Africa

March is almost over...less than 8 months until I am getting married!!! I am very excited, and I find myself trying to ignore the calendar so that time goes by faster. You know when you have a big date at night or there is a big game on TV later that day, and you are so excited to watch it that time just seems to move slow throughout the day? Well, I'm experiencing this phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is not for one day but for 8 months! I just want November to get here fast, but sometimes I forget to live in the moment. I need to enjoy where I am right now in life, and I hope you are doing the same.

Now that I'm done with my random outburst for the day, I guess we can get to my Africa trip. This is going to be my last post about my time in Kenya, but these posts in no way have been able to describe my entire experience....these are just blurbs. I hope you have enjoyed them!


Friday Night

"Kuna Kita Leo Nyumbani Mwababa." This means "There is something today in the house of the Father" in Swahili. One of my friends I have made here taught me this. Her name is Anne and she loves to sing!

Today was another great day in Kisumu, Kenya. However, I'm getting pretty homesick. I miss Christine! one of the pastors we are traveling with has a wife and her name is Christine. Today I tried to explain to him how I am engaged to a beautiful girl named Christine in America. This pastor's name is Francis, and we have made a good connection. Today while we were talking, he told me not to forget him when I'm back in America. I told him to do the same for me. Tomorrow we are exchanging emails so we can stay in contact. Also, we held hands! In the Kenyan culture, it is a sign of friendship to walk down the street holding hands. So Francis and I held hands while walking in the slums.

My time in Kenya today was a blessed day. This morning we went to hangout with the street children, and it was a blast! We played cards, soccer, volleyball and just talked to them. The kids were older than I thought they would be. We had 3 10-12 year-olds and about 18 eighteen year-olds and up. I got the chance to talk and pray with a 19 year old named Kevin. His parents divorced when he was young and his dad left him with the mom. The mom remarried and Kevin lived with his mom and stepdad. As time went by, Kevin's step dad started beating him, and Kevin finally ran away. Now he sleeps and lives on the street. It was a tough story to hear, but I prayed for him and then ate lunch with him. As I am writing this at night on my bed, I can't help but think where Kevin is right now. Which street corner is he sleeping on?

Besides Kevin, I met Jameson, Victor, Collins, Joseph, Victor and another Joseph. The last Joseph was 12 year old but he looked like he was about five because he was so malnourished. As we were playing "Go Fish" with him, we noticed something was on his forehead and in his hair. When we asked him what it was he wouldn't answer. Jameson, an older kid, told us it was glue. You see, street kids drink and sniff glue to get high so they don't have to feel the pain of living without parents and family. Joseph had been sniffing glue. It was just really sad, and it broke my heart.

Our time with the street kids came to an end at 2 o'clock. From there we went house-calling. The first lady we called on was a widow named Helen. She was probably in her 30's and had a boy named Joseph (different Joseph from the previous story) who was 9. She has a business where she sells goods, but her business isn't going very well. She can barely make enough money to put Joseph through school. I asked her about how she copes with her troubles and she said, "I can pray. That's all I can do." I have just been blown away on how much people believe in prayer and its power in Kenya. I want to pray with the zeal and fervor of the Kenyans.

After Helen, we visited a woman named Grace. Grace's husband left her twenty years ago and then came crawling back to her when he got sick. He ended up dying shortly after coming back and once again Grace was by herself with the children. She now supports her family with her semi-successful coal business. She sells coal, and when I say successful I mean she might make $5 a day. Grace is also putting 4 children through school, so that can get really expensive!

Next we visited Marguerite (Christine's middle name! I'm waiting to meet someone with Berry as a name now). Marguerite is 70 years old and has 5 children currently living; the other 4 have died. Marguerite was the most joyful person I've met her in Kenya! She was always making jokes and laughing. It was awesome to see her smile.

Linnett was the next widow we went to visit. She was very young, maybe 22, and she had a 4 year old. Linnett had a fruit business and she was doing very well for herself and little boy.

It was such a blessing to be able to go in and talk and encourage these four ladies! God is so faithful to His people. It just stinks that I had to see faith in these people before I could see God's faithfulness, but I rejoice in the fact that God showed himself to me through Helen, Grace, Marguerite, Linnett and Kevin.

Also, on the way back from doing some house calling, we rode bikes. Now we didn't drive the bike, we just rode them. A man named Stephen was my driver and I got to talk to him a bit. I found out he was a born again Christian and had a family! I asked him if I was the heaviest person he has ever drive and he said, "yes." Thinking he had only been driving for a short while, I asked him how long he had been driving, and he told me he had been driving for ten years...I guess I am fairly husky. But after he dropped me off, he asked if I could pray for him. I did, and it was good to meet a brother even though I'll probably never see him again.


I'm so thankful for my time in Kenya, and I'll never forget what God showed me. I hope you someday have the chance to visit Africa and to see God's church outside of the United States!