Friday, January 20, 2012

The Place Of The Dogs


January 17th Tuesday

Kipsongo slum literally means the place of the dogs. Years ago some of the people from the Turkana tribe left their land because of famine. They were in search of a better place and a new life. Their plans were good but when they arrived to their new destination they were not accepted. They were pushed away from the village. The Turkana settled in an area of low land outside of the village area. Many of their homes are still built in the Turkana way but instead of branches from the desert palm to enclose their hut in, they use plastics and other items they find in the garbage.

I’ve been to Kipsongo many times but today I was invited to go further in with Joe & Theresa. As we drive the Kipsongo road there are piles of garbage here and there along the way. Very often you will see the older mama’s sitting in the midst of the garbage with their sac of treasures. There are days, when traveling this road, we will see them sleeping in the midst of the garbage.

As we find a safe place to park the car we have already been seen and the kids come running. Dirty clothes, runny noses, swollen bellies and big smiles! They all want acknowledgement, a touch, a hand shake, and sometimes a piece of candy.

We have some natives to walk with and they lead us down into the low lands. The dogs are sleeping through the heat of the day. Their skeleton structure speaks of the life they have here.

Home brew becomes a means for income for some and increases the problems within their community.

Charcoal pieces are rolled in the dirt and then dried in the sun to make it last longer. There are signs of sickness at every turn. A woman’s hut caught on fire while she was cooking inside. Her badly burnt arm healed without care. Now her arm is frozen in one position. An elder Turkana man sits on the ground with feet so swollen that he doesn’t walk. A twelve year old boy has pain in his joints and is visibly bloated.

We are approached with the needs that many carry: money for schooling, food and medicine.

Further in there is a rope between two poles with meat hanging off the rope. This is their market area and the meat is for sale. I don’t think I was expecting to see dog meat for sale but I completely understand. Hunger is painful.

There are so many needs and so much suffering.

Later in the afternoon Evans, my interpreter, and I traveled to Taito. In this area we have been meeting with a group of women. Many to these women are widows. We have one widow that is very sick and needs medical attention.

We travel door to door throughout the area and visit with them in their homes. We walked the dirt roads, the paths through the fields, stepped over fences and came face to face with a cow. It is country life here and people live off the earth. The soil is rich and their crops sustain them.

We met with some beautiful women. We visit with a grandmother in her 80’s and another tells us she is 98. Her heart was full of joy and bubbling over. She wears a cut that covers the side of her ear. There is nothing there now but years ago when she danced for the first president of Kenya her ear was full of large rings. She wore more jewels around her ankles. Both women remember the days of the colonists.

January 20, Friday

I’m often approached by the street kids when I go in town. “Linda” “Linda” rings like a song in my ear. When I turn to see who it is I am greeted with great big beautiful smiles from some of the dirtiest kids around. There is a little place that serves food in one of the alley ways that they love to go. It is a very big treat for them to sit down and eat a hot meal. They never forget to say thank you.

Last time we went to the orphanage to visit we were so encouraged. Little Linda from Kipsongo slum is doing so much better. She is showing signs of trust and smiling a lot more.

Isaiah 58:10 "If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Christine Attacks

January 15th Sunday

Sunday’s are very special days and they are also very busy days. Today I spoke at the tent church in town. The music was joyful and the tent was full. A handmade Turkana basket is placed in the front of the church for the offering. Sitting up front I am in full view of the people. There are many I recognize, many I know by name and I have even been in the homes of some. My eyes fall on one of the widows from Kipsongo slums. She is a thin frail woman. I know that after the service she will return to the slums with little to eat and probably nothing for tomorrow. There are many dressed better than what she wears but it does not stop her from walking to the basket and giving what she has as worship to her God.

The temperature rises within the tent as the morning turns to noon day but no one offers to leave. As I’m speaking one of the older street boys enters and kneels in the center aisle near the back of the church.

At the end of the service I walk near the back and Sarah, Alice and another little street girl are there waiting for me with great big smiles. I give them hugs and share my water with the littlest of the three.

