of the church, which is called Sirikwa. It was also very exciting to see the Lord move. A few people also came to play soccer later on Saturday. :) I couldn't keep up with the Kenyan boys, but it was still fun. :)
Sunday was another lavish day as we did ministry in two churches, and then had an amazing lunch at the pastor's house. The pastor and his wife are originally from Chicago, and their oldest daughter went to school at Berkeley!! GO BEARS!! I was so excited because when we went in their house, he changed into his Berkeley shirt. haha. :) Pastor Rick and Carole have been in Kenya for over 30 years - it was really neat to hear their story and what God has called for them to do. They said that they are not really missionaries - they still want to be missionaries - but right now they are pastoring that church and God has good plans for them. Last year, they said they were hosting about 100 people during the riots, and it was a really crazy time. I loved their stories.
Anyway, it was such a nice home - we sat on a carpet in front of a fireplace!! And saw a washing machine for the first time being in Kenya. We walked in the bathroom with no shoes, and there was an American style kitchen. Then they gave us an amazing lunch with salad!!! raisins! raw carrots! pineapples! and the chicken was really good too.. (we have had chicken here - it is actually a high form of hospitality to kill a chicken for guests - but usually it is really tough meat. This was the first time it was tender.). And then they gave us cake and ice cream and chocolate syrup! Martin and I enjoyed doing the dishes in the sink with hot water too. :)
We were so blessed. It was so close to home, yet still far as the most important of all - the people - were not there. As much as I love my Kenyan friends, there is no place like home. Anyway, we were so thankful and so spoiled. Again I think of the riches of His grace and how it feels to go from such death to such abundance of life that Jesus wants to give.
As I sit here, I have again been blessed. I went with Lilian to see the field of dreams that God has given her and her fiancee Dalton. It is amazing. They have a piece of land that they want to develop for their children's home. Such vision! We had another amazing lunch provided by the hospitable people who sold the land to Dalton. They made us mokimo, which is mashed potatoes with beans and corn. yum!! Again I am "nemasheba" which means, "I'm full." I feel like I have been saying a lot of that lately. haha. I am full in multiple ways!! so, so blessed.
Next week we will have some different things in store. Tomorrow we are headed to a rehab center for street kids, then the next day we are going to the IDP (internally displaced persons) camps, and then the following day we are going to a juvenile prison. I will be speaking there, so you can pray for that! thanks!
Monday, July 13, 2009
hard to say goodbye.. to Kitale
It has been a good week, though tomorrow we are leaving to go to Eldoret. We are so thankful for the outpouring of hospitality, generosity, and kindness that we were blessed with this week. We visited a lot of people this week, and most of the time were welcomed with such kindness. We were able to speak blessings into their lives, encourage with the Word, and pray for them. Most places were really good.. some were very hard, and again we just had to weep with some as we listened to them. One lady had her kids taken from her, and the pain that she faced could only be encouraged with the love of Jesus.
I have to keep this blog short though, so I unfortunately can't talk about everything.
It hailed this week and Hillard called it "stony rain." haha.. It was the first time for a lot of my friends to see hail. :)
One of the places we went to was to Lilian's home. She and her fiancee have started a home for street kids, to take them off of the streets and take care of them. They have about 24 kids, and they are wonderful. They teach them about the love of God, take care of them, feed them, send them to school, and shelter them. We went and washed their laundry (which was quite an experience since one shirt into the water turned the water instantly brown - and we washed a LOT of clothes. Note to self: if you send any clothes to kids in Africa, do not send white clothes!! They are forever changed to a different color.) Anyway, as some of us did laundry, some others in our team worked on concreting the floor in the dorm of the kids. The concrete smearing is made of cow dung, and so that was an interesting and very smelly experience. :) Talk about laying down rights!!
Anyway, I love how Lilian and Dalton take care of these kids. They are people of integrity, and it is refreshing to see that since so many people mistreat children and orphans by taking the money for themselves. We have heard and even visited with countless people who are doing that crime. It is heart breaking to see and hear.
