Monday, August 1, 2011

Day 7: 2 Chronicles 16:9



"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."
-2 Chronicles 16:9



Wednesday; July 6, 2011
6:15 P.M.



Today: 3 houses, 6 people SAVED!


Today was a fantastic day.
I woke up, got dressed, and our teams met for our pre-work meeting.
In our meeting Shem was talking about the Baby Ruth story (haha, we laughed about the irony of it too) of how one of our team members had the privilege of naming the newborn I journaled about yesterday.
Except he said the father of the baby promised Shem that he would name the baby after Shem's first wife who had passed away.
BUT!
If you remember, the woman from our group (Kitty) was asked to name the baby. I guess the father either forgot about the promise, didn't realize the doctor asked Kitty to name it, or didn't realize that she was going to be the last one to hold it before he did, but anyway! Shem was telling us that the child was to be named after his deceased wife, and at this point we're all kind of looking around the room like, "........awkwarddd." And Kitty is starting to feel bad, because she had no idea this promise was made or if the child's name could be changed, so we're all listening to Shem just kind of letting him finish wondering what will (if anything can) be done now.

Until Shem told us his late wife's name.

Shem told us that his wife's name was Ruth.

All of our mouths DROPPED.

Kitty named the baby Ruth for no other reason but that she liked the name and the character from the Bible. She had no idea that that was his deceased wife's name or about the promise or anything. If that doesn't prove God's hands of provision on us, showing how active he's been within our whole group this week, and even His sense of humor, I don't know what would be! God is just too good. Like WHAT in the world. Why is He so good to us?

So, everyone amazed, we packed up and left. Our site today was only 5 minutes away. There were 4 babies sitting on a tarp when we pulled up and I knew it was going to be a good day :)
We held them and sat for a minute. I held a baby and it fell asleep in my arms! It made me feel awesome :)





So we left there because the workers weren't there yet and there was nothing for us to do, so we went to a school. The boys performed almost like a tribal chant and the girls sang. 







Then we broke into groups again and I got the same age boys and girls as I did at the last school! They didn't speak any English, but were more active and playful. We played a duck-duck-goose-ish game and then we ran around the entire field! I was SO out of breath! Haha! Me and Amber tried to find some shade but we couldn't because the spot where the tree was, was right by the high school where they were in the middle of class. So we went back out into the big field and I started to get really dizzy and felt sick.

Soon after, we left and went back to the house and finally got some water and sat down in some shade. I gave the kids some candy and painted the girls and women's fingers and toes with the polish I brought.




Me and Amber were sitting under the shade of the house when we met an older woman who told us she had trouble with her vision. She asked us, "How will you help me?"

It's pretty interesting here, how when the people need something, they don't say, "Will you help me?" They say, "How will/can you help me?" It's like the question of whether we will help them or not doesn't exist. They expect that answer to be yes. They want to know how we will. Again, what a people of faith.

So anyway, Amber told her we could pray for her, and she said, "Okay. I know God can do anything if you ask Him to help me." So we prayed for her.

I kept painting nails and then moved my chair next to another woman named Molly. She was super neat and had the cutest kids! She had a baby and a little girl that sat in my lap the entire time. Amber tried tickling her to get her to smile a little bit; to show her that we were normal people, just in white skin. But her face was stone cold! Her mom looked at us while we were trying every possible nook and cranny possible to crack a smile, and told us she doesn't laugh. She said she has laughed before, but that it is rare that she does. Molly took her to the hospital when she was at the age where babies should be laughing and learning their surroundings through socializing even through mumbles, just to see if anything was wrong with her.  He told her it's just the way she was created. Molly's grandfather was a serious man, so she thinks her daughter may have inherited it. She was precious though. She had a bandana around her head and SHE. WAS. A. DIVA. Oh my goodness.
Her name was Thailan. Or at least I'm thinking that's how you spell it because when her mom told us her name, it sounded like Thailand without the "d"! Haha :) I'm probably totally off, but it's ok!
When me and Amber were painting her nails, she held them out SO still and told us when we were finished that she wanted her toes done too! Her mom told us she likes for her hair to be washed everyday, she won't bathe in anything but warm water, and she won't drink tea unless it has milk in it.
Like I said! Diva!
But a cutie :)





She stayed in my lap and we played and clapped hands and bounced. I made her laugh! :)
We did "Ride a Little Horsey" which she liked a lot. She LOVED my camera. Loved looking at herself. She cracked up every time she looked at the pictures of herself!
Something I thought was neat was that she was prim and proper, but not in a condescending or superior way. In a mature kind of way. I've noticed that about all of the kids here. None are immature. Kids will be kids, don't misunderstand me haha, but none of these kids are annoying. It's like they understand the harsh realities of life so young, they have a mature kind of adolescence. A quiet and reserved kind of youth. It's so captivating. 





The ladies finished dinner for us, which was a chicken that we watched them kill! It was terrible! The ladies were cracking up at all of us American girls squealing. They stood one foot on the chicken's feet and the other foot on its wings. They plucked its neck feathers and sawed away at its neck! It was awful! And then they let it bleed out into a pan! One of the chickens they killed still moved even after the head was completely off! It was crazy! And gross!




So they cooked us that chicken, some rice, ugali, greens, and some saucy stuff to go on the rice or whatever you wanted it to go on. The chicken was so good! The best I've had yet!
Thailan sat in my lap while we waited for them to finish everything up.
She sat with me while we ate and even after! Just hanging out with me with her little belly! :)
We sat for a minute and then went back to the school for maybe 5 minutes to present them a soccer ball. They loved it.

We walked back and had the house dedication. THE BEST DEDICATION ALL WEEK! We were singing in Luo and man do those people know how to worship. Chanting, singing, shouting, squealing, clapping, dancing, smiling, crying, it was amazing. The spirit of God was in the place. Such a great way to end the week in Ahero.



We finished and I gave the rest of my fingernail polish to Molly so that her and Thailan could use it. We left and came back to the hotel. The power kept going on and off for some reason that we weren't sure of, but we ate, had our team meeting, made lunches for tomorrow's journey back to Nairobi, and are now off to bed!

We have to get up at 3:30 tomorrow morning to pack and be ready for breakfast at 4, and leave by 4:30-5:00! We travel around 3 hours, stop for the safari, and drive the rest of the way hopefully getting back before dark! The roads aren't safe even to drive on at night because of the gang activity and the looters.


I'm so excited for the safari! :)

I better get some sleep! Tomorrow's going to be long and awesome! :)




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