November 21, 2009, Saturday in Migori:
My first morning in Migori was quite difficult and very painful. After arriving late the night before at the Hill View, getting to bed after midnight, I was awoke by late night partiers at 2:00am and never got back to sleep. Started off a bit sleep deprived after days up traveling and only a couple hours sleep; took taxi with Domnic to their compound/home for breakfast and fellowship. Between a mix of sleepyness and unstable dirt grounds with a gutter dividing walk/road areas, I was walking along the outside of the compound concentrating on watching where my feet were placed to avoid falling when I ran full speed into an open window with metal framing. At first I had no idea what happened and couldn't even remember for a second where I was. I was still standing but I heard nothing and felt my head vibrating from the blow still; I was seeing stars. Putting my hand up to my head to feel for a lump, I saw my hand was covered in blood when I pulled it away and realized I had just cracked open my head in probably the worst place to do so. My immediate thought was, "I just ruined this mission trip." Then my satellite phone rings. It was Carl who was shocked to hear me in pain & tears and that I had just injured myself; told him I'd call him back after situation was assessed. Domnic quickly got me into their home where he and Milly, wide-eyed and shocked, applied pressure and cleaned me up while calling for the local Doctor who was on his way to check me out. What a first impression to make on the people in their compound; tears, confusion, blood running down my face and all over my jacket. Eek's; not a great entrance. Dr. Kefa arrived quickly and assessed my injuries which he decided were just short of needing stitching; thank God! Now we worried about the real danger... infection. Doc cleaned my head wounds and came to the compound and Hill view twice a day that week to clean and treat my head with antibiotics. He refused to charge me for any of the visits or treatments and medications! God took such great care of me!! At the end of the trip I gifted Dr. Kefa some money for his volunteered medical services which he was incredibly surprised and grateful for. God always brings people into our lives for specific reasons with such grace and love. I am proud to say I have officially received my first mission scar and Kenya battle wound. ;) Only the Window won that battle. Ha ha ha
Breakfast was waiting on us during my head escapade, so even though I had the headache of the century with nausea, I knew I needed to eat something to get through the day and show appreciation. I mustered up everything I had to eat that buttered dry bread and boiled egg breakfast. The coffee helped quite a bit with the head pain too. My PikiPiki Man and Samuel from Beulah Orphan & Widow Intiative came for breakfast too and then we left for Beulah, located about 30 minutes from us, in Migori District. Our GFM member and translator came with too, Silas, who also lives in same compound as Domnic and who's wife, Alice, had a baby only a week before I arrived via Emergency C-Section. Both are healing and doing well.
First we stopped in downtown Migori to shop at the local and only official Grocery/Market Store. They have local markets via kiosks and street side vending, but only one corporate style store. It was the size of a small Walgreens with less options but they did have one surprising item; Obama Gum! Seriously, with Obama's picture and everything on it. They love Obama more than the U.S. They call him "A black man living amoungst white man and now, the Leader of white men who succeeded as President of America after coming from Kenya." No joke, that was quoted; though he really did not come directly from Kenya. That was Obama's dad who is, from what I heard, not a great guy there. Not total truth but at least it is inspiring young Kenyans into leadership. Weird but interesting. I picked up school supplies and sweets for the orphans at Beulah along with Water and Spices for my Host Family, Dom & Milly.
We arrived at Beulah Orphan & Widow Intiative where the 53 kids and staff greeted us. 30 out of the 53 children are orphaned from AIDS (parents died of AIDS) and 20 of those children are also infected with AIDS. Beulah is a home-based orphanage, similar to foster parenting, but the children come to the Beulah grounds on their off time and for some of their schooling. The Foster Families are given food & care money for the kids they take in. They have recently built a new house for a Widow in addition to a couple others already up and dwelled in by widows. We met with the founders, Samuel and Old Man Wilson, 86 years old, who is a double leg amputee, prior Luo Chief, Apostle of Kenyan Minninite Church, fought in the rebellions, and has lived quite a life; all of it devoted to God as a missionary since 1936. This man is amazing! Wilson spoke no english so translating was much work. He is a very soft spoken, quiet, humble man who has suffered much through his service to God. Expressed to me how much the women and children of Migori are suffereing. Also met Eunice, a college graduate, wife, and young mother and also Beulah's Secretary. Eunice put together a feast for us to take lunch that included Ugali, Chicken Stew, Rice, Beef, Tilapia, Cabbage, and Spinach. Their tradition in cooking for Guests includes the guest having to try EVERYTHING, which was incredibly hard for me as many of you would know. So much food at once. I actually prayed silently that God would help me fit it all in without gagging. At one point I was chewing a piece of Beef Grizzle that just would not budge so had to swallow it whole with some water; inconspicuously of course. No napkins to sneak food into there. And yes, I ate the Ugali in the picture with the fly on it - but no, I did not eat the fly. It got away.