We also visited a home one night last week that had electricity. I realized it was the first time in a month that I had been in a room with a light on the ceiling. Amazing! It was only one night, but I am humbled with what I have learned to live without - and how this is the reality of so many people.
Okay - tis all for now. I hope to email from Eldoret!!
I have to keep this blog short though, so I unfortunately can't talk about everything.
It hailed this week and Hillard called it "stony rain." haha.. It was the first time for a lot of my friends to see hail. :)
One of the places we went to was to Lilian's home. She and her fiancee have started a home for street kids, to take them off of the streets and take care of them. They have about 24 kids, and they are wonderful. They teach them about the love of God, take care of them, feed them, send them to school, and shelter them. We went and washed their laundry (which was quite an experience since one shirt into the water turned the water instantly brown - and we washed a LOT of clothes. Note to self: if you send any clothes to kids in Africa, do not send white clothes!! They are forever changed to a different color.) Anyway, as some of us did laundry, some others in our team worked on concreting the floor in the dorm of the kids. The concrete smearing is made of cow dung, and so that was an interesting and very smelly experience. :) Talk about laying down rights!!
Anyway, I love how Lilian and Dalton take care of these kids. They are people of integrity, and it is refreshing to see that since so many people mistreat children and orphans by taking the money for themselves. We have heard and even visited with countless people who are doing that crime. It is heart breaking to see and hear.
We also visited a home one night last week that had electricity. I realized it was the first time in a month that I had been in a room with a light on the ceiling. Amazing! It was only one night, but I am humbled with what I have learned to live without - and how this is the reality of so many people.
Okay - tis all for now. I hope to email from Eldoret!!
Monday, July 6, 2009
June update
Finally I am able to send some of what I have been experiencing in beautiful Kenya. We have been on outreach for a little over a month now, and every day brings something new. It's impossible to tell everything, but here are some highlights. :) And yes, I will have plenty of pictures to share when I come home.
Golini (June 4-21)
Golini was so beautiful. Mango trees, coconut trees, and tons of farmland everywhere. Every place had a shamba (or farm/ garden), growing some vegetables like scuma (like spinach), or a few had maize (corn). It was mango season when we went, so we ate fresh mangoes every day. It was wonderful and oh how we miss those mangoes! Golini is a really small village about an hour walk from the small town of Kwale, which was about an hour drive from the city of Mombasa (for those of you interested in the geography). There is red dirt everywhere, which turned into red mud when it rained, and some of our things are still stained "Golini red." ha.
We fell in love with the people of Golini. We stayed with Pastor Steven and his family on their compound. They have three buildings on their property (mud huts). The boys of our team took one, and the girls took the smaller one. We crammed 6 girls on 4 sleeping mats in a tiny room probably the size of the den in my apartment. We are family now! :) haha. But seriously, there was no way we could complain, because the pastor's family was more than generous with the sacrifices they gave us. They also let us use the largest room in their home to store our food for three weeks. Because of what space they gave us, the whole family (they have 6 beautiful children, plus they often have other children in the area stay the night, and one of the cousins lives there permanently I think), took a smaller room in their house, and I still don't how how they did this, but they also fit all 8 of their goats and all of their chickens in the same house! So yea, no complaints on space. I was amazed at the generosity of this family.
The other people were not far from us, just a short walk down the road, and we just loved on all the children who were constantly surrounding us. They loved the camera, so I have tons of pictures of the children in Golini. :) They really have nothing. I was amazed that they could run around in rags of clothing - one kid's shirt literally was split in half. Yet, still so full of joy and love. The firstborn son (the third child) is 10 years old and every day looks after the goats. He and his cousin were out there for hours at a time. It made me think of young David as a shepherd boy, and I just delighted at the thought of what these two little guys were learning and playing in those fields every day as they watched the goats. It was a lot of responsibility.
