Kenya - Day 6

Tuesday - June 12

We began heading north after two nights in Kilgoris and once again encountered excitement along the road. This morning it wasn't rough roads, but rowdy students. Driving through Kitale, traffic came to a stop as the noise on the street continued to escalate. As we slowly moved forward we could see a mass of people standing in the street shouting and chanting as we drew even closer two policemen came out of the crowd walking at a fairly quick pace away from the action - I think it was about this point that our driver told us to lock all of the doors.  As we drove by the angry shouts had turned to celebratory cheers as they passed a long yellow metal something through the air.  Apparently one of the teachers at a college located on that street had a tire boot put on her car right in front of the school for some sort of parking infraction.  The town council had been lobbied for it to be removed and they had refused. So the students refused to go to class and took to the streets and the two policemen we saw walking away had just unlocked the boot from the car.  With some of the political/religious/social tension in Kenya right now the story seemed much funnier after we actually knew what was going on.

Our first visit of the day was at a Lutheran primary school (equivalent of our K-8). As was typical wherever we went, we were made to feel very welcome. The kids sang for us, the teachers prepared a meal for us, and the students loved seeing themselves on the screen of the digital camera. We brought with us from America a lot of school supplies and Rongo is one of the schools that received part of that as a gift. We also left a soccer ball and volleyball and jump ropes wherever we stopped - as well as candy. And if we thought we saw a riot among the students on the streets of Kitale that still didn't prepare us for the eagerness that engulfed the Rongo students when we pulled out the little pieces of hard candy. It was a moment of chaos. Everywhere we went throughout the whole trip, I felt like we weren't spending as much time as we would like at each place. The school at Rongo maybe best exemplifies this. We ate and then instead of sitting in on a class or interacting/playing with the kids like we wanted we were herded back into the van to get to our next destination. We were able to see so much and meet so many people, but if I were to ever go back to Kenya I would love to settle into one place and really get to know the people and ministry of that place.

Though it was hard to leave the school at Rongo so quickly, what came next on Tuesday was one of the highlights of the trip and again something I hope I never forget throughout my pastoral career. We met some deaconesses that serve various parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya in order to accompany them on home visits.  In Kenya, deaconesses go through two years of training (for which they pay) and then often serve without any compensation. These are truly remarkable women who love the Lord and love the people around them with much mercy and compassion and sacrifice. They make home visits; care for orphans, widows, the sick, and the poor; they teach Sunday School; they set up the altar area for Sunday morning worship; and they probably do countless other tasks that further the work of God through the ministry of His church. On Tuesday, we made three home visits that were each extremely special and simultaneously heart-breaking and up-lifting. We walked between each home as the three were all within what we would consider a couple blocks, but there were no sidewalks or manicured yards or curbs so we had to wind our way through muddy paths, puddles, and plots of corn.

At the first house we met Pemina. She was laying on a bed in the back of the house unable to get up. her eyes were glazed over and she could only speak in whispers and yet she expended great energy to get up on an elbow and greet each of us Americans. We were struck by the amount of flies buzzing around the room and pestering Pemina who didn't have the strength to wave them off. The deaconesses spoke with her for a while in Swahili so I don't know the specific words they used to comfort her. I had envisioned that as a guest on the visit I would stand in the corner well out of the way in order to watch and observe the deaconesses so I was surprised when I was asked to pray for Pemina. It was truly a humbling moment to hold her frail hand and pray that God would give her strength of body and faith and to express a trust in Him that spans cultures and remains even in times of hardship.  At each of the three visits I would have the opportunity to pray for each home and family as my words were translated.

At the second home we met Walter and Doreena. We had actually seen Doreena walking toward the nearest town while we were driving into the area with the deaconesses. We stopped in the van and they had an animated conversation with her as she stood about 10 yards away from the road.  At the time we didn't know who she was or what anyone was saying, but it was obvious that she was somehow connected to the visits we would be making.  There was a younger man with her who continually tried to guide her in the opposite direction she was wanting to go. After the visit, we found out that she was angry with the deaconesses because they had told her that we would be there earlier in the day and we were much later than anticipated. With no phone the deaconesses couldn;t call her and update her on the changing schedule so she wasn't sure when or if we would arrive. So when we were approaching her house she was walking to the market to figure out what she could afford to buy for food. She did finally turn around and was at home by the time we made our second visit. We had purchased food to leave at each home so we were able to give her rice, flour, sugar, cooking oil, tea, soap, and some other things and it was evident that she was moved by the gift.  She told us how she was going to the market but now did not need to. She also talked about the health issues that she and her husband were having so after only spending a short time with them I was able to be fairly specific in the prayers I offered.

The third visit was maybe the most touching. One of the American young adults had received a monetary gift in memory of her godfather who had recently died and was asked to use it to benefit someone in Kenya. Pastor Chuchu suggested Roda as the recipient of that money so we arrived at her home with additional gifts of pots and pans and other household items.  Roda is a widow who fell and broke her hip. It is evident that both her feet/legs and her hands/arms have been crippled and she wasd carried from her bed out to a chair by two deaconesses. We visited for a while and learned about the troubles Roda was having.  With us strangers in her home she was very honest about the moments when her physical pain and the circumstances of her life weigh heavily upon her and how Satan uses those earthly thorns to raise doubts about God and her faith in Him. But her honesty was matched with a desire to remain steadfast making her a wonderful example of faith in the midst of trial and inspite of hardship. And again her openness allowed for very specific prayers to be offered. Part of the gift that our group member brought for Roda was also in the form of cash (transferred into Kenyan shillings). Roda had been receiving therapy for her hip and other physical issues but she now longer had the money to continue with the treatments.  This additional gift from an American donor would now allow her to get the medical treatment she needed. As you can maybe tell, I remain fairly animated and excited by these experiences as can be evidenced by the number of words I am using for each day.