After our chat time and hearing about their programs, we went outside to spend time with the kids. There was a huge Turkey that I really wanted for our Thanksgiving Dinner later that week, ha ha, that was just walking around and hanging out with us. The Kids sang some songs for me and then I sang for them. We tried to sing together; taught them part of a song which went well but it was not easy for either of us, so switched back to them singing their songs for me. I enjoyed that much more anyway. Next we prayed and the Pastors there did a couple short messages. They wanted me to talk to the kids briefly, so I shared the love of God with them and told them we were all His children and that God would never leave us as orphans. I look forward to returning in July with Bibles and such to spend more time getting to know the Beulah kids and how we can help them further. Then we handed out the GFM donated School Supplies (pencils, pens, paper/exercise books) & Sweets (Candy) which the kids absolutely LOVED! I asked the children questions which was taxing because none knew English and all had different tribal tongues. Even with a translator, it was hard to be sure we were understanding each other. A weird thing I noticed, both with the kids at Beulah and Suba, is that the orphanage staff seem to block getting to know the kids in a more intimate and authentic, educating way. Not to say they do so intentionally, but they organize and discipline the kids to behave with visitors to the point that you can not see the children's personalities very easily or get them to open up about any subject other than yes or no answers. This is something I need to find a solution for and be aware of in the future when we work on the ground in Kenya. I want to hear the children's voices more clearly and directly. Took a couple pictures and soon it was the end of the day and time to depart. I later received a letter form the Beulah Board stating that they have voted me in as the US Beulah Ambassador which was very humbling. Got a kick out of it too as they treated me like someone special, with such a title as ambassador, which we all know, only Jesus makes me special. ;)
We drove back to downtown Migori, bringing some of the children with to drop off at their Foster Family Homes; then back to the compound to take supper. After supper we took a taxi to pick up Dr. Kefa who came with us to my Hill View room to treat my head wound.
November 22, 2009, Sunday in Ranen:
Woke feeling sick for some reason and exhausted after another long night of little to no sleep from the partiers. Weekends are no good in any public boarding in Migori! My neighbors had me up past 4am with their shouting and music and singing. Went to compound for Breakfast which was not close to being ready which ran us very late. Africa time can be very annoying if you are used to time conscious America. ha ha! Walked to downtown Migori where we jumped on a Matatu (mini-bus - more like a shuttle), which would be my very first official Matatu experience, and as they promise and as Milly says, "we were in excess" or more people were on that thing than we had room or seats for. Add in the heat, humidity, and frequent stops and you get tons of sweating! Thankfully, once you do get going on the Matatu and if you happen to be near a window, it cools down a bit. Luckily I got a window seat and somehow I did not get much motion or car sickness even though we are always on bumpy roads, in bad cars, and usually seated in the very back of everything with little to no front road view. Praise the Lord for that!! We were drenched by the time we arrived in Ranen, a town outside of Migori, and very late. In Kenya, church can last all day which worked in our favor since running so late and scheduled to give a message in the IGM (Internaional Gospel Ministry) Ranen Church whose Pastor is the only female pastor in entire Ranen area, Mama Rogers aka Patricia Akinyi Achacha. Mama Rogers started the church with 9 people and now has 68, which is great growth for an area still heavily under witch craft practices. She was widowed 10 years ago with 3 children which is when she decided to give her life to Christ and live in God's will, becoming a Pastor. The local Bishop, Chris, is one of the only local male pastors who supports her as a female, widowed, pastor in the faith. Most other males in and out of the local Christian community are against her due to being female and a widow. Those in the area still practicing witch craft harrass Mama Rogers often along with all the Christian Churches in Ranen, even throwing things at her and her home.
