Growth Hope

Safely Home

I arrived back safely from my trip to Kenya. It was a remarkable experience and I am so grateful for the opportunity.

The same day that I left Kenya, there was a departure of a different kind. Hannah, Juli’s patient with the facial tumor, went home to be with the Lord. Juli was scheduled to visit her to drop off more medicine and when she arrived, she was given the news that Hannah had passed away. Hannah’s daughter, Nancy, clung to her and asked, “Juli, my mom has left me; what will I do without my mom?” Its the question that every daughter asks when her mother leaves this Earth. Death is one of the common human experiences that causes one to realize that regardless of culture, language, economic status or background, there are some things that everyone shares. Nancy, however, can rest secure in the fact that her mom who looked eagerly to her future home, will one day greet her again. She too arrived safely home.

Thank you all for your prayers and for remotely joining me on my journey. I will post a link to pictures soon.

Postscript – I wrote previously that Kenya was preparing for elections. The elections took place the day I left and the results have been announced. The incumbent won and due to allegations of voting irregularities there have been several days of violence and riots. Please pray for the safety of my new friends and that peace would reign in the country. Among my many lessons, was a renewed gratitude for how blessed we are in America for a stable government order.

Update – this story gives a recap of the Kenyan turmoil. Eldoret, the town mentioned throughout the article, is the closest town to my friends.

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Hope

Because He Lives

Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow
Because He lives, all fear is gone
Because I know, He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.

If you ever want to feel God’s presence, be around when 93 orphaned children sing this song. I guarantee you it will help put life in perspective.

Today was Guardian’s Day at ELI’s children home. It’s a day in which people who took care of the children after their parents died can come and visit them. Mostly its grandparents, aunts and uncles and neighbors who, while unable to provide long-term care, are still important people in the children’s lives. The kids put on a special performance that included dancing, singing, speeches (of course), prayer, memory verse and poetry recitation, and a dramatic reenactment of the parable of the Prodigal Son. (Sidebar – the part about the father killing the fatten calf takes on new meaning in a culture where wealth is measured by the number of cows you own.) The day started at 10 and it went continuously until 3 – and this was a short celebration by Kenyan standards.

In so many ways, the day was extremely special. To see children with joy on their faces is always a pleasure. To watch them as they visited with those who they hadn’t seen in over 6 months warmed the heart. But in other ways, it was a heart-breaking day because there were some children who had no visitors. For them, they relived their abandonment all over again as they watched their adopted brothers and sisters open presents, receive hugs and kisses and be told that they mattered. Although the Director of the children’s home try to make sure that members of the community would be providing gifts for those kids who he didn’t expect to have visitors, still some were neglected. For a few, it was a pattern of repeat behavior, as they had no visitors in April at the last Guardian’s Day.

The Scripture teaches that pure and undefiled religion is to take care of orphans and widows in their distress. In many ways this was put into action today. But in many more, there is still much work to do.

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