Today I spent another wonderful day at the hospital hanging out with all the amazing friends I have made over the past few days. Today was by far my favorite day at the hospital because I learned so much about one of my little friends and his family.
My friends name is John. He’s 7 years old and is in Class 1 (1st grade). John lives in a part of Kenya called Nakuru with his mom and little sister (3 months old). John had an accident about a month and a half ago where he was severely burned, I’m not exactly sure how this happened, his mom tried to explain but her English is very broken. John has been in the hospital for close to 2 months now and is nowhere near going home. John’s surgery bill alone already totals to over 120,000 ksh (about 1,500$). This is SURGERY alone, this does not include his hospital bed fees and food while staying at the hospital. While this does seem like a huge amount of money, especially by Kenyan standards, let me tell you a little more about my sweet little friend John and his family. John’s father got in an accident almost a year ago and died, leaving John’s mother widowed and without any source of income. John’s mother didn’t go to school so really has no skill set to get a job. While in Nakuru, John lives with a family friend that can provide for him, give him food and pay his school tuition. So, without a source of income and no father or other significant family members away to work and provide money to pay hospital bills John’s mother is worried, she’s scared. She wants so very much to be able to provide for her family but it is almost impossible! Oh, and another thing, you CANNOT leave the hospital until you pay for your medical bills or give them the title of your land. John’s mother sat with me as we discussed her situation, financially I am no help to her and she knows that, but she also knows how powerful a thing called prayer is. We sat and we prayed for a very long time. We prayed for John’s situation that he would not be in pain and would be healed fast. I prayed for John’s mother that her strength would be renewed, that she would have endurance and hope that with God all things are possible. I would ask you to please pray for my friend John, his mother and his baby sister as well. Prayer is a powerful thing, let us not forget that. While visiting the Hemphill’s in Kijabe we were thinking of ways to fill our time while the kids where gone to school. Since Rift Valley Academy’s campus (where we are currently staying) is close to the Kijabe Mission Hospital we thought it would be fun to go down to the children’s wing at the hospital and play with the kids. So, for the past couple of days Page and I have been frequent visitors in the children’s wing! It gives me so much joy to go down to the hospital and play with the kids and talk to the mothers, just to help provide a sense of joy and a refreshment of hope.
While at the hospital one of our favorite things to do is paint nails! Most of the kids (tiny babies mostly) are there with their mothers so they love when we come and paint their nails. It brings me great joy to hear a mother say she thinks she looks beautiful or smart when her nails are done and to see the huge smiles on the faces of each woman. Isn’t it amazing how one small gesture can impact someone so greatly? This Sunday at church we were discussing if faith alone can save us, or if works were involved. So, I would ask you to turn to James 2:14-26. After you read this passage thoroughly, I would then direct your attention to verse 17, the main idea. Faith alone is dead, and from verse 14 we see it cannot alone save. Next, I would ask you to look at verse 2:18—“works cannot be added to faith, but genuine faith will be made visible by our obedience.” Do not get me wrong, I am definitely not saying that works alone save you. But, because of our true faith, or faith will be shown to others through or obedience to God. This involve things like caring for orphans and widows (James 1:27), to care for the hungry, sick and imprisoned (Matt. 25:42-43), etc. By loving others the way God love us, people will get a small glimpse of the never-ending, never-failing, extraordinary love of Christ. This brings me so much joy. While we were at the hospital we met 3 sweet little boys; James, Issac and John. These little guys were our “tour guides” or at least they thought! They took us to all the rooms and told the ladies what we were doing and told us who wanted their nails painted (all of them). I enjoyed so much sitting with them, talking, painting their nails and praying for them. Thanks to these three boys we felt right at home and completely comfortable in an usually uncomfortable setting, like a hospital. I now have three sweet friends I look forward to seeing at the hospital! While being at the hospital was a ton of fun and brought so much joy it was also very sad being with some of the kids, knowing that their situation was very bad and probably very painful. However, our God is the great healer (Matt. 10:8 or Mark 1:34) and He can heal even in the worst situations. He not only can heal physically but spiritually as well, this is such a great and perfect sense of hope. I