Selena the woman from Kispongo slums greets me in the Turkana way and then places a beaded necklace that she had made around my neck. She can’t speak one word of English but I knew from the smile on her face that it was a gift of love. With her finger she pointed to her heart than to mine.

I was hungry and I knew these three street girls were very hungry. Their faces were so excited when I told them that today we were going to have some chips.(fries) We sat together around the table and they each had the soda of their choice and a plate of chips. They ate and said thank you then they ate some more and said thank you again. They were very still and well behaved but the eyes of those around us were on them. Soon they wanted to know if they could take the rest in a bag for later and off they went but not until they said thank you one more time. They left full and very happy!

Later in the afternoon we traveled outside of Kitale just a short ways to Lessos. There is a boarding school in Lessos and we want to visit with a couple of the children. The road was dusty and donkeys grazed on the little patches of green grass beside the road. There were small stands along the way with bananas, cabbages, and tomatoes for sale. Once through the school gate we see that Sunday afternoon is set aside for washing clothes. The children, except for the very young ones, are expected to hand wash all of their own clothes.

January 16th Monday

One must be very flexible because the day hardly ever goes as planned. Every day is different and you never know what problems you will face or who will cross your path. Today Joni and I had lunch with Christine.

Christine is from Kispsongo slums and has some serious health problems and other issues. She had a little boy that we rescued from the slums a couple years ago. She wasn’t caring for him and didn’t want him anymore. He is now in a good home.

As we sat around this small table outside she was visibly out of place but very quiet and not bothering anyone. She was just happy to see us and to also have some food. The guard came up to our table and said something in Swahili to her. All I could get was that he wanted her to eat fast and leave but he said a lot more than that. He didn’t speak English so he didn’t respond to any of our questions. After he finished speaking to Christine he went back to his post and his back was to us. Without a word Christine lunged from her chair and attacked him from the back. He of course is trained to defend himself and take control of the situation and that is what he did. He grabbed her arms and with a twist she went to the ground. Christine is thin as can be and her little body is curled up in a ball on the ground and he proceeds to kick her with his heavy boots. He is stopped and Christine takes off down the road with Joni running after her. She was bruised from being kicked but will be fine. I stayed behind to straighten out the details with the manager. Peace can turn into a volcano that is spitting fire within seconds here.

The rest of the day was rather peaceful!

Psalm 46:1-3

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Planting Seeds


January 1st, 2012 Sunday

It is a new year but as I enter the tent church everything stills looks the same. There are piles of garbage to pass by before you get go through the tent doorway. Some of the garbage is burning because the people are cooking their food. Some of the garbage is being pawed through in hopes of finding something to eat or something of value. It isn’t an area restricted to just adults. Small children, toddlers and even babies are seen often in this area. It has become a community of the extremely poor and unwanted.

After the service Joni, a missionary friend of mine, and I have lunch together. There is a street guy here in town known as the “bag man” because he wraps himself in plastic store bags. He looks like he is wearing a goose down coat as he has so many bags tied on to him. He sees us and starts to come our way. This is a man that we avoid and we don’t encourage him to be near us. We go inside the building to avoid any confrontation. From the window we see him looking our way with a big evil smile upon his face. After some time he goes on his way.

January 2nd Monday

The children at the orphanage will soon be going back to school but there is still time to play. We had story time, song time, walk and talk time and a very special time of trying different hair styles!

Seeds Children’s Home offers the very latest in hair styles. Great service too! I don’t know how many little hands went through my hair. The need to be touched and close to people is so alive within each one of the children. As we were leaving one of the older orphans, a 16 year old boy, came and very seriously asked if he could ask me a question. I hesitated a bit thinking maybe I should find a man for him to talk to. I saw the sincerity within his eyes and said sure you can. It was a question so far from my thoughts that I was still for a few seconds. The question was “Is Santa Claus real?”