We learned a lot about gratefulness. That even though our mud hut had rats crawling on us (the second night Lilian's eyebrow was bit, and the last night Lisa was scratched. They also ate my skirt), gigantic spiders, rain leakages (that was fixed though), and cramped spaces, we were thankful for a place to lay our head at night. We always had something to eat, even though some of the nearby children only had the falling mangoes to eat each day. We were safe from the elephants (we found tracks just about a 5 minute walk from the house), and each time it rained we were able to find some shelter. Despite lack of water, lack of electricity, and whatever else, we still had so much to be grateful for.
Our ministry was good. We actually found the water tanks that we prayed about before coming, already there when we got there. It was fine though - we spent most of our days playing with and loving on the children. We spent a lot of time in prayer for the heavy spiritual oppression in the area, and visited a couple of schools as well. One school in particular really hit hard for me, as I had a picture of one of the walls as I prayed for Golini a few weeks before. It was a school that was completely falling apart, yet still enrolled students. We walked A LOT and did this one hike up and down this mountain to visit the home of one of the members of the church. We found out that his grandson was one of the kids who we saw every day, little Baraka (Baraka means "blessing"). We could not believe this little guy, who was probably about 5, walked this long journey every day to school. It was incredible.
It was super hard to leave, but the last night, with the sun setting on the mango trees, the girls dancing, with little Joshua falling asleep on my lap, and little Beti holding my hand, singing praises to the Lord, captured the whole time. We had a lot of successes in the time we were there. And then the next day, as we were at church and the pastor's wife entered mid-service, home from being a week in the hospital with the baby, Mary, who had been very sick with malaria and dehydration, all the emotions poured out. My heart holds a special spot for the people of Golini.
Mount Elgon (June 23-28)
We rode the bus for about 18 hours from Mombasa to Kitale, and saw some cool things on the way. We saw zebras, warthogs, flamingoes, sheep, donkeys, chickens, dogs, and more on the way. Fun times. We also got to see the beautiful Rift Valley and a volcano. It was very cool.
We arrived and stayed at the home of the Pastor John and his family. The next day we drove an hour outside of Kitale to Mount Elgon. If you read international news, you may remember the violent riots about a year and a half ago in Kenya. Because of disagreements between tribes after the national elections in Kenya, extreme violence broke out, particularly in Mount Elgon. So it is a place that is still recovering from the issues there, and we worked with a few churches in the area to reach out to the people there.
Mount Elgon is gorgeous as well, but in a different way than Golini. Acres and acres of maize crops on an amazing landscape. The people also work a LOT harder than in Golini (we found Golini to have a lot of laziness). Anyway, we were blessed by amazing hospitality of people in the church, as well as from the family who housed us in their huge old colonial house from back in the day when Kenya was being colonized by the British. We slept in a bed! Amazing! haha.
We learned a lot of new customs here. For example, the people know you don't want any more chai (tea) if you put the handle facing the inside of the table when you are finished with your meal. Also, some of the people still used the tribal custom to take out some of the front teeth on the bottom row, so it was interesting to meet many adults who were missing their front bottom teeth. The handshake was different in Mount Elgon than anywhere else in Kenya, and we also experienced some cold weather. Some people's handshake is a clapping of the hands! I love it. :) Oh, and I should also explain some about the transportation. We used this matatu all week, that was an experience in itself. The door of the van was tied onto the side of the vehicle, so it was unable to be closed. It was funny most of the time, until it rained. :) We also crammed 21 people into this 14 passenger van the first time we rode it, which was also very interesting. I shouldn't complain about that, because now, in Kitale, we often will fit 24 people in the same space. Anyway, most of the time it was fine, and we were thankful for a ride.
We again enjoyed the people and all of their hospitality and generosity.
Kitale (last week and this coming week)
We spent the first two days last week ministering to the many widows in the area. It was a very emotional time and there was one day in particular that we just sat with and listened to and wept with these women who had lost everything in the post -election riots. They actually used to live in Mount Elgon, but lost their land and came to Kitale. We also found out that the population in Kitale went from about 300,000 to over a million people in the last year due to the riots. Incredible.