am grateful for the wonderful opportunities I’ve had this week to serve and show Gods love at Kijabe hospital and I cannot wait till I can go back and visit! Ways you can pray: The kids at Kijabe hospital. Pray for rest and comfort. That they would seek after the Lord, and know that He is the great healer and provider. That they would know and understand how much He loves them and how much He has already done for them! Our friends John and Issac. John was having surgery today on his stomach and Issac will have surgery tomorrow on his legs. Pray for a fast and easy recovery! Also, pray for the doctors that will be completing the surgeries. Pray for endurance as some surgeries can be long and tedious. For Page and I. Pray for us as we continue working throughout Kenya. Pray for endurance and rest when needed. For the Hemphill Family. Pray for peace and comfort as they are missing family and friends back home and adjusting to a new culture and new people in their small community. This month has been full of amazing experiences, amazing people, and amazing scenery (one of my favorite parts I will never get used to) all brought into my life by an AMAZING God! Here is October, thus far, in a short post:
THANKING God for bringing amazing people into my life. I have made SO many new friends here in Kenya! Some include the students at I Can Fly like Emma and Lewis, people that made saying "tutaonana (See You)" so very difficult. People like Naomi, that God sends into my life to confirm I am EXACTLY where He wants me to be and where He needs me. And then people like the Hemphill family that are a constant reminder of family and love. I am beyond thankful for the people I've met and reconnected with over the past few weeks, but sometimes say goodbye is very difficult. 2 MONTHS is how long I've lived in Kenya. Crazy right? Only 2 more months till I come home for Christmas. It feels like just yesterday I was at Jubala with my family and a few friends before heading to the church to load up the vans and head to RDU (forgetting my passport and not remembering till we got to the airport-but that's a whole other blog post). ENJOYING life here in Kenya. If God tells you to pack up and go somewhere to serve Him you should take the time to enjoy His beauty and creation in another part of the world too. This is EXACTLY what I'm trying to do! With plans to hike a volcano (not active) and stay in a rural setting and enjoy the true "Farm Life" for a couple of days, all with good friends I've made along the way! I am super excited. Do not get me wrong I love teaching the kids here in Kenya but sometimes it is nice to get away to a beautiful place one-on-one with the Father! LEARNING how life is being run at RVA! RVA is such a close and tight knit community and I am so excited to be spending a week here serving the Lord alongside the Hemphill family! Today is a national holiday in Kenya so the kids were out of school for a thing called Multicultural Day. It was AWESOME! Today the kids broke up into different groups and learned dances and did different activities from cultures represented at RVA. Also, after chai time (which I will be doing when I come back to Raleigh) the kids all met at the church on campus and had a flag ceremony where a kid from each country represented brings in their flag and says something in their language, really cool experience. The theme was all about being 1 in unity in the body of Christ. READING alot!!! I love reading, especially here. Not having cable TV is really nice (I never thought I'd say that) but it gives you a lot more time to actually spend time with the people around you in conversation (and no, sorry to burst your bubble but watching a TV show as a family is NOT spending quality time together...). It also gives you a lot more time to read and spend time with the Lord! I am currently reading and studying rather deeply the book Multiply by Francis Chan and tackling 2 Psalms a day. I would love for you to question me about my quiet times whenever, I think its good to have conversation about things like that and hold each other accountable. LOVING worship recently. I love worship whenever and learning new songs in the language here but sometimes it can be really hard when all the worship you're doing is in a foreign language. So, I am definitely happy to be at RVA where the worship and service are all in English and it doesn't take me twice as long trying to figure out what the worship leader or preacher is saying. I love worshiping and studying with the Kenyan people in their true church setting, but sometimes it can definitely be difficult. EXCITED to say that I will be returning to Kenya in February 2015 for another long period of time. Most of you are probably confused as I say this because you probably thought this is what I was doing all along. But I really wanted God to confirm to me that this is where He wanted me to return in February. I truly believe I got a clear answer from God and it's hard to explain that, but when you know, you know. So I am excited for all God will do the rest of the time here in Kenya till the end of December. I'm excited for what God will do at Christmas time when I am home with my family and I am excited and looking forward to what God will do in February when I return. E-MAIL is something I love getting and love replying to (most of the time (: ). I would love to receive an email from you and know how things are going with you wherever you maybe, how you are serving God where you are or how I can be praying for you. See you soon, friend. Tutaonana, rafiki. When the September team came, on the last few days they were here we found some leftover bags we had forgotten to hand out. I’ve been trying to figure out whom and how to give these bags out when I decided to do “Blessings in a bag”. So I went to the supermarket to shop for some basic things to fill the bag with. The list of what each bag included can be seen below:
I want you to know exactly why I’m doing this though. God has blessed me immensely, like He has most of us reading this (no matter our circumstances at the moment) we are FAR more blessed than a lot of the world. God doesn’t bless us so that we can keep it to ourselves, however, He blesses us so that we might find joy in that blessing but not keep it to ourselves, but share it with others –this is where “Blessings in a Bag” came from. As I peered out the window seeking someone to go give the bag to I just didn’t see anyone. I’m sure each and every single one of the ladies that walked by could’ve used the bag but I knew God would point me exactly to the person that had the most need. Then a lady came walking by in a black skirt, yellow top, jacket, everything looked normal until you saw that she was carrying her shoes and limping. I ran after her with a bag in hand. When I approached her I asked her what her name was…Naomi. I explained to her why I was giving her the bag, what was in the bag and who I was. I looked down at her feet (bad idea, I’m surprised I didn’t pass out). Her feet were bleeding profusely, her legs messed up as well. I asked her where she was headed and she said she was going to the hospital (less than a quarter of a mile from where we were at that point). I asked her how this had happened; it obviously was not just blisters from her heels, when she said she fell off of a motorbike (one of the main sources of transportation here known as boda boda). I walked with Naomi to the hospital to try and see if I could help her in any further way. I know it probably wasn’t the safest for me to walk to the hospital and stay at the hospital with someone I just met but God was telling me to stay, go with her. Needless to say, I went. I am thankful for the fact that I listened to God when He said go. Yes, I sat at the hospital with Naomi for a good 2 and a half to 3 hours but during that time I gained a sweet, sweet sister in Christ and a family I can now say I’m a part of in Kenya! God had something up His sleeve…It was just a matter of whether or not I was willing. I feel often times (I’ve definitely been here before) we are so caught up in our own lives and our busy schedules that we don’t take time to stop and listen to God when He says “GO”. I am thankful for Naomi’s health as she was quickly taken care of and discharged. I am thankful for her amazing husband that took such great care of her, and me while I sat with her. I am thankful for the doctors and medical staff at Machakos Level 5 hospital that responded quickly and helped my sweet friend. And I am thankful to God for leading me to Naomi. Moments like today with Naomi are a constant reminder to me that I am EXACTLLY where God wants me to be and needs me. Nothing gives me a peace quite like that. I want to challenge you to give a “blessing in a bag”. It doesn’t have to be something expensive or massive. Go, meet someone you feel God is leading you too. Share a small part of how God has blessed you with someone else. You never know who He will lead you to; you just might end up with a lifelong friend or a wonderful witnessing opportunity. And if you do share a “blessing in a bag” I would love to hear how God worked through that! “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing work in your days that you would not believe if told….Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation God, the Lord, is my strength” Habakkuk 1:5, 3:18-19 I am weak, tired, sad and overwhelmed. I am currently sitting, typing, probably soon to be crying as I write this blog post. People are probably going to look at me weird at the restaurant I am sitting in, well, they probably already are considering my hair is wet, it is in a huge bun on the top of my head, my glasses are on and I look like I just ran a marathon. But I am weak. I am overwhelmed with emotion. It’s hard when you have built such amazing relationships with such amazing people but you know in just a short time you have to say “goodbye”. You have put your whole heart into the relationship and it ends with one simple “goodbye”. That’s how I’m feeling right now, a little overwhelmed. Over the past 5 weeks I have developed some amazing friendships; however, it’s coming to the time where we have to say “goodbye” and I know that I may possibly never see some of these friends again until I reach Heaven. And that is what makes it so hard.