Upon arrival into Ranen, we could hear preaching from her church all the way down the street where the Matatu let us off. Happily, when we walked into the small yet crowded church, 3 seats were reserved in front for us. The church building is so tiny that many sit outside during service to hear messages. When we came in, Mama Waisiko, an Evangelist & Leader from the Nyankore IGM Church near the Tanzania border was preaching in the most powerful and charismatic way! Wow! She does not speak English or Swahilli since from such a rural area, so Silas translated for her into swahilli, which I could only partly understand. Milly tried to translate part of it into English for me, but it did not matter either way. The meaning was clear. Even when I had no idea what Mama Waisiko was saying, I could feel it! That is how powerful she is in her messages and expressions. Soon she finished, then we all sang in which after Domnic went up to introduce us 3 visitors.
I was scared when my time came to speak and found it impossible to use much of my written card notes. Instead I moved with the spirit and gave my full testimony from my days spent as a spiritual orphan to how God has used a broken person such as myself to now turn all that into His great works in Africa. Knowing how stoic the women of Africa are and how little they express emotion especially crying, I was shocked to look up during my testimony to see many of the women in tears openly. There was a deep connection through my testimony that exposed how very alike pain, darkness, and receiving the Lord's light is for us all, no matter what continent or culture we come from. We sang after I finished up which was followed by Mama Roger's message about my testimony I had just shared. In her message she said, "That now she was not alone in her pain and past suffering in living once as a spiritual orphan and broken woman. That now she is comforted by I, someone else, on the other side of the world has also shared this same pain and similar trials and for both of us, the experience of a 'God-speaking' moment saved our lives." Mama Roger said that we are Soul Sisters... we definitely shared a special connection and bond instantly that day. On my way out of the church after greeting each person who attended I was blessed and amazed by many expressing that my testimony blessed them. God's grace turns even the small and inadaquate into something used for His greater purposes. These people I met endure so much; have witnessed and lived through worse than I could imagine yet they receive strength and comfort from my testimony? That has to be God.
As I walked outside I was swooped up into a dancing hug with Mama Rogers. She literally embraced me liked a Mama Bear and we spun in circles in pure joy of God bringing us together as the Sisters we will always be. She kept saying that she felt something powerful jump into her heart when I spoke and that she is feeling such great joy that she had little words to describe it, with tears in her eyes. I felt it too and wasn't quite sure what to do but just soak up the moment. What an overwhelming, unreal, and special moment in Kenya; one I will always remember and cherish. Mama Rogers tore down part of my wall that is very difficult to even chip away at as I normally shy away and am uncomfortable with physical contact of any kind and expressing joy or love in such a manner; I use words instead of non-verbal communication best. Somehow, in that moment with her, my wall came crumbling down... more than I ever thought possible. I was the one most blessed that day.
Mama Rogers had us all walk to her house, holding my hand the entire time, where we were served lunch and soda. What a fun time we had! We shared more about our lives, our ministries, and our visions followed by amazingly deep group prayer time. Mama Waisiko started it off with a prayer song that we all joined in, slowly breaking off into our own prayer songs as the spirit led, and then into speaking prayers of our own in our own tongues at the same time. The neighborhood must have heard us; it becomes so loud when they all pray together! The Holy Spirit fell upon us all which drove many of us to praying in tears, some whaling, and some on their knees. We ended prayer time, maybe an hour later or so, when Mama Waisiko told me that one day I will come serve in her church and stay at her home, that the Lord has it in His plans. Then they all took turns telling me that one day I will move to Kenya, make my home Kenya, and die in Kenya... that I am already Kenyan to them. ;) They say she is evangelist/prophet-type. I say she is just a strong faithed woman of God. We took our group shot with my camera which was fun getting them all to wait and stand still for my timer. LOL Mama Roger walked us to the Matatu area in downtown Ranen, holding my hand all the way again. We made a plan to pray on how she may become part of the orphan widow ministry that she feels God has had her waiting for 8 years to do and share any revelations or confirmations when I come back in July.
We hopped on the "in excess" Matatu, arrived downtown Migori, and purchased carrots, greens, and fly-covered Beef from the local's kiosks on the walk home. Once there I played with the compound children and took pics which they enjoy most along with some videos which they were ecstatic to watch back. Had my favorite kind of Chapati (Butternut squash) with Cabbage and Bean Stew for dinner. Grabbed taxi back to my Hill View room where I spoke to Carl (Mume), slep in the next morning until 8:30am, and spent most that next morning writing remainder of trip budget and organizing schedule. What a crazy good first couple of days on the ground!!
