A friend of mine (Andrea Warden) who attends Providence Church is on a mission trip to Kenya. I received a note from her today and wanted to share it with you.
Our days have been very busy! The guys have been working hard on random construction projects and we, ladies, have been building relationships with the girls at the Neema Home. Yesterday, we had a special outing to work with a middle-aged married couple from Washington named Jeff & Carla Picicci. They began doing missions work in Kenya a few years ago and the Lord gave them a very clear, great vision to begin what is now called “Rehema Ministries” (rehemaministries.com). They have a home for abandoned babies/children. Last year when they began, they had around 30 kids and have doubled in one year….now housing 63 abandoned children and calling them their own. They desire to raise Godly, educated boys and girls into a people who will help to change their land and further the Kingdom.
As we drove over the very bumpy dirt roads (covered in potholes) to get to their property, the anticipation built! We arrived & greeted so many tiny faces. Some of them were scared of us (because we were strangers or maybe because we were white strangers!) 🙂 – but most smiled happily and welcomed us as playmates. Carla gave us a tour of their *beautiful* property – telling us story after story of miracles for how God provided every need and necessary funding. They have 20 acres, much of it used for farming. They have a huge water system that was donated to them – which is connected to an underground river source which they surprisingly found upon digging. We walked around the house and different buildings…seeing the kitchens, the assembly line of high chairs and feeding tables for the kids, the countless cribs and pack-n-plays covered in mosquito nets, and the very loooong changing table with a mound of diapers on its end. We learned that they go through 220 diapers/day, they take their diapers to the Kitale landfill on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Only 5 of the 63 children are HIV positive but most have TB. There are 29 full-time staff, 3 shifts/day of nannies (“aunties”).
I walked around the property with the team listening to each incredible story of God’s goodness and ways that He has led them as my eyes were brimming with tears of joy and awe. We neared the children again to play for a bit before lunch. I walked over to a section where the babies were propped up in a row on a couple of long mattresses. I was immediately drawn to one boy, whose name I later found out was “Teddy”. Teddy was only 7 or 8 months old, I would guess, but I could tell right away that something was very wrong with him. I picked him up and saw that his gaze was distant and unfocused and he had poor control over his bodily and neck movement. I just held him, rocking him, praying and singing over him. I silently spoke life over him and clutched onto his tiny fingers as they grasped mine, only to look down and see that a few of them were webbed together. At that moment, Carla came over and sat down next to me on the floor while Teddy had just fallen asleep in my arms and she told me his backstory while tears just rolled down my face. His young, alcoholic mother had abandoned him and they think he has fetal alcohol syndrome.
Carla went on to tell me another story of a little girl who had falling asleep next to me on the floor. Her name was Sarah. Carla explained that Carla’s mother was a teenage girl who had prematurely given birth to her in a latrine, leaving her to die. Sarah had landed face up in the waste and cried and cried until one of their workers found and rescued her. Sarah is now a strong, healthy little girl. The thing that shocked me the most about hearing this story was that before this trip to Kenya was ever even planned up, I had a very vivid dream about this exact story of Sarah. I woke up from that dream a little less than a year ago, crying, praying & journaling , wondering what God was trying to tell me…little did I know that I would be sitting on the floor in a Kenyan home next to the very girl that I dreamt about. I just sat with Carla, weeping so hard, telling her about my dream…and praying over these children! I can’t imagine being a mom to countless children, remembering each of their stories (let alone names!) and trusting as God provides enough food and money to get by each day and month…being strong for kids with such unimaginably difficult lives…and teaching them about a God who is their faithful Father despite the abandonment of their earthly parents.
So, that was yesterday…and today we spent our last full day with our Neema sisters 🙂 Today was a day of sharing testimonies and talking about baptisms because tomorrow me, Stephanie, & the Neema girls are all getting baptized. I joyfully shared my testimony and all that God has been teaching me over the last year as it’s been a time of great restoration and learning about the Father’s love. The coolest thing for me is that five years ago I was coming home from a missions trip to Romania and really felt strongly from the Lord that my next missions trip wouldn’t be for awhile, but eventually would be to Africa to work with orphans, and that I should get baptized there. So that’s all been floating in the back of my mind/heart for years…and, here I am, in Kenya, sharing my testimony with former street girls the day before we ALL get baptized together in a river outside of Kitale! How exciting!!!! 🙂
Alright – this has, once again, turned into a lengthy blog. I have seriously filled half of my journal since my arrival…it’s just hard to keep it short and simple when there are such great shifts happening within and around me! On a final note – Praise the Lord because no one here at the compound or from our team has been sick! However, we desperately need your prayers as we just found out today that little Martin (brother to the girl, Veronica, who just passed away from HIV/chicken pox) has been admitted into the hospital. He is very sick, having difficulty breathing, and has been diagnosed with meningitus & pneumonia (on top of the chicken pox and HIV). Please pray for God to do a miracle and fully heal Martin and to comfort the anxious hearts of those who love him.
We love you and miss you….thank you for battling for us as we are here serving and loving….we stand and move on your prayers! See you soon 🙂
What do we tell ourselves about our life here in America? Is it a narrative of lack, always wanting more, never enough, and woe is me? I’m glad I’m an American and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in the world. Develop some self talk about how blessed we are.
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