untitled

I'm just speechless at the moment but I'll manage to spit some words out to express my heart in the raw.

Poverty is everywhere we go. Extreme poverty at every corner. Most of the time my heart is tender towards it. Sometimes I get so tired of it. Other times it just really ticks me off.

Hope abounds in Jesus name. The is so much comfort and hope in the name of Jesus. Thank you Father.

People find where the white people live and come begging. Many are made up stories.

But then there are cases you just let love win and love speak and love conquer.

This past Friday a woman shows up at our gate. She speaks great english so I'm able to talk one on one with her. It was obvious she is in pain. But what a beautiful smile she has. She told her story. It went something like this. She went through school up to her second year in high school. Then her parents died and she never finished. She got married and lived somewhere outside Nairobi. She had her three children there. Then in 2007, during the post election violence, her husband was killed. She tried going back to where her family lived but there was a huge land dispute causing all of her relatives to disperse. She said some went to Uganda, some to the coast in Kenya, and other places. So then she ended up in Kitale four months ago. She was living with some people and working a job, then got kicked out. There's a lot to this story that I wont share for her privacy. So then she was staying with neighbors for three days and they kicked her out. They refused them food, blankets, and water. I gave her and her kids some bread and water to observe their reaction. It was obvious they hadn't eaten in days. Looking in her three little girls' eyes was heart breaking. Their eyes full of fear, hunger, and sadness. Then I observed the feet. Oh goodness gracious. They were so full of jiggars, I was shocked. Jiggars. Not chiggars. These horrible little bugs burrow in the feet due to lack of sanitation and are in the environment of extreme poverty cases. They lay eggs and spread around the toes and fingers. We talked quite a bit then I gave them enough shillings to go get treatment and to come back Monday so I can see that she would really use the money for the right thing. She just pleaded that we'd find her a place to live to which I responded I would pray and truly hear from the Lord on how we could help. Otherwise, I had no idea what to do. Her and her three girls had no where to go, so they went to find somewhere in the night they could rest their heads. Monday came and she didn't come back. Tuesday came and that afternoon I came home to find them outside our gate. Ugh. The girls look so so hungry and sad. They went to get treatment for the jiggars at a clinic but the people didn't seem to know how to treat these critteres. They were giving them all sorts of injections and charging them too much. Our guard informed me that there are many clinics that just prescribe things to get money and cheat people. Well, great.

Pause.

Bud is off climbing Mt. Kenya this week with the Soul Edge guys. This is his birthday gift. I'm so thankful he is getting to do this. Meanwhile I am holding down the fort and taking care of all the first of the month stuff at Mattaw. No complaints, just busy.

Unpause.

I have so many things to take care of to ensure my children are taken care of as well as my Mattaw children. But I have to stop. In the midst of this crazy busy week, I stop.

I fed them again, gave them enough to get by for the night and said to come back the next morning so I could take them for treatment at Sister Freda's (cottage hospital outside of town). I couldn't stand to send them away from our gate one more time after Tuesday. When they left Tuesday afternoon, I peaked out the gate and saw the 10 yr old had to carry the 4 yr old so that the mom could carry the 9 year old. This was because their feet hurt so bad from jiggars, they couldn't walk. So then I went back outside the gate and just insisted I take them now and cancel the meetings and errands I had. The mom refused and said they'd be fine. So I asked to pray healing over them. I pleaded with the Lord to give them a good nights rest and heal them and protect them.

They came the next day. First thing the mom shared that they found a shack to stay in at show ground and were not bothered by anyone. Only that the rains make it cold and when the wind shifted it would pour on them. Then she shared since she started coming to our gate and being prayed on, the pains eased at night enough to have a good nights rest and she no longer has nightmares. Thank you Jesus! Just one of those blessings to see physically the will of God, "on earth as it is in Heaven".

So I took them for medical treatment and tried to figure out a solution. It was painful to watch them all get the jiggars dug out of their feet. Excruciating pain for them all. The 4 yr old and 9 yr old especially. The four yr old had TEN in her pinkie toe alone. We had to hold them both down to get them all out. I think it was just as painful for the 10 yr. old, she's just learn to be more immune to pain. Sweet Sister Freda came over at one point to comfort the girls and buy them sweets (candy). That helped alleviate the pain a bit! So we left and then came time to figure out where they would stay. Finally after going around and around and searching, we found a place. It was a bit more than I wanted BUT it has cement floors, lighting and water. Things you dont have to clarify if a house has or not in the states! So since I knew they needed a clean place to get their feet healed, it was a done deal. We got them moved in with a place to call home. I was wiped out but thankful.

There's stories like this all the time. But this one was different for me. One of those times that extreme poverty really ticked me off.

And now I don't think I can type one more ounce of update. Other than I really need to be posting about how much we are in need of sponsors at Mattaw. That'll come in the next few days though. Please consider sponsoring a child and saving a life! www.mattawchildren.com