The next few days we working with some of the local churches and ministering to people in the area. It was a good work. Next week we are headed to work with a school nearby to the pastor's house, who again is hosting us so generously.
Whew! I know.. it's been a long post, and not nearly enough details. But that will have to do for now. Lisa and I celebrated the 4th of July with some American songs, and thought of the barbeques at home. :) We are learning a lot about flexibility here - sometimes we don't eat or eat really late, and just adapting to a lot of various customs. But every moment brings with it a lot of opportunity to be grateful for the Lord and to trust in Him.
A couple more things I forgot:
- The milk is so fresh and good here! We have lots of it in our chai every day. So for those of you wondering about my healing, it is real! Praise the Lord for fresh cow's milk every day and real ice cream as I splurged today :)
- Yes, my swahili is improving :)
- Next week we are headed to a very big school. We were in a big school in Mount Elgon as well - with about 70 kids in one class, to one teacher. Yikes!
Golini (June 4-21)
Golini was so beautiful. Mango trees, coconut trees, and tons of farmland everywhere. Every place had a shamba (or farm/ garden), growing some vegetables like scuma (like spinach), or a few had maize (corn). It was mango season when we went, so we ate fresh mangoes every day. It was wonderful and oh how we miss those mangoes! Golini is a really small village about an hour walk from the small town of Kwale, which was about an hour drive from the city of Mombasa (for those of you interested in the geography). There is red dirt everywhere, which turned into red mud when it rained, and some of our things are still stained "Golini red." ha.
We fell in love with the people of Golini. We stayed with Pastor Steven and his family on their compound. They have three buildings on their property (mud huts). The boys of our team took one, and the girls took the smaller one. We crammed 6 girls on 4 sleeping mats in a tiny room probably the size of the den in my apartment. We are family now! :) haha. But seriously, there was no way we could complain, because the pastor's family was more than generous with the sacrifices they gave us. They also let us use the largest room in their home to store our food for three weeks. Because of what space they gave us, the whole family (they have 6 beautiful children, plus they often have other children in the area stay the night, and one of the cousins lives there permanently I think), took a smaller room in their house, and I still don't how how they did this, but they also fit all 8 of their goats and all of their chickens in the same house! So yea, no complaints on space. I was amazed at the generosity of this family.
The other people were not far from us, just a short walk down the road, and we just loved on all the children who were constantly surrounding us. They loved the camera, so I have tons of pictures of the children in Golini. :) They really have nothing. I was amazed that they could run around in rags of clothing - one kid's shirt literally was split in half. Yet, still so full of joy and love. The firstborn son (the third child) is 10 years old and every day looks after the goats. He and his cousin were out there for hours at a time. It made me think of young David as a shepherd boy, and I just delighted at the thought of what these two little guys were learning and playing in those fields every day as they watched the goats. It was a lot of responsibility.
We learned a lot about gratefulness. That even though our mud hut had rats crawling on us (the second night Lilian's eyebrow was bit, and the last night Lisa was scratched. They also ate my skirt), gigantic spiders, rain leakages (that was fixed though), and cramped spaces, we were thankful for a place to lay our head at night. We always had something to eat, even though some of the nearby children only had the falling mangoes to eat each day. We were safe from the elephants (we found tracks just about a 5 minute walk from the house), and each time it rained we were able to find some shelter. Despite lack of water, lack of electricity, and whatever else, we still had so much to be grateful for.
Our ministry was good. We actually found the water tanks that we prayed about before coming, already there when we got there. It was fine though - we spent most of our days playing with and loving on the children. We spent a lot of time in prayer for the heavy spiritual oppression in the area, and visited a couple of schools as well. One school in particular really hit hard for me, as I had a picture of one of the walls as I prayed for Golini a few weeks before. It was a school that was completely falling apart, yet still enrolled students. We walked A LOT and did this one hike up and down this mountain to visit the home of one of the members of the church. We found out that his grandson was one of the kids who we saw every day, little Baraka (Baraka means "blessing"). We could not believe this little guy, who was probably about 5, walked this long journey every day to school. It was incredible.