Let me share with you about an amazing friendship I have developed over the past few weeks with a girl named Emmaculate (Emma). The other night as I was lying in my bunk at The Butterfly House preparing to go to sleep when Emma came over and pushed her metal bunk next to mine (which made a LOUD screeching noise and probably woke anyone who was already asleep up) and laid down on the bed. I was reading my book, Growing Up Duggar, and Emma laid down next to me, sharing my pillow and small blanket, and she read too. She loved the book and asked if we could continue reading tomorrow night but that her eyes were tired and she needed to sleep. These are the memories I will cherish for a lifetime, the common things, but the things that show deep love and compassion. It is true, as I remember Shonica telling me when I was younger, as you travel you will meet people that although they don’t look like you, they remind you so much of yourself. Emma is that for me. The other day I opened my phone to a video message Emma had left for me talking about how much she loves us and how she will cry when we go, but that no matter what one day we will meet again. As I prepare to leave Machakos and head to Kijabe on October 18. I will probably leave Emma and the rest of the students at I Can Fly with tear stained cheeks. They have impacted me more than they will ever realize and I am grateful for the great relationships I have built that make saying “goodbye” so, so difficult. I know this is going to be the hardest “goodbye” I will have ever said. This is why I am weak, overwhelmed and exhausted, with constant thoughts running through my head. However, I find great joy in the fact that although this might be the last time I see Emma and the rest of my friends that we have a God that loves us so much and wants to spend eternity with us. They know, and I know if I don’t see them again on this Earth WE WILL meet again one day and Heaven, where we will be worshiping our Heavenly Father again together, and I rest in that promise. This is how you can be praying: · Pray for my sweet friend Emma as she and the rest of the kids go throughout school that they would be motivated, determined and successful in their efforts. · Pray for the Form Four (12th Grade) students as they begin taking a huge test, the KCSE this week. Pray for rest, guidance and endurance. · Pray for Page and I as we prepare to travel to the Hemphill’s on October 18. Pray for safe travels.
Also, throughout some churches here I've struggled with the fact that people put to much faith in who is delivering the Gospel to them than who the Gospel is all about. They also rest on what God can do for them (God will grant me good health, riches, and success). So I made a statement in my teaching today:
"God does not promise us good health, nice clothes, and a good job. However, He does promise us eternal life if we are obedient to Him and love Him. This is a far greater gift than anything He could give us in this world." I share this with you not just because this is what I see in Africa, but what I see in the world as a whole. Instead of us thinking What can God do for me, we need to change our mindset to how we can better serve Christ. How can you be praying for us:
JAMBO (Hello)! Sasa (How are you)? This past month has been a whirlwind! Sorry for not keeping the blog as up-to-date as I had hoped. You never know when or if you’ll have internet. I have almost been in Kenya for a month and I’m really beginning to build awesome relationships with the locals and missionaries here! Here’s what has been going on: EMBRACING the beauty of God’s creation. Currently I am in Machakos which is about an hour and a half away from Nairobi! Machakos is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. The place I am staying (while here in Machakos) has a porch that has an amazing view! I love waking up early in the morning before anyone else and going out to sit and be with the Lord in the presence of His beauty! Currently I am going through the life of Christ and enjoying every moment of it, and learning so much. Also, I am studying, rather deeply, the story of Ruth. I am so intrigued by Ruth’s story and when you catch me reading my bible, this is often where I’ll be! PRAYING constantly. Prayer has become an even bigger part of my life since I’ve moved to Kenya. I constantly find myself talking to the Lord always! He delivers me satisfaction in times of need and helps me through some of the difficult changes I’ve had to make. GRATEFUL. I do not know where to begin with this one besides putting it out there just as I did. The first day I was here I took a cold shower (which I would later be thankful for…) but did not