By now the younger children were running up to join us so I said, “well the little ones think so.” I could see that he wasn’t reading between the lines and didn’t understand what I was trying to tell him. I also knew that this boy was on his way to boarding school and he was in for some heavy teasing if I didn’t tell him the truth. So I continued on with my answer, “Men don’t fly through the air, it is just a movie.” A smile came to his face. The next time he watches the DVD, which a visitor left for him, I think that he will relax and enjoy it more J

January 3rd Tuesday

My morning almost always starts with a cup of hot tea. There are many mornings that I sit on the veranda and over look the mountain ranges in front of me. The mornings are beautiful and quiet but every so often the quiet cup of morning tea is interrupted with a monkey jumping up and down on the roof. He is a happy little guy and wants to be noticed.

The market is a busy place. There are piles of clothes, shoes, belts, and household items. There is also an area for food with fresh fruit, beans, rice and vegetables. It is yours for the price and the price goes up and down depending on their assessment of you. In the midst of the piles and the business of the people are little coverings where they also have hot tea and food for sale. Then there is a man or two that walks through the maze of things trying to sell his bottle of “cure all” medicine.

January 7th Wednesday

So many have been blessed with Bibles and it is because of your giving hearts, thank you. While in Nairobi I was asked to speak in Sonton which is a couple hours ride outside the city. The church was started just a short time ago. Right now they have 12 members attending and not one of them has a Bible of their own. You have made it possible to present each one of them with a Bible in their own language. Now that they have Bibles they want to start meeting together during the week to study.

We haven’t seen rain for over a month now and the roads continue to roll dust into the air as we travel. The beautiful bushes beside the road now hold the red dust from the Kenyan soil. Feeling unwell and with an infection in my lungs the need to retreat from the irritation of the dust was evident. So a few days of rest at the lodge is needed. It is a beautiful place to rest and recharge.

January 14th Thursday

We had a young girl crying outside our gate last night. The men went to see what was wrong and the women stayed inside as it could have been a set up. There could have been men with weapons waiting in the bushes on the other side of the gate and when the gate opens – you are faced with trouble.

She was very young and alone. She told them that she had been beaten by her husband and was trying to find her mother’s place. She didn’t recognize anything because it was dark and she was lost.
She was taken to the area that she told us she was looking for.

The truth comes out as we hear that she did the same thing at another gate last night. Here she asked for money to get to her mother’s place which now was much further away. So the crying woman at the gate turned out to be a scam.We have great protection at the lodge. We have soldiers on duty round the clock. It is expected that there is oil in the northwestern part of Kenya. The exploration for oil is well on its way and since October there have been caravan after caravan of equipment taken up into the northwest. Security, drivers, soldiers and workers have used the lodge as a stopping point.

After days here at the lodge I am ready to run again. I left the lodge at 7:30 am to make the 2 ½ hr trip up into the mountain. We traveled the first part of the trip in a matutu with a door that wouldn’t shut tight and it rattled all over as we dodged this pot hole and then the next. It is a constant swaying to the left and then to the right trying to avoid the enormous holes in the road. The road conditions never seem to slow the drivers down though. As we travel further out the road width lessens as it looks like big bites have been taken out of the side of the road. The road only allows one vehicle access at a time. The heavy rains and flood waters coming down from the mountain have washed both sides of the road away. Fields of sunflowers stand in their brilliance between us the mountain slopes. Our ride ends in Kimilli and from here we go the rest of the way by motorcycle. The roads are like a wash board and the constant up and down jarring makes one to be sure their tongue is touching the roof of their mouth.

There are 38 pastors and leaders in a small church waiting for us in Kapsokwony. Many have traveled a long distance to be here. The hosting pastor had been given a bicycle which he uses for the ministry. While speaking a young boy tried to steal it, however he was unsuccessful. The bicycle was brought inside with us for the remainder of the class.

We took a different route down the mountain. It was beautiful and mountain air was perfect. We were pulled stopped at one police check. With authority in his voice and a stern look the officer began to question me. Then very suddenly a big smile appeared on his face and he welcomed me to Kenya and told me to enjoy my stay. Further down the mountain we stopped in one small village. There were a few stores on each side of the road. It was an area where everyone stopped what they were doing and just looked! Some walked to the edge of the road and just stood there. The children gathered very quickly around me and were all giggles as I greeted them.