It was super hard to leave, but the last night, with the sun setting on the mango trees, the girls dancing, with little Joshua falling asleep on my lap, and little Beti holding my hand, singing praises to the Lord, captured the whole time. We had a lot of successes in the time we were there. And then the next day, as we were at church and the pastor's wife entered mid-service, home from being a week in the hospital with the baby, Mary, who had been very sick with malaria and dehydration, all the emotions poured out. My heart holds a special spot for the people of Golini.
Mount Elgon (June 23-28)
We rode the bus for about 18 hours from Mombasa to Kitale, and saw some cool things on the way. We saw zebras, warthogs, flamingoes, sheep, donkeys, chickens, dogs, and more on the way. Fun times. We also got to see the beautiful Rift Valley and a volcano. It was very cool.
We arrived and stayed at the home of the Pastor John and his family. The next day we drove an hour outside of Kitale to Mount Elgon. If you read international news, you may remember the violent riots about a year and a half ago in Kenya. Because of disagreements between tribes after the national elections in Kenya, extreme violence broke out, particularly in Mount Elgon. So it is a place that is still recovering from the issues there, and we worked with a few churches in the area to reach out to the people there.
Mount Elgon is gorgeous as well, but in a different way than Golini. Acres and acres of maize crops on an amazing landscape. The people also work a LOT harder than in Golini (we found Golini to have a lot of laziness). Anyway, we were blessed by amazing hospitality of people in the church, as well as from the family who housed us in their huge old colonial house from back in the day when Kenya was being colonized by the British. We slept in a bed! Amazing! haha.
We learned a lot of new customs here. For example, the people know you don't want any more chai (tea) if you put the handle facing the inside of the table when you are finished with your meal. Also, some of the people still used the tribal custom to take out some of the front teeth on the bottom row, so it was interesting to meet many adults who were missing their front bottom teeth. The handshake was different in Mount Elgon than anywhere else in Kenya, and we also experienced some cold weather. Some people's handshake is a clapping of the hands! I love it. :) Oh, and I should also explain some about the transportation. We used this matatu all week, that was an experience in itself. The door of the van was tied onto the side of the vehicle, so it was unable to be closed. It was funny most of the time, until it rained. :) We also crammed 21 people into this 14 passenger van the first time we rode it, which was also very interesting. I shouldn't complain about that, because now, in Kitale, we often will fit 24 people in the same space. Anyway, most of the time it was fine, and we were thankful for a ride.
We again enjoyed the people and all of their hospitality and generosity.
Kitale (last week and this coming week)
We spent the first two days last week ministering to the many widows in the area. It was a very emotional time and there was one day in particular that we just sat with and listened to and wept with these women who had lost everything in the post -election riots. They actually used to live in Mount Elgon, but lost their land and came to Kitale. We also found out that the population in Kitale went from about 300,000 to over a million people in the last year due to the riots. Incredible.
The next few days we working with some of the local churches and ministering to people in the area. It was a good work. Next week we are headed to work with a school nearby to the pastor's house, who again is hosting us so generously.
Whew! I know.. it's been a long post, and not nearly enough details. But that will have to do for now. Lisa and I celebrated the 4th of July with some American songs, and thought of the barbeques at home. :) We are learning a lot about flexibility here - sometimes we don't eat or eat really late, and just adapting to a lot of various customs. But every moment brings with it a lot of opportunity to be grateful for the Lord and to trust in Him.
A couple more things I forgot:
- The milk is so fresh and good here! We have lots of it in our chai every day. So for those of you wondering about my healing, it is real! Praise the Lord for fresh cow's milk every day and real ice cream as I splurged today :)
- Yes, my swahili is improving :)
- Next week we are headed to a very big school. We were in a big school in Mount Elgon as well - with about 70 kids in one class, to one teacher. Yikes!
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