It was Sunday the 21st of February and the sun was shining bright. However in the heavy rain season you don't travel far without an umbrella and a raincoat. So with my back pack properly filled I proceeded to start my journey to the big tent in town. I hadn't gotten far when I was invited to join a couple from the USA and travel with them to a church in Tuwani. This couple is not only from the USA but once lived in South Berwick, Maine! It was the second service at Grace Way Harvest Chapel and the seats began to fill. Small children filled the area close to the front. We lost power at the beginning of the service but the praise from their hearts continued on. One young man stood and said that his heart had been searching for Jesus and today he wanted to accept him as his Lord and Savior.
A church school next door gives over one hundred small children a free education. The need is so great in this area that Bob & LuAnn www.africaconnect.org, along with the church elders are preparing to expand and add more classrooms. The children are given breakfast and lunch along with their daily lessons. A hand dug 80 foot well gives the children clean water.
I spent the afternoon with Tina Eppler. The dark clouds were rolling in as we walked to the Mount Elgon Hospital. Tina used to teach at Windham Christian Academy and lived in Standish, Maine! Tina has been overseeing the care of a baby girl called Tracy. Tracy is around 17 months old and she pulled a kerosene lamp onto her head. The burn is massive and extreme. Infection had set in as care had not been given promptly.
Monday morning I started to town a little earlier than usual. I wanted to see if I could get more accomplished before the rain started in the afternoon. I 'm walking and talking with the Lord and just asking him to direct my feet and to help me to connect with the people he wants me to. I take a boda boda (pedal bike) and tell the driver to take me to the tent in town. We get to town and he goes past the tent. I decide not to stop him as there is a market area ahead and it is a new area that I have not walked in. So at the market I tell him to stop and I get off the bike. As I am paying him I hear my name called out. He had dropped me off right in front of a native Christian lady named "Beth". She recognized me from a church meeting I had attended. Beth speaks English fluently and her face just shines with the love of Jesus. She spent the rest of the day walking me through the different areas of town. We visited and prayed with a woman in a close by village.
This woman was so happy to have us visit that she tried and tried to send me home with a rooster. She would have given me a hen but she felt they were too small! After much insisting we came to the agreement that I would take a picture of her with the rooster and take that with me. She had such a giving heart but I was not prepared to carry a live rooster by the legs the rest of day.
Kipsongo, one of the slums here is another place we visited. There are rows and rows of sheet metal homes on both sides of the road just a short distance from the center of Kitale. Another source of shelter is an igloo shaped home made of plastic bags and trash that they have collected to help protect them from the elements. These homes built from trash are lived in by people of the Turkana and Pokot tribes. Years back they were suffering from hunger because of a drought in the land. They left northern Kenya and came to Kitale in hopes of a better life. They were rejected and have lived as outcasts often finding their daily food pawing through garbage. Kipsongo means "Place of the dogs".
Tuesday the 23rd As I start to walk the market area this morning I am greeted by a little girl named "Esther". She is about 8 years old, bare foot and very dirty. She is one of the Kitale street children. Esther is hungry so we find a place that serves tea and bread. She is somewhat apprehensive about coming in and sitting down. I believe she was afraid she was going to be scolded and sent away.
Esther has a beautiful smile and it doesn't take long for 2 glasses of water, 1 cup of tea and a big round piece of flat bread to disappear. Then she was more than willing to finish the rest of my coke. She also wanted a bar soap which we soon found in the open air market. Even though Esther's eyes and big smile said thank you loud and clear she made sure she said 'thank you' several times. Esther is not alone. There are many street children living each day with the hope of finding food to take the hunger pains away.
On Wednesday I traveled one hour out of Kitale to a pastoral / leadership school with a couple from Israel. Greg & Beverly have many classes being held in different areas. Today's class is held in Endebess. It is a quiet area and many are preparing the ground for planting. There are grass and mud huts all around the church building that is being used for three classes. Children peek in the large open windows as the lessons are being taught. Many are waiting for their special treat of "gum" that Beverly gives them at the end of the day. Greg & Beverly will soon be going to Sudan to teach a two week class. I will be filling in for Beverly and teach the women's class while they are gone.
Psalm 68:4 & 5
Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds- his name is the Lord- and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
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