We stopped here for a few minutes to enjoy a soda and the children filled the door way. I encouraged them to gather closer and showed them the salvation bracelets I had in my back pack. Thomas interpreted for me and the gospel story went out. Some adults stood on the outskirts and kept their distance but they also listened as we spoke. All the children received a bracelet before we left and 8 of them accepted the Lord Jesus into their heart. Smiles, giggles, a touch from a white hand, a brief moment and a seed left in the sand.

Luke 8: 11 -15

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Hungry & Desperate


December 29th Thursday

I woke to the happy singing of song birds as the sunrises over the mountain range in front of the lodge. It is a beautiful day and the sky is blue. It doesn’t take long for the sun’s rays to burn into the ground. As I walk toward town I open up my umbrella, not because of rain, but because the need for some shade was great. Soon I am approached by a motorcycle driver to see if I would like a ride. He brought a smile to my face. It had to be close to 90 degrees and he was wearing a big puffy winter jacket and it was zipped right up to the neck. Then he had a red scarf tied tightly around his neck and a knit hat on his head!

Joni, a missionary friend of mine, and I plan to go to the hospital today to be tested for TB. It is a test of precaution only. We have both been around people that have been diagnosed with TB. It is something that we frequently run into because of the slums and low income places that we visit.

December 30th Friday

The vast blue sky of Africa is beautiful and with the summer season upon us it gets hot very fast. We return to the hospital for the second part of the TB test and then move on to other things.

We visit with a family that is caring for a little boy named “Peter.” Peter is Turkana and has a home in Turkana land up near the Sudan border. He wasn’t cared for and has slept many nights with hunger pains. He was desperate for help. So he tied himself underneath a bus and traveled that way for over 9 hours. The condition of the roads in this area is beyond description. It is a challenge for the best of the drivers. It is also a test of endurance for the passengers. This little boy was praying for a better life and some food! He took a chance that many youngsters are willing to take. He arrived in Kitale and after a few days and nights on the streets my friend, Joni, met him.

Some time has passed since then and he has been placed in a good home and he preparing to go to school. All necessary legal papers have been finished so that he has a home in the western parts of Kenya with a Pastor and his family.

Peter still needs a few more things before he will be ready for the first day of school. Sneakers and a back pack are a must for a boy his age. The back pack is empty but it doesn’t stop him from walking around the house with it on. What a happy guy he is!

December 31st Saturday

I’m up early and prepared to speak to the women in the village of Zaire. They have set time a side for a conference just for themselves. I have never spoken in this area and agree to meet another pastor at 8 am in town and from there we will ride together. Being an American who is used to schedules and most of the time being on time, I arrived at 8 am. I know that Africans have a hard time being punctual so I waited patiently for some time. It was now 8:35 and I had not seen her or heard from her. I sent a quick text to let her know I was thinking about returning to the lodge. Within minutes my phone rang. She was still in bed and asked for 45 more minutes. The day begins with a challenge and a prayer to keep my heart flowing with love.

We drove through the slum area known as Mitisi and Twani and continued toward Mt. Elgon. The dust from the dry roads rolls into the car. We cover our heads with cloth and wrap it over our nose and mouth as a protection from the dusty air.

We drive off the road and through an open field. Mud huts are scattered here and there along the way. Children start to get excited as we pass them. A cow grazing in the field lifts his head and looks my way and then he jumps. I think I scared him!

The church sits in an open field surrounded by farm land. After being greeted we are invited inside the pastor’s home. We sit around a small coffee table for bread and tea while we getting to know one another a little better. The pastor has a question for me and the room is quiet, “Linda, what are your plans while here in Kenya?” My response came without thought, “To obey God.” It brought big smiles to their faces and laughter filled the room.

The conference was attended by about 50 women and several men came as well. They wanted to hear what the woman had to say. There was a time of openness and many questions were asked. Some women came with broken hearts, others with broken homes, and others longing for answers that others refuse to give. It amazes me that life goes on at a rapid rate and so many are left behind.

After speaking many came forward for a time of prayer.

The conference went late into the night but I knew that I could not stay that long. So after a full day and a meal of beans and rice I said good bye and headed back to the lodge. The New Year was not far away!

Ephesians 4:2-3

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.