Monday November 7th With the sun shining bright in the blue sky above I decided to walk to Bethlehem Children’s Home. Ian, the little boy that was rescued from Kipsongo slums last year, and nine other children were waiting for some new clothes.
As I entered the door I was greeted with big beautiful smiles. As we pulled clothes out of the bag and placed them on the coffee table we found a few extra special surprises as well. Tucked in between the jackets and shirts were pencils, jump ropes and even a bouncy ball!
We played ball for part of the morning and then tried out the jump ropes. The pencils will be put away for exams that are scheduled for next week. Then it was time to try on the clothes and find an owner for each piece. The kids were happy but I think the happiest one in the room was Dad. He held each piece up, looked at it, and knew exactly who to give it to. It made my heart smile to see him so happy as he went through the clothes.
It was time to go and as we prayed something was going on in one corner of the room. They wanted to bless me with a gift before I left. They are raising chickens and have started a business of selling eggs. They gave me thirty eggs to take with me. Isaac and Evans carried the eggs and walked me back to the lodge.
Even though it was mid day and the sun was very hot they proudly wore their new fleece jackets every step of the way. I asked them if they were hot and they said yes but they refused to take off the jackets. Once at the lodge they both enjoyed a nice cold soda ! We want to thank Tammy Henderson for the big bag of jump ropes. They are putting smiles on the faces of many.
Tuesday November 8th I went to the Bread of Life Center in Kipsongo slums. The children were all in their classes but were released shortly for break. There were billows of steam coming from the huge cooking pots as the women in the kitchen stirred the beans and corn with their long wooden spoons. Soon over 200 hungry little ones would be standing before them waiting for a warm meal.
I made my way through the compound and as I walked I quietly talked to the Lord. Where will you take my feet today? Please Lord let me be a blessing to someone. Never did I expect that within ten minutes I would be sitting in the back seat of a vehicle with newly found orphans loving on me. Tiny little four year old Sara was handed to me and sat in my lap. Then her seven year old brother, Sonya, snuggled in under my arm. As we drove to pick up the youngest of the three I felt their need for love. Sara didn’t hesitate to nestle in closer to me and place her head under my chin. As I hugged her I could feel the congestion within her lungs. Her brother took my hand and pulled it tighter around him. Neither one of them spoke English. They had their own blend of Turkana and Swahili.
Sonya was quiet but Sara was miss little personality. She had something to say to her brother and it was quite lengthy. The only word I caught that I understood was “sweet.” That is what the natives call a piece of candy. Sara was hoping to get a piece of candy out of this trip! We picked up their two year old brother and headed to the hospital to have all three of them tested for different things. The youngest one took over my lap and slept most of the way. As we went through the gate of the hospital the oldest boy said “ I remember this place. This is where we came to pick up mama and take her to the mortuary.” The children’s father had died two or three years ago but their mother died of TB just a few days before.
I was worried that the little one was sick because he had been so still for the ride but when we drove through the gate of the hospital he started to stir and fuss. His big brother started looking at me with worry. I heard the word “poo” and figured there was a good chance that “poo” meant “poo” in both languages! We opened the door and the two year old got out and did what he had to do while the seven year old did what he had to do on the corner of building! (Sara had pneumonia but all the other tests came back good.)
Mark 10: 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
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