Friday, May 9, 2014

Going To Bed Hungry



May 2, 2014 (Friday) School will start soon and it’s important that the church is fenced and gated before they return. The fencing is done and the thorn bush seedlings planted around the edge of the fence. These bushes will be a nice full border and added protection in just a short time.  

The poverty level is extreme in the villages and people go without work. They live from day to day not knowing how they will feed themselves and their children. Going to bed hungry is not foreign to any child in this area. If you ask them if they ever go to bed hungry the answer is always “yes.”  They tell me they cry themselves to sleep sometimes because there isn’t anything to eat and their stomach hurts. The school children were sent home for the month of April because it was time for break. We found that they lingered and didn't want to leave because at school they have food to eat.


People living in such poverty often do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do.  If we don’t protect and care for the things the Lord has blessed us with ……they could vanish.

The gate opens wide enough for a vehicle to enter and in one side of the gate there is a small door for people to come and go through.  A gate of this quality is not seen too much in the farmland and it draws a lot of attention.   News spread that something was happening at the Taito church and many came to watch the men work throughout the day. 


May 3, 2014 (Saturday) It’s up with the sun and taking care of the last minute things. It’s checking under the bed and making sure I have everything.  It’s looking around the room that has been my home for one last time. It is saying goodbye to friends.


My bags have been sent ahead and will meet me in Nairobi as the plane is very compact.  The airstrip is small and maize fields surround the outer edges. The guards at the entrance to the airport raise their guns and stand at attention. Our car is searched and then we are permitted to enter.  Security measures have increased in all of Kenya because of the terrorist attacks.   


The sky was clear and the views were beautiful.  Mountain ranges filled the land. They were rugged, strong and showed forth God’s might hand.  We looked down on a vast crater and lakes of glass.  Flocks of pink flamingos filled the sky with color before resting in the lake below.

I’ve left western Kenya, the villages, the peaceful life and entered streets that burst with people. It is bumper to bumper traffic and breathing the heavily polluted air.  There are many reasons why I don’t care to spend time in Nairobi but one thing for sure; I’m looking forward to washing my clothes in a washing machine!  

Isaiah 54:10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

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