have a towel. The next day I woke up to “Girls there is hot water in the shower for you.” You do not even know how fast I jumped out of bed and ran to the shower only to find a small bucket of hot water. Yes my friends, a bucket bath, which has become all too common to me over the past few weeks, but is now my preference. I never realized how truly grateful I was for common things like a towel, electricity and hot running water from a shower…oh, and internet! LOVING the people God is bringing into our lives. I’ve gained 100 best friends since I’ve gotten here (or at least it seems). I love the one-on-one time I get with the kids! Especially the group of Maasi girls I’ve been hanging out with a lot! God is working in miraculous ways here in Kenya! Also, Page and I teach bible studies on Friday nights for the kids! This Friday I spoke from the book of Ruth (go figure). This is probably one of my favorite times with the kids and they always have a ton of questions. READING lots and lots of books! In my spare time around the house I usually will plop down on the couch and pick up a book! Also on the car rides to and from school I will read, this however causes lots of headaches. It is so difficult to read on a bumpy road and you don’t know what a bumpy road is until you get to Africa….trust me. I just finished the book Twelve Ordinary Men and enjoyed every page of it. I find myself to be a lot like the disciple Andrew. MISSING the first primary school I went to in Kitale! I made so many friends there and miss each and every one of them! Especially a little girl named Jill. She is in class 3 (3rd grade) and is the class leader (this is for when children sing songs, get organized and go to pick up lunch to bring back to the classroom), top of the class and truly one of the sweetest girls I have ever met! I love her so much! They also taught us a new Zacchaeus song, which if I must say so, is so much more fun to sing then the one the kids in the US sing because it has awesome hand motions. FULFILLING DREAMS….hahahah. When I was little I wanted to be a cafeteria lady for a period of time. Don’t ask me why but I always looked up to them. Maybe it was because they cooked food and I liked cooking when I was little (Mom & Dad—remember that special rice? J ). Well I am fulfilling dreams. Page & I are the cafeteria ladies at I Can Fly (and I say this proudly). All the kids line up for lunch at 12:45 with their plates and we give them a scoop full of beans and maze (corn). I thoroughly enjoy this job, and Page and I will often make jokes to the kids while serving them…they love it. Also, the beans and maze might not sound too good but let me tell you what, they have AWESOME cooks at ICF and thanks to them the food smells delicious! If I could I would eat this for lunch every day. MISSING Monday night volleyball. However, I play volleyball every night at 4:10 with the kids of I Can Fly (Except Fridays when we have bible study)! It’s so much fun seeing them all play and interact. I love it! LEARNING so much Swahili! Hakuna Shida (No Problem). I’m hoping to be pretty fluent in conversations soon! The kids love teaching me different words and phrases and love hearing me repeat it because of my accent. Also, when people are having conversations around me I can easily pick up different words and figure out what the conversations about. Sometimes I’ll respond or tell them what they just said and they will freak out. It’s pretty entertaining.
HAIR HEADACHES because my hair is currently in corn rows. It hurt so bad my eyes started to water. But all-in-all my friend Carol at ICF did a GREAT job and it really saves me time in the mornings not having to fix my hair! This was also one of the things I said I was going to do while over here: check! LAUGHING AND CELEBRATING all the talent at ICF! These kids are amazing and continue to blow me away each and every day. On September 13 we had a talent show for the kids. Some participated by dancing, singing, spoken word and acting (which was by far my favorite part, thanks to one kid named Brian!). A lot of the students participated and even the teachers got involved singing R.E.S.P.E.C.T. the kids LOVED IT! We talked about how much talent they have and how they can use that talent to serve the Lord. Even Page and I had a little something up our sleeve with a skit! The kids also enjoyed when we surprised them afterwards with biscuits, juice, and even a soccer ball! I will miss these kids so much while Page and I serve with the Bay Leaf Mission Team, however, we will soon be back with them for 3 weeks!! Nakapenda (Love you) and miss you guys so much! Someone enjoy some Jubala for me please! TUTAONANA (See You..) Sarah |